Here’s why the US race to deploy floating offshore wind is vital
The US has a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 – and that can’t happen without floating offshore wind farms.
The Departments of Energy, the Interior, Commerce, and Transportation are today on their second day of a two-day Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit. The summit’s goal, which is being attended by federal and state government leaders, and industry and labor leaders, is to cut the cost of floating offshore wind energy by over 70% by 2035.
MIT Technology Review noted in December:
Estimates are tricky because the technology is so new, but the US Department of Energy pegs the cost of floating offshore wind at about $200 per megawatt hour. That’s significantly more expensive than the agency’s estimates for land-based wind ($30), solar ($35) and even fixed offshore wind ($80).
The Summit aims to cut the cost to $45 per megawatt-hour. They want to achieve this with “breakthroughs across engineering, manufacturing, and other innovation areas.”
So basically, the Summit is an intense brainstorming session that its delegates then have to roll out in a viable and timely way in order to achieve the Floating Offshore Wind Shot‘s goals:
- Develop cost-effective technologies for deeper waters
- Bring power onshore to areas of high demand
- Create jobs in operations, construction, manufacturing, and more
- Ensure environmental sustainability and ocean co-use
- Expand supply chains including tailoring port infrastructure to support development
- Deploy large amounts of reliable, clean power
- Help revitalize port and manufacturing communities.
Electrek’s Take
Offshore floating wind is now being rolled out all over the world. It’s also really new. In September 2022, a White House brief noted that “globally, only 0.1 GW of floating offshore wind has been deployed to date, compared with over 50 GW of fixed-bottom offshore wind.”
And when it comes to the US, which is the very beginning of its offshore wind deployment, around two-thirds of US offshore wind energy potential is in water that’s too deep for fixed-bottom wind turbines.
The US’s goal is to deploy 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035, so it’s got its work cut out to reach this goal. But hey, it put a man on the moon in the 60s, and there’s already a fairly good general grasp of the technology, seeing how it’s already been successfully deployed in places like Norway, Scotland, and Portugal.
The Floating Offshore Wind Shot’s goals are on point, and this effort is going to be herculean and extremely challenging. I’m hopeful, because really cool clean energy innovation that is being used IRL literally lands in my inbox every day. Let’s hope innovation and momentum triumphs at the Summit this week.
Read more: World’s largest floating offshore wind farm is now online
Photo: WindFloat Atlantic, Portugal
UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Swedish multinational Sandvik says it’s successfully deployed a pair of fully autonomous Toro LH518iB battery-electric underground loaders at the New Gold Inc. ($NGD) New Afton mine in British Columbia, Canada.
The heavy mining equipment experts at Sandvik say that the revolutionary new 18 ton loaders have been in service since mid-November, working in a designated test area of the mine’s “Lift 1” footwall. The mine’s operators are preparing to move the automated machines to the mine’s “C-Zone” any time now, putting them into regular service by the first of the new year.
“This is a significant milestone for Canadian mining, as these are North America’s first fully automated battery-electric loaders,” Sandvik said in a LinkedIn post. “(The Toro LH518iB’s) introduction highlights the potential of automation and electrification in mining.”
The company says the addition of the new heavy loaders will enable New Afton’s operations to “enhance cycle times and reduce heat, noise and greenhouse gas emissions” at the block cave mine – the only such operation (currently) in Canada.
Electrek’s Take
From drilling and rigging to heavy haul solutions, companies like Sandvik are proving that electric equipment is more than up to the task of moving dirt and pulling stuff out of the ground. At the same time, rising demand for nickel, lithium, and phosphates combined with the natural benefits of electrification are driving the adoption of electric mining machines while a persistent operator shortage is boosting demand for autonomous tech in those machines.
The combined factors listed above are rapidly accelerating the rate at which machines that are already in service are becoming obsolete – and, while some companies are exploring the cost/benefit of converting existing vehicles to electric or, in some cases, hydrogen, the general consensus seems to be that more companies will be be buying more new equipment more often in the years ahead.
What’s more, more of that equipment will be more and more likely to be autonomous as time goes on.
We covered the market outlook for autonomous and electric mining equipment earlier this summer, and I posted an episode exploring the growing demand for electric equipment on an episode of Quick Charge I’ve embedded, below. Check it out, then let us know what you think of the future of electric mining in the comments.
More EVs means more mines, equipment
SOURCE | IMAGES: Sandvik, via LinkedIn.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
European logistics firm Contargo is adding twenty of Mercedes’ new, 600 km-capable eActros battery electric semi trucks to its trimodal delivery fleet, bringing zero-emission shipping to Germany’s hinterland.
With over 300 miles of all-electric range, the new Mercedes eActros 600 electric semi truck was designed for (what a European would call) long-haul trucking. Now, after officially entering production at the company’s Wörth plant in Bavaria last month, the eActros 600 is reaching its first customer: Contargo.
With the addition of the twenty new Mercedes, Contargo’s electric truck fleet has grown to 60 BEVs, with plans to increase that total to 90. And, according to Mercedes, Contargo is just the first.
The German truck company says it has plans to deliver fifty (50) of the 600 kWh battery-equipped electric semi trucks to German shipping companies by the close of 2024.
Contargo’s 20 eActros 600 trucks were funded in part by the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport as part of a broader plan to replace a total of 86 diesel-engined commercial vehicles with more climate-friendly alternatives. The funding directive is coordinated by NOW GmbH, and the applications were approved by the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility.
Electrek’s Take
Electric semi trucks are racking up millions of miles in the US, and abroad. As more and more pilot programs begin to pay off, they’re going to lead to more orders for battery electric trucks and more reductions in both diesel demand and harmful carbon emissions.
We can’t wait to see more.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Contargo, via Electrive.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Why tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta are betting big on nuclear power
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway