News Archive July 2022

The GWEC has published its new edition of its Global Offshore Wind Report 2022, noting the industry had enjoyed its best-ever year in 2021, with 21.1 GW of new capacity connected to the grid.

Cargo drones to supply Anholt Offshore Wind Farm

Ørsted and DSV are testing cargo drones to transport spare parts and tools to Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in the Kattegat.

The development of the three projects, located in the coastal waters of the states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, with a total installed capacity of 1.4 GW, has been driven by Australis in recent years.

XLCC to build UK's first HVDC cable factory in North Ayrshire

XLCC’s first order is for four 3,800km long cables to connect solar and wind renewable power generation in the Sahara to the UK for the Xlinks Morocco-UK power project.

Ørsted and Eversource are working with Boskalis on the foundation and offshore substations transportation and installation for South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects, as well as scour protection installation contracts for its Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects.

Vestas wins EDF Renewables' order in Brazil

The order, placed by EDF Renewables in Brazil, includes the supply and installation of 58 V150-4.5 MW wind turbines as well as 28-year Active Output Management service agreement.

Norwegian offshore wind developer Deep Wind Offshore (DWO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with East West Power (EWP), one of Korea’s state-owned power generation companies.

In recent days, the highest court in the U.S. has been conspicuous above all for its party-politically colored rulings: After last week's overturning of decades-old abortion rights, obstacles are now being placed in President Biden's path on climate protection.

Improving erosion testing of rotor blades' leading edges

To counteract damage to the leading edges of the blades, the wind power industry regularly launches new materials in the blades so that they last longer.

In a bid to support the shared regional goal of attaining climate neutrality by 2050 while, at the same time, addressing the issue of energy security, Germany has identified the promotion of offshore wind energy as the first priority under its presidency of the CBSS

ENERCON to receive state support from the Economic Stabilisation Fund

Funds serve to stabilise the company in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic

Natural Power to perform environmental impact assessment for Buchan Offshore Wind Farm

Floating Energy Allyance has appointed Natural Power to work on the project at the ScotWind NE8 site.

A new report, produced in collaboration with some of Australia’s biggest companies and industry groups from finance and heavy industry, sets out how Australia’s industrial sector could cut carbon emissions by 88 per cent and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Supply chain woes cause rising prices for new renewables

Cost rises are linked to increases in the cost of materials, freight, fuel and labor, says BloombergNEF.

In collaboration with Windcat Workboats, Vestas launches a pilot program to explore how the world’s first hydrogen-powered crew transfer vessel (CTV) can help reduce carbon emissions from its offshore service operations.

Scottish floating OWF: project area shrinks by half

The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm reduces its project area by 50%. At the same time the number of turbines in the design envelope shrinks from ten to seven.

At a hybrid event jointly hosted by WindEurope, SolarPower Europe, the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) and the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine (ASEU) EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson stressed that the EU is working at full speed to reduce dependence from Russia and strengthen Europe’s energy security.

Corio partners with Morwind for Celtic Sea floater

The partnership announcement between Corio and Morwind comes as the UK Government is looking to offshore wind as a major source of secure and affordable, low-carbon electricity.

The OneView® Solar Park Controller was launched at the beginning of the year and has already been issued for 24 projects across the Polish renewable landscape, with more orders coming in.

This marks a significant milestone and provides the foundation on which to build greater capacity in the future, helping the UK to achieve its renewable energy targets and drive economic development.

Wind Energy Ireland: "We need action"

A new report highlights three key priorities for the Government ahead of the setting of carbon budgets for each sector of the economy.

Denmark has to make sure it has the right solution for the energy island in the North Sea. The solution must ensure that Denmark can harvest its unique offshore wind resources in the best possible way, and establish a role model for the green transition globally.

DNV is supporting Elia Transmission Belgium as the construction tender for the project, which will receive renewable energy generated offshore, convert it to consumable power and deliver it to Europe opens.

Statkraft to build Moanvane Wind Farm in Ireland

Statkraft has confirmed that it recently began construction at the 58 MW Moanvane Wind Farm, located in Co. Offaly.

Semco Maritime will perform service assignments on the Arcadis Ost 1 project’s offshore substation, which Semco Maritime has been responsible for designing and implementing all electrical systems on during the construction phase

The Scottish port presented its new East Quay enabling it to service multiple large scale energy sector projects simultaneously. It also ensures the port facility has the required infrastructure in place to accommodate the demands for future floating offshore wind sector opportunities.

AkzoNobel has announced that Gregoire Poux-Guillaume will become the company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as of November 1, 2022. He will succeed Thierry Vanlancker, who has been CEO and member of the Board of Management since 2017, and whose term of office is coming to an end.

Roxtec presents its new compact seal

This flexible all-in-one solution will help the rolling stock industry solve several safety and production challenges within cable and plastic conduit penetrations.

The Conference appreciates that delegates from around the world have participated and made it a truly international meeting, in spite of many more potential delegates having been prevented from attending the conference because of the direct and indirect impact of Covid.

Siemens Gamesa to supply Korea's third largest onshore wind farm

The 75 MW order includes the supply of 15 units of the SG 5.0-145 turbine.

Clir enters Spanish renewables market

Clir Renewables, the market intelligence platform for wind and solar, has been selected to provide its services to two onshore wind farms in Spain.

Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO of Northvolt, commented: “We are proud and thankful for the support and trust from these world-class investors and partners. We will continue to work hard to deliver on the promise we have made to them to build the world’s greenest battery.”

RWE inaugurates its third wind farm in France

The municipality of Thieux is the site of the six wind turbines of the Les Hauts Bouleaux wind farm with a total capacity of 18 megawatts.

In Europe, fears of an energy crisis with blackouts or power rationing are growing. In South Africa, rationed electricity has long been part of everyday life. But the situation is getting worse there, too. However, this has little to do with Russia's war.

Nordex secures more orders in Q2 than last year

Between April and June 2022, customers ordered a total of 346 wind turbines for projects in fifteen countries.

EIB backs Vestas' turbine development

The European Investment Bank lends up to €475 million to Vestas to to accelerate the development and deployment of its next power generation technology.

States, Tribal nations, and territories can now apply for the $2.3 billion formula grant program designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Siemens Gamesa to work with Turkish Kinesis Enerji for the first time

Energy investor Kinesis Enerji plans to build a 50 MW wind farm in the north of Spain.

Hydrogen can be a game changer

To make hydrogen trade cost-effective, the costs of producing and trading green hydrogen must be lower than domestic production to offset higher transport costs.

UK: Biggest renewables auction secures almost 11 GW

A record amount of renewable energy has been secured through the biggest ever round of the UK government’s flagship auction scheme yesterday.

Ocean Winds wins CfD for Moray West OWF

Obtaining a CfD is a key milestone for project development, bringing it closer to the final investment decision (FID) and financial close (FC).

RWE starts working on Denmark's biggest offshore wind farm

Fugro's geological research vessel Fugro Scout has already started geotechnical drilling and testing at the wind turbine locations.

Falck Renewables starts construction of first wind farms in Finland

The two projects, Mustalamminmäki and Koiramäki, are located in Central Finland and have a total installed capacity of 59 MW.

The latest auction for Contracts for Difference in the UK has secured the largest ever amount of home-grown, cheap renewable energy for British consumers at record low prices.

Ørsted to build world’s single biggest offshore wind farm

Ørsted has been awarded a contract for difference for its Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm in the UK.

Hexicon's floating offshore wind farm gets green light in CfD auction

Hexicon’s TwinHub project in the Celtic Sea has been awarded a CfD for its 32MW floating wind project taking the project a significant step closer to completion.

The newly published Pathway to 2030 documents including the Holistic Network Design (HND) will enable Britain’s transition to net zero through 50GW offshore wind delivery by 2030

WindEurope on the UK's CfD auction: "Wow!"

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said: “7 GW of new offshore wind in one auction – wow! And it’s a welcome return for onshore wind in the UK too."

Ilmatar Energy commits to recycling rotor blades

Ilmatar has pledged to recycle the blades from all its wind turbines with Stena Recycling’s recycling solution as the first Finnish energy company to do so.

Rhode Island to expand its offshore wind energy resources

The new law requires a market-competitive procurement for between 600 and 1,000 MW of newly-developed offshore wind capacity.

Saipem has successfully completed the transport and installation of the jacket and topside of the electrical substation for the offshore wind farm in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, France.

Cloudberry forms joint venture with Hafslund for Swedish offshore wind project

The companies want to build an 100 MW wind farm at the shallow-water site Stenkalles Grund in the lake of Vänern in south-central Sweden.

ERM continues to strengthen its renewables capabilities at a time when the need to accelerate the energy transition to guarantee energy security and tackle climate change has become an urgent priority for economies across the globe.

Wind Energy Ireland has released its June Wind Energy report, which shows that wind energy provided 30 per cent of Ireland’s electricity in June 2022, up 6 per cent on June 2021. Since the start of the year 36 per cent of Ireland’s electricity has come from wind.

Germany marches ahead with new onshore wind law

Last week the German Government passed the so-called “Easter Package”, including a new onshore wind law to expand onshore wind by a massive 10 GW a year from 2025.

