Hybrid SOV Design Lowers Costs Supporting More Wind Farms

Ulstein's concept is a smaller SOV with lower costs for smaller wind farms or to work with the larger vessels (Ulstein)

Published Feb 4, 2025 7:05 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

As the offshore wind energy sector continues to evolve, operators especially in the maintenance and operations phase are faced with the challenges of lowering costs and increasing efficiency.  Norway’s Ulstein has developed a new hybrid design for a smaller service vessel that they believe fills a critical gap in the market and reduces costs for the operations of the wind farms.

While the world needs more renewable energy sources, costs continue to be a significant challenge for offshore wind. To achieve financial viability, developers have been looking to larger projects, but Ulstein focused on an approach with could lower CAPEX by 50 percent, operating costs, and contribute to making smaller, closer-to-shore wind farms more economical for the developers.

Currently, they point out the walk-to-work sector relies mostly on the larger Service Operation Vessels (SOV) which can stay onsite for an extended period and typically accommodate up to 100 people. Day projects are supported by the crew transfer vessels.

 

Smaller SOV fills a gap in the market and offers 50 percent lower CAPEX and OPEX (Ulstein)

 

Ulstein’s proposal for the SX250 is a vessel that can bridge the gap between CTVs and the current large SOVs. Its smaller vessel would measure approximately 47 meters (154 feet) and provide accommodations for 32 to 40 individuals. It would have a top operating speed of 10 knots and use the designer’s Twin X-Stern to enhance seakeeping capabilities. 

According to the company, the vessel would be suited for sea conditions up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) and best for small to mid-sized wind farms located in areas with calm or moderate sea states. These could be closer or shore or in shallow waters.

Another concept is for the smaller SOVs to work in unison with the larger vessels. According to Ulstein, two of three of the SX250 could be managing smaller jobs at the wind farm while the traditional, larger SOV focuses on the larger tasks.

The new vessel concept Ulstein says relies on existing off-the-shelf hardware and technology to ensure effective walk-to-work operations while reducing CAPEX and OPEX. The vessel can be customized with different arrangements and topside equipment and depending on the operational needs, various setups such as a gangway system, a daughter craft, deck storage, or a work or observation ROV.

Filling the perceived gap in the market Ulstein says provides a unique opportunity to lower CAPEX and OPEX by up to 50 percent versus the current vessels. As a smaller vessel, it also contributed toward the push toward sustainable operations and presents a unique new solution to support the broader building out of the offshore wind sector.

Dominion’s Offshore Wind Farm Reaches 50% Mark as Costs Soar Past $10B

Dominion Energy highlights continued progress on the installation of its offshore wind farm (Dominion Energy)

Published Feb 4, 2025 3:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Dominion Energy reports its offshore wind farm project remains on schedule and is making good progress. Known as Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the 2.6 GW project will be the largest in the United States when it is completed at the end of 2026.

Offshore work for the wind farm began in 2024 and the company says it has now approached the 50 percent mark with milestones in the installation. After completing the installation of 78 monopole foundations and four offshore substation foundations during the first season which ended in November 2024, Dominion highlights that the first 16 transition pieces are now in place. The completed project will have 176 wind turbines. The company continues to stage materials at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal with the next phase of monopole installations due to start in the spring.

The first three of the 4,300-ton offshore substations arrived in late January in Virginia. Among the next steps, Dominion reports that wind turbine tower and blade fabrication is now underway and nacelle fabrication is scheduled to begin later this quarter.

 

Substations arrived as materials are staged onshore in Virginia (Port of Virginia)

 

While the project is making good progress on the installation, Dominion also revealed costs are up approximately nine percent from the November 2021 budget submitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. They noted that the increase, which is due to higher onshore network upgrade costs assigned by grid operator PJM, has driven the total budget to $10.7 billion up from the original estimate of $9.8 billion. 

The company emphasized that the costs are controlled with robust cost-sharing mechanisms and an unused contingency that stands at $222 million. Dominion Energy last year sold a 50 percent stake in the project to investors Stonepeak which will cover half the costs up to $11.3 billion. Above that there is a cost-sharing mechanism. While costs are up, they also said it is only for the grid portion with other project costs including offshore having remained in line with the original budget. The company reports the project will cost the average customer 43 cents per month over the life of the project.

