Vattenfall is set to invest around €5.5bn in wind energy through 2020, wind chief Gunnar Groebler told German media :

“This equals more or less the amount the company has invested in wind energy in the last 10 years”, he added.

The investment will help to double the capacity of Vattenfall’s on and offshore wind installations in the same period. Main markets will be Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany.

However, Groebler did not name specific projects.

Vattenfall has started a sales process for its German coal division and hopes to finalise the process until next summer.

Atlantis and ScottishPower Renewables (UK) Limited (SPR) are teaming up to develop a joint portfolio of projects for the fast growing tidal sector, Atlantis announced yesterday (Tuesday).

Atlantis’s Scottish project development vehicle, Tidal Power Scotland Limited (TPSL), will acquire SPR’s portfolio of tidal projects in exchange for a 6% shareholding in TPSL for SPR. As a shareholder, SPR will have a representative on the TPSL board, ensuring that the enlarged portfolio can benefit from its experience in renewable energy development and operations, and demonstrating commitment to the future of tidal power in the UK.

The SPR tidal power portfolio consists of two sites, a 10MW project at the Sound of Islay in western Scotland and a 100MW development at the Ness of Duncansby at Scotland’s north eastern tip. The projects will sit alongside the flagship 398MW MeyGen project, which is 85% owned by TPSL.

The project assets include agreements for lease with The Crown Estate for both sites, and the Sound of Islay site also has a grid connection offer and construction consents from the Scottish Ministers. The Sound of Islay project has been awarded €20.7 million of grant funding from the European Commission’s NER300 fund by way of capital and revenue support. With consents, grid connection and grants secured, this project is the most advanced commercial scale project in the UK after MeyGen, and is expected to achieve financial close in 2016.

Following completion of the acquisition of Marine Current Turbines Limited from Siemens AG in an all share deal earlier this year, the Atlantis group has agreements for lease for two further Scottish tidal sites, at the Mull of Galloway in south-west Scotland and Brough Ness, to the north of the MeyGen and Ness of Duncansby sites in the Pentland Firth. Atlantis is in the process of adding these two projects, with a combined capacity of 130MW, to the TPSL portfolio.

Atlantis, through TPSL, is the driving force behind the growing tidal sector in the UK. TPSL has the largest tidal stream portfolio in the UK, which is at the forefront of this burgeoning industry. The benefits of the increased scale of development in the expanded portfolio are expected to extend to a stronger supply chain in Scotland and the UK as a whole, attracting inward investment and diversifying exposure to the traditional offshore sector.

As Paris’conference COP21 is coming to an end, Ireland’s Minister for Energy Alex White declared, when he arrived last Monday, that Ireland can still make the objective of 16pc renewable energy production by 2020.

Speaking last week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny also said that the target set for Ireland, lowering carbon emissions by 20pc by 2020, is not fair on a country that is a major producer of agricultural goods. But Minister White appears more confident of our chances of meeting those renewable energy aims.

Attending the Lima Paris Action Agenda meeting on Renewable Energy, Minister White said in advance of his talk that Ireland is well placed to meet its legally-binding EU target to source 16pc of total energy use from renewable sources by 2020.

This is in spite of the cautious news earlier this year that Ireland has only now achieved the halfway point of 8pc renewable energy production :

“Ireland and the international community face a huge task but, whatever the difficulties, I believe we can meet the challenge of global warming”, Minister White explained. He also added :

“Last week, Ireland became one of only a handful of European countries to legislate on this when the Climate Change Bill completed its passage through the Oireachtas. Next week, I will publish an energy White Paper, which will set out a vision of how Ireland will achieve a low carbon energy system. We are poised to do great things.”

It does appear, however, that some of the targets that are subsections of the key target are struggling to be reached, particularly with clean energy transport accounting for only around 5pc of its 10pc target. Minister White said on the matter :

“We need to encourage much greater adoption of electric cars and we can increase the ‘biofuel obligation’, which requires minimum amounts of biofuel to be contained in petrol and diesel.”

EDF Energies Nouvelles said today its local subsidiary EDF EN Polska has commissioned the 58-MW Rzepin wind farm in Lubuskie region, north-western Poland.

The wind farm, which consists of 29 turbines each with a capacity of 2MW, is the second one to have been installed by EDF in Poland since it entered the market in 2012.

The wind park is expected to generate enough energy per year to meet the needs of more than 70,000 Polish households.

Nowadays it’s not uncommon to see solar panels added to rooftops, but a new EU-funded project, “Construct PV”, is working on how to integrate photovoltaic (PV) systems into buildings from their very inception.

The new technology can be used to replace parts of conventional building materials, such as roofs, skylights and facades. It means that solar panels can be hidden as part of a wall or as a transparent window. The total cost of the Construct PV project is €11 707 677 including €6 913 100 in EU funding.

The project includes two large-scale demonstration sites in Stuttgart, Germany and Athens, Greece. These showcase the latest in solar PV technology which aims to maximize the active surface area of the photovoltaic system and enhance its appearance.

In Stuttgart, a five-floor office building for up to 250 employees working for a company called Z3 has been built with integrated PV systems which will help Z3 reach their goal of becoming a zero-energy building. Meanwhile, in Athens, the School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, has been built with integrated PV systems.

