Western Europe has less than 4GW of natural gas powered plant under development, reports Platts, a global information provider for industry and markets.

According to Platts’ Power in Europe Project Tracker, the level of development is the lowest in over a decade.

The project tracker by Platts’ long running publication Power in Europe studies electric power generation capacity and construction of power facilities in the continent.

Power in Europe associate editorial director Henry Edwardes-Evans said: “Since 2008, Europe has experienced strong subsidised growth in renewable energy, sustained periods of weak demand and low wholesale power prices, all of which have deterred thermal plant investment, particularly gas plant construction.

“There are only pockets of opportunity for thermal plant development in West Europe.

“Upcoming capacity auctions in the UK and Belgium are expected to be hotly contested, but in Germany, sector analysts see no need for thermal plant additions for several years. In fact, there is a trend of closures and mothballing of plants across Germany, the Netherlands, France and Austria.”

In September 2006 and early 2012, the tracker had recorded 23GW and 15GW of combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants under construction, respectively.

Reasons behind the lack of growth can be shelving of several approved CCGT facilities, and a few operational plants are up for sale such as those owned by Verbund in France and three UK plants owned by Centrica.”

Around 35GW of CCGT plants are shelved while many others are being broken up with equipment being sold overseas.

The tracker indicates that 6.8GW of coal power plants in construction are all in Germany and the Netherlands, and only 3GW are in the “approved” category, with no immediate prospect of further progress.

The facilities were planned when demand was surging and prices were higher.

With regard to pumped-storage hydropower, the report says that this segment is going through a development surge. Around 4.6GW of hydropower plants are in construction, mainly in Switzerland and Portugal.

Under the nuclear category, approximately 3.2GW plants are in construction in West Europe. Two European Pressurized water Reactor (EPR) projects are, however, progressing at slow pace.

Around 15 offshore wind farms, of a total 4.3GW, are under construction and majority of them are in Germany (2.36 GW), followed by the UK (1.4 GW).

Compared to last year, capacity additions in renewable segment are down 25% and the sector representatives think this contraction will continue till 2016.

Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and its affiliates (KKR) have acquired a one third stake in ACCIONA Energía Internacional (AEI), the international renewable energy division of Spain-based ACCIONA, for €397m.

ACCIONA chairman and CEO José Manuel Entrecanales Domecq said: “The alliance between KKR and ACCIONA marks a new milestone for the renewable energy industry.

“With KKR as a long-term financial partner, ACCIONA is in a strong position to take advantage of the huge opportunities that lie in the global market for renewable energy.”

The energy division of the firm, ACCIONA Energia, will retain the remaining two-third stake in AEI.

AEI’s portfolio includes wind farms and a limited number of solar PV and thermal installations.

Following the completion of the reorganisation, AEI will hold a diversified portfolio of ACCIONA Energía’s operating renewable assets outside of Spain.

The portfolio of renewable assets include 2.3GW in 14 countries – US, Mexico, Australia, Italy, Portugal and South Africa, all of which generate steady cash flows of €120m a year.

This investment takes AEI’s enterprise value to €2.6bn, including €1.3bn in equity and €1.3bn in net debt.

The partnership between KKR and ACCIONA also comprises a management agreement.

As per this agreement, ACCIONA Energía will operate AEI’s assets for 20 years for an annual fee.

In addition to this, ACCIONA Energía will give AEI a Right of First Offer on future renewable energy projects it develops within AEI’s operational territory.

ACCIONA Energía claims that it has a pipeline of around 3GW, which can be accelerated with a partnership with KKR.

Both the firms have plans to promote international IPO through a YieldCo vehicle, which will have several assets of AEI.

KKR co-chairman and co-CEO Henry Kravis said: “This investment adds to our track record of building successful partnerships with corporates and families. I am really optimistic about the opportunity to partner with such a prominent renewable energy company and to help further develop what is already one of the largest operating renewable portfolios in the world.”

Floating Solar UK has installed and launched the UK’s first floating solar panel system at Sheeplands farm in Berkshire.

