South Korea, UK Strengthen Offshore Wind Ties
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the UK have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on offshore wind energy
These three paragraphs outline the MoU.
The UK and ROK already have a proven relationship in offshore wind, with large-scale investments in the UK’s supply chain and in the development of ROK’s offshore wind sector.
This MoU emphasises the will to build on this existing cooperation to accelerate deployment, address barriers to trade, and encourage mutual economic development through regular government-to-government dialogue and business-to-business cooperation, according to the partners.
The participants will support the UK and ROK’s offshore wind deployment by sharing experience and expertise from their respective sectors.
These are my thoughts.
The British And The Koreans Have A Long Record Of Industrial Co-operation
My own experience of this, goes back to the last century, where one of the biggest export markets for Artemis; the project management system, that I wrote was South Korea.
We had started with Hyundai in Saudi Arabia, where the Korean company was providing labour for large projects.
I can remember modifying Artemis, so that it handled the Korean won, which in those days, came with lots of noughts.
The Korean, who managed their Saudi projects returned home and luckily for us, wanted a system in Korea.
Paul, who was our salesman for Korea, used to tell a story about selling in Korea.
Our Korean friend from Hyundai had setup a demonstration of Artemis with all the major corporations or chaebols in Korea.
Paul finished the demonstration and then asked if there were any questions.
There was only one question and it was translated as “Can we see the contract?”
So Paul handed out perhaps a dozen contracts.
Immediately, after a quick read, the attendees at the meeting, started to sign the contracts and give them back.
Paul asked our friendly Korean, what was going on and got the reply. “If it’s good enough for Hyundai, it’s good enough for my company!”
The King Played His Part
King Charles, London and the UK government certainly laid on a first class state visit and by his references in his speech the King certainly said the right things.
I always wonder, how much the Royal Family is worth to business deals, but I suspect in some countries it helps a lot.
With Artemis, we won two Queen’s Awards for Industry. Every year the monarch puts on a reception to which each company or organisation can send three representatives. I recounted my visit in The Day I Met the Queen.
For the second award, I suggested that we send Pat, who was the highest American, in the company.
Later in his career with the company, when he was running our US operations, Pat. found talking about the time, he met the Queen and Prince Philip, very good for doing business.
I wonder how many business and cooperation deals between the UK and Korea, will be revealed in the coming months.
This Deal Is Not Just About The UK And Korea
This paragraph widens out the deal.
In addition, participants accept to promote business activities and facilitate opportunities for UK and ROK companies to collaborate in ROK and the UK, as well as joint offshore wind projects in third countries, according to the press release from the UK Government.
An approach to some countries without the usual bullies of this world may offer advantages.
Has One Secondary Deal Already Been Signed?
This paragraph talks about a recent deal between BP, Dutch company; Corio and the South Koreans.
The news follows the recent announcement from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that two UK companies, Corio Generation and BP, submitted investment plans for offshore wind projects in South Korea totalling about EUR 1.06 billion.
This deal was apparently signed during the state visit.
There’s A Lot Of Wind Power To Be Harvested
These last two paragraphs summarise the wind potentials of the UK and Korea.
The UK has the world’s second-largest installed offshore wind capacity, with a government target to more than triple this capacity by 2030 to 50 GW, including 5 GW of floating offshore wind.
Back in 2018, the South Korean Government set a 2030 offshore wind target of 12 GW in its Renewable Energy 3020 Implementation Plan, which was reaffirmed by the now-former South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in in 2020. Since 2022, it has been reported that the country has a target of reaching 14.3 GW of offshore wind power by 2030.
Note that the UK’s population is almost exactly 30 % bigger than Korea’s.
So why will the UK by 2030, be generating three-and-half times the offshore wind power, than Korea?
Twenty days ago, I wrote UK And Germany Boost Offshore Renewables Ties, where I believe the sub-plot is about long-term power and energy security for the UK and Germany.
