EnBW has started operations at the 288MW Baltic 2 offshore wind power facility in Germany.

It is the second offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea by EnbW, the first being the 48.3MW Baltic 1, which was commissioned in 2010.

Located 32km north to the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea, the new facility has been developed over a two-year period.

The farm features 80 Siemens SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines that stand 138m above the water surface.

Installed across 27km², the wind farm will produce 1.2 billion kWh of electricity a year, which is enough to meet the power requirements of around 340,000 households.

EnBW CEO Frank Mastiaux said: “The commissioning of EnBW Baltic 2 is another milestone in the implementation of our EnBW 2020 strategy.

“And is further evidence that the remodelling of the energy supply system towards decentralisation and renewable energies is irreversible, not only in Germany but also around the world.

German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Parliamentary Secretary of State Uwe Beckmeyer said: “The Baltic 2 wind farm is four times as big and generates six times as much electricity as its predecessor.

“This demonstrates the opportunities offered by the industrialisation of offshore wind energy.”

These projects are part of the four offshore projects won by EnBW in 2008, expected to have a combined output of 1,200MW and are likely to involve around €3bn investment.

“Our project pipeline currently includes three other offshore wind farms in the North Sea with a total output of 1,600MW,” Mastiaux added.

Green energy firm Mainstream Renewable Power has signed a grid connection agreement for a wind project in Ghana and started construction of two wind farms in South Africa.

The grid connection agreement was signed for the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm in Ghana, construction for which is expected to start early next year.

The wind power plant will involve an investment of $525m and can meet up to 5% of Ghana’s electricity requirements once operational.

Mainstream development manager for Africa Liam Leahy said: “It is the first renewable energy grid connection agreement in Ghana to date and will hopefully set the precedent for many more over the coming years.”

The firm also broke ground for developing the Khobab and Loeriesfontein wind farms in South Africa, which will have a combined generation capacity of 280MW.

Located side by side in the Hantam municipality at the country’s Northern Cape region, the wind projects are expected to involve an investment of ZAR7bn ($511.8m).

The projects have been scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2017, and will be equipped with wind turbines manufactured by Siemens.

Mainstream Renewable Power South Africa is responsible for both construction and operations of the facilities, which are part of the South African government’s Round 3 Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP).

The UK is set to reject construction of the 970MW Navitus Bay offshore wind project over concerns about the jurassic coast losing its UNESCO World Heritage status.

While the project developers are seeking planning permission for the work, authorities are expected to reject the proposal.

Refusal by the ministers follows ‘an unprecedented recommendation by the Planning Inspectorate that permission should be refused,’ reports The Telegraph.

Dutch energy group Eneco Holding and French EDF’s green energy unit have a 50:50 share in the project through Navitus Bay Development consortium.

The offshore project was initially expected to have 121 turbine installations for a 970MW power generation capacity, and 78 turbines under a Plan B to have 630MW capacity.

Critics of the project argue that the turbines, which are expected to reach a height of 650ft, will ruin the views, affect tourism, and may result in loss of the jurassic coast’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

The project has encountered unexpected controversies and has had more objections submitted to the Planning Inspectorate than any other offshore windfarm to date, the news daily said.

If operational, the project could meet the energy requirements of nearly 700,000 UK households. It is expected to deliver up to £1.6bn as economic benefit for the region, and create up 1,700 jobs during construction.

Navitus Bay project director Stuart Grant was quoted by The Telegraph as saying: “We believe in the strength of our proposal, which showcases how Navitus Bay would make an important contribution to the local economy and to the UK’s renewable energy and carbon reduction targets.“

The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has revealed planning decisions for six wind power projects in Wales, with four having been denied permission.

The four rejected projects are Llanbadarn Fynydd, Llaithddu, Llanbrynmair and Carnedd Wen. These onshore wind energy schemes were expected to have a combined capacity of more than 300MW of power.

A DECC spokesperson said: “Careful consideration has been given to each application, and the planning and energy issues involved.”

The authority has also rejected the proposal for the Llandinam to Welshpool Substation overhead power line connection.

Consent has only been given for the Llandinam onshore wind farm repowering project. According to Welsh renewable energy trade association RenewableUK Cymru, the repowering project is likely to struggle without the substation.

