OMNI Features｜Equinor, BP Cancel New York Offshore Wind Contract / Aker Solutions plans to pilot world's first subsea power distribution system for floating offshore wind at METCentre / Pattern Energy Group secures a $11 billion financing to fully engage in clean energy construction in the United States / Alfanar, Juniper Green and EDF Renewables Win GUVNL's 500 MW Wind Auction

Equinor, BP Cancel New York Offshore Wind Contract
European energy firms Equinor and BP terminated their agreement to sell power to New York state from their proposed Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, citing rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and supply chain issues. "This agreement reflects changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale and repositions an already mature project to continue development in anticipation of new offtake opportunities," Equinor said in a statement on 3rd Jan, in an apparent reference to a new offshore wind solicitation launched by New York in November.

The solicitation allows companies to exit old contracts and re-offer projects at higher prices. The winners of an expedited solicitation for offshore wind will be announced in February. The offshore wind industry is expected to play a major role in helping U.S. President Joe Biden and several states, including New York, meet their goals to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change. But progress slowed in 2023 after offshore developers canceled contracts to sell power in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey, and threatened to cancel agreements in other states, as soaring inflation, interest rate hikes and supply chain problems increased project costs.

New York accelerated its solicitation in October after several developers, including Ørsted, the world's biggest offshore wind company, BP and Equinor, threatened to cancel contracts to sell power that were awarded in 2019 and 2021 before the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates in March 2022 to fight soaring inflation.

Aker Solutions plans to pilot world’s first subsea power distribution system for floating offshore wind at METCentre
Aker Solutions has signed a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract with the Marine Energy Test Centre (METCentre) in Norway to pilot new subsea power system technology which has the potential to significantly reduce costs and complexity of offshore wind farms.

The project will see Aker Solutions provide new power transmission technology, Subsea Collector, for the METCentre's offshore wind test area which today consists of two floating offshore wind turbines, located 10km off the southwestern coast of Karmøy, Norway. The test area will expand to seven floating offshore wind turbines from 2026. Subsea Collector provides an alternative solution to connect multiple wind turbines electrically in a star configuration instead of the traditional daisy chain pattern, allowing for more flexibility in offshore wind farm architecture and construction. The design also allows for reduced cable length per turbine and park, as well as less vessel time and installation costs. Initial findings support total cost savings on a 1GW floating wind farm of up to 10 per cent.

The main part of the Subsea Collector is 66kV wet mate connection system provided by Benestad and subsea switchgear with supervisory control and data acquisition by subsea power and automation alliance partner, ABB. Installation will be carried out by Windstaller Alliance, an alliance between Aker Solutions, DeepOcean and Solstad Offshore. Aker Solutions will also provide the static export cable to shore.

Pattern Energy Group secures a $11 billion financing to fully engage in clean energy construction in the United States
After more than 17 years of navigating permits and approvals, Pattern Energy Group has closed $11 billion in non-recourse financing and started full construction of SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind. The tandem is being billed by the company as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

SunZia Transmission is a 550-mile ± 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW across Western states. SunZia Transmission will deliver power generated by Pattern Energy's 3,515 MW SunZia Wind facility (the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere), which is being constructed across Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

SunZia Wind and Transmission will employ more than 2,000 workers on-site during construction, including heavy equipment operators, electricians, laborers, and others. The EPC Contractor of the transmission line is Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group and the HVDC supplier is Hitachi Energy. The EPC contractor for the wind project is Blattner Energy, a Quanta-affiliated company. The wind turbines are being supplied by GE Vernova and Vestas.

Alfanar, Juniper Green and EDF Renewables Win GUVNL’s 500 MW Wind Auction
Alfanar Projects, Juniper Green Energy, and RIH Renewables (EDF Renewables) were declared winners in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam's (GUVNL) auction to set up 500 MW of grid-connected wind power projects anywhere in India (Phase VI) with a Greenshoe Option[1] of an additional 500 MW. Alfanar quoted the lowest tariff of ₹3.42 (~$0.0411)

Note:
[1] Greenshoe Option: It is a provision in an underwriting agreement that grants the underwriter the right to sell investors more shares than initially planned by the issuer if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected.

Reference:
https://www.oedigital.com/amp/news/510538-equinor-bp-cancel-contract-to-sell-offshore-wind-power-to-new-york
https://www.norwegianoffshorewind.no/news/aker-solutions-plans-to-pilot-world-s-first-subsea-power-distribution-system-for-floating-offshore-wind-at-norway-s-met-centre
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/news/largest-clean-energy-project-in-u-s-history-secures-11b-in-financing-starts-construction/
https://www.mercomindia.com/alfanar-juniper-green-and-edf-mw-wind-auction