Offshore Support Vessels News

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• July 2023: TotalEnergies SE, an oil and gas company announced that it had acquired a portfolio of five solar projects in the Northwest part of Romania from its trusted partner PNE, a German company with a total capacity of more than 200 Megawatt, these projects will help securing the supply of local renewable electricity to meet the country’s needs.
• April 2023: Amsterdam-based Independent Power Producer Photon Energy NV announced that it had finalised three solar PV projects totalling 6 MWp near the city of Calafat, Romania, and connected the plants to the grid. The newly commissioned solar farms have enabled Photon to pass the symbolic milestone of 100 MWp and reach 103.6 MWp of combined generation capacity across its markets.

• May 2023: SBM Offshore and Esso Exploration & Production Guyana entered a 10-year Operations and Maintenance Enabling Agreement. The agreement entails SBM Offshore being responsible for the operations and maintenance of four FPSOs: Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity, and ONE GUYANA.
• April 2023: Following a major upgrade to enable gas production, Shell resumed operations at the Pierce field in the United Kingdom Central North Sea. The Haewene Brim floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO), utilized for hydrocarbon production at the Pierce field, underwent significant modifications. A new subsea gas export line was installed, connecting to the SEGAL pipeline system, which transports gas to the St Fergus facility north of Aberdeen. This development allows for the extraction of gas from the Pierce field, which had previously been focused solely on oil production.
• April 2023: KBR, headquartered in Houston, has officially announced the unexpected acquisition of an engineering contract for Equinor's Bay du Nord project, valued at USD 9.4 billion and located in the offshore eastern region of Canada. The awarded contract encompasses the possibility of providing detailed design and procurement management services until the completion of the FPSO (Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading) unit.

• October 2023, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) launched a tender in the Indian market to develop about one gigawatt of interstate transmission grid-connected solar projects. The solar projects to be developed will witness the signing off of a 25-year power purchase agreement between developers and SECI. The onset of such gigawatt-scale solar tenders and the development of projects is expected to create a spur in the solar energy market in the near future.
• In March 2023, BELECTRIC Solar Ltd UK and NextEnergy Solar Fund signed a framework agreement for over 150 MWp in O&M following a competitive tendering process conducted by WiseEnergy. BELECTRIC will add an anticipated portfolio of at least ten solar farms in the United Kingdom with a total capacity of 150 MWp to its O&M footprint after signing a framework agreement for the next three years. The solar power plants range from 5 MW to 34 MW in capacity and are located in several counties across England, including Dorset, Lincolnshire, and East Sussex.

• February 2023: SFC Energy AG, a hydrogen and methanol fuel cell supplier, and FC TecNrgy Pvt Ltd inked a strategic cooperation agreement to set up a manufacturing facility for hydrogen and methanol fuel cells in India. SFC Energy AG would oversee the manufacturing and quality assurance of fuel cells. At the same time, FC TecNrgy Pvt. Ltd. would look for the development, installation, and integration of custom fuel cell solutions. This development came against the backdrop of India's strategic framework called the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims for carbon reduction and a clean energy supply.
• August 2022: Bosch declared it would invest more than USD 200 million in manufacturing fuel cell stacks at its South Carolina facility. This investment is expected to help the development of fuel cells for hydrogen-powered electric commercial trucks in the United States. The production of fuel cells is expected to begin in 2026. Initially, Bosch is expected to invest approximately USD 1 billion globally to manufacture fuel cell technologies by 2024.

• In February 2023, the 2600 megawatt Singareni Thermal Power Plant (STPP) at Pegadapalli in Mancherial district is all set to become South India's first public sector coal-based power generating station and the country's first among State Public Sector Undertakings (PSU).
• In November 2022, Following the contract award for a 1,320 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in Talcher, Odisha, NTPC Ltd concluded contracts for four additional coal-fired power projects over the next three years. These four projects will increase energy generation capacity by 4.8 gigatonnes (GW).

• In May 2023, the Sindh government announced its plan to transition major provincial hospitals to solar power as part of its broader solar power initiative.
• In May 2023, the Provincial Minister of Sindh for Energy, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, inaugurated a solar power park at the Karachi Press Club. This 60-KV solar power project will meet 90% of the press club's power requirements.

• March 2023: EDF signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo Nucleare, and Edison to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) in Europe. Through the project, the partners are required to determine the potential for the development and execution of new nuclear power in Italy. The plans are casting a glance at the 2050 carbon-neutrality goals set by the European region. EDF is already involved in three nuclear reactors in Italy: the Nuward SMR, the mid-size EPR 1200 reactor, and the large-size EPR reactor.
• September 2022: The government of Germany announced the tenders for 1.5 GW of solar energy. The tenders have been launched to accelerate the growth of solar energy in the country. As per the announcement, the bidders were to submit their plans by January 2023.
• April 2022: General Electric announced its new onshore project in Spain to install and supply 15 wind turbines at an array of wind farms near Miranda de Arga and Berbinzana municipalities in the Navarre region of Spain. It is anticipated that the project will be completed in 2023.

In June 2023, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), a subsidiary of NTPC, inaugurated a solar project at IIT Jodhpur. The new rooftop solar project has a capacity of 1 MW, and the project is set to reduce carbon emissions and make a remarkable step towards a greener environment. The project was established under the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model.

In January 2023, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced a hike in rooftop solar subsidies for the residential category. MNRE hiked Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to install Rooftop Solar (RTS) in the Indian residential sector. The new subsidy rates would apply to the Northeast regions.

In January 2023, Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Ltd (TSREDCO) installed solar panels on 500 school buildings to promote decentralized electricity generation and avoid power shedding issues. TSREDCO aims to complete the work by March 2023.

• March 2023: Fossil fuel energy companies seeking to extract oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico in US waters received a positive development when they successfully acquired access to 1.6 million acres of available waters through an auction conducted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a department within the U.S. government. The auction, known as Lease Sale 259, involved bidding for approximately 13,600 blocks of "outer continental shelf" acreage in the Gulf of Mexico.
• July 2022: Subsea Integration Alliance partnered OneSubsea, and Subsea 7 to secure an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract with Kosmos Energy to deliver an integrated subsea boosting system for the Odd Job field in the Gulf of Mexico.
• January 2022: Subsea 7 SA announced that the company won the contract to install subsea systems at Beacon Offshore Energy LLC's Shenandoah host facility in the Gulf of Mexico in water depths up to 6,300 feet.

• August 2023: As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced USD 20 million to support the installation of energy-efficient distribution transformers and comprehensive product systems that utilize equipment with electric motors, such as pumps, air compressors, and fans. 
• June 2023: The Department of Energy (DOE) suggested new energy-efficiency standards for three categories of distribution transformers. Almost all transformers delivered under the new standard would utilize amorphous steel cores, which DOE stated are more energy efficient than those produced by traditional, grain-oriented electrical steel. If adopted within DOE’s proposed timeframe, the new rule would take effect from 2027. To convey products in adherence with the amended standards, the DOE estimated the industry would incur total conversion costs of about USD 270.6 million for liquid-immersed distribution transformers, around USD 69.4 million for low-voltage dry-type distribution transformers, and about USD 3.1 million for medium-voltage dry type distribution transformers.