News Archive December 2021

Thor Wind Farm I/S today won the concession to build Thor Offshore Wind Farm. This is the first time a tendering procedure has been completed for offshore wind energy in Denmark without aid. When power is produced, the winner is expected to pay DKK 2.8 bn. to the Danish state within just a few years.

Equinor Ventures (EV) is increasing its investment in Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) as part of the Series B funding round raising more than USD 1.8 billion to commercialise fusion energy.

Large companies from across the world are embracing renewable energy as a part of their sustainability strategies, according to the ECOHZ sponsored Renewable Energy Insight Survey, released today. The results also highlight the importance of reporting frameworks, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P) and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), both considered by respondents as highly relevant.

Dogger Bank wind farm owners, Equinor and SSE, have today announced financial close on the third phase of the project, Dogger Bank C. The terms achieved are some of the best ever for a construction offshore wind project in the UK.

As chief operating officer of Etihad Airways, Mohammad Al Bulooki is paying close attention to what his customers are saying. That includes his 10-year-old son. “I asked him, ‘What’s the biggest problem in the world?’” Al Bulooki said. “He said, ‘The environment.’ That was his answer.

New 300 MW US order for Nordex

The German manufacturer will supply 67 N155/4.X turbines for the 'El Sauz' wind farm in Texas. A 5-year service contract is included.

Setting new trends together: RWE and Kerpen municipal utility to jointly develop two wind farms

Statement of intent signed Strong partnership for renewables in Rhenish mining district

Taiwan: RWE reinforces strategic partnership with Asia Cement Corporation

New floating and bottom-fixed offshore wind projects under development off Hsinchu, Taichung and Changhua coasts

Equinor has signed an agreement with Noriker Power Limited, a leading battery storage developer in the United Kingdom focusing on the engineering and project development of utility scale storage and stability services. The agreement includes the acquisition of a 45% stake in Noriker, with an option to acquire the full company at a later stage.

RWE is investing up to €15 billion gross into Germany through to 2030 Well-filled project pipeline / two further onshore wind farms with 41 megawatts planned 200 new jobs advertised

Hollandes Kust Zuid will be the world's largest offshore wind farm when fully commissioned in 2023 with a total installed capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. The project is being managed by Vattenfall. The wind farm consists of 140 wind turbines.

Global environmental non-profit CDP acknowledges Ørsted as a global leader on climate action for the third year in a row. Since CDP’s assessment, Ørsted had its 2040 net-zero target approved as science-based as only one of seven companies globally.

GE Renewable Energy books Q4 order for 87 Haliade-X 14 MW offshore wind turbines, the first offshore wind turbine in the world to operate at 14 MW. Consortium of private and public financial institutions partner to provide a project finance debt package for Dogger Bank C. French export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export, to provide project finance debt insurance cover with two other ECAs to support offshore wind deployment in UK.

In light of delays and difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the REvolutionaries award is re-opening the application period for the Latin America and Caribbean edition. Applications will reopen for submission on 8 December 2021, and will close on 30 January 2022. The application materials are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Further details are below and on the website.

The Sapphire Sky wind project in Illinois will consist of V150-4.2 MW turbines and V136-3.45 MW turbines in 3.6 MW operating mode. Turbine delivery will begin in Q2 of 2022 with commissioning scheduled for Q4.

First positive Environmental Decision for an offshore wind project under cross-border impact assessment in Poland Port of Ustka selected as Operations & Maintenance base – Creation of up to 50 new jobs expected

First lot of 550 km of cables produced and delivered, innovative 525 kV cables allows lower environmental impact Prysmian Powerlink CCO d. Waimann “We are proud to take part in this strategic project that represents energy transition in Germany and Europe”

New study by Energy Watch Group

Transition to 100% renewable energies in Berlin-Brandenburg is techno-economically possible

As a manufacturer of mechanical and electrical drive systems, Flender has helped shape the wind energy industry since the beginning. Now, with its Winergy product brand, the company has reached the milestone of 200 GW of gearbox capacity delivered worldwide for wind turbines.

WFO’s Floating Offshore Wind Committee (FOWC) releases its second publication FOWC’s O&M Subcommittee pooled together practical insights on the challenges and opportunities of four major maintenance concepts for floating offshore wind While offsite approaches are perceived as more feasible in the short-term, onsite approaches are expected to handle commercial-scale projects Commercial-scale floating wind asks for further integration of O&M considerations early on into the design phase and project contracts

• Schaeffler PREMESY monitors bearing preload in wind turbines during assembly and operation • High-precision, digital distance sensors and a monitoring unit are key components of the system • Continuous monitoring makes it possible to implement predictive maintenance

Located up to 10 km off the west coast of Denmark, Vesterhav Nord and Vesterhav Syd are intended to be completed in 2023. They will deliver clean, renewable energy to around 350,000 average Danish households. A three-year service agreement, with both projects being served from the Port of Hvide Sande, is included.

