Iberdrola Gets Portugese Nod for Wind Farm Start
Iberdrola has received a production license from the Portuguese Directorate-General for Energy and Geology of Portugal (DGEG), taking another step towards the construction of the largest wind farm in Portugal.Located in the districts of Vila Real and Braga, in northern Portugal, with a total investment of around €350 million, this project reinforces Iberdrola's commitment to environmental goals, being the first to combine wind and hydro energy. This implies sharing of the connection point and the evacuation line of electricity produced…
Vard Completes Conversion of IT Infinity PSV to Cable Laying Vessel
Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has delivered IT Infinity vessel to I.T. International Telecom Marine (IT), after completing its conversion from Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) to specialized Cable Laying Vessel (CLV).Built at Vard Brattvaag and delivered to Volstad Maritime in 2008 as the Volstad Princess, the vessel has changed ownership several times.SD Standard Drilling acquired the ship in 2017, before it was sold to IT in 2021 and renamed IT Infinity.In 2024, the vessel returned to VARD for an extensive conversion…
Poland to Boost Offshore Wind, Energy Security
Poland is planning to assign new areas for offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea and is drafting additional measures to boost the security of its critical energy infrastructure, government officials said on Wednesday."Maritime offices will submit analyses any moment, which will give grounds to make a decision on designating new areas for offshore wind farms," Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchewka told an industry conference.Poland is boosting its offshore ambitions in the Baltic Sea…
Orsted Addresses Swedish Baltic Sea Wind Concerns
Orsted CEO assures Sweden that the offshore wind industry has solutions that would address defense concerns. At issue: Sweden's rejection of a proposed 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said on Monday that building wind farms in the Baltic Sea would pose defense risks, by making it harder to detect and shoot down missiles. As Europe turns to renewable sources to diversify energy supplies away from Russian oil and gas, concerns have also…
Tyra II Production Successfully Restarted
The Tyra Redevelopment Project (Tyra II) has restarted production. At plateau, the Tyra hub will produce 5.7 million cubic meters of gas and 22,000 barrels of condensate per day.TotalEnergies operates the Tyra field on behalf of Danish Underground Consortium, a partnership between TotalEnergies (43.2%), BlueNord (36.8%) and Nordsøfonden (20%).The Tyra Redevelopment Project is, to date, the largest project carried out on Danish Continental Shelf with the fabrication and installation of eight new platform topsides.
Fratelli Cosulich Inks Charter Deal for LNG Bunkering Vessel
Italian shipowner Fratelli Cosulich and PETCO Trading Labuan Company Limited (PTLCL), a trading arm of Malaysian energy company Petronas, have signed a two-year charter agreement for Paolina Cosulich LNG bunker barge.Operating under PTLCL, a global energy solutions provider in key bunker hubs with network in Southeast Asia, Japan, Middle East and South Africa, Paolina Cosulich will cater to the increasing demand for LNG as bunker fuel in the Straits.Fratelli Cosulich’s latest LNG bunger barge features a cargo capacity of 8…
Floating Wind Leasing Round in the Celtic Sea
The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has set out further details of a new leasing round for three commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England. The projects have the potential to deliver enough clean, renewable energy for more than four million homes.In one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world, sites totalling 4.5GW of floating wind off the coast of South Wales and South West England will be leased across three agreed areas of the Celtic Sea.
MODEC’s FPSO Anita Garibaldi MV33 Achieves First Oil in Brazil
Japan's MODEC said its FPSO Anita Garibaldi MV33 has achieved first oil production for Petrobras at the Marlim field in the Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil.The FPSO is leased on a 25-year time charter contract to the state-owned Brazilian energy company—one of MODEC's longest charters to date.The FPSO is the 16th FPSO/FSO vessel that MODEC has delivered to the Brazilian oil and gas sector. MODEC was responsible for its engineering, procurement, construction, and mobilization, including topsides processing equipment as well as hull and marine systems.
Fred. Olsen 1848 Introduces Floating Solar Array
Fred. Olsen 1848 has introduced near and offshore floating technology it has named BOLETTE.The company says it has overcome the main challenge for floating solar, particularly in marine environments: how to handle wave loads in combination with wind.BOLETTE achieves this by allowing the PV modules to move freely and independently within a rope mesh, distributing the forces to the mooring system.BOLETTE enters the market at an advanced technological stage, and with a final tank test successfully completed. Fred. Olsen 1848 will install a 150kW pilot in Norway during summer 2023.
Markets: The Challenges of Developing Floating Wind at Scale
Tens of gigawatts of floating wind projects are slated for development in this and the next decade, but many obstacles remain.There has been much focus on the emerging floating wind market of late.The U.K. is forging ahead with commercial scale floating wind developments through the Scotwind and INTOG awards of at least 24 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind capacity representing close to 1,500 floating turbines that will come on stream through 2030. And this will be soon followed by the award of at least 4 GW of capacity through the Celtic Sea floating wind auctions. The U.S.
