Norwegian energy firms Statoil and Statkraft have awarded a contract worth approximately £500m to Siemens to deliver turbines for the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the east of England, UK.

Under the contract, Siemens will manufacture, supply, install and commission 67 6MW direct-drive wind turbines.

Turbine installation is expected to start in 2017 and the contract includes a five-year service and maintenance agreement.

Siemens Energy wind power division CEO Markus Tacke said: “With Dudgeon we extend our project pipeline for this new turbine.

“This gives us the opportunity to further ramp up production capacity, which is a precondition to bring down the costs for offshore wind.”

The Dudgeon offshore wind farm, which is expected to cost £1.5bn, is located 32km north of the city of Cromer in North Norfolk.

The wind farm will deliver enough energy for around 410,000 households in the UK.

Statoil owns a 70% stake in the wind farm, and Statkraft holds the remaining stake.

As per the plan, the companies will initially build an onshore substation and lay cables on land before commencing offshore construction in 2016.

Statoil will operate the wind farm, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2017.

The UK Government awarded the license for the Dudgeon site in the Round 2 allocation in 2003.

Swiss power technology firm ABB has developed and tested a 525kV underground and subsea high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable system, which the company claims will make renewable energy INSTALLATIONS more efficient and cost-effective.

The technology, which features high-voltage power cables, joints and terminations, will increase the power capacity of CABLE CONNECTIONS to around 2.6GW from 1GW.

The reach of the lines will be extended to 1,500km, up from less than 1,000km, with TRANSMISSION losses of just below 5%.

The new extruded cable system offers a 64% increase, when compared to 320kV lines, currently THE HIGHEST voltage deployed.

The technology, which uses a new polyethylene insulation material, will allow countries and utilities to integrate more renewable energy being generated by distant solar and wind INSTALLATIONS.

ABB said that A SINGLE pair of 525kV extruded HVDC cables could transmit enough power from giant offshore wind farms for around two million households.

ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer said: “This major technology breakthrough will change the feasibility of renewable energy projects and play a defining role in using underground and subsea high-voltage cables to integrate renewables over long distances.”

The company said it will present the system at the Cigré technology symposium in Paris, France, this month.

ABB has commissioned more than 25 DC cable connections and approximately 100 AC cable links globally.

Greencoat UK Wind has signed an agreement with The AES Corporation to purchase 51.6% interest in Sixpenny Wood, Yelvertoft, North Rhins and Drone Hill wind farms in the UK.

Under the terms of the agreement, Greencoat will acquire the 51.6% stake in the four wind farms from AES’ subsidiaries for a total consideration of £90.6m.

Slated for completion on 22 August, the acquisitions will be funded through reinvestment of UKW’s cash resources and debt facility provided by RBC, RBS and Santander.

The four wind farms, which have a total generation capacity of 87.5MW, were developed by AES.

The 20.5MW Sixpenny Wood wind farm is located near Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire, whereas the 16.4MW Yelvertoft facility is situated east of Rugby in Northamptonshire.

Both the Sixpenny Wood and Yelvertoft wind farms entered into service in July 2013.

The 22MW North Rhins wind farm, which has been operational since December 2009, is situated on the North Rhins peninsula, west of Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway.

Located west of Eyemouth in the Borders, the 28.6MW Drone Hill facility started commercial operations in August 2012.

Greencoat UK Wind chairman Tim Ingram said: “We are pleased to increase our investment portfolio to 16 UK wind farms with a net generating capacity of 271.5MW.

“AES is the fifth seller of wind farms to UKW, a testament to the company’s independence and to its ability to be selective in its acquisitions.”

Greencoat UK will have a total outstanding debt of £225m, which is expected to be approximately 38% of gross asset value, upon completion of the transaction.

The remaining 48.4% stake in the wind farms will be acquired by Swiss Life Funds (Luxembourg) Global Infrastructure Opportunities, a fund managed by Swiss Life Asset Managers.

The UK’s Crown Estate has signed a lease agreement with 2-B Energy’s subsidiary Forthwind for the nation’s first offshore two-bladed turbine demonstration on the seabed at Methil in Scotland.

The demonstration involves the installation of two 6MW full-scale units at Methil.

The 6MW two-bladed turbine, designed for offshore wind industry, is claimed to be the first of its kind in the world.

Earlier, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) granted support, along with investment from the Scottish Investment Bank, to 2-B Energy for the development of full-scale onshore prototype in the Netherlands.

Prior to the grant, two offshore machines have already been planned for Methil and will be deployed in 2016, following planning approval.

The Crown Estate Offshore Wind head Huub den Rooijen said: “In order to fully unlock the potential of offshore wind over the long term, it is vital that opportunities are made available to test and demonstrate innovative and emerging technology platforms to bring down costs and secure the UK’s position as a global leader in offshore wind technology.

