European wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa announced May 26 what could be the first U.S. installation of its just-unveiled giant 14-MW to 15-MW offshore wind model at Virginia Dominion Energy's planned 2,640-MW offshore wind project, under an agreement with the utility that is subject to a final investment decision. The project would be located 27 miles offshore of Virginia Beach, Va.

Siemens Gamesa is considering whether to build a large manufacturing plant at a close onshore site, possibly Hampton Roads, Va., for what would be industry-leading 108-m-long blades, and it will decide within a year on sourcing and a supply chain to serve the U.S. market, it says.

Other East Coast states, particularly Massachusetts, New York and Maryland, also are competing to site a major offshore wind manufacturing hub as projects proceed.

The development adds a new edge to the competitive mega-turbine market in the U.S. and globally, which had seen GE Renewables take a leading role over the last two years with its launch of the 12-MW Haliade-X turbine, the current size record holder. The 220-m-dia. turbine will power the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind project in the U.K., which began construction in January and now is set to be the world's largest, as well as projects planned for Maryland and New Jersey, among others.

西门子已经与当地利益相关者合作了几个月。“有了这项协议和这项新产品，我们将有能力大大推动该行业的增长，并为未来几代人提供清洁能源，”该公司在北美可再生部门的负责人史蒂夫·迪尼（Steve Dayney）说。

Va. Ups Clean-Energy Goal

Dominion于去年9月宣布了这项大型商业项目，该项目定于2026年完成，5月1日，其离岸风能计划将其翻了一番，到2035年，这一举动升至5,100兆瓦。此举是在州长拉尔夫·诺斯（Ralph Northam）（D）签署三周后才签署的。清洁经济法，到2045年将国家提交100％零碳电力。

“Based on our current estimates for fully installed costs, which we expect will reduce over time, offshore wind represents between $8 billion and $17 billion of capital investment over the next 15 years,” Dominion CEO Thomas Farrel said in a May 5 corporate results call.

Survey work for the 2,640-MW project, the largest offshore wind farm planned so far in the U.S., is expected to begin this year, with a construction and operations plan submitted to federal regulators at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Separately, Farrell confirmed that Dominion is leading a consortium to build an offshore wind installation vessel that complies with the federal Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be carried on domestically owned vessels.

该船能够安装下一代turbines such as the new Siemens units, which reduce construction and maintenance costs, he said. Funded by consortium participants, including Dominion Energy, it will enter service in 2023 and operate continuously for several years under contracts with multiple major US offshore wind developers, Farrell said.

Consortium members were not made public. Farrell also did not discuss the vessel’s cost.

离岸风演示项目收益

Dominion now is building with its partner, Danish developer Orsted, a 12-MW, two-turbine offshore wind demonstration project adjacent to the planned commercial site. Foundations were installed the week of May 25 and turbines are next in mid-June, Dominion says.

基于飞行员的程度success after expected completion later this year, the utility will move forward with the commercial project in three 880-MW phases. The initial phase would come on line in 2024 with the next two in 2025 and 2026. Dominion says it will leverage its experience with permitting, design and development of the pilot to develop the commercial project.

With a 222-m rotor diameter, the Siemens 14-MW turbine has the capacity to produce about 25% more energy than the firm's current 11-MW turbine, the company says.

The new turbine has a comparatively low nacelle weight of 500 metric tons, which allows Siemens Gamesa to reduce machine cost by minimizing sourced materials and transportation expenses, the company says. Each blade is cast in one piece using patented blade technologies. The number of turbines to be used in Dominion’s commercial project depends on site conditions.

The company’s standardized processes and fully developed supply chain have reduced the new turbine’s time to market, with serial production planned for 2024, Siemens says.

The company also said May 26 that its 14-MW turbine will be used at Taiwan’s 300-MW Hai Long 2 project and is under consideration for an additional 1,044-MW there. The decision depends on final investment decision by developers Northland Power, a Canadian company, and Taiwan-based Yushan Energy.

Meanwhile, Siemens says it is proceeding with plans announced last year to spin off its energy manufacturing business in an initial public offering (IPO) set for Sept. 28, to allow it to focus on its factory automation, smart building and transportation manufacturing businesses.

If executed, the IPO would be one of the largest this year, with many spinoffs curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, saidReuters. The energy unit had revenue of about $31.8 billion last year but the total was down 4% with the changing fossil-fuel market, and profit fell 7%.

Clean-Energy Tax Credits Expand

In other anticipated clean-energy market developments, the U.S. Treasury on May 27 extended the deadline for renewable energy projects to take advantage of certain tax credits. With the change, projects that started construction in 2016 or 2017 now have an extra year to go into service and still gain the credit. Developers also now have more time, in some cases, to receive construction materials in order to start building.

美国可再生能源委员会主席兼首席执行官格雷戈里·韦特斯通（Gregory Wetstone）称，这一措施是帮助可再生能源部门及其工人面对延误，中断和与Covid-19有关的其他挑战的重要步骤。他呼吁国会采取其他措施使可再生能源成为经济复苏后病毒后的驱动力。

“联邦政府需要进一步扩大这些税收抵免，以便新项目可以符合条件。新利18备用网址到2050年，这将有助于保护绿色工作，并使我们更接近100％的可再生能源和零碳。

Also, on May 28, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service proposed long-awaitedrulesthat detail how companies can qualify for carbon-capture tax credits by demonstrating that they have securely stored or disposed of carbon removed from the atmosphere.

The guidance also notes how and when the government can reclaim the incentive if projects fall short of requirements and how to account for emissions reductions from carbon stored in products.

The tax-credit was enacted into law in 2018 but not widely used by project developers because of uncertainty related to the delay in detailed IRS rules.

A U.S. Treasury Dept. Inspector General's office report in April said the IRS has disallowed about $531 million in claimed tax credits.