German turbine manufacturer Nordex posted earnings of €97.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, a 63% rise on the same period last year, helped by falling costs and rising demand in Europe and South Africa.

Orders have gone up by 57% and the performance has led the German company Nordex to raise its sales target for 2015 by roughly 15% from €1.9-2.1bn to between €2.3bn and €2.4bn.

Orders on hand climbed by 32% which, the company said in a statement, “provide the underpinnings for the expected growth in the first half of 2016.”

Europe and South Africa accounted for 88% of total sales with the remaining 12% coming from the Americas.

Nordex chief executive Lars Bondo Krogsgaard revealed the company plans to expand further.

He said: “We are currently growing more quickly than the wind power industry as a whole. This is due to our focus on the right markets, products and services. To ensure that we remain on this course of expansion in the long term, we have now decided to substantially strengthen our business by combining our activities with those of Acciona Windpower.”

Indeed, in early October, Nordex surprised the industry with the announcement it would acquire rival Acciona Windpower in a €785 million cash and shares deal. In return, the Acciona Group would become Nordex’s reference shareholder with a 29.9% stake.

The company will report on its medium-term outlook and strategic orientation at a capital markets day taking place tomorrow in Frankfurt.

Scotland will miss the Scottish Government’s aim of having 100 per cent of its energy produced by renewables by 2020, according to a new report by industry body Scottish Renewables.

The study shows Scotland is on course to generate the equivalent of 87% of its annual demand for power from renewables by 2020, and highlights the need for further support from the UK government if the target is to be met.

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables said :

“If we don’t start the process by next spring, the delay could fatally undermine the timeline for the projects on Scotland’s main island groups, ending prospects for major developments on the Western Isles and Shetland. It would also raise serious questions about whether the proposed offshore wind projects can make the 2020 deadline.”

Then he added :

“Essentially it is this simple. If we get an allocation round next spring and enough Scottish projects are successful we can still hit the target”.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said he shared the concerns:

“Recent announcements by the UK Government represent an attack on the renewables sector, creating huge uncertainty for investors, developers and communities, and undermining Scotland’s ability to fulfil its renewable energy potential.”

However, the 2020 target is not legally binding and therefore there are no penalties for missing it.

The renewables sector now employs around 21,000 people in Scotland and delivers around £1billion pounds of capital investment every year (€1.4bn).

Iran’s Ministry of Energy has signed an agreement with a German company to build 1,250 megawatts of solar energy projects in the hydrocarbon-rich country’s latest move to green its energy supply chain.

Great Tehran Electrical Distribution managing director Ali Barband said that the firm will set up multiple solar energy facilities in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan.

Financial details about the transactions have not been disclosed, but the deal includes construction of a 150MW facility in Kahrizak, 200MW in Varamin and 150MW in Malard :

“It was decided that the issue of land acquisition for construction of the plants is determined soon, after which a 20-year agreement for guaranteed purchase of power will be signed with the Germans”, Barband said. He also added :

“The envisaged plan is to increase power generation capacity during the post-sanction era by various means, including foreign direct investment, construction of new solar, wind and incinerator plants as well as building small-scale plants with distributed generation.”

The German giant is expected to start construction for the first solar project under the deal in early 2016, and complete it by May 2016.

Around 94% of Iran’s power mix is derived from fossil fuels, which the country seeks to replace with renewable sources.

The government plans to install 5,000 MW of renewable capacity, putting Iran among the likes of the UK and France.

The 144MW Westermeerwind offshore wind farm delivered last weekend the first power to the grid in the Netherlands.

The first 17 of 48 turbines have been installed by main contractor Siemens, with the project expected to be fully operational by the Spring of 2016.

Van Oord and Mammoet completed the last pile installation in late May 2015 and Siemens started adding the tower sections in mid-July started with placing the tower sections.

VolkerWessels Boskalis Marine Solutions completed the installation of 44km of power cables from the wind farm in June.

There are 42 connecting cables laid between the wind turbines and six export cables to transport the power from the wind turbines to the transformer station on the mainland.

Independent service provider Availon has added 620MW of wind turbine generators under operation & maintenance (O&M) contracts this year, a record for the company.

Some 390 wind turbines have been added to the company’s roster, which has grown 20% in the last 12 months :

“Germany, Spain and Italy, which have had many wind farms coming out of warranty, represent the majority of the additions”, the company said.

Availon saw a significant increase in new O&M contracts for GE and Vestas turbines, which make up the majority of turbines under contract at the company.

The average age of turbines under contract has dropped because more and more wind farm owners decide to change from OEMs to Availon as soon as the warranty ends, the company also reported.

Availon global sales manager Michael Richter said:

“Customers, banks and insurers know that Availon is an attractive alternative to the turbine manufacturers for aftermarket service, and push even for a switch over. There will be plenty of opportunities available to us in the booming O&M market and we are well positioned to take full advantage of them.”

Vestas has won a firm and unconditional order for turbines totaling 200MW from Inner Mongolia Hanas Wind Power for two Chinese wind power projects.

Under the deal, the Danish power equipment manufacturer will deliver 50 of its V110-2.0MW turbines for the Azuoqi 1A project, along with 25 of its V100-2.0 MW models and 25 of its V110-2.0MW turbines for the Azuoqi 1B project.

Both the wind projects are being developed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and delivery and commissioning of the turbines have been scheduled for the second quarter of 2016.

The order is Vestas’ largest in China in 2015, according to the company. The manufacturer will also service the turbines for two years.

Vestas Asia Pacific and China president Chris Beaufait said:

“We are proud to have a close partner like Hanas, from which the formation of their wind energy businesses has focused on the levelised cost of energy and world-class operations and maintenance practices for the turbines’ entire lifecycle, and we are pleased to see that more and more developers in China are following suit.”

This deal for the Chinese wind power projects follows a co-operation agreement signed between the parties in October 2015, to strengthen their mutually beneficial collaboration. Hanas has previously ordered 600MW of turbines from Vestas for projects in China.

This week, Vestas announced revenue of €5.4 billion in the first nine months of 2015 with an order intake of 6.3GW globally.

China intends to increase its power generation capacity with 150GW wind power installations, which is in support of the country’s target to generate at least 15% of power mix from renewable sources by 2020.

Lekela Power, a joint venture between Irish developer Mainstream Renewable Power and investment firm Actis, has signed an agreement with the government’s transmission company to build a 250MW wind project.

Lekela’s 250MW project will be located in the Gulf of Suez region of northeast Egypt. Lekela will construct the project on a build, own and operate framework.

The private equity investor Actis owns 60% stake in Lekela Power, and the remaining 40% is owned by Irish green energy developer Mainstream Renewable Power.

The planned wind power development is expected to cost around $350m (€326m), according to Daily News Egypt.

The deal represents Lekela Power’s third Egyptian project. Earlier this year the firm signed deals for two more; a wind and a solar power project each having a 50MW capacity.

Lekela Power chief executive officer Chris Antonopoulos said :

“We are delighted to have agreed heads of terms for our third project in Egypt and we look forward to continuing to provide clean, safe, and cost-competitive energy to the Egyptian people through our wind and solar projects.”

The Lekela JV was launched in February 2015 in a $1.9 billion deal (€1.77bn). It is aiming to develop up to 900MW of wind and solar projects in Africa by 2018.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed on Tuesday €285 million of loans to support various energy projects in Greece, improving the electricity transmission and interconnection network across the country, while at the same time bolstering environmental-friendly energy security and efficiency.

EIB president Werner Hoyer said:

“We are determined to enhance our cooperation with the Hellenic Republic, other European development finance institutions and private investors in further assisting recovery in Greece.”

A loan of €110m, which has been granted to the Greek utility Public Power (PPC), is the second tranche of an EIB €190m loan intended to develop power projects on Greek islands.

The project is expected to install fossil fuel fired engines on 18 Greek islands, which are not interconnected to the mainland grid in the North and East Aegean, Dodecanese, Cyclades, and the Diapontia island complex. It also aims at upgrading auxiliary infrastructure for the projects.

EIB has also signed a €70m deal with Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in the country, with power transmission and the interconnection of the Cyclades islands to the mainland network are expected to be improved under it.

This deal marks the second phase of an EIB €140m loan, which was signed to support IPTO’s power transmission investment programme within the period covering 2012-17.

An additional €65m financing aid has also been allowed by EIB, as a second tranche of an EIB €130m loan intended for the interconnection of the Cyclades islands.

Another €40m loan was offered to the Hellenic National Gas System Operator (DESFA), extending EIB’s support for the natural gas system in Greece.

Lightsource has announced refinancing of £284m of its portfolio of UK solar projects.

The portfolio comprises 33 operational, ground-mounted solar projects, which fall under 20-25 year fixed income tariffs under the UK government’s Feed in Tariff subsidy regime.

The refinancing was completed with the Royal Bank of Scotland as Lightsource’s financial partner and takes the amount of project finance debt raised by Lighthouse in 2015 to £1.1bn.

The £284m refinancing represents the first ever sterling, benchmark-size solar bond and the largest sterling renewables bond.

The deal saw M&G Investments provide £247 million of 22-year inflation linked finance with AMP Capital providing a £37 million 8-year mezzanine facility.

Lightsource finance director Paul McCartie said:

“We are delighted to have closed this deal which represents a significant milestone for Lightsource. We would like to thank M&G and AMP Capital for their continued support on the transaction and hope that we can maintain those partnerships with future deals in the pipeline.”

Canadian energy company Enbridge has acquired a 24.9% interest in the 400MW Rampion offshore wind farm, to be located 13 kilometres off the Sussex coast south of Brighton, England.

Enbridge will become a shareholders in Rampion Offshore Wind Limited, joining existing partners Eon, which will remain the controlling shareholder at 50.1%, and the UK Green Investment Bank.

The project received the final investment decision in May 2015, started construction in September and is expected to be fully operational in 2018.

Eon and Enbridge are already partners in the Magic Valley wind farm in Texas and the Wildcat wind farm in Indiana.

Eon Climate & Renewables chief operating officer Michael Lewis said:

“We are happy to strengthen our partnership with Enbridge as a reliable partner, who shares our approach of combining high class assets and safe operations. The company’s background in North American renewables and pipelines complements the expertise of the existing shareholder group. Our collective experience will help realise the successful construction and operation of the wind farm.”