Offshore Wind News

Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a bill aimed at reevaluating and potentially revising existing offshore wind project plans, setting the stage for the state's goal of achieving 8,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2031.The bill signed on May 9 will empower the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to open proceedings to evaluate offshore wind projects, including offshore wind renewable energy credit (OREC) pricing.The bill, which facilitates the increase of the maximum amount of ORECs sold under certain conditions…

Foundsation installation work has commenced for the second phase of what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, in the U.K. North Sea.Seaway7’s vessels Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift have commenced installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces for the Dogger Bank B phase of the offshore wind farm project. The team recently completed installation of all 95 transition pieces on Dogger Bank A, thus concluding the installation of the foundations for the first phase of the project.Olly Cass…

Danish offshore wind installation company Cadeler reports it has secured vessel reservation agreements with both MFW Bałtyk II Sp. z.o.o. and MFW Bałtyk III Sp. z.o.o., each a joint venture project owned 50% by Equinor and 50% by Polenergia.The Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 projects are wind farms situated in the Baltic Sea, approximately 27 and 40 kilometers from the port of Łeba, respectively. The projects entail the installation of 100 offshore wind turbine generators in the Polish Baltic Sea.

Brunvoll has signed a contract with Vard for the delivery of a comprehensive propulsion and maneuvering system for Cyan Renewables' new Service Operation Vessel (SOV).The vessel will have the first azimuth propulsion thrusters from Brunvoll with an 8-degree tilted propeller and nozzle, for enhanced performance during dynamic positioning operations.The delivery for the new SOV consists of two azimuth propulsion thrusters, two retractable azimuth thrusters, a tunnel thruster, and…

Cyan Renewables, a portfolio company of Seraya Partners, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Hyundai Asset Management to establish a robust vessel supply with strong local content for South Korea's offshore wind market.Cyan Renewables, an international maritime operator specializing in offshore wind support vessels, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hyundai Asset Management to facilitate the strategic investment in South Korea’s offshore wind supply chain.Under the MoU…

Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler has secured vessel reservation agreements with Equinor and Polenergia joint ventures MFW Bałtyk II and MFW Bałtyk III, marking the first contract between the companies.Both MFW Bałtyk II and MFW Bałtyk III are 50% owned by Equinor and 50% by Polenergia.The aggregate potential value of the contracts to be negotiated during the pendency of the vessel reservation agreements is anticipated to fall within the range of $118-140 million.Operations are scheduled to begin in 2027…

The first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV) was christened during a ceremony on Saturday in the Port of New Orleans.Edison Chouest Offshore's (ECO) recently completed ECO Edison will play an integral part of the operation and maintenance of Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects as the U.S. offshore wind industry continues to ramp up in the U.S. Northeast.Built at ECO in-house shipyards in Louisiana…

Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has signed a contract with an undisclosed Taiwanese customer for the design and construction of two Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs).The customer has appointed VARD to design and construct two CSOVs’ of VARD 4 39 design.This is a new design from VARD, said to be highly versatile all-round platform for sustainable windfarm support operations both as a service vessel for the wind farms and for the building and installation phase.The first vessel will be built…

Colombia's majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol has held talks with big players ahead of a potential bid in an offshore wind auction organized by the country's government, Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said on Wednesday.Roa was speaking during a call with analysts regarding the company's financial results for the first quarter of 2024, where net profit dropped 29% to 4.01 trillion pesos ($1 billion) on the back of lower sales and a re-evaluation of the country's peso.Earlier this week the company told Reuters it was conducting technical…

Van Oord’s Svanen vessel has received a major upgrade which increased its total height to 125 meters, making it one of the largest heavy-lift vessels in the world suitable for handling the next generation of monopile foundations for offshore wind.Svanen grew 25 meters taller with the installation of an A-framed gantry extension, weighing 1,200 tonnes, on top of the vessel.The extension had been constructed by Holland Shipyard. One of the largest cranes in the world was used for the installation at Mammoet Schiedam.Besides the gantry extension…

Dominion Energy has announced that any reports that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project has been delayed are false and grossly misrepresent the facts.“On April 29, anti-wind groups filed a petition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to delay CVOW construction using the same meritless arguments as have already been rejected before by the courts, including last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in relation to an offshore wind project in Massachusetts.

The Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan to sell offshore wind leases in waters off the coasts of Maine and Oregon later this year, saying projects in those regions could one day power a total of 6 million homes.The proposed sales are part of a five-year schedule of offshore wind auctions the Interior Department outlined last week. Putting wind turbines along every U.S. coastline is a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's agenda to decarbonize the electricity grid and combat climate change.In a statement…

German shipowner Windward Offshore has ordered 3D Electric Controlled Motion Compensated (ECMC) cranes from Seaonics for two Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs) being built by Norwegian shipbuilder VARD.The order marks Seaonics' first equipment delivery to Windward Offshore, a company founded by Blue Star Group, Diana Shipping and SeraVerse, in collaboration with and under the leadership of SeaRenergy Group.The first CSOV is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2025…

Bibby Marine has signed a shipbuilding contract with Gondan Shipbuilders to construct what is said to be the world’s first zero-emission, electric commissioning service operation vessel (eCSOV).The eCSOV will be built in Gondan’s Asturias shipyard in Spain and is scheduled to be delivered in 2026.Designed in collaboration with UK-based ship designers Longitude, the eCSOV, will feature a powerful battery system, complemented by dual-fuel methanol engines for emissions-free operations.

Dutch offshore contractor Allseas informs it has secured the contract to perform transport and installation (T&I) of two major substations (so called OSS) for the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea, developed by transmission operator 50Hertz.Located 15 kilometers off the German coast near the Darß peninsula, and with a production capacity of 900 MW, Gennaker will be the largest and most powerful offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea to date.Awarded by the Dutch-Belgian HSI consortium – HSM Offshore Energy…

Sweden-based construction and development company Skanska has signed the final contract award, worth $612 million, for the upgrade of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in New York, which will serve as an offshore wind hub.The project will transform the SBMT into one of the largest dedicated offshore wind ports in the United States and support Empire Wind offshore wind project, which is currently being developed by Equinor off New York.The award will facilitate the demolition of existing buildings…

Norway's Equinor is confident of finding an investor for its planned Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm in New York after a new power off-take agreement improved the project's economics, the company said on Thursday.New York State authorities in February awarded the project a new conditional power purchase contract, replacing a previous deal that was no longer competitive due to rising construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags.Equinor was glad to have received the new contract, which significantly changed the economics of the project, CFO Torgrim Reitan told analysts durin

The end may be in sight, but the race for bigger cranes is still having an impact on offshore wind project efficiency.The industry has already felt the need for upgrading crane lifting capacity on existing offshore wind installation vessels: NOV is upgrading the cranes on Cadeler’s existing O-class wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), and a gantry crane extension will soon make Van Oord’s Svanen one of the largest floating heavy-lift installation vessels.It’s a newbuild phenomenon too. NOV has developed a telescoping leg encircling crane for Shimizu’s GustoMSC-designed WTIV Blue Wind.

While construction productivity issues continue to present immediate challenges for the U.S. offshore wind industry, the long-term outlook remains strong for the nascent sector, according to a recent report from business intelligence and consulting firm Intelatus Global Partners. Intelatus' most recent monthly report on the U.S. offshore wind industry identifies a number of factors hindering offshore construction activities--from weather delays to the scheduling and availability of necessary vessels."Construction vessel productivity to date has been below expectation…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released its latest report in the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff series, describing how the U.S. offshore wind sector is adapting to challenges and poised for continued progress, with a path to deploying over 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2050.The Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind report finds that the sector today is poised for liftoff, enabled by continued efforts to adapt to recent market challenges. The projects that move forward in the next several years will lay the foundation for consistent long-term deployment…

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) have finalized updated regulations for renewable energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The final rule increases certainty and reduces the costs associated with the deployment of offshore wind projects by modernizing regulations, streamlining overly complex processes and removing unnecessary ones…

President Joe Biden's administration unveiled plans on Wednesday to hold up to a dozen auctions of offshore wind development rights through 2028, including four before the end of this year.The schedule will help companies, states and others plan for projects that require massive amounts of investment and infrastructure, the Interior Department said in a statement."Our offshore wind leasing schedule will provide predictability to help developers and communities plan ahead and will…

Danish shipowner CBED has signed a contract with Siemens Gamesa for the first offshore wind project for its new SOV Wind Creation as part of the CBED fleet.With the new walk-to-work project, the SOV joins commissioning an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.The project starts at the end of the second quarter of 2024 and runs for the remainder of the year, thereby securing full activity for Wind Creation until the first quarter of 2025.CBED now has all three vessels in the fleet…