Two U.S.-based maritime & offshore services and logistics companies Crowley and Watco, are teaming up in the space of the emerging offshore wind industry in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, the two firms said they'd create a single-source terminal and supply chain management solution to support the emerging offshore wind industry.
"With the growing number of wind projects planned for U.S. waters, the partnership brings together industry-leading project management and logistics experts who can provide a “one-stop-shop” for owners, operators, and local port authorities in support of the offshore wind industry," Crowley said.
"This partnership will provide turnkey services for the offshore wind industry in the area of terminal management,” said Lynda Patterson, senior vice president of Logistics, Watco. “Crowley and Watco will work together to leverage our respective expertise in logistics, project management, and energy support to create innovative solutions to meet full lifecycle project needs."
Watco will use its skillset in onshore wind terminal management and ongoing relationships with OEMs to develop state-of-the-art terminal management offerings for the offshore wind industry. Watco and Crowley will collaborate to provide customized terminal design, project management, warehousing, logistics, supply chain management and equipment maintenance through their commercial expertise and curated supply chain networks.
Crowley will provide its offshore logistics offerings through the utilization of its Jones Act-compliant fleet of vessels, engineering services and cross-over expertise in oil and gas. This includes the design and operation of service operation vessels (SOVs), crew transfer vessels (CTVs), turbine maintenance, offshore substation repair and maintenance, and additional services necessary to sustain offshore wind energy operations.
“Crowley and Watco are partnering to deliver safe, reliable, comprehensive lifecycle services for the offshore wind sector,” said Jeff Andreini, vice president, New Energy division, Crowley. “We understand that wind power companies entering the U.S. market have big needs, including infrastructure and supply chain. We’ve engineered high performing equipment and logistics offerings to answer their needs, anchored by decades of experience to solve the challenges of both.”
Despite being the second-largest global market for onshore wind, the United States is today a minor player in comparison to the European and East Asian offshore wind markets, however, this is about to change.
Philip Lewis, Director of Research, World Energy Reports said in a recent interview with Maritime Reporter TV, that 2021 is expected to be a "step-change" for the U.S. Offshore wind industry.
Per Lewis, the U.S. currently has only two operational projects for a total of 42MW of installed capacity versus a global offshore installed base of 34,000MW or 34GW by the end of 2020. However, things are expected to accelerate from 2021 onwards.
"At World Energy Reports, we are forecasting that 2021 will deliver a step-change in offshore wind activity in the US as the journey accelerates to develop the 27GW project pipeline within this decade," Lewis said.