Tag: offshore wind

A new industry project in UK is set to explore the technical, regulatory and societal issues of using autonomous surface vessels, integrated with existing manned shipping operations, to support offshore wind farm operations and maintenance, as well as to develop a timeline for the phased introduction of autonomous vessels.

IEA reports that policy support, technology advances and a maturing supply chain are making offshore wind a viable option for renewables-based electricity generation, leveraging the consistent and higher wind speeds available offshore. Investment has increased in recent years and, with less restrictions on size and height than their onshore counterparts, offshore wind turbines became giants.

The Danish government presented one of its main targets that will form a new energy agreement. Namely, Denmark wants to build a 800MW offshore wind farm. The government hopes that the wind farm will increase offshore wind power by one third. Namely, a wind turbine park will be built during 2024-27, which can supply electricity to 800,000 households.

The final turbines at the world’s largest offshore wind farm, off the coast of Cumbria, have now been installed. All 87 turbines are now installed at the Walney Extension wind farm, which is a shared-ownership project of Ørsted and two Danish pension funds PFA and PKA. Walney Extension will be able to meet the annual electricity demands of more than half a million UK homes.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct a public seminar in Sterling, Virginia, on April 26, 2018. The seminar will regard the Proposed Sale Notice for a Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts. The US Department of the Interior had announced the Proposed Sale Notice for a Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts totaling nearly 390,000 acres. 

To reduce power-cable failures offshore, DNV GL, ECN, WMC, BREM, VanderHoekPhotonics, Deltares and other partners are joining forces in a Joint Industry Project. Power-cable failures offshore are often the main risk affecting the development and operation of offshore wind farms. The project will operate from mid-2018 to mid-2020.

The world’s most powerful single turbine was successfully installed on Monday, April 9,  for Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, in Aberdeen Bay, Scotland. Vattenfall also confirmed that it is one of two turbines that have been significantly enhanced with further internal power modes to generate more clean energy from the EOWDC.

Under the establishment of a US energy policy, BOEM announced it is conducting a high-level assessment of all waters offshore the US Atlantic Coast for potential future offshore wind lease locations. As part of its commitment to renewable energy and offshore wind, BOEM has awarded to date 13 commercial offshore wind leases.

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority selected a consortium of companies including Principle Power, EDPR Offshore North America, Aker Solutions, H. T. Harvey & Associates, and Herrera Environmental Consultants, to enter into a public-private partnership for the development of an offshore wind energy project off the Northern California coast. 

The Dutch government has awarded Swedish Vattenfall the permit to build a 700 MW non-subsidised offshore wind farm, in the North Sea, which could produce renewable electricity for 1 to 1.5 million homes. In December, Vattenfall submitted a bid for the first of the two 350 MW slots known as Hollandse Kust I and II.