News Archive October 2021

Global offshore wind pipeline continues to grow

The total pipeline of offshore wind projects around the world now stands at 413GW, states a new report by RenewableUK.

GE Renewable Energy to build extension for wind farm in Morocco

GE Renewable Energy will supply 40 Cypress onshore wind turbines for the 200 MW Aftissat onshore wind farm extension in Morocco.

GWEC establishes Africa WindPower to support energy transition

GWEC launches Africa WindPower to act as an interface between government and the private sector to accelerate wind power development in Africa.

Prysmian Group announces the obtainment of the Notice to Proceed for the approximately €200 million contract to supply a submarine power cable system for the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd completed the construction of two offshore substations for Ørsted which will be deployed in Taiwan’s Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms.

Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, says: “On the eve of the G20 Leaders’ Summit and the COP26 Climate Change Conference, governments of major economies need to show they are ready to drive a massive scaling up of investments in clean energy globally and steer the world onto a safer path. Failure to put their money where their mouth is could well mean failure to keep the door open to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.”

AqualisBraemar LOC have been appointed as Marine Warranty Surveyor (MWS) for the construction of Codling Wind Park, Ireland’s largest Phase One offshore wind project.

Prysmian to link Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Prysmian Group has been awarded a contract for a ±500kV HVDC submarine and land cable system to create an interconnection between the Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Pioneering an autonomous sailbuoy at Hywind Floating Offshore Wind Farm

Equinor has pioneered a novel method of data collection for offshore wind, using an autonomous sailbuoy at Hywind Scotland.

Salem to become offshore wind hub

Salem Harbor will become the second major offshore wind port in the State of Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind, Crowley Maritime Corporation and the City of Salem (Mass.) have announced.

GIG has acquired rights for planned Kattegatt Offshore Wind

Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) has acquired the rights for the Kattegatt Offshore Wind Farm in Sweden.

Consortium to take part in Scotish leasing round

A consortium of Green Investment Group, TotalEnergies and RIDG takes part in the ScotWind round bid for the ‘N1’ site near Orkney and Caithness.

Van Oord introduces mega ship to install 20 MW offshore wind foundations and turbines

The ship is expected to enter the market in 2024 and will work under the Dutch flag.

Statkraft acquires large wind farm portfolio

The wind farms are located across Germany and France.

A new Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) report has been launched to help Scottish companies to understand and gain a foothold into the burgeoning global offshore wind market.

Serbia has recently adopted a renewable energy law and is now preparing detailed regulations which will pave the way for technology-specific auctions for onshore wind and solar PV, using a CfD model.

How to successfully develop offshore wind in emerging markets

The report is a publication of the World Bank Group’s Offshore Wind Development Program led by ESMAP in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The two companies want to develop floating offshore wind farms off the Italian coast and the start of the authorization process for the first project in Puglia, called Kailia Energia, in the waters off Brindisi.

Statkraft participates at RE-Source 2021

RE-Source, taking place from 14–15 October 2021 in Amsterdam, is the annual gathering of corporate buyers and clean energy suppliers like Statkraft.

Statkraft supports Norway's green startup scene

A key part of its strategy, Statkraft has dedicated itself to exploring new ventures and supporting the startup scene.

PNE Group builds first turnkey wind projects in Poland

The PNE Group has sold Polish wind farms to a subsidiary of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc.

GE Renewable Energy’s 14 MW Haliade-X starts operating

The Haliade-X prototype in Rotterdam has started operating at 14 MW making GE Renewable energy the first industry player to operate a turbine at this power output.

Nexans wins Parkwind contract

Nexans has won a contract with Parkwind to provide turnkey business continuity services to four of its offshore wind farms in Belgium.

Stop greenwashing!

More than 20 organizations have launched a petition under the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) to call for a law banning fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the European Union.

LS Cable & System to supply offshore wind farm in Taiwan

The company will be supplying cables to the largest offshore wind farm in Taiwan.

Vattenfall sells renewable energy assets to European Energy

Vattenfall sells eight wind and solar assets, totaling 85.8 MW, located in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and UK.

