Ocean Energy Resources

GLOBAL NEWS SERVICE FOR THE FOSSIL AND RENEWABLE ENERGY COMMUNITIES

France’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm starts full operations

Wind Energy – Saint-Nazaire

France’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm Saint-Nazaire started full operations on Wednesday, adding 480 megawatts of capacity to the grid.

Guests attending the grand opening ceremony included Hugo Bouvy, Managing Director DEME Offshore. He stated that drilling of monopiles in solid rock was a novelty for DEME Offshore and will likely soon be followed by more challenging projects in France.

The Saint-Nazaire wind farm, located between 12 and 20 km off France’s west coast, consists of 80 turbines and will provide clean energy to power the equivalent of 400,000 homes annually, or 20% of the Loire-Atlantique region’s electricity consumption.

The Saint-Nazaire project took 10 years to complete. In September, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site and vowed to cut red tape to halve the time it takes in France to get renewable projects off the ground.

France is aiming to produce a third of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and earlier this year. Macron said he wants France to have about 50 offshore wind farms by 2050.

Grand opening ceremony.

Japan to resume offshore wind auctions in December with revised rules

Wind Energy – Japan

Japan plans to resume public auctions for offshore wind power projects in December under revised rules aimed at encouraging a wider range of operators and accelerating the development of infrastructure.

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BOEM identifies new draft wind energy areas

Wind Energy – USA

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore the U.S. central Atlantic coast for public review and comment. 

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Investment to develop South Auckland-Waikato Offshore Wind industry

Wind Energy – New Zealand

The consortium formed by BlueFloat Energy, Energy Estate and Elemental Group is announcing today its plans for a multibillion-dollar investment in offshore wind projects in South Auckland and West Waikato, Aotearoa.

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Nine new countries sign up for Global Offshore Wind Alliance at COP27

Wind Energy – GOWA

COP27 has seen nine new countries including Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, the US join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), pledging to a rapid ramp up of offshore wind in order to tackle the climate and energy security crises.

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