Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has formed a development partnership with Coriolis Energy to set up nine wind power projects in the UK.

Projected power generation capacity of the developments will be up to 400MW. The firms are likely to spend approximately £600m on the proposed projects.

First of the nine onshore wind energy facilities is expected to be commissioned by 2019.

Once all the projects are operational, they will meet the power requirements of 225,000 households in the country.

ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty said: “ESB’s partnership with Coriolis Energy confirms the company’s continuing commitment to renewable electricity generation and further reducing the carbon mix in our portfolio.

“This partnership gives us an opportunity to increase our presence and capability in onshore wind in the UK through high-quality projects.”

Coriolis Energy managing director David Murray said: “This new partnership with ESB underlines Coriolis Energy’s position as one of the UK’s leading independent onshore wind developers.

“ESB’s scale, capabilities and desire to build a substantial onshore wind portfolio in the UK make them an ideal long term partner, both for us and our project landowners.

“We look forward to successfully completing the development of our existing project pipeline with them and using this as a platform for progressing further opportunities as the market continues to develop.”

Though most of the projects are likely to be built in Scotland, the firms will also explore new sites for onshore wind power developments throughout the UK.

Power-Technology.

A new report released today (29 April) has revealed that the UK’s onshore wind industry contributed £906m to the UK economy last year, of which almost 30% directly benefits local areas.

The report, undertaken by BiGGAR Economics for RenewableUK, shows the industry’s contribution to the UK economy is increasing, having risen by 65% (£358mn) since 2012. It also shows that each megawatt of installed onshore wind has brought more than £2m to the UK over its lifetime, of which 69% is remaining in the UK.

The figures also reveal the increasing commitment by onshore developers to ensure local areas benefit from development, as 27% of the economic benefits of onshore wind are enjoyed in the local area around each project.

Commenting on the report’s findings, RenewableUK’s chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “The British onshore wind energy industry is adding over £900 million a year to the national economy, so the benefits to the UK are clear to see.

“This report also shows that £7 of every £10 spent on onshore wind projects is invested here in the UK. Onshore wind powers local economies, bringing £199m of investment into the local communities that host wind farms and creating jobs across the supply chain.”

The report shows that almost half of the total spend to develop an onshore wind farm is retained in the region in which a wind farm is located (48%), rising from 36% during the two-year construction stage to 58% during operation and maintenance.

Halt the spread

McCaffrey added: “Onshore wind is already the lowest cost of all low carbon options and is set to become the least cost form of all electricity within the next five years. Despite these facts, onshore wind projects are under threat from misguided Tory and UKIP policies aimed at stifling their development, blatantly disregarding rational economic evidence and consistently high levels of public support.”

The Conservatives confirmed in their election manifesto earlier this month their controversial plans to effectively halt the onshore wind industry by ending subsidies and changing the planning system. David Cameron’s party cited a ‘failure to win public support’ as one of the reasons for the decision.

“Renewable UK have produced a very useful report, for the first time putting hard numbers on the local benefits that wind energy brings,” Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said: “This shows clearly that not only is wind power decentralised in terms of its location and connection to the grid, but its economic benefits are decentralised, too – they are shared in a way that we just don’t see in non-renewable technologies.”

“We won’t see fracking, for example, provide anything like 27% of its economic benefits to local communities. It’s another one of the wonderful things that wind energy brings – couple this with polls consistently showing its popularity among British people, and you have to wonder why on earth the Conservatives are intent on ending it.”

edie.net

German manufacturer Siemens has completed the installation of SylWin1 grid connection in the North Sea and handed it over to network operator TenneT.

The now-operational link is located at nearly 70km from the west of Sylt island in Germany. It will allow transmission of up to 864MW of renewable energy.

The link connects three offshore wind facilities, Butendiek, DanTysk and Sandbank, which have been equipped with 232 Siemens wind turbines in total and have a generation capacity of 288MW each.

More than 100 turbines have already been connected to the grid with work for the others in progress.

The offshore platform transmits renewable energy via a 200km subsea and underground cable link to the land-based station Büttel in Germany.

The transmission capacity of SylWin1 can meet the energy requirements of more than one million households.

Siemens has implemented high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) technology for the connection, which is claimed to be ‘world’s most powerful grid connection to date’.