Offshore Wind: Floating Wind is the Future
$3 billion forecast to be invested in new anchor handlers to meet floating wind demand.Floating wind is an emerging technology. Currently being tested in small scale demonstration and pilot projects, global floating wind commissioned capacity at the end of 2022 was less than 200 MW. By 2030, close to 11 GW of commercial scale wind farms are planned to be commissioned in Europe and the Asia Pacific Region. 2030-2035 will see a period a high commissioning activity as the USA joins established European and Asia Pacific markets.
German Cabinet OKs Emergency Measures to Fast-track Renewables Expansion
Germany's cabinet on Monday approved measures to accelerate the expansion of wind and solar power by simplifying licensing and setting deadlines for permitting procedures, the economy ministry said.Berlin aims to generate 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, but red tape has been hampering Germany's efforts to meet that goal.The cabinet adopted a package of European Union emergency regulations, agreed last year, to speed up wind and solar permits and clarify the environmental and grid permit deadlines that approving authorities must meet for such projects.The package of measures, which
Britain Produced Record Amount of Wind Power in 2022
Britain’s wind farms contributed a record 26.8% of the country’s electricity in 2022 although gas-fired power plants remained the biggest source of power, National Grid data showed on Friday.Britain has a target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 which will require a huge scale-up of renewable power generation such as wind and solar.The share of wind power in Britain’s electricity mix last year was up from 21.8% in 2021, the data showed, as more wind projects came online. The world’s largest offshore wind farm…
2023 Outlook: The Offshore Service Vessel Market
The market for offshore support vessels has been through a rather rough few years since offshore exploration and production activity took a nose-dive in 2015 following the oil price crash the year before.The newbuild order boom that came with the ever-greener pastures imagined in the industry ensured that not only was the supply- and demand balance off by an insurmountable degree in the years that followed, but at its peak, in 2017, the oversupply of anchor handling tug supply…
New Study to Look at Irish Ports and Offshore Wind
Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG), a specialist engineering consultant, is undertaking an EU-wide study to determine potential funding models to improve Irish port infrastructure to the scale required to achieve the Government target of 7 GW of offshore wind in Irish waters by 2030. It follows GDG’s recent National Ports Study, conducted on behalf of Wind Energy Ireland, which found that only one out of 13 major ports on the island of Ireland is ready to be used for constructing offshore wind farms.
Miros Wavex Tapped to Support Saint Brieuc Offshore Wind Project
Miros’ dry-mounted Wavex was selected by EQUANS to collect operation-critical wave and current data on the offshore substation for the Saint-Brieuc Offshore Wind Farm, Iberdrola's first large-scale and flagship offshore wind power project in Brittany, France. Once it becomes operational in 2023, the windfarm will have a total installed capacity of 496 megawatts (MW), capable of generating enough clean energy for 835,000 people.Wavex is a virtual sensor designed for accurate wave and current measurements…
VIDEO: One-on-One with Pieter van Oord, CEO, Van Oord
Pieter van Oord is candid in discussing the future growth of his storied company’s activities in offshore wind with specific insights on challenging current jobs, Van Oord’s recent order of a massive and groundbreaking Wind Turbine Installation Vessel, and the company’s future working in the United States.Pieter, to start, can you give a ‘By the Numbers’ look at your company today using the metrics of your choice?Well, 2021 was a disappointing year for us. As we said in our annual report…
Renewable Energy: First Floating Tidal Power Delivered to Nova Scotia Grid
Sustainable Marine said it has successfully harnessed the tidal currents in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, delivering the first floating in-stream tidal power to Nova Scotia’s grid.Nova Scotia has allocated circa 30MW of capacity via demonstration permits and berths at FORCE (Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy) for developers to demonstrate their energy generation prowess. “Achieving ‘first power’ to the grid from our new platform in Grand Passage signals a real inflection point for our business,” said Jason Hayman, CEO, Sustainable Marine.
Bardex Mooring Tensioning System Installed in GOM
BP’s latest floating production facility, ARGOS, has been successfully moored in the US Gulf of Mexico. The mooring tensioning system includes Bardex Corporation Chain Jacks used to haul in and tighten 12 lines of 171mm R4S top chain. Bardex mooring chain jacks were the first to be used for deep water floating production units since the early 1990s.
What to Expect from the US Offshore Wind Market This Year
After many false starts, the U.S. offshore wind market is building strong roots for a solid future. But as the market develops from its current northeast and mid-Atlantic niche new opportunities and challenges arise.The U.S. offshore wind market has long been seen as not delivering on its significant potential. With an offshore wind technical potential of more than double that of the country’s total annual electricity sales, the U.S. has long been seen as having the potential to be a major player in the global offshore wind market.
