The Basque Country and Scotland used the final day of the annual Ocean Energy Europe Conference & Exhibition to announce ‘EuropeWave’ - a new five-year collaborative program that will channel €20m to the most promising wave energy concepts. The initiative is match-funded by the European Commission via its Horizon 2020 program, and Ocean Energy Europe are on board as project partners.

Both the Basque Country and Scotland have long histories of industrial strength and today are centers of innovation. Both are committed to full decarbonization and have developed long-term strategies to transition their energy systems.

EuropeWave will build on these strengths to ensure that the Basque Country and Scotland remain leading players in Europe’s emerging ocean energy sector and the wider energy transition.

This collaboration is closely aligned with the decarbonization, industrial and competitiveness objectives of the European Green Deal, and will help meet the European Commission’s newly-announced targets of 100MW of ocean energy by 2025 and at least 1GW by 2030.

EuropeWave will use an innovative ‘pre-commercial procurement’ approach to identify and fund the most promising wave energy devices from developers across Europe. Concepts will be assessed according to strict technical and economic performance metrics, and the best performers will be demonstrated in Basque and Scottish open waters at the end of the program.

Scottish Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse, and Basque Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Arantxa Tapia announced the initiative during a joint interview at OEE2020.

Minister Wheelhouse said: “EuropeWave is a great example of how Scotland can continue to collaborate with European partners, like our great friends in the Basque Country, who have very similar aims and objectives to ourselves. We can work together to bring forward what can hopefully be a very important technology for the whole global community.”

Minister Tapia said: “This project is an ideal platform for collaboration between two regions in Europe to promote a new sector that contributes to the energy transition, creating a new economy and employment for our citizens. It is a clear example of how things should be done.”

Matthijs Soede, Research Program Officer at the European Commission, added: “With EuropeWave we pool public resources for research and demonstration from national and EU level. By effective use of these resources, we hope that this will create more impact for the wave energy sector.”

Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, added: “We are delighted to be part of this initiative, which brings together some of the strongest supporters of ocean energy. The industry has long identified a pan-European ‘pre-commercial procurement’ as the right route to progress wave energy, so we can’t wait to see this project get underway in 2021.”

The oilfield service (OFS) market is projected to lose a cumulative $340 billion in purchases value over the next eight years, a Rystad Energy analysis shows, as peak oil demand will arrive earlier and at a lower level than previously thought, leading to reduced E&P investments.

SKF has won its first order for its new SKF BlueSonic BWMS ballast water management system at the same time as getting full IMO type approval for the system.  

Equinor and SINTEF have agreed on a strategic collaboration in four key areas. The areas are offshore wind, marine systems, energy systems and modeling studies related to these areas.

Equinor has entered into an agreement with Eni to sell a 10% equity interest in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm A and B assets in the UK for a total consideration of around GBP 202.5 million.

Eni has also entered into an agreement to purchase a 10% interest in Dogger Bank A and B from project partner SSE on the same terms. Once the transaction is complete, the new overall shareholding in Dogger Bank A (1.2 GW) and Dogger Bank B (1.2 GW) will be – SSE (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%).

Eni will enter the assets effective from financial close of project financing which was reached on 25 November. The consideration of around GBP 202.5 million reflects the payment to Equinor for a 10% equity interest in both Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B. Equinor’s shareholder loan financing to date of around GBP 185 million was repaid following the financial close.

“This is our third offshore wind transaction in less than two years. Once again, we have demonstrated Equinor’s ability to create value from renewables projects. The divestment is in line with our strategy. We access attractive acreage early and at scale, then leverage our technology and experience to mature and de-risk projects. Today’s deal underpins our track record in consistently capturing value from world class assets,” says Pål Eitrheim, executive vice president in New Energy Solutions in Equinor.

Equinor and SSE Renewables secured 3.6 GW of offshore wind contracts for Dogger Bank’s three phases, Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C in the UK Government’s 2019 Contract for Difference auctions.

The first two phases of Dogger Bank reached recently financial close at competitive terms, underlining the attractiveness of the UK offshore wind assets and the confidence in the joint venture. Dogger Bank C is being developed on a different timescale with financial close to follow at a later stage. There is no change to the ownership of the third phase, Dogger Bank C (1.2 GW), in which Equinor and SSE each have a 50% stake.

SSE Renewables are leading the construction of the 3.6 GW project, and Equinor will lead on the wind farm’s operations.

“Dogger Bank is the largest wind farm in the world under construction, and we are pleased to welcome Eni as a new partner. Through the sheer scale of the project, we have delivered record-low contract prices for the UK market, and as operator of the wind farm we will continue to deliver value to the UK for years to come. Together with our partners we will continue to drive the energy transition to a net zero emissions future for the UK,” says Eitrheim.

“For Eni, entering the offshore wind market in Northern Europe is a great opportunity to gain further skills in the sector thanks to the collaboration with two of the industry’s leading companies, and to make a substantial contribution to the 2025 target of 5 GW of installed capacity from renewables, an intermediate step towards the more ambitious target of zero net direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 2050,” says Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer of Eni.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2021, subject to regulatory and lenders approvals and customary purchase price adjustments.

Equinor is developing as a broad energy company, and on 2 November this year announced its ambition to become a net-zero energy company by 2050. The company aims to become a global offshore wind major and expects to increase its current installed capacity to 12-16 GW, around 30 times the current level, by 2035.

Aberdeen-based downhole sensing technology specialist, Well-SENSE, has been recognized by industry leaders at the Global OWI Awards, for its innovative FiberLine Intervention (FLI) technology.

Wärtsilä’s recently introduced Compact Reliq reliquefaction plant will be installed in two new LNG Carrier vessels being built for Norway-based Knutsen OAS Shipping. The ships are to be built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The order, which includes an option for an additional two vessels, was placed in November 2020.

iXblue new Gaps M5, has been selected by global rental company Subsea Technology & Rentals (STR) to offer a practical, easy to export and cost-effective USBL solution to their global base of customers.

Natural gas embodies all the attributes required to achieve the multidimensional challenges of environmental protection, energy access, and affordability in a world stepping onto the road of recovery, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Secretary General Yury Sentyurin said at the 7th IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum, hosted virtually by the Government of Malaysia.

Deploying ocean energy at scale requires simpler, faster consenting processes that are informed by the latest environmental research, according to a new report.

Key ocean business stakeholders are joining forces to support Nor-Shipping’s unique Blue Economy Hall as it embarks on a mission to accelerate sustainable change within the ocean space.

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), announces that the company has selected GE as its preferred supplier of wind turbine generators for its Vineyard Wind 1 project, the first utility-scale offshore wind installation in the United States.  

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has this month announced BMT as the winner of the first ADMIRALTY Marine Innovation Program challenge.

TechnipFMC and Bombora have entered into a partnership to develop an offshore energy platform, integrating wind with the innovative mWave technology.

Chevron Corporation has announced a 2021 organic capital and exploratory spending program of $14 billion and lowered its longer-term guidance to $14 to $16 billion annually through 2025.

Kongsberg Maritime has launched the EM 304 MKII, the newest addition to its portfolio of deep-water multibeam echo sounders.