88 minute read
Embracing the Energy Transition
IRO CHAIRMAN PIETER VAN OORD: “ENERGY TRANSITION IS PROCESS THAT WILL TAKE THIRTY YEARS”
Energy is something we still need, but the way we produce it is changing fundamentally. The offshore energy sector is in a state of flux, and the Dutch supply chain is on the cusp of an extremely exciting future.
IRO chairman Pieter van Oord confirmed optimistically that ‘the future is bright’. Han Heilig spoke to the driven CEO of Van Oord NV in a duo interview with Sander Vergroesen, who for the past ten years has occupied the position of IRO director with huge dedication and effectiveness. The background to this interview was the celebration in November of the 50th anniversary of IRO’s establishment. The perfect time to evaluate, to discuss the opportunities offered by the energy transition and above all to look forward to the future.
One thing is abundantly clear. The past decade has been particularly unsettled, with peaks and troughs. In a sector that was first headlined by the fossil industry, as part of the energy transition, the development of wind energy has taken on a leading role. The result has been considerable turbulence. Not only in society but specifically also in the political corridors of The Hague, where in the Binnenhof a political reality is steadfastly maintained that deviates clearly from the real world represented by IRO.
According to the Climate Agreement, by 2030, we must be producing at least 35 terra watt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity (based on wind and sun), onshore. In the longer term, offshore wind energy is set to grow to 49 TWh. 70 percent of all electricity must be generated from renewable sources, by 2030. This growth target will undoubtedly contribute to bringing about the renewable energy goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement. In terms of offshore power, at least, the Netherlands is well on track. Above all,
the energy agreement and climate agreement represent important steps forward. Against that background, Pieter van Oord is firmly convinced that the national supply chain in the Netherlands can certainly handle growth of 20% in this decade, but in his judgement, the 30 to 40% growth target ambitiously presented by the politicians is unachievable. With its current capacity, ships and people, the supply chain cannot handle that level of growth.
“We simply have to accept that the energy transition is a process that will take thirty years. It is not something we can bring about at the drop of a hat. I therefore consider it the task of IRO to at least explain the inherent complexity of the global energy system. To successfully bring about change in that system, we need at least a complete generation. You could call it a political message, but for IRO, it is nothing short of practical reality. There is no way around it.”
“It is our task, in combination with other parties, to explain what gargantuan sums of money will have to be invested in a new energy system. An investment on that scale can simply not be achieved in ten years. IRO is anything but negative in its attitude to the process, and believes firmly that by 2050 there will be a totally different energy system based for the most part on renewables and hydrogen. But achieving that objective means taking account of a period of at least thirty years.”
What does 50 years of IRO mean to you?
Sander Vergroesen: “For me it is a sort of flashback experience. IRO started 50 years ago with pioneering work on the North Sea. What we managed to achieve then is truly fabulous. What we are experiencing now is a new shift from fossil-based energy to wind-based energy, on the same North Sea. The area we are talking about is manageable in scale, close to home, and our members make up the complete supply chain. The relatively shallow North Sea is a perfect laboratory environment for developing new ideas and investing in effective and efficient solutions that can then be rolled out internationally, to conquer the entire world. Effectively, we are repeating the moves of the past. At the time, the majority of turnover from the oil & gas sector was generated outside Europe. Today, the North Sea is once again the ideal testing ground. It is IRO’s job to promote the knowledge and expertise our members are currently gathering in the field of wind energy to the rest of the world. While of course still sharing their O&G knowledge. It is not without reason that we changed our name last year to IRO, the Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Offshore Energy Industry.”
Has IRO deliberately sought a position within the energy transition?
Sander Vergroesen: “In reality, no. It has developed organically. A large proportion of our members recognised at an early stagethe need to make the switch from O&G to renewables. We at IRO anticipated the change almost automatically. And it is a development we have grown into, more or less naturally. For businesses in the offshore energy sector, sustainability is hugely important. Everyone is striving for corporate social responsibility so that the world remains a place in which future generations can also live
successfully. As far as possible, emissions must be reduced and the energy we need must be produced as sustainably as possible, mainly using wind and solar power, in a world in which society is calling increasingly for wind turbines to be installed offshore. Our members have already acquired a leading international role in precisely that field.”
IRO Managing Director, Sander Vergroesen
Exactly how realistic is the energy transition?
Pieter van Oord: “The energy transition will mean higher energy bills for everyone. The switch will cost hundreds of billions, but at the same time offers opportunities. I expect the energy transition to create tens of thousands of new jobs in the Netherlands, thereby pumping money back into our economy. But we must make haste here in the Netherlands, because if we are not careful, we will end up playing second fiddle to Denmark and Germany. To a certain extent we have already missed the boat. We could have developed our own Dutch energy island on the North Sea. It is now the Danes who will be taking the honours, even though it was originally a Dutch idea.”
How badly has IRO been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Sander Vergroesen: “We were hit hard, amidships. All of a sudden we were not able to maintain physical networks. And our export promotion activities came to a grinding halt. No more taking part in trade missions or attending international trade fairs. Everything was put on hold, and that called for a quick turnaround to participating in webinars, and maintaining virtual contacts. In truth we were reasonably successful, and our membership remained fairly stable, but what you miss when physical meetings are impossible is the bycatch. I am therefore more than delighted that we have now been able to organise the first Member Meets Member meeting. And that we are again able to physically attend trade fairs.” Pieter van Oord: “I certainly share Sander’s opinion. The IRO has two main goals; our role is first and foremost to provide a network. Our members need to be able to meet together. They must form a cluster that enables them to keep passing the ball, between them. And to support one another. A case of strength by association. The second goal is encouraging exports. When it comes to networking, the energy transition has changed nothing. However, as a result of COVID19, export promotion has become a completely different story. The future of export is suddenly more uncertain. Traditionally the IRO has attended a number of specific O&G trade fairs, including OTC, ONS and Adipec. The million dollar question now is to what extent these trade fairs will adapt to the current circumstances. Will they also be making the transition from fossil to renewables? In order to maintain their raison d’être over the next 20 years, they too will have to make changes. And then of course we are seeing the emergence of specific wind trade fairs around the world. It is up to us to examine what prominent role the IRO can play in that development. As well as Europe, there are key markets in Asia, the United States and Brazil. Our goal is to serve as a broker on those markets too, between our members and the new trade fair organisations. It will certainly be a challenging task for IRO, in particular if we consider that at least for the next twenty years, O&G will continue to be relevant in the intended energy mix.”
Can we survive without gas? Does IRO have ideas on the issue?
Pieter van Oord: “All around the world, volumes of text are being produced on this subject, by people who understand the issues far better than IRO. Many of our larger members have direct access to those reports. The same does not always apply to our SME members. For that reason, it is important for IRO to share and communicate the core messages from all those reports, in a form of presentation. In my speeches to members, as chairman, I always try to offer an outline of the future, with regard to renewables and O&G.”
Is there some form of common denominator in all these reports?
Pieter van Oord: “According to all of the models, the burning of coal is clear taboo. As for the quantities of oil and gas consumed worldwide, over the next decade they are definitely likely to continue rising. We have certainly not yet reached either peak oil or peak gas. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of writers suggested that we had already reached peak oil, but that is a scenario
that can be quickly and quietly disposed of. For the time being, we are heading for daily consumption in excess of 100 million barrels. For the 195 countries that have signed the Paris Climate Agreement, that fact represents a tremendous dilemma; by signing up, they have all declared their willingness to do their best to ensure that the Earth does not become more than 1.5 degrees warmer.” So what advice does the IRO offer an SME company that asks how it should organise its business, in the future? Pieter van Oord: “It’s very simple. Our advice is: focus both on the O&G and the wind sector. Stick with your oil, gas and your wind portfolio, to help bring about the further growth of renewables. For at least the next twenty years, we will be investing in the offshore O&G sector. Major oil and gas projects are still being developed all over the world. Gas in particular will remain a vital transition fuel. We will of course not be dealing with the sort of volume we saw in 2015. I expect to see about a halving of overall volume, with the capex level of the oil companies settling at around 50% of what they invested in 2015. Their investments in renewables, of course, have to be added to that amount. And that is a new market that offers huge opportunities for us all.”
Has the energy transition led to a change in your relationship with NOGEPA?
Sander Vergroesen: “It must be said in all honesty that ten years ago, the Dutch Continental Shelf was very important for IRO members. The activities developed in the area by the oil companies generated a huge volume of work for our members. With equal honesty, in 2021, we must conclude that there is little if any further activity on the Dutch Continental Shelf. Nonetheless, this development has in no way influenced our relationship. We continue to need each other. Together with EBN, within Nexstep, NOGEPA is focusing heavily on the decommissioning and reuse of platforms and infrastructure on the North Sea. And our members are ideally positioned to assist in both those tasks. As IRO Managing Director, I am a sitting member of the supervisory board of Nexstep. Although I only attend in an observer’s role, wherever possible, I do make constructive contributions. In that same capacity, I was closely involved in developing the Masterplan Decommissioning & Reuse, that was presented in November 2016.”
And what about your relationship with NWEA?
Pieter van Oord: “I view the relationship with NWEA as being very similar to the relationship we have always maintained with NOGEPA. NWEA is just another advocate organisation, that represents wind, in all its perspectives. The IRO has a far narrower focus, namely exclusively offshore wind. We may well have a shared agenda in many cases, but IRO only represents the supply chain.”
Sander Vergroesen: “The essential difference between IRO and NWEA is that NWEA also focuses on onshore activities, while we are exclusively offshore based. For the past 50 years, the IRO has of course enjoyed a clear international presence, all over the world. The same cannot be said for NWEA. In essence, it makes little difference under which flag IRO operates, for example when attending international trade fairs. As long as our members are in attendance and able to make the optimum use of the exposure offered by the event! Together with the government, centres of expertise and sector associations NWEA, HHWE and NMT, IRO is also contributing to the joint campaign Wind & Water Works. The aim of the campaign, in a single powerful sentence, is to make it clear that offshore wind energy delivers far greater benefits than you would expect. In other words, that the combination of wind and water works.”
