Saturday, July 27, 2024

Rhode Island News

The Emerging U.S. Offshore Wind Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World

Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market -- https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4g
© zozulinskyi/AdobeStock

Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market --  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced one more significant layer of uncertainty upon an already very complicated playing field.

USA: Twelve Offshore Wind R&D Projects Selected for Funding

Illustration only - Credit: s_a_j/AdobeStock

The U.S. National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC) has selected twelve projects for contract negotiation, completing its first solicitation for offshore wind research and development technology projects. The twelve awards totaling $10.3 million will support a variety of research areas, including comprehensive U.S. supply chain analyses, studying the impacts of offshore wind on the electric grid system…

Atlantic Wind Transfers' CTV for Dominion's U.S. Offshore Wind Farm

Image Credit: Atlantic Wind Services

Quonset Point, Rhode Island-based Atlantic Wind Transfers has secured its second long-term O&M Crew Transfer Vessel contract in the U.S.Under the contract Atlantic Wind Transfers will provide offshore marine support services for the Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines to be installed for the first offshore wind project in U.S. federal waters. The project is being developed by Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Energy. Atlantic Wind Transfers was selected by Dominion Energy through a competitive bid process.

Reinauer Group Ramps Up for the Business of Offshore Wind

Photo: Courtesy Senesco

The promise of a vibrant U.S. offshore wind business has been long in the making. While questions remain on timing and pace, there is renewed confidence in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the northeast United States (global pandemic notwithstanding). Investment in the sector had escalated to start 2020, embodied best by Reinauer Group and its WindServe Marine unit, which when combined with its Senesco Marine boatbuilding and logistics hub give its an ‘ A-to-Z…

Are OSVs Fit for Refit for Offshore Wind?

BEFORE: Island Clipper: Island Offshore of Ulsteinvik, Norway, has had success with conversions.  “before” and “after”.  Photos: Island Offshore

While it is generally agreed that the nascent offshore wind energy market in the U.S. will be a newbuild market, there is a repair and conversion possibility for some stacked OSVs.Though estimates on the pace of the offshore wind energy market in the U.S. vary widely, the direction is clear: offshore wind will be a huge marketplace for construction and support vessels to be deployed in U.S. waters over the next decade. The starting point for estimated vessel demand is the raft of projects along the U.S.

Ørsted, US Unis to Study Whales in OWP

Danish developer Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind has signed a research partnership  with Rutgers University, the University of Rhode Island and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to support academic research activities related to offshore wind.The group is set to launch the Ecosystem and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (ECO-PAM) project.Ørsted signed an initial memorandum of understanding with Rutgers University in May 2019 to support academic research activities related to offshore wind.

Anbaric Plans 16GW US Offshore Wind Grid

US offshore transmission developer Anbaric has applied to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to develop a 16GW grid off the north-eastern coast to connect the region's planned offshore wind projects.Named as the Southern New England OceanGrid, the new offshore grid is expected to maximize the region’s offshore wind resources. Once approved by BOEM, the transmission network on the outer continental shelf…

Offshore Wind: a Freshening Breeze?

AdobeStock_CREDIT Yauhen Suslo

July brought news about offshore wind. There was something for everyone: optimism, disappointment, and construction, too.Finally, starting with Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, a joint venture with Danish wind developer Orsted is underway. True, this is a small project – just two wind turbines to be installed 27 miles east of Virginia Beach. But considering all the preceding hurdles, news about Dominion blew in as proverbial, hopeful fresh air.

OP/ED: Offshore Wind

Nicolette Nye, Vice President of Communications and Member Development of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) in Washington, DC.

Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role.

