This report summarises the findings, makes recommendations and identifies opportunities for government and industry to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind projects in the UK. The recommendations include reducing the time taken to plan and consent offshore wind farms, address major delays for grid connections and reform the remit of the UK’s Office of Gas and Energy Markets (Ofgem) to prioritise clean energy projects.
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Floating offshore wind turbines are affixed on platforms that are firmly moored to the ocean bed and connected by dynamically suspended cables. As a technology, floating offshore wind (FOW) can be considered supplementary to fixed-seabed wind technology. It deploys fixtures and component configurations that are compatible with conventional systems, including power substations, undersea transmission networks and feed-in infrastructure of the existing grids.
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Iberdrola has signed a PPA with Holcim to provide the building firm with 250 GWh of renewable energy per year from its Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in Germany. The clean energy will help to accelerate Holcim’s net-zero journey in Germany, where it aims to expand the use of renewable energy in its operations to over 80 per cent by 2030. The Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm is currently under construction in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Rügen, and will have a total capacity of 476 MW when completed in 2024.
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The US has one of the most ambitious clean energy goals, much of which will depend on achieving the 2030 goal of 30 GW offshore wind (OSW) capacity. There is an urgent need to plan the transmission grid necessary for achieving these ambitions. The most efficient long-term grid development routes may be closed if proactive and comprehensive planning for long-term transmission needs is not undertaken immediately, while the more appealing near-term transmission alternatives will also not be identified.
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DEME Offshore, a Belgian offshore services provider, has won three contracts for the 500 MW Dieppe Le Tréport offshore wind farm, which will be built in the English Channel off the coast of France. DEME Offshore was chosen by the owners of Dieppe Le Tréport, which included Ocean Winds – a joint venture owned by Engie and EDPR – Sumitomo, and Banque des Territoires.
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Baltica Offshore Wind Farm developers PGE and Ørsted have formalised the partnership for the offshore wind project’s land connection, which includes Biuro Studiów, Projektów i Realizacji (EnergoprojektKatowice) and Energopomiar. According to the agreement, the consortium will oversee the general contractor’s work as an investor as the line and station portions of the onshore connection are being built. According to the timeline, Baltica Offshore Wind Farm’s phases, including Baltica 2 (1.5 GW) and Baltica 3 (1 GW), will be launched by the end of this decade.
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On March 29, 2023, DOE released ‘Advancing Offshore Wind Energy in the United States, U.S. Department of Energy Strategic Contributions Toward 30 Gigawatts and Beyond’ strategy, which is a comprehensive summary of its role to meet the country’s OSW target. The strategy has divided the OSW efforts by the DOE into four pillars – Near-Term Offshore Wind (NOW), Floating Offshore Wind Accelerated Research and Development (FORWARD), CONNECT and TRANSFORM.
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Greenvolt, a renewable energy firm, has teamed up with Bluefloat Energy to construct offshore wind projects off the coast of Portugal. The agreement will combine the local development and permission expertise of Greenvolt with the technical expertise of Bluefloat Energy in offshore floating wind. Portugal has been a pioneer in the deployment of floating offshore wind projects, which have been described as a critical pillar in the EU’s decarbonisation strategy. Portugal aims to have 10 GW of installed capacity by the end of this decade, and the most recent partnership is likely to aid in that effort.
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Vestas has received a 238 MW wind turbine supply contract from Hibiki Wind Energy for its Kitakyushu-Hibikinada offshore wind farm project in Japan. The offshore facility, which is right next to Kitakyushu city in Fukuoka Prefecture, will be equipped with 25 Vestas V174-9.5 MW wind turbines, which are the strongest in use in Japan. A long-term active output management 5000 service contract was also signed with Vestas for the wind farm. The order is anticipated to boost the company’s presence in the country’s offshore wind energy sector.
