News Archive November 2022

Joint Venture to construct offshore high voltage substation for Ostwind 3

Smulders, HSM Offshore Energy and Iv-Offshore & Energy will jointly build substation for German offshore wind farm Ostwind 3 in the Baltic Sea.

Claus Sonberg, partner in strategic analysis and consulting agency Zynk, joins Statkraft as the company’s new Senior Vice President Corporate Communication and Marketing.

Inflationary cost pressures, slow permitting and uncertainty around the EU’s emergency electricity market interventions are stalling orders for new wind turbines, as WindEurope reports.

The two areas have the potential to produce enough clean wind energy to power nearly 3 million homes and are part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

Enel commissions new wind farm in Italy

The 29 MW wind farm will produce around 70 GWh per year from renewable sources.

New digital platform for subsea survey data launched

TrueOcean’s smart marine data platform (MDP) unifies subsea survey data formats for simplified management, analysis and sharing

This acquisition, which follows collaboration on anterior projects, will be essential to DNV’s service offerings in the area of power system planning and flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS).

EDF Renewables UK to construct Energy Superhub in Coventry

Coventry becomes the second UK city to host an Energy Superhub with a new 50 MW / 100 MWh battery.

An international consortium consisting of Orascom Construction (Egypt), ENGIE (France) and Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy (Japan) will work together to build a new 500 MW wind farm in Ras Ghareb, Egypt.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 announced the selection of Ramboll as the design and structural engineering firm for the turbine foundations on its 1.5 GW U.S. offshore wind project.

Quarterly revenue of EUR 3.9bn with an EBIT margin before special items of (3.2) percent. Continued strong wind turbine backlog of EUR 18.1bn despite lower order intake. Full-year guidance adjusted.

From November 6 to 18, the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) will take place again, this time in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. And as usual, in the days leading up to the start of the summit, the world community is taking stock of its efforts to protect the climate and ensure the survival of humanity.

With reliable gas supply from North Africa, lower power prices compared to the rest of Europe, and a renewable energy pipeline that stands out on the continent, Spain and Portugal have the potential to evolve into a new European energy powerhouse, according to Rystad Energy research.

BayWa r.e. forms joint venture to tackle Finnish wind market

BayWa r.e. and Exilion signed a joint venture to invest in the Finnish wind energy market.

Nordex receives Polish order

Nordex will supply 16 wind turbines for a 48 MW project in Poland.

Full seabed leases are granted at a later stage once applicants have the necessary consents from regulators, such as Marine Scotland, and have secured grid connections and financing, Crown Estate Scotland said.

TEPCO acquires Flotation Energy

It's the first move of Japanese TEPCO into overseas wind markets. Flotation Energy developed floating offshore wind farm Kincardine.

Flender expands Indian production capacities

“The Indian subcontinent is currently the global wind energy powerhouse," says Andreas Evertz, CEO of Flender Group.

DNV conducted an independent energy yield assessment and undertook a detailed technical due diligence study on all aspects of the offshore wind farm and the associated offshore transmission assets, which include the world’s largest capacity offshore AC substation.

Another floating turbine model gets funding in France

Eolink, Valorem and Centrale Nantes have received a €14.9m funding from the French funding program “France 2030".

Mainstream Renewable Power and Ocean Winds ready for 1.8 GW of floating wind

The two companies have signed an agreement with Crown Estate Scotland for the seabed lease agreement for its ScotWind site.

Another small wind turbine installed in South Germany

In Baden-Württemberg another Antaris small wind turbine has been installed by BRAUN Windturbinen.

The October Wind Energy report shows that wind energy provided 47 per cent of Ireland’s electricity in October 2022, making it the country’s chief source of electricity last month.

Luchterduinen OWF hosts oyster tables

As natural oyster beds in the North Sea are nearly gone, energy company Eneco and marine contractor Van Oord are working to restore oyster reefs in the Dutch North Sea.

Prysmian Group has been awarded a contract to provide inspection, maintenance and repair services for the submarine export power cable links connecting three offshore wind farms to the mainland.

Another wind energy record for the UK

Within the space of a week, the UK sets another wind energy generation record as Britain’s onshore and offshore wind farms generated more than 20 gigawatts for the first time on Wednesday.

