OMNI Features｜Governor Mills Announces Sears Island as Preferred Site for Port of Floating Offshore Wind ．Strata Secures $559 Million Financing for 1 GWh Battery Energy Storage Project in Arizona．Hexicon Acquiring Shell's Stake in 1.1 GW S.Korean Floating Wind Project

Source: Maine State Government

｜Governor Mills Announces Sears Island as Preferred Site for Port of Floating Offshore Wind
On the 20th, Governor Janet Mills of the state of Maine announced the selection of Sears Island as the most viable location for a floating wind energy port facility, based on assessments of factors such as location, logistics, costs, and environmental impacts.

Sears Island is a 941-acre island off the coast of Searsport. In 2009, Sears Island was, by agreement, divided into two parcels: approximately 601 acres, or two-thirds of the island, was placed in a permanent conservation easement held by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, while the remaining one-third, or approximately 330 acres, was reserved by MaineDOT for future development.

The site selected by the State today is expected to be about 100 acres in totality, which is about one-third of the State-owned parcel or a little more than one-tenth of the entire island. The proposed port would be a purpose-built facility for floating offshore wind fabrication, staging, assembly, maintenance, and deployment. With deepwater access to the port development site, Maine has the potential to establish a premier location for the industry and help meet growing demand in the U.S. for offshore wind port infrastructure.

In March 2022, MaineDOT announced the creation of a 19-member Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group to advise the State on port development. The Group, which included a broad spectrum of state and local stakeholders, held 6 public meetings in 2022 and 2023 and toured existing port facilities in Searsport and Eastport to inform its work.

｜Strata Clean Energy Secures $559 Million Financing for 1 GWh Battery Energy Storage Project in Arizona
Strata Clean Energy (Strata) has closed on a $559 million financing for the construction and ownership of the Scatter Wash battery storage complex. The 255MW/1,020MWh storage facility broke ground on January 18 and is expected to be operational by April 2025.

A consortium of leading financial institutions collaborated to secure the necessary funding for this project. J.P. Morgan and Nomura acted as Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners. J.P. Morgan also fulfilled roles as Administrative Agent, Depositary Agent, and Collateral Agent. The financing was further supported by U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance and CoBank as Coordinating Lead Arrangers with The Korea Development Bank and Norddeutsche Landesbank as Joint Lead Arrangers. Furthermore, Siemens and Regions contributed as lenders in this transformative project, and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance was also the primary tax equity investor.

The Scatter Wash battery storage complex will store enough electricity to power 50,000 Arizona homes during peak summer conditions for 20 years. In May 2023, Strata forged a 20-year tolling agreement with Arizona Public Service, cementing its commitment to this groundbreaking initiative.

｜Hexicon Acquiring Shell's Stake in 1.1 GW South Korean Floating Wind Project
Swedish floating wind developer Hexicon and Shell have signed an agreement under which Hexicon will acquire Shell's 80 per cent stake in the MunmuBaram floating wind project. Once the transaction is closed, Hexicon, which currently holds the remaining 20 per cent stake, will fully own the South Korean project.

Under the agreement, Hexicon will pay the purchase price for the acquisition with a first down payment of USD 5 million (approximately EUR 4.6 million). In addition, the deal includes a profit-sharing arrangement of up to USD 50 million (approx. EUR 46 million) over a three-year period.

MunmuBaram floating wind farm located in the southeastern region of South Korea, between 65 and 80 kilometres off the coast of Ulsan City. The offshore wind farm is planned to feature Vestas's 15 MW wind turbines under a preferred supplier agreement the joint venture signed with the Danish wind turbine manufacturer in 2022. The agreement was signed for 84 wind turbines, making up for a total installed capacity of 1,260 MW. In its press release announcing the acquisition of full project ownership, Hexicon states the project's installed capacity to be 1,125 MW.

In March 2022, the MunmuBaram joint venture received two Electricity Business Licenses (EBLs) from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy for the project, securing all the EBLs required to develop the floating offshore wind farm fully. In August last year, MunmuBaram signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ulsan GPS, a subsidiary of SK Gas, which is building a LNG·LPG combined cycle power plant in Ulsan with a total power generation capacity of 1,122 MW. Under the MOU, subject to future investment decisions, Ulsan GPS and MunmuBaram will enter a long-term offtake agreement for the electricity produced by the floating offshore wind farm.

Reference: Maine State Government｜businesswire｜offshoreWIND.biz