By Kennedy Maize
This post updates the financial troubles of Denmark’s Ørsted, recent BOEM auctions, and pushback against Maryland governor Wes Moore. Today, operational offshore wind capacity is less than 50 megawatts versus the Biden-Harris Administration goal of 30,000 MW by 2030.
Ørsted
Denmark’s Ørsted, the worldwide leading offshore wind developer, recorded a $575 million loss in the second quarter. In part, the loss is the result of disappointing developments in the U.S.
The company has delayed commercial operation of its 704-MW Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut from 2025 to 2026. Ørsted’s ambitious U.S. offshore wind program has been lagging, despite solid support (subsidies, permits) from the Biden administration.
A year after an Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) auction for Gulf of Mexico leases failed to attract significant interest, BOEM continues to delay another attempt to find adequate bidders off the east coast.
Reuter’s summarized Ørsted’s issues:
Ørsted’s impairment losses also related to its Ocean Wind project in the United States whose development it halted last year, an increase in U.S. interest rates, and its decision to cease development of its green e-methanol FlagshipOne project, which was due to open in Sweden next year. Shares in Ørsted, once a green investor favourite, ended down 7.2%, having fallen as much as 9.3% earlier. They remain at less than one-third of their value since peaking in early 2021.
BOEM Auctions
In March, BOEM solicited interest in another Gulf of Mexico auction, which resulted in industry yawns. The agency stated on July 26th that it
received 25 comments in response to the March 2024 [Proposed Sale Notice], with one company expressing interest in participating. As a result, BOEM is cancelling this sale due to a lack of competitive interest. BOEM may decide to move forward with a lease sale at a future time, based on industry interest.
—————
BOEM last week (Aug. 14) held a lease sale for the Mid-Atlantic region, off Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia with takers.
Norway’s Equinor Wind won a provisional lease for 101,443 acres some 26 nautical miles off Delaware for $75 million. Dominion Energy’s Virginia Electric and Power subsidiary won a provisional lease for 176,505 acres 35 miles off the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay for $18 million. Six companies participated in the auction.
The Equinor lease is not far from where Baltimore-based US Wind has a federal lease for a proposed two-phase, 2-GW project off Maryland’s Ocean City. BOEM last month (July 29) issued a final Environmental Impact Statement for the Maryland project. Maryland has also issued renewable energy certificates for the US Wind project.
US Wind, reports BOEM,
proposes to install up to 114 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four corridors for offshore export cables, which would make landfall in Delaware Seashore State Park. The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles offshore Maryland and approximately 9 nautical miles offshore Sussex County, Delaware, at its closest points to shore.
US Wind, in partnership with Spain’s Haizea Windgroup, is also developing a plant to make monopile foundations for wind projects at Baltimore’s Sparrows Point, once the home of Bethlehem Steel when it was the world’s largest steel mill. According to the company
“Sparrows Point Steel is poised to become the best offshore wind heavy logistics and fabrication yard on the East Coast. Haizea’s depth of knowledge and expertise will cement Maryland’s role as a hub of offshore wind manufacturing in the U.S.”
MD Gov. Wes Moore vs. Critics
Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore last week (Aug. 16) faced opponents of his aggressive push for offshore wind in Ocean City. Local TV station WBOC spoke to Moore about growing local opposition on the eastern shore of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. Earlier in the month, Moore signed a memorandum of understanding with BOEM to open up more offshore federal land to wind development. Last year, Maryland passed a new law expanding the state’s goal for offshore wind development to 8.5 GW.
Moore told WBOC, “You’re talking about being able to power three million homes in the state of Maryland and turn us into a net exporter of clean energy. That’s exciting, it’s new jobs, it’s new opportunities.”
Many people on the Eastern Shore, particularly those who depend on the Chesapeake Bay for a living, see burgeoning wind farms as a potential disruption to their ways of life. Jimmy Hahn, an Ocean City area commercial fisherman, told the TV station, “They’re trying to steal our grounds, they’ve stolen our bottom, they’ve stolen the area that we fish in, their last resort is to buy the place where we sell our fish at and once they accomplish that we have nowhere else to work.”
