Ofgem Rejects 600MW Shetland Cable Gig
Energy regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has been "unable to approve" plans for two huge subsea cables to take energy from the Scottish islands to the mainland.The transmission links from Shetland and the Western Isles were proposed by Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) to connect planned new wind farms on the islands to the national grid.In March 2019 Ofgem said it was minded to approve the estimated £709 million link.The proposal from SSEN for a 600MW transmission link was based on the largest planned project, Viking Energy Wind Farm, securing subsidies through the UK Government’s Autumn Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.The award of these subsidies would have provided confidence that the wind farm is likely to progress…
Smith Taken on Rolls-Royce Holdings Board
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc today announces the appointment of Sir Kevin Smith CBE as a Non-Executive Director. Sir Kevin will join the Board with effect from 1 November 2015 and will become a member of the Nominations and Governance Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Science & Technology Committee. Sir Kevin joins from Unitas Capital, a leading Asian private equity firm, where he has been a full-time partner based in Hong Kong since joining the firm in February 2012. He has used his extensive industrial leadership experience to work closely with Unitas' portfolio companies, including being a director of technology company Edwards Group Limited (previously NASDAQ listed) from March 2012 until its sale to Atlas Copco in August 2013.
UK Seeks Maritime Dominance of Yore
“Britannia rules the waves” paid a glowing tribute to the maritime past of the United Kingdom. Over the past three centuries as the sun began to set on the British power, resilient U.K. with its pioneering characteristics began its voyage of transformation to become a world-class maritime services center, with one of the largest clusters of marine insurance, ship finance, law, classification societies, ship broking, education and consultancy organizations. Significantly, two factors were responsible for this change. The first being marine transport, since it was the only point of access to the British Isles, and the second was the maritime trade and naval power that have had a great impact on the maritime sector influencing the country’s economy for several centuries.
ABB Supply Giant Offshore Wind Plant
The Walney offshore wind plant in the East Irish Sea has a total generating capacity of 367 MW (megawatts), consisting of 102 wind turbines with a rated generating capacity of 3.6 MW each. Newly opened in February this year, the installation is part of Britain`s effort to raise total offshore generating capacity from 1.5 GW (gigawatts) now to 18 GW by 2020. ABB supplied the Walney wind plant with four 120 MVA (megavolt ampere), 132/33 kV (kilovolts) generator step-up transformers (GSUs) for each phase of the project, two each for Walney 1 (51 turbines) and Walney 2 (51 turbines). Other essential ABB products installed in this major project include three 145 kilovolt (kV) gas insulated switchgear (GIS) units and the main transformer surge arresters.
U.K. Eyes Deepwater Wind Farms
As Britain's North Sea oil and gas stocks dwindle, the government is seeking new ways of harnessing natural resources to ensure a diverse and secure future energy supply. Now UPI reports, plans are afoot to utilize the North Sea's existing energy infrastructure to install a new generation of deepwater wind farms that could keep the lights on in a sustainable and environmentally benign manner. Talisman Energy U.K. Ltd. has teamed up with Scottish and Southern Energy to test the technological and economic feasibility of wind farms installed at an unprecedented water depth of 45 m. Work is under way to attach two of the world's largest wind turbines to the existing Beatrice oil platform 15 miles off the east coast of Scotland, an area that boasts some of the highest wind speeds on the planet.