The initial focus of the collaboration will be on creating a North America and Europe based supply chain of vertically integrated magnet manufacturing that both companies will use in the future.

Maryland to get its first emissions-free offshore wind O&M facility

The nearly $20 million facility is located in west Ocean City, Maryland, and will service Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind program.

Before the summer, the tender for Hesselø OWF was put on hold as the results of Energinet's preliminary investigations had revealed soft clay formations 20-30 m below the seabed at the site. Now, the DEA and Energinet can invite potential developers to a technical dialogue to discuss whether the seabed conditions challenges the establishment of Hesselø OWF.

Prysmian Group invests in North American production facilities

Prysmian Group announced the investment of additional $100M over the next two and half years to increase its North American plant’s production capacity.

GE Renewable Energy wins 810 MW order from India

GE Renewable Energy has received an order from JSW Energy to supply 810 MW of onshore wind turbines for their upcoming wind farms in Tamil Nadu, India.

Senvion India wins 591 MW order from JSW Energy

Senvion was awarded a 591 MW project to supply wind turbines for JSW Energy in India. The project is expected to meet the electricity needs of 450,000 Indians in the future.

Xu Le, senior research analyst from Wood Mackenzie, said: “The US and China will dominate the global storage market, together commanding over 70% of total global installed capacity through 2030.”

Schaeffler develops new technologies for the industrialization of hydrogen production

Schaeffler is the consortium lead for the sub-project “Stack Scale up – Industrializing PEM Electrolysis” of the H2Giga hydrogen flagship project

Research: jobs in energy sector to increase dramatically

A study conducted at LUT highlights the fundamental benefit of transitioning to zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Cadeler to install wind turbines at German offshore wind farms

Project developer Ørsted chose Danish company Cadeler to install wind turbines at the two German offshore wind farms Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3.

BlueFloat Energy and Falck Renewables consider floating offshore wind off Celtic Sea coast

The Celtic Sea offers great potential for deploying floating offshore wind farms due to the excellent wind resource.

Jan De Nul Group has ordered a set of cradles, a skidding system and an upending hinge for its new Floating Installation Vessel Les Alizés to handle and install XXL monopiles.

Prysmian Group attends ACP Offshore WINDPOWER Conference 2021

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, confirms its commitment to support the growing offshore wind farm industry in the US.

API, inventor of the Laser Tracker, today launched a thoroughly reengineered version of iScan3D™ hand-held metrology grade 3D scanner. iScan3D is the third-generation version of API’s metrology-grade scanner.

Vineyard Wind orders GE Renewable Energy turbines for US offshore wind farm

GE Renewable Energy will supply Haliade-X turbines for Vineyard Wind 1, the first utility-scale offshore wind installation in the US.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has outlined the path forward for future offshore wind leasing to meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030.

India is facing significant environmental challenges owing to the emissions from the power sector, dominated by fossil fuel-based power generation. So, GE released a position paper that discusses India’s urgent need to cutting CO2 emissions and adopting near-zero carbon power generation technology.

The Race for the tallest wind turbine continues

Vestas has announced to install its V236-15.0 MW prototype turbine at Østerild in Denmark.

Irelands starts building its offshore wind industry

The Irish Government is designing its first offshore wind auction and has just issued a public consultation on it.

Vestas creates new business region for Asia

Vestas will consolidate the two regions China (CHI) and Asia Pacific (ASP) into one, strong business region covering the Greater Asia region named Asia Pacific (APAC).

GE Renewable Energy upgrades French turbine plant

LM Wind Power launches its second 107-meter wind turbine blade mold production line in Cherbourg, France.

Ørsted teams up with ZE PAK for Polish offshore wind auction

The two companies plan to create a joint venture to take part in the auction of the Polish government.

On-board of the world's largest crane vessel, TU Delft researchers conducted last week, what so far could be the most extensive measurement campaign of an OWT installation.

Vattenfall and SwifterwinT announced today that they have selected GE Renewable Energy to supply 24 Cypress onshore wind turbine units for the Windplanblauw wind farm located in central Netherlands.