Moore responded, “All those conversations have to happen with local leaders, it has to happen with local communities. There has to be measures of both transparency and accountability as to what we’re hoping for and what we’re going to achieve.”
Vineyard Wind: Yellow Flag
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has given Avangrid a yellow flag to continue limited work on its Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast.
BSEE shut down the 804-MW project last month following the failure of a 351-foot blade on one of its turbines, spreading debris widely to beaches on nearby Nantucket Island and as far as mainland beaches on Cape Cod. Reuters reported that the Interior Department agency last week (Aug. 13) confirmed the updated shutdown order, while Avangrid and blade maker G Vernova continue to investigate the cause of the massive blade failure.
“The updated suspension order still does not allow further blade installation or power production at this time, the companies said,” according to Reuters. Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova said they are removing portions of the damaged blade that remained on the wind turbine to remove risks of further ocean debris.
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Off shore wind is not the only thing that’s struggling:
Ford delays new EV plant, cancels electric three-row SUV
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/ford-delays-new-ev-plant-cancels-electric-three-row-suv.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.CopyToPasteboard
It would suck to be middle age man stuck on the side of the road alone, but I’d live.
Wife and kids stuck on the side of the road alone? I think USA is not ready for that.
BOEM, pronounce “boom”.
I’m guessing the “Biden-Harris” agenda of 30,000 megawatts (now at 50 megawatts) by 2030 depends on Biden, whoops, Harris, winning the election……..
And another Democrat Eco-Nazi winning the one after that. I love how these idiots set all these “goals” to be “achieved” long after they are out of office.
This way they have no accountability and can blame someone else for the unrealized “goals.”
Yep…at least Kennedy’s Moon Shot promise “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade..” the intention was to realize it, perhaps while he was still in office if not the year after
If VP Harris becomes POTUS next Jan 20th, she could be in office until 2032.
Assuming we still have a country by 2032.
Assuming we still have a Constitutional Republic by February
Just think, they could go from 50MW to 100MW and some posters here could go on and on about the “Massive Increase” in capacity…however ineffective that capacity increase is
“”the worldwide leading offshore wind developer, recorded a $575 million loss in the second quarter””
If renewables are cheap as chips then either something has gone badly wrong, or the lie doesn’t work anymore.
“”Analysis: UK renewables still cheaper than gas, despite auction setback for offshore wind
The “extremely disappointing” result follows massive supply chain and inflationary pressures on wind and solar, estimated to have pushed the cost of offshore wind up by as much as 40% since last year.””
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-renewables-still-cheaper-than-gas-despite-auction-setback-for-offshore-wind/
Gas won’t be getting any cheaper and there will be many
green jobs, sorry redundancies. as a result. Collateral damage.“”Ed Miliband’s oil tax ‘puts thousands of British jobs at risk’
Dozens of companies sign open letter urging Energy Secretary to reconsider windfall tax plans
Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves have put thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs at risk with a tax raid on oil and gas, industry leaders have warned. The tax plan threatens £200bn of investment in domestic energy including both renewables and fossil fuels, according to an open letter to the Treasury signed by 42 companies.
…
Ms Reeves, the Chancellor, has announced plans backed by Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, to increase windfall taxes on oil and gas profits from 75pc to 78pc. She also extended the windfall tax until 2030 and abolished tax incentives for further investment.””
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/08/22/ed-miliband-oil-tax-puts-thousands-of-jobs-at-risk/
Gissa job… (Yosser Hughes, Boys From The Blackstuff, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083689/)
Add this to the recipe and stir
The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) ‘Global Wind Report 2024’ expects
“bottlenecks in the supply chain from mid decade for multiple components in particular gearboxes, generators, blades, offshore wind compatible castings, towers and foundations.”
” Ports and installation vessels with sufficient large crane capacity are also needed to scale offshore wind.”
” In all regions except China and India nacelle assembly capacity will be insufficient”
Meanwhile Wind Europe warned back in June 2022 that there would be worldwide shortages of the three kinds of vessels needed to build offshore windfarms.
By 2024/25 shortages for Foundation Installation Vessels (FIVs), and Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs).
