Northland Power News

International energy companies, from Germany's RWE to Spain's Iberdrola, are urging Japan to beef up offshore wind power auctions and make investments more attractive, amid soaring installation costs as competition for suppliers grows worldwide.Although desperate to ease its heavy dependence on energy imports from the Middle East and Russia, Japan is coming late to offshore wind, but some industry players say it is taking a more cautious approach that puts it at a disadvantage."It's a global race and we can't look at it in isolation…

Van Oord has been awarded two new offshore wind projects: Baltic Power in the Baltic Sea and Greater Changhua 2b and 4 in Taiwan. The contracts have a combined value of more than EUR 500 million. Once operational, the two offshore wind farms will deliver renewable energy to approximately 2.5 million households.The Baltic Power offshore wind farm is being developed by a joint venture between ORLEN (Poland) and Northland Power (Canada). The wind farm will be located in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea, 23 kilometers from shore.

Semco Maritime and PTSC M&C consortium has been selected by Hai Long Offshore Wind Project in Taiwan as the Preferred Supplier for two offshore substations for the Hai Long 2 and Hai Long 3 offshore wind projects.The projects will be established off the Taiwanese coast and deliver more than 1 GW of green wind energy when the projects are commissioned in 2025-2026."The contract represents the largest offshore substations contract awarded in a Taiwanese project to date. It is also the consortium’s first and considered an important strategic breakthrough…

Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa has secured an extension of the operations and maintenance services agreement at the 600-MW Gemini offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea until 2036.The company said in a social media post that the original 15-year long-term service program has been extended by another five years. It did not share the financial details of the agreement."This new agreement builds on the service work that we’ve provided since 2016 including full maintenance of the 150 SG 4.0-130 wind turbines installed at one of the largest wind parks in the Netherlands…

Global industry advocacy group World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) has created a new working group - the Floating Offshore Wind Committee (FOWC) - to promote the acceleration of commercial-scale floating offshore wind.FOWC will tackle areas from policy-making through health and safety to maritime spatial planning.According to WFO, the new initiative aims outperforming the installed capacity and cost competitiveness seen with bottom-fixed offshore wind today. The principal objectives of the committee are education, advocacy and policymaking, as well as enabling cost reductions and commercial-scale deployment.It also aims to promote the highest…

Canadian power producer Northland Power will acquire Dado Ocean Wind Farm, a development company with multiple early-stage offshore wind development sites in South Korea.Dado Ocean is currently owned by Eui Jeong Hwang, a wind power developer who will continue to support the project as a local partner, working together with Northland to achieve key milestones for the project. The acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.According to Northland, the acquisition builds on the company's presence in Asia and specifically in South Korea. It is anticipated that South Korea’s installed capacity will more than double by 2050, with renewables accounting for approximately 59% compared to 8% in 2018.

Spanish global renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has been selected as the preferred supplier of turbines for the 300MW Hai Long 2 offshore wind project in Taiwan.The agreement is subject to contract and final investment decision from the consortium partners, Canadian independent power producer Northland Power Inc. and Taiwan-based developer Yushan Energy.The 300 MW Hai Long 2 offshore wind power plant project was awarded through the 2018 grid allocation mechanism in Taiwan. The project site is located approximately 50 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County. The project will utilize SGRE’s existing footprint and supply base in Taiwan in order to fulfil localization requirements on the project.

A group of offshore wind industry members that includes Equinor, Magellan Wind and Principle Power have launched an offshore wind group in California.The Offshore Wind California (OWC) said it is  committed to providing industry expertise, innovative solutions, and a dedicated voice for offshore wind in California.OWC is poised to lead the promotion of responsible and sustainable deployment of offshore wind power in the state's energy system.California is well-positioned to break out as the next investment hot spot for America's booming offshore wind industry, which is taking off with more than 22 gigawatts (GW) in commitments by East Coast states and $70 billion in supply chain spending by 2030…

Installation is underway at Northland Power’s Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm as MHI Vestas and other installation partners have successfully installed the first of 33 wind turbines.Deutsche Bucht, located 95 km northwest of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, will be powered by 33 V164-8.4 MW turbines from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind.“We are very pleased to see the first turbine successfully installed at Deutsche Bucht,” said Flemming Ougaard, MHI Vestas Chief Operations Officer. “The project is an important one for MHI Vestas and our partners, not only because of our growing experience in Germany, but also our contribution to the German energy transition.The project…

Dutch maritime contracting company Van Oord has completed the installation of the offshore substation at the 269 MW Northland Power’s Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm in Germany`s Exclusive Economic Zone.The supersize substation with a 2,700-tonnes topside is the centrepiece of the wind farm. It houses all electrical equipment needed to transform the power from the 33 turbines to a higher voltage for further transmission, said a press release from the company specializes in dredging, land reclamation and constructing man made islands.The unmanned offshore substation consists of an upper part, the topside, and a lower part, the jacket foundation.

