Italian renewable energy companies Enel Green Power and SECI Energia will develop a new 30MW biomass power project in the town of Russi, near Ravenna in Italy.

The two companies will develop the Powercrop biomass project with an investment of €126m in an industrial area previously occupied by the Eridania sugar refinery.

The 30MW power project, which will run on locally-sourced chipped virgin wood, will require 270,000t of fuel per annum. The project is expected to have a total annual output of 222GWh, enough to meet the needs of 84,000 households.

It will provide more than 300 direct and indirect jobs, in addition to the 200 workers who will be building the facility.

The facility will also have a biogas plant with a power generation capacity of 1MW. The plant will require 18,000t of corn silage and 26,000t of pig manure per annum from local producers.

Fully developing the local agriculture and forestry supply chains, and optimising the use of clippings and agricultural residues through the construction of new plants is in line with the EU recommendation on the use of biomasses as one of the key ways of ensuring the security of supply and sustainable energy in Europe.

In March 2013, Enel Green Power and SECI Energia signed the definitive agreement to acquire 50% of Powercrop.

With this acquisition, Enel Green Power has entered into a partnership with SECI Energia to develop energy from the biomass short supply chain by building five new plants with a total installed capacity of 150MW.

The five new plants include 31MW Russi, 50MW Macchiareddu, 19MW Castiglion Fiorentino, 19MW Fermo and 30MW Avezzano.

Welcoming the opportunity to address the AD industry at the sector’s largest dedicated event, UK AD & Biogas 2014 (2-3 July), Partha Vasudev, Vice President Waste & Bioenergy, Green Investment Bank (GIB), has been confirmed a key speaker at the ADBA organised annual show. The Green Investment Bank has an important role to play in the uptake of AD in the UK. It invests in ‘UK projects which are both green and commercial’. The bank 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 Partha.

“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 GIB 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 this week – 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.

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive, ADBA, said: “I am delighted that the Green Investment Bank will be presenting at the industry event of the year, 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.”

The anaerobic digestion and biogas industry looks forward to the annual exhibition and conference, UK AD & Biogas 2014 which will be held on 2-3 July at the NEC Birmingham.

UK chancellor George Osborne has announced a £7bn package in the 2014 budget to cut down energy costs for British manufacturers and households by 2019.

Around 80% of energy manufacturers, based in the north of England, Scotland and Wales, will particularly benefit from the package.

The government will suspend the carbon tax charged on the major CO2 emitters, like power producers and heavy manufacturers, at £18 a tonne for ten years from 2016-2017.

Suspension of carbon tax would save around £4bn by 2018-19 and £15 off a typical household energy bill in the same year.

The government said it is vital to reform and strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System, including through agreement of an EU climate and energy package for 2030.

The government will review the CPF trajectory for the 2020s, including whether a continued cap on the Carbon Price Support rate might be necessary, once the direction of reform of the EU Emissions Trading System is clearer.

In his speech, Osborne said UK needs to cut its energy costs.

“We’re going to do this by investing in new sources of energy: new nuclear power, renewables and a shale gas revolution,” Osborne said.

RenewableUK, the trade association for wind and tidal energy industries, expressed disappointment at the chancellor’s announcement on freezing a tax on carbon emissions created by fossil fuels.

RenewableUK director of policy Dr Gordon Edge said, “Although it was good to see the Chancellor specifically naming renewables as a key part of the plan to cut our energy costs, the freeze in the Carbon Price Support level will chill the mood of some investors in clean energy projects.”

“By freezing the CPS there will inevitably be a squeeze on the pot of money set aside to support renewables – the Levy Control Framework,” Edge added.

“This will limit the government’s room for manoeuvre as it strives to meet its 2020 renewable energy target.”

CBI director-general John Cridland commented, “The budget will put wind in the sails of business investment, especially for manufacturers.

“This was a make or break budget coming at a critical time in the recovery and the Chancellor has focussed his firepower on areas that have the potential to lock in growth.”

“The CBI has pushed hard for this significant and much-needed energy package that will help keep manufacturing jobs in the UK, while underpinning vital investment in new energy,” Cridland added.

“Our energy intensive industries are crucial to building a low-carbon economy and it’s right the Government is taking action to mitigate the cost for these firms.”

Renewable Energy Association chief executive Nina Skorupska said, “By freezing the Carbon Price Floor, the Chancellor is rowing back on his own policy and once again moving the goalposts for investors in green energy.

“The government must explain in black and white how investment in renewables is protected from the freeze, or risk undermining the investment required to replace ageing coal power stations with technologies that can keep the lights on without damaging the climate.”

