• 2022 January 19

    From Whom: Vitaliy Chernov

    (news@portnews.ru)

    About: Money for offshore wind: development of renewable energy sources as a new cargo base for waterborne transport


    Money for offshore wind: development of renewable energy sources as a new cargo base for waterborne transport

    The energy transition that is being talked about so much now is known to be largely based on the increased use of renewable energy sources (RES), including wind. A number of Russian regions and neighboring countries have excellent potential for the installation of wind farms: coastal and offshore regions of the North, the Far East, the Caspian Sea. This, in turn, creates a demand for the production of appropriate equipment and preconditions for its export. It should be noted that the export of wind power equipment has already been declared one of the strategic goals of Rosatom state corporation. Renewables are essential for the production of "green" energy without carbon footprint.

    What does all this give to water transport, which suffers so much from intense competition from the railroad and truck haulage? If we are talking about the transportation of wind turbines and their components, such as blades, then water transport is much more preferable than railways and trucks, and even no alternative at all. First of all, because of the such turbines dimensions (for example, the length of the blade reaches 80 meters). Currently, shipping companies are already engaged in the transportation of such oversized cargo both to neighboring countries and to EU. Considering that the energy transition is entering an active phase, and Russia intends to invest in the creation of relevant enterprises, a significant increase in such cargo transportation can be expected in the foreseeable future. This is how the wind can become a kind of “new oil” for cargo carriers.

    At the same time, it should be taken into account that the transportation of oversized cargo is a complex service with high added value and non-commodity export, which only increases its economic value.