For Cable Laying Vessels (CLVS) that connect to the shore “the gap between supply and demand will be even greater over the next 8 years”
Wind Europe ‘Europe’s offshore wind expansion will depend on vessel availability’ Press release 14 June 2022.
I’m puzzled by this. If there is not enough supply for the demand, doesn’t that mean that there is a large increase in windfarm construction? And if the demand is high, doesn’t that mean there is a large measurable increase in actual windfarms?
Is it also possible that the drop on those bidding for leases are looking at the time-line and delays in deployment (due to greater demand) and are holding off?
Is it also possible, while there are plenty of subsidies to go around, these deals were contrived back when interest rates were at practically give-away levels as opposed to the usury lenders are getting now?
Bingo. Interest rates are killing them.
Careful, if the Fed gives in on lower rates while spending is out of control, they / we will have a much bigger problem with inflation.
There is a large increase in projected wind farm construction worldwide both onshore and offshore which the manufacturers cannot keep up with. Offshore is particularly affected by the lack of available ships to carry out the construction. These ships are very very expensive to build and require specialist knowledge
I hope east coast USA farms are insured against hurricanes. In parallel, what’s the position regarding insurance against tornadoes? Do they? Insure, I mean.
” USA farms” !!
They harvest subsidies but are structurally electric-generating facilities.
Conditional probability of tornado given windmill in same location must be small.
It is apparent that the architects of the ‘Green New Deal’ are clueless that “renewables” such as wind turbines and solar panels ONLY exist to generate occasional electricity under favorable weather conditions, as they CANNOT make tires, toilet paper, iPhones, or any products or transportation fuels to support lifestyles and economies in American and around the world!
You touched on it, but they really do not survive in violent storms. So favorable generates electricity, storms destroy the generation equipment. followed by favorable with no juice.
As a politician put it, “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”
Well, well, well This isn’t a surprise. The comments on it should be interesting!
Nikolov and Zeller: Analysis showing Earth’s climate is driven by Sun and cloud albedo now published | Tallbloke’s Talkshop (wordpress.com)
High capital cost, long payback period, application specific, difficult/impossible to move business located on leased land with availability subject to political whim and dependent on subsidies subject to political whim in a country that’s divided about 50-50? Sounds like a setup for a cowboy with no name. Nope. Too dangerous.
what’s a “monopile foundation”?
It’s when you have only one hemorrhoid.
It is a single huge pile that can run 33′ in diameter and be several hundred feet long with steel walls 5″ thick
. I read there are only 28 ships in the world that can drive them. The Orion is presently driving 176 off Virginia and it is over 600′ long with 5,000 ton crane capacity.
The driving noise deafens whales, dolphins and other critters, The developer Dominion Energy has federal approval to acoustically harass almost 60,000 protected marine mamals with this pile driving.
Those ships must cost a fortune.
Well, we must prevent the oceans from boiling so it’s OK to wipe out all the critters. /s
There was an offshore wind presentation in Bucksport, Maine yesterday evening. It was supposed to be a “discussion”, but it was pretty much a one-sided pep rally for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. There wasn’t an engineer or STEM representative on the panel. Just a car salesman politician, a union stooge (because of the million good-paying jobs for hard-working Mainers), a milque toast wildlife biologist, and a completely retarded climate journalist (Bachelor of Arts, Classics, and Philosophy so distinguished expert in atmospheric physics) as the moderator, who wouldn’t allow discussion. There were even a pair of effete metrosexual male bouncers to shut up any opposition by insisting that they leave.
I’ve never protested anything but I’m going to do everything in my power to figuratively eviscerate these wankers.
“Maine/Population 1.385 million (2022)”
If “million good-paying jobs for hard-working Mainers” is literal, someone definitely skipped math class.
Not many jobs in Maine. It used to have thriving wood based industries, for timber, paper, etc. Most of the pulp mills are gone- the greens fight to end traditional forestry. Tourism is big in the state but not suitable for everyone.
Try this: https://www.cfact.org/2024/06/17/floating-wind-madness-in-maine/
Does Maine still make nuclear subs for the DoD? I wonder whether they’re trying to keep the same engineers and craftsmen working.