The report clearly shows the collective level of energy transition ambition to date is not enough despite the Glasgow Climate Pact to upgrade 2030 targets in national pledges.

Shannon Foynes Port to become international offshore wind energy hub

The Shannon Estuary in Ireland presents a unique opportunity to develop the Atlantic offshore wind industry for Europe.

An increase in the potential overall project capacity from 2.6GW to up to 3.6GW has been identified for the proposed Ossian Wind Farm off the East Coast of Scotland after completing a full geophysical and benthic survey of the project area.

Report: Slowest Q3 in three years

Supply chain disruptions, trade and tariff issues, and lack of tax policy certainty all slowed renewable project starts.

TPI continues to produce GE rotor blades in Iowa

Under the agreement, GE and TPI plan to develop competitive blade manufacturing options to best serve GE’s commitments in the US market with production expected to start in 2024.

Low- and middle-income countries can transition to low-carbon, resilient growth pathways if key conditions are met with international support

Initial areas of focus for the collaboration include developing standardised base designs to be applied for high-voltage direct current and alternating current transmission systems to connect offshore wind farms and Equinor production facilities to mainland power grids.

Ørsted signs local subsidiary Doosan Vina for Vietnamese offshore wind projects

Doosan Enerbiity's Vietnamese subsidiary Doosan Vina signed a memorandum of understanding with Ørsted for the supply of monopiles last week.

Report: Only three countries will reach their 2030 offshore wind targets

ERM’s report outlines what is causing the situation despite the increased attention on renewable energy.

Schaeffler announces further structural measures

The Board of Managing Directors of Schaeffler AG has decided on additional restructuring measures aimed primarily at further boosting competitiveness.

Schaeffler delivers strong Q3 performance

Global automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler has presented its interim statement for the first nine months of 2022.

AXA would participate as a minority shareholder in the development of a wind farm of about 1,000 MW in Normandy, should Iberdrola be awarded the project in the auction in which it has already been shortlisted, the companies announced.

Global crisis will not slow digital transformation

"The need of connection and infrastructure is globally undeniable and unavoidable", says Prysmian.

PNE continues momentum and grows portfolio

In the first nine months of this year, PNE was able to commission the three wind farms "Wahlsdorf", "Gnutz I" and "Kuhstedt II".

Statkraft to supply Norske Skog Skogn with energy

Statkraft and Norske Skog Skogn have entered into a new long-term industrial energy agreement.

GOWA finds nine new members

The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) has announced that nine new countries will join their alliance.

Eurowind Energy and Capstone create joint venture for US market

The joint venture is currently developing a pipeline of more than 1GW of new renewable energy projects in California.

Vattenfall to start using near-zero carbon cement

Vattenfall, as a member of the First Movers Coalition, committed to using at least 10% of near-zero cement in future projects.

Global storage platform Eku Energy launched

The Green Investment Group has today announced the launch of Eku Energy, a global battery storage platform.

Falck Renewables rebrands as Renantis

After the acquisition of Falck Renewables by institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. in February 2022 the company will rebrand as Renantis

ABO Wind starts operating its first Polish wind farm

For the first time ABO Wind has connected a wind farm in Poland to the grid which will supply 15,000 households with green power.

ACCIONA signs PPA for Australian Wind Farm

ACCIONA Energía has signed an agreement for the supply of 150MW of 100% renewable energy to Queensland’s publicly owned energy generator Stanwell Corporation.

On August 29, OX2 announced that an agreement had been signed with Ingka Investments for the sale of 49 percent of three offshore wind projects in Sweden, with a potential capacity of 9,000 MW.

1.1GW Suez Wind Energy project gets co-investor

ACWA Power set to explore bringing on Oman Investment Authority as co-investor for 1.1GW Suez Wind Energy project

Iberdrola announces massive investments in the energy transition in the coming years

Record investment plan of €47bn to 2025, driven by organic investments in all markets and PNM Resources transaction

The agreement will see both parties work together to analyse the Japanese offshore wind market and develop a better understanding of in-country demand, as well as developing asset integrity programmes of work to support the maintenance of critical infrastructure.

Prysmian celebrates all time record quarter

Sales at €12,089M, organic growth at +15.0% (+16.2% in Q3)

For a long time, Europe was lulled into the security of Russian raw material imports. Now it needs to do a 180 degree turn, and fast. Finally, problems that have held back the renewables industry for years are to be addressed.

BRAUN Winturbinen busy installing new small wind turbines

BRAUN is busy installing new wind turbines in Lower Saxony, northern Germany.

Statkraft delivered strong third quarter results

Statkraft continues to offer long-term power contracts to maintain the position as a competitive supplier to the industry in Norway.

EIB and DBSA to boost private sector solar and wind investment across South Africa / Embedded Generation Investment Programme expected to deliver 1 200 MW green energy generation and replace 3.6 million tonnes of CO[2] emissions / New renewable energy to create hundreds of jobs across South Africa during construction and operation

The Vulnerable 20 Group of Finance Ministers (V20) of 58 climate vulnerable economies and the Group of Seven (G7) today officially launched the Global Shield against Climate Risks, an initiative for prearranged financial support designed to be quickly deployed in times of climate disasters. Initial contributions include around EUR 170 million from Germany and more than EUR 40 million from other countries.

The Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund invests $25 million and EIB Global invests $75 million in Alcazar Energy Partners II / The fund will finance renewable energy projects in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia / This joint commitment of EMCAF and EIB Global will support the development of onshore wind and solar photovoltaic, and potentially hydropower, biomass or battery-based electricity storage projects.

Prysmian awarded €60 M contract as part of Lightning Project in UAE

Scope of work: laying 134 km route of DC submarine cable system

Power production from the first turbine in the floating wind farm Hywind Tampen in the North Sea started at 12:55 CET on 13 November. The power was delivered to the Gullfaks A platform in the North Sea.

Siemens Gamesa and OX2 partner again with 70MW Riberget wind project in Sweden / The site in the Ljusdal municipality will deploy 11 SG 6.6-170 industry-leading wind turbines / The project is due to be commissioned in 2024 and includes a 35-year service contract / Siemens Gamesa 5.X platform sales in Sweden total close to 2.5GW

ABL Group has signed a framework agreement to provide engineering and marine services to support the construction as well as operations & maintenance (O&M) campaigns for Iberdrola's German offshore wind farms.

Strong demand at Gas and Power countered by operational problems at Siemens Gamesa / Adjusted EBITA before special items of €379 million, margin at 1.3% / Revenue increased nominally by 1.8%, order backlog with €97.4 billion at new record / Transformation continues to create a more agile and transparent organization / Due to net loss and expected challenges, no dividend proposed for 2022 fiscal year

Maria Ferraro (49) and Tim Holt (53) will serve on the Managing Board of Siemens Energy for another five years. The Supervisory Board has prematurely extended their mandates, which expire at the end of September 2023, until the end of November 2027.

IRENA and IPCC Agree to Partner on Renewables for Climate Action at COP27

Agreement calls for parties to work closely together to promote the widespread adoption of renewables to bolster climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

The ENACT initiative, which will coordinate global efforts to address climate change, land and ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss through Nature-based Solutions (NbS), was launched today as part of the COP Presidency's official programme.

Net Zero Pledges in G7 to Drive Up Global Hydrogen Demand by Up to 7 Times

IRENA calls on G7 to ramp-up a global green hydrogen market; makes key recommendation to leaders for their G7 Hydrogen Action Pact.

“Energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective and easiest to deploy solutions we have to combat climate change and reduce energy costs,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

Ingeteam develops power converter for future megaturbines

The converter is already available for offshore turbines up to 15MW and is projected to be ready for 18MW machines by 2024.

"We will expand and scale up our proven, successful business model. In doing so, we take advantage of market opportunities for the expansion of clean energies. At the same time, we are minimising the risks even further with our resilient business model," said Markus Lesser, Chief Executive Officer of PNE AG.

This year's prestigious awards went to Droniq GmbH ("Safety" category), Airbus Defence and Space GmbH ("Security"), and AfB gGmbH ("Sustainability"). The award in the "Start-up" category was decided by an audience vote: The winner is Kraftblock GmbH.