Eurowind Energy plans five large energy centers in Denmark

Eurowind Energy wants to launch five land-based energy centers with a total capacity of approximately 2.5 GW in Denmark in the coming years.

French developer enters Swedish renewables market

French independent producer of renewable energy Neoen has launched the construction of its first asset in Sweden, the Storbrännkullen wind farm (57.4 MW).

New sealing modules for rolling stock

Roxtec RM PPS sealing modules are especially developed to ensure fire protection for flexible plastic conduit penetrations in the rolling stock industry.

Israeli company Kenlov Renewable Energy ventures into Greece

Developer Kenlov Renewable Energy has launched its presence in the Greek renewable energy market with a pipeline of 378 MW wind and solar assets.

CPPA signed for Taiwanese offshore wind power

Canadian developer Northland Power announced the signing of a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) for its Hai Long 2B and 3 Offshore Wind Project in Taiwan.

AkzoNobel to increase production at two sites

Two of AkzoNobel's French production facilities will be expanded with the investment of 20 million euros creating new jobs.

Nexans to electrify BorWin6 for TenneT

To electrify the BorWin6 project, Nexans will manufacture, install and protect 320 kV DC XLPE 1 core cables to our customer, TenneT.

The EuroAsia Interconnector consists of the electrical interconnection of the power systems of Cyprus-Greece (Crete) and Cyprus-Israel with direct current (DC) subsea cables and with HVDC converter stations at each connection point.

Statkraft signs another PPA in Germany

The PPA will support 11,000 households with green power.

Through Swancor's recyclable thermosetting resin technologies, the recyclable resin and the composite materials can be reused, assisting Siemens Gamesa in moving towards their goal of providing fully recyclable wind turbines in Taiwan.

Equinor has acquired East Point Energy which supports their ambition to be a leading company in the energy transition and provides a platform for broadening their energy offerings in the US.

RWE inaugurated its largest UK onshore wind farm

The 96MW Clocaenog Forest is located in Wales.

WindEurope criticizes Germany's offshore auction design

Uncapped negative bidding means additional costs for electricity consumers and the supply chain, WindEurope warns.

Arafura Resources Limited and GE Renewable Energy have signed a MoU to jointly co-operate in the establishment of a sustainable supply chain for NdPr central to energy transition.

The 200MW electrolyser will be constructed on the Tweede Maasvlakte in the port of Rotterdam and use renewable energy from the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust (noord).

The topic of recycling not only concerns the waste that everyone produces every day, but also the reuse of industrial products. Especially in times when raw materials are becoming scarce or more difficult to obtain, circular economy and recycling play a crucial role.

“Combining Aker Offshore Wind’s strong technical and engineering capabilities, and early mover position in floating offshore wind, with Mainstream’s proven project development methodology, execution track record and global presence unlocks new opportunities worldwide,” says Mainstream CEO.

RWE gets EU funding boost

Two innovative projects with RWE involvement have been pre-selected for funding by the EU Innovation Fund - one of the world's largest programmes for demonstrating innovative low-carbon technologies.

Equinor has to adjust its installation schedule for the Hywind Tampen Floating Offshore Wind Farm citing supply chain bottlenecks. Four turbines will go online next year.

High performance computer simulations can help by providing detailed insights into fluid mechanical effects associated with turbine placement, layouts, and environmental factors.

UD study to examine offshore wind farms' impact on weather

Do offshore wind farms have any impact on the weather, more specifically on surface wind speed and temperature?

Atkins to develop masterplan for energy hub in County Galway

A masterplan for an offshore wind energy hub on the site of the existing Ros a Mhíl harbour centre in County Galway, Ireland, will be developed.

The submarine cables will be manufactured in Norderham Plant (Germany) and Pikkala Plant (Finland), two of the Group's centres of technological and manufacturing excellence for submarine cables

Report: India likely to miss renewable energy goals for 2030

"As per the current market scenario and growth trend, India is likely to fall short of the 2030 target by over 104 GW,” GlobalData says.

Fugro finishes geotechnical site investigation contract

Fugro has successfully completed a contract to perform a geotechnical site investigation at the IJmuiden Ver (Noord) V and VI wind farm sites.

Siemens Gamesa wins next Swedish order

Siemens Gamesa, Arise and Foresight Group will collaborate for another major project in Sweden using the company’s most competitive onshore platform, the Siemens Gamesa 5.X.

Marine Explosive Ordnance Operations Logbook published

The logbook is designed to be used by MEO operatives to log, in detail, the exact work they carry out, such as survey, identification, and disposal activities.