As part of the project, Dominion Energy is building the first U.S. wind turbine installation vessel at Seatrium’s shipyard in Texas. Named Charybis, they report the vessel is now 96 percent complete. It has commenced sea trials. Its first project will be the installations for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.

The company has been successful in managing the project to keep it on track and avoid some of the challenges that other projects are experiencing. It retrained DEME for the first phase of the installation using DEME’s large install vessel Orion. 

Dominion’s long-term plan calls for expanding its offshore wind energy presence. In 2024, Dominion acquired an adjoining property from Avangrid which is said could provide an additional 800 MW of power. In August 2024, Dominion also won a lease from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for a site 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The company has said the lease area could support between 2.1 gigawatts and 4.0 gigawatts of offshore wind energy generation according to BOEM’s preliminary estimates. These additional projects require planning and eventually permitting which would likely be delayed under the Trump administration’s energy policy.

New Jersey’s Fourth Offshore Wind Solicitation Ends Without Award

Opponents want to protect the New Jersey shore line from the installation of offshore wind turbines (file photo)

Published Feb 3, 2025 3:39 PM by The Maritime Executive

Regulators for New Jersey’s offshore wind energy sector announced today that they will not be proceeding with an award for the fourth round wind solicitation due to “uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting.” It makes the latest setback for the state which has seen multiple projects delayed and withdrawn despite a strong commitment by the state’s governor to renewable energy.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities reported it will not be proceeding with an award but that it is committed to working with Governor Phil Murphy to “build a successful offshore wind industry in New Jersey.” It reported that two of the three bidders in this round withdrew and that only the Atlantic Shores project proceeded to submit a best and final offer.

Last week, Shell reported it would be pausing its involvement in the Atlantic Shores project saying it did not meet the company’s financial criteria. Previously in 2024 Shell also sold its portion of a New England wind farm project as it says it is reevaluating its participation in the sector. 

Shell is a 50-50 joint venture partner with EDF Renewables in Atlantic Shores. The project calls for a two-stage project that would provide 2.8 MW of energy to New Jersey with up to nearly 200 turbines. It would be about 9 miles off the New Jersey shore near Atlantic City and Sea Girt. The project gained approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in October 2024 for its construction and operations plan,

“A number of reasons led to this decision, notably Shell backing out as an equity partner in the Atlantic Shores project and backing away from the American clean energy market, as well as uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting. The Board concluded that an award in New Jersey's fourth offshore wind solicitation, despite the manifold benefits the industry offers to the state, would not be a responsible decision at this time,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, President, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

The state’s fourth solicitation called for 1.2 to 4 gigawatts of offshore wind generation capacity. The application window closed on July 10, 2024. Reports indicate the Corio-Total-Rise joint venture Attentive Energy and RWE-National Grid venture Community Offshore Wind also submitted initially but later withdrew from the process.

Governor Murphy had also announced in May 2024 that the state would be accelerating its schedule for future offshore wind solicitations. The fifth round he reported would be brought forward to the second quarter of 2025. It was previously scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.

New Jersey has struggled to get its offshore wind industry going. Ørsted had the two most advanced projects, Ocean Wind, but canceled them in 2023. The state awarded additional projects in January 2024 with 1,342 MW to Attentive Wind Two and 2,400 MW to Leading Light Wind. Problems with securing a turbine supplier however prompted Leading Light Wind to twice delay its application with the NJBPU. In December 2024, it asked for a delay till May 2025.

The New Jersey projects have faced strong local opposition. Donald Trump supported the efforts using New Jersey to highlight his opposition to offshore wind energy. Last week he posted on social media that he hoped the Atlantic Shores project would be “dead and gone.” The new Trump administration has imposed a moratorium on new leases in federal waters and is expected to delay the review of pending permit applications.

Atlantic Shores issued a brief statement last week on January 30 saying it was still committed to New Jersey and delivering the state’s first offshore wind project.  

Based on these developments, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority reported today it is accelerating strategic review of options and alternatives for the New Jersey Wind Port. The state was planning the development of a large port facility to support the construction operations for offshore wind. The port facility was to be located in Salem, New Jersey.