Wind Energy News

Acciona Energia, the biggest global operator exclusively in renewable energies,  received the first ever prototype certificate for a grid-scale energy storage solution by DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body. The handover of the certificate took place at the American Wind Energy Association’s 2018 Windpower Conference in Chicago. To explore the possibilities of grid-scale storage, Acciona Energia started up a hybrid plant for storing electricity in batteries as part of its grid-connected wind farm at Barasoain in Navarra, northern Spain.

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG is continuing its strategy of capturing growth in new international markets in the renewable energy sector. Following its recent entry into Taiwan, EnBW has now expanded its activities to the United States of America by establishing a regional subsidiary, EnBW North America, and forming a joint venture with Trident Winds Inc. to develop an offshore wind project off the coast of in Central California. This represents the EnBW Groups first step toward tapping into the high potential of the American market.

ABB has won orders worth more than $150 million from Danish energy company Ørsted to supply technology to transmit wind energy from the 1,400 megawatt (MW) Hornsea Project Two, slated to be the world's largest offshore wind farm.The orders were booked in the second quarter of 2018 and are the first tranche of a global five year frame agreement for the supply of electrical and automation equipment for offshore and onshore wind power connection and integration to the grid, ABB said.ABB will supply its Static Var Compensation (SVC) Light technology with ABB Ability MACH control systems…

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has successfully completed comprehensive due diligence of the Dutch Windpark Spui, for a group of lenders who are providing the debt financing for the project. The power generated at Windpark Spui, which will supply renewable electricity to more than 24,000 households, will be sold to Eneco Group, a Dutch sustainable energy company, under a 16-year power purchase agreement. Eurus Energy…

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, is today showcasing the final reports in a study which demonstrates the commercial and technical feasibility of the offshore wind market In India. Co-funded by the European Union (EU), GPCL and ReNew Power the Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND) project will enable organisations to make future investments in the region. India has made strong commitments under the UN Paris Climate Agreement and announced ambitious renewable energy goals in 2015…

A U.S. House committee will kick off debate next week on three new bills aimed at boosting offshore wind energy leases in federal waters.The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a hearing on Tuesday on three bipartisan offshore wind proposals.One proposal would require the Interior Department to develop a leasing plan or schedule for federal offshore leases, a second would create a federal grant for educational or career programs for the offshore industry…

Block Island — U.S.-based Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine, 30-megawatt wind park — was the first. It showed what was possible, what might not have been optimal and how long it all takes. Since then, incentives for onshore-wind have been curbed, while a tax credit for offshore wind has been extended. Wind parks are in the works. States have power companies buying offshore wind energy, and experienced offshore operators are hiring the new wind-service vessels from elements of their oil-and-gas supply chain. The Jones Act, too, is being overcome by fleet owners and designers joining the U.S.

Volvo Penta has emerged as a leading supplier of propulsion systems for support boats in the booming offshore wind farm industry in Europe, and is poised to capture a significant position as new wind farms come into service in North America. “Wind farm support vessels operate under some of the world’s most difficult conditions,” said Jens Bering, vice president of marine sales for Volvo Penta of the Americas. “They must be able to work 24/7 in high winds and heavy seas delivering crew and materials quickly and safely to the offshore towers without wasting time and fuel.

Fugro said it has been awarded contracts by Ørsted to undertake geotechnical investigations at two large-scale offshore wind development sites in the U.S. Ørsted is pursuing the development of the two new projects: Bay State Wind, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. and Ocean Wind, 10 miles off the New Jersey coast – to bring wind energy to American consumers and businesses. The marine site characterization at both sites involves specialized sampling and in situ testing which Fugro will perform from its DP2 geotechnical drillship, Fugro Explorer. For laboratory testing and reporting services Fugro will draw on its expertise from Norfolk, Va. and Houston as well as Wallingford, U.K.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced $18.5 million in new Department of Energy (DOE) funding for a consortium that will conduct research aimed at reducing the cost of offshore wind in the U.S. As it seeks to capitalize on momentum in the offshore wind market, the U.S. still faces several challenges, such as deep water requiring floating foundations, the need for models predicting how Atlantic hurricanes will impact offshore turbines, and supply chain and operations and maintenance solutions to address the challenges of building and maintaining turbines at sea.