How to create a net-zero CO2 future?

Bloomberg has launched a new online resource specifically intended to help policymakers find concrete, actionable solutions to address the climate crisis.

The IEA’s new World Energy Outlook makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero, highlighting the need for an unmistakeable signal of ambition and action from governments in Glasgow.

Scottish Broken Cross Wind Farm changes owners

German energy company BayWa r.e. acquired the project rights for Broken Cross Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, from developer Brockwell Energy.

EDPR plans huge investments in UK's energy transition

Renewable energy producer EDPR plans to invest £12.86bn in the UK over the coming years.

The global wind industry is calling on the world's governments to "get serious" ahead of the COP26 global climate conference and support public and private initiatives to secure the energy transition.

UL to certify Siemens Gamesa's onshore turbines

UL has been awarded certification contracts by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for the company’s most advanced turbine designs.

UL to open new laboratory in Mexico

UL has announced that it plans to open a new laboratory in Querétaro, Mexico in mid-2022.

"The renewables industry has made huge strides forward in driving down the cost of renewables over the last decade. The commitments to drive down the cost of low-carbon heat and hydrogen plus removing the cost of decarbonisation from electricity bills will further support industry’s cost reduction efforts," said Morag Watson, Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables.

In addition to being the largest floating windfarm in the world, the development also features another first, using the highest capacity of wind turbines ever installed on floating platforms.

OX2 plans to build offshore wind farm in Sweden

OX2 has applied for a Natura 2000 permit for an offshore wind farm within the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone off the coast of Falkenberg and Varberg.

Shortly before COP26 in Glasgow, there is bad news from the US: The billion-euro package introduced by President Biden, which also includes extensive climate protection measures, has still not been passed. Will the US president, whose first official act was to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, come to the world climate summit empty-handed?

“The world has been called to arms, to work in unison to slow the warming of our planet. It’s the mission of a lifetime, one that will define?our?generation," said Statkraft Chief Executive Officer Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.

Iberdrola wants to invest £6bn in developing an offshore wind complex - East Anglia Hub -, the company's biggest investment anywhere in the world and one of the largest offshore wind projects worldwide.

Europe needs clean affordable energy

10 European organisations want to remind the heads of EU states and governments that affordable clean energy is the lifeblood of the European industry.

Empire OWS to consist of Vestas' 15 MW turbines

Empire Offshore Wind has announced Vestas as their preferred supplier for their two planned offshore wind farms off the coast of New York.

Antaris small wind turbine installed in Sweden

The Antaris 5.5 kW was installed near the town of Malmö.

Following through on their commitment to bring emissions from electricity generation to net zero in the 2030s, leading industrialised nations can spur decarbonisation in other economies and sectors

Report: More people than ever work in renewables industry

Renewable energy employment worldwide reached 12 million last year, up from 11.5 million in 2019.

Jan De Nul finishes job at Luchterduinen wind farm

The intertidal trenching vehicle Sunfish successfully reburied the export cable at Eneco’s Luchterduinen Wind Farm.

With lager wind turbines, onshore wind hub heights are growing beyond the reach of conventional crawler cranes. Mammoet’s new WTA lifting system allows theoretically infinite hub heights and paves the way towards emissions-free turbine erection.

UK onshore wind pipeline reaches 33 GW

If every project in the current pipeline were to go ahead, the UK would reach 30GW by 2030, RenewableUK said.

Edinburgh Airport wants to meet net zero in 2040

The airport signed a MoU with renewable energy company Ørsted to decarbonise the airport and rapidly accelerate the shift to sustainable air travel.

Multi-GW blade inspection campaign for Vestas in Europe comes to end

Sulzer Schmid announced that the campaign covered close to 4,000 wind turbines across 14 countries of northern and central Europe.

RWE commissions its first French onshore wind farm

RWE starts operation of its first onshore wind farm in France.

Labkotec to exhibit at WindEurope Electric City 2021

The company presents its ice detectors for wind turbines at WindEurope Electric City Copenhagen.