TenneT managing board member Lex Hartman said: “2015 is a special milestone year for TenneT, as we will be completing further offshore grid connections by the end of the year, meaning that all in all we will have implemented a capacity of more than 5,000MW, or more than two-thirds of the offshore expansion goal set by the Federal German Government by then.”

Siemens has won five North Sea grid connection projects by TenneT, three of which have been turned operational this year. These are BorWin2 (800MW), HelWin1 (576MW) and SylWin1 (864MW).

The other two projects to be set up by the German firm are HelWin2 (690 MW) and BorWin3 (900 MW).

Power-Technology.

France-based Alstom has won a service extension contract for the maintenance of the UK’s 317MW Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm.

Statkraft has awarded the new contract to Alstom as an extension to the previous contract for the facility, which was commissioned in September 2012.

Scrira Offshore Energy, a joint venture formed by Statoil and Statkraft, was the developer for the project which is equipped with 88 wind turbines.

Alstom will offer emergency support and preventive maintenance services for one onshore and two offshore substations for the farm.

Under the maintenance contract, the company will be responsible for the disconnectors, 132kV and 33kV gas insulated switchgear, 132kV and 33kV 90 MVA transformers, a 132kV 60 MVAr shunt reactor, substation automation as well as telecommunications systems and protection.

Alstom will also offer 24/7 rapid assistance for the customers.

Alstom Grid vice-president service Jan Masschelin said: “Alstom designed and built the onshore and offshore substations for the wind farm in 2011 and maintained it since then through on demand support.

“Our local team will bring its experience in servicing high-voltage substations, even located in a difficult environment, to ensure optimal asset performance and reliability to our customer.”

Situated off the coast of Norfolk, the wind farm generates renewable power to meet the energy requirements of nearly 220,000 UK households.

Councillors on Donegal Co. Council are objecting to plans to build Ireland’s largest windfarm in the county.

Plans have been lodged by Planree Ltd for up to 49 wind turbines stretching from Barnesmore Gap to Castlefin.

Almost 200 submissions and objections from members of the public on both sides of the border were received by An Board Planela.

Today Councillors agreed to send a resolution to An Bord Pleanala requesting that planning permission be refused and for the views of local Councillors – who are opposed to the proposed development – to be taken on board.

Mark Cannon is from the Finn Valley Wind Action Group, he says they want this to be a community issue and not a political one.

German engineering firm Siemens has signed a long-term agreement to offer its services and maintenance for the RWE’s Rhyl Flats Wind Farm, which is located off the coast of North Wales in the UK.

The agreement for 15 years is an expansion of a previous service and maintenance deal with Siemens which started when the facility was commissioned in 2009.

The offshore project is equipped with 25 SWT-3.6-107 turbines and has a maximum installed capacity of 90MW.

Rhyl Flats Wind Farm has the capacity to generate enough power annually to meet the energy demands of around 61,000 average households in the region.

Siemens will also offer remote monitoring and diagnostics, along with expert service personnel for the facility to ensure its optimum performance.

Siemens Power Generation Services, Wind Power and Renewables head Mark Albenze said: “This new long-term agreement further strengthens our position as the world’s leading service provider for offshore wind and underscores our ability to help our customers realise the full potential of their wind turbines throughout the units’ estimated lifecycle.

“The Rhyl Flats Wind Farm is one of 12 offshore wind projects Siemens is providing expert service and maintenance for in Great Britain and we are particularly proud that our services continue to make a growing contribution towards the implementation of an environmentally friendly, reliable power supply in the region.”

The German company has a combined generation capacity of nearly 21GW. It offers service and maintenance for over 8,700 wind turbines worldwide.

Image: Siemens has been overseeing 25 of its SWT-3.6-107 turbines at Rhyl Flats wind farm since 2009. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.

Danish power firm Dong Energy has awarded a contract worth £21.8m to J Murphy & Sons for setting up an onshore substation for the 580MW Race Bank wind project in offshore UK.

The substation will be developed beside the UK National Grid’s Walpole substation unit during 2016.

Under the contract terms, Murphy will be responsible for providing all the substation equipment required to transmit power from the wind facility to the UK’s grid network.

Murphy managing director North John Murphy said: “Renewable energy is crucial to the UK, and we’re pleased to be a part of this project, which will support both future economic growth and more resilient infrastructure.

“We look forward to working closely with our client Dong Energy to safely and innovatively address the challenges that lie ahead and achieve sustainable efficiencies.”

