Volatility Hits Tanker Market: Concordia
The tanker shipping market continued to be volatile during the first quarter of 2019, but at a higher level than in the corresponding quarter the previous year, said Concordia Maritime.After the sharp rise at the end of 2018, some tanker market segments have now slowed down again, said the international tanker shipping company. The main reason for this is the decision by OPEC and other major oil producers to cut production at the end of 2018 and start of 2019…
Europe Invests $30bln in Wind in 2018
Europe invested a total of EUR27bn (USD 30.34bln) in new wind farms in 2018, allowing it finance a record amount of new wind energy capacity, according to European trade body WindEurope.Europe invested EUR 10.3 billion in new offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 4.2GW in 2018.Investments in new offshore wind projects increased by 37% from 2017 but were still some way off the record EUR 18.2 billion seen in 2016, according to the report.
Europe Offshore Fleet has 105 Wind Farms
There are now 189 GW of wind energy in Europe, making up 14% of the EU’s power demand. 18.5 GW of this is in Europe’s offshore fleet, whose 105 wind farms and 4,500 turbines now provide 40,000 jobs.According to WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson, this is set to grow.Offshore wind has a proven record of rejuvenating former industrial towns in Europe. Dickson gave the UK example of the Green Port in Hull, where offshore wind has brought €400m in investment and directly created 1…
Nord Stream 2 Expecting Denmark Approval
The Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline company expects to receive approval from Danish authorities for a 180-km stretch of the pipeline under the Baltic Sea in time to finish the pipeline by the end of 2019 as planned, a spokesman said on Monday.Nord Stream 2 spokesman Jens Mueller said there was "good reason" to believe Danish authorities would process a second proposal submitted by the project in August 2018 within eight to 12 months…
Shell Bids to Build Dutch Offshore Wind Farms
Royal Dutch Shell has teamed up with energy company Eneco and builder Van Oord in a bid to build two wind farms in the Dutch part of the North Sea, the companies said on Wednesday.The tender for the wind farms, with total capacity of 750 megawatts (MW), is open until March 14 for bids that require no subsidies on electricity prices.The Dutch were among the first to offer a 'zero subsidy' tender for wind power in 2017, with Sweden's Vattenfall winning the right to build a 700 MW wind farm without price support.Vattenfall has
Vattenfall Bids for 750 MW Dutch Offshore Wind
European energy company Vattenfall has decided to participate in the 750 MW offshore wind tender for Hollandse Kust Zuid 3 & 4, in the Dutch part of the North Sea.The yearly production is estimated to provide electricity to around 1.3 million Dutch households and thereby strengthen Vattenfall´s ambition for a fossil free living within one generation for our customers."Vattenfall is strongly committed to the Dutch market.
Wind Provides 14% of European Electricity
Wind energy provided 14% of the European Union’s electricity last year, according to figures published by the region’s wind energy trade body, WindEurope, with 11.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity added, including 2.65 GW of offshore wind. Continued growth in capacity and the use of more powerful turbines are helping to drive up wind’s share in the electricity mix. Denmark had the highest share of wind in its electricity last year (41%) followed by Ireland (28%) and Portugal (24%).
Polaris Bunkered in Finland
The world’s first LNG-fueled icebreaker, Polaris, received liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel in January from the Pori LNG import terminal and in February from the Manga LNG terminal located in the Röyttä Harbor in Tornio, Finland. The commercial use of the Tornio import terminal begins this year, said a press release from Nordic gas company Gasum.The gas and fuel market of Northern Finland will diversify as the commercial use of the Tornio import terminal begins this year.
Europe Offshore Wind Capacity Up 18% in 2018
Europe installed a total of 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore wind capacity in 2018, an 18% increase which takes the region to a total capacity of 18.5 GW.According to new figures published this week by the region’s wind energy trade body, WindEurope, 15 new offshore wind farms came on line. The UK and Germany accounted for 85% of the new capacity: 1.3 GW and 969 MW respectively.Europe now has 105 offshore wind farms across 11 countries with a total capacity of 18.5 GW.
