The soaring ambition of US offshore wind was in full view in this week’s comprehensive Recharge coverage of the International Partnering Forum (IPF) industry event.
IPF, organised by the Business Network for Offshore Wind, heard policymakers as senior as US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm spell out why the sector will be key to America’s decarbonisation and industrial agendas.
The prospect of new opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico – where a senior official from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management flagged up to 16.5GW of potential – and the Central Atlantic and Pacific coasts, where BOEM called for expressions of interest, added further momentum to an industry already galvanised by President Joe Biden’s target of having 30GW operating in US waters by 2030.
Two of the Central Atlantic zones are in water depths requiring floating turbines, highlighting the technology’s growing potential to play a key role in the US’ offshore journey – a fact underscored when the head of key New York energy body Nyserda said the state could "easily double" its offshore wind goals post 2030 by tapping this “ultra-deep water” resource
Meanwhile, industrial preparations for the first wave of fixed-bottom US offshore wind are gearing up inexorably, with Orsted centre-stage this week as it signed a deal to be lead tenant at the nation’s flagship wind port, in New Jersey, and handed out deals for giant high voltage substations for its 1.1GW Ocean Wind 1 project.
The rapid emergence of a supply chain was summed up by an official of German steel manufacturer EEW talking about its new facility for monopile foundations, also in New Jersey. “If you were here a year ago, this was just dirt,” he told Recharge.
One of the biggest potential beneficiaries of America’s coming offshore wind boom is GE Renewable Energy, which will be among the frontrunners to equip projects with its giant Haliade-X turbine.
This week, however, the focus of attention was firmly on GE’s onshore business which – like that of other OEM giants – is having a torrid time and led the group’s renewables arm to a loss of $434m in the first quarter, not far short of doubling the deficit from a year ago.
GE executives including CEO Larry Culp admitted “we have a lot to do” as they outlined pressures bearing down on onshore that include supply chain inflation and the uncertain outlook for federal incentives.
The week also brought a reminder of the looming prospect of GE and fellow western wind giants Vestas and Siemens Gamesa facing heightened international competition from Chinese players, with Envision announcing it will ramp up production in India after winning 2GW of orders there.
The European wind and solar sectors breathed a sigh of relief as Emmanuel Macron saw off far-right – and staunchly anti-renewables – candidate Marine Le Pen to win a second term as French President.
As Recharge explained before the election, however, a losing Le Pen had already damaged the cause of French renewables, and the wind sector in particular must now hope that Macron thinks again about some of his campaign messages.
In particular, industry body WindEurope hopes the reelected president will revisit disappointingly unambitious onshore wind targets outlined before the election.
Offshore the picture looks far brighter, and the momentum behind French wind at sea gathered further when contractor Fred Olsen Windcarrier was picked to install turbines at the pioneering Saint Brieuc project.
