(OFF) ORSTED SETS 100% RENEWABLES TARGET

Ørsted has set expectations for all its suppliers to use 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025, becoming the first energy company in the world to do so, according to Ørsted.

The commitment builds on learnings from Ørsted’s existing supply chain decarbonisation programme, established in 2020, which targeted its strategic suppliers to use 100 per cent of renewable energy in the manufacturing of wind turbines, foundations, cables, substations, and other components and services by 2025.

According to Ørsted, within its first two years, the programme has already seen significant progress, and currently, a majority of suppliers involved have adopted 100 per cent renewable electricity use.

Now, the company is extending its target which means that Ørsted expects all its suppliers to exclusively use electricity from renewable energy sources when providing products or services to the firm by 2025 at the latest.

“A sustainable future for our planet requires a rapid transition to renewable energy and limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. That’s why the renewables industry must lead the pack by decarbonising its own supply chain”, said Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted.

The suppliers could achieve Ørsted’s target by e.g. investing in on-site renewable electricity assets, entering into power purchase agreements (PPAs) tied to renewable energy projects whose realisation depends on securing financing or purchasing renewable electricity certificates, according to the Danish offshore wind giant.

The company said it will support its suppliers with renewable electricity guidelines to help select the best solutions.

Ørsted set a target to become carbon-neutral in its own energy generation and operations by 2025 and achieve a carbon-neutral footprint by 2040. offshoreWIND.biz - link - the ever brilliant Adnan Memija - link - more like this (offshore) - link - more like this (Orsted) - link - more like this (PPAs) - link

(GCA) ORSTED TURBINE FAILURE

Photo shows the Anholt offshore wind farm in Denmark. Photo courtesy Orsted

Offshore wind developer Orsted is asking relevent authorities to establish ‘no-sail zone’ at some of its offshore wind farms after a catastrophic failure of an offshore wind turbine at a Danish offshore wind farm.

Orsted report Wednesday that a rotor and three blades seperated from the nacelle of one of the offshore wind turbines at its 400 megawatt (MW) Anholt Offshore Wind Farm and fell into the sea. No injuries were reported from the accident. But as a precautionary measure, Orsted is requesting authories establish temporary ‘no-sail zones’ at other wind farms using the same turbines as the one that failed.

The Anholt Offshore Wind Farm was commissioned in 2013 and consists of 111 Siemens-Gamesa 3.6 MW wind turbines. Other farms using the turbines include West of Duddon Sands, Lincs, Gunfleet Sands, Burbo Bank and Walney 1 & 2, all in the UK, Borkum Riffgrund 1 in Germany, and Avedøre Holme in Denmark.

“We are investigating the cause of the incident, and as an extraordinary precautionary measure, we are requesting the relevant authorities to establish ‘no-sail zones’ at all of our offshore wind farms that use the same turbine as at Anholt, namely a Siemens-Gamesa 3.6 MW – 4 MW wind turbine. So far, the investigation has not pointed to a systemic cause of the issue, but we have taken this precautionary step as safety is our first priority. The assets continue to operate as normal with the relevant safety protocols, and customers in the relevant markets will not be affected.”

Ørsted is one of the world’s leading offshore wind developers, constructing and operating offshore wind farms in Denmark, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United States. The company is aiming to install 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. gcaptain - link - Mike Schuler - link - more like this (offshore) - link - more like this (Denmark) - link

(REW) HELISERVICE SIGNS FIRST US OFFSHORE CONTRACT

HeliService International has been awarded a contract to support the joint offshore wind projects of Eversource and Ørsted in the Northeast U.S. (Courtesy: HeliService International)

Seemingly every day, the U.S. offshore wind industry supply chain takes a step forward.

Eversource and Ørsted said they secured a helicopter contract for crew change operations at their joint offshore wind projects in the Northeastern U.S. The agreement with HeliService International marks one of the first helicopter contracts for U.S. offshore wind projects, the companies said.

The Leonardo AW169 helicopters will be assembled in Philadelphia and based at the Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The agreement will result in about $1.8 million of infrastructure upgrades at the airport, according to a press release.

The Leonardo AW169 is powered by two Pratt and Whitney PW210 series engines. The helicopter can lift wind technicians to and from the top of wind turbines, and transport crew members to work locations.

