http://www.dragonfly-windturbine.com
Dragonfly wind turbine
March 18th, 2010Enabling Offshore Wind Supply Chain Summit
March 18th, 2010(London 25-26 May, 2010)
http://www.enabling-offshore-wind-supply-chain-2010.com/index.asp
European Energy Giants Increase Renewable Energy Portfolios
March 16th, 2010European energy companies have reported significant progress in the growth of their renewable energy portfolios for 2009.
Germany’s E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf) showed the largest growth, reporting a 50% increase in energy generated from renewable sources in 2009. Danish energy company Dong Energy (Skaerbaek, Denmark) reported an 8% rise in renewable energy for the same period.
E.ON’s annual report showed that renewable energy from hydro, wind, solar and biomass projects in Europe and North America topped 2,957 megawatts (MW) in 2009, up from 1,979 MW in 2008. Wind installations in the United States accounted for much of the growth, including the 782-MW Pyron Windfarm near Roscoe, Texas. Onshore wind played the largest role in E.ON’s renewable surge. New windfarms in Spain and Portugal accounted for most of the company’s European growth. E.ON’s 180-MW Robin Riggs offshore windfarm in the U.K. started feeding electricity to the national grid in September. Overall, wind accounted for 96% of E.ON’s Climate and Renewables portfolio, and according to E.ON CEO Wulf Bernotat, renewables will remain a key area in the company’s future capacity growth.
“The current focus of our renewables investments is on expanding our wind capacity,” explained Bernotat. “In the last two years, we’ve achieved unprecedented growth in wind power and have already become one of the world’s largest wind power producers. In 2009, we established solar power as our second key renewables technology.”
Between 2007 and 2009, the average size of E.ON’s windfarms increased from 15 MW to 75 MW, while average turbine size grew from 1.4 MW to 1.9 MW. E.ON is on course to invest 8 billion euros ($11 billion) in renewables between 2007 and 2011 and has a goal of reaching 10 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2015. E.ON completed its first solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in Le Lauzet in southern France in 2009 and is part of the ambitious Desertec project to build massive solar farms in North Africa to provide power for Europe. For additional information, see related article from June 19, 2009 – European Companies Plan $550 Billion Solar Project in Sahara Desert.
Meanwhile, Dong Energy reported that power from renewables grew 8% in 2009 to 2,810 gigawatt-hours. Renewables now account for 16% of Dong’s energy mix. More than 40% of the company’s investments in 2009 went toward renewable power projects, and five new windfarms were commissioned last year.
Rexroth Bosch Group – Gear Technology and Hydraulics for Wind and Wave Generators
March 16th, 2010As producer of hydraulic and gear technology systems Rexroth is a competent partner and comprehensive supplier to manufacturers of wind turbines.
http://www.boschrexroth.com – wind
Green Ocean Energy Ltd – wave systems
March 15th, 2010From the work on the Ocean Treader, a derivative machine of simplified design, Wave Treader, has arisen using aspects of Ocean Treader and mounting them on the foundation of an Offshore Wind Turbine. This shows promise to be highly commercially attractive, to have low technical risk, and to be quick to market. Npower has supported a Feasibility Study into the commercial application of Wave Treader via their Juice Fund and we expect to start building a full size prototype of Wave Treader in 2009 with commercialisation in 2011.
Offshore wind turbine platforms
March 15th, 2010
Wind Power Upkeep Woes Also Offer Opportunities
March 12th, 2010Wind turbine technology has become a fully commercial venture, but the recent rapid growth of the wind industry has strained its supply chain to meet demand in a timely manner. Furthermore, unexpected component failures, especially electronic controls, gearboxes, generators, and rotor blades, have driven up operations and maintenance costs.
During the course of the research for a new report just published by Wind Energy Update, it ultimately became clear that reliable and verifiable data on wind industry operations and maintenance cost trends is quite rare. In fact, there are no current widely available data sets illustrating these wind industry costs.
The key to reducing operations and maintenance liabilities is preventive maintenance substituting for unscheduled maintenance. Here is a list of the primary findings derived from a Wind Energy Update survey conducted for this report:
- The percentage of wind turbines still under warranty during the time of Wind Energy Update survey was 79 percent. Due to this fact, most owner-operators don’t even know what their exact costs of operations and maintenance are. Due to the unexpected high failure rates of major components with the most recent class of multi-megawatt turbines, original equipment manufacturers have no motive to share their failure rate data with owner-operators, let alone researchers trying to publicize these facts.
