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14 MTR May 2011 markets For too long, particularly in the U.S., the term “renewable energy” has played the role more of a marketing catchphrase than serious business endeavor. While the renewable energy market continues to face a number of technical and political hurdles – par- ticularly in regards to efficient power transport and storage; as well as the “not in my backyard” mentality of the latter – renewable energy projects, particularly offshore wind projects, are slowly starting to pick up steam; a welcome potential stream of business for the subsea community, which provides crucial data and technical assist from site selection through unit installation and life-cycle mainte- nance. Recently the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), in part- nership with the state of New Jersey, announced that it will publish a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to gauge interest in future wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore New Jersey in the Federal Register. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently identified this area of New Jersey as a Wind Energy Area (WEA), under the “Smart from the Start” ini- tiative, for further study and consul- tation to foster responsible and effi- cient leasing and development. Technology Drivers There is a long list of new technolo- gies in development to help install, service and decomission offshore wind farms, including: • Knud E. Hansen A/S (KEH) is set- ting sail in the offshore wind energy sector. Recently, Swire Blue Ocean ordered a second deep-water turbine installation vessel, to be built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea to a KEH design. These six leg DP2 jack-up vessels soar 22m above the water surface in up to 75m water depth. The company also recently secured ongoing involvement in the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm project off the Danish coast with long term client MT Højgaard A/S. KEH involvement includes project man- agement, operational & installation procedures and engineering support. Furthermore KEH is at present securing patents for a least two designs within the offshore wind energy sector. The first, related to safe and sus- tained access to offshore turbine foundations in rough weather. The second is a complete offshore mainte- nance vessel solution capable of serv- icing multiple installations simultane- ously. • Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) won a contract from the joint- venture Aarsleff Bilfinger Berger (ABJV) Dan Tysk, has been secured for SEAFOX 5, the KFELS Multi- Purpose Self-Elevating Platform (MPSEP) wind turbine installation vessel owned and managed with the Seafox Group. Keppel FELS is on track to complete the construction of SEAFOX 5 in the second half of 2012. When delivered, the vessel will be used for installing offshore wind foundations in the 288 megawatt (MW) DanTysk windfarm, devel- oped by Europe's leading energy company Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München, in the German sector of the North Sea. • Wärtsilä and Aker Solutions recent- ly agreed to jointly develop a new concept for offshore wind farm instal- lation vessels (pictured above). The new vessel concept will be marketed as a complete package. It will fulfil the industry's requirements for large deck space, sufficient crane capacity, year-round and all-weather opera- tional capability and cost-efficient operating systems. It is designed for operating in the International Maritime Organization's emission control areas (ECAs). • ABS released a Guide for Building and Classing Offshore Wind Turbine Installations, the first Guide to address design considerations for the bottom founded support structure of an offshore wind turbine situated in tropical storm prone areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) such as the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast. ABS’ Guide is the first to specifically consider the conditions these structures may encounter in tropical storm prone waters. Blowing in the Wind Offshore Wind Opportunities are advancing quickly Wärtsilä and Aker Solutions jointly developed a High Performance Turbine Installation Vessel. This HPTIV can operate in year around weather conditions with an opera- tional water depth range of 4.5-50m.
