BalticWorks’ Post

Plans and decisions must be made with economic, political, and environmental #sustainability at the center to prevent premature births in energy investments. 

#Offshorewind projects halted in #Sweden due to #military #defense concerns. The branch orgnisations say it was "unexpected". No, it wasn't. #Russian #airforce is flying back and forth between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad and continuously violating the #airspace and harassing the air forces of their neighbors, testing the limits and causing genuine #nationalsecurity concerns. In Finland, we know this only too well. So do our southern neighbors in Estonia. If this came as a surprise to branch organisations in Sweden and Europe at large, perhaps they'd need a #realitycheck? But, ultimately, we do need solutions. And to reach those, we need close #crossborder #cooperation and #dialogue with our #NATO neighbors surrounding the #BalticSea. And in the meantime we need to put more pressure on #Russia to start respecting international aviation rules.

🇸🇪🖐 Sweden halts 13 offshore wind projects The Swedish Government cancelled 13 offshore wind projects due to military defence concerns. The announcement came unexpectedly. It is highly problematic. It is yet another setback for Sweden’s offshore wind ambitions. It undermines investors' trust in the Swedish Government. It puts Sweden’s industrial competitiveness at risk. And it is a serious blow to Sweden’s wider energy security targets. 💬 “Yet again Sweden is bottom of the class on offshore wind. The Swedish Government has been unhelpful on offshore wind for many years. But a plain ban on offshore wind development in large parts of the Baltic Sea is unheard of. This makes no sense, not least when all the other countries around the Baltic Sea want to build more offshore wind and are progressing well on it”, says Giles Dickson, WindEurope CEO. 👇 Read our statement in the comments section. 📷 The below map gives an overview of Swedish offshore wind projects. The cancelled projects are marked in red. (via: The Swedish Government) The Swedish Wind Energy Association (SWEA) Svensk Vindkraft / Swedish Wind Power

"Representative Heo Jong-sik's Policy Report: 'Incheon Aiming for 7GW Offshore Wind Power—A Master Plan Is Essential'" Democratic Party lawmaker Heo Jong-sik has released a policy report titled "The Necessity and Challenges of Designating Offshore Wind Power Sites—Focusing on Incheon". The report highlights the current status of offshore wind projects in Incheon and outlines the key issues for their successful implementation. Incheon is advancing 12 offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 7GW, surpassing the 5GW capacity of the Yeongheung thermal power plant. These projects involve both public and private entities, including major international players like Ørsted (Denmark), OW (Spain), and RWE (Germany). Despite its proximity to key power demand centers and favorable infrastructure, challenges include military tensions near the North Korean border and active fishing zones, necessitating military agreements and community acceptance. Heo also stresses the need for a "Master Plan" and systematic conflict resolution to prevent inefficiencies and ensure orderly development. To address these issues, Heo proposed a "Special Act on Offshore Wind Planning and Industry Development", which empowers the government to designate suitable sites and grants local authorities decision-making rights. He emphasized the importance of creating and sharing successful case studies to build consensus and drive sustainable growth in the offshore wind sector.

Today, the Swedish government announced the rejection of 13 applications for offshore wind power projects in the Baltic Sea with reference to defense interests. For Eolus, the Arkona (1,200 MW) and Skidbladner (1,000 MW) projects were rejected. Per Witalisson, CEO of Eolus comments on the decision: - It is surprising and very unfortunate for both climate change and Sweden's development and competitiveness since offshore wind power has the potential to contribute large amounts of electricity that Swedish companies need for their transition. - Other NATO countries are building out offshore wind power and we are convinced that it would have been possible to realize some of the projects through cooperation between the Swedish Armed Forces and wind power developers. - For Eolus, we will continue to focus on for example Västvind outside Gothenburg and Najaderna outside Gävle/Tierp, where the government has communicated that it will invest extra resources in increasing the pace of the processing of permit applications. The two projects rejected by the government account for 8% of Eolus’s project portfolio totaling 28,400 MW onshore and offshore wind power, solar power and storage projects across seven markets. Read the full comment here https://lnkd.in/dmBX_YAH #Eolus #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #ShapingTheFuture #offshorewind #windpower

Citing costs, Connecticut balks at multistate effort to boost offshore wind #CT: It was supposed to be New England’s biggest and most innovative offshore wind initiative ever – a three-state solicitation by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island designed to get the best prices and efficiencies for a lot of new offshore wind that would be key in creating carbon-free energy to help curb climate change. It was the first such effort in the U.S., and it would also reset the offshore wind process in the region, which has suffered setbacks in the last . . . #windpower #windenergy

An offshore wind power project proposed for New Jersey would have 157 turbines and be located 8.4 miles from shore at its closest point, data released by the federal government Friday shows. New Jersey energy regulators approved Atlantic Shores’ 1,510 megawatt project in 2021. It would generate enough electricity to power more than 700,000 homes. The federal agency said the project’s operations plan proposes two potential export cable corridors that would make landfall in Sea Girt, N.J., with a second one either in Asbury Park or in the New York City area, possibly on Staten Island. The distance of turbines from the shore and whether they will be visible from the beach, as well as where the power cables would come ashore, have been major points of opposition for some offshore wind foes. The state Board of Public Utilities in January chose Attentive Energy LLC and Leading Light Wind LLC to build offshore wind projects. BOEM said that Atlantic Shores also would include eight offshore substations, one permanent meteorological tower, and two temporary ocean buoys, for a total of up to 168 offshore structures. #njwindfarm #windpower #boem #atlanticshores

Baltic countries sign offshore security pact The Energy Ministers of 8 Baltic Sea countries - Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden - have pledged closer collaboration to secure critical offshore energy infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region. The Baltic Sea countries have embarked on a rapid expansion of offshore wind and transmission capacity. Already in 2023 Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden have committed to increase offshore wind in the Baltic Sea from 3.1 GW today to 19.6 GW by 2030. #offshorewind #renewableenergy #balticsea

Against a backdrop of tense economic conditions in the US offshore wind industry, a rush of European vessels are headed west for installation campaigns. DEME Offshore NL’s Orion is en route to Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Norfolk ahead of the monopile installation at Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Meanwhile, DEME’s Sea Installer is returning from Sydney port, Canada, and will soon resume installation of the last 15 monopiles for Vineyard Wind 1, supported by the Sea Challenger. Boskalis’ Bokalift 2 and Bokalift 1 have left the Netherlands and are crossing the Atlantic. The vessels will be involved in the installation of monopiles and substations at Ørsted’s Revolution Wind 1. Spinergie analyst, Maëlig Gaborieau says, “This is the first time we have observed so many installation vessels going to this emerging market. Despite a challenging 2023, and the recent cancellation of three contracts by NYSERDA, several projects are moving forward, bringing the US a little closer to their target of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.” Contact Spinergie for the latest insights and data on the offshore wind market. #offshorewind #windenergy #jonesact #wind #offshore Oceantic Network

The Norwegian Government will propose a cap on state aid for the first floating offshore wind project in Norway. Read more in this article⬇️ #OffshoreWindInsight