Offshore wind expands in Europe, Japan and, potentially, in the Northeast U.S.

 

 

 

Vattenfall offshore wind farm to use 140 new 11 MW Siemens Gamesa turbines

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE, Zamudio, Vizcaya, Spain) and Vattenfall (Solna, Sweden) extend turbine supply to cover the entire Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) wind farm zone, making this the largest turbine collaboration to date for Vattenfall, which is the launch customer for Siemens Gamesa’s most powerful 11-megawatt offshore wind turbine. These HKZ turbines, to be installed by 2022 and fully operational by 2023, will supply up to three million Dutch households with power and enable the world’s first subsidy-free offshore wind power project.

The HKZ wind farm zone is planned to be fitted with approximately 140 units of SGRE’s upgraded version of its Direct Drive offshore wind turbine, which now features the ability to reach a capacity of 11 megawatts. This capacity upgrade, available under certain site conditions, means that fewer turbines are needed to generate the same amount of energy. This will reduce installation, operations and maintenance costs and thereby contribute to further reductions in Levelized Cost of Energy for offshore wind. SGRE has over 3,490 offshore wind turbines in operation globally, as of Sept. 2019, with a combined capacity of more than 15.2 gigawatts.

Vattenfall is a leading energy company owned by the Swedish state with operations mainly in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and the U.K. It has committed to make fossil-free living possible within one generation, and already inaugurated in Aug. 2019 the largest Scandinavian offshore wind farm, Horns Rev 3. With 49 wind turbines installed 25-40 kilometers off Denmark’s west coast in the North Sea, Horns Rev will increase Danish wind power production by 12%, enough to cover the yearly consumption of 425,000 Danish households.

 

 

 

 

 

MHI Vestas turbines to power French floating offshore power project plus Japanese wind farm

Eoliennes Flottantes du golfe du Lion (EFGL) will use three MHI Vestas (Aarhus, Denmark) V164-10.0 megawatt turbines for a 30-megawatt pilot project 16 kilometers off the coast of Leucate and Le Barcares in southern France. Developed by a consortium including Engie and EDP Renewables, the Vestas turbines will sit atop the semi-submersible WindFloat platform from Principle Power Inc. This project is a continuation of the successful partnership between EDP Renewables, Engie and MHI Vestas from the WindFloat Atlantic project, which is currently being installed in Portugal. EFGL is the fifth floating offshore wind project in line for MHI Vestas, following WindFloat 1, Windfloat Atlantic, Kincardine and Groix & Belle Ile.

MHI Vestas in the Floating Offshore Wind Sector

The company’s projected installed base as of 2022 is 14 turbines, at 134 megawatts. It has five projects to date:

• WindFloat 1 (Portugal) – 1 x V80-2.0 megawatts installed in 2011 (decommissioned)
• WindFloat Atlantic (Portugal) – 3 x V164-8.4 megawatts (currently being installed)
• Kincadine (Scotland) – 5 x V164-9.5 megawatts (installed in 2020)
• Groix & Belle Ile (France) – 3 x V164-9.5 megawatts (planned installation in 2022)
• EFGL (France) – 3 x V164-10.0 megawatts (planned installation in 2022)

MHI Vestas will also supply its V174-9.5 megawatt turbines for the 220-megawatt Hibikinada Offshore Wind Farm. This is the first awarded, commercial-scale project to be announced in Japan and a strong signal that the Japanese offshore wind market is beginning rapid development.

The V174-9.5 megawatt turbine will also be used for the 257-megawatt Baltic Sea project. MHI Vestas has signed a conditional agreement with Parkwind to supply 27 turbines for the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. Scheduled for installation in late 2022, this project is located 20 kilometers northeast of the island of Rugen and will supply power for 300,000 German homes. Due to challenging subsea soil conditions, a floating installation method is planned, promising further cost reduction in the industry and the potential to unlock many offshore areas around the world with challenging subsea soil conditions.