- Operations and maintenance costs for wind power are far higher than originally projected, particularly in the United States, now the world’s largest wind power market.
- Europe’s emphasis on preventive rather than reactive maintenance results in overall lower operations and maintenance costs than the United States: a 2 to 5 percent advantage if resource factors are accounted for.
- According to this Wind Energy Update survey, the percent change in wind farm return on investment was negative 21 percent with a standard deviation of 13 percent. This underperformance of wind assets is most likely attributed to both differences in power production and operations and maintenance costs over original estimates.
- The same surveys showed that the percentage of total wind initial project costs invested in operations and maintenance was 3 percent with a standard deviation of 3 percent. Many project owner-operators had originally estimated operations and maintenance at one percent of initial project costs.
- Finally, the average values of operations and maintenance costs obtained from surveys were $0.027 per kilowatt-hour. This compares to early estimates by one of the world’s dominant turbine suppliers of $.005 per kilowatt-hour.
Part of the challenge facing the wind industry as it scales up turbines to more efficiently capture the kinetic energy from the wind is pure and simple science. While the weight of larger rotors is designed to capture wind energy increases by the cube, power generation only increases by the square.
In other words, increasing rotor lengths from 40 to 80 metres increases weight (and turbine cost) by a factor of 8, but energy capture only by a factor of 4.
New, more radical designs such as two-bladed rotors, direct drive turbines without gearboxes and even various vertical axis designs are now coming to market as designers seek new innovations to address this fundamental dilemma.
Europe’s Ambitious ‘Green Grid’ Plan
March 12th, 2010To boost new energy sources such as wind, solar, and tidal, nine countries will link up producers through a €30 billion smart grid under the North Sea
By Valentina Pop
Nine north-western European countries are planning a giant underwater energy grid in the North Sea linked to wind farms, tidal power stations and hydroelectric plants.
Thousands of kilometers of high-tech energy cables are set to be laid on the seabed of the North Sea in the coming ten years, in what will become Europe’s groundbreaking energy park, Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reports.
The cables would link existing and new windmills off the German and British coasts with Belgian and Danish tidal power stations and Norwegian hydroelectric plants. The €30-billion project would compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy and provide a steady flow to the countries involved.
Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg are behind the project. Their respective energy ministers last month signed a so-called North Seas’ countries offshore initiative, just as the international climate change summit in Copenhagen was kicking off.
“We’re already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today’s announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry,” Philip Hunt, the British sustainability minister, said in December.
Berlin sees itself as the driving motor behind the scheme. “For Germany, as a country with ambitious offshore-development plans, this initiative has great importance. It focuses on network connection and integration, which is crucial for wind energy to reach consumers and to make offshore energy generation a success,” German minister for economy and technology Rainer Bruderle said on Wednesday (5 January) in a press release.
He added that the idea came about during a meeting of French, German and Benelux representatives on energy issues.
After initial meetings in Ireland last year, officials from the nine countries will meet in the February, and aim to sign a binding agreement by the end of 2010. The project is mainly going to be funded by energy firms, which will be drawn into the negotiations. It is expected to produce 100 gigawatts of power.
The EU hopes to generate a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2020, a move which requires new modern energy grids, capable of absorbing the fluctuations of wind and solar energy.
9th WORLD WIND ENERGY CONFERENCE & RENEWABLE ENERGY EXHIBITION
March 11th, 2010Istanbul, Turkey, 15-17 June 2010
The 9th World Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition WWEC2010, will be organised by the World Wind Energy Association in cooperation with EUROSOLAR Turkey. The event aims to set up a powerful platform where the major players of wind energy technologies, industries and policies are gathered together to share the latest technologies and information effecting strategic decisions.
