DNV assisting finance initiative for eight US offshore wind developments

DNV is performing due diligence that could help secure financing of eight offshore wind projects on the US’ Atlantic Coast with a combined capacity of 13 GW.

If all became operational, they would increase the US’ total wind power capacity by nearly 9%, DNV claims.

For this program, the company is applying a methodology based on a proven approach that is said to have led to on-time financing for thousands of onshore wind, solar, transmission and battery energy storage projects in the US and Canada.

DNV is providing pre-commitment and construction monitoring due diligence for the eight offshore wind developments to ensure all parties concerned understand ahead of reaching a final investment decision (FID).

So far, three of the eight offshore projects had reached FID.

“Our customers are now getting steel in the water and creating benefits for local communities," said Richard S. Barnes, region president for Energy Systems North America. “We’ve learned that the offshore wind projects getting financed and moving into the development and construction stages are the ones where developers can hit narrow installation windows because they’ve identified and mitigated risks around vessel availability, supply chain and evolving regulatory requirements.”

DNV’s offshore wind team in the US previously supported companies with successful bids for California’s 2022 offshore auction. The team has also performed assessments of the technical, societal and environmental risks around proposed developments offshore Oregon and Maine. It is also working on behalf of the industry to speed up deployment of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology.