News Archive December 2022

Comment: Go talk!

The US wants to invest billions in renewable energies and their industries in the fight against the climate crisis. What in itself is a good thing is now causing frowns and bad moods among Europeans.

Fugro Quest, a state-of-the-art vessel equipped with advanced deep-water technology, is the newest addition to Fugro’s geotechnical vessel fleet.

The annual Building Communities report from Wind Energy Ireland shows that wind farms delivered more than €4.3 million in funding to local projects last year via community benefit funds. This marks an increase of over €300,000 on 2020 and reflects the continuing growth of renewable energy.

The Limfjord Council is heading a DKK 100 million EU project in Denmark aimed at restoring coastal areas, beach meadows, and shallow fjord areas. The fjords ‘Limfjord’ and ‘Mariager Fjord’ and the seaside area ‘Nærå Strand’ make up the framework for the 'Coastal Life' project, aimed at improving conditions for nature and the climate.

Turbines on the dike

Wind farm Oostpolderdijk as role model

EoLIS 2022: Repowering strategies needed

14 GW of Europe’s existing wind farms are in need of repowering with 78 GW until 2030. Governments must find ways to adopt repowering strategies to extend the lifetime of these wind farms.

- Newly acquired Western Power Offshore Developments Ltd adds to RWE renewable development portfolio in Ireland - Acquisition of indicative 900MW development project strengthens RWE’s offshore wind growth in Ireland - East Celtic project consultation expected during 2023

The Power-to-X facility will be located in Idomlund near Holstebro in the western part of Denmark where with the planned huge offshore wind build-out access to large resources of renewable energy will be granted.

Up to 37,000 solar modules are to be installed in the Rhenish mining area from mid-2023. RWE intends to work closely with the neighboring communities, which are represented by Neuland Hambach GmbH.

Windfair.net met Christian Arnold, managing director for the operative German business at project developer JUWI, to talk about renewables, hybrid plants and aspects of the new German EEG.

The Baltic States are setting ambitious goals to reduce their carbon footprint and offshore wind is a major part of the approach. Lithuania is at the forefront of this energy revolution, recently announcing its first central offshore wind tender for up to 700 megawatts of capacity. This marks an important milestone in Lithuania's decarbonization efforts. Additionally, there is a collective ambition for the Baltic Sea region as a whole – by 2030, there should be 20 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity providing clean electricity for the whole area. This would be a huge step forward in transitioning towards cleaner sources of energy within the region and illustrates the willingness to create a more sustainable future.

Clyde Wind Farm: new contract secures jobs

A 15-year renewal of Siemens Gamesa's service contract extends existing jobs and provides increased apprenticeship and training placements.

Alongside specific initiatives for each country in which it operates, the company has launched, globally, the innovative share incentive plan, called BE IN, potentially benefiting more than 26,000 employees, blue- and white-collar workers. The aim is to share the value created with all people working in the Group, not just a few.

-Project would mark UK first for RWE with development of solar and battery storage in combination with existing onshore windfarm whilst supporting one of the largest lowland sheep farms - Tween Bridge Solar Farm to be located in south Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire - The project will also deliver a package of support for local community initiatives

Shortage of skilled workers, hybrid plants, hydrogen, continued operation, technical challenges of offshore wind farms: Windfair.net talked to two experts from TÜV NORD: Silvio Konrad is Chief Operating Officer Energy and Chief Commercial Officer Business Unit Industrial Services, Alexander Ohff is Executive Vice President Renewables.

With 40 wind farms running in Germany the investor will start construction of the new wind farms by the end of 2023. The construction period of the 12 new wind farms is scheduled from 2023 until 2027.

The company will supply 10 SG 5.0-145 wind turbines for a wind power plant in Albacete in southeastern Spain The agreement includes the maintenance of the wind turbines for a period of 20 years When installed, the park will supply clean energy to power the equivalent of 41,000 homes and prevent the emission of 140,000 metric tons of CO2 Siemens Gamesa has nearly 15 GW of installed wind energy in Spain, just over half of the country’s total capacity

Vestas wins 59 MW order in Sweden

Vestas has received a 59 MW order to power an undisclosed wind project in Southern Sweden. The order includes a total of 13 V150-4.5 MW wind turbines at a hub height of 105m.

Hyundai Electric to build factory, invest in tooling, and hire and train local team to produce Haliade-X turbines and generators in South Korea GE to bring its offshore expertise and the Haliade-X technology while remaining prime contractor toward customers, plus supporting operational ramp-up with Hyundai Electric South Korea plans to bring online 12 GW of offshore wind by 2030

Download the Clean Energy Investing in America report

New facilities and 7.000 new jobs expected.

Qualitas Energy, a global investment and management platform focused on renewable energy, energy transition and sustainability investments, is pleased to announce a partnership of its German subsidiary with a local developer to build 12 wind farms with a total capacity of more than 250 MW in Baden-Württemberg. The Qualitas Energy team was identified as the preferred partner in a structured bidding process.

