Show notes
BOEM has cancelled its Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease auction due to lack of interest. We explore why companies are hesitant to put turbines in the gulf, examining challenges and opportunities for wind projects in Texas and Louisiana from both financial and technical perspectives. Phil and Rosemary discuss downwind turbine designs for hurricane-prone areas and the complex economics of wind energy projects in the region. Our Wind Farm of the Week is the farm built for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, showcasing the potential of wind energy on a global stage.
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Allen Hall: Have you seen the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile up close, Joel? Have you been around that thing?
Joel Saxum: I have, I've actually sat in it and I think I know where this story is going.
Allen Hall: I been up close to it and I don't remember where it must have been an automobile museum and to the peanut mobile Which is another engineering marvel not seen that I saw them both driving down a highway one day I thought man either I'm really tired Strange vehicles on the road today But the wiener mobile flipped over outside of Chicago, did you see that It looked like a, did it look like somebody fell asleep and hit one of those concrete barriers that you can always find in Chicago?
Joel Saxum: My thought was, I was actually joking with a friend about it, is cause I'm from Wisconsin, so there's this rivalry between Chicago and the people in Wisconsin. And it was brats versus the all, the all beef hot dogs in Chicago that they make the Chicago dogs. And they're saying that they wanted to keep the Wienermobile in Chicago so much that they, someone actually sabotaged it. I don't know, that's probably not what happened, of course, but that was the joke.
Allen Hall: Is there a Bratmobile?
Joel Saxum: There's not. I will tell you this, if you'd like to see some great American entertainment, tune into a Milwaukee Brewers game and watch the Sausage Race. And you will see hot dogs and brats, polishes.
Italian sausage. That's the fourth one. Are these the four
food groups up in Wisconsin? Yes,
yes. Yes they are. Number five is cheese curds and number six is beer.
That rounds it out nicely. So the Wienermobile needs a little TLC based on the photos I've seen and they're gonna have to put that thing back together.
That's a hallmark of America, right? There's things to be proud of. That's one of them, man on the moon, Wienermobile.
I'm Allen Hall, and I'll be joined by the rest of the Uptime host after these news headlines. In our first story, German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex is reporting a significant turnaround in its financial performance. For the first half of 2024, the company saw a dramatically reduced net loss of 12.6 million euros, a substantial improvement from the 298 million Euro loss reported in the same period last year.
This positive trend is further underscored by a 24.7% increase in sales reaching 3.43 billion euros. In light of these encouraging results, Nordics has revived its 2024 guidance upward now projecting an EBITDA margin between three and 4%. Amid these industry dynamics, the United Kingdom is making bold moves to accelerate its wind energy sector.
The British government has unveiled ambitious plans to support an additional 20 to 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. Central to this initiative is the creation of a new government owned energy company, aptly named Great British Energy.
Joel Saxum: This new entity will spearhead a public private partnership aimed at attracting up to 60 billion pounds in private investment. Completing these policy initiatives, the UK is also investing in critical infrastructure. Construction is underway for what will become the world's largest monopile factory in Teesworths.
The 90 acre wind monopile factory represents a significant boost to the local economy with plans to create over 2, 000 jobs. This includes 1, 500 positions during the construction phase and 750 operational roles once the facility is fully functional in 2026.
Across the Irish Sea, Ireland is also recognizing the immense potential of offshore wind energy. A recent report has projected that if properly developed, Offshore wind could contribute a staggering 69 billion euros to Ireland's economy by 2050. To fully capitalize on this opportunity, experts stress the need for strategic investments in port infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities.
In North America, an intriguing development is unfolding in St. John, New Brunswick, up in Canada. The virtual wind farm is making headlines by selling electricity to St. John Energy at less than half the price charged by the provincial utility. New Brunswick Power. This remarkable price difference has enabled St.
John Energy to achieve record profits and implement more modest rate increases for its customers. The success of this project could serve as a model for other municipalities looking to reduce energy costs and increase renewable energy adoption. And despite these positive developments, the wind industry continues to grapple with the challenge of intermittency.
Recent data from the United States highlights this issue showing that wind generation plummeted by 78 percent in July during a high demand. In response, power producers significantly increased their reliance on natural gas generation.
And in a groundbreaking development, energy giants Total Energies and RWE have joined forces to implement the innovative Oranje wind project in the Netherlands. The 795 megawatt offshore wind farm located 53 kilometers From the Dutch coast is set to become the country's first system integration project in the wind sector.
What sets Oranje Wind apart is its comprehensive approach to energy system integration. The project aims to implement a range of flexible demand solutions including electrolyzers for green hydrogen production, smart chargers for electric vehicles, e boilers for heating, and even battery storage systems.
Additionally, Aranjawin will serve as a testbed for cutting edge offshore technologies, including floating solar farms and advanced energy storage solutions like seabed battery systems. Construction 2026, with full commissioning expected in early 2028. Once operational, Orange Wind will generate enough green electricity to power over 1 million Dutch households annually.
And that's this week's top news stories. After the break, I'll be joined by my co host, Renewable Energy Expert and Founder of Pardalote Consulting, Rosemary Barn. CEO and Founder of IntelStor Phil Totaro. And the Chief Commercial Officer of Weather Guard, Joel Saxum. Mark your calendars for AMI's Winter in Blades Conference happening October 2nd and 3rd in historic Boston, Massachusetts.
This two day event, which is similar to the well established edition in Europe, will bring together the whole blade value chain to examine market outlook, innovations in blade materials, design, manufacturing, testing, and lifecycle management. With a special focus on the North America market. Gain insights from experts from Vestas, Nordex, TPI, and DNV.
Along with scientists and engineers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Plan your trip to Boston this fall by visiting the link in the show notes or just Google 2024 Blades Boston.
Allen Hall: Down in the Gulf of Mexico, Boehm has canceled a planned offshore wind lease for about 400, 000 acres of land. of Louisiana and Texas due to, of all things, lack of commercial interest. Only one company, RWE Offshore showed interest in the latest lease sale notice. And this contrasts with other auctions that have happened, particularly along the East Coast.
But despite the cancellation, BOEM received an unsolicited lease request from Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC for areas off the southeastern part of Texas. Okay. I bring this up because Joel and I were, our producer were just down in New Orleans right where this activity is planned to take place. And it does seem like if all the places in the United States you could put some decent wind in relatively inexpensively.
It is Texas and Louisiana because the infrastructure is there.
Joel Saxum: Yeah. We went and visited Gulf wind technologies this week and their facility is on, is in another facility, right? It's an active port. The port is for the facility, the one we were on mile and a half long, it used to have over 26, 000 employees working at it every day.
They used to build ships here. It's a deep water access, deep water port. We drove around in a truck key side up against the coffer dams. The size and scope of this thing is crazy, but they're there and they have to this specific port we were at, or not, I wouldn't call it a port, but Pacific facility we were at, they have brought in the cells.
They brought in over a hundred blades last year. When say the port of Houston didn't have the capacity to bring these boats in and they have all the cranes, they have all the working stuff. Along that Gulf coast. All of the infrastructure that is needed for offshore wind is there. The people are there, the vessels are there, the support is there, and the people, and the local communities want the jobs.
So they're all about it as well, right?