Floating Production News

Italy's business lobby Confindustria has called for emergency action from the government to speed up the roll-out of renewable energy in the country, which is grappling with much higher power costs than in most of Europe.The recent increase in gas prices triggered by the Iran war has highlighted the cost for Italian families and firms of the slow development of renewables, and sparked fresh calls for more decisive action to promote green policies.Confindustria President Emanuele…

Microwave-based method to upcycle old lithium-ion cathodesInstead of letting old lithium-ion batteries pile up as waste, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a microwave-based process to recover and remake their cathodes, potentially turning spent batteries into a new domestic source of critical materials.Lithium-ion batteries power everything from phones and electric vehicles to grid-scale energy storage and earbuds, but their cathodes — the part of batteries denoted by a plus sign — are expensive to make and rely on minerals sourced from a limited number of countries…

Siemens Energy on Thursday warned of possible wind turbine capacity cuts in Europe if governments fall behind in efforts to expand offshore power, saying a lack of determination could become an "existential threat" to the industry.The comments by one of Europe's biggest industrial firms reflect growing concerns about the future of the continent's manufacturing capabilities, which have come under intense pressure from high energy costs and Asian competitors.Europe is currently facing delays in its offshore expansion, hampered by regulatory challenges that have caused some developers to rethink

Compute Maritime, the deep tech company behind NeuralShipper, the world's first Al platform for ship design, has revealed the results of its UK Government-funded project, GenDSOM, to bring generative Al and additive manufacturing into ship design.Working with consortium partners Siemens Digital Industries Software, Rapid Fusion, HP, BYD Naval Architects and the University of Southampton, the project has produced a next-generation crew transfer vessel (CTV) for the offshore wind sector that…

Northern Lights JV has awarded a consortium comprising Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K" LINE) and Malaysia's MISC Berhad a time charter contract for a newly built 12,000 cubic meter liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrier, supporting the expansion of Europe's carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure.The award follows Northern Lights' January 2026 announcement of four additional CO2 carriers to support planned capacity expansion. The latest contract marks the second vessel awarded to the “K” LINE-MISC consortium.The vessel will be constructed by Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore.

Apollo has received an Approval in Principle (Level 2) from Bureau Veritas for its PALM Quick Connection System (QCS), a technology designed to simplify the connection and disconnection of dynamic cables from floating offshore wind turbines.The approval follows a 12-month full-scale front-end engineering and design (FEED) study funded by the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and Wave Energy Scotland.Apollo said the certification confirms that the PALM QCS has been independently…

Cheniere Energy Partners has signed a lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel Energy for the first phase of the Sabine Pass LNG Expansion Project in Louisiana and issued a limited notice to proceed allowing early engineering and procurement work to begin.The agreement covers Phase 1 of the expansion project, including Train 7, a boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit and supporting infrastructure connected to the existing Sabine Pass LNG terminal.Phase 1 is expected to have LNG production capacity of more than 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa)…

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish firm eager to invest in Italian offshore wind farms, is getting impatient.Two years after the country's 2024 law offered incentives to would-be developers to provide offshore wind capacity, the government has yet to announce a calendar for auctions it said it would hold by 2028.The inertia reflects a reluctance to embrace the transition from fossil fuels as a complex and polarised international debate pits clean energy campaigners against some governments and companies. U.S.

The UAE's new crude pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz is about 50% complete, the head of ADNOC said on Wednesday, adding that global oil flows may take at least four months to recover to 80% of pre-conflict levels after the Iran war ends.Tehran has largely kept the waterway critical for global oil and gas supplies shut to all ships other than its own since U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, sending energy prices and inflation surging and fanning fears of an economic downturn.The Abu Dhabi Media Office revealed the existence of the new West-East Pipeline project last week…

PALFINGER has secured a contract to supply davit cranes for five offshore converter platforms in the North Sea, expanding its presence in the offshore wind market as Europe accelerates grid infrastructure development tied to renewable energy projects.The Austrian company said it would deliver seven PF200-7m davit cranes to Spanish engineering contractor Dragados Offshore for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter platforms linked to projects for German transmission system operators Amprion and TenneT Germany.Under the agreement…

Glenfarne Alaska LNG and ConocoPhillips Alaska have signed a gas sales precedent agreement to supply natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope for Phase One of the Alaska LNG project.The 30-year agreement will secure sufficient natural gas volumes to support a final investment decision for Phase One and meet Alaska’s domestic energy needs, according to Glenfarne.Glenfarne is developing the Alaska LNG project in two financially independent phases. Phase One includes a 739-mile, 42-inch pipeline designed to transport natural gas to Alaska consumers…

