STEVE LeBLANC
Tue, August 22, 2023
FILE - Three wind turbines from Deepwater Wind stand in the water off Block Island, R.I, the nation's first offshore wind farm, Aug. 15, 2016. Another planned offshore wind farm, by Revolution Wind, moved a step closer to construction on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, with the Department of the Interior announcing it has approved the project, to be located in federal waters about 15 miles southeast of Point Judith, R.I, and south of Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
A planned offshore wind farm moved a step closer to construction Tuesday with the Department of the Interior announcing it has approved the project, to be located in federal waters near Rhode Island south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The Revolution Wind project will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes, and is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction, regulators said.
It's the department's fourth approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project, joining the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts, the South Fork Wind project off Rhode Island and New York, and the Ocean Wind 1 project off New Jersey.
The Revolution Wind project is another step toward the Biden administration's goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
"Together with industry, labor and partners from coast to coast, we are building an entirely new industry off the east and west and Gulf coasts,” Haaland said in a statement.
The final version of the plan approved by the department calls for installing fewer turbines than originally proposed by the developer. The goal is to help reduce impacts to visual resources, the ocean floor habitat, and other ocean activities.
The plan identifies possible locations for the installation of 65 wind turbines and two offshore substations.
Revolution Wind will create a fund to compensate for losses by recreational and commercial fisheries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts — as well as fisheries from other states — directly related to the construction of the turbines.
The project will also take steps to reduce potential harm to protected species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon.
The Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management remains on track to complete reviews of at least 16 offshore wind project plans by 2025, representing more than 27 gigawatts of clean energy, the bureau said.
Vineyard Wind, a separate project, is under construction 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. It includes 62 turbines and is expected to put out 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, beginning this year.
The first U.S. offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island’s Block Island in late 2016. But with five turbines, it’s not commercial scale.
A planned offshore wind farm moved a step closer to construction Tuesday with the Department of the Interior announcing it has approved the project, to be located in federal waters near Rhode Island south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The Revolution Wind project will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes, and is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction, regulators said.
It's the department's fourth approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project, joining the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts, the South Fork Wind project off Rhode Island and New York, and the Ocean Wind 1 project off New Jersey.
The Revolution Wind project is another step toward the Biden administration's goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
"Together with industry, labor and partners from coast to coast, we are building an entirely new industry off the east and west and Gulf coasts,” Haaland said in a statement.
The final version of the plan approved by the department calls for installing fewer turbines than originally proposed by the developer. The goal is to help reduce impacts to visual resources, the ocean floor habitat, and other ocean activities.
The plan identifies possible locations for the installation of 65 wind turbines and two offshore substations.
Revolution Wind will create a fund to compensate for losses by recreational and commercial fisheries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts — as well as fisheries from other states — directly related to the construction of the turbines.
The project will also take steps to reduce potential harm to protected species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon.
The Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management remains on track to complete reviews of at least 16 offshore wind project plans by 2025, representing more than 27 gigawatts of clean energy, the bureau said.
Vineyard Wind, a separate project, is under construction 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. It includes 62 turbines and is expected to put out 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, beginning this year.
The first U.S. offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island’s Block Island in late 2016. But with five turbines, it’s not commercial scale.
Equinor inaugurates world's largest floating wind power farm in Norway
Tue, August 22, 2023
By Nora Buli
OSLO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Norwegian energy firm Equinor and its partners will inaugurate the world's largest floating offshore wind power farm on Wednesday, whose output will supply nearby oil and gas platforms and cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
The Hywind Tampen wind farm, where Equinor is partnering with other oil firms including OMV, Vaar Energi - majority-owned by ENI - started producing power in November last year, with full output reached earlier this month.
Its 88 megawatts of capacity will cover around 35% of annual power demand for five platforms at the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields in the North Sea, about 140 kms (87 miles) off Norway's west coast.
This will cut CO2 emissions from the fields by about 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor has said. That is 0.4% of Norway's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2022.
Some environmentalists say the move is positive as it helps bring down the country's CO2 emissions, while others say Norway should instead stop producing oil and gas.
Hywind Tampen comprises 11 wind turbines fixed to a floating base that is anchored to the seafloor, rather than fixed to the ocean bed, a new technology industry experts say is suitable for use in deeper waters offshore and that Equinor hopes to develop further.
Norway, which is targeting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040, which would double the country's current power output, is tendering its first commercial wind farms, including three floating ones, this autumn.
Equinor's other parners on the project are Wintershall Dea, majority-owned by BASF, INPEX Idemitsu and Norway's Petoro.
($1 = 10.5859 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Tue, August 22, 2023
By Nora Buli
OSLO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Norwegian energy firm Equinor and its partners will inaugurate the world's largest floating offshore wind power farm on Wednesday, whose output will supply nearby oil and gas platforms and cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
The Hywind Tampen wind farm, where Equinor is partnering with other oil firms including OMV, Vaar Energi - majority-owned by ENI - started producing power in November last year, with full output reached earlier this month.
Its 88 megawatts of capacity will cover around 35% of annual power demand for five platforms at the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields in the North Sea, about 140 kms (87 miles) off Norway's west coast.
This will cut CO2 emissions from the fields by about 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor has said. That is 0.4% of Norway's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2022.
Some environmentalists say the move is positive as it helps bring down the country's CO2 emissions, while others say Norway should instead stop producing oil and gas.
Hywind Tampen comprises 11 wind turbines fixed to a floating base that is anchored to the seafloor, rather than fixed to the ocean bed, a new technology industry experts say is suitable for use in deeper waters offshore and that Equinor hopes to develop further.
Norway, which is targeting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040, which would double the country's current power output, is tendering its first commercial wind farms, including three floating ones, this autumn.
Equinor's other parners on the project are Wintershall Dea, majority-owned by BASF, INPEX Idemitsu and Norway's Petoro.
($1 = 10.5859 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
No comments:
Post a Comment