“As such, we are pleased to have concluded an Agreement for Lease with 2-B Energy and look forward with interest to seeing the technology mature.”

In addition to the two-bladed turbine design, the company is considering integrating wind turbine technology with grid and access systems innovations and the installation process, and a new operational strategy, to reduce costs.

2-B Energy chief operating officer Mikael Jakobsson said: “We hope that through this offshore development and demonstration step, and following the completion of our first on-shore demonstrator in early 2015, to be able to validate significant cost reductions in future offshore wind deployment.”

Irish renewable energies firm BNRG has begun construction of its 15MW solar plant across 85 acres of land in Bilsham Farm in West Sussex, UK, at a cost of €25m.

In terms of benefit for the area, the plant will have the capacity to power more than 4,950 homes for 30 years.

BNRG, which is based in Dublin and backed by IDA Ireland, is constructing the project through a joint venture with the Langmead Group.

Langmead Group is one of the UK’s largest fresh produce suppliers. Its company policy includes working towards sustainability and promoting clean-energy use within the company and on farms across some 2,500 hectares in West Sussex, Scotland and Suffolk and Spain.

To date, BNRG has developed and constructed solar farms with a combined value of more than €170m and has completed 11 utility scale solar projects in the UK since 2011.

The company also recently received planning approval for the first utility scale solar PV plan on the island of Ireland near Downpatrick in Co Down.

BNRG has also confirmed it has lined up a number of similar projects across the UK and Europe for construction in 2015 and the following years after.

TÜV SÜD has completed certification of the 600MW Gemini wind farm located in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands.

The certification scope included certification of two sub-stations and a design assessment for the wind farm located in the Dutch exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Sea, around 85km off the coast north of the province of Groningen.

The wind farm’s design documentation review, which covered the support structures of the wind turbines, including 150 monopiles and connection structures, has already been completed by TÜV SÜD.

TÜV SÜD, on behalf of international service provider Gemini, has now completed the certification of the two offshore sub-stations which involved review of the design documentation and the geotechnical report as well as the review of the sub-stations’ support structures and topside platforms.

TÜV SÜD Industrie Service Offshore Wind Energy department project manager Ulrich Knopf said: “We are very happy that Gemini placed these contracts with TÜV SÜD.

“For us, this fact also confirms our position as one of the world’s leading certification companies for onshore and offshore wind turbines and wind farms.”

In 2013, Typhoon Offshore, on behalf of Gemini, selected TÜV SÜD to conduct the 300MW high-voltage offshore substations certification, which is needed of for the licensing process by the Dutch authorities for Gemini wind farm.

The wind farm is expected to supply 785,000 households per year with clean, renewable electricity while the sub-station platforms will convert the alternating current produced by the wind turbines into high-voltage alternating current for distribution onshore with reduced losses.

Centrica and DONG Energy have scrapped the Celtic Array offshore wind farm planned for the Irish Sea.

The companies have come to a conclusion that the project is economically unviable with current technology and has confirmed challenging ground conditions.

Celtic Array, which is a joint venture between Centrica and DONG Energy, was formed in March 2012 when DONG Energy bought a 50% share in Centrica’s rights to develop wind farms in the Round 3 Irish Sea Zone.

The Crown Estate has agreed to Celtic Array’s decision to cease the zone development agreement for the Irish Sea Zone, allowing the joint venture to stop development activities.

A spokesperson for the project said: “We’re disappointed not to be progressing with our work to develop wind farms in the Irish Sea Zone, however our assessments have shown that ground conditions are such that it’s not viable for us to proceed with the technology that’s available at this stage. We’re extremely grateful for the support that has been shown to us and would like to thank everyone who has taken part in the development of our proposals for the Rhiannon wind farm and other potential projects.”

In January 2010, Centrica Renewable Energy announced an exclusive zone development agreement with The Crown Estate, allowing Centrica to prepare proposals for developing offshore wind farms in an area of the Irish Sea.

The Irish Sea Zone covers an area of 2,200km². The boundaries of the zone are approximately 15km from Anglesey, 20km from the Isle of Man, and more than 40km to the Cumbrian coast.

Head of Offshore Wind, Huub den Rooijen said: “We have confirmed the developers’ assessment of the zone, which shows that challenging ground conditions make this project economically unviable with current technology.

“We understand that this will be disappointing for many but improvements and de-risking of new technologies may one day in the future make it economic to develop in some parts of the area.

“Whilst we have no plans to re-offer the zone to the market, to improve the understanding of the complex geology in this region we intend to make available the wealth of data from Celtic Array’s activity through our Marine Data Exchange in due course.”

