Equinor Acquires Stake in Ørsted, CBAM Tax Effects

This episode explores the recent acquisition of a stake in Ørsted
by Equinor, discussing its implications for the renewable energy
sector. We delve into the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism
and its potential impact on wind turbine prices. Additionally, we
examine Form Energy's latest funding round and the challenges of
scaling up new energy storage technologies. Sign up now for Uptime
Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology.
This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech.
Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS
retrofit. Follow the show
on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit
Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes'
YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the
show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting -
https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech -
www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen
Hall: So, down in the south, which is hurricane prone, one of the
ways you know to evacuate is to check out the Waffle House. Now, if
you've never been to a Waffle House in the South, it is delicious
for breakfast, or pretty much any time. It's open 24 hours a day,
Joel. You can always go in and get some coffee and some eggs and
some waffles. Joel Saxum: The best time for a Waffle House is 2 a.
m., because it is Allen Hall: But the weather forecasters at the
Waffle House appear to have an inside knowledge of where these
storms are going because everybody's paying attention to if the
Waffle House is closed, that means get out of town, or if it's
open, then maybe it's not going to be so bad. So instead of
listening to the National Weather Service or your local weather
agency, weather person were relying on the Waffle House to
determine the fate of hurricanes now. Joel Saxum: Allen, it's a
little why I made a reaction when you did this is I actually have a
LinkedIn post that I put together about the hashtag WH index the
Waffle House index that is, was coined by a FEMA director back in
2004. And what it was is he was down in Florida surveying and I
can't remember what hurricane that was, but surveying a hurricane
damage and the only place he could find that was open was Waffle
House. So he, then he separated into three things. It's green for
Waffle House is all a go, yellow for Waffle House has a limited
menu, and red for Waffle House is shut down. And if all the Waffle
Houses look red around you, you better evacuate. Allen Hall: It's a
good rule of thumb. And I know people in Western North Carolina.
Eastern Tennessee and now sort of central Florida are really going
to have a bad go of it. And yeah, serious stuff, everybody pay
attention, keep your head down, get out of the bad weather. Welcome
to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, and
I'll be joined by my Uptime co hosts after these news headlines. In
a major development for European offshore wind, Total Energies has
agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in two large scale offshore
wind projects from RWE in Germany. The combined capacity of these
projects is a staggering 4 gigawatts. Located northwest of the
German island of Borkum, investment decisions are expected by 2027
and 2028, with full commissioning planned for 2031 and 32. The
partnership not only strengthens TotalEnergy's presence in the
German electricity market, but also significantly contributes to
the country's efforts to decarbonize its energy sector. Across the
Atlantic, Canada has passed groundbreaking legislation opening up
its east coast to offshore wind investments. For Bill C 49 creates
a framework for developing offshore wind energy in Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland and Labrador. The bill amends the Accords Act,
allowing federal and provincial governments to jointly manage
offshore wind resources. As a result, regulatory bodies have been
renamed to reflect their expanded role. The Canadian government
sees this as a significant economic opportunity, potentially
creating thousands of jobs and attracting investors. billions in
investment. In a bold move to support innovative technology, the
Norwegian government has proposed a substantial subsidy of up to 35
billion Norwegian crowns, or approximately 3. 29 billion U. S.
dollars, for the country's first commercial floating wind power
tender. This support aims to accelerate the development of floating
offshore wind technology, which is still Considered immature and
expensive, the subsidy is based on a reference project of around
500 megawatts in size, but the actual capacity realized will depend
on various factors, including cost developments, and project
maturity. Moving to the UK, Leeds based engineering services
company Renew Holdings has made a strategic acquisition, purchasing
Dutch firm Full Circle Group Holding, BV, for 50 million pounds.
The Full Circle specializes in repair, maintenance, and monitoring
services for onshore wind turbines in the UK and Europe. The
acquisition allows Renew to enter the growing onshore wind services
market. Which has been bolstered by the new UK government's lifting
of restrictions. on onshore wind projects in England. In industry
news, German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex reported a decrease
in third quarter orders compared to the same period last year.