Construct PV develops customizable photovoltaic structures for opaque building surfaces for new buildings and buildings undergoing renovation. These hidden solar panels are not only designed to produce electricity, but they also come with other purposes for example to protect a building against the elements, provide insulation to the building, or enhance it aesthetically.

The project has an estimated value of around $12bn (€11.1bn) and represents the first phase development under the Grand Inga project, which has been planned as a hydropower complex across the Congo river, and which will be the world’s largest once developed.

Construction is likely to be carried out in six phases, with the final phase expected to be completed in 2022, Congo Prime Minister Matata Ponyo saying that “the project is in an advanced state”.

According to the World Bank estimates, the dam is expected to have a capacity to produce 50GW of renewable energy with investments totalling around $80bn (€74bn).

The country initially expected to start construction works for the project in October but got delayed due to selection process hold-ups.

Lenders for the project include the World Bank, European Investment Bank, and African Development Bank, which had approved around $73m in March 2014 (€67m) for carrying out the environmental feasibility and social impact studies.

The African country has shortlisted three consortiums for the project, of which one will end up with the development contract.

While one consortium represents Chinese partnership between Sinohydro and China Three Gorges, the second was formed by Spanish firms Actividades de Construccion y Servicio and Eurofinsa. The third shortlisted group includes Posco and Daewoo from South Korea, along with Canadian SNC-Lavalin Group.

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems said on Monday it has received an order from EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) to supply 201 MW of its machines for a project in the US.

Financial details and the name of the project have not been disclosed yet, but the Danish giant has also signed a three-year Active Output Management 5,000 service agreement for the wind farm.

Under the deal, Vestas will supply a total of 81 turbines, of which 51 will be from its V100-2.0 MW models with the rest being V117-3.3 MW turbines. The machines are expected to be commissioned in the final quarter of that year.

Delivery of the turbines is expected to start in the third quarter of 2016, prior to the wind power farm’s scheduled commissioning in the fourth quarter.

The firm has also recently won another 200MW order for a US wind project in Oklahoma, details for which have also not been disclosed.

So far this year, the Danish company has announced 7,282 MW of orders, it noted.

India has launched a global alliance with France to boost solar power generation across countries, especially in developing ones that have ample solar energy resources but insufficient capital.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative was launched by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on the first day of the UN climate change summit in Paris, France.

It is expected to operate as a collaborative platform for the tropical countries, having solar potential and support solar projects and infrastructure.

The International Solar Alliance aims to have 121 signatories, including the US and China, as well as a long list of developing countries situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

The members of the alliance will sign a declaration to “undertake innovative and concerted efforts” to reduce the cost of solar financing and the cost of solar technology around the world.

They will also agree to push for new solar projects around the world, with an aim to “mobilise $1.000bn” in funds (€915bn) by 2030 needed for a “massive deployment of affordable solar energy”.

Under the initiative, India expects a $100bn investment every year (€91bn), from the rich countries to the poorer ones from 2020.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented the announcement :

“The sun is the source of all energy. The world must turn to solar, the power of our future. We want to bring solar energy into lives and homes by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to the grid.”

ISA will be operating from the National Institute of Solar Energy in the city of Gurgaon in Haryana, India. The institute will be allocating land and $30m (€27m)to form a secretariat for the solar alliance. The initiative is expected to encourage technology exchange and innovation and create new business opportunities in India and globally.

Over the past few years Mr Modi has made solar power generation a key part of his government’s energy policy, targeting 100 gigawatts of solar power generation by 2022, up from around 4 gigawatts at the moment.

Dong Energy has signed an agreement for lease with the Isle of Man government to carry out preliminary investigations for an up to 700MW offshore wind farm in Manx waters off the north east coast of the island.

The agreement gives Dong the right to investigate an area approximately six to 12 miles off the east coast of the island to determine its offshore wind suitability.

Dong said the investigation will take several years to complete, after which, if conditions are suitable, there will be an option to execute a lease with the Isle of Man government for the seabed over the lifetime of the wind farm.

Subject to the findings of the investigations, construction activities would likely take place post-2020.

The creation of an offshore energy hub is one of its core long-term strategies for economic growth of the island. Developments in renewable energy could open up an opportunity for the Isle of Man to position itself as a hub to coordinate offshore projects and enhance connections between countries in the Irish Sea region.

There may also be scope to secure future renewable electricity supplies for domestic use in the Isle of Man, as well as exporting power to the UK.

Enel Green Power España has sold to First State Wind Energy Investments all of its assets in Portugal totalling 624MW for €900m.

EGPE, 60% owned by Enel Green Power and 40% owned by Endesa, offloaded the entire share capital of Finerge Gestão de Projectos Energéticos – its Portuguese subsidiary – including the repayment of a shareholder loan to Finerge Gestão.

The sale was finalised following the completion of the split of Eólicas de Portugal a company that used to own a portfolio of operating wind farms with a total installed capacity of 1333 MW in which Finerge Gestão held a stake of 35.96%.

As a result of the split, Finerge Gestão added six wind farms totalling 445MW to its existing 197MW.
EGP said the sale and exit from the Portuguese renewable energy sector is part of its “strategy to optimise its portfolio and seize opportunities in countries with greater development potential, in line with the objectives of the company’s current business plan”.