The European Union’s agency Fusion For Energy (F4E) has selected Amec Foster Wheeler to provide neutral beam cell remote handling system for the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) fusion reactor in Cadarache, France.

The scope of work under the €70m contract includes design, manufacture, delivery, on-site integration, commissioning and final acceptance tests of the remote handling system, which is said to play a key role in the ITER project.

As a prime contractor, Amec Foster Wheeler will provide services for the next seven years.

For the contracts, the company will be supported by a group of laboratories and companies with their robotics expertise, including the Culham Centre for Fusion, Reel, Wallischmiller Engineering, Hyde, Capula, ‘KU Leuven-MaGyICs,’ VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the Technical University of Tampere (TUT).

VTT and TUT will work together at the divertor test platform (DTP2) facility in Finland, to design and test devices and control systems for ITER’s remote handling system.

VTT smart industry and energy systems executive vice-president Jouko Suokas said: “The mechanical designs and viewing, control and virtual technologies related to ITER can also be applied across a wide range of different industries worldwide.”

Using powerful injectors and heating systems, ITER’s superhot plasma will be raised to 150 million degrees Celsius, which makes it difficult for maintenance personnel to perform the tasks.

ITER’s remote handling system will comprise an advanced repair hub with transfer trolleys, beam line transporters and various supporting beams on a 90m monorail spread over the neutral beam cell.

Key tasks, including maintenance of neutral beam injectors, cutting and welding of myriads of pipes, and transporting heavy components coils to the storage area for refurbishment and disposal, will be performed by the system.

Amarenco, the solar energy business led by former Bord Gáis head John Mullins, has found a multi-million euro backer to help it deliver the country’s first solar farms with the inaugural project earmarked for Cork.

One of the world’s largest investment banks with headquarters in Sydney, Macquarie Bank is willing to invest €180m in the solar venture which has plans for more than 30 farms across the south and south-east of the country.

The Australian-listed lender will help finance Amarenco’s plans to deliver the country’s first wind farms, the majority of which have been pencilled in for Cork.

Between 18 and 20 are likely to be dotted across the country’s largest county with the remainder in southern Tipperary, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford.

“We’ve got designs done; we’ve specific plans; we’re now supported by a bank, Macquarie Bank which is probably one of the largest infrastructure banks in the world and they’ve come in for half that business so we’re developing it and they’re financing it.

“This bank is ready to invest €180m in Irish solar at a time when maybe wind energy is coming across a number of challenges,” Mr Mullins told the Irish Examiner yesterday.

Speaking at the International Energy Research Centre conference in Cork, Mr Mullins said Amarenco has applied to the ESB for connection capacity for a number of its proposed 25- acre solar farms.

It also continues to engage with landowners and will submit planning permissions by the end of the this year. Each farm would take about 14 weeks to build and employ 30 to 40 workers in their construction.

Mr Mullins, who left his role as Bord Gáis chief executive at the end of 2012, previously said each farm would require a €6m investment. Amarenco has also lobbied the government for support in delivering solar projects adding that growing demand will see it become integral to attracting companies to Ireland.

Solar and wind energy will play a bigger role in attracting foreign direct investment here as evidenced by Apple’s decision to build an €850m data centre in Athenry, Co Galway which it plans to power with 100% renewable energy.

“One of the things from the point of view of foreign direct investment now [is] we have to be able to show that we have sustainability as part of what we offer in terms of energy like Apple with their data centre in Athenry. They want 100% renewable energy. That’s some statement, that’s 300MW of renewables. They don’t want brown power,” Mr Mullins said.

German power manufacturer Siemens has started commissioning converter stations for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link between France and Spain.

Scheduled to be fully commissioned by the middle of this year, the link will increase the energy-exchange capacity between the two European nations by 100%, thereby increasing its reliability. Presently, 1,400MW of power is being transmitted between France and Spain.

The new link will also enable integration of renewable energy sources without endangering the stability of the grid, Siemens said.

Siemens Energy Management Division Transmission Solutions CEO Tim Dawidowsky said: “As a link between France and Spain, this HVDC transmission project can serve as an excellent model. It is a forward-looking approach that shows how bottlenecks in the transmission grids throughout Europe can gradually be eliminated.

“With our HVDC system, currently worldwide the most powerful of its kind, we have made a significant contribution to these efforts.”

The German firm had also manufactured the converter stations for the link, which connects Baixas, west of Perpignan, France, and Santa Llogaia, south-west of Figueras, Spain. The system has a transmission capacity of 2,000MW in both directions with the power stations at two ends located nearly 65km away.

Siemens had won the HVDC link construction contract from Inelfe (Interconnexion Electrique France Espagne), a project joint venture between the grid operators Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), Paris, and Red Eléctrica de Espana (REE), Madrid.

The project will involve an investment of nearly $700m, Siemens said.

Norway’s power grid operator Statnett has signed an agreement with UK National Grid for construction of a 1.4GW interconnector between the two countries.

The subsea electricity cable will extends over 730km, connecting Blyth in Northumberland to Kvilldal in Rogaland on the Norwegian side.

It is expected that the subsea electricity interconnector project will be completed by 2021, and will cost approximately £2 billion.

The project will also entail construction of a converter station on both ends of the subsea link to connect it with the onshore grid.

“It also adds to the diversity of energy sources for UK and potentially can reduce peak prices with benefits for consumers and businesses.”

UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: “Britain will benefit from Norwegian green hydropower, at the flick of a switch, providing green backup power when the wind’s not blowing, and this will actually save people money.”

The UK intends to meet 14% of its annual household demands for electricity with hydropower imports from Norway, reports BBC.

Recently, the country also received permission to set up the 1GW Nemo link interconnector with Belgium.

India-based wind equipment manufacturer Suzlon Energy has received approval from its shareholders for the sale of its German subsidiary Senvion to US-based venture capital firm Centrebridge Partners.

The board of directors has also authorised the firm to issue up to Rs1bn ($16m) equity shares on a preferential basis.

The approval was granted to enable Suzlon Energy for making investments, offering loans, guarantees, and to provide securities beyond the prescribed limits.

Suzlon had earlier announced about the possible divestment to be done for a minor loss, in order to bring down its debt, reports Business World.

In 2007, the German unit was acquired by the Indian company for Rs73bn ($1.17bn).

Suzlon group chairman Tulsi R Tanti said: “We will capitalise on our technological prowess, sustained market leadership of 18 years and best-in-class services to tap the immense growth opportunities in our home market, USA and other emerging economies.”

French power manufacturer Alstom has won a €12m contract from the developer of the 950MW Mátrai Eromu lignite-fired power plant in Hungary to renovate its steam turbines in blocks 4 and 5.

The contract is a part of the renovation project in the country in the last eight years, which aims to restore the original performance and availability of the two 232MW blocks at the facility.

The power facility is the largest in the country to be fuelled with coal, and accounts for nearly 21% of the total power produced.

Almost 1 million households in the country will have their energy requirements met by the Hungarian power plant.

According to the terms of the contract, Alstom will renovate the two turbines, each of which have a generation capacity of 232MW.

It will also be responsible for the field works, engineering, quality control and project management for the power units at the facility, which will be performed by its local service team.

Also included in the order are subsystems for the turbines, such as safety and control, gland steam, jacking and lube oil, turbine drain systems and bleedings.

Alstom plans to conduct the turbine constructions at its facilities placed in the German cities of Mannheim and Berlin, and also in Birr, and Switzerland.

The renovation works will be done in parts by Alstom. Initially it will replace the turbine unit in Block V with another repaired turbine unit purchased by Mátra Power Plant from another facility.

The firm will then repair the Block V unit, and in turn, use it to replace the one in Bloc IV.

The entire renovation process is expected to take much less time; 66 days of outage time per block, than the conventional way of shutting down the units for the entire renewal period.

Alstom Hungary Power Service Division managing director Csaba Kiss said: “Alstom’s professional relations with the power plant goes back to its construction, this is why we are delighted to provide our state-of-the-art expertise to this project.”

Slovakia intends to acquire a state-owned hydropower facility from Enel’s local utility Slovenske Elektrarne, after the local Bratislava court ruled the lease contract for the plant to be invalid.