 

 

Northland Power and Shizen Energy set up joint venture for offshore wind in Japan

Northland Power Inc. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) has announced an agreement with Shizen Energy Inc. (Fukuoka City, Japan) to establish Chiba Offshore Wind Inc., a 50:50 joint venture, for development of 600 megawatts of offshore wind projects in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Japan’s offshore wind market is gaining momentum following the government’s commitment to increase the deployment of renewables and the passing of the legislation that supports large-scale offshore wind development areas. The Japanese government issued an updated Energy Supply Plan in July 2018, targeting 10 gigawatts of wind capacity (offshore and onshore) by 2030 as part of its ambition to reach a 22-24% renewable share of electricity generation by 2030.

Northland Power is a global developer, owner and operator of sustainable infrastructure assets with over 30 years of experience, a global fleet of assets generating more than 2.4 gigwatts and operating facilities in Canada, Latin America, and Europe. It has a project pipeline of 1.4-plus gigawatts under construction and advanced development, including Asia, where it owns a 60% equity stake in the 1,044-megawatt Hai Long project under development in Taiwan.

Shizen Energy has contributed to the development of approximately 1 gigawatt of renewable energy in Japan and is expanding its portfolio in both offshore wind and global installations, including a solar plant in Brazil and wind and solar projects in Vietnam and Thailand.

 

New Jersey boosts offshore wind target to 7.5 GW by 2035

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed Executive Order No. 92, increasing New Jersey’s offshore wind goal from 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind-generated electricity by 2030 to 7,500 megawatts by 2035. This will help New Jersey meet its goals of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2030 and a 100% clean energy economy by 2050.

“There is no other renewable energy resource that provides us with either the electric-generation or economic-growth potential of offshore wind,” said Murphy. “When we reach our goal of 7,500 megawatts, New Jersey’s offshore wind infrastructure will generate electricity to power more than 3.2 million homes and meet fifty percent of our state’s electric power need. Our offshore wind industry will generate billions of dollars in investments in New Jersey’s future that will, in turn, create thousands of jobs.”

“Currently, East Coast states have contracted a combined 8,240 megawatts of offshore wind electricity generation,” says Liz Burdock, CEO and president of the Business Network for Offshore Wind. “These projects are currently under development and will have ‘steel in the water’ by 2026. There is no doubt that the U.S. offshore wind industry is moving forward because of strong State leadership and commitment.”

Anbaric to construct OceanGrid for offshore wind to replace fossils fuels as foundation of New England’s electric system

Anbaric (Wakefield, Mass., U.S.) has filed an application with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to develop the Southern New England OceanGrid — an independent, open-access offshore transmission network on the outer continental shelf that would link the existing wind lease areas via a common system and deliver that power to the on-shore grid.

The Southern New England OceanGrid would be developed in phases and anticipates an offshore transmission network connecting up to 16,000 megawatts of offshore wind to Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Additionally, it includes transmission line routes that connect BOEM lease areas directly into Boston, Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, Massachusetts’ South Coast and Connecticut to provide offshore wind-generated electricity to area residents. Built out over a period of 20 years, the Southern New England OceanGrid provides the infrastructure for a clean energy resource that will replace fossil fuels as the foundation of New England’s electric system.

 

Offshore Wind: ‘If We Blow It, We Won’t Catch Up’

In a Nov 2019 North American Windpower article, author Michael Bates reports that other countries are sprinting ahead of the U.S. in offshore wind, citing findings from a new report, Offshore Wind Outlook 2019.

He notes that the offshore industry in Europe is slated to grow 600-900% over the next 20 years, and possibly even more if offshore-generated electricity is used to create hydrogen fuel, as Vattenfall has already begun to do in Sweden.

China will become the country with the most offshore wind generation within five years, and its offshore industry is expected to grow by at least a factor of 25 over the next 20 years. In contrast, the U.S. industry is awaiting a green light from regulators, as well as more grid infrastructure. Note the above application by Anbaric to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

“The U.S. has to forge ahead or lose ground,” says Liz Burdock, CEO and president of the Business Network for Offshore Wind. “The states are doing everything they can to make offshore wind happen. It’s up to the federal government to act now, and provide the industry with regulatory certainty. We’re at a critical moment, and if we blow it, we won’t catch up.”

“The United States has a pipeline that exceeds Europe’s present deployment,” Burdock notes. “Once the offshore wind supply chain is underway and truly producing in the USA, we have the opportunity to supply and export to this trillion-dollar market.