Ranking: Governments accelerate their renewable programs

The US retains its top position due to the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August 2022, which is viewed as a game changer for its green hydrogen industry.

Rotor blades made from wood

The partnership between Voodin Blades and Stora Enso supports Stora Enso’s strategic offering of innovative solutions to replace less environmental-friendly materials with renewable ones made from wood.

The five countries selected for this study are home to significant and untapped wind energy resource, and face socio-political and economic challenges which threaten to slow down their clean energy transition.

Ørsted to open new office in Texas

Ørsted announced today that it will open a new office in Texas that will serve as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) hub for its portfolio of clean energy solutions.

Following the signing of the agreement, GE and IRENA will explore how to jointly support decarbonization efforts in critical markets and sectors, including onshore and offshore wind, bio energy with CCUS, hydro, green hydrogen, energy storage, electrification, and the latest grid modernization technologies.

Irish energy provider Energia Renewables said it has reached a milestone developing the North Celtic Sea Wind Farm, as seabed surveys off the coast of Waterford have been successfully completed.

Study: offshore wind will not be profitable in all cases

A new report by TNO warns not all offshore wind farms will be profitable in 2030. In the study, TNO offers recommendations to arrive at a feasible business case.

"If we give municipalities a financial share of the profits from renewable energy plants, everyone will benefit. The voluntary municipal levy can help to accelerate the energy transition,” says CEO Katja Wünschel.

RenewableUK warns: Windfall tax will severely damage renewable energy investments

The UK Government announced that renewable electricity generators face a 45% windfall tax from January next year until March 2028.

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, today the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore the U.S. central Atlantic coast for public review and comment.

New project for wildlife protection launched

Vineyard Wind and Charles River Analytics announced a new collaboration today aimed at further protecting marine mammals during the construction of the Vineyard Wind 1 project.

wpd chooses Vestas turbines für Taiwanese projects

Vestas has secured a 21 MW order with wpd AG in Taiwan.

Burns & McDonnell and Bay Ltd. are teaming up to provide U.S.-based engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of offshore substations, the companies announced last week.

New York approves transmission line for offshore wind

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York State Public Service Commission approved a transmission line that will deliver electricity from the Sunrise Wind Farm.

Australia needs to formalize renewable energy targets

The country needs to formalize these targets into policy at the earliest to achieve them, states GlobalData.

Campbell Soups going green

Campbell Soup Company and Enel North America announced a 12-year virtual renewable power purchase agreement, supporting Campbell’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Phoenix Contact expands collaboration with Wölfel Winds Systems

The two companies offer monitoring solutions for the foundation and tower of wind turbine generators.

SeaTwirl gets financing for pilot and demonstration project

SeaTwirl has been awarded a grant for a larger pilot and demonstration project from the Swedish Energy Agency.

Boralex commissions repowered wind farm in France

The repowering of the wind farm, which was first commissioned in 2005 and has been operated by Boralex since 2018, has increased production by more than 50%.

GE Renewable Energy announced today that it has selected Mammoet UK to supply onshore heavy lifting and transport for the staging and assembly of turbine components for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Government market interventions hit renewables investments

Uncoordinated and ill-judged market interventions and new taxes on electricity producers are hurting renewables investments in Europe, at the time when we need them most.

Prysmian to get new cable-laying vessel

Prysmian Group announces an investment in a new cutting-edge cable-layer plus adjustment for cables equipment.

TPI and Vestas work closely together on global manufacturing and supply chain operations, based on Vestas’ specifications and requirements, and TPI is currently supplying a range of blade variants for Vestas' wind tubrines.

Bureau Veritas to work on certification for Korea floating wind project

Gray Whale 3 floating offshore wind farm is a product of a partnership between Corio Generation and TotalEnergies.

In order to allow efficient planning of the grid operator’s new offshore platform seismic measuring techniques have been employed to detect boulders below the seafloor in.

Fugro wins survey job in the New York Bight

Survey work will commence this year with the majority being executed in 2023, detailing geophysical and environmental conditions within the 510 km2 lease area.

