CIP’s Flagship Fund On Track To Become World’s Largest Dedicated To Greenfield Renewable Energy Investments
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has reached the first close on its fifth flagship fund, Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V), at EUR 5.6 billion in capital commitments received. This puts the fund on track to reach its target size of EUR 12 billion, which would make this the world’s largest dedicated greenfield renewable energy fund, according to CIP
These three paragraphs give more details on the size and investments of the latest fund, which is named CI V.
The first close of the flagship fund saw a large group of leading institutional investors across continental Europe, the Nordics, the UK, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
CIP noted that there is a strong interest from additional investors already in process, so CI V is on the way to reaching its target fund size of EUR 12 billion.
The fund now has ownership of more than 40 renewable energy infrastructure projects with a total potential CI V commitment of approximately EUR 20 billion, corresponding to more than 150 per cent of the target fund size.
The CIP web site gives more details on the company, including this summary on the front page.
Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) today is the world’s largest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focuses on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X.
CIP manages 11 funds and has to date raised approximately EUR 25 billion for investments in energy and associated infrastructure from more than 150 international institutional investors.
In the UK, CIP are currently involved in the Ossian and Pentland floating wind farms.
Denmark Exploring Multiple Platforms As Alternative To Building Artificial Island
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
After concluding that the current concept of its North Sea Energy Island would be too expensive for the State, the Danish government, the transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet, and other relevant agencies are now looking into the concept for the island to be established on several large platforms.
I feel this could be a sensible decision, as it would fit well with a modular approach to the building of offshore wind farms.
Suppose, the floating turbines used by a company like Ørsted were all similar. This would surely simplify management of their portfolio of wind farms.
If it works for floating wind turbines, surely, it would work for substations, electrolysers and other offshore hardware.
Conclusion
Artificial energy islands may seem an impressive way to go, but I suspect that the modular approach using standard components, that either sit on the sea bed or float may be a more affordable and faster way to build offshore wind farms.
Thoughts On The Future Of Orkney
This article on the BBC is entitled Orkney Votes To Explore ‘Alternative Governance‘
This is the sub-heading.
Orkney councillors have voted to investigate alternative methods of governance amid deep frustrations over funding and opportunities.
These paragraphs outline the story.
Council leader James Stockan said the islands had been “held down” and accused the Scottish and UK governments of discrimination.
His motion led to media speculation that Orkney could leave the UK or become a self-governing territory of Norway.
It was supported by 15 votes to six.
It means council officers have been asked to publish a report to Orkney’s chief executive on options of governance.
This includes looking at the “Nordic connections” of the archipelago and crown dependencies such as Jersey and Guernsey.
A further change which would see the revival of a consultative group on constitutional reform for the islands was accepted without the need for a vote.
My Thoughts On The Economic Future Of The Islands
The economic future of Orkney looks good.
Tourism and the traditional industries are on the up, but the islands could play a large part in renewable energy.
The West of Orkney offshore wind farm, which will be a 2 GW wind farm with fixed foundations, is being developed and a large hydrogen production hub at Flotta is being proposed, along with the development of a large quay in Scapa Flow for the assembly of floating wind farms.
The West of Orkney wind farm could be the first of several.
If the future wind farms are further from shore, they will most likely be based on floating technology, with the turbines and their floats assembled in Scapa Flow, from components shipped in from mainland UK and Europe.
Political Future
With a good financial future assured, I believe that Orkney will be able to choose where its political future lies. It could be a Crown Dependency or join Norway.
Whichever way it goes, it could be an island that effectively prints money, by turning electricity into hydrogen and shipping it to countries like Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden!
From a UK point of view, a Crown Dependency could be a favourable move.
Would Shetland follow the same route?
Offshore Hydrogen Production And Storage
Orkney is not a large archipelago and is just under a thousand square kilometres in area.
It strikes me, that rather than using up scarce land to host the large electrolysers and hydrogen storage, perhaps it would be better, if hydrogen production and storage was performed offshore.
Aker Northern Horizons
In Is This The World’s Most Ambitious Green Energy Solution?, I talk about Northern Horizons, which is an ambitious project for a 10 GW floating wind farm, which would be built a hundred kilometres to the North-East of Shetland, that would be used to produce hydrogen on Shetland.
Other companies will propose similar projects to the West and East of the Northern islands.
This map shows the sea, that could be carpeted with armadas of floating wind farms.
Consider.
- There are thousands of square miles of sea available.
- As the crow flies, the distance between Bergen Airport and Sumburgh Airport in Shetland is 226 miles.
- A hundred mile square is 10,000 square miles or 2590 square kilometres.
- In ScotWind Offshore Wind Leasing Delivers Major Boost To Scotland’s Net Zero Aspirations, I calculated that the floating wind farms of the Scotwind leasing round had an energy density of 3.5 MW per km².
- It would appear that a hundred mile square could generate, as much as nine GW of green electricity.
How many hundred mile squares can be fitted in around the UK’s Northern islands?
Crown Estate Scotland Joins Scapa Flow Deepwater Port Plan
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Riviera Maritime Media.
This is the sub-heading.
Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and Crown Estate Scotland have signed an agreement to work together in developing a deepwater quay at Scapa Flow
The picture and the words, indicate it is not a small facility.
The final comment of Crown Estate Scotland’s director of marine Colin Palmer, are a strong statement of intent about how Crown Estate Scotland will help Scotland towards net-zero.
Stackable Floating Wind Platform Gets DNV Approval
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
DNV has awarded Bassoe Technology an Approval in Principle (AiP) for a 17 MW D-Floater floating wind foundation, designed to withstand extreme 50-year typhoon conditions in the South China Sea.