Nature conservation must be worthwhile for indigenous and local communities and give them development opportunities. At COP15, Germany has been advocating for this in the negotiations.

Braun Windturbinen installs another small wind turbine in Germany

In the north of Germany, another Antaris turbine was installed.

The U.S. energy storage market grid-scale segment installed a record 4,733 megawatt-hours (MWh) in the third quarter of 2022, surpassing the previous quarterly high of 4,598 MWh in Q1 of 2021.

The first use of the certification will be for the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK, which will become the largest offshore wind farm in the world when it is complete.

Shell/Eneco joint venture wins Dutch tender

Wind farm Hollandse Kust (west) VI will be delivered through a joint venture called Ecowende and is due to be operational in 2026.

Schaeffler and Lhyfe start cooperation for green hydrogen

Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler signed a letter of intent (LOI) with French hydrogen producer Lhyfe regarding the production and purchase of green hydrogen.

British public loves renewable energy

88% of the UK people support using renewable energy - a new record high - and only 2% oppose it.

Vestas wins Spanish onshore order

Renewable energy developer Norvento Enerxia has placed a 62 MW order for several wind parks to be located in Galicia, Spain.

Slovakia needs to boost its wind energy industry

Slovakia currently only has 3 MW of wind energy capacity putting it in the EU’s bottom three with Slovenia and Malta.

Vattenfall expands position in Finland

Vattenfall, one of the country's largest power utilities, won the bid for a 1.3 GW offshore wind farm near Korsnäs off the west coast of Finland.

Around 26,500 solar modules produce enough green electricity to supply more than 3,500 homes / Efficient modules absorb sunlight at front and rear / optimised electricity feed-in thanks to battery storage • Plant to run until completion of Lake Inde

Cushaling Wind Farm was granted planning permission in 2020 and is expected to be operational in late 2024. Statkraft will also operate ithe wind farm when completed.

Vestas has received a 37 MW order for a wind park in Italy. The contract includes the supply and installation of six V162-6.2 MW wind turbines, as well as a 10-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement.

Iberdrola and the Port of Rotterdam will work towards setting up a supply chain to ship/import green hydrogen and its derivatives to meet the expected demand in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe.

The awarding of the first contracts marks an important step in what is anticipated to be a multi-million pound series of technical and environmental surveys around potential locations for new floating wind farms.

EU Energy Ministers agreed to urgently speed up the permitting of renewables. The decision for emergency measures to accelerate permitting had been reached in November already but the final green light was given at the 19 December Energy Council in a package deal with the agreement on an EU gas price cap. Notably the emergency measures on permitting mark the first time that the EU defines in law the expansion of renewables as a matter of overriding public interest.

Study: New England region will benefit from renewable energy deployment

The report detailed significant market benefits for consumers in Maine as well as in neighboring states.

Competitiveness Improvement Project Selections Will Lower Costs, Improve Technology, and Reduce Market Barriers for Small- and Medium-Sized Wind Turbines

Vestas to supply turbines for Derrinlough wind farm in Ireland

Following a very competitive international tender process, Vestas has been awarded the 21 turbine contract for Derrinlough Wind Farm.

Anemo’s cutting-edge technology will support RES to further diversify the types of services and solutions it offers its clients, complementing its existing in-house technical team and leading data-driven software solutions.

ABO Wind finishes solar farm construction in Greece

Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2023. The solar farm will generate approximately 76 GWh of green electricity and save over 32,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

Windfair wishes you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We would like to thank our members and business partners for the good cooperation and look forward to further joint projects in 2023.

The three-year initiative – known as MARine COexistence scenario building, or Marco – aims to develop a scalable system model toolbox for determining and forecasting marine coexistence between different users of the ocean and marine ecosystems. 

The wind farms in the Norfolk Zone are designed to deliver low cost, renewable electricity to homes and businesses across the UK, using more powerful turbines and world-leading design including a coordinated grid connection.

Eolus enters Polish wind market

Eolus has acquired a Polish onshore wind project in early-stage development.

Scottish Government wants 20 GW of onshore wind by 2030

Scotland’s onshore wind capacity will more than double by 2030 under plans to help cut harmful emissions and support the energy sector’s net zero transformation.

Fitch Ratings has today upgraded Statkraft’s rating to “A-” from “BBB+”, with a stable outlook. The upgrade is mainly driven by higher profits forecasted by Fitch.

Neoen and Prokon sign PPA with Equinix in Finland

Neoen and Prokon are announcing the signing of a new PPA with Equinix to provide at least 57 MW of green energy in Finland.

Hexicon to get additional patents for TwinWind™ technology

The EPO has concluded that Hexicon’s patent application meets the requirements on novelty, inventive step, and industrial application.

According to Lauri Ulm, Field Manager for Wind Energy at Enefit Green, the construction of Silale shows how quickly it is possible to build new renewable energy production units.

Akita Offshore Wind Corporation starts commercial operation of Japan's first offshore wind farm

The Akita Port Offshore Wind Farm is currently under commissioning work .