An update from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Erik Milito will discuss current and pending legislative and regulatory activity impacting the rising U.S. offshore wind sector.

Mr. Ewing will offer his perspective on current opportunities to shape the OSW regulatory program for continued success, based on practical experience advising developers and investors since the program’s inception.

In recent years, the idea of using renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, to provide green power to offshore oil and gas installations has garnered significant interest. However, many hurdles have stood in the way of making this a reality. 

Arguably the biggest impediment has been an inability on the part of end-users to justify investments in the deployment of fixed wind turbines and supporting infrastructure. The inherent intermittency and unpredictability of power generation from wind also presents power stability issues and makes return on investment (ROI) difficult to quantify. The latter can put overall project economics at risk. 

Both Siemens Energy and Odfjell Oceanwind are on the forefront of addressing these concerns with the development and commercialization of enabling technologies, such as energy storage and mobile offshore wind units (MOWUs). Together, and in conjunction with Siemens Gamesa, our companies are now taking the next step by advancing an offshore floating wind concept that will allow oil and gas installations to accelerate their decarbonization efforts. 

The three parties will jointly develop MOWUs which will be used as part of Odfjell Oceanwind’s WindGri hybrid system. WindGrid leverages energy storage and grid converters to create offshore “microgrids” designed to supply uninterruptible, emissions-free power to off-grid oil and gas facilities (e.g., drilling rigs and production installations) that rely on fossil-fuel based power generation from gas turbines or gas/diesel gensets. 

With WindGrid, it is possible for all onsite generators on the host installation to be shutdown during periods of peak wind power production. A recent verification review by DNV confirmed that expected reductions in CO2 emissions for North Sea applications are in the range of 60-70% when compared to generation of electricity from conventional gas turbines. This is roughly double the expected savings that are possible by integrating conventional wind power to offshore microgrids (i.e., without energy storage or grid converters). In such cases, the existing generators are still needed to offset intermittency and ensure grid stability.

Nexans will present the state-of-the-art and ongoing development in dynamic cables, which are key enablers for future floating wind projects.

The presentation will discuss the technology and impetus behind transportation and installation solutions like the industry’s first Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel. Lessons learned and / or transferrable skills and technologies from the oil and gas industry will also be discussed outlining opportunities for the O&G workforce.

Update on the the state of the offshore wind market, which now has a very large order pipeline. What infrastructure is needed to build these orders? Ports are the main need, for manufacturing, for marshaling and load out, and for O&M. The talk will focus on marshaling ports for offshore wind deployment--the numbers of acres needed to deploy the ordered MWs, and the characteristics needed for marshaling ports able to deploy todays and near future massive offshore wind turbines.

The U.S. offshore wind supply chain is developing rapidly in response to industry demands and local content requirements in State offshore wind solicitations. Investments ranging from manufacturing facilities of large steel wind turbine foundations to ports upgrades are emerging up and down the east coast. This presentation will overview local content requirements in offshore wind state solicitations and what that means for U.S. suppliers. RCG will also present the forecasted demand for offshore wind components and operational services over the next decade.

Panel discussion to discuss the path to cost-effective offshore wind development, and the vessel and marine requirements.

This session will feature industry leaders from offshore wind developing companies who will discuss a range of timely topics, including an update on current and future US offshore wind projects, supply chain development, impact of the Biden administration, impetus of the energy transition, and stakeholder considerations.