I wrote about this technology in An Elegant Solution.
This visualisation shows five D-floaters being transported on a ship.
DNV Approval makes it more likely that the design will be deployed in the near future.
eDNA Pilot Study Completed At World’s First Floating Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Equinor and Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) have completed a pilot study using environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor the biodiversity and abundance of marine life in waters around the 30 MW Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind farm.
This is the first paragraph.
Equinor and Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) have completed a pilot study using environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor the biodiversity and abundance of marine life in waters around the 30 MW Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind farm.
And this paragraph outlines methodology and objectives of the study.
By analysing the eDNA content in water samples, Equinor and NORCE were able to measure the biodiversity of fish species in the water surrounding Hywind Scotland. This pilot study was conducted to learn more about the potential effects that floating offshore wind farms may have on marine habitats.
The research identified 26 fish species and a harbour porpoise in the area.
According to the article, an often used method to analyse fish species is to trawl and analyse.
Surely, just to collect the eDNA from the water, is a method, that has the least effect on the fish, any porpoises and the environment.
BlueFloat, Renantis Ink Exclusivity Agreements For Scottish Floaters
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The BlueFloat Energy and Renantis partnership has signed exclusivity agreements with Crown Estate Scotland to develop its Sinclair and Scaraben innovation projects which will now be part of a phased delivery of the partnership’s Broadshore project
This is the first two paragraphs.
The two 99.5 MW floating offshore wind farms will now be developed as part of a phased delivery of the partnership’s Broadshore project, located 47 kilometres north of Fraserburgh.
Sinclair and Scaraben will explore innovative foundation technologies, associated fabrication works, and mooring systems with a view to maximise opportunities for the Scottish supply chain, driving local investment and job creation, said the partners.
This would seem to be very sensible for manufacturing and project management reasons.
SeaTwirl, Kontiki Winds To Explore Powering Oil & Gas Assets With Floating Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Sweden-headquartered SeaTwirl has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kontiki Winds to identify and discuss the opportunities to electrify oil and gas assets and other offshore applications, with the use of SeaTwirl’s floating wind turbines.
And this is the first paragraph.
Under the MoU, the two companies will explore new opportunities in the market to implement offshore wind into new and existing oil and gas assets and microgrid applications such as the powering of fish farms, desalination plants and/or other small-scale applications that currently are based on fossil fuel electricity generation.
Note.
- The current turbines are only 1 MW.
- They appear to be mounted on a long monopole foundation.
- My mathematical modelling experience suggests to me, that these could be very stable devices.
- I suspect they could be built into specialist equipment like a buoy with a light to mark something.
I suspect that there will be large numbers of applications, especially if the manufacture and installation of Sea Twirl’s turbines is an efficient process.
Irish ESB Joins Northland Power On Two Scottish Offshore Wind Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
ESB will acquire a 24.5 per cent interest in Northland Power’s ScotWind projects, the fixed-bottom offshore wind farm Spiorad na Mara and the floating wind project Havbredey. Northland will retain 75.5 per cent in each project and continue to lead their development, construction, and operation
This is the first paragraph.
The companies have signed definitive agreements on ESB’s purchase of project stakes, with all commitments made prior to the agreements to remain in place.
Last month, I wrote ESB Invests In Floating Offshore Wind Mooring Tech. so are they in acquisitive mode?
This map from Cross Estate Scotland shows all the ScotWind contracts.
ESB now lrasr the following stakes in ScotWind.
Their details are as follows.
- 14 – Havbredey – Floating – 1500 MW – 25 %
- 16 – Spiorad na Mara – Fixed – 840 MW – 25 %
- 20 – Unnamed – Floating – 500 MW – 100 %
These figures mean they lease about a GW.
I have my thoughts.
Will There Be A Multi-Purpose Interconnector between Ireland And Scotland?
Nothing has been mentioned yet, but could new wind farms om the future to the West of the Hebrides be connected to both the North of Scotland and the North of Ireland by a multi-purpose interconnector?
Ireland To Develop National Industrial Strategy For Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, has announced plans to develop a National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind which will set out how Ireland can maximise the economic opportunity arising from the production of offshore wind energy
Ireland’s current objectives for offshore wind are.
- To deliver 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
- A further 2 GW of floating wind to be in development by 2030.
- The target for offshore wind could rise to at least 37 GW by 2050.
- There is a target to provide 80 per cent of the country’s electricity to be from renewable sources by 2030.
The government appears to recognise collaborative approach between state and industry is needed.
Nothing is said about co-operation with Northern Ireland or the UK.
This is despite.
- UK and Irish companies like ESB, Flotation Energy, Simply Blue Group and SSE have projects in both countries.
- Irish company; ESB is developing the Malin Sea Wind wind farm in Scottish waters and landing the electricity near Derry City.
- Scottish company; SSE is building biomass power stations in Ireland.
- Some promising waters for wind power are shared between the two countries.
- There are three interconnectors between the two main islands.
I would expect that there could be some multi-purpose interconnectors across the Irish and Celtic Seas.
These would connect windfarms between the islands to both the UK and Ireland. National Grid and TenneT are building the LionLink between England and The Netherlands, which I wrote about in World’s Largest-Of-Its-Kind Power Line To Deliver Clean Power To 1.8m UK Homes And Boost Energy Security.
I very much feel, that there will be a lot of co-operation between the UK and Irish governments as if they work together, the development of Ireland’s offshore wind and that of the West Coast of the UK could be more efficient.
The Anonymous Widower 