MUNICH and LONDON — Siemens AG won a 1.5 billion-euro ($2.1 billion) contract for a Dutch offshore wind park that will also give Europe’s largest engineering company its biggest-ever energy service contract.

Siemens has agreed a $1.3bn deal to buy Rolls-Royce’ energy aero-derivative gas turbine and compressor business.

The Bavaria-based company is looking to strengthen its position in the power generation and oil and gas industries, and close a profitability gap with rivals GE and ABB.

Rolls-Royce’s Energy gas turbine and compressor business has around 2,400 employees. In 2013, it was reported within the results of the Energy business where it contributed £871m of revenue and £72m of underlying profit.

The transaction excludes certain smaller power generation sector assets. On completion of the transaction, Rolls-Royce’s shareholding in the Rolls Wood Group (RWG) joint venture, that provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, will be transferred to Siemens.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of Rolls-Royce and Siemens, and is expected to complete before the end of December 2014, subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

In terms of results, Siemens (NYSE: SI) this week reported quarterly earnings that missed analyst estimates on more charges at Siemens’s power transmission unit.

As part of the Rolls-Royce deal, Siemens will pay the London-based company an additional $340m over 25 years to get exclusive access to aero-turbine technology in the 4- to 85 MW power output range. The turbines with an output below 66 MW fill a gap in Siemens’s product portfolio.

As part of an overall restructuring, chief executive Joe Kaeser has added Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) executive Lisa Davis to his team. She will join Siemens’s management board on in August with responsibility for power operations. Michael Suess will step down from a similar role “for personal reasons and by mutual consent” and with immediate effect.

Siemens Energy won 10-year wind energy service agreements encompassing over 400 onshore wind turbines in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

The customer is Pattern Energy Group Inc., based in San Francisco, California. Combined, the scope of these long-term contracts represents one of Siemens’ largest agreements with a single customer in North America.

Under the agreement, that is expected to help create 14,000 jobs, Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company will supply three AP1000 nuclear reactors to a new nuclear facility at Moorside, near the Sellafield site in Cumbria.

Earlier this month, plans for a new nuclear power station were given a boost when Toshiba agreed a £102m deal to buy a majority stake in the project to build the three reactors.

Prime Minister Cameron said: “Today, we can announce the huge investment being made by Toshiba and Westinghouse, over £200 million, into the rebuilding of the British nuclear industry, specifically in the north west of our country in a project that could provide as many as 14,000 jobs during the construction phase and thousands of jobs ongoing as well as providing low carbon base-load electricity for Britain.”

Japan’s Prime Minister Abe, who is currently on a tour of Europe that will see him visiting Germany, Portugal, Spain and France, commented: “I strongly hope that the strong bond and ties between the Japanese economy and the British economy will further be promoted.”

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: “This is an important step forward in the plans for a new nuclear power station at Moorside – a plant that will generate enough clean electricity to power around six million homes.

“The new nuclear programme is a core part of our drive to build a new, clean energy sector in Britain to tackle climate change at the same time as we deal with a legacy of under-investment in Britain’s energy sector, and ensure we remain among the most energy secure countries in the world.”

During talks held at 10 Downing Street, the two prime ministers also agreed on a deal that would pave the way for British companies to win lucrative contracts for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It is believed the agreement fostering economic links between the two countries could bring millions to the UK economy.

Trade minister Lord Livingston said: “I am delighted that Japan has signalled that it wants to use UK expertise to help deliver both the Tokyo Olympics and Rugby World Cup. The delivery of London 2012 on time and under budget has shown the world that the UK has a significant amount of expertise in staging large-scale events.”

