BW Ideol says that its planned offshore floating wind pilot project in California has progressed to the environmental assessment stage, representing the next milestone in a permitting process for what may become one of the first wind farms off the coast of California.
The 40 MW+ pre-commercial floating wind project, based on BW Ideol’s Damping Pool technology, will be installed off Vandenberg Space Force Base (formerly Vandenberg Air Force Base), located in Santa Barbara County, California. On Oct. 21, the California State Lands Commission formally authorized the solicitation of Statements of Interest for consultant services for the preparation of environmental documentation and mitigation monitoring for the proposed wind farm.
The upcoming environmental assessment comes just over two years after BW Ideol’s initial lease application submittal. It is a key element of a standard approval process and the result of extensive collaboration with the California State Lands Commission’s staff as well as extensive stakeholder outreach by the Commission.
Shell to join offshore Ireland project
Shell has agreed to acquire a 51% interest in the Simply Blue Group Western Star venture.
This was established to develop a floating wind farm off the Clare coast in Ireland. Western Star will be developed by Simply Blue Group personnel and Shell floating wind experts. The project office will be based at Simply Blue Group’s headquarters in Cork.
Floating wind technology can be installed in deeper waters than fixed wind turbines allowing this project to be placed 35-60 km (21.7-37 mi) offshore.
The joint venture will seek to co-develop up to 1.35 GW in total: 300 MW-450 MW in the first phase with 700 MW-900 MW to follow. This is said to be equivalent to powering over one million Irish homes.
According to Simply Blue Group, the first phase of the project could include between 15- and 18-MW turbines. Earlier this year, the companies agreed to jointly develop the Emerald floating wind project offshore southern Ireland.
Keppel wins contract for wind farm substations
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd.’s (Keppel O&M) wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel FELS Ltd. has secured a contract from a renewable energy company for the construction of two offshore substations (OSS) worth around S$110 million.
Keppel O&M’s work scope comprises the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning for the topside modules of two OSS. This excludes the OSS foundations, as well as certain electrical components to be furnished by the client. It is scheduled to be completed in 2024 to be deployed in an offshore wind farm.
Siemens to provide equipment for CVOW
Siemens Energy will supply the main electrical equipment for the grid connection for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project.
The 2.6-GW wind farm, which is expected to include up to 180 turbines, is the largest offshore wind project under development in the US.
The company will deliver the high-voltage electrical equipment for the three 800-MW offshore substations. These platforms will collect the low voltage energy generated by the wind turbines and transmit it at a higher voltage to shore.
For each substation, the company will provide three power transformers, three shunt reactors, one medium-voltage gas insulated switchgear (GIS) and three high-voltage GIS systems to Semco Maritime.
According to Siemens, the system solution is specifically designed to reduce both the size and weight of the platform, lowering the need for the use of steel and making it more resource- and cost-effective. Once fully commissioned in 2026, the CVOW commercial project is expected to prevent up to 5 million tons of CO2 emissions annually and power up to 660,000 households in Virginia.
Duo complete first set of cables for Dutch offshore wind farms
LS Cable & System and Jan De Nul Group have completed the first lot of submarine power cables for TenneT’s Hollandse Kust (noord) and (west Alpha) offshore wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.
This first lot consists of the complete cables for Hollandse Kust (noord) (HKn) and the nearshore section for Hollandse Kust (west Alpha) (HKwA). In total, this is more than 90 km (56 mi) of cables, weighing 7,160 metric tons (7,893 tons) and having very large cross sections resulting in an overall diameter of more than 25 cm (10 in.)
Jan De Nul’s cable laying vessel Isaac Newton will load the 220 kV AC cables from LS Cable’s factory in Donghae, South Korea, and transport them to the project sites for installation in April 2022.
In the nearshore area, the Jan De Nul-developed tracked vertical injector Moonfish will bury the cables up to 8 m (26 ft) below the seabed level. The trencher UTV1200 will bury the cables offshore, supported by the multipurpose vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant. The company will also install multiple cable protection systems and rock berms at the cable crossings along the route.
Jan De Nul Group and LS Cable & System are jointly responsible for the design, supply, installation, protection, and testing of the 210 km (131 mi) of submarine power cables for HKn and HKwA.
The HKn project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The HKwA project is planned to be finished by the end of 2023. Both wind farms will have an installed capacity of 700 MW.