The facility consists of 800 solar panels, which can generate 200KW of power.

The panels were installed in early September on an irrigation reservoir at a 300-acre farm, near the village of Wargrave in Berkshire.

The development of the Berkshire farm cost £250,000.

The Greener Group is the installation partner for Floating Solar UK.

Floating Solar UK founder and CEO Mark Bennett was quoted by reNews as saying: “The launch of our new installation signals what we hope is a revolutionary new alternative for owners of large used, and unused, bodies of water who are wanting to generate both renewable energy and sustainable income.

“The technology is durable, cost-effective and so flexible that it only took us a week to install a 200kW system with more than 800 floating panels.”

Developed by French firm Ciel et Terre, the floating solar panel technology is being distributed by Floating Solar Panel UK in the UK.

Ciel et terre president Alexis Gaveau was quoted by reNews as saying: “It is fantastic to see our innovative technology now being deployed in the UK for the first time.

“The floating solar installation at the Sheeplands Farm site is a real-world example how advancements in renewable technology can both easily be installed and deliver results so quickly.”

The floating solar panel system will be used to generate power for the pump, which would send water from the reservoir to the farm.

The system is claimed to generate higher electricity as a result of the water’s cooling effect on panels.

Further, the installation costs and the environmental impact are low as there is no excavation work.

Renewable energy firm RWE Innogy UK has opened the £45m Goole Fields 1 Wind Farm, located at East Riding in Yorkshire, the UK.

The wind farm features 16 turbines and has an installed energy capacity of 32.8MW.

According to RWE Innogy UK, the wind farm will contribute towards tackle climate change, and secure the UK’s energy supply.

The wind farm is expected to provide power annually to around 18,200 average households.

Meanwhile, the Goole Fields Wind Farm Community Fund is expected to become operational this autumn and will make investments over the operational lifetime of the wind farm.

RWE Innogy UK Goole Fields Wind Farm project manager Tim Daldry said: “Goole Fields Wind Farm is testimony to everybody involved, and will create a cleaner energy legacy for the area by generating home grown electricity from the wind for thousands of homes.”

Goole Fields 1 wind farm comprises 16 Senvion 2.05MW turbines.

The farm received approval from local authorities in 2010 and the construction began in early 2012.

Earlier this month, over 50% of the 160 turbines at the RWE Innogy’s offshore wind farm in North Wales were commissioned to generate power.

Once completely operational, the £2bn Gwynt y Môr farm is expected to generate power for around 400,000 homes.

This facility includes 160 3.6MW Siemens turbines, two offshore substations and 161 inter-array cables.

The renewable energy industry has united to launch a series of ‘key tests’ for the UK political parties ahead of the next General Election.

Leading renewable energy trade bodies including the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), the British Hydropower Association (BHA), the Renewable Energy Association (REA), the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA), RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables and the Solar Trade Association (STA), have launched a renewables manifesto statement and campaign hosted on the Action for Renewables website.

The trade bodies have set out six key tests for the next Government, and a campaign has been launched encouraging members of the public to write to the different party leaders to encourage them to take forward the principles into the General Election.

“The renewable energy bodies have come together with clear and simple propositions,” said Action for Renewables’ chairman Tony Juniper. “We need consistent and strong backing for renewable energy, not only to cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change, but also to harness the opportunities for growth and jobs and reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuel imports from insecure parts of the world.

“A range of technologies have important roles to play and I hope voters will contact Party Leaders and ask them to support out manifesto because none of these technologies can flourish without political backing.”

The six key tests laid out by the grouping are:

1. Support the Climate Change Act to keep us on course to meet our carbon commitments and back global efforts to tackle climate change.
2. Set a new renewables target for 2030 of 30% of UK energy.
3. Back the Independent Committee on Climate Change’s recommendation to set a binding target for low carbon electricity by 2030.
4. Fund the Renewable Heat Incentive for new applications after 2016.
5. Boost the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to reach the 10% renewable energy target for transport by 2020.
6. Reform the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to ensure the market takes account of all sectors’ polluting cost of carbon emissions.

