The US election is pushing back the start-up dates of some of the largest offshore wind projects being developed by Danish utility Orsted off the country’s eastern seaboard, chief financial officer Marianne Wiinholt has said, but she insisted the regional play would not “fall apart” due to the delays.

The developer acknowledged that the lack of a ‘Notice of Intent’ from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for Orsted’s most advanced projects in the US Atlantic meant that the Revolution Wind, Ocean Wind, Skipjack and Sunrise Wind projects, which have combined capacity of 2.8GW, will be delayed beyond the expected 2023 and 2024 start-up dates.

“It is unfortunate that we are looking into further delays. We had expected to have received the notice of intent for the most progressed projects. But we can now see that will not happen before the election,” Wiinholt said during an earnings call.

“It is not that it has anything to do with the Republicans versus Democrats, but just that you are in an election mode in a way means that we have seen a standstill for a period.”

After receiving a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for a project, BOEM' is required to issue a Notice of Intent that sets a timeline for completion of required federal environmental reviews and authorisation decisions.

President Donald Trump in August 2017 signed an executive order setting a government-wide goal of reducing the average time to complete the federal permitting process for major infrastructure projects including offshore wind to a maximum two years from publication of the Notice of Intent.

While BOEM has made progress toward that end, most of its resource and staffing are allocated to areas other than renewable energy such as offshore oil and gas leasing and regulation. The offshore wind industry's growth that has been fueled by demand from mid-Atlantic and northeastern states - 29GW of committed procurement thus far - has exceeded the agency's ability to permit projects that would supply electric power in timely fashion.

BOEM's main focus is completion of permitting for Vineyard Wind's pioneering 800MW project off the southern coast of Massachusetts. BOEM acting director Walter Cruickshank told Recharge the upcoming Record of Decision on 18 December will establish a "strong foundation for more efficient and predictable regulatory processes" for subsequent projects including Orsted's.

Wiinholt said Orsted now expects to get more clarity on the timelines of the projects late this year or during the first quarter of next year, she added.

The outcome of the US election next week is seen crucial to the trajectory of offshore wind in the country. Democratic candidate Joe Biden is seen as being much more supportive of the country’s wind at sea build-out, with his party pushing for a 25GW target by 2030, while standing President Donald Trump recently issued a directive that bans new wind leasing off four southe-eastern states for ten years.

Wiinholt underlined that the delays did not mean was standing still on developing its US projects.

“We absolutely don’t believe that US offshore will fall apart. We have been able to progress our supply chain, transmission landings, we have entered an agreement to build a US Jones Act compliant [supply] vessel,” she stated.

The company is still looking into creating solid projects in the US, Wiinholt stressed, noting it had recently revealed it would bid in the latest New York tender.

While delays are “never good”, Orsted thinks they can be avoided going forward as BOEM’s general impact assessment won’t be needed for further projects, she said.

Orsted announced last week that David Hardy would take over the reins at Orsted Offshore North America, succeeding Thomas Brostrom as the unit’s new CEO.

The US Energy Information Administration estimates the potential for offshore wind power off the lower-50 states’ coasts at 7200TWh. Fully developed, this resource would translate into hundreds of projects of a scale similar to those already sanctioned, with analyst Rystad calculating each development would call for investments of an average $3bn.

Updates with Notice of Intent explanation and federal infrastructure project permitting goal

Wind

'Not falling apart': US election stalling giant Orsted offshore wind projects says CFO