Renewable investments grows

Offshore industry forms decarbonization tie-ups, as need for more renewable energy investments grows.

Despite the projections stating the global energy investments are to reach $2.4 trillion this year, much more is still needed to successfully tackle the issues of energy security and climate crises globally. On the other hand, the offshore industry – including energy and maritime sectors – is wasting no time waiting for favorable political action, but is increasingly entering into various collaborative projects to make the netzero ambition a reality for us all.

We cannot afford to ignore either today’s global energy crisis or the climate crisis, but the good news is that we do not need to choose between them – we can tackle both at the same time

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) report, the current levels of capital spending are still far from sufficient to tackle the energy and climate crises, which are currently permeating the world. Even though global energy investment is set to increase by 8% in 2022 to reach $2.4 trillion, with the anticipated rise focused mainly on clean energy, this is still expected to fall short of delivering solution to the multiple dimensions of today’s energy crisis. Fatih Birol, executive director of IEA, said: “We cannot afford to ignore either today’s global energy crisis or the climate crisis, but the good news is that we do not need to choose between them – we can tackle both at the same time. A massive surge in investment to accelerate clean energy transitions is the only lasting solution.”

The same is true for Europe specifically, according to independent energy markets information provider S&P Global Platts, which forecasts the EU will need at least 150GW of renewable power to meet its green hydrogen goal, and to successfully phase out Russian fossil fuels and speed up the energy transition. Most of this additional renewable generation capacity will be wind and solar, S&P Global finds. Sector-specific associations have also warned that Europe needs to step up its efforts to increase its renewable energy-generating capacity, with the latest call coming from Ocean Energy Europe. Namely, the association deemed the implementation of EU’s Offshore Renewables Strategy as ‘sluggish’ to date, noting also that the secure, decarbonized and affordable energy is a top EU priority which should be reflected in the timely enactment of the strategy. Ocean Energy Europe has therefore created an action plan for EU institutions, designed mainly to streamline the funding available for ocean energy, and to ensure the EU meets its 100MW ocean energy deployment target by 2025.

Offshore wind to boost decarbonization of shipping and aviation sectors

Offshore wind is expected to be one of the major contributors of renewable energy to diversified future power grids, with the sector expanding into other clean energy areas. Namely, a new 2GW floating wind farm is planned to be developed offshore Ireland, that would produce green fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. The project is proposed by the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation and Sinbad Marine Services, which have entered into collaboration with the Swedish floating wind developer and technology provider, Hexicon, to bring it to realization. The green fuels could be used to power the fishing fleet whilst also contributing to energy security for the port and local community, while the remaining energy produced by the floating wind farm would be connected to the national grid and contribute to Ireland’s target of 5GW from offshore energy by 2030.

Hydrogen-powered vessels will definitely play a major part of sustainable shipping industry of the future, but they will also be an important part of autonomous surveys and offshore monitoring operations. Just this week, the classification society Lloyd’s Register issued an approval in principle to clean maritime startup ACUA Ocean for what it’s said to be the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen-powered maritime autonomous surface ship. The vessel is powered by 6,000 liters of liquid hydrogen, which is expected to result in increased power, reliability and endurance and deliver on the UK Maritime Strategy climate change commitment to zero-emission propulsion by 2025. Sky is the limit for offshore wind, it appears, with the latest collaboration announced by Vattenfall and St1 who have joined forces to develop a fossil-free value chain for production of synthetic electro fuel from offshore wind. As part of the partnership, Vattenfall will develop an offshore wind power-based hydrogen supply infrastructure on the west coast of Sweden, while St1 plans to produce one million cubic meters of electro fuels, primarily targeted for sustainable aviation fuel, using the green hydrogen. Such volumes equal, for example, the annual aviation fuel demand of Arlanda airport, Vattenfall said.

Carbon capture and storage as major part of energy transition puzzle

In pursuit of initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the decarbonization, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been identified as one of the ‘essential’ areas. The Netherlands is making great strides to exploit this space, as shown by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) which gave an approval to competitors Shell and TotalEnergies to collaborate on CO2 storage in empty natural-gas fields in the North Sea. Shell and TotalEnergies plan to store CO2 on a large scale as part of the Aramis project, and in collaboration with the government entities Gasunie and Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), build a high-capacity trunkline that connects to empty gas fields, among other activities.

Aramis is one of two planned carbon capture projects in the Netherlands, with the second being Porthos – Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transport Hub and Offshore Storage. Other European countries are not falling behind either, as Belgian LNG terminal operator Fluxys and Norwegian energy giant Equinor agree to develop a major CCS infrastructure project connecting Belgium to Norway. Even though it is still in the feasibility phase, with an investment decision expected by 2025, the project will allow the transport of captured CO2 from emitters to safe storage sites in the North Sea.

Norway has also been the focus of larger energy cooperation agreements with the EU this week, with the signing of a new deal set to deepen the long-term energy partnership between the parties. Norway and the EU pointed out the importance of the European energy market as ‘the main export market’ for the Norwegian oil and gas sector, and future potential for cooperation on offshore renewable energy, hydrogen, and CCS, driven by ambitious EU objectives under REPowerEU Plan.

Source: www.offshore-energy.biz