Renewables currently account for 15% of Britain’s power and are set to provide nearly a third by 2020. A recent report from the International Energy Agency revealed that wind, solar and hydro energy grew at its fastest ever pace last year, equating to almost 22% of global power generation.

The date of the next general election has been set as 7 May 2015.

Luke Nicholls

anish turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems has received orders from renewable energy firm EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN) to supply 29 of its V100-2.0MW turbines to a wind power project in Poland.

The turbines will be installed at the wind power project in Lubuskie near Rzepin.

This plant is considered to be one of the largest in the north-western region of Poland.

The contract involves foundation works, supply, installation and commissioning of the turbines in addition to providing the VestasOnline Business SCADA solution and a two-year service agreement.

The delivery of the V100-2.0MW turbines for the wind farm will start by the first quarter of 2015 and the commissioning is expected to start by the fourth quarter of the same year.

The wind power project is a part of the 2011 Frame Agreement signed between EDF EN and Vestas for Europe and the US.

Vestas Northern Europe president Klaus Steen Mortensen said: “It is a pleasure for us to announce another large order for Poland and to further build on the long-term partnership with our highly-valued customer EDF EN.

“We are happy to be chosen as the wind turbine supplier and service provider for these wind power plants and to consolidate our market leadership in Poland.”

So far, Vestas has delivered around 540 wind turbines in Poland, totalling more than 1,100MW.

Vestas claims that its V100-1.8/2.0 MW turbines enable its clients to increase productivity by opening up low- and medium-wind sites that were earlier considered non-feasible.

JDR, a provider of technology for the global offshore energy industry, has secured a new contract with VolkerWessels Boskalis Marine Solutions (VBMS) for the Statoil/Statkraft Dudgeon offshore wind farm, which is off the UK coast in North Norfolk.

The wind farm, which is located 32km off the UK coast, will use more than 95km of copper core inter-array cable and an array of cable accessories supplied by JDR.

These inter-array cables will collect and transmit the generated power, and then export it to the mainland UK.

JDR’s UK sites in Cambridgeshire and Hartlepool will look into the designing and manufacturing aspects of the inter-array cable and cable accessories.

The farm, with 67 wind turbines of 6MW each, will generate electricity for more than 410,000 household annually.

The project will use two inter-array cables designed by JDR; a 185mm² copper conductor cable, and a 500mm² copper conductor cable.

These cables will be XLPE insulated and type-tested to meet IEC 60502-2 and CIGRE standards.

JDR will also deliver accessories such as hang-offs, connectors, pulling grips, cable cleats, fibre optic patch panels, subsea repair joints and three-month abandonment kits.

JDR chief executive officer Andrew Norman said: “The UK has led the global market for offshore wind developments.

“JDR has been involved right from the start with our work on the London Array and Greater Gabbard projects. We are now delighted to have been selected as inter-array cable partner for Dudgeon.”

UK Government Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: “I am delighted this contract has been awarded to JDR Cables, one of the UK’s premier offshore wind suppliers, demonstrating their success in a very competitive market.

“As part of our long-term economic plan we are working with the offshore wind industry to bolster a thriving manufacturing industry here in the UK, ensuring more energy jobs comes to our shores.”

A joint venture (JV) between China-CEE fund and Israeli-based Enlight Renewable Energy plans to invest up to $406m to acquire control of two wind energy projects in Poland, which together will have 250.5MW of installed capacity.

The projects to be acquired by the joint venture include Wroblew and Project 2, which were developed by GEO Renewables.

Wroblew, which is estimated to be worth around PLN200m ($62m), will be completed by November and will have an installed capacity of approximately 36MW.

Project 2 is expected to have a capacity of around 214MW; its first phase will be finalised by the end of next year.

The deal for this project is currently undergoing due diligence, reports Reuters.

Following the sale, Geo will hold minority stakes in these two wind farms.