What is the potential role of IRO in establishing a hydrogen economy?
Pieter van Oord: “First of all we must recognise that hydrogen will only become economically attractive in future decades. Until that time, the development of the whole range of hydrogen initiatives will require largescale government support. In the Netherlands, we have an extremely extensive chemical cluster. IRO has absolute confidence that the players in that cluster will themselves eventually make the huge investments needed to produce green hydrogen. For the time being, however, massive government funding will still be needed. Seriously, it will take at least ten more years before hydrogen can be put to any economic use in the Netherlands. Hence our appeals to The Hague. Huge sums are already being provided to accelerate the development of hydrogen, in Germany. The industry can only be made truly
economically attractive if it receives government support. The transition to offshore wind, after all, succeeded thanks to government aid.”
Sander Vergroesen: “And then, of course there is the PosHYdon project in which our board member René Peters is closely involved. The aim of the PosHYdon pilot is to gain experience of integrating working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment. In addition, this project will be testing the efficiency of an electrolyser with a variable power supply from offshore wind while at the same time gaining knowledge and insights into the costs for the offshore installation, and the maintenance costs.”
How would you describe cooperation between the 50 year-old IRO and Young IRO?
Pieter van Oord: “We are huge fans of Young IRO. The initiative ties in seamlessly with the IRO’s goal of encouraging networking. Young IRO has become a network organisation for people already working in this industry and newcomers to the industry. They have developed a medium according to which they can arrange physical meetings. A really positive development. Our sector has a long-term purpose in society, and that can only be achieved if a new generation of people stands up that is willing to dedicate itself to the sector. Over the past few years, many offshore businesses have found it extremely difficult to attract new employees. We are now seeing young university graduates who are keen to work in the renewables world, but at least for the next twenty years, we will also continue to need people who are willing and who have the desire to work in the oil & gas world. IRO members are businesses that are capable of making a huge contribution to the energy transition. From numerous different perspectives. Our job is to communicate that reality, to society. For the next twenty years at least, we will need gas as a fuel to power the transition. But the real growth in the offshore sector will be in renewables!.”
What will be the last line in your speech during the 50th anniversary celebrations on Friday 26 November?
Source: Offshore Energy Resources
ENERGY TRANSITION NOT FAST ENOUGH DNV WARNS
Norway-based consultancy DNV has said that fossil fuels will still constitute 50 per cent of the global energy mix by 2050, compared to 80 per cent held for decades, warning that the energy transition is not fast enough for the world to achieve the net-zero target by 2050.
DNV also warned in its latest energy transition report that even if all electricity was ‘green’ from this day forward, the world will still fall a long way short of achieving the 2050 net-zero emissions target of the COP21 Paris Agreement. The agreement was intended to keep global warming to “well below 2°C” and strive to limit its increase to 1.5°C. DNV’s fifth Energy Transition Outlook highlights the global pandemic as a “lost opportunity” for speeding up the energy transition, as Covid-19 recovery packages have largely focused on protecting rather than transforming existing industries. According to DNV, electrification is on course to double in size within a generation and renewables are already the most competitive source of new power, however, DNV’s forecast shows global emissions will reduce only 9 per cent by 2030, with the 1.5°C carbon budget agreed by global economies emptied by then.
DNV also said that electrification of final energy demand will grow from 19 per cent to a 38 per cent share by 2050, powered mainly by solar and wind. DNV has been consistent in forecasting a rapid transition to a decarbonized energy system by mid-century. As rapid as that transition is, DNV’s forecast is that despite every effort being made, it remains definitively not fast enough for the world to achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and warns the planet will most likely reach global warming of 2.3°C by end of the century. DNV emphasised that there is a short window of opportunity to close the gap.
Remi Eriksen, Group President and CEO of DNV, is deeply concerned about what it will take for governments to apply the resolution and urgency they have shown in the face of the pandemic to our climate. “We must now see the same sense of urgency to avoid a climate catastrophe”, Eriksen said. “Many of the pandemic recovery packages have largely focused on protecting, rather than transforming, existing industries. A lot of ‘building back’ as opposed to ‘building better’ and although this is a lost opportunity, it is not the last we have for transitioning faster to a deeply decarbonized energy system”.
Energy efficiency remains the biggest opportunity to tackling climate change as the world drifts further away from achieving Paris. Securing significant improvement in this vital area is viewed as the most significant lever for the transition – achieving greater efficiency is the reason why global energy demand will level off, even as the global population and economy grow. Reductions in the use of fossil fuels have been remarkably quick, however, these sources, especially gas, will still constitute 50 per cent of the global energy mix by 2050 – making the need to invest in and scale hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage all the more important. It is worth mentioning here that fossil fuels have held an 80 per cent share of the global energy mix for decades.
Looking ahead, coal use will fall fastest, down 62 per cent by 2050. Oil use stays relatively flat until 2025 when it starts a steady decline, to just above half of current levels by mid-century. Gas use will grow over the coming decade, then levels off for a 15-year period before starting to reduce in the 2040s. Gas will surpass oil as the largest energy source and will represent 24 per cent of the global
energy supply in 2050. DNV also pointed out that CCS deployment is too slow and only 3.6 per cent of fossil CO2 emissions are abated in 2050.
ETO 2021 also reveals that while 69 per cent of gridconnected power will be generated by wind and solar in 2050, and indirect electrification (hydrogen and e-fuels) and biofuels remain critical, none of these sources are scaling rapidly enough. Hydrogen is the energy carrier that holds the highest potential to tackle hard to abate emissions, however, DNV’s forecast indicates hydrogen only starting to scale from the mid-2030s and, even then, only building to 5 per cent of the energy mix by 2050. Most hydrogen will be produced from dedicated renewables-based electrolysers by 2050. Green hydrogen will dominate over time, with 18 per cent of hydrogen supply produced via electrolysis from cheap grid electricity and 43 per cent from electrolysis using dedicated off-grid renewables. Blue hydrogen will lose its cost advantage, providing only 19 per cent of hydrogen supply for energy purposes by 2050.
“Extraordinary action will be needed to bring the hydrogen economy into full force earlier – but these are extraordinary times. The window to avoid catastrophic climate change is closing soon, and the costs of not doing so unimaginable”, said Eriksen.
Source: www.offshore-energy.biz
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is the biggest contributor to global warming after CO2. It is therefore important to limit methane emissions as much as possible. This also applies to the sea. The Dutch oil and gas industry has managed to reduce the methane emissions of its production installations. And not only on paper. Through on-site monitoring measurements TNO has established that the actual emissions are in line with the estimates.
“When we announce that we have reduced our methane emissions, it’s not as if everyone believes us right away,” says Aart Tacoma, Secretary for Health, Safety and Environment at NOGEPA, the Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploitation and Production Association. “I can still remember a meeting, in 2017. The room was full of critics of the oil and gas industry. ‘You were telling us all these wonderful stories,’ they said, ‘but what your figures for actual emissions are not transparent. So the methane emissions you report are probably lower than they really are,’ we were told.” “That was quite confrontational, but I understood their criticism,” he continues, “because the figures are in an electronic database of the RIVM (Dutch Public Health Authority), which you can only access with an account and a password. The tables do not show the share of the gas industry. So no, it’s not particularly transparent.”
Officially established down standards
Neither is it the case that production plant operators in the North Sea have sophisticated measuring equipment at their disposal. They determine their methane emissions on the basis of officially established standards. “We thought that by complying with all the regulations and agreements on emission reporting, we were being transparent about our emissions. But then it turned out that while the government can see all the data, our information is not accessible to outsiders.” This of course raises questions. Because to what extent do the protocol-
based reports correspond to reality? So there was a need for a reality check. “But of course we should not do that ourselves,” Tacoma emphasises. “We went in search of an independent party with the experience and equipment to measure methane emissions. And that was TNO. They already had experience with methane emission measurements on land. We provided a ship, and the research team hoisted their equipment onto it for the first time in 2018.”
Global first
In the North Sea, the Dutch oil and gas industry has about 150 production installations. And TNO has determined the methane emissions of some 50 platforms. A number of these were selected in advance, but a large number of platforms were examined at random.
“Those measurements were a challenge,” says TNO researcher Ilona Velzeboer. “We already had experience with measuring gas wells and onshore installations. Aerodyne was also commissioned by EDF, the Environmental Defence Fund, to investigate methane emissions from the Groningen gas field. The measured emissions were higher than those resulting from the total emission registration, but higher emissions were reported for the various installations than those measured by EDF.
However, the same study showed that emissions from the Dutch gas industry were much lower than in America. What I want to say is that it was the first time we had done this kind of measurement offshore. And the special thing about our method was that we had contact with the operators on the platforms, which enabled us to use a measurement method based on tracer gas. It was the first time that research had been done in this way anywhere in the world. So a unique approach.”
Calculating back
As tracer gas, TNO used a harmless gas that is easy to measure. And that tracer gas was released by the platform operators. The exact quantity involved was known. Then the TNO team on the ship was able to work with the measuring equipment to measure the quantities of tracer gas and methane. These measurements allowed them to determine how much of the original tracer gas had been blown in their direction by the wind. If that percentage was known, they could then calculate the total methane emission of a platform based on the measured amount of methane.
False start
So much for the theory. Practice, however, proved to be more difficult. During the first measurement campaign, in June 2018, things went wrong. And here and there it went badly wrong. On the one hand, this was because the tracer gas and a large part of the methane emissions from the platforms were emitted above an inversion layer. Those emissions did not descend to sea level. So there was nothing to measure. “During the second measurement campaign, in late 2018, together with the platform operators, we set it up differently,” Velzeboer recalls.
To make the measurement programme transparent, Tacoma says it took more than the measurements the TNO team took from a ship. “During those measurements, our people were on the platforms. And then someone might think that they were all putting their fingers in holes to prevent methane from leaking out. That is why, during the first measurements on the platforms, specialists from The Sniffers were also present. The people from this company, which specialises in emission measurements, tried to detect and quantify emissions on site using their special equipment. With the standard method that they use in the rest of the world, they found nothing at all. They then switched to bagging, a technique in which they succeeded in detecting very small leaks using special bags. That confirmed to us that we were not doing so badly at all.”
