In December 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a comprehensive report on the offshore wind industry to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The report examines, among other issues:

 

• “The approaches to [the] use of vessels that developers are considering for planned offshore wind projects in the United States, consistent with Jones Act requirements, and the extent to which vessels exist to support those approaches,”

• “[and] the challenges industry stakeholders have identified associated with constructing and using Jones Act-compliant vessels to support U.S. offshore wind and the actions industry stakeholders and federal agencies have taken to address these challenges.” [1].

The GAO interviewed 37 offshore wind industry stakeholders, including developers, turbine suppliers, vessel owners, operators and industry experts. The GAO also interviewed representatives from BOEM, the Department of Energy, MARAD, CBP, USCG and Tufts University researchers. Takeaways include:

• Offshore wind developers have been issued 16 commercial leases in the United States by BOEM for projects in federal waters; potential wind power capacity in these leases totals over 21 gigawatts.
• Vessels used for offshore wind project installation need to have the capacity to handle large (size and weight) wind turbine components.
  • As of September 2020, 50 foreign-flag Jack-Up Rigs (JURs) were in operation or under construction with a crane capacity equal to or exceeding the one used to install the Block Island Wind towers (which are much smaller than present planned towers). It may be possible to upgrade existing vessels with larger cranes. There will be worldwide competition for these vessels based on global build plans. According to a recent New York Times article, just eight of these vessels are large enough to transport the largest offshore wind components.
  • One American JUR is being built in Brownsville, TX for Dominion Energy, which will be ready in 2023.

• There are several ways to install offshore wind towers:

o   Use of a Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV, commonly referred to as a JUR). This approach mirrors the European method: a JUR carries the turbine components from a U.S. port to the site and performs the installation.

o   Use of a foreign-flag JUR with Jones Act-compliant feeder vessels. In this approach, (how the Block Island project was constructed), a foreign-flag JUR would travel to the offshore wind site in the United States from a foreign port. Jones Act-compliant feeders would transport the components from the ports in the United States to the foreign-flag JUR, which would then install the components.

o   Regardless of the approach used, the report indicated that “the use of a feeder method could allow projects to be installed more quickly by reducing the amount of time that the WTIV [JUR] spends in transit; this could make the feeder method preferable even if a Jones Act-compliant JUR were available. … A project developer and a turbine supplier indicated that for efficient operations, a project developer would use two to three sets of feeder vessels—depending on the site’s distance from port—to keep the WTIV continuously supplied with turbines and other components, allowing the WTIV to operate with minimum downtime.” [2]

• Shipyard Capacity and Building Expertise. Some stakeholders interviewed in the report indicated the limited number of shipyards in the United States with the capacity to construct purpose-built WTIVs (JURs), given their large size, might pose scheduling, timing and cost challenges.

• Port Limitations. Most stakeholders interviewed in the report discussed potential challenges with American ports concerning offshore wind. Many U.S. ports close to planned offshore wind projects lack the necessary space, infrastructure or are behind bridges that large JURs or jack-up feeder vessels could not pass underneath. As a result, project developers may need to make tradeoffs, such as location versus space, or make vessel usage decisions based in part on port limitations.

In the New York Times article referenced above, it also highlights the challenges that offshore wind farms pose to President Biden achieving his climate plan goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 2035. The article accurately mentions the obstacles the country is facing, including the shortage of capable vessels, slow pace of offshore wind development, and the challenges the Jones Act brings. Despite these obstacles, it is possible to build capable American vessels economically in compliance with the Jones Act and cut down on costs and production time with the use of Jones Act compliant feeder vessels. It requires ingenuity and a willingness to work in a different manner, which GSL is pioneering. The Jones Act protects American mariners and maritime interests and is vital to securing American jobs.

We conclude that there is a lot to be learned from this and other reports. We at GSL are advocates of the feeder concept for four simple reasons:

1.     The feeder concept is a proven and acceptable installation method.
2.     Our Jones Act “Eleanor” feeder vessel is able to be built in a smaller shipyard and won’t impact capacity restrictions and can supply components to both foreign and the single Jones Act-compliant JUR now being constructed in Brownsville for Dominion Energy.
3.     Our “Eleanor” Jones Act feeder can operate out of all the U.S. ports on the East Coast. She is the right size, with the right capacity at the right time, which is now. She will not require dredging to accommodate U.S. ports or manufacturing needs. 
4.     GSL’s “Eleanor” model is highly efficient with the ability to transport offshore wind components (towers, nacelles and blades) from a port to installation sites in a two-day cycle, cutting down on costs and production time by over 40 percent. In fact, it will be the first vessel of its kind in the U.S. capable of transporting all of the components of a wind tower.

 

 

 

[1] United States Government Accountability Office. OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Planned Projects May Lead to Construction of New Vessels in the U.S., but Industry Has Made Few Decisions amid Uncertainties. GAO-21-153, US GAO, 2020, ww.gao.gov/search?keyword=offshore%20wind.

 

[2] United States Government Accountability Office. OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Planned Projects May Lead to Construction of New Vessels in the U.S., but Industry Has Made Few Decisions amid Uncertainties. GAO-21-153, US GAO, 2020, www.gao.gov/search?keyword=offshore%20wind.