Dutch offshore services provider Boskalis has decided to invest in a new high-capacity cable laying vessel (CLV) to support growing demand in the offshore wind and interconnector markets.The vessel, expected to enter service in 2029, will target long-distance cable installation projects, particularly for high-voltage direct current cables.Boskalis said the CLV will feature two 12,000-ton cable carousels, including a concentric carousel, enabling installation of longer continuous…

The substructures for fixed offshore wind turbines weigh thousands of tonnes. Only about five vessels in the world can lift that much weight. So now researchers are testing an alternative: an unusually wide barge.Using experience gained from the oil and gas industry, Aker Solutions, the Belgian contractor Sarens, and the maritime group BOA recently spent time at SINTEF’s Ocean Basin in Trondheim. There they used models to test the feasibility of employing an extra-wide barge to transport several substructures simultaneously.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has demonstrated autonomous docking, charging and redeployment capabilities for its WAM-V autonomous surface vehicle as part of efforts to support longer-duration offshore operations.The company said the system enables the maritime drone to approach a dock, secure itself, recharge and return to operation without human intervention.OPT is preparing the technology for integration with its PowerBuoy platform to create offshore charging points capable…

The Chouest Group announced it has completed the acquisition of the Alliance business from Helix Energy Solutions Group. Alliance will be integrated into Champagne Energy Solutions (CES), expanding the Group’s offshore decommissioning and plug & abandonment (P&A) platform.The transaction builds on the recent formation of CES and advances the Chouest Group’s strategy to deliver fully integrated, end-to-end offshore solutions focused on late-life asset management and decommissioning.The combined platform will provide services including P&A…

The changing global bottom-fixed offshore wind turbine and foundation installation marketThe last two or three years have seen a change in the underlying stakeholder support for the energy transition, resulting in the energy trilemma being focused more on energy security and affordability than transition, which means a pivot away from renewables to increased support for oil & gas. At the same time, inflation and interest rates have impacted project economics. Needless to say,…

President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday that it had reached a deal to end two more U.S. offshore wind leases in exchange for $885 million in pledged investments in domestic fossil fuels.The projects, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, are managed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between France's ENGIE and Portugal's EDP Renewables.The announcement comes a month after French energy giant TotalEnergies reached a similar agreement with the Interior Department to redirect $1 billion from offshore wind leases to U.S. oil and gas production.

Exmar said it has launched conversion works for a new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to support the expansion of the EemsEnergyTerminal in the Netherlands.The move follows the signing of a conditional charter agreement covering both the extension of the existing Eemshaven LNG FSRU and a newly converted unit, with EemsEnergyTerminal expected to take a conditional final investment decision in the first half of 2026.Exmar said it has secured a dual-fuel diesel electric membrane LNG carrier for the conversion and has begun engineering activities…

CoreMarine & Jumbo Offshore have announced the award of a significant contract to perform the transport and installation of the soft-yoke (SSY) mooring systems, and hook-up of both the Hilli Episeyo FLNG and MKII FLNG vessels, in Argentina’s Golfo San Matías. The award represents a milestone for both companies as well as a breakthrough project for Argentina’s gas sector as it ramps up in export capabilities.The contract has been awarded by Southern Energy S.A. (SESA), supported by an international consortium comprising Pan American Energy, YPF, Pampa Energía, Harbour Energy, and Golar LNG.

NYK has jointly implemented a crew transfer vessel (CTV) newbuilding project that applies 3D technology as a core platform throughout the design and construction process.This project is being carried out in collaboration with Kosaba Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Smert Design Co., Ltd.CTVs transporting crews to offshore wind farms must meet high standards of safety, operability, and maintenance and inspection efficiency. Consequently, the design and construction phases now demand…

A final investment decision is expected in the Delfin LNG project offshore Louisiana in the next few weeks, or at most months, according to Eduard Ruijs, head of investment for Vitol, a company that is investing in the project.The 13.2 million metric tons project would have received financial approval sooner had the pipeline to take gas to the proposed floating LNG plant not exploded, Ruijs told Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston.The pipeline, which ruptured on February 3, has since been repaired and is awaiting regulatory approval to restart flows.

Technip Energies has received a substantial authorization to continue work on the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana, as the development moves toward a final investment decision.The authorization, awarded by Commonwealth LNG, allows the company to proceed with key engineering, procurement and construction activities under an existing EPC contract.Technip Energies said the award supports ongoing project execution and follows an earlier authorization covering long-lead equipment orders.The proposed facility…

Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil, has produced its first liquefied natural gas from the initial train of its export facility in Texas, marking a step toward full operations.The project, located in Sabine Pass, has a total capacity of 18 million tonnes per annum across three liquefaction trains. The start of production is expected to pave the way for the first LNG cargo, with exports targeted to begin in the second quarter of 2026.“First LNG is of a particular importance for one of the largest single investment decisions in U.S. LNG history.