Earlier in the year, the DECC announced a subsidy cut for new onshore wind developments in the country. The limitations, which are expected to be implemented from April next year, have cut prospects for more than 2,500 wind turbine installations in Wales, amounting to 7.1GW of production capacity.

RenewableUK Cymru director David Clubb said: “Given the blows the UK Government are raining down onto the renewable energy sector on both consents and subsidies, ministers will be heading to the Paris climate discussions with their credibility in tatters.“

German power giant RWE is close to signing a financing deal with three partners for the $2bn Galloper offshore wind park project in the UK.

Siemens and UK Green Investment Bank are likely to be among the chosen partners, reports Bloomberg.

Reuters quoted RWE Innogy chief executive Hans Buenting as saying: “The plan is to have a deal in autumn, either October or November.”

RWE Innogy is the renewable energy unit of RWE.

The planned development, which is located 27km away from the Suffolk coast of eastern UK, is expected to have a generation capacity of 336MW.

UK-based utility SSE, which was the initial partner for the Galloper project, had dropped out last year in order to cut costs.

This action prompted RWE to seek other partners in order to share the project costs and reduce its stake, then at 37.5%, to 25%.

According to RWE spokesperson Judith Erb, the final investment decision for the offshore project is likely to be disclosed as early as October.

Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance indicate that the facility will have the capacity to meet the power requirements of 200,000 to 300,000 households in the UK.

RWE, which has a capacity totalling around 50GW, has been forced to reduce its wind and solar investments and shutdown its nuclear units in Germany, in order to cope with the drop in energy prices.

The Irish renewable energy investor and asset manager NTR has expanded its remit into Scotland’s eastern seaboard with the acquisition of the Quixwood Moor wind farm capable of generating 24MW.

NTR – based in Sandyford, Dublin – announced the deal following negotiations with the wind farm’s previous developer, the Banks Group, who had were first granted planning permission to develop the land in April 2013.

As part of the deal, NTR has acquired the pre-construction project from the company’s subdivision, Banks Renewables Limited, who are one of the largest renewable energy developers in the UK.

This acquisition marks the company’s first deal concluded on the British mainland following the purchase of another site in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

When completed, Quixwood Moor is expected to produce over 71,000 MW/hr of green energy per year which would be enough to support the annual electricity requirements of just under 15,500 homes in the local area.

NTR now expect that the construction of the project will begin this autumn while commissioning is being targeted for Q4 2016.

Speaking of the deal, NTR’s Chief Executive, Rosheen McGuckian, said: “We are very pleased to have completed another significant wind project acquisition and our first in Scotland.

“Together with the acquisition of the single turbine site projects in Northern Ireland in 2014 and the recent acquisition of the 15MW Ora More wind project in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, this takes NTR’s current total wind portfolio to 42MW.”

Over the course of the next two years, NTR say that they expand to continue expansion across the British Isles and hope to have a portfolio capable of producing 175MW of wind energy.

Last April, the company made a considerable windfall of US$244 (€216m) following the sales of wind farms in its US wind energy company, Wind Capital Group.

17 August 2015, source edie newsroom – Europe’s five biggest energy markets have added 8GW of wind and solar capacity in the first half of 2015, a new report has found.

The wind and solar capacities of the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain have grown to a combined total of around 175GW, according to Platts Renewable Power Tracker.

Germany added around 2.9GW of wind power in the first six months of 2015, with around 1.8GW of this coming from German North Sea wind farms.

The UK’s installed capacity of solar energy reached 7.7GW, as well as reaching 13.4GW of wind energy. The UK’s combined renewable energy output generated 2.7TWh of energy, according to Platts.

Wind and sun

Unseasonably high winds throughout the summer in Northern Europe and a heatwave around the Mediterranean helped to drive an average of a 25% increase in renewable energy generation in July, according to Platts.

German solar and wind energy outputs hit an all-time high, generating around 11TWh in July and increasing wind output by around 156% year on year.

In the UK, a wet and windy July led to high renewable energy generation in Scotland, with wind turbines powering 72% of Scottish households and generating 660,000MWh of electricity.

Renewable energy generation in the UK has recently hit new highs, generating 19% of the UK’s total electricity requirements. The increase in generation has been driven by developments of wind power, biomass and solar, with the UK’s offshore wind capacity passing 5GW in June this year.