CONFERENCE TOPICS
1. Wind turbine technology, systems, and components
2. Wind power and other renewable energy system integration and storage
3. Grid connection
4. Hybrid systems and small wind turbines
5. Wind farm planning, onshore, offshore and stand alone
6. Monitoring, operation and maintenance of wind farms
7. Manufacturing of wind equipment
8. National policies on wind energy and renewable energy sources, barriers, incentives
9. Financing models: Equity, loans, carbon finance
10. Community power: Ownership models
11. International programmes
12. Training and education
Gamesa Gets Ready for the Big Push
March 11th, 2010The main Gamesa G10X-4.5 MW design feature, is its segmented composite Gamesa-designed INNOBLADE rotor blades. In addition, the 128 metre rotor diameter represents a wind industry record, while the 250 tonne Top Head Mass (THM) can be highly regarded in its performance class. Gamesa’s G10X-4.5 MW project is a major multi-year product development undertaking, and the company’s first genuinely in-house developed wind turbine. The overall product development process involved more than 150 Gamesa engineers and other experts located in its Spanish and Danish R&D centres, working in close co-operation with external specialists and research organisations.
GE Confirms Offshore Turbine Details
March 11th, 2010Speaking at the company’s ‘The future of alternative energy summit’, Stephan Ritter, GE Energy’s general manager for Renewable Energy Europe, confirmed a larger rotor diameter than the current 90.6 metre design and a power rating of some 4 MW. This compares with a 3.5 MW rating on the existing ScanWind models.
“Now is the time for investment in offshore.” – Stephan Ritter said.
Narec Receives £18.5M Grant for 100-MW Offshore Wind Platform
March 11th, 2010The UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) this week announced that it has allocated an £18.5 million grant to fund an offshore wind test site at Narec in Blyth, Northumberland.
“We very much welcome this funding award and the continued support we have received from Central Government and Regional Development Agency, One North East, which is creating a national hub in North East England for the development of offshore wind technologies,” said Andrew Mill, CEO of Narec. “Today’s announcement will enable Narec to progress with our plans to deliver a 100MW grid connected offshore demonstration platform, with the capacity to accommodate up to 20 large-scale prototypes.”
Narec said that the facility will enable manufacturers and wind farm developers to identify best practice approaches across the supply chain for the development, deployment and O&M of new turbine technologies, which will be most pertinent to the Crown Estate Round 3 Programme.
“We are delighted the Government has chosen to support this groundbreaking project,” said Ian Williams, director of Business and Industry at One North East. “Narec is supporting the Agency and our many partners to attract global companies to our region and this further investment develops further our comprehensive innovation and test offer for the global offshore wind industry.”
New Energy Husum 18-21 March 2010
March 10th, 2010Over 220 exhibitors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, Korea, India, the USA and China and across the whole renewable energy sector will be presenting the latest products and developments for generating renewable electricity and heat. The main themes are: solar energy, bioenergy, geothermal energy, small wind turbines, electromobility, energy advice, energy-saving building, and financial advice.
UK, NORTH-EAST group helps seal deal for £25m turbine site
March 10th, 2010A NORTH-EAST law firm has helped to ensure the region becomes home to a £25m green energy factory, which will make the world’s biggest turbine blades and could create 3,000 jobs.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week unveiled plans for the Neptune Blade facility, on the riverside at Walker, Newcastle. It will be the first factory in the UK to build offshore turbines.
The project, by Clipper Windpower, based in the US, is expected to be completed this year, creating 500 jobs on Tyneside and thousands more in the supply chain.
India Aims for 30% Reduction in Power Sector’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2022
March 10th, 2010The government of India has announced a low-carbon growth strategy that is aimed at achieving the country’s target of decreasing the intensity of the nation’s power sector greenhouse gas emissions.
The policy implementation will begin by reducing power sector emissions by almost 30% by 2022, in comparison to levels recorded in 2005. The low-emission strategy includes the withdrawal of 8,000 megawatts (MW) of inefficient thermal power units from operations over the next 12 years; the addition of 27,000 MW of gas-based power generation capacity; the addition of 80,000 MW of high-efficiency supercritical thermal units; and the installation of 41,000 MW of renewable energy facilities.
About 1,100 MW of old, inefficient thermal units already have been retired. As an incentive to the states, the government proposes to compensate for 50% of the generation capacity of the unit prior to shutdown by allocating from the government’s unallocated quota during the normative period of shutdown. The plan includes the provision of a huge boost to the hydropower sector by facilitating statutory clearances required to harness 41,000 MW of new hydropower capacity within the same time frame.
The policy will soon issue directives regarding the minimum efficiency that must be maintained by new power generation units. Appliances, buildings and industries also will be issued energy intensity standards. From India’s 13th five-year plan period, 2018-22, coal linkages and environmental clearances will be issued to only those thermal power projects that are based on highly efficient supercritical technology. About half of the coal-based power generation units included during the 12th five-year plan period, 2012-17, will be based on supercritical technology.
The renewable energy target includes the addition of at least 10,000 MW of solar power units and 31,000 MW of non-solar units. The plan proposes to set up and operate new and existing gas-based power units by utilizing both indigenous and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
According to a government official associated with the plan, the entire focus of the strategy is to use superior technology and cleaner fuels. As per current conditions, the average emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt-hour of generated power is 1 ton for subcritical units, 0.88 tons for new coal-based supercritical units, and 0.46 tons for gas-based units. By implementing the new strategy, the number could go down to 0.25 tons for gas-based power units.
In January 2010, India had informed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) about its plans to implement voluntary mitigation actions aimed at decreasing the emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 20% to 25% by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 levels. Emission intensity can be defined as the kilograms of CO2 emitted to generate 22 US cents of the GDP.
In January this year, Pramod Deo, the chairman of India’s Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) (New Delhi), said that India is considering the possibility of permitting the country’s power companies to begin trading renewable energy credits from May in an effort to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and create a multibillion-dollar market. If implemented, the plan will place India far ahead of China and other developing nations in creating a market for domestic emissions trading and, consequently, encourage investments in clean energy projects. Deo said that the nation could have a Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism by April or May this year. Independent analysts have estimated that trade in renewable energy credits could reach $10 billion by 2020.
Another plan proposes to develop a parallel system in which credits from energy-saving projects will be traded. According to Ajay Mathur, the director general of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (New Delhi), such a market is expected to grow to $16 billion within half a decade.
Sweden Plans to Build 2,000 Wind Turbines
March 10th, 2010The Swedish government has revealed plans to build 2,000 wind turbines over the next 10 years to make renewable energy as productive as the country’s nuclear power stations.
Sweden is one of the most advanced countries in Europe in the renewable energy sector and has set a goal to produce 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. Sweden’s Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson claimed that the turbines will help boost electricity from renewables by 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2020. In addition to this, the country will also expand the rollout of solar farms and biomass plants to add another 15 TWh. With this extra 25 TWh, renewable energy production will reach 50 TWh, the equivalent of the power produced by Sweden’s nuclear power sector. Renewable energy currently accounts for about 20% of Sweden’s total electricity mix.
“Sweden has extremely good prospects for rapidly increasing the production of renewable energy, especially from the burning of biofuels, cogeneration plants and wind power,” Olofsson wrote in a recent report.
According to the latest statistics from the European Wind Energy Association (Brussels, Belgium), Sweden accounted for more than 1,550 megawatts (MW) of installed wind at the end of 2009, up from slightly more than 1,000 MW at the end of 2008. In Europe, Sweden accounted for 5% of new wind installations last year, investing about 770 million euros ($1.04 billion) in 200 wind power installations. While Sweden has nowhere near as much wind power as Denmark’s 3,500 MW, Sweden’s investment in the sector is growing very quickly and it now has three times more wind than Norway and 15 times more than Finland, its closest neighbours.
The move to drastically increase the country’s wind power generation capacity has been welcomed by industry groups.
“It’s very positive and a sign of strength for the entire industry that continues to attract very large investments and grow rapidly in the worst downturn in modern times,” said Matthias Rapp, chief executive officer at Swedish Wind Energy, (Stockholm, Sweden), which represents most of the wind energy companies in Sweden.
Last year, Norwegian energy company Statkraft AS (Oslo) signed a 1 billion euro ($1.36 billion) deal with Swedish forestry and timber company Södra (Vaxjo) to build a potential portfolio of 300 wind installations on Södra’s properties. The deal saw Statkraft take a 90% share in the small wind power operation, Södra Vindkraft AB. The company believes it could generate 1.6 TWh of electricity per year. For related news item, see September 9, 2009, article - Statkraft Looks to Billion-Euro Deal for Swedish Wind Power.
