Wind Energy News

Classification society ABS announced it has awarded approval in principle (AIP) to Houston-based CLS Wind for its innovative wind turbine assembly system.The patented elevator style assembly system promises easier, safer and faster wind turbine and nacelle installation and maintenance, without the use of large cranes and heavy-lift barges or vessels.ABS said it completed design reviews based on class and statutory requirements.“This is an exciting milestone for CLS Wind and domestic renewable energy production. ABS is committed to supporting the U.S.

JERA’s Parkwind has installed a vessels charging system, supplied by UK-based MJR Power & Automation, at its Noblewind offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea.The boat charging station system at sea has been designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from maintenance vessels and promote sustainable operations.This system, operational for the first time at the Nobelwind wind farm, enables vessels to use green, locally generated energy directly by connecting to the charging cable while staying in place during charging…

An incident at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind energy project this week that scattered shards of fiberglass across Massachusetts beaches was the latest in a series of failures involving wind turbines built by GE Vernova.At least one other GE Vernova offshore wind turbine came apart this year, at the massive Dogger Bank A project off the UK coast, and several onshore wind turbines in Germany and Sweden have also broken in recent years, according to a Reuters examination of recent…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has completed the construction of bulk carrier Green Winds, equipped with the Wind Challenger hard sail wind power propulsion system.The construction of the 63,896 DWT Ultramax bulk carrier was completed at Oshima Shipbuilding.MOL Group’s company MOL Drybulk will operate this new vessel.This is the second of a total of nine MOL Group vessels that have been or will be equipped with the Wind Challenger and the world's first crane vessel featuring that propulsion…

The US Department of the Interior has approved the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind energy project – the nation’s ninth commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project approved under President Biden’s leadership.The Atlantic Shores South wind project consists of two wind energy facilities — Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and 2 — and associated export cables, which are expected to generate up to 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power close to one million homes with clean renewable energy.The project is approximately 8.7 miles offshore New Jersey at its closest point.

Belgium-based offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has signed preferred supplier agreement with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) for the installation of subsea high-voltage export cable for Fengmiao I offshore wind farm in Taiwan.The subsea cables, about 90 km long, will bring the wind energy generated at the 500 MW Fengmiao I wind farm ashore to Taichung City.Fengmiao I will provide power for about half a million households, and is part of the larger Fengmiao wind project.The wind farm is located approximately 35 km off the coast of Taichung and has a total capacity of 1…

U.S.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Friday announced its approval of Ørsted’s construction and operations plan (COP) for the Sunrise Wind project, marking the final approval needed from the federal agency to move the project toward the start of offshore construction.New York’s largest offshore wind project, the 924 MW Sunrise Wind project will to be located south of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and east of Block Island, R.I.The COP approval outlines the project’s one nautical mile wind turbine spacing…

Singapore-based mooring and anchoring specialist Mooreast Holdings has set out plans to acquire a 98,919 sqm facility from Seatrium’s subsidiary, quadrupling its production capacity in Singapore to serve the floating offshore renewable sector.The SGX Catalist-listed specialist in total mooring solutions catering to the renewable sector has been granted an option to purchase 60 Shipyard Crescent by Seatrium New Energy, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seatrium, a leading provider of engineering solutions to the global offshore…

The United States' Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said it has conducted an inspection at the South Fork Wind project, marking the agency’s first inspection of an operational offshore wind turbine in U.S. waters. Located offshore New York and Rhode Island, 130 megawatt South Fork Wind is the nation’s first commercial wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).“This first wind turbine inspection is critical for industry, BSEE, and the nation as domestic offshore wind transitions from installation and commissioning activities to daily clean power production…

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced the availability of its final Environmental Assessment (EA), which considers possible impacts from issuing leases for potential offshore wind development off the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia coasts, including site assessment and site characterization activities such as geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys.The EA concluded that there would be no significant impacts from lease issuance.Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued on Thursday its final environmental analysis that found "no significant impacts" from leasing Central Atlantic coastal areas for potential offshore wind development off the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia coasts.“BOEM is proud to continue to support the clean energy transition in a responsible manner in the Central Atlantic region,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.“We will continue to work closely with Tribes, our other government partners…

Mainland China's national plan identifies hydrogen as a key element in its low-carbon energy transition strategy. The nation is committed to using hydrogen for decarbonization, with Rystad Energy projecting the installation of approximately 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of hydrogen electrolyzer capacity by the end of the year.This capacity is expected to produce 220,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of green hydrogen, 6-kilotonnes-per-annum (ktpa) more than the rest of the world combined. Under its national plan…

Maritime services company Boluda Towage on Wednesday announced it has acquired France-based Les Abeilles International.Les Abeilles provides maritime rescue response services, with coverage along the French and Northern European coasts. Boluda Towage said the acquisition will enhance its capacity to act in case of offshore spills, with highly qualified equipment and state-of-the-art technology. Boluda Towage will also emerge as a new player in the wind energy markets, supporting the construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms.Through the acquisition…

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released its Final Environmental Assessment (Final EA) of an offshore wind research lease in the Gulf of Maine. In October 2021, the state of Maine requested a research lease for the purpose of researching floating offshore wind energy technology and its deployment. The research site lies 28 nautical miles off the coast of Maine, roughly southeast of Portland, and if developed would comprise up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines capable of generating up to 144 megawatts of renewable energy.

Portugal's new government is committed to developing offshore wind energy and also sees "repowering" onshore wind farms and promoting solar projects, including small-scale ones, as a priority, the environment minister said on Monday.Maria da Graca Carvalho said the government would announce some details of its offshore wind energy policy in July as investors await guidelines on a planned key licensing action announced last year under the previous administration.The previous administration…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and its company MOL Drybulk have announced plans to install wind propulsion systems, including Wind Challenger, on a total of seven newbuilding bulk carriers and multi-purpose vessels.The vessels will be operated by MOL Drybulk. With the latest commitment, MOL Group will have a total of nine Wind Challenger-equipped vessels, bringing the total number of vessels equipped with wind propulsion systems to 11.Among the seven vessels to be equipped with wind propulsion systems…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Electric Power Development (J-Power) have agreed to install the Wind Challenger hard sail propulsion system, which converts wind energy to propulsive force, on the coal carrier Kurotakisan Maru.The installation of the Wind Challenger sail, which transports steaming coal to J-Power's power stations, is schedule for the second half of 2025.This marks the first installation of the Wind Challenger on a vessel currently in service by retrofitting, according to MOL.The Wind Challenger is a device developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding…

Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler has signed an installation vessel reservation agreement with an undisclosed client, valued up to $760 million, for upcoming wind farm installation projects.If all options are exercised during the four-year agreement, it would represent the largest deal in Cadeler's history, with the potential value of the projects to be executed under the agreement estimated to be in the range of $430-760 million (€400-700 million).The agreement secures…

The U.S. departments of Energy (DOE), Interior, Commerce, and Transportation has released a report summarizing their progress toward the goals of the Floating Offshore Wind Shot™, an interagency initiative to drive U.S. leadership in design, deployment, and manufacturing. The report shows that, since the initiative's launch in September 2022, the Biden-Harris administration has dedicated over $950 million in planning, leasing actions, research, development, demonstration, deployment…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released two new studies on offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico.The first study, “Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind Energy Hurricane Risk Assessment” analyzed hurricane risk to wind turbines operating in the Gulf of Mexico. This study concluded that as a minimum, an IEC ”Typhoon Class” wind turbine would be needed for the design of offshore wind turbines in more hurricane prone areas, such as in the Gulf of Mexico.The second study, “Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Opportunities and Challenges in the U.S.

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…

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…