Long term, the numbers tell me, that UK and Irish seas will be Europe’s major powerhouse.
Australia’s Offshore Wind Market Could Significantly Benefit from Collaboration with UK Suppliers, Study Says
The title of this section, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
A new study has been launched that highlights significant opportunities for the UK to share its wind farm expertise with Australia’s emerging offshore wind market
These three paragraphs outline the study.
The Australian Offshore Wind Market Study, conducted by Arup, evaluates potential Australian offshore wind markets and analyses the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for UK support.
Key findings indicate that the Australian offshore wind market could “substantially” benefit from collaboration with the UK suppliers, given the UK’s 23 years of experience and its status as the second largest offshore wind market globally, boasting 13.9 GW of installed capacity as of 2023, according to the UK Government.
Currently, Australia has over 40 offshore wind projects proposed for development.
I believe that the Australians could be a partner in the deal between the UK and Korea, as all three countries have similar objectives.
Conclusion
The Korean and German deals. and a possible Australian deal should be considered together.
Each country have their strengths and together with a few friends, they can help change the world’s power generation for the better.
- Just as the UK can be Europe’s powerhouse, Australia can do a similar job for South-East Asia.
- Any country with lots of energy can supply the green steel needed for wind turbine floats and foundations.
I would have felt the Dutch would have been next to join, as their electricity network is solidly connected to the UK and Germany. But after this week’s Dutch election, who knows what the Dutch will do?
Norfolk Boreas Windfarm Work Could Resume After Energy Price Rise
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
There are growing hopes that work on a £10bn windfarm off the Norfolk coast will resume after the government agreed to pay more for energy production.
The first three paragraphs, indicate how positions have changed,
Earlier this year, Swedish company Vattenfall paused work on Norfolk Boreas located 50 miles off the coast of Cromer.
But ministers have agreed to a 66% increase in the amount they will pay for offshore electricity generation.
Vattenfall described the move as “a very positive signal”.
It certainly looks like the Government is looking more favourably at wind power developers.
RheEnergise And Colbún Sign MoU For Long Duration Energy Storage Projects In Chile
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Water Power and Dam Construction.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Colbún, Chile’s third-largest power generation company and a prominent hydropower operator, has entered into a partnership with RheEnergise, a UK-based clean technology firm, to investigate the viability of deploying RheEnergise’s innovative long-duration hydro-energy storage solution, High-Density Hydro® (HD Hydro), in Chile. The agreement marks RheEnergise’s first entry into South America’s energy market.
Colbún and RheEnergise will jointly assess the feasibility of constructing a 10MW, 10-hour HD Hydro system in Chile. This initiative is seen as a valuable addition to Colbún’s diverse portfolio of hydro, wind, and solar projects, offering a novel technology to address the intermittency challenges associated with renewable energy sources. RheEnergise will conduct thorough investigations and technical studies to identify potential sites for its HD Hydro system, while Colbún will contribute local market expertise, guidance on planning and permitting, and insights into utility.
Note.
- Colbún has a Wikipedia entry and seems to be a fairly large company.
- The proposed system appears to be a 10 MW/100 MWh system, which could be ideal to back up a small wind or solar farm of about 50 MW capacity.
- Colbún seem to have the expertise to be a good partner for RheEnergise.
This last paragraph gives a snapshot of the Chilean market.
“Chile is a very attractive market for RheEnergise’s HD Hydro,” added Sophie Orme, Commercial Director at RheEnergise. “The Chilean Government is leading the way in Latin America, having dedicated US$2 billion for energy storage auctions from 2024, and set a renewables target of 70% by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2050. We are delighted to partner with Colbún, drawing on their first-hand experience of the market, in particular hydro and solar and to help them achieve their plan to add 4GW of renewable assets by 2030.”
I certainly wish both companies a successful future with this MoU.
Octopus Energy Creates GBP 3 Billion Offshore Wind Fund
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Octopus Energy’s generation arm has launched a dedicated fund with Japan’s Tokyo Gas to invest GBP 3 billion (approximately EUR 3.5 billion) in offshore wind globally by 2030.
