Offshore wind roundup: Floating wind bids, seabed surveys, electric vessel trials and more
This offshore wind roundup highlights key developments in floating wind licensing, vessel innovation, international technology partnerships, seabed survey agreements and electrification efforts.
Bids close for Norway’s North Sea floating offshore wind round
Two consortia have submitted applications for floating offshore wind in the Utsira Nord area of the Norwegian North Sea.
In May, the Ministry of Energy invited proposals for three floating offshore wind projects in the region with a generating capacity of close to 500 MW.
According to the Ministry on Sept. 16, the respondents were Equinor Utsira Nord, in partnership with Vårgrønn Utsira Nord, and Harald Hårfagre AS (Deep Wind Offshore Norway/EDF Renouvelables International).
The Ministry plans to allocate project areas during the first half of 2026. Last year, Norway’s first fixed offshore wind project area, Sørlige Nordsjø II, was awarded to Ventyr.
DEME expands offshore wind construction fleet
DEME has ordered a new offshore construction vessel designed to meet evolving needs in the offshore wind sector.
It will be capable of trenching, burial and cable-laying, and it will be DEME's third cable installation vessel after Living Stone and Viking Neptun.
DEME said the 123-m-long vessel, based on the Norwegian SALT 310 design, will have a DP2 dynamic positioning system, a 150-ton active heave-compensated offshore crane, a hangar for two work class ROVs, a hybrid 1,000-kWh battery system, and a methanol-ready propulsion design.
Below deck, it will have space to house two 2,500-ton cable carousels, which will be available for swift deployments in between trenching, burial and cable-lay operations. The vessel will also accommodate up to 123 people.
Associations team up for floating wind technology studies
Japan’s Floating Offshore Wind Power Technology Research Association (FLOWRA) and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) signed a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 16 to collaborate on development of floating offshore wind technology.
This includes potentially establishing and managing a purpose-built offshore test and demonstration site.
EMEC, based in Orkney, northern Scotland, is an accredited test laboratory that seeks to cut the time, costs and risks associated with progressing new marine energy technologies.
Based on its experience with wave and tidal energy testing, EMEC has designed a floating offshore wind test and demonstration site that will be made available for emerging technical solutions.
In an October 2022 news release, EMEC reported it was hoping to secure a lease for a site ~20 km west of Orkney, farther offshore than its existing wave energy test facility at Billia Croo.
This would feature six berths for floating offshore wind turbines with rated capacities of up to 20 MW. Water depths at the location are 80-95 m, with large waves and a mean wind speed of 10.7 m/s.
50Hertz signs NextGeo for North Sea seabed surveys
Next Geosolutions has signed an eight-year framework agreement with Elia Group company 50Hertz, which is developing a high-voltage power grid across northern and eastern Germany.
Under the cooperation, NextGeo will be the company’s main provider of geotechnical seabed survey services to support installation of offshore substations as part of new offshore wind farm developments in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
The geotechnical drilling vessel NG Driller will be one of multiple offshore vessels deployed by NextGeo for this program.
Electric charging system retrofitted to crew transfer vessel
Charge Offshore has retrofitted a new electric charging system for a diesel-powered crew transfer vessel (CTV).
The development was part of the "e-Ginny" project, designed to help the offshore wind sector’s switch to electrification, with funding support provided via the UK’s Zero Emissions Vessel and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition.
Sea trials of the vessel are due to start next month.
Charge Offshore is one of the technology partners in e-Ginny, the mission of which is to convert a diesel-powered CTV to run 100% on battery-electric propulsion, ensuring lower-carbon operations and maintenance support for UK offshore wind farms.
One of the main goals was to develop scalable offshore charging solutions that would allow electric and hybrid vessels to operate at sea without having to return to the shore for charging.
Charge Offshore delivered and installed the connector "catcher" for its Aquarius Eco charging system. The connector deployment system is due to be installed on a fixed offshore structure in the North Sea, providing safe, fast and reliable charging for e-Ginny during her charter.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.