However, for the first nine months of the year, the company secured
orders of 5, 000 megawatts of wind turbines, slightly higher than
the previous year. The average sale price per megawatt of capacity
remains stable at 900, 000 euros. with a slight increase to 920,
000 in the third quarter. Lastly, significant progress has been
made on the 1. 2 gigawatt Baltic Power offshore wind farm in
Poland. The first of four directional drills for the onshore
connection has been completed in the Lubja Tova area. This 1. 4
kilometer tunnel will house power transmission cables Connecting
the offshore wind farm to its onshore substation. The project,
developed by PKN Orlin and Canada's Northland Power, is on
schedule. Construction of the onshore substation is over 40 percent
complete, with full completion expected in the fourth quarter of
2025. Baltic Power will be one of the first European offshore wind
projects to use Vestas new 15 megawatt wind turbines. And is
scheduled to begin operations in late 2026. That's this week's top
news stories. After the break, I'll be joined by my co host,
renewable energy expert and founder of Partilope Consulting, Rosie
Barnes, CEO and founder of IntelStor Phil Totaro, and the Chief
Commercial Officer of WeatherGuard Lightning Tech, Joel Saxum. Joel
Saxum: As busy wind energy professionals, staying informed is
crucial. And let's face it, difficult. That's why the Uptime
Podcast recommends PES Wind magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse
range of in depth articles and expert insights that dive into the
most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you're an
industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality
content you need. Don't miss out. Visit peswind. com today. Allen
Hall: Well, the biggest news in Denmark is that Equinor, Norway's
energy provider, has purchased a 9. 8 percent stake in Ørsted,
valued at approximately 2. 5 billion U. S. dollars. And this is
causing a lot of shockwaves around the world because I, I think No
one thought that Orstead would ever sell any part of it to Equinor.
However Joel, I do think this makes sense from a couple of levels,
right, financially at the moment. Joel Saxum: Yeah, there's from a
lot of levels, right? It's, it's a win win for both of their goals.
So, Equinor being, Equinor is Statoil. That's the Norwegian
National oil company as was dong which is or set as the danish
national oil company So you see this transition right dong has
transitioned over to be this renewable energy giant Econor
continued along its oil and gas path, but Econor has goals by 2050
to have so many so much renewables in their Investment portfolio.
This is getting them back Further along the lines to making those
goals reality. Also it puts money and some powerful backing into
Orsted. So win for Econor on the getting towards the renewable goal
side, win for Orsted for getting some more capital behind them. And
to be honest with you, if you have Econor that's invest in part of
your company and you're working in the offshore world, well, Econor
is a fantastic offshore player, whether it's oil and gas or not.
They know how to do things and they've invested heavily in offshore
as well already, right? They're a part of Highwind and some other
cool innovative projects. So to me, I think that they're not in the
press release. They did say that they're not shooting for a board
seat. If I was Orsted, I would almost ask them to be on the board.
I mean, you're here, why not come and be a part of the game? Allen
Hall: I think that would create an international situation, and
rightly so. But it does, Phil, beg the question, what's the move by
Equinor? Is it just there to back Orsted in a sense that they're
neighbors? They're all heading in the same direction, because it
does seem like, Equinor is getting back into more oil and gas at
the moment, while Oersted remains firmly committed to renewables.
Is that just a play that both of them can win? That Equinor gets a
little bit more of a renewable portfolio without them having to
develop it? Yes, Philip Totaro: at its most simplistic level. And
largely because, this was touted as a possibility for a while, I'll
say, but nobody ever really believed it was going to happen until
it did. But the reality is the reason that it happened was Orsted
needs the stability of large minority shareholders like Econor
because of not just the, the cash that they bring to the table to
help, offset some of the, issues that, that Orsted's had,
particularly with their, their offshore developments in the U. S.
But it,