German energy provider RheinEnergie has awarded a contract to Alstom to supply a generator transformer for the combined-cycle heat and power plant (CHP) in Niehl, Cologne (Germany).

The transformer which has a power output of 560MVA, 410/21kV, will transmit the energy generated by the power plant into the Cologne power grid.

To be manufactured at Alstom plant in Mönchengladbach, the transformer is scheduled to be delivered in mid-2015.

In December 2012, Alstom won the turnkey construction of the combined-cycle heat and power plant from RheinEnergie. In addition to this, Alstom has also signed a 15-year service agreement for the plant.

The plant is intended to generate 453MW of electricity and approximately 265MW of heat by means of a combined heat and power system; this can supply up to one million households with power and approximately 50,000 households with district heating.

The generator transformer features a compact design thanks to four oil-air coolers functioning as an ODAF1 cooling system.

Alstom Grid project manager Heiko Schneider said the new construction project in Niehl, Cologne, clearly illustrates the range of Alstom’s service portfolio for energy generation and transmission.

“Alstom has the advantage of being able to provide customers with a complete range of services, in both manufacturing of a new combined cycle plant, and providing the necessary equipment for electricity transmission,” Schneider said.

UK-based Highview Power Storage (HPS) has signed a global licensing and technology collaboration agreement with GE Oil & Gas for developing liquid air energy storage (LAES) systems.

Under the agreement, the companies will look into integrating Highview’s LAES technology in power plants where GE gas turbines will be installed.

HPS LAES technology uses liquid air or nitrogen as the storage medium to provide long-duration energy storage and it can also convert low-grade waste heat into power, increasing the overall efficiency of a host power plant.

This technology is scalable from around 5MW to significantly greater than 50MW.

The companies claim that the technology has no geographical restrictions compared to other large-scale storage technologies, like pumped hydro, and compressed air does not require mountains or caverns to operate.

Since 2011, LAES has been operating at a grid-connected 350kW/2.5MW pilot plant hosted by SSE next to the utility’s 80MW Slough biomass plant in Greater London.

GE Oil & Gas Turbomachinery Solutions business product management general manager Luca Maria Rossi said that Highview’s LAES technology and access to an operational pilot plant makes it an ideal partner for GE Oil & Gas to offer fully integrated energy solutions to customers.

HPS CEO Gareth Brett said that working with GE is an opportunity for HPS to access a broader customer base.

“The use of our LAES technology with GE’s solutions for flexible peaker plants will help make a significant contribution to balancing the electrical network of the future,” Brett said.

Vestas has signed a framework agreement with German wind power plant developer juwi for 75 units of Vestas’ 3MW platform, with an order for 21MW now firm and unconditional.

Under the firm and unconditional order, Vestas will supply seven V112-3.0 MW turbines to be installed in Rhineland-Palatinate during the third quarter of 2014.

The contract includes supply, installation and commissioning of the wind turbines, along with a VestasOnline Business SCADA solution, as well as a 15-year full-scope service agreement (AOM 4000).

Vestas expects to deliver and install the remainder of the machines from the framework agreement within 2014 at sites in western, central and southern Germany.

The new frame agreement and order follows the successful completion of a previous agreement for 47 wind turbines, signed in 2012.

juwi founder and board member Matthias Willenbacher said: “We are pleased to contribute further to the development of wind power energy in Germany with this agreement. Vestas’ advanced wind turbines enable us to offer our various customers reliable technology for sustainable energy production. Together with juwi and Vestas, regional utilities, and citizen cooperatives are able to contribute in an economically meaningful way to the energy turnaround.”

In August 2010, Vestas released the first wind turbine in its new 3MW platform, the V112-3.0 MW turbine.

A report released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) shows that in 2013, enough solar panels were installed across the globe to create approximately 37GW of solar power.

According to Gaëtan Masson, the association’s head of business intelligence, this brings the world’s total solar energy output to 136.7GW up to 2013 which was a significant increase of 35pc on the same time in 2012.

Also to come out of the report was, as had been understood from previous reports from organisations like EY who have shown that Asia will be leading the largest clean tech push in the coming years as it overtakes Europe as the world’s biggest developer of the technology.

As the figures show, While Europe concentrated more than 70pc of the world’s new PV installations in 2011 and still approximately 59pc a year later, with more than 10GW of new capacity installed in 2013, Europe only accounted for 28pc of the world’s market.

In some European countries, it is claimed, harsh support reduction, retrospective measures as well as unplanned changes are seriously harming the continent’s expansion of solar technology.