Deutsche Windtechnik has signed a full service agreement, as independent service provider, with Eneco, which is one of Europe's leading sustainable energy companies.

Irish offshore wind energy to get push by new partnership

The long-term, exclusive partnership will see Ocean Winds and Bord na Móna co-own, identify and develop offshore wind energy opportunities around the coast of Ireland.

The EU Emergency Regulation is intended to massively accelerate the expansion of renewable energies in the short term. However, the exact opposite is threatening, because the regulation, which will be voted on in the EU today, contains a number of pitfalls.

Fugro secures two Dutch offshore wind site investigation contracts for the development of the Dutch IJmuiden Ver Site V-VI, Nederwiek (zuid) Site I and Hollandse Kust (west) Site VIII offshore wind zones.

The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, located between 12 and 20 km from the southwest coast of France, is now fully operational, announced EDF Renewables, Enbridge and CPP Investments.

Oceans Winds signs CPPA with Google

ENGIE, 50% owner of Ocean Winds, will provide Google with more than 5 TWh of green power from the Moray West project, a nearly 900 MW offshore wind farm set to begin generating power from 2025.

DNV to work on digital solution for decommissioing old wind farms

DNV is working with Reodor Studios to create a digital service that will make it easy to plan for sustainable decommissioning and recycling of old wind farms.

The Danish Energy Agency and the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have published a conceptual plan with a pipeline identifying 15 locations for offshore wind in India.

Egypt will fall short of meeting its renewable energy target

The country has huge potential for wind and solar, but also huge gas reserves that are just too tempting.

And on it goes in Schleswig Holstein.......!

Here the Antaris 5.5 kW with the customer's own mast.

New floating installation method used at Arcadis Ost 1

Heerema, Vestas and Parkwind complete its first wind turbine installation in the German offshore wind farm.

If consented, the 21-turbine Bloch Wind Farm would be capable of generating enough clean, low-cost electricity to meet the annual demand of around 100,000 homes each year.

GlobalData says : “Although Sweden has the financial means and support from the EU to implement large-scale grid projects, the challenge is the time-consuming process the country has in place and the various conflicting interests according to Swedish legislation and EU law."

"With the start of La Cabaña construction, we are continuing to lead the energy transition process towards a generation matrix based on renewable energies," said Fabrizio Barderi, Enel Chile's general manager.

Siemens Energy to build interconnector between Ireland and France

HVDC technology connects electricity grids of Ireland and France for the first time

Vestas to deliver turbines for South Korean offshore wind project

If the project materialises, Vestas will supply and install 84 units of the V236-15.0 MW turbine for the project, located off the south-east coast of South Korea.

OX2 sells Finnish onshore wind farm

Construction of the Niinimäki wind farm will begin immediately, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Iberdrola commissions Greek wind farm

Iberdrola has started the process of commissioning the Askio III wind farm, located in the town of Galatini, in the region of Western Macedonia, Greece.

RWE uses sustainable blade lift technology

RWE has commissioned its 17th onshore wind farm in Italy. The 25.2 MW Selinus wind farm is located in Sicily, where RWE already operates four onshore wind farms.

RenewableUK welcomes the comments by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, stating that onshore wind farms should go ahead in areas where they enjoy the support of local communities.

KfW IPEX-Bank co-financing Austalian wind farm

The Golden Plains wind farm has a total capacity of up to 1.3 GW and will consist of up to 228 Vestas wind turbines. It will soon supply electricity for 750,000 households.

wpd celebrates 15 years in Finland

In January 2007, wpd opened its first office in Finland in Espoo and started to develop wind farms in the country.

Disappointment in Spain

The 2022 Spanish renewables auction was very disappointing: A total of 3.3 GW was up for tender, 1.8 GW for solar PV and 1.5 GW for onshore wind, but only 46 MW of new wind energy capacity were awarded.

In dire need of skilled workers

The European wind industry will need to fill at least 150,000 new positions, from today’s 300,000 jobs to more than 450,000 in just 8 years.

Shell acquires Nature Energy

Based in Denmark, Nature Energy is a producer of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from agricultural, industrial, and household wastes.