Offshore optimism in the United States EEHH at the International Partnering Forum 2022 in Atlantic City

Orsted, RWE Renewables, and Dominion Energy – these American offshore pioneers met in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the International Partnering Forum (IPF) at the end of April. The focus was on sharing information about procurement procedures, technical innovations, and public involvement. In attendance: a twelve-strong German delegation led by the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) and the German Offshore Initiative (GOI). EEHH employees, Astrid Dose, Authorised Officer, and Jingkai Shi, Project Manager International Renewable Energies, were also part of this group.

Meeting over beer and pretzels: the German Offshore Initiative reception

Finally getting together in person following multiple online meetings – this was the focus of the Beer and Pretzel reception organised by Mike Matthews, US Representative of the German Offshore Initiative. The event was attended by around 120 people, including representatives of the delegation from Carneades Offshore Services, Deutsche Windtechnik, DES Engineering, EEHH, Schmidbauer, Swat Academy Limited, and the WFO, along with the US International Chambers of Commerce in Chicago and New York.

The successful continuation of joint activities between GOI and EEHH is already planned for this year’s WindEnergy Hamburg 2022 in late September. GOI will have a stand and welcome a delegation from the United States. The Business Network Offshore Wind will also be attending.

EU-US High-Level Energy Council on Offshore Wind

„Achieving our country’s ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 will simultaneously advance our own energy security, help combat the climate crisis, and support an estimated 77,000 jobs in America“, said Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, at the fourth EU-US High-Level Energy Council on Offshore Wind. As well as numerous US government representatives, several members of the EU Commission and the who’s who of the American offshore industry also graced the podium. Giles Dickson, CEO of the European wind association, Wind Europe, facilitated the energy summit, which was dominated by the war in Ukraine due to the current geo-political situation.

„Our day started with the announcement that Gazprom is unilaterally stopping delivery of natural gas to some customers in Europe. This weaponisation of gas shows once again that we need to move away from Russian dependence. (...) We put in place the most comprehensive regulatory framework with a view to reach 60GW by 2030 and 300GW by 2050“, said Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy, who was accompanied by Director-Generals for Energy, Ditte Jul Jorgensen and Cristina Lobillo Borrero.

Status of offshore wind in the USA

During the IPF, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), led by Amanda Lefton, announced that tenders are being issued for offshore projects at six more sites in the mid-Atlantic, from Delaware to Virginia. During the largest offshore auction to date in February 2022, the New York Bight Offshore Lease Auction, six sites were sold, including for the first time one to RWE Renewables, an EEHH member – site OCS-A 0539, costing over EUR 1.1 billion.

The Business Network for Offshore Wind has been organising the annual International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum (IPF) since 2014. Now in its ninth year, the 2022 event was attended by around 3,000 participants from 800 companies based in 25 different countries. In 2023, the IPF will take place from 28 to 30 March in Baltimore, Maryland, supported by Aker Solution, the State of Maryland, and US Wind.

https://www.offshorewindus.org/2022ipf/