Page 22: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2024)

INTERVIEW

WE ARE ENGAGED WITH MULTIPLE US

OSW WIND DEVELOPMENTS AND SEEING

AN UP-TICK FOR CVA, TECHNOLOGY

REVIEW AND RISK REDUCTION SERVICES

IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT PHASES. WITH

NEW LEASE ROUNDS COMING AND NEW

OPPORTUNITIES, WE DO NOT SEE A BIG

SLOWDOWN FOR OSW DEVELOPMENTS

APART FROM THE OBVIOUS PROJECT

DELAYS AND RE-BIDS.

ROB LANGFORD, VP, GLOBAL OFFSHORE WIND, ABS “Some of them do understand, but I think there’s more work projects and lease areas. Virginia Offshore Wind and Revolu- to do in that regard to meet the renewable energy goals.” tion is in construction; Southfork is into installation, “so Or-

Also, he noted that “the easing of Jones Act requirements sted remains a key player in the U.S.” could provide a short-term solution and enable better support “Equinor and BP obviously split the JV where Equinor from other [world] regions.” takes the Empire Wind development and BP continues Bea- con Wind,” said Langford. “New Jersey awarded a combined 3.7MW of offshore wind capacity to Invenergy, energyRE’s

Is There Good News?

By its very nature, bad news sells, and there is no excep- Leading Light Wind Project and Attentive Energy LLC’s At- tion when it comes to offshore wind. At the end of ’23 rolling tentive Energy Projects in January 2024; all good signs for into 2024, the industry hit signi? cant regulatory roadblocks the industry. RWE and OceanWinds are also eager to push – driven by environmental concerns, both real and manufac- forward with their developments.” tured – coupled with a rapidly changing economic situation Another good news story that could and should emerge is [ie. runaway in? ation] that caused several key stakeholders, an energized U.S. shipbuilding and repair base, an orderbook early movers, to head for the exit. While the cost of project packed with new ships and boats to feed this emerging market. delays and cancellations have a real impact on the players that While that has yet to transpire, Lanford assesses the potential.

remain, Langford maintains an optimistic outlook long term. “To meet the US offshore wind goal of 30GW by 2030, we “We are engaged with multiple US OSW wind develop- see the demand of 5 to 7 installation vessels, 12 to 15 ser- ments and seeing an up-tick for CVA, technology review and vice operation vessels and 50 to 60 crew transfer vessels by risk reduction services in early development phases,” said 2030. Adding dredges, rock installation vessels, cable layers

Langford. “With new lease rounds coming and new opportu- and feeder vessels, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates nities, we do not see a big slowdown for OSW developments a total of 110 vessels.” apart from the obvious project delays and re-bids.” Currently two purpose-built Wind Turbine Installations are

To date the U.S. has more than 30+ commercial scale proj- under construction, one the U.S.-? ag WTIV Charybdis being ects underway and more to come, as BOEM approves more built at Seatrium Amfels for Dominion Energy Coast Virginia 22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • April 2024

MR #4 (18-33).indd 22 4/5/2024 8:15:09 AM