Energy

Marine-i applauds the announcement of three important new tender opportunities in the floating offshore wind energy sector. Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Marine-i was set up to promote marine innovation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

JDR Cable Systems (JDR), a leading supplier of subsea umbilicals and power cables to the offshore energy industry, owned by the TFKable Group, has been selected by Jan De Nul to supply subsea power cables and accessories for the Taiwan Power Company Offshore Wind Farm Phase One.

On 23 January 2019, the United States recognized Juan Guaido as the new interim President of Venezuela. This aligned with statements from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Nicolas Maduro is no longer the legitimate President of Venezuela. Two days later, the Trump Administration announced sanctions against that nation’s state-owned oil and natural gas company (PdVSA).

In November 2018, Vår Energi (formerly Eni Norge) and Simon Møkster Shipping signed an agreement to upgrade the supply vessel Stril Barents in order to reduce CO₂ emissions. The upgrade involves the installation of shore power connection, combined with a new battery solution for energy storage on board.

In a letter to Walter Cruickshank, the acting director at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Governor Christopher T. Sununu formerly requested the establishment of an intergovernmental offshore renewable energy task force for the State of New Hampshire.

Since 2011, Equinor has reduced CO₂ emissions from its logistical operations for the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) by 600,000 tonnes. The company’s ambition is to halve emissions in the NCS supply chain by 2030.

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled on 18 January 2019 that work to issue permits for offshore seismic exploration for oil and natural gas cannot continue until the partial Federal Government shutdown ends. The Trump administration had called employees at BOEM back to work to continue to process permit applications from five seismic testing companies proposing to survey off the East Coast.

Following the successful collaboration between Sustainable Marine Energy (SME), SCHOTTEL HYDRO and Black Rock Tidal Power to develop and demonstrate the PLAT-I floating tidal energy system, with deployments in Scotland and in Canada, SCHOTTEL has made a strategic decision to merge its tidal energy businesses into SME.

The new Interreg NWE project Ocean DEMO has been officially launched. It provides funding to developers of marine renewable technologies to test their products or services in real sea environments.

International law firm Baker Botts, has achieved a litigation victory on behalf of Marathon Oil UK LLC in the English Court of Appeal. The case was one of the largest to come before the English courts in recent years in the energy sector and is the latest in a series of high profile victories for Baker Botts’ UK litigation team.

Randall Luthi, President of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), issued the following statement regarding the partial government shutdown:

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), a world’s leader in the offshore industry, has launched the SG 10.0-193 DD, the company’s first 10+ MW offshore wind turbine.