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What Is Happening
Holland Shipyards to build 4 autonomous, all-electric ferries for Sweden
Dutch shipbuilder Holland Shipyards Group has signed a contract with the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) for the delivery of two plus two autonomous all-electric ferries. As informed, the first ferry is scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2024 and the other ferries will arrive in constant intervals after the first.
The signed contract includes the delivery of two ferries with four automooring facilities and two charging stations, a simulator facility and a remote control center. The tender covers the entire procurement — four ferries, eight automooring facilities, four charging stations and more, according to Holland Shipyards. The ferries, measuring 86.00 metres by 14.24 metres with a 60-car carrying capacity, will sail according to autonomy level 2 and will be controlled from the remote control center based in Stockholm. As defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), degree 2 of vessel autonomy means that a vessel is remotely monitored, but does have crew on board that can take control whenever necessary. Crossing the ferry route can be done with just the push of a button. While mooring, the vessels are charged by a shore charging facility within approximately four
DEME places order for sustainable fallpipe vessel
DEME has taken the decision to invest in a new DP fallpipe vessel by purchasing and converting a bulk carrier, as part of its commitment to rejuvenate its fleet for the offshore energy industry.
DEME has signed an agreement with Singapore’s Pax Ocean Shipyards and the vessel will enter the yard in late October to undergo extensive conversion works. The fallpipe vessel will be equipped with a central fallpipe system plus a large, inclined fallpipe in order to allow pre- and post-lay activities using rocks with larger diameters close to subsea structures.
It is set to join the DEME fleet in the first half of 2024. According to the company, the new vessel will be fully compliant with the latest emission standards and feature the latest environmental technology, including a battery pack for fuel efficiency and more sustainable operations.
Chevron concludes first shipment of offset-paired LNG cargo
Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of integrated energy company Chevron, has delivered its first shipment of offset-paired liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from the Gorgon project off Western Australia. Chevron said that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the cargo will be fully offset via the retirement of high-quality nature-based and energy efficiency offsets in Cambodia, Indonesia and Nepal.
According to John Kuehn, president of Chevron Supply and Trading, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., the company’s first full lifecycle emissions offset cargo advances its net-zero ambitions and represents a significant milestone in its relationship with CPC Corporation, Taiwan.
“We share the view that the future of energy is lower carbon and expect this offset-paired cargo to be the first of many as we leverage our capabilities, assets, and customer relationships to deliver energy solutions to a growing world”, Kuehn says.
For more than 50 years Flying Focus is specialized in maritime aerial photography. Since the company's start up in 1984 thousands of ships, sea trials, maiden voyages, special cargo transports and oil platforms have been photographed.
Flying Focus recently published a photobook visualizing this impressive industry.
Great exposure was generated by their photographic work of ships in heavy weather on the North Sea. The for this purpose especially acquired aircraft, the twin-engine Cessna Skymaster, can fly with winds up to 10 Beaufort. All the 3 company owned photo aircrafts are especially equipped with the required safety gear as well as the latest communication and navigation equipment. The flights are executed from Texel International Airport, where hangar and office are situated. On a regular basis Flying Focus is operating for projects further away ranging from the Arctic Circle to the Atlantic Ocean.
“The Dutch Offshore- beyond the horizon” contains 150 photos, 156 pages, 30x30 cm, hardcover. The book can be ordered through the website www.flyingfocus.nl
MISC orders LNG carrier duo
MISC Berhad (MISC), an owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, has strengthened its partnership with ExxonMobil’s unit SeaRiver Maritime with new long-term time charter contracts. MISC’s subsidiaries Polaris LNG Three Pte. Ltd. and Polaris LNG Four Pte. Ltd. have secured long-term time charter contracts with SeaRiver Maritime for two more LNG carriers, bringing the total number of contracts to four vessels. MISC said it has also signed an agreement with ‘a reputable shipbuilder’ through its subsidiaries for the construction of the LNG carriers in South Korea. The 174,000 cbm carriers will be chartered by SeaRiver Maritime for a firm period of ten years.
The vessels will be equipped with eco-efficient technologies such as X-DF 2.1 engines with Intelligent Control by Exhaust Recycling (iCER) System and Air Lubrication System which will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The two LNG carriers will be delivered in 2026.
V&SH Offshore Solutions have opened an office in Houston, Texas, to further to support the development of the USA Offshore Wind business. Next to that VSH Offshore Solutions plans a second Offshore Wind - High Voltage Experience & Training Center on the US East Coast, close to their operational customers.
The center will provide further training and development for their USA-based Offshore Termination and Testing Engineers. “We train our experts & engineers in our own Training Facilities and mobilize our engineers to projects around the world. With the bulk of our experience in the North Sea and in Europe, we have connected & tested the High Voltage Array/Export cables in over 20 Offshore Wind parks and worked in repair and service operations in many other parks”, says Jonne Schortinghuis, Managing Director of V&SH Offshore Solutions.