This is the first paragraph.
The fund, set up with a GBP 190 million (about EUR 217 million) cornerstone investment from Tokyo Gas, will invest in the development, construction, and operational stage offshore wind farms, as well as companies creating new offshore wind, with a focus on Europe, said Octopus Energy.
It’s almost as if Octopus Energy are planning to do for offshore wind power, what Gore Street and Gresham House Energy Storage Funds have done for battery storage.
It strikes me that a detailed purpose-built financial model, as I have built several times could give a lot of insight into the wind farms and their financing.
There is also a lot of technology coming on stream, that will help this sort of wind fund.
- In-farm energy storage will happen and this will be the obvious place to use energy storage to smooth out the power from offshore wind farms.
- Floating wind farms are becoming mature technology and appear to offering higher capacity factors.
- Floating wind farms may offer lower maintenance costs.
- Multi-Purpose Interconnectors are starting to be installed and will allow power to be sent to more than one destination in different countries.
- Wind farms are increasingly being linked to battery storage to smooth out the power from offshore wind farms.
- Electrolysers are being built offshore.
- Data analysis is playing its part in improving operational efficiency.
Now could be the time to take the plunge and build that offshore wind farm.
Is This Better News For Offshore Wind Farm Developers?
Two months ago this article on offshoreWIND.biz was published, which was entitled Offshore Wind Developers Take A Pass On UK’s Fifth CfD Round As Maximum Bid Price Was Too Low.
This was the sub-heading.
The UK government has awarded 3.7 GW of renewable energy projects with Contracts for Difference (CfDs) in its fifth allocation round. Among the 95 new projects that secured CfDs are onshore wind, solar and tidal energy developments – and not a single megawatt of offshore wind.
These are the first three paragraphs of the article.
According to the government, the global rise in inflation and the impact on supply chains presented challenges for projects participating in this round. The government also noted that similar results have been seen in countries such as Germany and Spain.
The industry does not disagree, however, multiple players have voiced their disappointment that the government had not taken these pressures into account for this round and emphasised that the UK’s goal of having 50 GW of offshore wind and 5 GW of floating wind could now be jeopardised.
Last year, the UK awarded CfDs to 7 GW of offshore wind projects alone.
Today, articles with these titles and sub-headings were published on offshoreWIND.biz.
- 50 Developers Express Interest To Build Wind Farms Offshore Portugal
Fifty entities, including individual companies and consortia, from more than ten countries have submitted their expressions of interest to develop offshore wind projects in Portugal as the country prepares for its first auction.
2. Fugro To Survey Site For Lithuania’s First Offshore Wind Farm
Ignitis Renewables has awarded Fugro a contract to conduct a geophysical survey at Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm site.
3. Norway’s Offshore Wind Tender Attracts Seven Applications
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received seven applications to participate in the tender for the Southern North Sea II offshore wind project area.
4. Project To Retrofit CTV With Hydrogen Fuel Cells Kicks Off
A project to retrofit a crew transfer vessel (CTV) with hydrogen fuel cells, to cut CO2 and NOx emissions while servicing offshore wind farms, has kicked off.
5.Terna Energy Secures Survey Permit for Wind Farm Sites Offshore Greece
Terna Energy has been granted one out of the two first exploration and survey licences issued for pilot offshore wind projects in Greece.
6. UK Increases Offshore Wind Strike Price Ahead Of Next Auction
The government of the United Kingdom has increased the maximum strike price for offshore wind projects in the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction by 66 per cent for fixed-bottom and by 52 per cent for floating wind projects.
All would appear to be positive stories.
- Story 1 is about success in Portugal. What are the Portuguese doing right?
- Stories 2 and 5 are about offshore wind development in new countries; Lithuania and Greece.
- Story 3 may not appear significant, but Terje Aasland, who is Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy seemed pleased in the article.