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National Grid and TenneT have unveiled plans for LionLink, an innovative cross-border direct current cable that will connect offshore wind between the UK and the Netherlands. The LionLink project is a multi-purpose or hybrid interconnector that will connect up to 2 GW of offshore wind capacity between the British and Dutch electricity systems. It will be only the second hybrid interconnector in the world and significantly larger than its predecessor, Germany and Denmark’s 400 MW Kriegers Flag link that connects two offshore substations in the Baltic Sea.
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RWE, a German utility, plans to use GreenerTower from Spanish wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa for its 1 GW Thor offshore wind farm off the coast of Denmark. The new wind turbine tower is said to be made of sustainable steel. Steel plates make up over 80 per cent of the towers. The fabrication of the plates uses 63 per cent less carbon than the production of conventional steel. A maximum of 0.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per tonne is permitted while maintaining the steel’s quality and properties.
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The UK is making efforts towards achieving its ambitious 2030 offshore wind (OSW) goal of 50 GW in order to meet its long-term net zero targets. The UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which recently took over the energy portfolio from the former Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has published documents about its Offshore Coordination Support Scheme (OCSS), which aims to support the development of coordinated offshore wind transmission (OWT) infrastructure.
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Global Energy Group, a services provider for the offshore industry, has begun fabrication of J-tube frames to be used for the 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm. The work on J-tubes is taking place at its North Fabrication facility with the first steel being cut at the Port of Nigg, Scotland. This fabrication phase is the result of several months of pre-production engineering by the company. The diameter and length of each J-tube frame will be 11 and 37 meters, respectively.
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Red Sea Wind Energy has received a loan of up to $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ($50 million) and the Green Climate Fund ($50 million) for the building of a 500 MW onshore wind farm in Egypt. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and private commercial banks jointly finance the loan, which is covered by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.
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Germany is focusing on rapid offshore wind energy development to decarbonise its energy systems as part of its energy transition, also known as Energiewende, and ensure energy security in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, which has had a significant impact on the entire European Union. The country aims to increase the share of renewable energy in power consumption to at least 80 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035 (compared to around 49 per cent at the end of 2022).
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Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer, has received a 1.3GW order from Casa dos Ventos, a Brazilian green projects developer. The wind turbines will be installed at two wind farms: the 756MW Serra do Tigre wind park in Rio Grande do Norte and the 554MW Babilônia Centro project in Bahia. Vestas will supply, install, operate, and maintain 168 V150-4.5MW turbines for the Serra do Tigre project and 123 turbines for the Babilônia Centro project.
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The Norwegian government has opened the first national bids for the construction of offshore wind farms. The government is asking for bids for two areas on the Norwegian continental shelf, Srlige Nordsj II and Utsira Nord. The first tenders mark a huge step towards Norway’s ambition to produce 30 GW of offshore wind by 2040.
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ScottishPower, a division of Iberdrola, has given Siemens Gamesa a $1.6 billion deal for the supply of wind turbines for its 1.4 GW East Anglia Three (EA3) offshore wind farm. According to the agreement, Siemens Gamesa will provide 95 wind turbines with a 14.7 MW power each for the wind farm that will be built in the Southern North Sea of the UK. EA3, which belongs to the East Anglia zone, is owned by ScottishPower. The project started onshore building in July 2022.
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Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie, a consortium of EDF Renewables and Maple Power, will build a 1 GW offshore wind facility known as Centre Manche 1 off the coast of Normandy, France. The project company has been announced as the winner of an offshore wind tender launched by the French Ministry of Energy Transition in January 2021. The offshore facility, which will be constructed 32 km off the coast of the Normandy departments of Manche and Calvados, will be able to supply more than 1.5 million people with all of their annual electricity requirements.
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OX2, a Swedish renewable project developer, has begun construction on a 1.9 GW energy hub called Neptunus in the southern Baltic Sea. The hub, which will be situated in the Swedish economic zone, will be able to generate both electricity and hydrogen. It will include offshore wind turbines as well as equipment for converting electricity to hydrogen. Neptunus will be able to produce 8TWh of power annually, which is equal to 5 per cent of Sweden’s annual electricity consumption.
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