Inspection
“And that wasn’t all,” he continues. “We had also invited inspectors from the State Supervision of Mines to verify that the production facilities where measurements with tracer gas were carried out were producing gas under normal conditions. They did indeed establish that. And so also that TNO’s measurements reflected the emissions from the normal operation of those installations.”
The conclusion?
“The emissions reported by the oil and gas companies corresponded to what we measured,” summarises Velzeboer. “We did see that the methane emissions of some production plants were slightly higher or lower than others. This often had to do with the age of the installations. The older ones simply released more. There were never any major leaks. Very different from Romania, where we also measured methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The situation there cannot be compared to the Netherlands. The emissions there are disturbingly much higher. So I think the Netherlands has really got it right.” It was also very instructive for TNO,” she emphasises. “For example, thanks to the cooperation with NOGEPA, we were able to develop a new measurement method that provides data that we really support. Interest was also shown from America in 2019, during the NCGG8 conference. Aerodyne has done measurements on platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in cooperation with EDF, but without tracer gases. They would like to do that in cooperation with us. But then corona came along. So that’s been put on hold for now. But we will undoubtedly pick up this collaboration again soon. And it would be even better if the new measurement method were also used in other countries. We are therefore also working on a scientific publication about this method.”
Up another gear
End of the story? No. “Since the methane emission measurements from TNO, we have gone up a gear,” Tacoma reports. “In an agreement with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, we promised in August 2019 that we would reduce methane emissions from offshore gas production by 50 per cent before 31 December 2020 compared to the emissions in 2017. This required a huge effort from the oil and gas companies. And they succeeded.”
Source: Offshore Energy Resources Original article: Dr. Ilona Velzeboer, TNO
EUROPE’S OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY IS TAKING OFF
CATCHING THE WIND OUT AT SEA HAS BECOME A PILLAR OF THE CONTINENT’S ENERGY FUTURE
Open a satellite map of Europe and wander along its coastlines, a little bit away from the shore. Go along the Northern Sea borders, venture east to the Baltic or go south in British and French waters. On a cloudless day, you might see them clearly. Dozens, even hundreds of them, in precise geometries. White dots piercing the sea, stirring dusty plumes that curve on the waves. They are offshore wind turbines catching the wind to produce energy from thin air.
For the first time, in 2020, renewables surpassed fossil fuels as the top energy source, providing 38% of Europeans’ electricity needs. Although still overshadowed by wind farms on land, offshore wind energy is making a march of its own. In 2020, Europe boosted its offshore capacity by 2.9 GW, and today with over 5,000 offshore turbines generates a total of 25 GW of installed capacity across twelve countries.
This, however, is still far behind the EU’s ambitions to rely on at least 60 GW of offshore capacity by 2030 and get to 300 GW by 2050. The European Commission also wants to see today’s offshore’s 3% contribution to the electricity market go up to 15% in 2030 and 30% by mid-century. It is possible for offshore wind to meet even the EU’s highest expectations, says Ivan Pineda, director of market intelligence at WindEurope, an organisation that represents the wind industry. “Today we build about 6-7 GW per year, but three years from now we need to move to 11 GW annually if we want to create four times the offshore wind capacity we’ve built in the last 15 years,” says Pineda. But how can the 27 countries hugely accelerate their offshore efforts in just nine years?
Making more space
The industry’s desire to expand is there. Take Belgium, where in the last decade wind farm developer and operator Parkwind has built four offshore wind parks,
which now deliver almost 10% of the country’s energy demand and have helped the small nation become one of the world’s five leading countries on offshore wind projects. And Parkwind provides only a third of Belgium’s total installed offshore capacity. “Annually, we produce enough power to supply about 750-800,000 households,” says Vedran Horvat, head of communications at Parkwind. “Potential for growth is big, and if all commitments are delivered as planned, we can keep our pace. But getting there is not going to be easy.”
Although in 2020, offshore wind in Europe received a record 26 billion euros in investments and investors are increasingly exploring Spain, Portugal, and other wind-rich areas in the Mediterranean Sea, WindEurope says that the geography of offshore wind will not change that much. Waters in northern Europe, which are shallower, will probably continue to host 85% of the continent’s offshore wind projects – seeing a bigger density of wind parks, says Pineda. But given that offshore wind turbines can be installed mainly in relatively shallow waters and connecting them to the electricity grid requires proximity to land, finding the space close to shore with good wind conditions is critical.
“Offshore wind is just the last of the industries coming to use the seabed and sea space,” says Pineda, as shipping and fishing vessels have long been the main users of coastal waters. To reach those 110 GW by 2030, countries need to allocate enough space for offshore wind farms well in advance, given that it can take up to a decade from planning a farm to making it fully operational, stresses WindEurope.
Another way to make space for offshore wind is going further at sea. In deeper waters – between 50 to 1,000 m – floating offshore turbines could help Europe get closer to its clean energy goals. Spain, France, Norway, Denmark, and Germany are leading the way in building floating wind farms, which are not commercial yet. According to the European Commission, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea are especially good candidates for the new technology. In Spain, which could provide up to 22 GW of wind energy from offshore floating farms, major utility company Iberdrola is planning to invest over one billion euros into a 300 MW floating wind farm. “Floating turbines will soon allow us to build farms where it was previously deemed too costly or physically impossible,” says the Danish wind turbine company Vestas. “The upper limit is how much wind energy is available globally and how much energy can turbines extract.”
Ramping up the power
The manufacturers’ desire to expand is there too. In the last five years, wind turbines have become more powerful, growing in capacity at over 15% per year. While the biggest offshore turbines today are 9.5 MW, Vestas just announced the launch of a 15 MW turbine – the most powerful in the industry. But making the most out of technological progress calls for changes in infrastructure. “With upscaled turbine technology and turbines with rotors of over 200m in diameter, the need for infrastructure and waterside facilities is paramount to be able to install offshore wind at increasing scale,” Vestas told Euronews. “Scaling up will deliver cost reduction benefits for consumers, but often port facilities and other infrastructure are not available at a bigger scale.”
Across Europe, ports are dedicating space for offshore wind activities – whether as sites for transporting turbines to construction sites, manufacturing and maintaining parts or as export hubs for offshore components. Harbours such as Bilbao, Cherbourg, Gdynia, or Aalborg are part of WindEurope’s Offshore Wind Ports Platform, which brings together ports already supporting offshore wind or interested to learn how to boost the industry. By concentrating key activities in one place, ports can help
cut costs, making offshore wind energy competitive with other renewables. “Going forward, investments in ports are very important,” says Pineda, “but they need to invest about 6.5 billion euros if we are to meet the 2030 targets.”
Using climate data
So what about the wind? Just how windy an area is can make or break a project, and developers need climate data to know what to expect. Vortex, a Barcelona-based company, uses data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) to help companies assess the climate variability of potential or existing wind project sites. “Data on things like wind direction and speed at different heights is crucial. An 8 versus 8.5 meters per second wind speed can change the project’s layout, the turbines used, even its whole feasibility,” says Gil Lizcano, R&D director at Vortex.
But as measuring wind behaviour at sea can be challenging, most projects rely on climate models, Lizcano explains. Providing accurate data is critical, especially before setting up wind farms. Vortex uses climate information from the last 20 years to provide a better image of wind conditions in the present. More extreme wind conditions could push up the price of infrastructure – as sturdier turbines cost more – but also make the farm more profitable. Knowing how the wind will behave is also essential for day-to-day farm operations, especially for understanding how much energy will go into the grid.
Consultancy firm Lautec helps offshore wind farm developers and others decide on offshore farm investments through ESOX, an online tool that allows comparisons between wind conditions at different sites across the world and simplifies access to climate data. Using C3S data, Lautec reconstructs past climate conditions using data from the last 30-40 years, analysing wind fluctuations and how uncertain wind conditions are. “Knowing these conditions more precisely helps you save time, especially when building projects,” says Henrik Iversen, Lautec partner. Manufacturers like Vestas use climate data to decide on the equipment to use. “For our harsher northern European markets, where cold winds are expected, we have antiicing technology,” the company said. “Offshore turbines also have anti-lightning technology that ensures the blades keep spinning even during storms. We’ve also increasingly digitalised our turbines to adjust the blades to specific wind conditions so that the most wind is captured at any one time by all the blades in a farm.”
Although making long-term predictions on wind conditions remains difficult, some experts have been exploring how climate change could affect offshore wind energy in the coming decades. Relying on C3S data for wave height and wind speeds in the past and for the near and far future, British environmental consultants JBA Consulting simulated how a wind farm with 100 turbines would operate in different areas in Europe. Modelling can help investors evaluate the climate resilience of wind farms and assess its financial implications for the project.
Innovation
Although wind resources are not 24/7 energy suppliers, the industry is getting better at capitalising on them. “With renewables, you will always have an intermittency issue,” says Parkwind’s Horvat. “However, offshore wind resources tend to be quite consistent. As grids get better managed and connected, balancing supply and demand can improve, delivering the power where it is needed.” Offshore wind’s success will also depend on its price tag. But the data is looking good. Just in the last seven years, as technology got cheaper, prices for offshore wind have dropped 75%, according to WindEurope. Constant innovation is a strong card in the industry’s favour. “Offshore wind is having a very good momentum now,” says Ivan Pineda. “The vision of large clusters of wind farms, big power plants at sea, connected to many countries will benefit not only countries with coastal resources, but electricity will flow across the continent, all the way to landlocked countries. There is this natural ingenuity in the industry, from the manufacturing of very large components to the way we can deploy these projects.”
Source: Offshore Energy Resources Original source: euronews
SOLVING A COMPLEX PUZZLE?
WORK TOGETHER AND MAKE CHOICES!
Increasingly large-scale wind energy generation, gas production that will continue for a long time, CO2 storage, hydrogen production, construction of energy hubs, reuse of platforms and pipelines: using the North Sea to achieve the climate targets is an enormously complex puzzle. But through intensive cooperation between many parties and the clever combination of activities, it can certainly be solved.