Northland Deutsche Bucht has completed the installation of all 31 foundations for its offshore wind farm project in the North Sea.The  Canadian power producer of Northland Power's third offshore wind farm which is  about 95 kilometres to the northwet of the North Sea island of Borkum in Germany’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), pointed out that this successfully concludes the first phase of construction within the planned timeframe.Jens Poulsen, Project Director of Northland Deutsche Bucht GmbH, says: “Installation work on the construction site, which is more than 100 kilometers off the coast, is a real challenge in the winter months.

Ten months after the final assembly of the offshore substation (OSS) for the new Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm started at Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen (DSV), the substation topside has now been moved outside the construction hall so that further outfitting can take place.The Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm, owned by Northland Power, will have 33 turbines, situated 95 kilometers northwest of Germany’s Borkum Island, in the North Sea. The wind farm will have a total capacity of 269 MW.Van Oord is managing the overall Balance of Plant scope…

Taiwan is becoming the next battleground for the world's top offshore wind developers as they seek a foothold in Asia for a technology that has been expanding fast in Europe.Taiwan announced results on Monday of its first major offshore wind farm auction that aims to add 3.8 gigawatts (GW) of capacity to its existing network of just 8 megawatts (MW).The island's offshore wind market is expected to expand to 5.5 GW by 2025, and the government aims to invest $23 billion on onshore and offshore wind projects by 2025…

A 15-year contract will see a new ESVAGT service operation vessel (SOV) support MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in the Deutsche Bucht (DeBu) Wind Farm project. ESVAGT will deliver the SOV for MHI Vestas in August 2019. The new contract is not only the longest in ESVAGT’s history, but it is also the largest in terms of value. “This contract builds on the strong relationship we have had with MHI Vestas since 2010,” said ESVAGT A/S Chief Executive Officer, Søren Nørgaard Thomsen. MHI Vestas and ESVAGT have collaborated on the Belwind 1 and Nobelwind 1 offshore wind farm projects in Belgium since 2010…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that 122,405 acres offshore Kitty Hawk, North Carolina will be offered in a commercial wind lease sale on March 16, 2017. “Today’s announcement demonstrates how our collaborative efforts with Federal, state and local partners over the past eight years have built a foundation to harness the enormous potential of offshore wind energy,” said Secretary Jewell. The Kitty Hawk lease sale is the latest effort in the Obama Administration’s renewable energy program at the U.S. Department of the Interior, which recently marked the operational launch of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, and the lease sale for over 79,000 acres offshore New York.

The first wind turbine has been installed at the Gemini offshore wind park, off the coast of the Netherlands. The wind park will be completed in 2017, and will supply 785,000 households with renewable energy. The SOV, Yno 309, currently under construction at Ulstein Verft, will be servicing this park. On February 16, 2016, the first wind turbine was installed by Van Oord at the Gemini Offshore Wind Park, and it will soon begin producing electricity. In the coming months, a total of 150 wind turbines will be installed 85 kilometers off the coast of Groningen, the Netherlands.

DEME Group’s offshore marine engineering company GeoSea announced the start of the construction works for the offshore wind farm Nordsee One in the German North Sea. The Nordsee One offshore wind farm (85 percent Northland Power – 15 percent RWE) is situated approximately 40 kilometers north of the island of Juist and consists of 54 wind turbines which will be installed in water depths ranging between 25 and 29 meters. GeoSea’s T&I contract includes the installation of all monopile foundations and transition pieces.

German offshore plants attract new investment; offshore energy a key component in switch from nuclear. Start-up costs high, but returns are attractive. Germany's offshore wind parks, once seen as only for brave investors because of high costs and operational risks, are attracting fresh money after laws were passed to ensure ambitious renewables targets are met. British investment firm Laidlaw Capital bought its second German offshore wind park project two weeks ago, following a landmark German offshore wind acquisition by Canadian energy group Northland Power. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has made offshore wind a priority in the country's "Energiewende", which moves Germany towards alternative energy sources after a decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022.