Installation complete for first offshore wind farm Outside Europe
March 10th, 20102010-02-27
At 3:28 pm February 27 upon connection of the 34th wind turbine to the offshore pile cap, all the Sinovel 3MW offshore wind turbines for the Shanghai Donghai Bridge 102MW offshore wind power demonstration project were successfully installed.
Construction starts for Sinovel 5MW wind turbine project in Jiangsu
March 10th, 20102010-01-11
A grand ceremony was held for the groundbreaking of the Sinovel 5MW wind turbine project at Sinovel Yancheng Base on the morning of January 11.
European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC)
March 8th, 2010Tuesday 20 – Friday 23 April 2010, Warsaw, Poland
The European Wind Energy Conference & Exhibition (EWEC) is widely regarded as the most professional, comprehensive and informative event in the wind sector. It offers a unique opportunity to generate new business leads.
EWEC is the only annual event which combines an extensive exhibition of the leading players with a conference covering every key aspect of the wind market – from technical and theoretical to policy and practice. Join over 7,000 key players in the wind industry for four days of networking and professional development.
www.ewec2010.info
Clean Tech Looks Forward to Heavy Investment from Global Corporates
March 4th, 2010Spending in the clean technology industry shows no signs of decline and in spite of the global economic situation, spending by the world’s biggest companies in this area looks set to increase. A recent survey – conducted by leading professional services organisation Ernst and Young – yielded these results from consultations with more than 300 executives worldwide from corporations with revenues in excess of US$1bn.
As Gil Forer, Global Director of Cleantech at Ernst & Young explains:
“The increasing interest and activity of multibillion-dollar companies around the globe underscores the growing market opportunities in cleantech. Making good on those opportunities will likely depend on identifying new partnership models that enable corporations and emerging cleantech companies to meet their own objectives while facilitating the arrival of a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy.”
“Also, the rising demand for finite natural resources, spurred by growth in population and in the numbers of middle-class consumers in emerging-market countries, is driving the need for corporations to establish a resource-efficiency agenda to ensure sustainable long-term growth and competitive advantage.”
http://greeneconomypost.com/clean-tech-linvestment-corporates-–-ernst-young-7156.htm
Fortum invests in new waste-to-energy power plant in Lithuania
March 3rd, 201023.2.2010 12:15
Fortum is building a new combined heat and power plant in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The value of the investment is around EUR 140 million. Purchasing of main equipment has been now agreed and the power plant will be completed for production by January 2013.
The new power plant will use municipal and industrial wastes and biomass as fuels. The production capacity will be approximately 50 megawatts (MW) heat and 20 MW electricity. The district heating will be sold to Klaipedos Energija and the electricity will be sold to the national grid.
Seabased AB – wave energy
March 2nd, 2010Seabased AB develops industrial solutions for sustainable conversion of ocean wave energy to electricity, thereby creating lasting value for consumers, customers, society and shareholders.
Vertical Wind AB
March 2nd, 2010
Vertical Wind AB has developed a new and exciting wind power technology based on a vertical axis wind turbine with a cable-wound direct driven generator. The turbine does not need a pitch or a yawing mechanism and the direct driven generator eliminates the need of a gearbox. The robust and simple technology with few moving and sensitive parts compared to conventional wind turbines, gives a higher availability and reliability as well as lower cost for maintenance. Furthermore, this type of wind turbine is quieter than its horizontal counterpart.
New report defines true cost of wind turbine operations & maintenance
March 2nd, 2010“Gearboxes are still the Achilles’ heel for the wind industry, and can cost up to $500,000 to fix due to the high cost of replacement parts, cranes (which can cost $75,000-$100,000), post installation testing, re-commissioning and lost power production,” says one long-term veteran O&M technician.
U.K. Rubbish Dumps to Get Wind Turbines
March 2nd, 2010Spanish construction, services and energy giant Fomento de Constucciones y Contratas SA (FCC) (Madrid, Spain) has revealed plans to build wind turbines on rubbish dumps across England, Wales and Scotland.
