Offshore wind news

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N-Sea picks UK firm to provide ‘world’s first DNV-approved’ cable repair...

According to Osbit, this equipment consists of a novel dual concentric carousel, a tower with loading arms, and an ergonomic power and control cabin. The carousel, which the company says will be “the world’s first DNV-approved” dual concentric modular system for cable repair, can process two cables simultaneously in a split basket arrangement

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Masdar and Iberdrola forge $16bn offshore wind, green hydrogen alliance -...

In addition to this transaction, both companies said would work together to jointly invest in future offshore wind and green hydrogen projects in Europe and other markets. The plans were announced at the UN’s climate change conference COP28 in Dubai.

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Japan's Kansai signs up for Norwegian floating wind project - Splash247

FYI: The Goliat oil field is currently electrified and is supplied with power from shore through a power cable with a capacity of 75 MW.

PS> The “platform” is actually a FPSO of Sevan design: Goliat FPSO - Sevan SSP

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Governments Take Action to Keep Offshore Wind Projects on Track

Many countries are relying on a huge and rapid build-out of offshore wind farms which have high upfront costs but over the longer term can provide cheaper energy than fossil fuel plants.
But some countries’ wind power capacity targets started to look unrealistic this year after developers cancelled projects in the U.S. and Britain because soaring costs made them unprofitable.

In Britain, the world’s second largest offshore wind market behind China, developers can bid for government-backed price guarantees for the electricity produced, called Contracts for Difference (CfDs).
If wholesale prices are lower than the so-called strike price agreed in the CfD, the government makes up the difference, giving project developers long-term revenue certainty. If prices are higher, the developer pays back the difference to the UK government.

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‘Collaborate with Non-Obvious Partners’ – Offshore Energy Industry Talks...

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Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2023 was held in Amsterdam 28 & 29 Nov.

Live from Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2023

Participants and exhibitors from many countries around the world was present.
Here the US stand:

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And the conclusion is:

Offshore Energy 2023 concludes with visionary insights and future glimpses

Everybody had a good time and look forward to OEEC 2024 in Amsterdam 26. & 27. Nov.

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Denmark was first to put wind turbines offshore and is still a world leader in the field. Now the oldest OWF in Danish waters are due for a life extension/upgrade:

Five 20-Year-Old Danish Offshore Wind Farms Seeking Lifetime Extension

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The boom in OWF development give work to yards and fabricators around the world:

Spotted in the port of Nah Trang (Vietnam) monopile parts for Vestas & Siemens
Photo: Cor Vermeer ©

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Equinor, BP cancel Empire Wind 2 power supply deal - Splash247

“Commercial viability is fundamental for ambitious projects of this size and scale. The Empire Wind 2 decision provides the opportunity to reset and develop a stronger and more robust project going forward,” said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas.

Construction work on the 810MW Empire Wind 1 OSS platform started in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the project contract remains unaffected and continues as planned.

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Offshore wind and its ‘interesting times’

The issues we face are by no means over, but we have reasons to be more confident looking at 2024 than we did 3 or so months ago.
Offshore wind will show itself to be the ‘comeback kid’ in 2024, though there are still challenges to be met and worked through, I am sure we eventually look back on 2023 as one of growing pains and nothing more.

PS> This is about the UK market of OWF development.

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The first turbine at Vineyard Wind is supplying power to the grid.

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5MW out of 800 planned. Hope the rest come online in 2024.

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Development of Floating Wind requires new ideas, which again requires realistic testing at scale
Tests at this scale and complexity requires multi-national and multi-discipline cooperation: :

Aker Solutions to test floating-wind power distribution hub - Splash247

Subsea Collector provides an alternative solution to connect multiple wind turbines electrically in a star configuration instead of the traditional daisy chain pattern, allowing for more flexibility in offshore wind farm architecture and construction.
The design also allows for reduced cable length per turbine and park, as well as less vessel time and installation costs. Aker Solutions claimed that initial findings support total cost savings on a 1GW floating wind farm of up to 10%.

10% may not sound like much, but a few million saved here and there soon become “real money”.

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The official announcement:

Copenhagen Offshore Partners | Vineyard Wind 1 Achieves First Power

First transition pieces arrived in New Bedford 7 months ago:

¡FIRST PIECES ARRIVE ON MASSACHUSETTS! Vineyard Wind I

First turbine was installed in Oct. 2023:
https://www.realclearenergy.org/video/2023/10/24/vineyard_wind_announces_installation_of_first_of_62_wind_turbines_988350.html

And now power has been supplied to the grid for the first time:

Vineyard Wind providing power to New England grid for first time

The history and timeline of Vineyard 1 OWF:

Vineyard Wind, country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, is...

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Fred. Olsen Windcarrier Secures Work at Baltica 2 Offshore Wind Farm

The Baltica 2 offshore wind farm is one of the largest offshore wind projects in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.
With a capacity of 1.5 GW, the wind farm will supply renewable energy to 2.4 million households in Poland.

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In Europe some of the OWFs are coming to the end of their useful days and will be demolished to give space for newer, bigger and more efficient turbines.
This open opportunities for those who have the equipment and expertise to step in:

Sif and Ballast Nedam create offshore wind decom JV - Splash247

Although it will take several years before a significant number of wind farms have to be dismantled, Ballast Nedam and Sif are convinced that they must prepare for this expected market with this newly formed JV firm called BNS Decom.

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After a two months journey from the building yard in Singapore:

Giant HVDC Offshore Wind Converter Platform Checks In to Aibel's Yard

After that, Aibel and partner Hitachi Energy will start the final installation of electrical equipment and commissioning.
DolWin Epsilon is expected to leave Haugesund in summer 2024 heading for the German North Sea and delivery to the client, the Dutch-German transmission operator TenneT. Its final destination will be the DolWin cluster in the German North Sea.

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Vestas to build wind turbine blade factory in Poland - Renewable Watch

Vesta’s V236-15.0 MW turbine:

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The “problems” for OWFs doesn’t stop at the beach landing:

UK losing over $1bn a year from wasted offshore wind power - Splash247

As the country’s offshore wind fleet grows from 14 GW today to the 50 GW offshore wind target in 2030, the UK is on track for a fivefold increase in curtailment by 2030, wasting an amount of electricity equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 5m households, Policy Exchange stated.

A good argument for Green Hydrogen production, using what would otherwise be wasted power:

The report determined that electrolysing the UK’s wasted renewable energy could create enough hydrogen to displace two-thirds of the 700,000 tonnes of the UK’s current, carbon-intensive grey hydrogen consumption annually, decarbonise the entirety of the UK’s 7m tonne annual steel manufacturing, meet over 90% of the nation’s sustainable aviation fuel target for 2030, or deliver two-thirds of the electrolyser production capacity target for 2030.