That is the essence of what the North Sea Energy program is all about. For several years, this partnership of more than thirty parties has been researching the possibilities of system integration on the North Sea and what the advantages are. If we work together and make choices in the short term, we can better exploit the synergy benefits. And that has advantages: together, we can reduce CO2 emissions more effectively and do so at a faster pace than now, reduce the costs involved, and we can use the scarce space we have more usefully. Because, in addition to the energy sector, there are other functions that have to fit in, such as fishing, shipping, defense, coastal protection and recreation. It also means making sometimes difficult choices in organizing all the present and future energy activities at sea.
Smart combinations
“I prefer to talk about opportunities, without trivializing the dilemmas,” says TNO expert René Peters, who is closely involved in the public-private program. “Making smart combinations is paramount. The North Sea has tremendous potential as a source of sustainable energy for the Netherlands. We therefore need to think and act integrally in order to steer the considerable growth in wind energy in the coming period in the right direction. System integration here means strategically planning which infrastructure to keep and which to remove. What is useful can be cleverly deployed for new functions, such as the storage and transport of hydrogen produced at sea or the storage of CO2.”
“That is why we’re proud of the first offshore green hydrogen production pilot on a working platform here off the coast of Scheveningen/The Hague. The pilot is called PosHYdon. Here on Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A platform we will integrate three working offshore energy systems: offshore wind, offshore gas and green hydrogen. The lessons learned here will help to take the next steps towards large scale green hydrogen production on the North Sea.”
Offshore energy hubs: a strategic choice
A far-reaching example of system integration is the creation of offshore hubs, where various functions can come together: production of gas, hydrogen, wind energy, electrification, storage of hydrogen and CO2, transport to and from land. René Peters: “We are investigating how we can shape such energy hubs. We are forming new value chains with the many parties involved. The identified offshore areas will be linked to industrial clusters on the coast in and around the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam / IJmuiden, Den Helder and Eemshaven. Wind energy at sea is accelerating. The currently planned capacity of 11.5 GW in 2030 will probably grow by an additional 6 to 9 GW. The wind farms are also being placed further out to sea. Because it is becoming increasingly complicated to fit these large amounts of wind energy into the system, we already have to make strategic choices for generation, conversion, transport and storage of various types of sustainable energy. These hubs will bring together the various energy functions so that we can elaborate in-depth scenarios based on techno-economics, ecology and environment, logistics, regulations and safety.
ACCELERATING MARINE ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Marine energy provides a vast potential for utility operators and offshore energy companies as well as remote applications and supply contractors. For the majority of applications, the energy generated from waves, tidal streams or different levels of either salinity or temperature is more predictable than other offshore energy sources.
To further develop these technologies, it is needed to increase life time and efficiency while reducing operational costs and installation expenditure. These goals, best achieved by deployment, have also led to the exploration of a number of different business cases for marine energy developers. Providing a constant power supply to offshore equipment shows the collaboration opportunities with the oil & gas industries. The production of offshore hydrogen transforms renewable energy into a green energy carrier that can be used for chemical industry, as a fuel or stored and converted back into electricity. And finally, the co-location with offshore wind can not only increase the amount of energy harvested from marine space but also increase the capacity factor of cables and subsequently the base load of offshore renewable energy parks.
To realise solutions for all these applications, Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC) is accelerating marine energy development in Europe and beyond. Our activities are focussing on managing technical innovation challenges, maturing investment readiness, exploring new markets and securing policy support. To offer even broader expertise, our team collaborates with a large network of research institutes, test sites and engineering consultancies. The key to commercialise technologies in this young sector is the efficient link between technical lessons learned and business development. For this reason, DMEC leads a number of European funded projects, like the Ocean Energy Scale Up Alliance. Together with partners from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom DMEC has developed a service offer for marine energy developers that helps them streamline their path to commercial success.
This and other projects are part of the DMEC Accelerator which is aiming to give marine energy developers a central contact point for any step during their technology development and to provide interested market parties with detailed insights into the developments in this exciting new renewable energy sector.
For more information regarding the Ocean Energy Scale up Alliance project or to learn more about engagement opportunities with the marine energy sector please visit www.dutchmarineenergy.com or contact project manager Simon Stark, simon@dutchmarineenergy.com.
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR OFFSHORE ENERGY WORKFORCE AS THE WORLD STRIVES FOR NET-ZERO?
As the energy transition is accelerating across all facets of the offshore energy industry, a question arises: what will happen to its workforce while the industry changes its modus operandi, develops new technologies, and pushes for sustainability and efficiencies in its operations?
Following the challenges we faced in 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, this year has more than any other before seen some crucial changes happening in the offshore energy sector, affecting everyone involved, especially its most important element, the workforce. While the governments and companies across the world are working on their net-zero and sustainability goals, it has become evident that the netzero world will require massive numbers of skilled workforce to drive the changes needed to reach them. However, concerns have been raised over the impact the net-zero changes might have on those working in oil and gas.
A recent survey from the UK’s Energy Institute (EI) has revealed that professionals across all walks of UK energy are seeking from the government and industry to coalesce around a national skills strategy that underpins the development of low-carbon energy and supply chains in a just way that does not leave today’s skilled workers stranded. Research by the UK’s National Grid estimates that 400,000 diverse new recruits into energy will be needed for the UK to reach net-zero by 2050, more than half of which will be in new roles. Previously, as part of the landmark North Sea Transition Deal, the UK government pledged that high-skilled oil and gas workers and the supply chain would not be left behind in the transition to a low carbon future.
A deal between the government and the oil and gas industry will support workers, businesses, and the supply chain through the energy transition, harnessing the industry’s existing capabilities to exploit new and emerging technologies such as hydrogen production, carbon capture usage and storage, offshore wind, and decommissioning. While acknowledging progress in the UK’s energy policy over the past year, respondents to the EI’s survey underlined
that further action is needed, highlighting that action to bring on the necessary workforce is pressing. UK’s Cerulean Winds, a green infrastructure developer, has recently estimated that the current 160,000 oil and gas jobs can be safeguarded and 200,000 new roles within the floating wind and hydrogen sectors will be created within the next five years. Meanwhile, Cerulean Winds has a plan to accelerate the decarbonisation of oil and gas assets through an integrated 200-turbine floating wind and hydrogen development that would shift the dial on emissions targets and create significant jobs. Both offshore wind and hydrogen are considered the backbone of the energy transition. With that in mind, the UK government last year revealed its ambition to create 2 million green jobs by 2030, launching a Green Jobs Taskforce to help reach that goal.
The focus is on the immediate and longer-term challenges of delivering skilled workers for the UK’s transition to net-zero. This includes ensuring the country has the immediate skills needed for building back greener following the pandemic, including those in offshore wind, and supporting workers in high carbon transitioning sectors like oil and gas to retrain in new green technologies. The taskforce was put in charge of assessing how the UK jobs market and the skills sector would adapt to support net-zero, developing ideas and solutions for how the UK can deliver the green jobs of the future.
But, to achieve the planned offshore wind capacity of 300 GW and 40 GW of ocean energy installed capacity by 2050 in the EU, there needs to be a massive change of scale for the sector in less than 30 years and that applies to the available workforce as well. A report published in March 2021 by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) stated that the number of people working in the offshore wind industry in the UK was projected to increase to 69,848 by 2026. It is worth noting here that the UK is considered a leader when it comes to installed offshore wind capacity with further aggressive expansion planned. While the UK and Europe already have massive scaling up plans for the offshore wind market, the U.S. is somewhat of a newcomer to the sector. However, things are about to change during this decade as the government is now working to jumpstart its offshore wind energy and create tens of thousands of jobs in the sector. The country’s ambitious offshore wind target of 30 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 will support around 77,000 direct and indirect jobs and trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment in projects on both U.S. coasts. Specifically, more than 44,000 people are expected to be employed in offshore wind by 2030, with nearly 33,000 additional jobs in communities supported by offshore wind activity. To achieve this goal, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to advance new lease sales and complete a review of at least 16 Construction and Operations Plans by 2025, representing more than 19 GW of offshore wind capacity to be installed off the U.S. coasts.
In addition to focusing on policies and initiatives that will drive the development of low carbon technologies, it has become clear that further action needs to be taken to identify the skills needed and assemble that workforce, ensuring that concerns about cost, time, and availability of courses crucial for re-skilling are addressed. The energy transition needs a skills transition, otherwise, the lack of a skilled workforce could become yet another barrier to meeting net-zero.
Source: www.offshore-energy.biz - Nermina Kulovic Images: Alamy - Rob Arnold, van Oord Offshore
POSHYDON PROJECT
DUTCH GOVERNMENT GRANTS €3.6 MILLION SUBSIDY
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has awarded a subsidy of 3.6 million euro to the PosHYdon project, the world’s first offshore green hydrogen pilot on a working platform. With this subsidy the consortium can start up all activities for this pilot. The remaining budget will be funded by the consortium partners.
René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program: “PosHYdon is the ultimate example of system integration in the North Sea. In many studies, hydrogen is considered the missing link in the energy transition, with many talking about all the opportunities. But here, right off the coast of Scheveningen, it will actually take place. PosHYdon will teach us a lot about the next steps that need to be taken towards safe, large-scale green hydrogen production at sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea. Wind energy is then directly converted to green hydrogen and can be transported through the existing gas infrastructure. As a result, offshore wind projects can be realized faster at significantly lower costs for society. I am therefore very happy that we can now progress with PosHYdon.”
Jacqueline Vaessen, Managing Director of Nexstep, national platform for reuse and decommissioning: “Together with a number of operators and TNO, this idea arose about two years ago from a brainstorming session of the ‘Re-purpose’ working group within Nexstep. We looked at what the best location would be to host this pilot and then arrived at Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A, since that platform is already fully electrified using green electricity.” PosHYdon seeks to validate the integration of three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen and will involve the installation of hydrogen-producing plant on the Neptune Energy-operated Q13a-A platform. The Q13a-A is the first fully electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea, located approximately 13 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen (the Netherlands).
