Suppliers’ Guide To Success: Smart Scaling For The U.S. West Coast Floating Wind Market

Oceantic Network’s new report, Suppliers’ Guide to Success: Smart Scaling for the U.S. West Coast Floating Wind Market, analyzes the requirements for a full buildout of floating offshore wind on the West Coast and proposes solutions to industry and government that will allow the sector to flourish.

The paper covers several key actions West Coast policymakers can take to ensure the region can become a global leader in floating offshore wind:

– Prioritize investments in port and transmission infrastructure.
– Structure offtake awards in a way that emphasizes project deliverability.
– Establish a firm, steady, and long-term procurement schedule for …

Wind Energy Community Benefits Guide

Wind energy development can provide a variety of benefits to the communities where energy projects are located and beyond, with benefits coming in many forms— such as tax revenues, supply chain and manufacturing activities, and job creation. This guide focuses on community benefit agreements (CBAs) and related funds and investments that serve as voluntary mechanisms that developers may utilize to provide additional financial and/or nonfinancial benefits for communities impacted by wind energy projects.

While CBAs and related mechanisms have been utilized for several decades in the U.S. and
internationally, the topic of community benefits is continuously evolving as wind energy …

Feasibility Study for Renewable Energy Technologies in Alaska Offshore Waters

This study was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) under an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of
Energy. The study assesses the feasibility of ocean-based renewable energy sources that may be available to help Alaska decarbonize its energy supply, increase coastal resilience, and build energy security and independence. Throughout this report there are various timelines associated with modeling assumptions and policy scenarios that are being studied. The major elements of clean energy transition considered in this study—which include fixed and floating offshore wind energy, tidal energy, and carbon-neutral hydrogen …

Wind, Sea, and Shore

On July 25, 2023, OurEnergyPolicy hosted a live discussion about the Promise and Challenges of Offshore Wind Deployment.

This resource summarizes the discussion from that event.…

Top 100 Players in the U.S. Floating Wind Market

The U.S. DoE set out plans for 15 GW of floating wind capacity by 2035, an ambitious target given the current pace of development. With the majority of proposed lease areas currently lacking minimum requirements, combined with the implementation of new and potentially risky technologies, strong leadership will be required to successfully build floating wind farms on the West Coast and maximize ROI.

This report lists 100 players that Reuters Events considers could have potential for leadership in the market. The names that follow have been selected either for their current position in the floating and U.S. offshore wind sectors, …

A New England – Maritimes Offshore Energy Corridor Builds Regional Resilience for a Clean Energy Future

This White Paper presents the high-level case for the proposed New England-Maritimes Offshore Energy Corridor (NEMOEC) transmission facilities between Nova Scotia and New England to connect two distinct offshore wind resource areas with the two load centers in each respective region, highlighting the economic and environmental benefits.

The White Paper is not meant to be a business case. As such, the analyses are generally higher level and the assessment of benefits is more a demonstration that these benefits are offered, rather than a detailed assessment of the quantum of the benefit. The White Paper’s contents are intended to be used …

The Future of Wind Energy is Now: Smart Technologies Ensure Safe, Secure Connections

A large inland or offshore wind farm could incorporate 100,000 or more bolted joints in wind turbines that must stay tightened to the correct preload. But as wind turbine sizes become larger and require bigger bolts, bolted joints are becoming more difficult to install and maintain. Traditional methods to ensure they are tightened to the correct preload, such as using torque wrenches, are time-consuming and prone to inaccuracies. This is especially challenging for a wind farm’s maintenance team, usually staffed with only five or six workers, that must perform continual checks on the bolted joints of every turbine.

Cutting-edge advancements, …

Offshore Energy Assessment Validation

DNV has been producing Energy Production Assessments (EPAs) of proposed wind farms for over 35 years and has developed a well-defined methodology that is continually updated as new research and information becomes available. Validations serve a dual purpose: they provide DNV with a feedback loop used to direct methodology improvements and provide the industry with valuable insights into the levels of accuracy achieved by DNV’s current best practice.

The results show a slight negative bias in the prediction of P50 energy output and show some spread in project performance relative to the pre-construction prediction. Overall, the risk of projects underperforming …

Effects of Land-Based Wind Turbine Upsizing on Community Sound Levels and Power and Energy Density

Multiple technological, social, and market factors of wind power are evolving rapidly. Most notably, significant wind turbine scaling is occurring and is forecasted to continue. While the larger turbines expected to be deployed in the future are more powerful and efficient, they are also expected to operate at higher sound levels and require larger setbacks than those installed in the last decade. These sometimes-competing deployment trends and impacts cannot be understood via simple extrapolations of past trends. This study analyzes the effect of these future larger turbines on wind turbine micro-siting, project-level power and energy density, and community noise impacts. …

The 2035 Japan Report: Plummeting Costs of Solar, Wind, and Batteries Can Accelerate Japan’s Clean and Independent Electricity Future

Japan faces a significant energy security risk as it imports nearly all of the fuel used in its power sector, with clean electricity accounting for only 24% of the total. This study shows that, due to the decreasing costs of solar, wind (especially offshore), and battery technology, Japan can achieve a 90% clean electricity share by 2035. This would also result in a 6% reduction in electricity costs, nearly eliminate dependence on imported LNG and coal, as well as dramatically reduce power sector emissions. Additionally, the study finds that Japan’s power grid will remain dependable without the need for new …