Østensjø Rederi has ordered four commissioning service operation vessels (CSOV) to meet increasing demand in the offshore wind market in NW Europe and beyond:
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i thought i just read about a big public backlash against wind power in Norway? I am a fisherman from New England,currently working in the oil patch off Guyana,. They are planning the next few giant wind farms off the NE coast… All built by foreign companies,using foreign components,and very fuzzy math, paid for by US rate and tax payers… There is a big pushback by American fisherman… I dont know why they dont plaster the things on mountain tops and along highways instead of offshore… The companies are pushing them as fast as they can because the only money in it for them is in tax subsidies…
The backlash against wind farms in Norway was about windmills placed on mountains and low islands as close to the open sea as possible. (The normal NIMBY thing)
Offshore wind farm off Norway will have to floating, since there are very little shallow waters along the coast. The first such experimental windmill was installed many years ago and proved the feasibility. Now a larger floating wind farm has been installed off Scotland and more will be installed near oil and gas field in the North Sea to supply power to the installations there.
Large ground supported wind farm have been installed off Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and UK especially and it has become a big business for both engineering and maritime industries.
Besides, both the oil & gas fields and the wind farms with their safety zones has proven heavens for fish and other commercial marine species to grow up and migrate to fishing grounds where they can be caught. I think the worries that this development would destroy the environment and livelihood of fishermen has been largely proven false.
Lastly; why offshore rather than onshore? Because the wind are generally stronger and more steady offshore and because it is possible to install much bigger and more efficient windmills offshore. The idea that it is more expensive has also proven wrong, in terms of cost per installed mW. The newer wind farms are constructed without the need for any subsidies to be profitable. It is now cheaper than gas and even coal per kWh.
There is a lot of info available for those who are interested in actually knowing the facts, not just the negative beliefs that is spread freely and widely by people with no real knowledge.
Try this one for starters: https://www.windpowermonthly.com/
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maybe they dont rely on subsidies in Europe where electricity is 3x as much as in the states, average price in states per KWH IS around 13 cents… it doesnt make any sense financially unless the feds kick in, AND huge rate increases are put on rate payers in contracts to buy the power… and the fishing around the BI wind farms has gone to shit… some rod and reel guys like them but all the codfish and flats that were around them are just gone… and the next farms they want are 100 times bigger… and nobody talks about maintaining them, the cable from Block island farm already had to be reburied to a cost of ten million bucks after just 2 years, or decommissioning them…
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Maybe the cod moved on because they like colder waters?
I presume the BI should be RI? If so that is the very start of Offshore wind in US, so mistakes are made. If you are willing to learn from the mistakes made by others a lot can be gained. Europe have a couple of decades of experience, while US has a few years from one small wind farm off RI.
If you look at cost per kWh to consumers at the moment you are correct, but a lot of that is taxes in case of Europe :
China is the cheapest on this list, yet they are building out more wind, solar and hydro power than anybody else.
The cost per installed mWh is the main comparison for new power plants.
Once installed there is not much cost for wind power, but a lot even for coal or gas powered ones.
The other, maybe MAIN, consideration in Europe and China is the soot and carbon emission from the various types of plants, not only the costs.
(The first for the local environment and the second for global warming)
Floating wind farms to be installed off South Korea:
https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1663006/edpr-aker-solutions-plan-500mw-south-korean-floater
The first floating windmill of a design different from that used off Scotland has been towed out from a yard in Spain. To be installed offshore Portugal:
No order yet, by Vard has designed a SOV with the North American market in mind:
Vard has got the first order for their SOV design.
No, not from a US client, but from Taiwan:
PS> The SOV will be built at Vard’s yard in Vung Tau, Vietnam according to a report in smp.no:
Fred Olsen Windcarrier has obtained a contract to supply a vessel for geotechnical work on the Thor wind farm off Denmark:
They will be using be using the US built (and flagged??) liftboat Jill for the job.
Good question!
There’s 4 SOV contracts that I have counted:
Aeolus
Bernard Schulte/Mid Ocean
Foss/Ostensjo
Orsted/Reinauer
Surprised no one from the gulf is bidding. Guess they have all their capital cut off. I know Bordelon was on the east coast doing fuel removal from WW2 wrecks. Fugro Enterprise and only a couple other small American flagged survey vessels have been working.
Fred Olsen don’t say about the flag:
But this may indicate that they are Americans (at least in part):
Seacor still have her down as US flag, however:
Generally speaking, everytime there are major drops in price of oil, the offshore wind and LNG projects seem to get pushed down the road a little further. I’ll be curious to see if there will be any delays to any east coast projects, many already well into contract so not as easy as some of the speculation projects or wind farm sites.
Staying updated with the Orsted Project off the coast of Atlantic city. Good to see some American flagged ships in the mix. But that’s a picture of the Fugro Enterprise I believe? Not the Brasilis.
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Got any links for the sites you’re keeping track at.
Not really. I keep up with the Orsted project off New Jersey because it is something I hope to fish on one day. Rutgers does an outreach program to educate citizens on fisheries science and stewardship so that’s how i got this email. You can probably sign up for updates on specific projects.
Thanks.
Yet another foreign company performing survey work on the east coast…
Don’t remember the name of the outfit gearing up for wind farm off of Virginia , they have leased space at one of the Portsmouth Terminals for a staging area. To be loading barges of equipment going from that point via Bay Bridge tunnel.A much smaller staging area just off Lynnhaven Inlet Bridge for small crew/supply boats.
Maybe this is the reason?:
Geophysical Survey is performed with equipment, not with flag.
PS> Are you suggesting that US flag vessels should not be allowed to work anywhere outside US waters?
The company that is going to use the property is allegedly granting appx 40 million to update property at PIT for their usage. That is not happening immediatly, but next year hopefully.