Electricity generated by offshore wind turbines will be used to power the hydrogen plant on the Q13a-A platform, converting seawater into demineralized water, then into hydrogen via electrolysis. The aim of the pilot is to gain experience of integrating working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment. In addition, in this project the efficiency of an electrolyser with a variable supply from offshore wind will be tested, and at the same time knowledge and insights on the costs for the offshore installation as well as maintenance costs will be obtained. The green hydrogen will be mixed with the gas and transported via the existing gas pipeline to the coast. The 1 MW electrolyser will produce a maximum of 400 kilogrammes of green hydrogen per day.
The challenge of efficiently repurposing and decommissioning the oil & gas infrastructure in the Netherlands can only be met through collaboration. Many operators have taken their responsibility to decommission. However, now that we will reach the point where numerous platforms and wells will be decommissioned, the time has come to look at things differently.
We are facing a big challenge. In recent decades, a huge infrastructure has been built in the Netherlands for the production and transportation of oil and gas. A large part of the oil and gas infrastructure is approaching the end of its economic life. The total cost of decommissioning infrastructure was estimated at €7 billion in 2017. However, the decommissioning projects carried out demonstrated significant cost overruns, which means that the total decommissioning cost could end up being between €8.5 and €10 million. Nexstep, National Platform for Re-use & Decommissioning, shares knowledge and experience, stimulates innovation, and promotes effective and efficient regulation. In addition, Nexstep is also the public face of re-use and decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure in the Netherlands. Nexstep’s mission is to connect all opportunities and players to reduce the costs of decommissioning the oil & gas infrastructure in the Netherlands by 30% (from €7 billion to €5 billion) and to optimise decommissioning for the future so that the infrastructure is repurposed whenever possible to accelerate the energy transition. Main requirement is that decommissioning is carried out in a safe manner where environmental interests are safeguarded.
Nexstep’s innovation program is called ’The road to 30%’. It consists of several roadmaps which contribute to Nexstep’s aim to reduce costs by 30%. One of these roads is the ‘Road to joint execution’. Through Nexstep, the operators have been working over the past few years to prepare a first joint campaign. Research from parties like the Boston Consulting Group1 demonstrates that larger campaigns offer efficient execution, leading to optimal opportunity for learning and improvements as well as cost savings along the way. A combined strategy was developed for the rigless plugging and abandonment of 24 standalone Mud Line Suspension (MLS) wells in the Dutch North Sea with the possibility that more wells could be added. MLS wells were once drilled for exploration purposes, but never became producing wells. These wells are relatively simple or easier to remove than wells that are connected to a platform making these wells ideally suitable for a first campaign.
Nexstep is actively working to stimulate innovation, with Through Tubing Cementation as an alternative decommissioning method. The pilots with this alternative technique are funded by the members of Nexstep and knowledge is shared with all members. This allows the
development to go much faster than if everyone would do it on their own. Nexstep has also taken the initiative together with TNO for the PosHYdon pilot, the world’s first offshore green hydrogen project on a working platform. In 2019, the dialogue between the oil and gas industry and the heavy lift industry was taken up in a workshop organised by IRO and Nexstep. The industry shared that they would like to be involved in decommissioning projects at an early stage, so that they can draw attention to innovative approaches. Therefore, Nexstep created a contractor portal which is now available to the heavy lift industry. In the context of promoting effective and efficient regulation, NOGEPA standard 45 was further developed under the Nexstep flag and eventually included in the mining regulation.
Nexstep pays considerable attention to sharing lessons from implemented decommissioning projects. Each year, four sessions are held in which several cases are discussed. Shared learnings are distilled from these and stored in a database. The database is now filled with 300+ learnings, which are regularly consulted in the preparation of decommissioning projects, thus Nexstep indirectly contributes to projects in development. In June, a peer assist session took place for the first time. A group of colleagues from different operators gave feedback in a workshop on the planning and technical approach of a decommissioning project under preparation.
As of 2020, IRO has been part of Nexstep’s Supervisory Board in the person of Sander Vergroesen as an observer.
More information at www.nexstep.nl.
Images: courtesy of Allseas, DEME Offshore, Heerema
WORKING IN ENERGY SECTOR TODAY IS A THRILL
YOUNG IRO ATTRACTS YOUNG GENERATION OF ENERGY PROFESSIONALS
Mutual understanding for the added value of young and old is an essential precondition for better cooperation. There is no doubting the truth of this statement. Nonetheless, in today’s society, it still remains far from self-evident for different generations to actually spontaneously interact. IRO and Young IRO are an excellent example of the added value of cooperation. Together they have developed the compassion for working towards a CO2-free future, in the close-knit energy community.
Within the IRO, too, in the past, like-minded senior members often ganged together like an exclusive old boys’ network, while the younger generation, with their dreams of the future and modern thinking, sought solace together elsewhere. In 2017, representatives of the younger generation employed at the time with one of the IRO members decided to adopt an entirely independent profile. Young IRO saw the light of day. Not out of a sense of frustration but with the professional aim of rendering the offshore industry future-proof, reconsidering the conventional and reinforcing the young generation.
Paul Schoenmakers, project designer and business developer at TWD Today, in 2021, Young IRO is an integral part of the IRO. Since the organisation’s foundation, the number of under 35s has grown considerably. In the third quarter of 2021, Young IRO consisted of 415 members, employed at a total of 143 unique businesses. The IRO, this year celebrating its anniversary, currently comprises 381 affiliate companies. Han Heilig spoke to Young IRO Board Members Paul Schoenmakers, project designer and business developer at TWD and Ruben de Nie, portfolio manager at Damen.
Inspirational
Both young energy professionals confirm that since its establishment, Young IRO has achieved a great deal. The voice of the younger generation has become more balanced. “Cooperation between young and old has become increasingly smooth. Our voice is actually listened to and that is a marvellous thing to experience. We have succeeded in establishing an identity that reflects the identity of all the younger members, and that is respected by the CEOs of the normal IRO members,” suggested Ruben. “Moreover, we are constantly organising a whole raft of inspiring events that help to disseminate more broadly our ambitious ideas on the energy transition, among the people who have a clear idea of the nature of that transition. Our ideas may be sporadic and somewhat overly utopian, but by combining a healthy dose of naivety and drive, with experienced and skilled people, the destination you arrive at is a better one than you would have reached by following the well-trodden paths. By adopting that profile, we will eventually succeed in changing the goals of the entire sector.”
In other words, Young IRO focuses on the one hand on offering a counterpoint to the old guard within IRO and on the other on attracting potential newcomers from the universities, as ambassadors for the sector. Where once there was a time when the younger generation barely dared to announce in public that they were employed in an offshorerelated business, they are now proud to proclaim that they work in a fabulous sector, and are involved in bringing about an acceptable energy future. Paul added: “We have created a community where like-minded thinkers can congregate. We have also been able to make a real difference in terms of cohesion and the willingness to recognise that you can look beyond the boundaries of your own work bubble, to see how other people do things differently. And that means learning from each other, acquiring new insights, and as a result enjoying new inspirations. Young IRO has shown the courage to set aside its blinkers. We are willing to look around us and to learn from other sectors, even if at first glance, the similarities appear limited. We refer to it as out cross-corporate approach: acquiring an overall picture of the actual impact of your own everyday operations. Let us be honest; there is still a long way to go. We will have to face up to a number of complex challenges. But undeniably, we have already taken a number of important steps forward.”
Ambassadors
Although the keys to the climate transition lie with the government, science and the commercial players, when it comes to the role of the supplies to the energy sector, the board of Young IRO clearly holds the opinion that they too are in a position to make a welcome contribution to accelerating the energy transition. The good will of businesses is clearly present, but progress is only being achieved slowly. The Dutch offshore sector has a key role in the energy transition, and it would be a good thing if that role were to be actively picked up and carried forward, as was the case 50 years ago, with oil and gas. The Young IRO’s bucket list therefore still includes plenty of ideas on improving sustainability. And that in turn calls for actively dealing with the difficult issues for the future rather than trying to avoid them. The board of Young IRO consists of eight people. All of them volunteers who, with the full approval of their employers, perform their task
Ruben de Nie, portfolio manager at Damen
alongside holding down their normal job. “When it comes to organising events that does mean we sometimes come up against the limits of our capacity,” confirmed Ruben. “Our aim is to offer the broadest possible palette of activities, but that is only possible thanks to assistance from outside. For that reason, we recently attracted a group of conscientious ambassadors, who are also willing to make an enthusiastic contribution to Young IRO. They will become more closely involved in the further growth and development of Young IRO. And in order to ensure a broad scope of activities, they too are invited to submit their own ideas and initiatives.”
Lessons learned
The characteristics of Young IRO, held in great esteem by all the members, are the willingness to check out what the neighbours are doing, and above all fostering cooperation. If we as a sector hope to actually achieve the intended sustainable energy transition, and if we as the Netherlands wish to remain frontrunners on the world stage, then cooperation is unavoidable. Talking together about the common denominators. Launching innovative projects in collaboration. Ruben continued: “We do not present
ourselves as some sort of oracle that the older generation has to sit down and listen to. The opposite is in fact very much the case. The central thrust of the work of Young IRO is to challenge ourselves and the older generation, by offering a refreshing and critical vision. Naturally based on the underlying principle that everything we do must be done in collaboration. Only by young and old joining forces can we achieve the energy transition. And that means listening attentively to one another’s ideas, and remaining open to the idea of sharing lessons learned.”
Delegate
Would it not be a good idea to have an official delegate from the Young IRO on the board of the IRO itself? The suggestion is met with a brief silence. Serious thought is obviously being given to the idea. Paul replied: “I understand the suggestion, but do not believe it is necessary at this particular juncture. Koos-Jan van Brouwershaven, CEO of Heerema Marine Contractors is already performing sterling work on our behalf, as Young IRO supervisor, and Charlotte Roodenburg of Huisman is the first woman to hold a seat on the IRO board. She is an excellent sparring partner for us.”
