Danish wind energy firm Vestas has received an order from ERG Renew for the supply of 21 V90-2.0MW turbines for a wind power project in Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Radziejow province, Poland.

According to the terms of the contract, Vestas will supply, install and commission 21 turbines for the power project, along with VestasOnline Business SCADA solution.

The turbines are expected to be delivered by the second quarter of fiscal 2015 while they will be commissioned by the third quarter of fiscal 2015.

Vestas Northern Europe president Klaus Steen Mortensen said: “As a business partner Vestas will ensure a flawless execution of the project to maximise the business case for ERG.

“It is a long-term partnership we embark on every time we sign an order for Vestas turbines.”

The Radziejow onshore wind project, when operational, is expected to annually generate 100GWh power.

Earlier this week, the Danish turbine manufacturer 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.

These 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.

Vestas claims to have delivered around 540 wind turbines in Poland, which accounts for more than 1,100MW of power in the Central European country.

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 British summer may be over but it has ended on a high for the renewables sector, with new records set and wind generation levels exceeding both nuclear and coal.

According to official National Grid statistics, wind overtook coal-fired power plants for generation on five separate occasions in August – the first time this has ever happened.

It provides some consolation for what proved to be a damp-squib August which turned out to be the wettest for a decade and coldest for 21 years as a month’s rain sparked flood warnings nationwide.

Commenting on these statistics, Jennifer Webber, director of external affairs at trade association Renewables UK, said: “Wind energy is taking its place as the UK’s new powerhouse, overtaking coal and nuclear as one of the most important resources we have to keep Britain’s lights on.

“It continues to surpass its own records, and these figures prove that can happen at any time of year. As we approach autumn and winter, we can expect wind to maintain this strong performance and provide electricity when demand is especially high.”

Record-breaker

Wind energy exceeded coal on 3, 9, 11, 12 and 17 August. This strong performance continued towards the end of the month when onshore and offshore wind generated more than the nuclear fleet on 29 August – 5,805MW from wind compared to 5,379MW from nuclear.

On 11 August, wind also set a new daily record when it provided 21% of the UK’s electricity needs. This was exceeded on 17 August when wind energy broke its own record, setting a new figure of 22%. It led to what proved to be the best-performing August to date, with total wind generation at 10% – close behind the 13% record set during December 2013.

Last week, a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that wind, solar and hydro energy grew at its fastest ever pace in 2013, equating to almost 22% of global power generation.

The Paris-based organisation’s third annual Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report estimated that global renewable energy generation will rise by another 45% to make up nearly 26% of global electricity generation by 2020. But it also warns that annual growth in renewable power will begin to slow after 2014, as policy and market risks threaten to slow deployment.

Luke Nicholls

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%).

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.

E.ON Kraftwerke has awarded a contract to Voith for the modernisation of a generator at its 620MW Waldeck 2 pumped storage power plant in North Hesse, Germany.

Under the terms of the contract, which is worth approximately €9m, Voith will replace, assemble and commission the stator and rotor of machine 6 at the plant, increasing the efficiency by around 10%.

The contract also includes an option for the modernisation of an additional machine unit for around €5m.

The Waldeck 2 pumped-storage power station houses two generators, which have a capacity of 265MVA.

Voith, which delivered the original generators when the facility was constructed in 1970, said the vertical placement of the classical pump-turbine unit presents a challenge in the modernisation programme.

The turbine is situated vertically above the motor-generator and a multi-stage pump is equipped below.

Voith will have to first disassemble the original turbine to replace the generator.

Voith Hydro management board chairman Roland Münch said: “Pumped storage power plants such as Waldeck will continue to make a vital contribution to secure and stable energy supplies.

“As giant batteries, they store energy from irregularly available regenerative sources such as wind and solar and feed this energy quickly and flexibly back into the grid as and when required.

“Hydropower is reliable, sustainable and climate-friendly, and has long become an indispensable part of the

mix. This is why we are consistently developing our technologies for utilising these energy sources.”