With the first Feed-In Tariff (FIT) degression applied from April 1, the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is expected to come out in support of the UK’s anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry at the country’s biggest biogas event in July.
Partha Vasudev, vice-president waste & bioenergy at the GIB, has been confirmed to speak at the UK AD & Biogas 2014, organised by the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), at the NEC in Birmingham on July 2 and 3.
The GIB invests in UK projects which are both green and commercial and it has identified waste as a priority sector for its investment, appreciating the potential for anaerobic digestion to deliver against the bank’s mandate to deliver sustainable green growth.
“Anaerobic digestion is an exciting market for the Green Investment Bank. The technology is at the core of government waste policy, and with a good pipeline of projects it can help us meet our investment goals and accelerate investment in the green economy,” said Mr Vasudev recently.
“The strong growth in the marketplace over the last year is exciting and we look forward to working with the industry to achieve its potential.”
GIB has identified that AD capacity already available to be developed requires investment of around £650m, and the bank’s support in this investment would make a significant difference to the UK’s AD infrastructure and the speed at which it develops.
The bank’s investment funds have already committed a combined £10m to TEG’s Dagenham AD plant – where build was completed last month – and Earthly Energy’s Teeside AD plant, where construction began in March 2013. The potential for further investment in both the waste and farming sectors is an exciting prospect.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “I am delighted that the Green Investment Bank will be presenting at UK AD & Biogas 2014. The bank has already made a hugely valuable contribution to the industry through its early investments and its first market report, and we look forward to hearing how they have seen that market develop.
“In the future, there are huge opportunities to support the market more widely. The government’s response to the Ecosystem Markets Task Force recognised the key role that smaller AD plants can play in supporting climate-smart farming and confirmed that they ‘will work with WRAP and the Green Investment Bank to explore the financing of farm-scale AD projects at an aggregate level, both for equity investments and for debt financing.”
“Given the challenges facing smaller scale AD, GIB’s analysis of the market in general will be fascinating.”

Work has just started on a new 1MW anaerobic digestion (AD) plant that will use locally grown grass, whole crop silage and some maize at Consett in north east England.
The build phase of the project will be completed in late 2014 with full production of heat, power and liquid fertiliser (digestate), which will be spread back on the nearby farmland.
Nutrient-rich digestate from the facility will ensure that future crops destined for the plant are produced in a sustainable way whilst improving soil organic matter.
Hallwick Energy Ltd, renewable energy plant developer, has started work on the project, with funding provided by Ingenious Clean Energy investee company, Generation X Energy Limited.
The plant will be supplied by MT-Energie UK and it will produce power and heat for the neighbouring Thomas Swan & Co Ltd, a leading chemicals and nanotechnology company in the UK.
The use of generated heat and electricity will offset Thomas Swan’s use of fossil fuel sourced power, contributing to the reduction of their carbon footprint.
Harry Hoskyns Abrahall from Hallwick Energy said: “With this project we prove that AD is a viable and effective solution which brings benefits not only to farms and households but also to energy-intensive businesses.”
Andrew Black, managing director of MT-Energie UK, added: “We are looking forward to a good working relationship with Hallwick Energy, and we are delighted to be an integral part of this ambitious project.”
Harry Swan, managing director of Thomas Swan, said his company had always been committed to the search for more sustainable energy generation and reduction of waste.
“Through this plant we will be able to integrate our existing energy needs with a clean source which will reduce the environmental impact of our activity. We will also be less susceptible to ever rising energy prices, reducing overheads and securing our business.”

Siemens is investing £160 million in two wind turbine production and installation sites in Yorkshire.

The sites comprise the previously announced Green Port Hull project construction, assembly and service facility and a new rotor blade manufacturing facility in nearby Paull, East Riding.

Siemens’ port partner, Associated British Ports, (ABP) is investing a further £150m in the Green Port Hull development.

The sites will create up to 1,000 jobs directly, with additional jobs during construction and indirectly in the supply chain.

The Green Port Hull project has been in the making for around four years and is the product of a huge team effort between many national and local political, business and community parties and many people within Siemens in the UK, Denmark and Germany, and ABP.

Siemens said the development would include the first manufacturing plant of its kind for the company’s next generation blade technology designed for Siemens SWT-6.0-154 6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine.

Michael Suess, member of the managing board of Siemens AG and CEO of the Energy Sector, said: “Our decision to construct a production facility for offshore wind turbines in England is part of our global strategy: we invest in markets with reliable conditions that can ensure that factories can work to capacity.

“The British energy policy creates a favourable framework for the expansion of offshore wind energy. In particular, it recognizes the potential of offshore wind energy within the overall portfolio of energy production”, stated.

“The offshore wind market in Great Britain has high growth rates, with an even greater potential for the future.”

Roland Aurich, chief executive of Siemens plc, added: “Being able to further increase our presence in the UK with this significant commitment is great for Siemens, for the UK economy and for future generations, who will benefit from more secure and sustainable, low carbon energy.”

Siemens and ABP will be submitting planning applications over the next few months for revisions to the existing proposed scheme at Alexandra Dock and for land in Paull for the wind turbine blade factory.

