The shipping market is as always erratic and uncertain* and in the changing times of power generation the UK coastal ports are needing to think. On the East coast especially, the offshore wind turbine market is emerging and as the necessity to find suitable port facilities to handle the capacity of large vessels and land which this industry requires there is even more thinking going on. Cockenzie (the old coal fired power station) is being looked at as a new facility as an alternative to established ports which lack sufficient capacity to cope with the new vessels which are employed in the manufacture and shipping for the offshore wind farms.
New facilities are being sought and the Humber is an example of where new ports can and are being developed – Cockenzie has the promise of a nascent port for the new industry as well as present oil and gas business and the future of offshore rig and platform decommissioning. It can be developed to ‘go out’ into deeper water to gain the capacity that these emerging trades require. The land where the power station and coal storage area used to be can take some of the manufacturing space to build some of the blades, tower, nacelles, castings and gearboxes that are land hungry. Other options at other potential ports and sites are being considered.
Many thousands of turbines will be built and many hundreds of offshore platforms will be decommissioned over the next 5 to 20 years and the size of the component parts simply mean that ‘nothing’ can move by road. Some of these parts can be manufactured and handled in existing ports but the assembly of the structures need very large facilities to cope. One can look across the Forth from Edinburgh to Methil and see the size of the Samsung turbine, this is in shallow water and they will get larger as the industry develops, we are going deeper and bigger – it is the new oil and gas industry starting all over again. The picture is quite similar, offshore structures producing oil and gas with a pipeline running to the shore as opposed to wind turbines producing electricity with a cable running to the shore.
These are fascinating and exciting times for shipping companies. The evolution of alternative energy is upon us and will change what we know, just as the shale gas industry is turning the US energy market upside down with compounding affects of that knowledge across the globe. The cost of all this generation of power is always part of the discussion, but all energy supply is fiscally adjusted as we are becoming to learn so clearly. Put that into the context of Shale, Nuclear and Wind (and other energy sources) and it gets your spreadsheets combusting.
As a US economist said when asked – ‘How big is shale gas?’ he replied ’About as big as the world wide web.’ Oh if I was only 30 years younger – what fabulous opportunities and what fun!
There is something that is certain* in the shipping industry and that is change. My company, t. ward shipping ltd have always relished it and being quick on our toes we are reacting.
No comments:
Post a Comment