Nexans announces opening date for US high voltage subsea cable facility

Nexans will officially opens its transformed high voltage subsea cable plant in Charleston, South Carolina on November 9th.

Siemens Gamesa to build first US offshore wind turbine blade facility

Siemens Gamesa wants to build the facility at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Virginia.

KenzFigee signed a contract with Iv-Offshore & Energy to deliver an electric hydraulic Ram Luffing offshore crane which will be installed at the HVDC offshore converter platform for Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea.

Renewable PPA market gains momentum

A new report from Cornwall Insight highlights that the market for renewable PPAs is showing increased capacity despite challenges in the sector.

Hexicon’s Korean joint venture CoensHexicon has been granted the permission to measure wind conditions in four areas in South Korean waters for the potential development of floating offshore wind farms.

VENSYS wins repowering order in France

VENSYS and RES have signed a contract for the delivery of 16 Vensys62 turbines with 1.5MW rated power and 49m hub height in the South of France.

Project owners commissioned a total of 49 new projects across 20 states during the quarter, this includes 7 new wind projects, 34 utility-scale solar projects, and 8 energy storage projects, enough to power 740,000 American homes, the report states.

Statkraft and RWE sign PPA in France

Statkraft will conduct power sales and provide capacity guarantee management services for RWE.

On behalf of the company Odra Energia, an authorization process for a floating offshore wind farm off the southern coast of the province of Lecce will start soon, the companies announced.

COP26: "It's crucial that words become action"

Baywa r.e.'s data analysis shows, COP26 is the most talked about climate change conference ever.

GE publishes Q3 results for 2021

GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said, “The GE team delivered another strong quarter."

300 MW floating offshore wind farm planned for Spain

A joint venture between BlueFloat Energy and SENER is developing Mar de Ágata, one of the first floating offshore wind farms in Andalusia, Spain.

WindESCo Swarm™ is set to unlock millions of dollars for wind asset owners by enabling turbines to cooperatively adjust positioning to boost production for the entire farm by 3-5% annually.

Study: renewables would reduce electricity costs

A new study by the Energy Watch Group finds out that electricity would already be cheaper today with a full supply of 100% renewables.

This weekend in Glasgow the COP26 world climate summit will begin. Meanwhile, in Germany, coalition negotiations of the so called 'traffic light parties' (SPD = red, Grüne = green, FDP = yellow) are in full swing. Motto for both events is: no failure allowed, because a great deal depends on the work done over the next few years. Germany, as Europe's largest industrial nation, has a crucial role to play.

No bids in Denmark's latest technology neutral tender

The technology neutral tender, which was open for bids from 23 August 2021 with a deadline for bids 22 October 2021 has now been completed, the Danish Energy Agency announced.

Siemens Energy to deliver first utility-scale offshore wind electricity to the US grid

Siemens Energy has been awarded its first offshore grid connection project in the United States.

A feasible path to limit planetary warming to 1.5°C requires certain countries and sectors to go below net zero and to do so well before the middle of the century, according to new analysis from the authors of the Energy Transition Outlook.

European Energy sells wind farm portfolio in Lithuania

European Energy has signed an agreement for the sale of three wind farms in Lithuania with the total capacity of 185.5 MW

Mads Nipper, CEO at Ørsted, says: “Ørsted strongly welcomes the SBTi’s new Net-Zero Standard, which provides much needed clarity on what is required for corporate net-zero targets to actually help fight climate change."

BLIX to investigate possible Baltic offshore grid

BLIX will provide the technology catalogue that will cover various options available for different components of a regular offshore wind project.

WFO publishes White Paper 'Insurability of Floating Offshore Wind'

Major differences have been identified in the risk perception of moorings, dynamic cables and repair and maintenance concepts.

Planned Epuron wind farm wins planning consent

Developer Epuron has been granted planning consent four the Boulder Creek wind farm in Queensland, Australia.

ACP welcomes Biden administration budget framework agreement

"We urge Congress to finish their work and pass both the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Build Back Better legislation as soon as possible", said ACP in a statement.