The future
When asked about the celebration of the 50th anniversary of IRO, both gentlemen expressed pleasure at the fact that on Friday 26 November, both the older and younger generation will be enjoying the anniversary, together. The Young IRO Award for best mentor, for example, is due to be presented during the anniversary celebrations. “If we successfully bring about an energy transition together, in 2067 Young IRO will also be able to celebrate its 50th anniversary. We are and remain a platform where young people can establish a solid network and tap into the knowledge of experienced senior players inside and outside the energy sector. We have already seen the huge added value these aspects are able to generate. In that light, it is beyond any shadow of doubt that there will always be a need for this type of cooperation. And for Young IRO.”
Source: Offshore Energy Resources
The Netherlands Country Pavilion on the World Expo in Dubai is the first country that receives the GSES Circular Footprint® certificate and the RISE certification from the Expo organization and GSES System® . The certificates were issued the 3rd November, on the National Day of the Netherlands, from the World Expo organization and the GSES System to Minister Tom de Bruin of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On the same day that the royal couple, King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima visited the Netherlands pavilion. The Netherlands Pavilion is about uniting Energy, Water and Food and stimulating the Circular Economy. Therefore, the Netherlands built a circular construction of utilized sheet piles used for the construction of the Netherlands pavilion. H.E. Lody Embrechts, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UAE: “We are delighted that the Dutch company GSES System has developed such sophisticated measurement techniques regarding sustainable impact that help contribute to these important goals.“
Circular Footprint
The GSES Circular Footprint certificate measures the Circular Footprint of Country Pavilions based on Ellen
McArthur MCI, Cradle to Cradle and BS 8001 resulting in the GSES Circular Footprint Certification. The Circular Footprint of The Netherlands Pavilion is 95%. 90% of the total construction of the pavilion is reusable after the use on the Expo site, and the pavilion used 100% reused (and locally sourced) materials to build its construction. That makes a Circular Footprint score of 95% in total. For reusing the sheet piles after Expo, the Kingdom of The Netherlands and DutchDubai organization made sure they have a recycling plan in place to be able to reuse all sheet piles after the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.
EXPO RISE verification
The RISE verification from EXPO and GSES System measures the use of packaging in and around the Pavilions. The scoring of The Netherlands Pavilion regarding RISE is compliance because the pavilion uses recycled and biodegradable packaging and makes sure that all packaging is recyclable after use. This is very important and a great achievement for The Netherlands Pavilion.
Kelly Ruigrok, CEO GSES System, Data for Good and the National Sustainability Institute from The Netherlands: “The Netherlands Pavilion is a huge Circular project that shows that circular design can be done, as well as circular building and construction and recycling planning before creating a building construction! Let this be an example for the building and construction sector across the world! Our GSES System platform is for all stakeholders, countries, organizations, products and supply chains. Besides issuing The Netherlands Country pavilion certificates we also issued the GSES System certificate to Hoogendoorn Growth Management during the trade reception on the 2nd of November. A company in horticultural automation, which not only talks about sustainability but also puts it into practice in the MENA Region. Koppert Biological Systems, ABN AMRO Bank, Univé Insurances, etc also use the GSES System and are verified. There is a huge potential for sustainable growth globally and together with the Expo organization we show that it can be measured and verified accordingly. In this way we set an example for the rest of the world.“
Striving to be the most sustainable World Expo in history, Expo 2020 Dubai has collaborated with Dutch company Global Sustainable Enterprise System (GSES System® / GSES®) under efforts to measure and report the sustainability performance of key stakeholders across the event. Using the GSES platform Expo measures the sustainability impact of the event’s suppliers’ and Country Pavilions – resulting in comprehensive rating cards, based on independent audits. Using the GSES rating cards, software platform and standards, Expo 2020 was able to verify its suppliers, International Participants, and exhibitors to meet its high sustainability standards.
Dina Storey, Director Sustainability Operations Expo 2020 Dubai: “We have adopted a wide-ranging approach to achieving our site-wide sustainability goals, underscoring our bold ambitions with grand action to integrate sustainability into all of our experiences and operations. Our collaboration with GSES System is emblematic of these efforts, supported by the sustainability commitments of our stakeholders as we work together to host one of the most sustainable World Expos in history and create a meaningful, measurable impact beyond the site and our 182-day run.”
About GSES System
The Global Sustainable Enterprise System® (GSES System® / GSES®) is a recognized platform that helps you rate, verify, and certify your sustainability performance on the process, supply chain, and product level independently. No more confusion due to an overload of complex information and regulations. GSES System easily, and cost- effectively aligns over 550 ecolabels and sustainability certificates and uses worldwide accepted standards to holistically measure sustainability performance. The GSES System Platform covers their own standards, the Meta Standard and also; SASB standards, Taxonomy, Landscaping standard, Diverse range of Product standards, Diverse range of ISO standards - all can be integrated in sustainable procurement or investment processes.
About The Netherlands Pavilion
The Netherlands Pavilion, located at the Sustainability District at Expo 2020 Dubai, will be open to visitors starting from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. The pavilion has a giant green food cone known as the ‘Biotope’ as the center of attraction. The vertical farm is covered with almost
9300 edible plants and irrigated with the harvested water from the air using innovative Dutch technologies. With these high-tech advancements and more in offering, the pavilion aims to be a true platform for sustainability and circularity initiatives thereby, enabling visitors to experience the Netherlands’ expertise in uniting water, energy and food. Dutch businesses, knowledge institutions and civil society organizations have specific knowledge and proficiency in these fields and can therefore play a key role in finding solutions that contribute to a more sustainable planet. Possessing a naturally controlled climate, the pavilion’s structure is constructed using locally sourced materials that will be recycled after the Expo period, minimizing its ecological footprint.
About Expo 2020 Dubai
From 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 Dubai will welcome visitors from every corner of the globe to join the making of a new world, as it brings together the planet in one place to reimagine tomorrow. With the purpose of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, Expo
However, when looking at offshore wind farms with a much wider view on sustainability, lots of steps need to be taken to make this source of renewable energy carbon neutral. Circular wind farms could be a valuable solution here. The report ‘The Ideation Process Focused on Circular Strategies in the Wind Industry’, was recently published by ECHT, and Offshore Industry talks with this agency’s Owner and Managing Director Erwin Coolen.
Real contribution
ECHT was established three years ago by Erwin Coolen and Hans Timmers. The founders’ initials can also be found in the agency’s name. “Today,” Mr Coolen explains, “ECHT stands for Energy, Circularity, Human Capital, and Transition, as these are the topics we are dedicated to. I have always been involved in wind energy, among others at Vestas. Over the past few years, I became somewhat tired of the ample publications on energy transition that never actually led to any tangible results. We started ECHT 2020 will be the world’s most impactful global incubator for new ideas, catalysing an exchange of new perspectives and inspiring action to deliver real-life solutions to realworld challenge. Expo 2020 will be the biggest cultural gathering in the world, presenting a visually striking and emotionally inspiring 182 days, as more than 200 participants – including nations, multilateral organisations, businesses, and educational institutions, as well as millions of visitors – create the largest and most diverse World Expo ever. Expo 2020’s sub themes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability will inspire visitors to preserve and protect our planet, explore new frontiers and build a better future for everyone. For six months, Expo 2020 will be a must-visit family destination, with thousands of events, amazing exploratory experiences, and free entry for children up to age 18. Expo is committed to building a more equitable and just world for everyone, while keeping visitors safe by following the latest guidance of the world’s leading medical, science and health experts.
More information at www.gses-system.com.
CIRCULAR WIND FARMS
Offshore wind farms are an important solution for generating renewable energy and in the upcoming years, their contribution to energy transition will increase considerably.
with the goal to really contribute (editor: ECHT means ‘really’ in Dutch) to a more sustainable world. We are a young team of twenty enthusiasts working together with partners in various projects, all of us contributing to the acceleration towards renewable electrification.”
Respect
He continues, “Our efforts are initiated by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the so-called Earth Overshoot Day, which marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a year exceeds what earth can regenerate in that year. In 2020, for example, this day fell on 22 August.” In Mr Coolen’s opinion, circularity can highly contribute to extending this Earth Overshoot Day for as long as possible. “Our intentions might sound a bit lofty, but although we operate from an idealistic approach, we don’t forget a realistic economic view.” Mr Coolen gives an example, “You may have heard of the ten Rs of
When looking at offshore wind farms with a much wider view on sustainability, lots of steps need to be taken to make this source of renewable energy carbon neutral. Image: courtesy of Equinor - Andrew Saunders
circularity. These are: Rethink, Redesign, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, and Recover. All of these represent a way to make a more or less circular product.
We have added an eleventh R to this, namely Respect. We should respect nature, but also each other. A product that is produced in a circular way could become more expensive when compared to non-circular alternatives. With respect for nature and each other, we should as a consumer accept a higher consumer price, or we should as a supplier take a lower profit to help a producer with a suitable business case for a circular product.”
Moonshot project
When looking at wind energy, both onshore and offshore, much can be said about the current lack of circularity of the entire supply chain of offshore windfarms. Mr Coolen elaborates, “Like CEO of WindEurope Giles Dickson recently said: in supplying a sustainable product, the wind energy industry should also look for a sustainable construction and installation of wind turbines. Take, for example, rotor blades. They are currently usually made of composites. Because of this, it is barely possible to recycle them. The first large scale offshore wind farms will soon be decommissioned, leaving us with around 15,000 rotor blades and no idea of what to do with them. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in August 2020 initiated the Circular Wind Moonshot project.
Mr Coolen continues, “The goal of this project is to take concrete steps towards the integration of circularity in the wind industry and to realise transformations in the supply chain.” The project consists of three phases: elaborating on circular strategies and action agenda topics, working out concrete action agendas and finally, executing these agendas.”
Erwin Coolen, Managing Director of ECHT : “We started ECHT with the goal to really contribute to a more sustainable world.”
Circular wind hub
“The Moonshot project,” Mr Coolen explains, “resulted in the report that we published in March of this year, which was presented to Kadri Simson, Commissioner of Energy of the European Commissiong. The report addresses the findings of phase 1 and makes suggestions on actions regarding phase 2. Phase 2 describes nine circular action agenda projects. As from spring 2021, these projects are initiated and aim – as from phase 3 – to accelerate the road towards a circular wind industry.”