The company has revealed plans to spend up to 114 million euros ($154 million) for the installation of 80 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines at some of its 100 U.K. landfill sites, operated through subsidiary Waste Recycling Group (WRG) (Northampton, England). The selection of sites and technology will be carried out by FCC’s energy arm, FCC Energy (FCCE).
http://www.industrialinfo.com/showNews.jsp?newsitemID=156518
Mitsubishi to invest $150m in UK offshore turbine project
March 1st, 2010Japanese engineering giant Mitsubishi has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UK government to invest up to £100m ($153m) in an R&D project to build an offshore wind turbine prototype.
ABB
February 26th, 2010
The Switch – generators and power converters
February 25th, 2010The Switch supplies individually tailored permanent magnet generators and full-power converter packages to meet the needs of today’s wind turbine applications. Each of our solutions is designed and built to withstand harsh conditions.
Customers: Goldwind (China), WinWind (Finland), ScanWind (Norway) – now belongs to GE, PowerWind (Germany) etc.
The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?
February 25th, 2010In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that’s inexpensive and clean, with no emissions. Well over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it, and one of them, Bloom Energy, is about to make public its invention: a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml
Hong Kong moves on with 100-MW offshore wind plan
February 25th, 2010Hong Kong Electric will pursue plans to build a 100-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Southwest Lamma Channel, especially now that that an environmental impact assessment has been made for the project.
http://www.ecoseed.org/en/general-green-news/renewable-energy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/6180
UK’s 32GW of offshore wind power by 2020 infeasible
February 25th, 2010…Britain will need to build two and a half wind turbines a day to have any chance of reaching its target of supplying 35% of its power from wind by 2020.
One of the major hurdles is related to the fact that there is no turbine manufacturing capacity in the UK…
http://social.windenergyupdate.com/weekly-brief/weekly-intelligence-brief-february-15-22
O&M strategy: Keeping offshore turbines turning
February 25th, 2010Colin Morgan, director of offshore wind at consulting engineers Garrad Hassan, expects the availability, or machine reliability, of next-generation offshore turbines to come out in the low 90s compared to the average 97-98 percent reliability achieved in onshore turbines.
Why the deficit? In part, this will be due to more frequent occurrence of turbine operation at full power.
But for the main part, it will be due to the huge challenge of repair access. When operating offshore, time is money, particularly when a crane vessel costing up to £50,000 per day is required. Operators will need bigger, better turbines, and optimum access systems.
http://social.windenergyupdate.com/industry-insight/om-strategy-keeping-offshore-turbines-turning
Northstar Wind Towers, LLC – Modular Wind Tower Manufacturer
February 25th, 2010What advantages does a modular tower offer?
By incorporating Northstar Wind Towers to support your turbines, you gain tremendous competitive advantages:
• reduced transportation costs
Depending on destination, Northstar Wind Towers can save you 50% to 75% in transportation costs compared to conventional tubular towers.
• reduced raw material costs
Modular technology enables our towers to be built with less steel, lowering material costs significantly.
• larger turbines
With added tower height available, you eliminate a major hindrance to manufacturing larger turbines. Taller towers allow you to take advantage of greater shear values, producing more megawatt hours, and enable developers a faster return on investment.
• bringing marginal wind regions into play
With the ability to incorporate taller towers, your turbines give developers the opportunity to generate energy from areas that otherwise may not have sufficient wind at 80 meters or lower. Again, you offer developers an advantage that few turbine manufacturers can provide.
• faster project delivery
Manufacturing panels as opposed to tubular sections is much faster. Even painting is an automated, in-line process. Once the panels are manufactured, shipping is immediate. No waiting for expensive, specialized transportation and permitting. With developers eager to meet deadlines for tax and project incentives or to beat their own competitors, your ability to deliver completed turbines faster gives you another critical market advantage.
Sway to erect 10 MW offshore wind turbine
February 19th, 201012 february 2010
Enova is granting NOK 137 million Sway AS to erect a 10 MW prototype offshore wind turbine in Hordaland, Norway.
Enova, set up by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) to promote environmentally friendly restructuring of energy consumption and energy generation in Norway, says the wind turbine is to be tested onshore for two years.
The rotor diameter is 145 m and the offshore wind turbine will have a floating tower. According to Sway, the tower is a pole filled with ballast beneath the water creating low centre of gravity. It will be anchored to the seabed with a single pipe and a suction anchor.
The offshore wind turbine can tilt 5-8°, and turns around a subsea swivel with the wind.