WES awards contract for floating wind and wave energy landscaping study
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) has hired Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC) to carry out a study into the techno-economic benefits of shared services and infrastructure for wind and wave energy technologies and projects.
AqualisBraemar‘s offshore wind consultancy unit OWC will through a fourmonth study assess the various levels of sharing of supply chains, physical infrastructure and services between wave energy and floating offshore wind systems. Sharing scenarios of interest range from co-development, through co-location to sharing a floating substructure, according to WES.
The contract award comes as Scotland embarks on the creation of a huge supply chain and services network to satisfy the massive offshore wind capacity leased through the ScotWind program. These steps bring potential for increased collaboration between the Scottish wind and wave energy sectors, bringing cost reductions, technical and socio-economic benefits and well as the opportunity to enhance national energy security through a more-varied generation portfolio.
UAE’s energy giant claims new world record for the longest well
UAE’s energy giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced a new world record for the longest oil and gas well has been set at its Upper Zakum Concession. Stretching 50,000 feet, the well is around 800 feet longer than the previous world record set in 2017, ADNOC revealed on Thursday. The well supports ADNOC’s efforts to expand the production capacity of its lower-carbon oil and gas resources to help meet the world’s growing demand for energy.
This feat of engineering is part of an extended reach well project designed and led by ADNOC Offshore, in collaboration with its Upper Zakum strategic international partners, ExxonMobil and INPEX/JODCO. The extended-reach wells will tap into an undeveloped part of the giant Upper Zakum reservoir with the potential to increase the field’s production capacity by 15,000 barrels of oil per day, without the need to expand or build any new infrastructure, ADNOC explained.
Subsea 7 vessel to be future-ready with energy-saving system
Subsea services provider Subsea 7 has contracted electrical integrator specialist Bakker Sliedrecht to equip its heavy construction / flex-lay vessel Seven Arctic with a new energy-saving system. The order for an energy storage system from Bakker Sliedrecht is a double first, according to the company. It is the first order for such a system on this scale for the Sliedrecht-based independent system integrator. Also, Subsea 7’s Seven Arctic is believed to be the first heavy construction / flex-lay vessel in the world to be equipped with such an energy-saving system. The new energy-saving and storage system will hybridise the vessel which currently has a total installed power of 27 MW and DP3 classification and is suitable for worldwide operations in water depths up to 3,000 metres.
At the heart of the new energy storage system is a containerised battery room with a maximum power of 3750 kW and 1250 kWh of energy. The system also includes a connection for shore power. Based on the vessel’s operating profile, it is estimated that 5,000 tons of CO2 emissions will be reduced.
Bas Oskam, director of Sales at Bakker Sliedrecht, added: “The energy storage system can work with any battery or storage type. The control system is designed with maximum autonomy in mind, allowing for integration with different existing power and vessel management systems on board. This makes the system very suitable to apply in existing vessels.“
Dutch offshore wind-to-hydrogen project gathers feasibility study team
The consortium comprising RWE and Neptune Energy has awarded contracts to Siemens Gamesa and Dutch engineering companies H2SEA and Enersea to support concept engineering work as part of the feasibility study for the H2opZee green hydrogen project in the Netherlands.
H2opZee, announced earlier this year and planned to be built before 2030 in the Dutch North Sea, is a demonstration project which aims to build 300-500 MW electrolyser capacity to produce green hydrogen using offshore wind and to transport it to land through an existing pipeline.
The joint feasibility study, which began this June, is planned to run until the beginning of Summer in 2023 and forms part of the first phase of H2opZee in which various technical concepts and potential development locations are being evaluated to assess the optimal solution to generate green hydrogen offshore and transport it to shore via a pipeline. In the second phase, the project will be implemented. For that phase, a tender methodology has yet to be defined, the project consortium said. Under their contracts, H2SEA will perform offshore platform concept design and engineering, Enersea will take on the pipeline concept design, and Siemens Gamesa will carry out concept work for wind turbine systems. viding green energy to North Western Europe, reducing the need for imports”. According to De Groot, re-using existing gas infrastructure can be a faster, cheaper, and cleaner solution for the energy transition as the infrastructure is both technically suitable and already in place, including landing and possible cross-border interconnections, such as Norway, Denmark, Germany, and the UK.