IRENA report: new renewable power stays cost-competitive despite fuel crisis

Costs for renewables continued to fall in 2021 as supply chain challenges and rising commodity prices have yet to show their full impact on project costs.

Scaling up floating offshore wind energy

The Carbon Trust's Floating Wind JIP released new reserach material to provide guidance and highlight key innovations still needed to help the floating offshore wind sector.

GE Renewable Energy to be rebranded

GE’s portfolio of energy businesses, including GE Renewable Energy, GE Power, GE Digital, and GE Energy Financial Services, to come together as GE Vernova

GE to support Korean grid with HVDC technology

GE and KAPES will add a 500-MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) link to South Korea’s electric grid.

On 28 June WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson spoke at an EU Commission Forum on Protecting and Facilitating Investment in the Single Market, organised by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability and Capital Markets (DG FISMA). The main topic of discussion was how to facilitate sustainable investments.

The development of offshore wind will play a key role in increasing the share of renewable energy in the Finnish energy mix and contribute greatly to reaching Finland’s carbon neutrality target.

Roxtec cable and pipe transits in FORAN CAD system

To further simplify work for design engineers, we now offer a 3D CAD library for the ship design software system, FORAN.

Akzo Nobel publishes Q2 results

AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker, commented: “Despite the significant Q2 headwinds we were able to match the volumes from pre-COVID Q2 2019."

Six fixed offshore wind projects, with the potential to generate renewable electricity for more than 7 million homes, have been given the green light by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to enter into an Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate.

Africa’s oldest wind farm gets repowering treatment

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is co-financing the repowering of the Koudia Al Baida wind farm in the north of Morocco.

Retrofit for the safe continued operation of wind turbines

Wieland Electric supports wind turbine operators with complete system for easy retrofitting of work and safety lighting

Fraunhofer ISI is monitoring battery cell production capacities in Europe on behalf of the German Ministry of Education and Innovation. If the current strong growth continues, production capacities in Europe could rise to as much as 1.5 TWh by the end of the decade - a large proportion of which would be in Germany.

“The energy markets are changing faster than ever and there is a sharp increase in demand for renewable energy. To meet this increased need Statkraft has updated the strategy with new and more ambitious growth targets towards 2030”, says CEO Rynning-Tønnesen.

EMEC and West of Orkney Windfarm start R&I programme

EMEC will review the offshore wind R&I landscape, mapping this against the needs of the project and capabilities across the region.

Saitec and RWE launched DemoSATH floater

The load out and launching operations were performed at Punta Sollana quay, in the Port of Bilbao (Spain).

Global electricity demand growth is slowing

A slight decline in global power sector CO2 emissions despite rising coal use in Europe amid gas crisis is expected after last year's record, says IEA.

Lithuanian wind farm to start energy production in four months

Developer Enefit Green has announced that its Šilale II wind farm in Lithuania will start producing green electricity in the next four months.

“The Record of Decision is a major milestone for the Rail Tie Wind Project. It marks the completion of WAPA’s multi-year environmental and technical review, including a detailed analysis of the physical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic effects of the project,” Caton Fenz, Chief Executive Officer of ConnectGen, said.

ACCIONA Energía to build two wind farms in Croatia

ACCIONA Energía has announced the construction of two new wind farms in Croatia, Opor and Boraja II, linked to a 12-year CfD with the Croatian electricity and gas regulator.

GWEC comes up with wind energy action plan for world leaders

The plan is published against the background of record temperatures and economic stress around the world driven by these crises.

RES submitted planning application for wind farm in Northern Ireland

RES has submitted a planning application for their 14-turbine Unshinagh Wind Farm.

The project will be the first interconnector between Germany and the United Kingdom, facilitating electricity trade between the European Union and the United Kingdom and contributing to the integration of high shares of intermittent renewables across the North Sea

The Brayton Point site will become a production hub for the U.S. offshore wind industry and will have the capacity to create highly skilled local jobs in an exciting and currently growing sector.

Enel completes Texas hybrid wind project

Located in Throckmorton County, Azure Sky wind + storage is Enel Green Power’s first large-scale hybrid wind project globally.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) works under its renewable energy competitive leasing process to identify the offshore locations that appear most suitable for development, taking into consideration potential impacts to resources and ocean users.

Siemens Energy to build German offshore grid connection

Siemens Energy's scope of supply consists of two converter platforms at sea and two associated stations on land.

RWE wants to integrate floating solar panels into offshore wind farm

RWE and the Dutch-Norwegian company SolarDuck signed a collaboration agreement to develop the use of floating solar parks at sea.