Sway is not the only company developing 10 MW wind turbines. Clipper Windpower is developing its 10 MW Britannia project scheduled for deployment in 2011. It is a geared wind turbine with blades over 70 m long, and the whole structure is 175 m high.
American Superconductor (AMSC) is also looking into a 10 MW offshore wind turbine.
All-Energy 2010 – Aberdeen, May 19/20
February 19th, 2010ROUND THREE – AND MUCH MORE! The Crown Estate has announced the successful bidders for nine vast offshore wind zones within UK waters. With a total capacity of 32GW these will, if fully developed, account for up to 6,000 turbines and up to 45,000 UK-based jobs in new coastal manufacturing hubs by 2020. All-Energy – the UK’s largest renewable energy show – is the perfect event in the perfect place for you to join in the transformation of the UK’s offshore wind capacity. Add to that the decision to approve the Beauly-Denny power line upgrade, FiT and RHI,and the forthcoming Pentland Firth licensing announcements, and it looks like being quite a year for exciting business opportunities.Explore them, and grasp them at All-Energy 2010.
http://www.all-energy.co.uk/ and info@all-energy.co.uk
Classified directory
February 17th, 2010Emissions reduction purchase agreement
February 17th, 2010The Philippines’ Metro Manila Development Authority (M.M.D.A.) and the World Bank have inked an emissions reduction purchase agreement for a project designed to address traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s busiest thoroughfare.
On behalf of the Carbon Fund for Europe, the World Bank will purchase emission reductions worth 364,000 euros ($498,000) from 2011 to 2013 following a 10-year crediting period under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.
Artemis Wind(TM) – Digital Displacement® hydraulic pump
February 17th, 2010High-pressure oil-hydraulic transmissions have long been considered for wind-turbines but the part-load efficiencies of the available hydraulic pumps and motors have been too poor to make them attractive. Artemis WindTM believes that the prototype Digital Displacement® wind-turbine transmission that it is now building will radically change this perspective. The new transmission will be lighter than competing technologies and will have unprecedented levels of controllability and electrical power quaility. It will be suitable for retro-fitting to existing machines and also for use in the next generations of very-large turbines.
Benefits
The majority of large modern wind-turbines use mechanical gearboxes to couple the slow rotation of the blades to the high-speed of the generator. However gearboxes are heavy and prone to failure. In-situ replacement is very expensive. Other wind-turbine designs use low-speed electrical-generators that are directly coupled to the shaft of the wind-rotor. Though reliable these machines are costly, very heavy and need full-power electronic frequency and voltage converters to condition their power for supply to the electrical network.
A continuously variable transmission-ratio allows the rotor to be operated at the best speed for optimal power capture whilst the synchronous generator is driven at a much higher constant speed. The hydraulic transmission shares its load across many pumping-modules and so avoids the few highly stressed line-contacts that are inherent in gear boxes. The ability of hydraulics to limit pressure to a safe working value avoids potential over-stressing of the driveline. Short-term storage in accumulators can smooth out wind turbulence.
Russian wind power blows in to energy gap
February 16th, 2010Renewable energy producers are lining up to invest billions of dollars in wind power projects in Russia, though Russian power generation has long been dominated by hydro-carbons, nuclear and hydro-electric schemes.
Russia’s centralized power systems cover only one third of the country’s territory, leaving more than 20 million people without mains electricity supply.
Edited 03 January, 2010
Offshore wind China 2010 (June 7-9)
February 15th, 2010SHANGHAI， Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — The Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA)， Global Wind Energy Council and Shanghai International Exhibition Co.，Ltd.，a subsidiary of the Shanghai branch of the China International Trade Promotion Committee， once again join forces to build Asia’s first professional platform focused on the offshore wind power market — the “Offshore wind China 2010″ — which will be held from June 7-9， 2010 in Shanghai. This event will provide opportunities for enterprises to meet， communicate and exhibit in respect to the design， installation and operation of offshore wind power projects， as well as the R&D and support of offshore wind turbines， with the aim to promote the healthy development of China’s offshore wind power market and wind power industry chain.
This exhibition has received strong support from the National Energy Board， Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission， Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Committee， and the provincial development and reform commissions of Jiangsu， Zhejiang， Shandong and Guangdong.
windSL ® is a leading developer of vibration monitoring systems for Wind Turbines.