The ruling has finally offered a direction to the dispute over the 720MW Gabcikovo hydropower plant between the Italian power firm and the government, which was initiated in 2007, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The European country’s government is looking for €280m to €320m in damages from Enel.

Slovakia’s decision follows Enel’s announcement to sell its 66% stake in the power project, which had been acquired by the firm in 2006 for €840m.

The national government owns the remaining 34% stake in the project, and had often been involved in disputes with the Italian company regarding the costs and construction of a new nuclear power station, reports Reuters.

Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted by WSJ as saying: “We will strongly seek…that Enel returns all money which it earned operating the hydropower plant for eight years on the basis of an invalid contract.”

Enel is expected to have generated around €35m to €40m annually for eight years from the management of the facility.

Robert Fico was cited by WSJ as saying that Slovakia intends to nationalise the power plant’s operations.

The ruling is forecasted to take effect immediately after it is delivered to the involved parties. The power firm, however, remains sure about the validity of the contract.

It is expected that the ruling will not affect the sale process of the facility, according to the company officials.

The European Union has decided to go ahead with a thorough investigation of General Electric’s €12.4bn (£9.1bn) bid for Alstom’s power equipment business, fearing price hikes.

The purchase deal is likely to make Siemens the only competitor left for GE in Europe for heavy-duty gas turbines used in gas-fired power facilities, the EU said.

It is claimed that the Alstom deal is part of GE’s strategy to move away from finance and focus more on industrial operations, according to Reuters. .

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We are concerned that the proposed acquisition might not only lead to higher prices, but also result in less choice for customers and less innovation in the sector.”

The EU is anxious that GE will stop producing certain heavy duty gas turbine models manufactured by Alstom. The commission is also apprehensive that the power firm will not release Alstom’s advanced HDGT technology into the market.

It is thought that the regulatory body will make its final decision by 8 July 2015.

While Alstom has agreed to co-operate with the Commission and its further actions, GE chose to disagree with it.

A spokesperson for GE said: “We disagree with the preliminary concerns raised by the EU statement today and Phase II is the normal process for engagement on these issues.

“Our goal remains to secure the required regulatory approvals and close the transaction by mid-2015.”

Siemens has initiated operations at its Clean Energy Center, which is located in Ludwigsfelde, Germany.

Developing the new burner test centre involved an investment of €100m, Siemens said.

The facility will be used to examine and validate the combustion processes in the company-manufactured gas turbines, in order to enhance their efficiency and improve their flexibility in using different liquid and gaseous fuels.

The new centre is spread over a 36,000m² area and is a part of the company’s Berlin gas turbine manufacturing facility. It is likely to play a major role in development of new gas turbines for Siemens and also for upgrading the existing ones.

Several test cells where combustion processes can be analysed and optimised under controlled conditions will feature at the facility.

Siemens power large gas turbines business head Christopher Steinwachs said: “Our highly efficient gas turbine and combined cycle power plants are marked by their high-degree of availability and flexibility and their low emissions.

“In our new Berlin test centre we can conduct more intensive research into burner technology independently of external test facilities, which enables us to be even more innovative.”

The gas turbine portfolio for the German conglomerate includes model with capacities ranging from 5MW to 400MW.

Russia has signed protocol to the intergovernmental agreement for the preparation of a nuclear power plant and another interagency memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran for increased cooperation regarding peaceful use of atomic energy.

According to the deal, Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom will construct four power units with VVER reactors on turn-key terms on the site of Bushehr Phase II nuclear power plant. Another four units will also be built by the firm at an yet-to-be determined site in Iran.

The nuclear projects will meet the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and follow the nuclear nonproliferation regime, Rosatom informed.

Under the protocol, nuclear fuel for the power units will be supplied by the corporation throughout their entire lifecycle. Spent nuclear fuel will, however, be returned to Russia for ‘reprocessing and storage’.

Rosatom will also be responsible for training Iran’s specialists for operation, servicing and corresponding engineering support of the power units, as well as guiding them about nuclear and radiation safety regulations.

The agreement follows the recent announcement by the US Government that Iran will not turn into a nuclear-armed state.

Both the governments have approvals for peaceful nuclear negotiations from the West, reports CNN.