Phase 2 of the project describes a so-called circular wind hub consisting of a knowledge hub, policy hub, and industrial hub. These three hubs further develop demonstration projects, legislation, industry standards, cross-sector, and international collaborations. “A circular wind farm,” Mr Cooles voices, “starts with the collaboration of governments as they should look, for example, at their tender procedures and permit criteria. There should be a change from a cost-driven focus to a circular driven focus, a move towards criteria based on the reuse of resources, and a change towards economically, socially, and environmentally sound and responsible criteria.
ERMA
When looking at the knowledge hub, we should aim at sharing knowledge and expertise. The industrial hub is focusing on the collaboration for a proposal that will be submitted to ERMA (European Raw Materials Alliance) to receive their support to extract, design, manufacture, and recycle materials; support with innovation, strategic investment, and industrial production across specific value chains; and support with implementing a circular economy for the wind industry.” For the latter purpose, the project was also presented in Brussels at an ERMA meeting in April. “Of course, the Netherlands has realised and announced various offshore wind projects, although for the parts, pieces, and the raw materials to be used, one should at least consider a European context for realising circularity. Today, around 98% of the raw materials is mined in China. Recent developments show that we should try to realise a less dependable situation for Europe. Circularity should play an important role in this, too.”
Pilot project
According to Mr Coolen, the project showed a high involvement from the wind industry. “The industry has highly contributed to the project, and now it is time for a next step to bring the ideas and suggestions from the industry into practice. This will obviously take time. Producing wind farms in a circular way will lead to a new industry requiring large investments and great opportunities. It is good to know that we can learn a lot from other industries, including the automotive industry, which are a lot further with circularity than our industry. According to the European Green Deal, achieving a climate-neutral and circular economy requires the full mobilisation of the entire industry. It also states that it will take on average 25 years to transform an industrial sector and its value chain. It is hence important to keep up the pace. Our next step is to establish within the coming years an industrial pilot project in which all aspects of realising a circular wind farm are implemented. From the learnings of this pilot project, we can further work towards a full-scale circular wind industry.”
More information at www.echt.community.
UNDERSTANDING STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES
The North Sea has the potential to play a pivotal role in the energy transition, but it is also a busy area with important ecological, societal and economic functions. As a partner of the North Sea Energy Program, MSG Sustainable Strategies performed an extensive analysis of Dutch stakeholders’ views, concerns, needs and potential benefits related to North Sea system integration and specific integration options, such as reuse, CCS and hydrogen.
The energy transition is a social transition; possibly even more than merely a technical or economic transition. Implementation of new technologies for a climate-neutral energy system – such as wind energy, carbon capture and storage and (green) hydrogen production,– requires insight into societal support and concern surrounding these technologies, on land and at sea. Stakeholders’ response to new technologies can be an important stimulus or barrier to offshore system integration.
Stakeholder perceptions and support
Understanding stakeholders’ perspectives – societal embeddedness - of energy system integration on the North Sea is an important element in the North Sea Energy (NSE) program which investigates the potential benefits of energy system integration for the surrounding countries of the North Sea. Improved understanding may aid the implementation of technologies and help leverage synergies, saving society money and time, enabling effective use of space and considerably reducing carbon emissions.
Analysis
In 2021 MSG Sustainable Strategies, as a partner in the NSE Program, performed an analysis of Dutch stakeholders’ views, concerns, needs and potential benefits related to North Sea system integration and specific integration options, such as reuse, CCS and hydrogen. Based on sessions with over thirty NSE public and private partners, interviews with other stakeholders and desk research, this study reports on North Sea stakeholders in three parts. It provides a fact sheet for each of the major stakeholder groups, detailing their key interests, needs and concerns, views on system integration options and information needs. It also provides an overview of six common perspectives on offshore energy system integration, helping to understand stakeholder backgrounds and motivation. Finally, it provides stakeholder aspects that are relevant for the three energy hubs studied as part of the NSE Program.
Common grounds and disputed topics
Overall, the stakeholder views show common ground regarding the need for large-scale offshore wind, the need to reduce spatial pressure and the importance of a common knowledge base. Disputed topics are the need for national energy self-sufficiency, the speed of the transition from fossil fuels to renewables, the importance of (especially blue) hydrogen, the societal value of reuse of existing infrastructure and the relevance of CCS to system integration.
Stakeholder engagement
Engaging relevant stakeholders will be key to unlocking the energy potential of the North Sea. The researchers recommend incorporating the knowledge needs that were expressed by the stakeholders into current and future research programmes. They also recommend that a visionbased roadmap for energy system integration – which is part of NSE - should seek to incorporate the different perspectives on North Sea energy.
More information
The full report on this stakeholder analysis was published in October at www.north-sea-energy.eu/en/results-2021/
30,000 EXISTING SHIPS READY FOR WIND PROPULSION TECH
As the maritime industry’s quest for the best possible decarbonization solutions has intensified, wind propulsion systems are gaining traction around the globe.
There are currently 30,000 ships in operation worldwide that could be equipped with wind-assisted ship propulsion (WASP) technology, Jukka Kuuskoski, Chief Sales Officer (CSO) at Norsepower Oy Ltd, estimated during the recent Wind Propulsion Open Mic event. In the case of newbuilds, this number is said to be much bigger. For reference, the number of ships in the world fleet that are larger than 1,000 GT currently stands at almost 54,000, according to UNCTAD data.
As explained, wind propulsion technology stakeholders are targeting vessels in operation and are focused more on retrofits than on newbuilds because, in the case of retrofits, there is a higher motivation to save money and fuel. The same conclusion was shared earlier this year by Gavin Allwright, Secretary-General at the International Windship Association (IWSA), who said that the roll-out of fleet-wide wind propulsion by 2050 could unlock $1 trillion in fuel savings. In the short-term future, the regulatory environment will encompass the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) incoming EEXI and CII regulations, the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ proposals, the emissions trading schemes, and regionally-led environmental mandates. Faced with an unprecedented challenge to decarbonize, the shipping sector needs to invest in new technologies that would ensure regulatory compliance but also have a favorable return on investment. “Shipowners are already seeing the requirement to invest in many different technologies. Wind propulsion used to be considered a ‘nice to have’ and now is one of the most talked about topics of the era,” Kris Fumberger, Sustainability Manager at RightShip, pointed out during Norsepower’s latest webinar Going Beyond Compliance.
“Numbers are demonstrating the efficiency and doubledigit emissions and fuel savings are extremely significant.” Despite numerous benefits of wind propulsion technology, some shipowners still seem to be reluctant to retrofit their vessels with wind propulsion systems. Commenting on prospects for wider adoption of wind-powered ships during the Wind Propulsion Open Mic, Patrick Englebert, General Manager at PROPELWIND S.A.S., said: “What will happen in reality is a question of economics and credibility of using wind. It’s still too much perceived as unproven technology while it has been proven during 4 thousand – 5 thousand years and it was abandoned a hundred years ago. That’s a difficult threshold before people endorse wind propulsion.”
He added that today’s technology — such as Norsepower’s rotor sails, new routing and blockchain management — gives the new impulse. “In my opinion, wind for assistance or wind for main propulsion has been de-risked compared to one hundred years ago by management, assistance to propulsion…, ballast water management — all these technologies are there to push for the adoption and endorsement of this wind technology.” According to him, building trust is a crucial aspect when it comes to the wider adoption of the WASP technology. “The barrier is not technological but more psychological one,” Englebert stressed. A new paper presented by hhx. blue has estimated the market for wind-assisted ship technologies to be at $2-5 billion. “If we consider 25-30%
Norsepower Rotor Sails onboard the Maersk Tankers product tanker, Maersk Pelican. acceptance of the market with $1 million as average cost of installation, then we reach $6.5 to 7 billion of the total pie for the retrofits,” Orestis Schinas, Partner at hhx. blue said, adding that this is very encouraging for WASP technology providers.
There are two main points that need to be considered when talking about finance within the WASP context. The first one is securing (green) finance for wind system installations and the second is related to the fuel price. As explained by Schinas, higher fuel prices and higher carbon costs create better opportunities for financing and installing wind propulsion technology because shipowners recognize the higher motivation to save. This is especially the case with longer ocean voyages which pay off more.
Recently, Danish shipping giant Maersk ordered a new methanol-powered fleet of vessels and fuel costs are looking to be three or four times higher than previous fuel costs. “If these expensive carbon-neutral fuels are entering the market, there will be all possible methods taken to minimize the actual fuel consumption and in that stage, we will need mechanical sales and all other innovative green technologies which are entering the market today,” Tuomas Riski, CEO of Norsepower, remarked during Norsepower’s Going beyond Compliance discussion.
A new fuel reality is starting to make wind-assisted propulsion more relevant. It is expected that future fuel prices and quantities of alternative fuels will directly impact the uptake of the WASP technology. Therefore, it remains to be seen will the fuel-centric future create the main competitive advantage for WASP technology. Furthermore, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) parameters will be one of the key factors for attracting capital. For investors, if a ship is cleaner than the competition and if the technology is viable, then it will attract capital, according to Schinas. Customers would also opt for ships and shipowners with good ESG performance. In the coming years, more wind propulsion suppliers are expected to enter the market. As a result, more suppliers and the competition among them will bring the costs down. This would make shipowners more confident, Englebert concluded.
Source: www.offshore-energy.biz - Naida Hakirevic Prevljak Images: courtesy of Maersk Tankers
Offshore wind in the US is still in its infancy. The 30MW Block Island offshore windfarm and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind projects are at present commercially operating. However, with a technical potential of more than 2,000GW, offshore wind could play an important role in the US energy transition.