The remainder of the technical work will be supported by in-house engineering at RWE and Neptune Energy, which are also working closely with offshore infrastructure owners to evaluate various export options via the existing pipeline network to shore. “Following the very successful roll-out of wind farms producing green electricity in the Dutch North Sea, offshore green hydrogen is the next step in the energy transition and crucial for our domestic future energy supply”, said Neptune Energy’s Managing Director in the Netherlands, Lex de Groot. “It can be produced right here in the North Sea, giving the Netherlands a leading role in proLex de Groot also added that lessons learned from the PosHYdon pilot project, which was launched last year, will be applied to H2opZee. “Large-scale production of green hydrogen based on offshore wind is a key solution to decarbonising the industry”, said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Offshore Wind at RWE Renewables. “A demonstration project such as H2opZee helps us to better understand how this could be put into practice. Thanks to our cooperation with partners such as Neptune Energy, Siemens Gamesa, H2SEA and Enersea, we are getting closer to achieving the Dutch climate goals”.
Vos Prodect cable hang-offs for Danish offshore wind farms
Hellenic Cables has awarded Vos Prodect with a contract to deliver its sealed cable hang-off systems for the Vesterhav Nord and Syd offshore wind farms in the Danish North Sea. Vos Prodect said it will perform an extensive test program at the testing facility using the 66kV cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated inter-array cables. According to the company, the tests are conducted in order to verify and confirm that the temporary clamp locks the cables in a reliable and safe manner, without damaging them.
Hellenic Cables is in charge of manufacturing and delivering the projects’ inter-array cables under a contract won in September 2021, while Asso.subsea will install the cables at the two wind farms. Vos Prodect and Hellenic Cables most recently worked together on the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm. Commissioning is expected by the end of 2023.
Holland Shipyards to build more eco-friendly ferries for German SFK
Dutch shipbuilding company Holland Shipyards Group has signed a new contract to build two additional eco-friendly ferries for German ferry operator Schlepp- und Fährgesellschaft Kiel (SFK).
The contract includes a hybrid cycle- and footferry with a capacity of 300 persons and a smaller all-electric cycle- and footferry with a capacity of 140 people. The designs of the vessels are in line with the deliveries made earlier this year, according to the company.
The hybrid ferry, to be named Laboe, will measure 32,40 by 8,80 meters and will be provided with a hybrid drivetrain that can be powered by either generator or by means of a battery bank. The battery capacity differs from the previously delivered hybrid ferries, so Laboe will be equipped with 2x 272 kWh, to enable the vessel to sail larger distances on batteries only. On the other hand, the all electric ferry, to be named Dietrichsdorf, will measure 24,95 by 7,50 meters and will be equipped with an installed battery capacity of 1092 kWh. Like its sister vessels (Düsternbrook and Wellingdorf), the ship will also be equipped with the non-conventional automated mooring system which features electric-hydraulically operated mooring hooks on both sides of the ship.
Spanish energy company Cepsa and the Dutch Port of Rotterdam have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the first green hydrogen corridor between southern and northern Europe, ensuring a green hydrogen supply chain between two of Europe’s main ports, Rotterdam and Algeciras. The trade lane is expected to be operational by 2027. As informed, Cepsa plans to export hydrogen produced at its San Roque Energy Park near the Bay of Algeciras, through hydrogen carriers such as ammonia or methanol, to the Port of Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the most important energy port in Europe, handling 13% of European energy demand, while the Port of Algeciras is first in Spain, fourth in Europe, and an important trade route between Europe and Asia.
U.S. sets date for first-ever offshore wind lease sale on West Coast
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold an offshore wind lease sale in California on 6 December. This will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on the U.S. Pacific coast and the first-ever through which the country will support commercial-scale floating wind farms.
On 6 December, BOEM will offer five areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off central and northern California that total approximately 373,268 acres. Three lease areas are located off central California and two are off northern California, all expected to accommodate floating wind technology.
The areas have the potential to house over 4.5 GW of offshore wind installed capacity. This could power more than 1.5 million homes, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). “Today’s announcement represents years of close coordination and engagement with the state of California, Tribes, ocean users, local communities and all interested parties to move us closer towards achieving the administration’s vision to fight climate change and realizing California’s clean energy future, while creating a domestic supply chain and good-paying union jobs”, BOEM Director Amanda Lefton said.
Denmark and Belgium sign landmark agreement for CO2 transport
Denmark, Flanders and Belgium have signed an agreement to cooperate on the transport of CO2 between the two countries with a view to permanent geological storage. Besides the framework on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) cooperation, the parties have concluded an arrangement on how cross-border CO2 transportation can take place under the London Protocol, which is said to have long been an unanswered question in the development of the international value chain.
Flemish Minister of Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism Zuhal Demir, Belgium’s Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne and Danish Minister of Climate and Energy and Public Utilities Dan Jørgensen signed the declaration of intent on 13 September.
The deal is said to represent the firstever such bilateral agreement. “This is big. By taking the first steps, Denmark and Belgium are paving the way for a model for cross-border transport of CO2 with a view to permanent geological storage,” said Minister Jørgensen. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes that storing CO2 is a key instrument for mitigating climate change as it can rid the atmosphere of greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be difficult to reduce. According to IPCC, international transport is essential, as not all countries have the opportunity to store CO2 and regional cooperation and cross-border infrastructure are crucial here.
