Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2022)

REPAIR & CONVERSION OFFSHORE WIND d Drive

By Barry Parker on Work hipbuilders and repair yards usually don’t play center stage; yet their work is integral to the thriving U.S. maritime scene. During the past two years the decarbonization push across maritime and all industries has in? uenced the activities of shipyards closer to home. On land, the

Selectri? cation trend in the power sector is now picking up velocity and longer-term climate goals for the U.S. have put offshore wind energy on the busi- ness radar for many U.S. yards. Building new assets for use on the U.S. Outer Con- tinental Shelf is expensive, and one need look no further than the Keppel AmFELS yard, in Brownsville, Texas, which is building a Jones Act quali? ed Wind Turbine

Installation Vessel (WTIV) for a price reported to be around $550 - $600 million. In regards to the burgeoning offshore wind market, like all other sectors ? nance is in the driver’s seat. While general consensus from the start has been that, long-term, the fast-growing U.S. offshore wind sector will be best served by custom newbuilds, www.marinelink.com 29

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