According to the US Department of Energy the current pipeline of offshore wind projects stands at around 29MW. With stable policies in place, the Department of Energy thinks the US could develop a total of 86GW of offshore wind projects by 2050. Market projections anticipate 20GW to 30GW of offshore wind capacity will be operational by 2030, representing up to EUR 50 billion of investment in the US economy. AWEA’s US Offshore Wind Power Economic Impact Assessment report estimates that developing this amount of offshore wind will support up to 45,000 jobs by 2025 and 83,000 jobs by 2030, depending on the level of offshore wind build and supply chain growth within the US. In addition, the development, construction, and operation of offshore wind projects in the US will deliver an annual economic output totalling as much as EUR 12.5 billion in 2025 and EUR 22 billion in 2030.
Three elements
To make the US industry profit as much as possible from this energy transition, a lot must happen in the entire US supply chain. The nonprofit organisation Business Network for Offshore Wind promotes the growth of an offshore wind cluster that fosters the emergence of an offshore wind supply chain. Offshore Industry talks with CEO and President Liz Burdock to learn more about the organisation and its objectives with respect to the development of US offshore wind.
“Our activities,” Ms Burdock tells, “are based on three elements. First, we act as a connector for the industry. We are convinced that, to profit from the development of offshore wind as much as possible, collaboration is essential. Collaboration not only within the supply chain between the various companies involved, but also between the industry and its stakeholders such as government, population, and NGOs, as well as with organisations and companies from Europe as they have a lot of experience and knowledge in the field of offshore wind. Secondly, we are promoting offshore wind as an industry that, apart from being important for the energy transition, has an enormous potential when looking at jobs and economic value. Thirdly, we also provide business and public education about offshore wind and supply chain development related issues. Offshore wind is a new phenomenon in the US. Many people are not aware of the benefits offshore wind has to offer. They only see the supposed disadvantages and are not aware of the fact that this industry also has a lot to offer when looking at economic value and employment.”
Act as a connector
With its activities, the network differs from the many lobby organisations that are present in Washington DC to promote their industry among the relevant governmental departments. “Before we founded the Business Network Offshore Industry in 2013, I had been working as a lobbyist in Washington DC for many years, and I know how important the role of promoting an industry in Washington DC is”, Ms Burdock says. “However, there is much more to do. It is obvious that the future development of offshore wind has plenty to offer, but the US industry still has a lot to learn to fully profit. As an industry, we can learn from each other and from collaborating with the many experienced European contractors and operators that are enthusiastic about the opportunities US offshore wind has to offer. It is our aim to act as a connector in this matter and help the industry. Apart from this, raising awareness among the stakeholders of the many pros of offshore wind is another important way to pave the way for our industry.”
380 members
The network currently has around 380 members, two third of which are US companies, and most of the remaining one third are from Europe. “With this number of members, we can be considered as the world’s largest network organisation that focusses entirely on offshore wind”, voices Ms Burdock. “Other larger organisations have a broader perspective such as on and offshore wind energy, offshore oil, gas and renewables or renewable energy. It was our decision only to aim at offshore wind. So far, wind looks like the most promising offshore renewable energy source and focusing solely on this topic will make it easier to reach our goals.” “This does not mean,” Ms Burdock continues, “that other offshore renewable sources, such as marine energy, will not be part of our portfolio by the time offshore wind will have reached a more mature status in
Liz Burdock, CEO and President of Business Network for Offshore Wind
Coastal Virginia offshore windfarm under construction. It is presently, together with the Block Island offshore windfarm, commercially operational.
HUMBOLDT CALL AREA OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY WAVE ENERGY TEST SITE PROPOSED LEASE AREA
OAHU NORTH CALL AREA
OAHU SOUTH CALL AREA CA
MORRO BAY CALL AREA
DIABLO CANYON CALL AREA MAINE AQUA VENTUS (UMAINE) [12 MW]
VINEYARD WIND / PARK CITY WIND (CIP/AVANGRID) [800/804 MW]
BLOCK ISLAND WF (ØRSTED) [30 MW]
REVOLUTION WIND (ØRSTED/EVERSOURCE) [700 MW]
SOUTH FORK (ØRSTED/EVERSOURCE) [130 MW]
EMPIRE WIND (EQUINOR) [816 MW]
3 BEACON WIND (EQUINOR)
MAYFLOWER WIND (EDPR/SHELL) [804 MW]
1
2
VINEYARD WIND / PARK CITY WIND (CIP/AVANGRID)
SUNRISE WIND (ØRSTED/EVERSOURCE) [880 MW]
1. FAIRWAYS NORTH 3. HUDSON NORTH 2. FAIRWAYS SOUTH 4. HUDSON SOUTH
OCEAN WIND (ØRSTED) [1,100 MW]
MD 4
ATLANTIC SHORES (EDF/SHELL)
GARDEN STATE OFFSHORE ENERGY (ØRSTED)
SKIPJACK WF (ØRSTED) [120 MW]
MARWIN (US WIND) [248 MW]
COASTAL VIRGINIA OFFSHORE WIND (DOMINION ENERGY) [12 MW]
COMMERCIAL PROJECT (DOMINION ENERGY) [2,640 MW]
KITTY HAWK WIND (AVANGRID)
UNLEASED PRIMARY SECONDARY
LEASED
FINANCIAL MECHANISMSECURED
Information courtesy of BOEM boem.gov/Renewable-Energy/
Not to Scale
US offshore wind energy areas. With a technical potential of more than 2,000GW, offshore wind could play an important role in the US energy transition.
the US, but first things first.” The Business Network Offshore Wind takes ample initiatives to help the industry get in touch with European companies. “With RenewablesUK, we work together to exchange knowhow on various events,” Ms Burdock explains, “and we often work together with our counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, although more formal cooperation would be welcome.”
Widespread support
When looking at the development of the offshore industry, there appears an image that is similar with the European situation. Ms. Burdock elaborates, “Many US oil & gas operators are looking for ways to make a move towards renewables and it is obvious that offshore wind has a lot to offer. Those companies are used to work at sea under harsh circumstances and for them, a move towards offshore wind is not so big, especially when working together with companies that already have offshore wind experience.
A joint venture with companies from the oil & gas industry is currently working on plans for the first Jones Act-proof offshore windfarm. On the other hand, onshore wind in the US is already a huge industry and we notice a growing interest for going offshore from that side, too.” To make offshore wind a success for the US industry, it is important to establish a collaborating supply platform on
the one side. On the other side, demand for offshore wind in the US must be stimulated. For the latter, a national survey conducted earlier this year by Public Opinion Strategies shows that over 80% of US voters favour offshore wind energy, with widespread support coming from both major political parties and every demographic group across the country, so public opinion seems to be positive for offshore wind developments and consequently for the industry.
According to Ms Burdock, the time is right for US companies to act. “A proper supply chain is essential for making offshore wind a success for US companies. They are backed up by the Jones Act, so it will not be possible for European companies to operate without US input, however, collaborating with Europe is also important for the US companies. In this stage, they need the European knowhow for building up a track record of their own.”
Vital drivers
State policies in the eastern coastal states of Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island are presently vital drivers for the offshore wind industry, although west coast states California and Oregon are also investigating offshore wind. Ms Burdock states, “In Oregon, both government and industry are very enthusiastic about offshore wind, whereas California is more reserved as they have to deal with many barriers that might hinder the construction of offshore windfarms. On the west coast, floating windfarms will be in favour which is still in its developing stage, as bottom fixed offshore windfarms are still favorite for most situations. However, as soon as floating offshore wind scales up, this type of construction will become cheaper and increasingly common. This will surely further raise the volume of offshore wind on the US Pacific coast.”
For Ms Burdock, the potential of offshore wind in the US evidently has much to offer. “Of course, it is not just a matter of constructing windfarms at sea”, she comments. “Constructing offshore windfarms occupies an extensive supply chain with numerous activities. Many US companies are interested in, for example, constructing vessels for the offshore wind industry, but this requires huge investments and as soon as offshore wind really sets off in the US, this will generate the required amount of financial leeway to have these vessels constructed. The New Jersey governor recently unveiled plans to develop what is being described as the United States’ first purposebuilt offshore wind port. This project, valued at EUR 250 to EUR 350 million, is scheduled to begin next year. This project will result in a lot of work for many people.”
“Today,” Ms Burdock concludes, “the country may be economically in a low because of the COVID-19 crisis and low oil prices, though this does not mean that we should wait for the storm to pass. It will take time for offshore wind to really develop in the US but as we have seen in Europe, as soon as it really sets off, things can go very fast. Therefore, we should join forces and act now, so we are ready when the time is right to reap.”
More information: www.offshorewindus.org
Source: Yellow & Finch Publishers Images: courtesy of Business Network for Offshore Wind
GIANT NORTH SEA CCS PROJECT
DUTCH GOVERNMENT GRANTS $2.4 BILLION IN SUBSIDIES
Earlier this year the Dutch government has granted around €2 billion ($2.43 billion) in subsidies for a giant carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, involving oil and gas supermajors Shell and ExxonMobil.
Shell and ExxonMobil, in a consortium also including Air Liquide and Air Products, registered for the subsidies from The Hague in January and it was reported three months later they would have their applications granted. The subsidies will be directed towards their involvement in Porthos, a project that will see about 2.5 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide from industry in the Port of Rotterdam stored in depleted reservoirs at a gas field in the North Sea.
According to a spokesperson for Porthos the Dutch government would help bridge the gap in costs between the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the costs of CCS via the subsidies. “The subsidy scheme is structured in such a way that the government annually only pays out the actual difference between the ETS and the costs of CCS as a subsidy,” she said. “The ETS price is likely to increase, and so the amount of subsidy will probably decrease. With the subsidy, companies can decrease their CO2 emissions, but will not experience a competitive disadvantage compared to their international competitors.”
Shell, ExxonMobil, Air Liquide and Air Products signed an agreement with the Porthos project organisation — consisting of EBN, Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam Authority — in 2019 to capture the CO2 for the project. According to Porthos, approximately 15% of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands take place in the Rotterdam port area. The four companies are expected this year to prepare for the construction of the capture plants, while the Porthos project organisation will carry out technical preparations for laying pipes on land and on the sea bed, building the compressor station, and adjusting the platform at sea.
Source: Offshore Energy Resources Image: Danny Cornelissen - courtesy of Havendrijf Rotterdam