Despite this increase in capacity and generation, renewable energy industry leaders have warned the sector is at risk of being “killed off” by recent changes by the Government to subsidies for renewable energy.

Blade Dynamics has shipped its modular D78 turbine blade for testing at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s (ORE) facility in Blyth, UK.

The D78 blade features several new technologies, including a lightweight and high-dimensional accuracy blade tip, with built-in leading edge protection.

The modular design is aimed to minimise variation in blade construction, and simplify the manufacture and transportation processes.

Blade Dynamics designed the D78 blade based on cooperative working with Siemens turbines. The company secured support from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Carbon Trust, The Dow Chemical Company, Nasa, and the UK’s Energy Technology Institute (ETI).

Blade Dynamics CEO Pepe Carnevale said: “The UK has a great tradition of innovation in many industries that intersect and are highly relevant to large, high-performance wind turbine blades, and this new blade type is a great opportunity for the UK.

“First and foremost, this can reduce the cost of energy very significantly, but there are also several other unique benefits. Because the blades are assembled from smaller components, we are not constrained by expensive new factories dependent for survival on a very limited local market, making big blades in one big factory.”

ETI has supported the development since 2012. Technology used by the 78m blade has the capacity to make rotors with diameters exceeding 200m, for reduced energy costs.

ETI CEO David Clarke said: “Once commercialised, this technology can create a pathway to improving performance, reliability and cost for offshore wind, as well as providing an exciting route for the future export of blade components from the UK.

“We look forward to the structural testing at ORE Catapult in the UK, and are investigating ways to demonstrate a rotor using this technology on the 7MW turbine that ORE Catapult is in the process of acquiring.”

Forewind has withdrawn from participating in the 2.4GW Dogger Bank Teesside C and D offshore wind projects, based in the UK North Sea.

The international consortium, formed by energy giants Statoil, Statkraft, RWE and SSE, has reached an agreement with the Crown Estate to cease work on the remaining development consent application for the projects.

Instead the entity will focus on the four Dogger Bank projects, which have already received approval from UK authorities.

Each of the projects, Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A, Dogger Bank Creyke Beck B, Dogger Bank Teesside A, and Dogger Bank Teesside B, are planned to have a generation capacity of 1.2GW.

“These four Dogger Bank projects are a huge commitment and will require significant resources and attention…to progress.”

Forewind said: “These four Dogger Bank projects are a huge commitment and will require significant resources and attention from the owner companies to progress to the next stages.

“Together their capacity is almost equal to the total of all the offshore wind farms currently in operation in the UK.”

Forewind has removed the two projects from its portfolio and returned the development rights in that area of seabed, along with the remainder of the Dogger Bank Zone, to the Crown Estate.

The firm recently received approval from UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to establish the 2.4GW Teesside A and B offshore wind farms.

This decision follows implementation of the Crown Estate’s streamlined initiatives for offshore wind developers to replace their previous zone development agreements with project-specific agreements.

Swiss power and automation technology provider ABB has installed a 320kV converter station called DolWin beta at the 916MW DolWin2 offshore wind project in the German North Sea.

The equipment will be able to connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea’s DolWin cluster with the electricity grid in Germany.

Once operational, the offshore project will have the capacity to meet the energy requirements of more than a million households.

As well as facilitating conversion of the power generated by the offshore wind farms from alternating current (AC) into high-voltage direct current (HVDC), the converter station will ensure its reliable transmission to the mainland.

The entire platform with substructures will weigh around 23,000t and be 100m-long, 70m-wide and 100m-tall.

ABB, which is responsible for the design, engineering, supply and installation of the offshore wind connection, intends to handover the project to Dutch electricity transmission system operator TenneT in mid-2016.

Along with the convertor platform, the scope of the project also includes installation of sea and land cable systems and an onshore converter station.

In addition, the firm was responsible for the DolWin1 grid connection project, which was commissioned and handed over to TenneT in July.

Both DolWin1 and DolWin2 are parts of the German long-term power strategy named ‘Energiewende’.

The European nation intends to shift its focus towards renewable energy, aiming to achieve more than 6.5GW of power generation from offshore wind by 2020, which will be raised to 15GW by 2030.