- Story 4 is about development of new technology, which wouldn’t be done if the market was non-existent.
- Story 6 is surely good news for wind farm developers in the UK.
I did leave out three stories, one of which was negative and two were rather boring. But six out of nine isn’t bad.
Is it Getting Better All The Time, as The Beatles once sang?
Octopus Energy Forays Into German Offshore Wind Market With Butendiek Acquisition
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Octopus Energy’s generation arm has made its first offshore wind investment in Germany with the acquisition of a 5 per cent stake in the 288 MW Butendiek offshore wind farm from Ewz, the Zurich Municipal Electric Utility.
This paragraph introduces the wind farm.
Located 32 kilometres west of Sylt Island in the North Sea, the Butendiek offshore wind farm features 80 3.6 MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines. The project has been operational since 2015, generating enough clean power for 370,000 homes.
It appears to be a mature smaller wind farm. As it has been operating for eight years, the electricity generates and any costs associated with the farm, will be well defined.
If someone made an investment, the return could probably be fairly accurately predicted.
These paragraphs outline Octopus’s strategy for investing in wind farms.
According to Octopus Energy, the deal marks the next step in the company’s global offshore wind strategy and follows its decision to channel more than EUR 1 billion of investment into green energy infrastructure in Germany by 2030.
Since entering the market last year, the company invested in four onshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 100 MW.
Octopus Energy plans to unleash USD 20 billion in offshore wind investment globally.
Besides Germany, the company invested in offshore wind farms in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as in developers of new offshore wind projects including Norway, Sweden, and South Korea.
In World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant, I explain how Aviva invest in wind farms to get a return to back up their pension and insurance businesses.
As Octopus probably understand wind farms as well as, if not better than Aviva, what better place is there for the company to invest their spare cash and customers’ balances?
Octopus and Aviva are almost showing how wind farms can be used as deposit accounts, that generate a predicable return.
I suspect that other assets like energy storage, interconnectors and solar farms, where there is a history of electricity flows and maintenance costs, can also be run as deposit accounts for investors.
I can also see individuals being able to put their money into a bank account backed by renewable assets.
Note.
Crown Estate Mulls Adding 4 GW Of Capacity From Existing Offshore Wind Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Crown Estate has revealed that it is taking steps to enable the generation of up to an additional 4 GW of electricity from several offshore wind projects in development, within the timeframe of the 50 GW 2030 target.
These are the first two paragraphs.
This follows requests from the developers of seven offshore wind farm projects who believe additional capacity can be generated from the areas of the seabed they hold existing rights for.
According to the Crown Estate, the technology has advanced and more capacity could be developed at projects that are already underway.
The seven wind farms are.
- Awel y Môr – Estimates 500 MW – Fixed – RWE
- Dogger Bank D – 1320 MW – Fixed – SSE Renewables, Equinor
- Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal Extension – 719 MW – Fixed – Equinor
- Five Estuaries – TBD – Fixed – RWE
- North Falls – 504 MW – Fixed – SSE Renewables, RWE
- Rampion 2 – 1200 MW – Fixed – E-ON
Note.
- The Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal Extensions seem to have been combined.
- One website connected to the wind farm, gives Five Estuaries as 353 MW.
- All are fixed wind farms.
- All are by large, established developers.
The total size is 4596 MW, using 500 MW for Awel y Môr and 353 MW for Five Estuaries.
Uprating by 8596/4596 could give these capacities.
- Awel y Môr – 935 MW
- Dogger Bank D – 2469 MW
- Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal Extension – 1345 MW
- Five Estuaries – 660 MW
- North Falls – 943 MW
- Rampion 2 – 2244 MW
The total size is 8596 MW
Conclusion
This seems to be a sensible way to increase offshore wind capacity.
Aker Solutions Gets Vattenfall Nod To Start Norfolk Vanguard West Offshore Platform
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Aker Solutions has been awarded a limited notice to proceed contract from Vattenfall for the Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind farm in the UK. The contract has a balanced risk-reward profile based on principles for long-term collaboration.