Germany: New government to speed up wind energy expansion

The new Government wants to speed up planning and make it easier for Germany’s Federal States to award permits.

Statkraft to supply German cement manufacturer with wind energy

Statkraft and OPTERRA have signed a PPA.

Research project aims to revolutionise wind turbine performance monitoring

A Catapult cost analysis verified that Wind AITM could reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy and lead to an increase in annual energy production.

Lekela has signed a grant agreement with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to fund a feasibility study for an extension to the PETN wind farm in Senegal.

Updated best practice guide on diversity published

The online resource aims to help offshore wind companies to measure and address issues of ethnicity and gender balance across their workforce.

Global offshore wind market predicted to grow

By the end of the decade, cumulative global wind power capacity is projected to hit over 1,756 gigawatts (GW).

Vestas searches for more recycling solutions

Vestas teams scope an optimal recycling project plan to align with locally available solutions and customer needs.

Report: Demand for ocean space increases

The DNV report forecasts that by midcentury, offshore wind will require ocean space which is the equivalent to the landmass of Italy.

Simon Bailey, Commercial Director for Dogger Bank Wind Farm says: “We are delighted to award the contract for the supply, installation and protection of the inter-array cables at Dogger Bank C wind farm to DEME Offshore, extending our existing relationship with DEME on phases A and B to the third phase of this project."

Jericho Rise has been online since 2016 and produces enough electricity to annually power the equivalent of more than 32,000 average New York homes.

Siemens Gamesa is pleased to announce the firm order for the supply of wind turbines for Ørsted’s Gode Wind 3 offshore development.

PPA signed for U.S. offshore wind farm Mayflower Wind

The win is accompanied by an economic development package that will support the building of the offshore wind supply chain in the region.

The agreement between the turbine manufacturer and the UK Department for International Trade will focus on MingYang investing in a blade manufacturing factory, a service center and conceivably a turbine assembly factory in the UK.

Prysmian extends US footprint

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, secured two new milestones offshore wind farm projects in the US for a total of approximately $900M.

Statkraft selects turbine manufacturer for Chilean wind farm

The 110 MW order is the second contract awarded to German turbine manufacturer Nordex by energy company Statkraft in Chile.

WindEurope: Norway needs to ramp up wind energy production

Norway needs more onshore and offshore wind energy to meet growing electricity demands.

TÜV SÜD passes first TG 10 round robin test

TÜV SÜD has successfully completed its first round robin test concerning “Determination of Site Quality following Commissioning“ in accordance with TG 10.

ABO Wind concludes year with further milestones

The company was able to secure projects in Hungary and Argentina.

Despite a record-breaking year for energy transition investment in 2020, investors poured $67 billion fewer dollars into clean energy in emerging markets than they did into wealthier countries, a new study from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) finds.

Hydrogen as a strategic business sector at Schaeffler

"Hydrogen produced from green energy of offshore wind turbines is set to play a crucial role in achieving Europe's climate targets," the company says.

Spain embraces offshore wind

The Spanish Government has approved an Offshore Wind Roadmap which aims to install up to 3 GW of floating offshore wind in Spanish waters by 2030.

World's largest offshore wind farm Hornsea Two now generating electricity

Project developer Ørsted reports another success: Hornsea Two, located 89 km off the British east coast, has generated electricity for the first time.

GE secures repowering order in the Netherlands

GE Renewable Energy announced today that it has been selected by Windkoepel Groen to repower part of the Windplan Groen project in Flevoland province in the Netherlands. R

Nexans has won a significant turnkey contract of with Ocean Winds to design, manufacture, install and protect the 220kV subsea and onshore export cable system for the Moray West offshore windfarm project.

Deutsche Windtechnik celebrates 5 years of multi-brand wind services in Sweden

Five years after its foundation, the Swedish unit of Deutsche Windtechnik boasts an exceptionally positive résumé.

Ignitis Group invests in second wind farm in Poland

Ignitis Renewables acquired a second wind farm in Poland with a total capacity of 50 MW

Siemens Gamesa announced next steps being taken with Dominion Energy for the delivery of offshore wind turbines and 10-years of service at its 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project.

OX2 secures several projects in Polish auctions

"We are very happy with the outcome of the auction and the opportunity to build more renewables in Poland," says Katarzyna Suchcicka, Country Manager, OX2 Poland.

Repsol and Amazon sign PPAs

AWS will provide Repsol with new cloud services to further advance its digital transformation, and Repsol will supply renewable energy to power Amazon business operations.

The country boasts Europe’s largest iron ore reserves and excellent renewable energy resources – two primary prerequisites for the production of green hydrogen and decarbonised crude steel.