By Steven Cuevas, Director of Business Development – Offshore Wind
AREVA Renewables Inc.

Last week’s announcement of AREVA’s offshore wind partnership in France with GDF Suez and Vinci brings to mind a question:

So, what qualities do you need in a great turbine manufacturer partner to develop a multi-gigawatt offshore wind industry, like in the burgeoning U.S. market?

With the United States targeting offshore wind energy to reach 10 GWs in 2020 and 54 GWs in 2030, developers, manufacturers, suppliers and governments are beginning to coalesce into cooperative relationships and accelerate market development.

In our experience, to be a great turbine manufacturer partner, you need at least these three things: creative cooperation, quality products, and economic catalyst.

• Cooperation: With a 40-turbine offshore wind farm price tag of around $1,000,000,000, you need solid partners and relationships. For example, in addition to the AREVA/GDFSuez/Vinci partnership in France, AREVA successfully achieved the first instance of non-recourse offshore wind farm financing through a consortium of 11 banks supporting the 40-turbine Borkum West II offshore wind farm in Germany’s North Sea. And to gain greater project cost efficiencies, AREVA partnered with BELUGA HOCHTIEF Offshore for a new purpose-built jack-up vessel designed to operate in the harshest weather conditions at greater depth and transport a larger quantity of foundations and turbines at one time.
• Product: Speaking of turbines, the ocean environment is a harsh, remote, salt-corrosive place to locate tight-tolerance gears, sophisticated electronics, and precision-crafted components. To mitigate these risks, you need fewer moving parts, purified interior air, and redundant dynamic monitoring systems. AREVA’s hybrid-drive 5 MW offshore wind turbine includes all three. We constructed it specifically as an offshore wind turbine: Built for the Sea. Made for the Wind. You can’t skimp on quality when your technology sits 30 miles out to sea.
• Catalyst: In our experience establishing a successful facility and expansive supply chain in northern Germany, we’ve seen how an offshore wind manufacturing hub significantly drives economic growth across a wide region. For example in one year in Bremerhaven, our commitment to localized, domestic sourcing of 3,500 components created approximately 1,200 direct jobs.

It’s these qualities that will sustain a business relationship for the duration of a large-scale project. AREVA’s skill in building partnerships, manufacturing quality products, and generating significant economic growth creates the solid foundation and project championship necessary for successfully constructing and commissioning U.S. offshore wind farms.

By Steven Cuevas, Director of Business Development – Offshore Wind
AREVA Renewables Inc.

Have you taken the pulse of U.S. offshore wind power lately? In the midst of striving for the goal of a robust U.S. offshore wind industry, it’s good to check your progress (like last year).

Within the last few days and months, we’ve seen significant progress on multiple fronts in multiple states on the East Coast.

Progress is good, especially since—as the manufacturer of a 5MW offshore wind turbine —AREVA’s commitment to establish a U.S. supply chain parallels the evolving multi-gigawatt U.S. offshore wind industry. We’ve done it already in Germany’s North Sea, with over 800MW in the pipeline.

Here’s a quick list of recent U.S. offshore wind activity:
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As the U.S. offshore wind discussion continues in Maryland and other coastal states, AREVA is in the unique position of providing its experience from helping build an offshore wind industry in Europe.

In testimony to the Maryland House of Delegates – Committee on Economic Matters, Steven Cuevas, AREVA’s Director of Business Development Offshore Wind for North America, represented an offshore wind turbine manufacturer’s perspective regarding the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act (HB 1054, SB 861).

Cuevas’ testimony included AREVA’s experience building a modern offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility, and described the potential regional economic impact of sourcing 3,500 components in the U.S. for AREVA’s 5 MW offshore wind turbine.

“AREVA is prepared to make a full commitment to the North American offshore wind market, and is currently seeking partners to fully deploy the M5000 offshore wind turbine. Our market entry strategy is not merely to sell our turbine into the market in support of a small number of wind farms; AREVA intends on establishing a large industrial footprint in the United States as we help build the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry. “

Read Cuevas’ full testimony and details on AREVA’s experience below. read more…

“Just a sliver of our national budget goes to research,” he says. “If we can’t get a consensus on carbon policy, let’s put the money into research and let’s drive down the cost of solar and wind and make them competitive. Think about how much it would change the debate if solar and wind were as cheap as coal?”

-Jim Rogers as quoted in Time Magazine Article “Talking Energy with America’s Greenest Coal Exec”

Read more at Time online.

By Curtis Roberts

When I find a Washington Post commentary like this recent piece by Brandi Colander, I feel compelled to applaud and spread the word. As an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Colander clearly lays out the reasoning for offshore wind in her support for the significant job creation, environmental benefits, and stabilized energy prices in Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s proposed Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act.

read more…

We applaud the progressive think tank the Third Way for their memo today supporting a national clean energy standard (CES) for the United States:

“Third Way proposes a national Clean Energy Standard to help overcome market failures that are restraining the deployment of clean energy sources like solar, wind, and nuclear power. A Clean Energy Standard would provide the certainty businesses have asked for and incorporate national energy goals into policy. It would build upon successful renewable energy standards enacted by 33 states, while providing the flexibility states and utilities need to make long term energy decisions that reflect their geographic regions….”

read more…

By Jarret Adams

AREVA announced a contract today worth approximate $525 million with Trianel, an group of German electric utilities, to supply 40 five megawatt (MW) M5000 turbines for the Borkum West II offshore wind farm located in the North Sea.

Situated about 28 miles off the northern coast of the island of Borkum, Borkum West II is the biggest wind-energy project in the German North Sea. It is directly adjacent to Alpha Ventus, Germany’s pilot offshore wind farm where AREVA supplied six wind turbines.
read more…

By Curtis Roberts

When you’re hard about the task creating an industry from scratch, it’s good to pause on occasion and see where you are.

William Pentland provides such a snapshot in his Forbes “Clean Beta” post yesterday about the slow pace of the U.S. offshore wind industry, and its potential momentum. He says,

“While Europe has installed nearly 1,000 wind turbines offshore since Denmark built the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991, the U.S. has not installed a single offshore wind turbine.

That is likely to change soon.”

read more…

By Curtis Roberts

In his Platts Magazine article yesterday, Jason Fourney reports on challenges hampering the fledgling US offshore wind power industry discussed by thought leaders at the Offshore Wind Power Summit.

“Lengthy and onerous permitting requirements for offshore wind top the list of obstacles, which includes supply-chain issues, unstable federal incentives and the technical challenges involved with siting wind turbines at sea.”

As you read through the article, one thing becomes abundantly clear:

There is an acknowledged path forward to tapping the projected 4,000 GW in US offshore wind energy and its associated domestic supply chain economic boom.

We know what to do.

The developers, manufacturers and state governments are forging ahead, building an industry. The time is ripe for proactive, enthusiastic, visionary federal leadership to lead us where we are going by simplifying permitting, enabling financing, providing incentives, and strengthening the infrastructure needed to fast track the developing US offshore wind power industry.

Read the Platt’s article.

Manufacturing one of the most powerful offshore wind turbines is just part of the equation for AREVA Wind and its growing position in the European offshore wind market. We have now added the ability to transport and install our turbines in rapid fashion through a partnership with the BELUGA HOCHTIEF Offshore joint-venture.

This cost-effective solution includes a purpose-built jack-up vessel designed to operate in the harshest weather conditions and at greater depth, and transport multiple sets of foundations and wind turbines during the construction phase.

Read more here, and hear the latest in person at AREVA’s sessions at the Offshore Wind Power Summit, 10/25 – 10/27, in Washington, D.C.