Norway’s offshore wind suppliers remain committed to US market

Despite uncertainty about US markets, one thing is for sure: Norwegian companies still believe in both short-term and long-term opportunities in US offshore wind.

Norwegian offshore wind suppliers, including Autronica, DOF and Uptime International, are forging ahead with plans to expand their activities in the US.

Meet Autronica, DOF and Uptime International – at the Norway Pavilion at the International Partnering Forum (IPF) in Virginia Beach, on April 28th to May 1st.

New offshore wind technology to be introduced
DOF plans to launch new offshore wind technology in the US by Q4 2025. The company has made a strategic decision and financial commitment to build a new cable lay quadrant handling system for the installation and repair of inter-array cables. DOF has designed the system to fit on several of its vessels for North Sea and US East Coast projects.

“We’re closely monitoring the situation in the US and deciding how best to position DOF to support the offshore wind developments,” states Gordon Wilkinson, VP Offshore Wind North America at DOF.

“Regarding the cable lay quadrant handling system, we see manageable risk in terms of the offering this new equipment to the US offshore wind market since the US now has inter-array cables installed, and installation permits have already been issued for near-term projects. So, when the need arises to repair or replace one of these cables, we feel confident in the market potential of our new system,” he adds.

Another Norwegian company has similar views on the market. Autronica Fire and Security provides fire and gas safety equipment to a range of industries, including offshore wind. Recently the company contributed to the Vineyard Wind project off the New England coast by supplying safety equipment to a major turbine manufacturer, which installs it in the turbine’s nacelle.

“Many offshore wind farms already have take-off and lease agreements. These projects are underway and relatively safe,” states Thor Egil Hafnor, Global Business Development Manager at Autronica.

“About another 25 per cent of scheduled projects with no such agreements are in a holding pattern until everything gets sorted out with the new administration,” he adds, noting that Autronica has been able to pivot and seek US market opportunities in other clean energy areas, particularly green and blue hydrogen.

Likewise, Uptime International, which provides safe motion compensated logistics solutions for offshore wind, continues to work with its US clients. Uptime has a repeat customer base, and at the end of 2024 made its third delivery to Hornbeck Offshore, which primarily serves the energy sector in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America.

The delivery comprised a 30-metre logistics system for safe personnel and cargo transfer, as well as an elevator tower, Motus 3D crane and AI-driven automation. Uptime’s solution is being installed on the vessel HOS Rocinante, which will enter service in 2025. The HOS Rocinante will be the first Jones Act-compliant SOV conversion for the US offshore renewables market.

Innovation reduces offshore wind costs
Norway has a complete offshore wind supply chain with decades-long experience. As such, these companies understand the ongoing need to reduce costs through innovation. This is why they spend significant resources on R&D.

DOF’s new cable lay quadrant handling system includes certain proprietary design elements based on our past use of similar rental equipment which will, among other things, increase offshore safety and operational efficiency with the intent to lower the cost of cable installation and repair. As Gordon Wilkinson at DOF explains, the key is ownership of the specialised equipment over rental.

“We’re going to own this piece of equipment and that allows us much more flexibility in terms of its availability. That’s exciting in terms of innovation because we can optimise the mobilisation of our own equipment on any one of the many vessels in our fleet.”

In addition, DOF can make the system readily available under the best possible conditions, ensuring it is ideally suited for a specific project and therefore boosting efficiency. This is rarely the case in rental situations.

With a focus on R&D, Autronica has developed cutting-edge algorithms that detect smoke release while mitigating the sources of false alarms. No other company has such high accuracy. HSE lies at the heart of the company, whose motto is “zero loss of life, injury or damage from fire and gas”.

“The cost is enormous when energy production must be stopped due to a false alarm. Moreover, offshore wind turbines are unmanned, so any alarm will result in long distance travel for personnel and equipment. This is why reliability is so crucial in our field,” explains Clifford Breslow, Autronica’s Business Development Manager, Clean Energy for North America.

As for Uptime, its intelligent logistics systems make it easier and faster to service offshore wind farms, thus saving time and money. The autonomous landing function reduces risk by eliminating human error during docking, which enables the safe transport of service personnel and cargo to offshore installations. In addition to keeping people and equipment safe, the system reduces operation costs, as the AI feature cuts docking time and service vessels’ fuel consumption.

Promising future in floating offshore wind
In the long term, Norwegian offshore wind suppliers expect the floating market to expand in the US, although it will take a number of years.

DOF has high hopes for continued development of offshore floating wind projects on the US East Coast; however, patience and persistence will be required as current political, financial and logistical matters settle down over time.

DOF also sees offshore floating wind potential on the US West Coast, but those projects are farther out in the future. In the meantime, the company is pursuing opportunities to support pre-engineering / feed work as it relates to offshore anchor handling and construction vessels to support installation and hook-up of moorings to help to commercialise offshore floating wind in the deep waters off of California and southern Oregon.

As for Autronica, the company continues to keep its eyes and ears open for opportunities on both coasts and in between. Speaking of IPF 2025, Clifford Breslow says, “It will be a very important and informative event.” “There will be a lot of owners and operators of offshore wind farms in attendance, as well as engineering companies, EPCIs and the like. It’s going to be interesting to find out what people think, what the experts believe will happen next, and then we can base our decisions and strategy on that information,” he concludes.

Note: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of offshoreWIND.biz