The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast
Offshore Turbine Toilets, BlackRock’s $38B Acquisition
OEG celebrates 500 offshore turbine toilet installations while BlackRock acquires AES for $38 billion, signaling continued investment despite global wind auction slowdowns and European wind droughts.
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Welcome to Uptime News. Flash Industry News Lightning fast. Your host, Allen Hall, shares the renewable industry news you may have missed.
Allen Hall 2025: There’s good news today from the wind energy sector, and it starts of all places with toilets. OEG and Aberdeen Headquartered company just reached a milestone. They’ve installed their 500th in turbine welfare unit across the UK’s offshore wind sector. If you’ve ever worked on an offshore wind turbine, you know why this matters.
These aren’t just convenience facilities. Their dignity and their safety. The other difference between a dangerous transfer to a standby vessel and staying on the job. The units operate in the harshest offshore conditions with no external power or water. Nine offshore wind farms now have these facilities and they’re making offshore work accessible for [00:01:00] women helping retain a more diverse workforce.
And while OEG celebrates 500 installations, something much larger is happening in the American Midwest. Gulf Pacific Power. Just completed a major transaction with NL Green Power North America. Gulf Pacific acquired all of E L’s interest in five operating wind facilities, totaling over 800 megawatts of capacity.
The portfolio includes Prairie Rose in Minnesota, Goodwill and Origin, and Rocky Ridge in Oklahoma, and a facility in North Dakota. Projects with long-term power purchase agreements and high credit counterparties. And then there’s BlackRock. The world’s largest asset manager is placing a $38 billion bet on American clean energy.
They’re close to acquiring power Giant a ES, which have give BlackRock ownership of nearly eight gigawatts of wind power capacity. A [00:02:00] ES leads in sign deals with data center customers with artificial intelligence driving unprecedented electricity demand. That positioning matters.
The weather numbers tell their own story about wind’s challenging year. Most of Europe recorded wind speeds four to 8% below normal in the first half of this year. The wind drought curtailed generation in Germany, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. But the Northeastern United States saw winds seven to 10% above average in parts of Norway, Sweden, and Northern China also benefited.
And in storm, Amy, which is passing through the uk, it drove wholesale electricity prices negative for 17 hours. 20 gigawatts of wind power flooded the grid and the grid paid users to consume electricity. Too much wind, not enough demand. The offshore wind industry faces real headwinds. Global awards fell more than 70% in the first nine months of this year.
Of about 20 gigawatts of expected auctions, [00:03:00] only 2.2 gigawatts have been awarded. Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark are preparing new frameworks to restore investor confidence and Japan designated two promising offshore zones, but confidence there is still shaken when Mitsubishi pulled out of its first auction due to some sorry costs.
So here’s what we have. An Aberdeen company celebrating 500 toilet installations that transform working conditions. A Midwestern power company expanding its wind portfolio by 800 megawatts and the world’s largest asset manager, betting $38 billion on American energy infrastructure.
All while offshore auctions stall globally, all while Europe experiences a wind drought and the UK experiences at times too much wind. The sector faces challenges US federal opposition, variable weather, and market slowdowns, but the fundamentals haven’t changed. Data centers. Need power and [00:04:00]someone has to generate those megawatts and companies are still buying wind farms.
Asset managers, are still making billion dollar bets, and engineers are still improving infrastructure. One toilet at a time. When a company celebrates its 500th toilet installation, it’s about commitment to an industry they believe has a future. When investors acquire 800 megawatts of operating capacity, they’re betting on tomorrow.
And when the world’s largest asset manager places a $38 billion bet. They’re looking past the turbulence to see the demand. 500 reasons to believe each one installed in a turbine tower. Each one making life better for workers in harsh conditions.
Each. One. A sign that this industry isn’t going anywhere.
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