Siemens Energy has secured a contract to supply wind turbines for the Westermeerwind project in the Netherlands.

Under the contract, the company will supply 48 direct drive wind turbines to the project, which is claimed to be the country’s largest near shore wind farm.

The contract also represents the first wind power plant Siemens Wind Power’s Offshore unit will erect for handover to the customer on a turnkey basis.

In addition to supplying turbines, Siemens will also provide a 15-year comprehensive maintenance services, during which the owner will benefit from Siemens’ guaranteed availability.

The 144MW Westermeerwind near shore wind farm will be erected in the IJsselmeer lake along the northern and western dike of the Dutch municipality of Noordoostpolder.

The 48 Siemens SWT-3.0-108 wind turbines will be arranged in three rows in the shallow waters between 500m and 1,100m from the dike. Each wind turbine is capable of generating 3MW with a 108m rotor diameter, ensuring maximum efficiency.

Preparation works on the site will start in the middle quarter of 2014, followed by offshore installation in 2015.

Upon completion between end of 2015 and early 2016, the wind project will generate enough electricity to meet the demands of 160,000 Dutch homes.

The project will thereby significantly contribute to the Netherlands reaching their climate-protection targets of generating 14% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The Westermeerwind project is expected to bring approximately 150 additional jobs to the area during the erection phase. Some 30 technicians and other specialists are also expected to be needed over the 15-year service period to operate the wind park.

Farmers and citizens of the facility’s three neighboring councils of Noordoostpolder, Urk and Lemsterland will be offered the opportunity to invest in this wind park around one year after realisation in 2016.

Dalkia, together with Fengate Capital Management, will build a 40MW biomass power plant in Canada.

To be located in Merritt, British Columbia, the power plant is claimed to be the largest in North America along with the Fort St James plant, also developed by Dalkia and Fengate Capital Management.

To be built under a design, finance, build, operate and maintain (DFBOM) contract, Dalkia will be responsible for industrial management and maintenance of the facilities, biomass supply and preparation services.

The plant will produce electricity by consuming 307,000kg of biomass a year, which will mainly be sawmill waste. Supply will be managed by Dalkia and sourced from local sawmills.

Power generated from the project will be supplied to BC Hydro & Power Authority to power almost 40,000 Canadian households.

During the construction phase the project will create around 250 jobs and 80 new direct and indirect jobs during the plant’s 30-year operation.

Fengate Capital Management will provide financing for the plant, together with a number of international and Canadian banks. As for Fort St James, Dalkia and Fengate Capital Management have contracted Iberdrola Engineering & Construction to build the plant.

Dalkia expects the project to generate cumulative operating and biomass sales of more than €540m (CAD790m) over the contract’s 30-year term.

Veolia chairman and CEO of Antoine Frérot said: “After Fort St James, construction of which started at the end of 2013, the Merritt biomass power plant will be one of the largest and most efficient in North America. Here again, Dalkia has confirmed its globally unparalleled expertise in biomass plants. Our cooperation with Fengate Capital Management enables us to provide our customers with the best of our combined expertise: the design and operation of the most complex facilities on the one hand, and asset financing on the other.”

Dalkia is a subsidiary of Veolia Environnement and Electricité de France.

Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has invested more than $900m in the 2013-14 financial year in projects worth more than $3bn in total value.

The investments cover a diverse range of economic activity such as agribusiness, waste coal mine gas-to-energy, wave energy, bioenergy, energy efficiency projects in local government and the community sector, and efficiency upgrades across the full spectrum of the property sector.

CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said the CEFC is demonstrating the potential that its activities offer to catalyse greater private sector investment into the sector, with its current portfolio achieving matched private sector funds of more than $2.20 for each $1 of CEFC investment.

“The CEFC invests for a positive return, with its investments presently expected to earn an average yield of approximately 7%, which is more than 3.5% above the government’s cost of funds prevailing when the investment were made,”Yates said.

“Through this portfolio of 40 direct investments and a further 25 projects co-financed under aggregation partnerships, the CEFC is delivering abatement estimated at more than 4.2 million tonnes of CO2e p.a., with a benefit to the taxpayer of around $2.40 per tonne of CO2e abated (net of government cost of borrowing).”

The CEFC has partnered with all four major banks and more than ten other domestic and international banks for the investment.

The CEFC will also finance $227m, of which around $133m is for new solar programmes and projects, which will bring its total commitment to solar to more than $200m.

Some of the investments of the CEFC include up to $120m for three new Solar PV financing programmes, up to $70m for a programme by SunEdison, up to $20m for a programme offered by Tindo Solar, up to $30m for a programme by Kudos Energy and $13m under a structured project finance facility.