Hong Kong's Hutchison Ports has acquired a 50% shareholding in Amsterdam-headquartered terminal and logistics operator TMA Logistics. TMA has a variety of general cargo terminal operations together with warehousing, shipping, logistics and project cargo activities at three sites in Amsterdam and one in Antwerp as well as at Hutchison Ports Amsterdam (former known as Amsterdam Container Terminal). Commenting on the acquisition, Clemence Cheng, Executive Director, Hutchison Ports…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Vestas Wind Systems (Vestas) have appointed Philippe Kavafyan to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Lars Bondo Krogsgaard to Co-Chief Executive Officer (Co-CEO) of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. The appointments will take effect on 1 April, 2018, and are made in accordance with the joint venture agreement's principle of changing its leadership every four years. Under the leadership of out-going CEO Jens Tommerup and Co-CEO Tetsushi Mizuno, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has established itself as a leading player in offshore…

Singapore-based Enterprize Energy and partner Renewable Energy Global Solutions (REGS), together with PetroVietnam consortium comprising Petroleum Equipment Assembly & Metal Structure (PVC-MS) and VietSovPetro (VSP), MHI-Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW), and DNV GL signed a series of exclusive Agreements forming an alliance for multi-phased, utility-scale wind developments, offshore Southern Vietnam, including feasibility, environmental, development, financing planning through implementation.

Sweden’s Dellner Group with its subsidiary Dellner Brakes said it has signed an agreement to acquire German industrial braking manufacturer Pintsch Bubenzer in a deal it hopes will pave the way for the companies’ global expansion. This acquisition is being carried out in partnership with investment company Active Ownership Capital and comes four months after Dellner Brakes acquired U.S. brake and clutch company Gummi USA. It is a significant step in the Swedish company’s focused ambition to become the world’s leading supplier of brakes and related power transmission products.

DNV GL has awarded Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy with the Type Certificate for its eight megawatt (8 MW) offshore wind turbine SWT-8.0-154. Fully compliant to the international wind turbine standard IEC-61400-22, the turbine is now ready for immediate market implementation. New technologies like large offshore wind turbines with an output rate of 8 MW are vital to support the growing wind energy industry in reducing the levelised cost of energy. Siemens Gamesa’s optimised turbine has a rated power increase of 14% compared to the previously certified turbine variant.

The offshore energy boom: more than wind. Domestic offshore wind also promises to generate demand for new, efficiently propelled support vessels. The U.S. offshore wind farm industry, now in its infancy, is on the verge of a massive growth surge, and the boom will be felt throughout the American maritime industry. The U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reported last year that there is a “robust pipeline of projects to ensure growth in the country’s nascent offshore wind market…

DNV GL, the world’s largest independent energy advisory and certification body, has appointed wind energy professional Peter Brun as Global Offshore Wind Segment Leader. Brun is responsible for stakeholder management, alliance building and promoting offshore wind development throughout the world. Brun brings more than 26 years of experience in the wind energy industry and international diplomacy. His rich and varied expertise in the wind industry, includes holding dual Vice Chairman roles at EWEA (now WindEurope) and Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) between 2009 to 2013.

In support of the President's America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC that would allow it to construct and operate an 800-megawatt (MW) wind energy facility offshore Massachusetts. The publication of the NOI opens a 30-day public comment period. During this time, BOEM will conduct five public scoping meetings and accept comments.

LOC Group has today announced the appointment of Dr RV Ahilan to the position of joint CEO, alongside Jerome Rutler. Ahilan brings a strong strategic and technical understanding of LOC's key offshore markets to the leadership team. Over a 30-year career in maritime, oil and gas and renewable energy consulting, Ahilan served as Executive Vice President of the Renewables Advisory Division at DNV GL, President of GL Garrad Hassan and MD of GL Noble Denton in Americas and Europe before he joined LOC Group in February 2016.

As technologies mature and dramatic cost-cutting continues, the future is looking bright for offshore wind. Below are five trends to keep an eye on.Follow the LeaderOffshore wind’s established leader, Europe, will continue to show the way forward and build capacity. At the end of 2016, nearly 88 percent of the world’s offshore wind installations were located in European waters. In 2017, Europe saw a record 3,148 MW of net additional offshore wind capacity installed, with 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 wind farms, according to WindEurope.

Independent wind asset operations management specialist OutSmart BV has selected Kongsberg Digital AS to provide an integrated management system on the innovative Kognifai digital platform and ecosystem. The sophisticated digital solution will be used to manage OutSmart’s extensive onshore and offshore wind turbine portfolio. OutSmart provides services to wind farm owners, fund managers, and wind project companies in Northwestern Europe to maximize the revenues of their wind assets.

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…

Thanks to increasing levels of debt financing for climate-aligned projects, wind-generated power has become one of the fastest-growing green industries. Jessica Williams, an Infrastructure Analyst at S&P Global Ratings, considers the submarine technologies that are making this progress possible.Renewable energy is making an increasing contribution to the electrical grid. By the end of 2016, “green energy” sources accounted for almost a quarter of the world’s electricity supply, according to REN21.