b'JANuARy 25 - FebRuARy 7, 2021project cargo bi-annual 11Jones Act wont stop US offshore wind Siemens Gamesa and Orsted sign The first U.S.-flag installation vessel is under construction. Until its comple- their first US onshore project tion in 2023, there are workarounds.Haystack 298-MW wind power5.0-145windturbinesand project in Nebraska marks first18safeharborturbines. The By Peter Buxbaum, AJOT U.S. onshore project betweenfirst deliveries are expected to Siemens Gamesa and Orstedbegin in the summer of 2021 Therearetwelvewind- following successful alliancewith commissioning expected turbineinstallationvesselsin offshore sectorin fourth quarter 2021. available worldwide, and none Project consists of 51 SGTheorderalsoincludes of them fly the United States5.0-145windturbinesanda30-yearfull-scopeservice flag. That could leave the U.S.18safeharborturbinesforandmaintenanceagreement offshore wind energy industrytotal of 298 MW and a long- coveringprimaryactivities afoul of the Jones Act, whichtermserviceandmainte- relatedtotheserviceand requires that U.S.-flagged vesselsnance agreementmaintenanceoftheunits. transport merchandise betweenProjectexpectedtocomeThisagreementisthelon-twoU.S.points,includingonline in fourth quarter of 2021gest ever service contract for underseaareasontheouterSiemens Gamesa has signed aSiemensGamesainNorth continental shelf. milestonewindpoweragree- America and evidences trust OnesolutiontothisRobert blue, Dominion energys president and chief executive officer ment with Orsted to supply thenotonlyinSiemensGame-problem would be to build a298- MW Haystack wind farmsastechnologybutalsothe U.S.-flagged fleet of installa- Dominion Energy expects theis commissioned, U.S.-flaggedin Nebraska as the two compa- companysstrongandflex-tion vessels, an effort that isvessel to be utilized further infeeder vessels will transport thenies embark on a new stage inible service capabilities. alreadyunderway.Anothertheinstallationofoverfivewindenergycomponentstotheironshorepartnershipfol- Orsted is a key partner istodeliverwindenergygigawattsofoffshorewindaforeigninstallationvessel.lowing nearly 30years of off- in our offshore business and components to U.S. offshoregeneration off the East CoastForeigninstallationvesselsshore projects together.weareexcitedtoexpand sitesfromnon-U.S.points,of the U.S. through 2027.(STOPcontinued onTheHaystackproject(FIRSTcontinued on therebyskirtingtheJonesUntil the installation vesselpage 13) includes the supply of 51 SGpage 13)Act.Yetanothersolution wouldbetotransportcom-ponentsfromU.S.portsto offshore sites on U.S. feeder vessels, then transfer them to aforeigninstallationvessel at the offshore site. Its worth noting that 18 different types ofvesselsarerequiredto build offshore wind projects and that 16 of those are avail-able in the Jones Act fleet.Its generally recognized thatinstallationactivities alone dont count as transpor-tation under the Jones Act. A recentCongressionalmeasure incorporatedintheNational DefenseAuthorizationActwhich declined to expand the Jones Act to cover construction at seaunderscores that point.Dominion Energy, which isoperatinga12-megawatt pilotproject27milesoff the coast of Virginia Beach, isinvesting$500millionin thefirstJonesAct-compli-antoffshorewind-turbine installationvessel,currently being constructed by Keppel AmFELS at its Brownsville, Texas, shipyard. In December 2020,Dominionannounced the keel laying for the vessel, a major milestone. Thevessel,saidRobert Blue, Dominion Energys pres-ident and chief executive offi-cer, will provide the capacity tohandlethenextgeneration oflarge-scaleturbinetech-nologies of 12 megawatts and larger. This will better enable theoffshorewindindustryto bringcleanrenewableenergy to customers in the U.S.Thevessel,whichwill enterservicein2023,is expected to be instrumental in the expansion of the current Virginia pilot into a 2.6-giga-watt commercial project once the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management(BOEM)gives its final approval. The Rich-mond-basedDominionhas alreadyfiledaconstruction andoperationsplanforthe full-scale project, the largest plannedoffshorewindfarm in the country, with BOEM.'