'Frog's Leg' Proves Bountiful for Aker BP
Aker BP finds up to 153 million barrels of oil equivalents in North SeaAker BP has discovered an oil and gas reservoir while drilling near its Alvheim field in the North Sea.Known as Froskelaar (Frog's Leg) Main, the reservoir is estimated to hold between 45 million and 153 million barrels of oil equivalents, and may straddle Norway's maritime border with Britain."The drilling operation will continue, and a comprehensive data collection program will be performed to determine the size and quality of the discovery…
Aker BP Makes North Sea Find
Aker BP has discovered an oil and gas reservoir while drilling near its Alvheim field in the North Sea, the Norwegian firm said on Monday.Known as Froskelaar (Frog's Leg) Main, the reservoir is estimated to hold between 45 million and 153 million barrels of oil equivalents, and may straddle Norway's maritime border with Britain, the company added."The drilling operation will continue, and a comprehensive data collection program will be performed to determine the size and quality of the discovery," Aker BP said in a statement
Equinor Stops Drilling Arctic Well After Incident
Norway's Equinor has put on hold the drilling of a key exploration well in the Barents Sea after a well incident last week, the company said on Monday.The incident occurred when Seadrill's rig West Hercules was drilling the Gjoekaasen well offshore Norway .The so-called "high-risk, high-impact" well could hold between 26 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalents, one of Equinor's partners, Aker BP, said last week.Other…
Norway Awards Record Number of Exploration Blocks
Norway awarded a record 83 blocks to explore for petroleum resources in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, in a sign of continuing interest from oil companies in the country's oil sector, the energy ministry said on Tuesday.A lack of large discoveries on the shelf has prompted concerns that Norway's top industry, which employs about 170,000 people directly and indirectly, could fall into decline.The government…
ScanOcean, Neste Pact for Low-Sulfur Bunker Fuel
Finland oil refining and marketing company Neste Corporation and Swedish bunker and marine fuels provider ScanOcean AB enter into cooperation in delivering Neste’s low-sulfur marine fuel. ScanOcean AB is now an official reseller for Neste’s 0.1% marine fuel products on the East Coast of Sweden. The low-sulfur marine fuel is one of Neste’s high quality products."The re-seller partnership with ScanOcean is part of our marine…
Gasum Consolidates Nordic LNG Market
The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) company Skangas is renamed Gasum (See MarineLink report ). The Scandinavian distributor and producer of small-scale LNG claimed that the name change will strengthen the Gasum brand in the Nordic countries and the position of Gasum as the leading provider of LNG in the region. Gasum operates under one strong brand in the Nordic countries.The energy company Gasum increased its shareholding in Skangas from 70% to 100% in October 2018.
Offshore Wind: SeaTwirl Secures Funding
Swedish floating wind turbine player SeaTwirl has joined the Ocean Energy Scale-Up Alliance (OESA) that has been granted funding from the Interreg North Sea Region.SeaTwirl is a vertical floating wind turbine that was tested off the west coast of Sweden in 2011. It is also the name of the company that produces the turbine.OESA, which is coordinated by the Dutch Marine Energy Center, has been granted funding from Interreg…
Gasum to Create Finland's Second Largest Biogas Plant by Late 2019
Finnish state-owned gas firm Gasum plans to expand the processing capacity of its biogas plant in the city of Turku, making it the second largest such facility in the country, the firm said on Wednesday.As a result of the expansion, which is scheduled to be completed by September 2019, the plant will be able to produce some 60 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of biogas annually, Gasum said, around double its current levels.Increasing…
Swedegas Renewable Gas Bunkering at Gothenburg Port
Swedegas, the owner of the gas grid in Sweden, conducted the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operation at its new facility at the Port of Gothenburg.Gothenburg-based shipping company Terntank was the very first operator to take on LNG at a new bunkering facility, said the Swedish owner and operator of the high-pressure gas grid.Not only liquefied natural gas, LNG, but also liquefied biogas, LBG, it added.“Being able to offer this unique opportunity represents a major breakthrough…
Offshore Platforms Controlled from Land
Aker BP said it will become the first oil company in Norway to control operations of a permanently manned offshore platform from land from next year.Operating platforms remotely can be done with fewer staff than doing it offshore and other oil companies are also looking to do so to reduce production costs.Aker BP said Norway's oil safety watchdog on Wednesday approved the company's plans to switch controls at its Ivar Aasen…
HH Ferries Launches Battery-powered Passenger Vessels
Swedish HH Ferries Group has inaugurated the two ferries Aurora and Tycho Brahe as the world’s largest battery-powered passenger ferries on the route between Helsingborg, Sweden and Helsingör, Denmark.A press release from the owner of the ferry route which is marketed under the trademark Scandlines Helsingborg-Helsingör quoted Johan Röstin, CEO as saying: “Today’s official inauguration marks a milestone for HH Ferries Group’s green strategy.
