US Offshore Wind Will Fall Short of Biden's 2030 Goal, Analysis Says
The United States will fall far short of the Biden administration's 2030 offshore wind goal but will catch up quickly in the following years, according to an analysis by an industry group published on Tuesday.The American Clean Power Association (ACP) projected there will be about 14 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity along U.S. coastlines by 2030. That compares with a goal of 30 GW that President Joe Biden's administration laid out in 2021 as it sought to jumpstart the…
Uncertainty Clouds US Offshore Wind in the Near Term
U.S. offshore wind aspirations, both federal and state, have resulted in excitement about the potential opportunity of a large U.S. offshore wind market. But uncertainty, initially financially driven and increasingly a result of political uncertainty, is leading us into a challenging period, which will undoubtedly impact short-term activity, according to the latest market report from Intelatus Global Partners. A darkening cloud for the U.S. wind industry is the forthcoming presidential elections…
U.S. Shipbuilding Sector in Focus: Crew Transfer Vessels
A fleet of Jones Act compliant crew transfer vessels is growing in stride with the United States’ burgeoning offshore wind industry.When the United Sates’ first purpose-built crew transfer vessel (CTV), Atlantic Pioneer, was delivered in 2016, the country’s offshore wind industry was just getting off the ground. In the years that followed, the industry has been building up—perhaps slower than expected at times—but today is moving forward in earnest.Coinciding with this build-up is the growth of a fleet of Jones Act qualified vessels…
US Announces Atlantic Offshore Wind Lease Sale for August
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Ørsted's Sunrise Wind Project Gets Final Approval
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…
BSEE Conducts First Offshore Wind Turbine Inspection
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…
BOEM Clears Way for Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Leases
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…
New York Finalizes Offshore Wind Contracts for Equinor, Orsted Projects
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said on Tuesday it had finalized contracts for Equinor's Empire Wind 1 and Orsted's and Eversource's Sunrise Wind offshore wind projects.NYSERDA in February awarded conditional contracts to buy electricity from two proposed offshore wind projects under a program meant to support the embattled industry and keep the state's ambitious clean energy goals on track.The state at the time selected the Empire Wind 1 project from Norway's Equinor and the Sunrise Wind facility being developed by Denmark's Orsted and U.S.
Orsted, New Jersey Reach Settlement Over Canceled Offshore Wind Farms
New Jersey officials said the state will receive $125 million from a legal settlement with Denmark's Orsted ORSTED.CO over the company's cancellation last year of two offshore wind farm projects.The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities said in a statement that the funds will be used for investments in wind component manufacturing facilities and wind farms.The settlement comes nearly seven months after Orsted said it would stop developing the Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects off the coast of New Jersey as it struggled with soaring costs and supply chain delays.The cancellations triggered an angry re
Outlook ‘Surprisingly Positive’ for US Offshore Wind
It certainly has been an active few months in the U.S. offshore wind space.Despite some ongoing issues, the fundamentals are looking surprisingly positive in the context of what has taken place over the last 12 months. In fact, the key concern for developers and the supply chain will be any negative impacts to offshore wind development arising from the forthcoming Presidential elections.So why are we so positive?The foundation of optimism is found in the federal plans to offer leases this year containing a minimum 22 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 16 sites located in the Central Atlantic…
Maryland Sets Course for Offshore Wind Energy Expansion
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…
Foundation Installs Kick Off at Dogger Bank B
Foundation 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…
Cadeler Wins Wind Turbine Install Work in the Polish Baltic Sea
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.
Eco Edison: First US-built SOV Christened
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…
US Proposes Offshore Wind Auctions Off Oregon and Maine Coasts
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…
Pioneering Spirit Booked for Gennaker Substation Installs
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…
Navigation and Wind Farms: Competing Ocean Uses Raise Existential Questions
“Wind Turbines: The Bigger, the Better” -USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, August 24, 2023Last December the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed sale notice regarding new development areas for utility scale wind projects in the central Atlantic Ocean. The notice includes an upfront issue: the need to mitigate conflicts with U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) activities. BOEM explains that in certain areas the Air Force has set an airspace floor of 1,000 feet above sea level and the Air Force asked BOEM to keep structures below that height.
New York Not Moving Forward With Three Offshore Wind Farms
New York State on Friday stalled three major offshore wind-energy projects after General Electric Vernova GE.N changed the turbine design, which the state said "materially altered" the plans.New York provisionally approved the projects in October 2023. They are Attentive Energy One being developed by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation; Community Offshore Wind, which is backed by RWE and National Grid Ventures; and Vineyard Offshore's Excelsior Wind.But since then…
New CSOV Delivered to Rem Offshore
Shipbuilder Vard announced it has delivered a new commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) to Norway's Rem Offshore.The vessel—NB 948, to be named Rem Wind—was constructed at Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam and handed over one month before contractual delivery date, the builder said.Tailor-made for worldwide services and maintenance operations at offshore wind farms, the 85-meter-long vessel is of VARD 4 19 design with a 19.5-meter beam, accommodation for 120 people, a height-adjustable motion-compensated gangway with elevators…
First US-built WTIV Charybdis Launched
The United States' first Jones Act-compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), Charybdis, was launched into the water at the Seatrium AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas.The 472-foot WTIV—the first and only to be constructed in the U.S.—is being built for Blue Ocean Energy Marine, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, who announced the milestone on Monday. Welding of the ship's hull and commissioning of the vessel's four legs and related jacking system has been completed…
Arctia to Map Offshore Wind Area in Norway
Arctia Meritaito, a subsidiary of Finland's Arctia, announced it has been awarded a contract by the Norwegian Mapping Authority to perform hydrographic seabed surveying as part of the 2024 Mareano program.Under its contract from the Norwegian Mapping Authority's Hydrographic Service (NHS), Arctia Meritaito will survey approximately 1,900 square kilometers with multibeam echosounder and sub bottom profiler in potential offshore wind area Sørvest F in the North Sea.The surveys will be conducted by the multipurpose research vessel Pohjanmeri.
Biden Administration Approves Eighth US Offshore Wind Project
The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday approved the country's eighth commercial-scale offshore wind project, which will be built off the coast of Massachusetts, bringing online electricity to power more than 900,000 homes.The approval for Avangrid’s New England Wind Project brings the U.S. one-third of the way to President Joe Biden's goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030—a key part of the president's climate change agenda.The project comes just a week after the Interior Department approved another offshore wind project, Orsted's Sunrise Wind, in New York.
Astilleros Balenciaga Delivers New SOV for Edda Wind
Norway-based Edda Wind on Tuesday announced it has taken delivery of a newly built service operation vessel (SOV) from Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Balenciaga.The vessel, C416—to be renamed Edda Goelo at a later stage—was delivered on March 26. It will be the permanent vessel in the contract with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy at the Saint-Brieuc wind farm in France, running until Q2 2028. C416 is of Salt 0358 design and the sister vessel of Edda Brint, delivered from Astilleros Balenciaga in October 2022.