February 15th, 2010“Our WT-HUMS (Wind Turbine Health & Usage Monitoring System) provides real-time, automatic and accurate diagnostics and prognostics for the mechanical components of Wind Turbines, such as gear boxes, bearings and shafts, contributing to their overall performance as well.
Our mission is to improve Wind Turbine performance, therefore reducing maintenance costs. Our WT-HUMS enables operators to predict, plan and control operation & maintenance activities.”
Finnish wind gear manufacturer cooperates with Dong Fang
February 11th, 201003 February 2010
Finnish wind gear manufacturer Moventas and Chinese Dong Fang New Energy Equipment (DFNEE) have agreed on R&D cooperation on wind turbines.
Together they will develop a 3 MW wind turbine for the Chinese market. Moventas‘ role is to provide the gear solution to the turbine.
The first prototype wind turbine gears will be delivered in December 2010.
LM Glasfiber joins Global Wind Alliance
February 11th, 2010The Global Wind Alliance currently brings together 14 key players within maintenance, repair and overhaul of wind turbines offering one point of contact for wind farm owners internationally.
LM Glasfiber’s international service unit currently has around 300 employees offering on-site repair solutions and builds on an international network of wind turbine blade workshops.
LM Glasfiber says its entry into the post-warranty wind turbine service and maintenance market is part of an overall strategy to strengthen its service offering and customer responsiveness.
http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/7134/lm-glasfiber-joins-global-wind-alliance/
Wind energy key to meeting Turkey’s rising power demand
February 11th, 2010Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010
Turkey must exploit its huge wind energy resources if it wants to meet its increasing power demand while becoming less dependent on energy imports, delegates heard today at a workshop on integrating wind power in Ankara.
The workshop, organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) in cooperation with the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA/TÜREB), brough over 300 representatives from industry, government and national electricity companies together to discuss the potential for wind power development in the country.
BARD joins with VOITH Turbo
February 11th, 2010Windpower plant manufacturer BARD has joined with Voith Turbo as a contract partner in the WinDrive project which has recently received the Hermes Award. Both companies have agreed to jointly develop a drive concept for the driveline of the new BARD 5.0 wind turbine, which features an increased output of up to 6.5 MW (7 MVA), an important step towards higher commercial viability of offshore wind power systems.
Wind Power Blows Strongest In Europe
February 11th, 2010GALWAY, IRELAND–February 9, 2010–Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)–Europe deployed more wind power in 2009 than any other technology for electricity generation. The latest figures from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) show that 39% of new electricity capacity installed was wind, followed by gas (26%) and solar photovoltaics (16%). In total, renewable energy technologies accounted for 61% of new power generating capacity installed last year. This is the second year running that renewable power investments have been higher than more traditional power generation technologies.
Wind energy’s share increased last year, up from 35% in 2008, but it may struggle in the global economic downturn to match that growth for 2010. Investment in new European wind farms reached 13 billion euros ($17.8 billion) in 2009, including 1.5 billion euros in offshore wind farms. Overall, 10,163 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity was installed across the European Union (EU), a 23% increase compared to 2008 installations. This was comprised of 9,581 MW onshore, an increase of 21% from 2008, and 582 MW offshore, up 56% from 2008.
http://www.industrialinfo.com/showNews.jsp?newsitemID=155567
Repower UK signs manufacturing deal
February 9th, 2010REpower UK, one of the country’s biggest suppliers of wind energy, has signed a preferred supplier agreement with British manufacturer, Mabey Bridge, to supply wind turbine towers for many of its UK developments.
The news follows the announcement last month that Mabey Bridge will create 240 jobs in a new £38 million facility in Monmouthshire.
The deal means that the steel tubular towers will be manufactured in the UK for most of REpower’s planned wind farms. The REpower nacelle and the blades will continue to be made to order at the REpower factories throughout Europe.
South West RDA
February 9th, 2010The South West RDA works for and promotes a modern, stronger and more resilient economy across South West England. Our work is all about creating better jobs, successful businesses, more prosperous cities, towns and villages within an economy that uses less carbon.
We work in close partnership with business leaders and representatives, skills and training providers, local authority members and officers across the region and nationally with ministers and civil servants.