b'4American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comOffshore wind installation vessels Multipurpose sector facing a coming shortage some headwinds, but long-term outlook remains bullishAs turbines grow in size, few vessels in the worldwide fleet can accommodate them. By Ed Bastian, Director of Global Sales for BBC Chartering USA, Special to the AJOTBy Peter Buxbaum, AJOT WhatadifferenceayearToepferMultipurposeIndex Largewindpowerinstallationsoffshorelarger than eight megawatts accounted for 3%makesinthetopsyturvy(TMI),aforecastofdaily theUnitedStatesandaroundtheglobeareof global installations between 2010 and 2021;worldofshipping.Ayearcharter rates for 12,500 dwt growinginsizeandscope. AlsogrowingisRyland forecasts that proportion will surge toago, the MPV [multi-purposeMPVvessels,thelasttwo the size of the turbines being used to power53% by 2030. vessel]andcontainersec- yearshasseentremendous renewable electricity. This state of affairs mayTodaysoffshorewindprojectsaretorswereridingawaveofvolatilityintheindex.For soon pose a problem, unless the fleet of vesselsincreasingly calling for 15-megawatt turbines.optimismresultingfrompan- theperiodof April2021to capable of installing these giant offshore windIntheU.S.,EmpireWind,locatedoffshoredemic related issues includingApril 2022 the index rose a turbines grows substantially. Long Island, will be generating a capacity ofa supply chain crisis like wedstaggering 121% reaching an In the U.S., the passage of the Inflationovertwogigawattswiththeinstallationofnever seen before. Now the endall-timerecordinJuly.We Reduction Act (IRA) last year represented a138 15-megawatt wind turbine generators. Inofthepandemichasbroughtexperienced the same type of gamechangerfortheU.S.windindustry,the United Kingdom, the Hornsea 3 project,back some sense of normalcyincreases on many commodi-said Marcelo Ortega, a renewables analyst at75 miles off the coast of Norfolk, will have ainourlives.However,atthetiesduringthesameperiod Rystad Energy, a research firm headquarteredcapacity of nearly 3 gigawatts, and will consistsame time life as we once knewalongwithsignificantinfla-in Oslo. The tax credits in the bill for capitalof 231 15-megawatt offshore wind turbines.it will never really be the same. tionary pressures.When the investmentsandproductionaredesignedtoTheNordseeclusterproject,intheGermanI must admit, myself andsupply chain pressures eased build and strengthen a domestic supply chainNorth Sea, with a capacity of 1.6 gigawatts,colleagues have had numerousandcontainerratesdropped by encouraging domestic manufacturing andwillrequiretheinstallationof104offshorechuckles about how much thebacktohistoricalnorms, raw material sourcing from the U.S. or coun- wind turbines, also of 15-megawatt capacity.termsupplychainbecamethis is when we experienced tries with a free trade agreement. Asoperatorscontinuetofavorlargerthe topic of the day for mosta sharp pullback in the TMI. turbines, the Rystad report said, a new gen- consumersandnewsperson- Even with the sharp drop in B iggeRB ladeS and theS upplyC hain eration of purpose-built vessels is required toalitiesduringthepandemic.theTMIsince August2022 But one supply-chain element not addressedmeet demand. While most had no idea of thethe index remains at a healthy in the IRA involves the growing size of offshoreOnly a handful of vessels worldwide candefinition of supply chain untillevel well above both its 10 wind turbines being deployed and its impact oncurrentlyinstallturbinesofovertenmega- it had an impact on their dailyand 5 year moving averages.the required capabilities for installation vessels.watts. AccordingtoRystad,thedemandforlives and the shelves started toWhile the current condi-According to a Rystad Energy report, the aver- offshore wind will outpace the supply of capa- become sparse.tion of the MPV sector is a age capacity of wind turbines globally, outsideble vessels as early as next year, as demandbit choppy at the moment the of China, has grown from three megawatts inforoffshorewindturbineinstallationves- tMiandMpV S eCtoR longer range outlook remains 2010 to 6.5 megawatts now, with 10 megawattssels worldwide, excluding China, will rocketV olatility (BULLISHcontinued on being the largest in current operation. Turbines(SHORTAGEcontinued on page 6) Toanythatfollowthepage 10)'