President Biden takes action on climate crisis into his own hands

In the coming weeks, President Biden will announce additional executive actions to combat the climate crisis, since U.S. Congress fails to act.

Ørsted acquires onshore developer Ostwind

The acquisition of Ostwind constitutes Ørsted’s entry into the sizeable and growing German and French onshore markets and substantially expands Ørsted’s onshore footprint in Europe.

This is the second PPA signed by Neoen and Prokon with Equinix, and it will provide renewable energy for the firm’s locations in all five of the company’s International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in Finland.

With this 700mt Travelling Quayside Crane, the load-out process of offshore wind turbine components can take place significantly faster compared to the regular methods.

“By acquiring Ewellix, we are further strengthening our industrial business and are continuing to follow through on our strategy despite these volatile times,” said Schaeffler AG Chief Executive Officer Klaus Rosenfeld.

BLIX provides study about Japanese offshore wind market

BLIX has been asked to perform a market study to strengthen offshore wind collaborations between the Netherlands and Japan and to support the Dutch floating wind sector.

Quilt Block Wind Farm celebrates 5-year run

EDP Renewables North America announces the fifth anniversary celebration of the Quilt Block Wind Farm in Darlington, Wisconsin.

8.2 Consulting advised Qair in taking over Green City AG

After completing the "Red Flag" TDD, Qair decided to take over Green City AG and is thus successfully continuing its expansion course in the European renewable energy market.

First turbine rises at Swedish wind farm

Vattenfall announced the first installation of a wind turbine is under way at the Grönhult wind farm in Sweden.

“For reasons we are still working to understand, some bats seem to be attracted to wind turbines,” said NREL researcher Cris Hein, who leads NREL’s wind energy environmental science portfolio.

California announces higher climate goals including offshore wind

Governor Gavin Newsom pushed California to move faster to reach its climate goals, setting ambitious new targets for renewable energy.

Spanish companies to build XXL monopiles for Scottish OWF

Navantia-Seanergies and Windar Renovables have won their first XXL monopile production contract.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Iberdrola have signed a new agreement to accelerate Spain’s energy transition by developing new renewable energy capacity, especially in rural areas.

ZX 300: the most validated wind Lidar in the world

Details of 500 individual Performance Verifications of ground-based, vertical-profiling Lidar released from the UK Remote Sensing Test Site

PNE takes over majority of Spanish developer KOYLA

The acquisition also marks the market entry for the German company in Spain.

GE posts Q2 results

GE continued to take recent action on its priorities.

ACCIONA Energía has closed a framework agreement with FORTIA, the energy management platform for large industrial consumers, for the supply with physical delivery of around 1TWh of renewable electricity per year for 5-to-10-year periods.

Australia's Seadragon taking shape

Worley has been tasked with providing pre-feasibility study services to the Flotation Energy’s Seadragon project, a 1,5 GW offshore wind farm off the coast of Gippsland, Australia.

The volume of social media discussions in the power sector related to ‘climate change’ is highest among all the sectors during the first half (H1) of 2022, says GlobalData.

Foundation works begin at largest offshore wind farm in the world

SSE Renewables announced that construction work at the turbine foundations at Dogger Bank has been started.

RWE launched the competition in November 2021, searching for innovative solutions to improve the ecological impact of offshore wind farms and to optimise the system integration of offshore wind into the energy grid.

Clean energy deployment takes a hit in Q2

Economic uncertainty imperils the energy transition, a new ACP market report shows.

Earth Overshoot Day comes early

Today is Global Earth Overshoot Day, which means that humanity has used up all the resources it normally has for an entire year. And once again, the day is here earlier than last year.

Earlier this evening news broke that Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reached a deal to include the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 in a reconciliation package. The following statement can be attributed to Liz Burdock, CEO and founder of the Business Network for Offshore Wind:

How to achieve Spain's renewable energy targets for 2030?

Successive governmental change and poor implementation on effective usage of renewable power is a major challenge for the European country.

ABO Wind sells rights for Canadian wind farm

The Alberta Utility Commission has granted permits for 83 Siemens Gamesa turbines with a capacity of 6.2 megawatts each and the connection to the public power grid.

Pattern Energy acquires large transmission project

The SunZia transmission project will help transport clean energy across state borders in western U.S.

Legislating targets provides the strongest possible signal to industry and investors of Australia’s collective commitment to decarbonising the economy and becoming a renewable energy superpower.

The Danish Government has pledged to step up its renewable development program, by increasing the number of solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind plants by 2030, GlobalData finds.

Siemens Gamesa wins first offshore wind order from Japan

The order includes 14 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines, each with a capacity of 8 megawatts and featuring a 167-meter rotor.