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2022 article from consultants McKinsey, titled Infrastructure investing will never be the same, drives the point home, with the consultants writing that traditionally staid

A and stable, infrastructure investing had been shaken up by revolutions in energy, mobility and digitiza- tion. They add: “These assets offer many of the charac- teristics that infrastructure investors look for: real assets, protected market positions, and the potential to generate stable cash yields. However, to get exposure to these new

OFFSHORE WIND: asset classes, investors will have to accept a period of sig- nifcant investment and negative cash fow, along with de- velopment, technology and commercial risks.”

Maritime industry participants have been closely fol- lowing the progress of Charybdis, a Wind Turbine Instal-

INSIDE THE FINANCIAL WEB lation Vessel (WTIV) being constructed at the Seatrium

AmFELS yard in Brownsville, Texas, by a subsidiary of

Virginia-based utility Dominion Energy, for use in build- ing its 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. The vessel will support the installation of 176 turbines on the seabed, 27 miles off the coast of Virgin-

Early 2024 saw a group ia Beach, as well as three offshore substations, and both of financial deals that have the offshore and onshore transmission confguration. In early April, Dominion launched the still-under-construc- implications, in a broad tion WTIV, to be based at Hampton Roads. To achieve sense, for how offshore wind the milestone, Dominion completed the welding of the ship's hull and commissioned the vessel's four legs and projects may be financed. related jacking. A month later, the monopile installation

While offshore wind projects at CVOW began with DEME’s DP3 Installation vessel might be thought of as

Orion. Monopiles, brought in from Rostock, Germany, are being stored at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal - a being in the ‘utility finance’ repurposed container handling facility.

basket, they are ultimately

As projects move ahead, fnanciers with expertise in high-risk deals that might structuring renewable energy deals are now eyeing offshore wind. Only a few months prior to the Charybdis launch, better suit the portfolios of

Dominion announced that fund packager Stonepeak - ‘infrastructure investment’ which is an alternative investment frm putting money to which, in recent years, work on behalf of pension funds, endowments and other large institutions, with end-2023 assets under manage- has taken a shift towards ment (AUM) of $65.1 billion - had taken a 50% stake in tolerating more uncertainty the CVOW project. As explained in press announcements,

Stonepeak will pay Dominion an amount slightly under when it comes to cash flows. $3 billion, representing half of the utility’s capital outlays so far. Overall project expenditures are projected at $9.8

By Barry Parker billion, but the deal structure builds in contingencies for costs topping $11 billion, by the expected completion date late in 2026. Stonepeak is no stranger to shipping, taking

MAy/june 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 39