Mainstream Renewable Power News

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has decided to delay the offshore wind energy auction planned for potential lease areas offshore Oregon due to insufficient bidder interest at this time.On August 29, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Oregon following engagement through the Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force.The FSN set an auction date for October 15…

Mainstream Renewable Power, the pureplay global wind and solar company majority-owned by Aker Horizons, has announced that KF Wind, a 1,125MW floating offshore wind project being developed off the coast of Ulsan, South Korea, has secured the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Ministry of Environment for the totality of the two-phase project. The Award of the EIA is a key milestone for the development of the two-phase floating offshore wind project, advancing towards construction.The EIA comprises the first phase…

The Portuguese cluster Forum Oceano and Norwegian Offshore Wind have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration between the supply chains in the two countries.The MoU aims to lay the ground work for new contracts between companies from the two countries.The agreement was signed at a reception this week, during a visit to Portugal organized by Norwegian Offshore Wind and The Norwegian Embassy in Portugal.Forum Oceano and Norwegian Offshore Wind both focus on developing a strong supply chain in floating offshore wind.

Global Energy Group (“GEG”), the Scottish-based energy services company has agreed on terms with offshore wind tower manufacturing specialist, Haizea Wind Group (“Haizea”), to build a £110m-plus (~$146 million) offshore wind tubular rolling facility at Port of Nigg, located in the Scottish Highlands. GEG said Friday that Nigg Offshore Wind (“NOW”) would be 450-meter-long, 38,000 m2 factory, capable of rolling steel plate to supply towers which will weigh in excess of 1,000 tonnes each and other products…

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…

Irish wind and solar projects developer Mainstream Renewable Power has appointed Raghuram Natarajan chief executive of its Asia-Pacific business."This key appointment to the Group’s Leadership Team, based out of its newly opened regional headquarters in Singapore, comes ahead of significant expansion plans for the region," said a press release.Natarajan brings a decade and a half of senior leadership experience in the wind and solar industry across India, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Australia.His most recent position was APAC CEO with Juwi where he had responsibility for delivering 1.2 GW of solar…

As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to develop domestic clean energy resources, cut carbon pollution and create American jobs, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced that 343,833 acres offshore New Jersey will be offered for commercial wind energy development in a competitive lease sale on November 9, 2015. If fully developed, the New Jersey Wind Energy Area could support at least 3,400 megawatts of commercial wind generation, enough to power an estimated 1.2 million homes, according to the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Denmark's DONG Energy has become the lead developer of Britain's Hornsea Zone offshore wind scheme after it bought the project rights to the second and third phases of the development Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Financial Services. The Hornsea Zone, off the coast of northeast England, is being developed in phases to ultimately provide 4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable wind energy and has the potential to meet 40 percent of Britain's electricity demand. DONG acquired the first phase of the development, known as Hornsea Project One, earlier this year, which will have a capacity of 1.2 GW.

Xodus Group, Cathie Associates and UTEC Geomarine have formed an industry leading consortium to deliver a study which will aim to reduce the costs of generating electricity from offshore wind farms in U.K. waters. The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA), which brings together nine offshore wind developers (DONG Energy, E.ON, Mainstream Renewable Power, RWE Innogy, ScottishPower Renewables, SSE Renewables, Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall) in a joint industry project, is working towards reducing the cost of offshore wind by at least 10% by 2015. Technology challenges are identified and prioritized by the OWA members based on the likely savings and the potential for the OWA to influence the outcomes.

Next year, developers hope to start building offshore wind turbines in the U.S., which is already a leader in on-land wind generation. As turbines spin off the coast in a dozen other countries, particularly the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, global offshore wind capacity has expanded nearly six-fold since 2006. Most of these installations are in shallow water though winds are stronger out further. If the U.S. is to have offshore turbines, many residents want them distant enough so they can’t be seen or heard.

Formal application for a project with 125 wind turbines off the coast of Angus, Scotland has been progressed. Formal application for approval of a £1.4billion project featuring up to 125 wind turbines has been put forward by Mainstream Renewable Power to the authority Marine Scotland. The Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) windfarm at a site almost 10 miles off Fife Ness. The company has been granted exclusive rights by the Scottish Government to develop plans for the site, which was chosen for its water depth, ground conditions, low shipping density and optimal windspeed. The company said the facility would be ready by 2016 and could generate 450MW of electricity…

A boat with suspension, a giant robotic arm and a vessel resembling a seahorse are just three of the innovative concepts shortlisted by the Carbon Trust as part of a competition to solve the problem of transferring engineers and equipment safely on to wind turbines as far as 300km offshore in wave heights up to around three meters. The project aims to improve the economics of offshore wind by keeping turbines generating electricity in the harshest sea conditions to increase revenues by as much as £3bn for the next generation of the UK’s offshore wind farms.

The Carbon Trust is today launching a global competition to find world-leading solutions to the problem of transferring engineers and equipment safely from boats to wind turbines as far as 300km offshore in 3 metre wave heights. The project aims to improve the economics of offshore wind by boosting revenues by as much as £3bn at a crucial time for the next generation of Round 3 offshore wind farms. The need for better access solutions is driven by the location of the next generation of wind farms to be built over the decade. Today’s wind farms are typically less than 20km from shore in relatively benign sea conditions, but in future…