Italy is given as one of the worst examples of this as they have fallen from their position as the third-largest solar panel market in the world in 2012 by a margin of 70pc less productivity in 2013.

Germany too, the world leader by a considerable margin, saw a 57pc drop in productivity in 2013 as a result of regulatory changes.

The Azimut project partners have completed their applied research activities to develop an offshore wind turbine by 2020 with a unit capacity of 15MW.

The Gamesa-led €30.3m project brings together the efforts of 11 Spanish companies and 22 research centres, including Acciona Windpower, Alstom Wind, Acciona Energía, Iberdrola Renovables, Ingeteam, Imatia, Ingeciber, Digsilent Iberica, Técnicas Reunidas and Tecnitest.

As part of the research activities, the parties have gained an understanding of key areas, primarily in developing new technologies, testing process and models, and creating a new web application.

Gamesa has developed a new resin with improved properties for the manufacture of blades as well as a coating, Bladeshield, with anti-icing properties.

Acciona Windpower has undergone revision of various concepts for multi-megawatt wind turbines, and compared cost, weight and performance of the variants, while Alstom Wind was involved in the characterisation and validation of profiles for large offshore blades, while Acciona Energía unveiled several simulation tools.

In collaboration with Acciona Energía and the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of Cantabria, Iberdrola Renovables worked to develop a methodology and software tool to predict the short-term progress of the biohazard spill produced by offshore wind farms.

Ingeteam developed control algorithms for multiphase machines, in addition to filing two patents on multilevel conversion topologies.

To help experts design offshore O&M plans, Imatia developed statistical analysis and simulation techniques and generated algorithms, while Ingeciber worked on new mathematical models and existing CAE tools, to analyse offshore structures.

Digsilent Iberica launched its GridCode V2, which incorporates algorithms such as the Prony analysis for oscillation mode detection and ultimate model validation methods.

In addition to this, a new application, The Web Application for Grid Code Tracking, has been designed and developed, to help store specific offshore requirements.

Técnicas Reunidas demonstrated a new energy storage technology based on a zinc / air flow battery to increase wind energy penetration and create new insights on electrodes, membranes and electrolytes for zinc / air batteries, while Tecnitest worked to optimise a waterless/liquidless coupling for inspections using ultrasonic techniques (UT) for towers.

ReneSola has secured a contract from Enlightened Solar to supply 66 Replus string inverters and 100 Micro Replus micro inverters as part of a larger sale of ReneSola solar products.

Enlightened Solar will install 2,000 ReneSola 240W and 260W Virtus II modules and the ReneSola inverters on a series of new housing projects in the UK.

Enlightened Solar Managing director Geoff Fox said: “We chose ReneSola products because of the long expertise that the company has in supplying top quality equipment. The ease of procurement and full after sales service from the UK office made ReneSola an easy choice.”

ReneSola UK general manager Ian Glover said, “We are delighted Enlightened Solar chose our TL-series inverters. We have received positive feedback on our inverter quality and ease of installation, and expect the use of our inverters to streamline the overall installation process of solar equipment.”

The ReneSola products will be installed at 1,000 new homes located in Crawley Brentwood and Dagenham in south-east England.

Countryside properties will construct the homes and will include a mix of private and social housing. All properties are expected to benefit from the solar installation.

Schneider Electric has been selected as a preferred supplier by Areva to provide power equipment for the offshore wind power projects in France.

Schneider Electric will supply transformers and circuit breakers for Areva’s wind farms, including the 500MW Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm and the current tenders for offshore wind farms at Le Tréport off the coast of Haute-Normandie and the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier in Pays de la Loire.

The company will manufacture the equipment at two of its French industrial sites, located near Metz and Grenoble.

AREVA Renewables CEO Louis-François Durret said, “This agreement with Schneider Electric further underscores our commitment to developing a complete industrial sector in France, providing job creation opportunities and harnessing our local expertise.”

In July 2011, France launched the first round of a tender process for installing 3GW of offshore wind capacity, which involved the construction of around 600 wind turbines by 2018.

In April 2012, Iberdrola-Eole-RES consortium was selected by the France Government to develop the 500MW (100 5MW turbines) Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm in the bay of Saint Brieuc off the coast of Brittany.

Areva was selected by the Iberdrola-Eole-RES consortium to supply 100 of its M5000 wind turbines and provide maintenance services. The company will establish two facilitates at Le Havre, one to manufacture turbines and the other for blades.

The Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm is scheduled to come online between 2017 and 2019, and will generate enough electricity to power a town of around 650,000 inhabitants.