No resident of Maine would ever say “wanker”. So you must have seen that on TV or online?
Many years working with Brits in the oil and gas industry.
OK, you probably don’t want to use that word in a good-old-boy American roadside, redneck tavern. 🙂
Wind and solar are not a substitute for fossil fuel and nuclear, stop wasting the tax payers money. Fire up all fossil fuel and nuclear generators, build new fossil fuel and nuclear generators, remove all wind and solar from the grid and keep the grid updated.
Ah, yes, the state of Maryland with Governor Moron….plus all of the other leftwing idiots who run the government. Hypocrisy is the name of the game here. There are places in the far western part of the state where natural gas can be tapped, but the state will not permit any fracking anywhere. But it’s OK to disrupt the coast and the livelihood of people who depend on fishing and tourism to build devices that only occasionally generate power. Hasn’t anyone figured out that with wind, you have to put in a lot more than you get out? Imagine setting out millions of buckets to collect rain water for municipal use vs damming up a river and using water that’s always there. Your buckets may or may not collect any rain, and only when it rains, and the effort to make and set the buckets out (and collect and dump them into a reservoir) would take far more work, time and money than it would ever save, Building and operating a dam would be far cheaper in the long run and there would be a constant source of water. Solar power is not unlike wind in that regard, in that you generally get out of it less than what you put in. Well, OK, solar can work great for certain small isolated applications that don’t need much power, but not so much for on the grid.
Essentially wind power on a large scale is like a lion trying to survive by catching mice – and nothing else. The lion would put forth far more energy and effort to catch its dinner than what it would get out such meager meals that it would eventually starve. And a developed world powered mostly by wind and solar will also be starved of energy without a reliable back up source, like fossil fuel or nuclear.
Speaking of Maryland, there is a huge furor in the northern part of the state where a company is planning on building a new power transmission line. People are up in arms to fight this new line, which would go from the northeastern corner of the state, to the west and down into Virginia. The purpose of which is to supply new data centers in Virginia. There is to be a town hall meeting down the road from where I live tonight. I’m half tempted to go over there and see if any of the attendants drove to the meeting in an EV….which actually would not surprise me, as stupid as so many people in the state tend to be.
“Jimmy Hahn, an Ocean City area commercial fisherman, told the TV station, “They’re trying to steal our grounds”
Who’s “they” and who’s “our”? I can put myself on both teams – I use electricity and I eat fish. The underlying assumption in JH’s use of the world “steal” reads as communist to me – i.e. ocean owned in common and both government and competing business are capable of theft.
SunPower, America’s largest solar cell distributor and installer went bankrupt on Aug 6, 2024.
On September 30, 2021, SunPower launched SunPower 25X25, a set of comprehensive diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) commitments designed to ensure the benefits of home solar and storage serve American families, job seekers and businesses that have been historically underserved.
SunPower 25X25 has set goals to achieve the following by the close of the 2025 fiscal year:
Increasing Workforce Diversity
25% of our workforce is represented by Black and Hispanic/Latinx people; 40% of our workforce is represented by women.
Expanding Access for Customers
25% of our new U.S. residential customers are made up of people who live in disadvantaged communities.
Ensuring Industry Equity
25% of new dealers and subcontractors we work with are businesses owned by women or people of color.
ProgramsSunPower has identified three keystone projects that will support the success of the long-term goals outlined above:
June 28, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a $7 billion grant competition through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to increase access to affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy for millions of low-income households. Residential distributed solar energy will lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.
All the planning, grant money and lofty woke goals all down the drain now.
Apparently, Solar power is too expensive to install, generate and own and also too cheap to sell to make a profit to stay in business, both at the same time.
It’s reminiscent of the mid-2000’s when Clinton and Franks decided that every respirating human, regardless of income, should be able to buy a home.
The same outfit that spent two years building 8 EV charging stations, and now promises to build 3,000,000 new homes.
A different view: “Offshore Wind Energy: Delivering the American Dream”
https://www.offshorewind.biz/2024/08/22/opinion-offshore-wind-energy-delivering-the-american-dream/
She thinks costs are benefits because someone gets the money.