Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (February 2024)

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Feature

Offshore Wind

Ørsted now has some signi? cant challenges. In? ation is de? nitely one of them,” said Jan Sloth Møller, offshore site manager at

Ørsted. But he noted that the goals and ambitions held by federal and state governments could create an openness to reevaluate funding arrangements for offshore wind projects in light of new cost increases. “I don’t necessarily see that as a problem for the wind operation as a whole,” he said.

In the U.S., electricity is very localized, said Tim Axels- son, director of offshore wind at Liberty Green Logistics. “Every state controls its own destiny when it comes to elec- trical markets: how much it costs, who’s going to make it, how you’re going to buy it, and what the people that are going to need it are going to pay for it.” “The northeastern states, even with these bumps in the road, are committed to offshore wind development and buying more offshore wind [power]. This crisis that oc- curred—the COVID crisis, in? ation, and interest rates going crazy—it’s affected everything and everyone, but [states] are doubling down,” Axelsson said. “I see a renewed commitment by the northeastern states to keep going.”

Ron MacInnes, president of Seatrium Offshore & Marine

USA, acknowledged signi? cant ? nancial risks that are pres- ent all the way down the offshore wind supply chain, in the

U.S. and abroad, but said the amount of physical progress being made can be taken as a good sign. “There is momen- tum in the wind market right now,” he said. “The fact that there are projects going forward means money’s being spent.

The fact that vessels are being built and constructed means there’s money being spent. The fact that projects, some of these large wind projects, are actually being ? nanced by bank consortiums. I think that’s a lot of positives. People are committed to these projects to go forward.”

In terms of cost escalations and other “bumps in the road” for offshore wind, Møller pointed to similar challenges that have been experienced in other energy industries, such as coal and nuclear power. “And if we go back to before the

COVID crisis at least, then [offshore wind was] compatible or have even surpassed the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of fossil fuels. . . I say we are still in pretty good shape.”

Jamie Lescinski, director of business development for

U.S. offshore wind at Boskalis, said the industry has come a long way in the last three to ? ve years and that there’s likely more progress on the horizon. “We’re going to see a natural maturation of the market, where it’s going to swing www.marinelink.com MN 29|