The Race Bank offshore wind facility will be developed around 17 miles away from the Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk Coast.

Once operational, the 580MW project will be able to meet the power requirements of more than 400,000 households in the country.

Dong Energy had invested £50m for purchasing the wind project from Centrica in December 2013, and acquired approvals from UK authorities for its construction and operation.

Other offshore projects handled by Dong Energy in the UK include West of Duddon Sands, Westermost Rough, Hornsea Project One, Walney Extension, and Burbo Bank Extension.

The UK intends to increase its offshore wind production to up to 6GW by next year, which will be further raised to approximately 10GW by 2020.

Construction work has been initiated to develop the largest onshore wind farm in Belgium, which will be located in the Antwerp port area to the left bank of the Scheldt river.

The wind farm is expected to house 40 to 50 turbines, 15 of which will be installed under the first phase of development at an estimated investment of €70m.

Once completed, the first phase will be able to generate enough power for 35,000 Flemish households.

The turbines for the initial phase have a generation capacity of 3MW each. They are manufactured by Siemens Wind Power in Denmark.

Each of the turbines has a rotor diameter of 113m, a shaft height of 115m, and is fitted with Siemens anti-icing system to prevent ice build-up and freezing weather damages.

Siemens Wind Power CEO for onshore activities Jan Kjaersgaard said: “One of the challenges of this project is installing the turbines on sites with restricted area, because of the high-density of industrial activities in the port.”

The equipment will be installed on port company sites of Antwerp Gateway, Borealis, Euroports, Global Container Services, Indaver, Luiknatie, Norbert Dentressangle, Sea Port Terminals, Tabaknatie, and Van Loon Transport.

Antwerp Port Authority has teamed up with the Left Bank Development Corporation and Antwerp Green Port construction consortium in September 2011 for the large-scale wind development.

Wind aan de Stroom obtained the initial planning permission for the project in June 2013.

Turbine foundation works for the project was initiated by the end of 2014, following which at the beginning of 2015, the first components for the turbine foundations were delivered at the site.

Vestas Wind Systems (Vestas) has installed more than 6,053MW of wind turbines in 2014, retaining its position as the leading wind turbine installer worldwide, according to a report published by research and consulting firm GlobalData.

GlobalData compiles a yearly record of the top 10 wind turbine manufacturers.

Vestas is closely followed by Siemens, which recorded an installed capacity of 4,990MW last year. The firm, which held the fifth position among the global wind turbine installers for 2013, has also turned into the top installer for Canadian markets in 2014.

China-based Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology (Goldwind) has retained the third position as wind turbine installer in 2014, the report said, with 4,728MW of power capacity.

The firm, which was named as one of the top five original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in 2013, is also the top installer for Asian countries.

GE Power & Water has climbed up to the fourth place in the GlobalData report, which enlists the top five wind turbine installers worldwide. The company has recorded installations of almost 4,589MW globally.

Enercon, however, has slipped down from second to fifth position as wind turbine installer for the year, with a capacity of around 3,735MW, reveals GlobalData.

Suzlon Group (Suzlon), which was a new entrant to the top five list in 2013, also dropped to tenth place in 2014, with installed wind capacity of around 1,855MW.

FLiDAR has completed the onsite wind measurements at the 448MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland that is developed by Mainstream Renewable Power.

The Belgian firm had deployed a floating LiDAR buoy for the measurements at the facility, which is located off from the east coast of the country.

The FLiDAR equipment is presently being decommissioned and is going through post-validation tests at the ORE Catapult offshore met mast.

The deployment has been able to save considerable development time and costs for the project, as compared to the conventional meteorological masts used for similar processes.

Neart na Gaoithe project manager David Sweenie said: “Mainstream recognised the innovative approach of FLiDAR from an early stage, bringing accurate wind data at a low cost in a short delivery window.

“The data provided by FLiDAR has contributed to the great successes of Neart na Gaoithe so far.”

The UL Government has recently awarded contract for difference (CfD) to Mainstream Renewable Power for the project.

FLiDAR general manager Reinhardt Stevens said: “We are delighted to have delivered high-availability and accurate wind data in such a short time to our client and congratulate Mainstream Renewable Power on being awarded the CfD.”

3E and Offshore & Wind Assistance (OWA) are the developers for the FLiDAR technology.