‘The sky’s the limit’

The Caribbean looks to embrace offshore wind energy.

It’s fair to the say that the Caribbean has been extraordinarily slow in taking a serious interest in the offshore wind energy market – especially when compared to some other parts of the world.

By Gary Gimson

There’s been plenty of detailed studies into offshore wind energy, endless good intentions about investments but little in the way of any concerted action. But that may be about to change.

As a starting point, these studies acknowledge the current high cost of electricity generation in many Caribbean countries and can see the massive potential of wind and more generally ocean energy, but the difficulty across the region seems to be translating this potential into meaningful projects.

Niche Sector

Elsewhere, the offshore wind energy market is proving a useful source of business for both ports and shipowners as it develops into a vibrant niche sector for those with specialized equipment to transport giant turbines, the even more highly specialized vessels needed to install and maintain them as well as those required to create the fixed or floating foundations and erect the towers. Brian Sørensen of leading Danish provider of logistics service to the wind energy market, Blue Water Shipping said it was a sector where “the sky’s the limit.”

And looking around the globe, it’s easy to share this enthusiasm. Even so, it’s only comparatively recently, and largely for political reasons and after several false starts, that the US has been any quicker than the Caribbean – only this year unveiling plans to boost the industry - promising vast new acreages, faster permits and billions of dollars in additional financing. Nevertheless, the US still has some catching up to do to match Europe and Asia.

Embraced

Now that the Biden administration has embraced wind energy – and with the go ahead in May for the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, ports and special vessel operators are expected to get their fair share of what promises to be a near US$ 90 billion industry. Then there’s a further US$ 2.8 billion a year of on-going maintenance and other related expenditure. Worldwide spending will be some US$ 810 billion by the end of the decade. Furthermore, reports suggest that the total global offshore wind energy installed capacity is likely to top 250 GW by 2030.

One operator with strong Caribbean credentials and quick into the nascent market is Crowley (in partnership with Danish specialist shipping company ESVAGT), which has formed a new energy division. Elsewhere in the US, operators are lining-up already experienced foreign partners to create Jones Act-compliant tonnage, such as the recent ordering of a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) for Global Offshore. But this Jones Act-compliant vessel is not due for delivery until 2023 so there may be a short-term mismatch between political ambitions on the one hand and the actual ability to install the wind turbines. But other big Jones Act WTIV orders are in the offing.

But what about the Caribbean? First of all, let’s face it the Caribbean can be a breezy place and the region’s trade winds have been important to seafarers for hundreds of years. So is now the time to harness mother nature and provide clean energy to islands that have traditionally struggled with the costs of importing oil.

The potential is certainly there. It’s believed that Latin American and Caribbean energy demand could be satisfied using only 125,000 km 2 (4.5% of the total Caribbean Sea area) of waters shallower than 25 meters at a cost of around US$84/MWh. This is just as well as 77.5% of Caribbean waters are deemed unsuitable for wind farms. This would mean a total of 47,760 large turbines being installed using only conventional monopile foundations as opposed to floating foundations.

Installation

Should this ever take place, the installation of these turbines would translate into a serious level of business for many Caribbean ports – not just in the initial handling and temporary storage of the giant turbines but also as a base for the construction work and subsequent and ongoing maintenance.

But here’s the really big question. From a purely economic perspective, does the Caribbean need offshore wind (or even industrial-scale solar power) as a major power source when comparatively low-priced imported LNG might be a better and more reliable alternative? Moreover, is the sight of large turbine arrays just off the coast of Caribbean islands going to have a negative impact on the tourism sector in many destinations?

For the moment and looking at the construction and completion of significant new LNG terminals and even the flexible delivery of ISO containers to smaller islands, it seems that LNG is winning out. So far, 11 Caribbean/Latin American nations have imported US LNG. This represents over 20% of all US LNG exports. So LNG has a head start.

And let’s not forget that wind energy has a worrying downside, quite simply: no wind, no power. Added to which, there is an annual hurricane threat and, perhaps, most basic of all: how do pandemic-ravaged economies actually finance investment in offshore wind energy and when already committed to LNG. But where the US leads, the Caribbean often follows and this could indeed be the case with offshore wind now that Washington is pumping billions of dollars into the sector.

Accommodating new vessel types

If the Caribbean is to embrace offshore wind energy (and, of course, it’s still a big if) then expect to see a various new types of vessels calling at the region’s ports. These can be construction service operation vessels (CSOVs), ecobox vessels built specially to carry turbine blades and with their deckhouses built forward and with one fully box-shaped hold, those specifically designed for loading, transporting, lifting and installing offshore wind turbine foundations, such as the vessel pictured above.

For Sale

A 21 Meter Catamaran Wind Farm Vessel built by Austal Shipyard in 2012 for sale. The vessels is currently located in Trinidad & Tobago and was last drydocked in 2019. But as Kashyap Jagnanan, marine operations manager at Trinidad Mooring & Launch: “The wind farm vessels can support crew transfer operations on most Offshore Platforms in T&T. They a much faster and deliver light cargo as well. These rigs are designed with a V-notch system similar to the Wind Farm installations.