Green Port Hull is planned to be operational in early 2016. The start of production at the blade factory is scheduled to be in the middle of 2016 with full production levels reached from mid-2017.
– See more at: http://www.worksmanagement.co.uk/news/Siemens-invests-160m-in-UK-wind-manufacturing-factories/60369/149766/#sthash.R4yOIVQI.dpuf

Brookfield Renewable, one of the largest Canadian renewable-energy firms, has made a major push into Europe with the purchase of 17 Irish wind-energy projects worth an estimated €700m.

The company announced the deal as part of its acquisition of all of Bord Gáis’ energy business. A consortium that includes Brookfield Renewable, Centrica plc and iCON Infrastructure will acquire the non-wind assets of the Irish energy supplier.

Bord Gáis’ wind portfolio comprises 321MW of operating wind capacity across 17 wind projects in eight counties in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, which represents about 15pc of the installed wind capacity in Ireland, and includes some of the strongest onshore wind resources in Europe.

According to its statement on the acquisition, Brookfield Renewable sees the purchase as its first step in entering an already competitive renewable market in Europe and, from an Irish perspective, see huge untapped potential for Ireland, with future growth expected to come from an additional 125MW of wind energy across projects already in construction, as well as an approximate 300MW wind-development pipeline.

Speaking about the workers on Bord Gáis’ renewable energy sites, president and CEO of Brookfield Renewable, Richard Legault, put any fears of job security to rest as the company intends to keep the workforce already in place. “This is truly a milestone investment for Brookfield Renewable.

“The Bord Gáis portfolio represents an ideal entry point into the European market, bringing with it high quality renewable assets and an experienced team of approximately 70 professionals with operating, development, technical, commercial, and finance expertise. Moreover, this first acquisition outside the Americas provides us with a strong foundation to build a scalable renewable-energy business in Europe.”

The company already owns and runs a number of renewable-energy centres in both North and South America and will see, with this acquisition, its operating portfolio of 320MW to exceed 500MW by 2015.

Atkins has won an engineering contract for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the UK.

The scope of the contract includes design and engineering services for the monopile foundations for the 6MW turbines as well as management assistance during fabrication and installation.

To be located 20 miles off the coast of Cromer in North Norfolk, the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm will have an installed capacity of around 400MW, which is enough energy to power up to approximately 410,000 homes and reduces emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 19 million tonnes over its 25 year lifetime.

Atkins’ Renewables managing director business David Parkin, said, “This contract win further builds on our established position as a leading engineering consultancy in the offshore wind sector. The project plays to our strengths in geotechnical and offshore structural engineering, and we look forward to working with Statoil and Statkraft to deliver the project.”

The engineering activities are already underway and include structure design, structure analysis, drawing production and geotechnical engineering.

The management assistance part of the contract includes follow up of the fabrication which will commence in 2015.

The execution of the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm project is subject to a final investment decision by its owners in the third quarter of 2014.

The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that four businesses will share more than £4m (€4.8m) in grants to support R&D into offshore wind power.

The grants have been awarded as part of the DECC’s innovation competition to support development of offshore wind power.

DECC minister Greg Barker said that 2-B Energy, High Voltage Partial Discharge, SgurrControl and Ocean Resource have been awarded the grants to steam-line the design and installation of offshore wind turbines, which could lead to significant reductions in the cost of offshore wind.

“The UK is already the world leader in offshore wind – with more deployed than any other country,” Barker said.

“The benefits that offshore wind can bring are clear – from enhancing our energy security, reducing our dependence on imports and helping reduce our carbon emissions.”

Barker added, “Innovation is critical to cutting the cost of this low-carbon power source, which could in turn, lead to lower bills for hardworking consumers. I wish the winners every success with their projects.”

The funding would help in gaining substantial amounts of private sector investment for each successful offshore wind technology and to enable them for commercial deployment.

Around £2.8m (€3.3m) was awarded to 2-B Energy, which is working on an innovative two blade turbine design that could reduce costs by as much as 35%. The company is planning to trial the new design onshore in the Netherlands.

Later, the technology will be tested at an offshore version site off the Scottish coast at Fife.

High Voltage Partial Discharge has been awarded £900,370 (€1m) to develop and trial a new type of monitoring technology that will provide early warning of faults in HVDC cables.

SgurrControl has been granted £667,000 (€0.8m) to assist in developing a system that decreases stress on turbine blades.

SgurrControl will lead the project in collaboration with Romax Technology Ltd and Blaaster Wind Technologies AS.

South Wales-based Ocean Resource has been given £216,442 (€257,993) for developing an offshore wind turbine that is assembled and commissioned on-shore and towed fully assembled for site installation using tugs.