Vattenfall seems to be a bit stop and go on their two Norfolk wind farms; Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas.
- In Vattenfall Selects Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone O&M Base, I talk about how Yarmouth has been selected as Vattenfall’s O&M Base.
- In Vattenfall Stops Developing Major Wind Farm Offshore UK, Will Review Entire 4.2 GW Zone, I talk about how Vattenfall have put Boreas on hold and they will be reviewing the whole Norfolk Zone.
These four paragraphs outline the work.
The scope of work for Aker Solutions includes the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore substation.
The fabrication of the topside will be executed in a joint venture with Drydocks World Dubai, and the substructure will be fabricated at Aker Solutions’ yard in Verdal, Norway.
Located more than 47 kilometres from the Norfolk coast and with an installed capacity of 1.4 GW, Norfolk Vanguard West will be the first phase of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, which also includes the Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas developments.
The Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind farm is subject to regulatory approvals and Vattenfall’s final investment decision.
Note that Vattenfall are now talking about three wind farms; Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas.
These three paragraphs talk about finance and costs from Aker Solutions point-of-view.
According to Aker Solutions, the company will at this stage book a contract value of about NOK 4 billion (about EUR 334 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023 in the Renewables and Field Development segment, reflecting the compensated work that is to be performed until the expected final investment decision.
Following the award, the total contract value for Aker Solutions is estimated to be about NOK 6 billion.
“The development of the entire Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone could ultimately require up to three HVDC platforms in succession, which would improve the long-term predictability and give positive repeat effects and standardization within the supplier industry,” said Sturla Magnus, Executive Vice President of New Build at Aker Solutions.
Could it be that a 3 x NOK 6 billion or £1.3 billion order has convinced Aker Solutions to invest alongside Vattenfall in the three Norfolk wind farms?
This map shows the two farms in relation to the coast.
Note.
- The purple line appears to be the UK’s ten mile limit.
- Norfolk Boreas is outlined in blue.
- Norfolk Vanguard is outlined in orange and has two parts; West and East.
- Cables will be run in the grey areas.
This second map shows the onshore cable.
Note.
- The cables are planned to come ashore between Happisburgh and Eccles-on-Sea.
- Bacton is only a short distance up the coast.
- The onshore cable is planned to go from here across Norfolk to the Necton substation.
This layout would appear to need only one offshore cable for all three wind farms.
Conclusion
Has Aker stepped in to rescue Vattenfall’s 4.2 GW project?
UK Companies Forge O&M Services Alliance
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RES, GEV Wind Power, Outreach Offshore, and Rix Renewables have launched the Offshore Wind O&M Partnership (OWOP) to supply a complete package of long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services to offshore wind asset owners.
These two paragraphs outline the deal.
The Partnership aims to reduce the complexity and resource intensity associated with the traditional way of subcontracting for multiple O&M services, allowing asset owners to benefit from a much more strategic approach while also ensuring execution to the highest safety standards, according to the press release.
Through just one contract, asset owners will have access to all typical turbine, blade, substation, and balance of plant O&M services as well as workboats and advanced digital tools.
It all sounds like a good deal to me.
TenneT Installs Artificial Reefs At Hollandse Kust West Alpha Offshore Netherlands
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO), TenneT, has placed several artificial reefs at the Hollandse Kust West Alpha offshore transformer platform in the Dutch North Sea.
These three paragraphs explain the project and the purpose of the reefs.
The platform will connect the Ecowende consortium (Shell/Eneco) wind farm to the high-voltage grid.
In collaboration with Equans/Smulders, TenneT placed two types of artificial reefs near the offshore substation jacket to find out which form works best.
The artificial reefs are part of a series of ecological measures by TenneT to monitor and encourage nature around offshore wind farms.
There is also an excellent picture in the article. All it needs now is fishes swimming through the holes.
The Anonymous Widower 