New York Awards Offshore Wind Contracts

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New York on Thursday awarded two major offshore wind contracts to Norway's Equinor and a joint venture between Denmark's Orsted and U.S. utility Eversource, procuring more of the renewable power than it had planned as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions.Cuomo made the announcement at a New York City news conference just before signing into law a landmark climate bill to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

Atlantic Offshore Wind: Favorable Winds for Maritime

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Now that the United States finally can envision steady winds blowing from the Atlantic Seaboard due to a pipeline of offshore wind farms on the horizon, the maritime industry can finally step up and earn some of the benefits. This includes shipbuilding, port construction, and worker training. This article reviews the key developments and forecasts the growth in maritime jobs.The federal and state governments share responsibility for developing offshore wind farms and bringing the wind into the power grid and…

Offshore Wind – A Brief History

Credit: Used with permission of Worldsfairchicago1893.com

Happy 80th birthday Maritime Reporter & Engineering News! Eighty years is a significant publishing and business accomplishment!Birthdays always cause a look back. An 80-year review starts in 1939, the close of one very challenging decade, the start of events still reverberating today. History’s most important history is contained in the last 80 years.Energy dominated every one of those decades. Consider energy use, say, starting after World War II, from 1950 to 1975.

Worley Wins Rhode Island OWF Contract

Denmark's offshore wind giant Ørsted has awarded WorleyParsons a core role in its Revolution Wind project, which will see the design and installation of a 700-megawatt offshore wind farm, located 15 kilometers south of the Rhode Island coast.The project, which commenced in March 2019, with installation expected in 2022, will see Worley complete the engineering and design of two offshore wind topside substations.For the project…

Shutdown Risks Delays to US Energy Initiatives

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The partial government shutdown is increasing the chances of delays in U.S. energy initiatives from the release of President Donald Trump's proposed offshore drilling plan to allowing higher levels of ethanol in gasoline during summer months, energy industry groups said on Friday.The U.S. Department of Interior had been expected to release its highly anticipated 2019 to 2024 offshore oil and gas drilling plan in early January.The Trump administration has made opening up greater areas to offshore drilling…

Ørsted Tapped for Connecticut Offshore Wind Farm

© Dawid S Swierczek / Adobe Stock

Denmark based Ørsted has been selected by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to move forward to negotiate a fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state’s power distribution companies for 0.42TWh (terawatt hours) per year equivalent to 100MW offshore wind capacity. Subject to contract signing and Ørsted’s final investment decision (FID), construction on the Revolution Wind project is expected to start in 2022…

Europeans Sweep Record US Offshore Wind Auction

(Image: BOEM)

A U.S. government auction for three wind leases off the coast of Massachusetts ended on Friday with record-setting bids totaling more than $400 million from European energy giants including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Equinor ASA.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the sale's three winners - Equinor Wind US LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Vineyard Wind LLC, at the conclusion of the two-day sale…

Ørsted Concludes Deepwater Wind Acquisition

Danish wind energy giant Orsted completed its previously announced takeover of Deepwater Wind from D.E. Shaw group in a deal valued at $510 million.The company closed the transaction of acquiring 100% of equity stake held by D.E. Shaw group in Deepwater Wind, which was announced in October this year, after securing approval from the US competition authorities.The new combined organization—Ørsted US Offshore Wind—will…

U.S. Announces Major Offshore Wind Developments

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced three major developments in American offshore wind energy spanning from coast to coast.The Secretary spoke at the American Wind Energy Association’s Offshore Wind Conference and announced 1.) much-anticipated wind auction in federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts; 2.) the environmental review of a proposed wind project offshore Rhode Island; and 3.) the next…

Orsted Expands US Business with $510 Mln Acquisition

(Photo: Orsted)

Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, said on Monday it would buy U.S.-based Deepwater Wind LLC for $510 million as part of its strategy to expand in a major growth market.The still small U.S. offshore wind sector is seen as one of the most important markets outside the core European region, where subsidies that have underpinned the industry since the early 1990s are starting to be wound back.Deepwater Wind, the builder of the only operating U.S.

Trump Effort to Lift U.S. Offshore Wind Sector Sparks Interest

© zentilia / Adobe Stock

The Trump administration wants to fire up development of the U.S. offshore wind industry by streamlining permitting and carving out vast areas off the coast for leasing - part of its 'America First' policy to boost domestic energy production and jobs.The Europeans have taken note.The drive to open America's offshore wind industry has attracted Europe's biggest renewable energy companies, who see the U.S. East Coast as a new frontier after years of success across the Atlantic.Less experienced U.S.