China-CEE holds a 49.9% stake in the JV while Enlight holds the remaining equity.

The China-CEE Fund, which is managed by CEE Equity Partners, had earlier revealed that it was willing to invest $500m over the next three years in the Eastern and Central European regions.

The Export-Import Bank of China set up CEE Equity Partners in partnership with state-supported financial organisations from eastern and central Europe in order to tap investment opportunities.

As Poland produces around 90% of its power from coal, it plans to shift to renewable energy.

It aims to generate 15% of the total power requirements from renewable energy by 2020 in order to cut down carbon emissions as per the EU rules.

Image: Poland produces about 90% of its power from coal and plans to shift to renewable energy. Photo: courtesy of dan/Freedigitalphotos.net.

The construction phase of Global Tech I wind farm, which is located 100km off the coast in the German North Sea, has been completed with the erection of all 80 AREVA turbines.

The offshore wind power station has 80 turbines of the 5MW class (AREVA Wind M5000-116) and a transformer station.

The wind farm is spread over an area of 41km².

The 5MW M5000-116 turbines were manufactured at Areva’s Bremerhaven and Stade locations in northern Germany.

Areva claimed that its offshore know-how in loading, transport and installation of wind turbines contributed to the successful erection of the 400MW wind farm.

The firm’s project team erected 58 rotor stars.

The turbines will be commissioned once the grid connection is available.

Currently, only the cable work needs to be finalised at the wind farm.

Meanwhile, an underwater robot is checking if 120km of internal cables are laid properly and at the right depth in their seabed trenches.

AREVA Wind CEO Arnaud Bellanger said: “This success marks another milestone for AREVA. The group’s installed base now reaches 630MW for offshore wind.

“This solid base founded on a proven technology, along with the creation of our joint-venture announced with GAMESA further consolidates AREVA’s position as a key player on the European offshore wind market.”

The construction of the wind farm started in early 2010.

Global Tech I Offshore Wind technical managing director Arjen Schampers said: “We are proud of our team, our suppliers and installation contractors. We have worked day and night in all winds and weathers and proven we can construct with precision a 400MW wind farm at sea in water 40m deep.”

Transmission grid operator TenneT expects to connect Global Tech I in early September to BorWin beta, the TenneT offshore converter station as the turbines need energy for their own consumption.

The electrical connection will enable the commissioning of the turbines.

The offshore wind project DanTysk has achieved an important milestone, with the INSTALLATION of the last of its 80 turbines.

The 288MW offshore wind farm, erected by Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München (SWM), will have a production capacity equivalent to the consumption of up to 400,000 households.

The wind farm is LOCATED 70km west of THE ISLAND of Sylt.

Around 80 Siemens WIND TURBINES, each 3.6MW in class were built, with a maximum rotor tip height of just under 150m above sea level.

Vattenfall and SWM began constructing the first WIND TURBINE in mid-April this year. Benign weather helped the companies install 80 turbines in approximately four months.

THE WIND project will be linked to the grid via the SylWin1 link.

The wind farm is located on a sprawling 70km² area in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on the border to Danish territorial waters.

In addition to its low GREENHOUSE emissions, the farm can also produce power for 400,000 households.

“Benign weather helped the companies INSTALL 80 turbines in approximately four months.”

Vattenfall’s Continental/UK region renewables business unit head Gunnar Groebler said, “We are delighted that the 80 WIND TURBINES in the DanTysk offshore wind farm could be set up so quickly. Additionally particularly positive is that the inter-array cable installation between the turbines and the offshore substation went smoothly.”

Stadtwerke München Corporate INVESTMENT MANAGEMENTChristian Vogt said, “The erection of the last turbine in the DanTysk project could be completed as scheduled and is an important step on the way to the implementing of the whole wind farm.

“The successful construction progress on this project allows us to look forward to the NEXT joint project “Sandbank” from SWM and Vattenfall which will be placed in the neighborhood.”

DanTysk is a joint venture of Vattenfall (51%) and Stadtwerke München (49%).