Agreements like the one signed between Eversource, Ørsted, and HeliService are expected to help ensure that the U.S. offshore wind supply chain "benefits American workers for years to come," according to Julia Bovey, Eversource's director of offshore wind external affairs.

Eversource, the Northeast electric utility, and Ørsted, an international developer of offshore wind projects, are partners on the South Fork Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects. Once completed, the projects will have a combined capacity of 1.8 GW.

Construction began on the 132 MW South Fork Wind project, New York's first offshore wind project, in February. The project is 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The project is approved to install 12 or fewer wind turbines and is expected to use Siemens-Gamesa’s 11 MW turbines. Kiewit Offshore Services won a contract to will design and build the project’s substation. Renewable Energy World - link - John Engel - link - more like this (offshore) - link - more like this (USA) - link

(REU) GOOGLE SIGNS 12 YEAR PPA WITH ORSTED

COPENHAGEN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Danish offshore wind developer Orsted (ORSTED.CO) on Tuesday said it has secured a 12-year power purchase agreement with Google (GOOGL.O), which aims to power all its data centres and offices using solely carbon-free electricity by 2030.

The U.S. tech giant will take 50 megawatt (MW) of output from Orsted's planned 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm in the German North Sea.

While making it possible for big firms to source green power, such deals also provide a reliable revenue stream for asset owners like Orsted as subsidy schemes are being cut or closed by governments around the globe.

The Borkum Riffgrund 3 project was the first large-scale wind farm to be awarded without subsidies back in 2018, which at the time was thought to be high risk.

The Danish company said it aims to make a final investment decision for the wind farm at the end of 2021, with operation then scheduled for 2025.

Orsted has also signed power purchase agreements with other companies like polymer producer Covestro (1COV.DE), German food retailer REWE and Amazon (AMZN.O) for Borkum Riffgrund 3. Reuters - link - Stine Jacobsen - link - more like this - link

(OFF) ORSTED'S TSS PIONEER LAUNCHED

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Ta Tong Marine have launched the first-ever Taiwan-flagged service operations vessel (SOV), chartered by Ørsted for its Greater Changhua offshore wind farms.

The vessel, informally named TSS Pioneer, is being built by Vard at its Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam, from where it will be delivered early next year to Ta San Shang Marine, a joint company owned by MOL and Ta Tong Marine.

The 84.4-metre vessel has a beam of 19.5 metres and can accommodate 87 people in single cabins. It features a motion-compensated gangway, dynamic positioning system, and a 3D motion-compensated crane.

Propulsion is hybrid with a diesel-electric solution, which allows for reductions in fuel consumption, maintenance and emissions, as well as improved responsiveness, Vard said last year as it signed the shipbuilding contract.

Under a 15-year charter contract with Ta San Shang Marine, Ørsted will deploy the SOV for operation and maintenance (O&M) at its Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farms, currently under construction some 35 to 50 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County.

The 900 MW project will comprise two offshore substations and 111 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines, scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2022, when it will become Taiwan’s first far shore and large-scale offshore wind project. offshoreWIND.biz - link - Adrijana Buljan - link - more like this - link

(WIN) ORSTED & EVERSOURCE PLACE ORDER WITH SGRE

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has announced it has received a firm order to supply, deliver and install turbines for two Ørsted and Eversource offshore wind projects in the north-east US.

The larger of the two projects is the 704MW Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island, which is set to come online in 2024, while the 132MW South Fork project, off Long Island, New York, is due to be commissioned in 2023. The projects are a 50:50 joint venture between Danish energy firm Ørsted and US energy company Eversource.

The order is for 65 SG 11.0-200 DD offshore wind turbine for Revolution and 12 units for South Fork. Each turbine will have a capacity of 11MW, with a rotor diameter of 200 metres and blade length of 97 metres. Siemens Gamesa says production of the SG 11.0-200 DD model is due to start in 2022. The firm order follows a conditional contract in July 2019 which was for SG 8.0-167 DD wind turbines.

That conditional contract also covered the 880MW Sunrise Wind project off New York state, which SGRE says remains conditional. Sunrise Wind, also an Ørsted-Eversource joint venture, signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with New York state in 2019 for the output from the wind farm - link - Neil Campbell - link - more like this - link