Ørsted establishes offshore base in Portsmouth, Virginia
PRESS RELEASE – Ørsted has signed an agreement to lease a portion of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia, US. The firm will use the terminal for its work on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Windfarm and other projects along the East Coast.
The agreement between the Port of Virginia and Ørsted is for an initial lease of 1.7 acres at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal through 2026, with options to expand to an additional 40 acres.
If fully executed, the agreement could be worth nearly $13 million in lease payments and result in site upgrades worth more than $20 million for cranes and improvements to a section of the terminal’s berth to ensure heavy load capacity. Those investments would prepare the site for activities such as pre-assembly, staging, and loading of wind turbines for other Ørsted projects. The energy supplier plans to install 3,000 megawatts of US wind energy projects in the next six years.
The agreement was ratified on January 28th by a unanimous vote of the Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners. “This is a big step towards making Virginia a leader in wind energy and offshore wind manufacturing”, commented Governor Ralph Northam.
With a number of large projects expected to be commissioned soon, the United States will become an important growth market for wind energy suppliers over the next five years. Rystad Energy expects investment in US offshore wind to outpace investments in US offshore oil and gas by mid-2020. The firm estimates investments could rise up to USD 15 billion annually by then.
“Much activity will be taking place in Virginia and beyond in the coming months and years, and Portsmouth Marine Terminal is well-situated to meet our needs both now and in the future”, said Thomas Brostrøm, President and CEO Ørsted North America, Offshore.
Portsmouth Marine Terminal is one of the Port of Virginia’s two multi-use terminals in the Norfolk Harbor. Covering 287 acres, the facility is located on deep water, has on-dock rail access, and offers open space for storage and staging.
More news
Fuel prices take a massive nosedive
Fuel prices have taken a massive nosedive since the beginning of the year with low sulphur fuel prices in Singapore dropping from USD 734 per tonne on January 1st to USD 415 per tonne today. The price drop comes at a good time as the transport and logistics industry is struggling with low demand as… Read more ›
Zeamarine closes offices in Denmark
Zeamarine is closing its operations in Denmark. The Danish subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy resulting in the closure of two offices and 23 employees being sent home, confirms local liquidator Hafnia Law. The German breakbulk carrier has two offices in Denmark, one in Naevsted and one in Aarhus, but both offices have now been closed… Read more ›
Manager loses contact with general cargo vessel after pirate attack
Chinese vessel manager Tianjin Xinhai International Ship Management has lost contact with its general cargo vessel Huanghai Glory after the vessel sent a piracy alert using its Ship Security Alert System (SSAS). An unknown number of pirates are believed to have boarded the vessel, which is currently drifting off the coast of Nigeria. The vessel’s… Read more ›