Surveys starting at Celtic Sea floating wind demo projects
Geophysical and environmental surveys will commence next week at two 100 MW floating offshore wind demonstration projects that will be built off the coast of southwest Wales in the Celtic Sea. The surveys at the planned Llŷr and Llŷr 2 offshore wind projects and their northern export cable route corridors will take place until December.
The project sites are situated off the Pembrokeshire coast, in the approaches to the Bristol Channel, approximately 40 kilometers offshore at depths averaging 60-70 meters. According to project developer Floventis Energy, a joint venture of SBM Offshore and Cierco, the sites enjoy high average windspeeds which are, typically, in excess of 10 meters per second.
Floventis Energy was chosen to build the two floating wind projects in July 2021 in the Crown Estate’s leasing opportunity for early commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea. To ensure a coordinated approach to assessing potential environmental impacts, Llŷr and the Whitecross test and demonstration scale project will form part of the Plan-Level Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).
The Llŷr and Llŷr 2 projects will have a capacity of 100 MW, respectively, and will each comprise 6 to 8 next-generation turbines.
The combined output is expected to provide power for approximately 250,000 homes annually. Subject to consent applications for development, construction of the floating platforms and infrastructure is planned to begin in 2024, with installation commencing in 2025/26.
Yara joins HyPilot project to use hydrogen in green ammonia production
Yara Clean Ammonia, a global unit of Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International ASA, has joined the HyPilot project to test the PEM electrolyser technology developed by compatriot manufacturer Hystar for the future production of green ammonia using hydrogen.
The HyPilot project will see the first in-field test of Hystar’s 1 MW containerized electrolyser which is due for commissioning in the second half of 2023 at the Kårstø Gas Processing Plant in Rogaland, Norway, operated by Gassco. The test will be conducted to verify Hystar’s patented PEM technology under realistic field conditions, using a containerized PEM electrolyser, in partnership with industry leaders, such as Equinor and Yara.
The electrolyser will be run for a total of 10,000 hours, providing performance data from various operating regimes to verify long-term commercial operation. Yara’s interest in the HyPilot project is primarily centred around using hydrogen to produce green ammonia. The results from the project will demonstrate how Hystar’s electrolysers can be utilized to reduce the cost of green hydrogen for the production of green ammonia on an industrial scale.
World’s first offshore vessel charging project expands to SOVs and PSVs
MJR Power and Automation, a UK company which will soon install charging points for electric crew transfer vessels (CTVs) on the Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms, has been awarded a second round of government funding for development of its technology to connect and charge Service Operation Vessels (SOVs), Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs), and other similar vessels.
MJR secured the first round of funding under the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the UK Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, back in September 2021. This enabled the company to fast track the development and factory testing of an electrical offshore charging vessel system suitable for CTVs, which is now in its final stages of testing with deployment expected imminently.
Now, with the funding from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 (CMDC2), which was launched in May 2022, MJR will accelerate the development and prototyping of its system to allow SOVs, PSVs, and other vessel types to connect to a offshore wind turbines in the field. As part of the next phase of development, the company will lead a consortium of partners to deliver the project over the next eight months. “At present, the shift to fully electric and meaningful hybrid electric power – for many vessels – is hampered by a lack of available infrastructure for recharging offshore, with shore power and shoreside charging facilities being very limited or non-existent”, the company said in a press release on 6 October..
“As such, MJR Power and Automation’s innovation is already set to break down existing range barriers for CTVs – and now additional vessels with the next round of grant funding – to increase the uptake of fully electric and green propulsion systems, for retrofit and new build vessels by vessel owners and operators”.
Windcat Workboats, part of Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), together with its joint venture partners Thomas Services Maritimes (TSM) and FSR, has ordered six hydrogen-powered crew transfer vessels (CTVs) to be built by 2024. The new order follows the launch of the world’s first hydrogen-powered CTV, called Hydrocat 48, and its delivery and trials with its first customer Vestas earlier this year.
The six additional hydrogen-powered CTVs include four vessels of the MK3.5H2 series, two of which will be delivered in 2022 and two in 2023. The next vessel which will be delivered in this series is planned for the German offshore market and will be operated by joint-venture partner FSR Windcat. The other two vessels will be of the new MK5 series, a 27-metre long CTVs with double the hydrogen capacity of the MK3.5H2 series, according to Windcat Workboats. With the hydrogen supply chain still in its infancy, CMB.TECH and Windcat have developed solutions for delivering the fuel to vessels. This includes a 40ft 500bar trailer capable of transporting hydrogen for remote refuelling of all the different applications currently in use.
