Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility and principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), has resumed construction of its Cross Winds Energy Park in Tuscola County, Michigan, as warm weather returns to Michigan.

“Consumers Energy and its contractors are committed to building Cross Winds Energy Park in the safest manner possible. Safety is our No. 1 priority. A key part of our commitment to safety is openly communicating about construction activity that residents may encounter,” said John Bulloch, project manager for Cross Winds Energy Park for Consumers Energy.

Akron and Columbia Township residents are receiving a “safety alert” postcard from Consumers Energy. The company urges motorists to be alert for construction traffic in these townships and throughout Tuscola County since many construction materials are coming from suppliers located in Michigan’s Thumb, southeastern Michigan and other parts of the state.

Following agreements with the Tuscola County Road Commission, the project includes necessary maintenance, repair and upgrades to several area roads needed for transporting wind turbine components and other construction related materials.

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS
Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.5 million of the
state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

RenewableUK commented on the release of a new marine energy roadmap from the UK Energy Research Centre and the Energy Technologies Institute. The report, which focusses on cost-cutting, identifies forty technology and deployment issues faced by the wave and tidal energy sector in the UK, and lays out how to tackle these to ensure the sector is able to reduce costs. The roadmap lays out a target for the industry to halve its levelised costs by the end of the decade, and for costs to fall by up to six times by 2050. RenewableUK’s Wave and Tidal Development Manager, Dee Nunn said:

“The marine energy industry has huge potential for the UK – it’s paramount that we transform our world-leading research in this area into commercialised delivery. With large scale deployment of these technologies, economies of scale will kick in which will enable the sector to achieve the cost reductions it is committed to in the long term. However, as the next step towards wave and tidal energy becoming cost competitive with other renewable technologies, it’s crucial that government provides the right support to get the first arrays in the water. The learning from these is vital to help us to reduce costs. If we invest in arrays now, and make sure the financial and political conditions are right for them, we’ll also be able to build up the UK supply chain.  One immediate step the Government could take would be to give the wave and tidal sector certainty beyond 2019. At the moment, as there are no guarantees for support beyond that, it’s difficult to see what confidence investors can have to bring forward these arrays and guarantee a future successful British industry. The UK has benefitted from world class support for wave and tidal energy so far and if the right support is maintained the sector could develop into an industry worth up to £800 million to the UK economy and providing up to 19,500 jobs by 2035”.

The UKERC/ETI report can be found here: http://eti.co.uk/downloads/related_documents/Marine_Roadmap_FULL_SIZE_DIGITAL_SPREADS_.pdf

Swiss power and automation technology group ABB has secured an order worth $40m from Energinet to develop an alternating-current (AC) power cable system for an offshore wind farm in Denmark.

As per the order, ABB will be responsible for the technical design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of the high-voltage cable system and associated accessories.

Scheduled for the delivery in 2016, the new cable system, claimed to be the world´s second largest submarine cable in diameter, will be manufactured at ABB’s high-voltage cable factory located at Karlskrona in Sweden.

Once completed, the submarine cable will enable integration and transmission of electricity from the Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm located in the North Sea.

The wind farm will have the capacity to generate 400MW of electricity, enough to power around 400,000 local households.

ABB Power Systems division head Claudio Facchin said the company has the technical expertise, domain knowledge, project management capability and experience to execute such projects.

“We are pleased to support this initiative and promote the further deployment of renewable energy in Denmark,” Facchin said.

Electricity generated by the wind farm will be supplied to shore through a 32km-long 220kV three-core polymeric insulated submarine cable with integrated fiber-optics for datacommunications and temperature monitoring of the power cable.

Earlier, ABB had supplied high-voltage cables from 145kV to 420kV to Energinet for several projects including the recent Lille Belt, 420kV link.

The UK Government has launched The Solar Strategy that sets out the government’s ambition to see solar energy rolled out more widely and with it the potential to support tens of thousands of jobs. The UK Energy Minister Greg Barker outlined The Solar Strategy at SunSolar Energy in Birmingham. The Solar Strategy is focused on transforming government buildings, factories, supermarkets and car parks into solar hubs. Barker said that there is massive potential to turn the large buildings into power stations and that people must seize the opportunity this offers to boost the UK’s economy as part of the country’s long term economic plan. “Solar not only benefits the environment, it will see British job creation and deliver the clean and reliable energy supplies that the country needs at the lowest possible cost to consumers,” Barker said. Barker said that government wants to move the emphasis for growth away from large solar farms and instead focus on opening up the solar market for the country’s estimated 250,000 hectares of south facing commercial rooftops. According to Barker, solar power increasingly offers efficient and cost-effective onsite generation opportunities for both businesses and domestic consumers, and the government’s strategy makes a step towards change in its ambition for both groups as a means to generate renewable energy.

Widespread solar will ensure a better deal for hard pressed consumers and help move towards a greener, more local energy sector. The UK Minister for Energy and Climate Change Greg Barker has worked closely with his Ministerial colleague from the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, and his team – who are leading on an element of the Strategy, implementing the Solar PV Strategy across the government estate. The Solar Strategy follows the Solar PV Roadmap, which was published in October 2013. The Solar PV Roadmap established the principles for solar PV deployment in the UK.