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BP Buying $1.1 Billion Stake in U.S. Offshore Wind

September 13, 2020

The post BP Buying $ 1.1 Billion Stake in U.S. Offshore Wind appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The move by major oil and gas exploration companies into renewable energy has taken another significant step, as BP announced a $ 1.1 billion deal to buy the U.S. offshore wind power assets of Norway’s Equinor.

BP in announcing the deal on Sept. 10 said it is taking a 50% stake in Equinor’s Empire Wind project off New York, and a similar position in Equinor’s Beacon Wind development off Massachusetts (Figure 1). Equinor will continue to hold a half-interest in both projects and will remain the operator. The deal is expected to close in early 2021.

Bernard Looney, CEO of the British energy giant, in August said BP would cut its oil and gas output by 40% over the next 10 years, while spending as much as $ 5 billion annually to build its renewable energy business, as the company pivots from fossil fuel development.…

Connecticut Gives Go-Ahead for 804-MW Offshore Wind Project

December 8, 2019

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The post Connecticut Gives Go-Ahead for 804-MW Offshore Wind Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Vineyard Wind’s 804-MW Park City project was given the go-ahead by Connecticut officials on Dec. 5, with regulators saying Vineyard’s bid in an offshore wind solicitation was “lower than any other publicly announced offshore wind project in North America.”

Vineyard Wind competed against other groups in the bidding, including developers backed by Ørsted and Shell. The company now will negotiate contracts with the state’s two major utilities, Eversource and United Illuminating Co.

The Park City development is considered the largest renewable energy project in Connecticut history. State officials said it could provide about 14% of the state’s electricity. The project’s turbines would be located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and would not be visible from Connecticut’s shoreline.

The project includes redevelopment of port facilities in Bridgeport Harbor. Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen in a conference call on Thursday would not disclose the project’s cost, but the price for a similar Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast is about $ 3 billion.…

GE Is Speeding Massive Offshore Wind Turbine to Market

July 23, 2019

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GE Renewable Energy’s mammoth offshore wind 12-MW Haliade-X turbine is on track for an accelerated commercial launch in 2021, the company said as it unveiled the turbine’s first manufactured components on July 22.

Haliade-X features a 220-meter (m) rotor and a 107-m blade designed by GE subsidiary LM Wind Power. The turbine design also includes digital capabilities. GE says the wind turbine model features a 63% capacity factor—which is “five to seven points above the industry standard.” For GE, scaling up is important. “Each incremental point in capacity factor represents around $ 7 million in revenue for our customers over the life of a wind farm,” it noted. In January, the company said it would install a Haliade-X 12-MW offshore wind prototype in the Netherlands this summer.

On Monday, the company unveiled the first nacelle and said it would be shipped from its production site in Saint-Nazaire, France, to Rotterdam-Maasvlakte in the Netherlands “over the coming weeks.” The components will be installed on the prototype, which is land-based to facilitate testing.…

New York Enacts 100% Clean Energy Law, Secures 1.7 GW of Offshore Wind

July 19, 2019

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New York on July 18 enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), law that requires the state to produce 100% of its power from renewables and nuclear by 2040. The legislation includes agreements to build two offshore wind projects worth a combined 1.7 GW by 2025, the single largest renewable energy procurement in the nation.

The CLCPA signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Thursday codifies ambitions proposed under his “Green New Deal,” a climate change program that he claims is “the most aggressive” in the nation. Specifically, it mandates that New York slash its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050, relative to 1990s levels, effectively setting the state on a definitive course to achieve an energy transition to renewables.

The law will seek to achieve the stringent GHG emission cuts through the installation of 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035, 6 GW of distributed solar by 2025, and 3 GW of energy storage by 2030.…

New Jersey’s First Offshore Wind Farm Will Be a Mammoth 1.1-GW Ørsted Project

June 23, 2019

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Danish renewables firm Ørsted’s 1.1-GW Ocean Wind project is the winner of New Jersey’s first award for offshore wind, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) said on June 21.

Ørsted, with support from Public Service Enterprise Group’s (PSEG) non-utility affiliate, vied for the award with two other offshore wind developers that submitted bids between September and December 2018 in response to the state’s first offshore wind solicitation. Other bidders included Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a partnership between EDF Renewables and Shell New Energies, and Boardwalk Wind, which was sponsored by Norwegian multinational company Equinor.

NJBPU unanimously granted the award to Ørsted after evaluating wide criteria, including offshore wind renewable energy certificates (OREC) purchase price, economic impact, ratepayer impact, environmental impact, the strength of guarantees for economic impact, and the likelihood of successful commercial operation.

The agency said Ørsted’s economic development plans were the most detailed and could result in net economic benefits of $ 1.17 billion to the state.…

GE Gains Vattenfall’s Backing for Massive 12-MW Offshore Wind Turbine

May 23, 2019

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Swedish utility Vattenfall will take up deployment of the massive 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine in Europe, marking a major milestone for GE Renewable Energy’s effort to boost sales of the largest turbine currently on the market.

The two companies agreed to cooperate after a year of “intensive exchanges during which Vattenfall conducted an in-depth technical due diligence and both companies jointly worked on the customization of the platform,” Vattenfall said on May 16. The companies will likely finalize details of the cooperation this summer, after which Vattenfall plans a “deep dive on specific projects” within its offshore wind pipeline.

Wind power has increasingly buoyed earnings at Vattenfall, a company that wants to achieve “fossil free living” within one generation. During its first quarter 2019 earnings call on April 25, Vattenfall AB CEO Magnus Hall said Vattenfall’s wind investments have grown beyond 3 GW. Projects include the company’s first unsubsidized offshore wind farm, the 750-MW Hollandse Kust Zuid 1 and 2, which is being built off the Dutch coast and expected to come online in 2022.…