German manufacturer Siemens has completed the installation of SylWin1 grid connection in the North Sea and handed it over to network operator TenneT.

The now-operational link is located at nearly 70km from the west of Sylt island in Germany. It will allow transmission of up to 864MW of renewable energy.

The link connects three offshore wind facilities, Butendiek, DanTysk and Sandbank, which have been equipped with 232 Siemens wind turbines in total and have a generation capacity of 288MW each.

More than 100 turbines have already been connected to the grid with work for the others in progress.

The offshore platform transmits renewable energy via a 200km subsea and underground cable link to the land-based station Büttel in Germany.

The transmission capacity of SylWin1 can meet the energy requirements of more than one million households.

Siemens has implemented high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) technology for the connection, which is claimed to be ‘world’s most powerful grid connection to date’.

TenneT managing board member Lex Hartman said: “2015 is a special milestone year for TenneT, as we will be completing further offshore grid connections by the end of the year, meaning that all in all we will have implemented a capacity of more than 5,000MW, or more than two-thirds of the offshore expansion goal set by the Federal German Government by then.”

Siemens has won five North Sea grid connection projects by TenneT, three of which have been turned operational this year. These are BorWin2 (800MW), HelWin1 (576MW) and SylWin1 (864MW).

The other two projects to be set up by the German firm are HelWin2 (690 MW) and BorWin3 (900 MW).

Power-Technology.

Councillors on Donegal Co. Council are objecting to plans to build Ireland’s largest windfarm in the county.

Plans have been lodged by Planree Ltd for up to 49 wind turbines stretching from Barnesmore Gap to Castlefin.

Almost 200 submissions and objections from members of the public on both sides of the border were received by An Board Planela.

Today Councillors agreed to send a resolution to An Bord Pleanala requesting that planning permission be refused and for the views of local Councillors – who are opposed to the proposed development – to be taken on board.

Mark Cannon is from the Finn Valley Wind Action Group, he says they want this to be a community issue and not a political one.

SSE is one of the largest generators and suppliers of energy in the UK. Langhope Rig is currently nearing construction and consists of 10 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines which GE Energy UK will service under a long-term operations and maintenance agreement. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, GE Energy Financial Services will own and operate the wind farm once it becomes operational later this year. Langhope Rig is situated approximately 55 miles south of Edinburgh. Its acquisition forms part of GE’s commitment to international expansion, including investment $1 billion annually in renewable energy projects across the globe.

Renewable energy is a core focus area for GE Financial Services which is one of the world’s largest investors in wind power with a portfolio of projects spanning nine countries and a capacity in excess of 14 GW in operation or under construction.

“The Langhope Rig acquisition supports our strategy of investing in high-quality energy assets with experienced partners” said Andrew Marsden, a managing director and European leader at GE Energy Financial Services. “This transaction combines GE’s strengths as a leading supplier of both structured finance and energy technology in an investment underpinned by the UK’s stable wind regime.”

GE Energy Financial Services will honour SSE’s commitments to the existing community investment fund associated with the project.

German engineering firm Siemens has signed a long-term agreement to offer its services and maintenance for the RWE’s Rhyl Flats Wind Farm, which is located off the coast of North Wales in the UK.

The agreement for 15 years is an expansion of a previous service and maintenance deal with Siemens which started when the facility was commissioned in 2009.

The offshore project is equipped with 25 SWT-3.6-107 turbines and has a maximum installed capacity of 90MW.

Rhyl Flats Wind Farm has the capacity to generate enough power annually to meet the energy demands of around 61,000 average households in the region.

Siemens will also offer remote monitoring and diagnostics, along with expert service personnel for the facility to ensure its optimum performance.

Siemens Power Generation Services, Wind Power and Renewables head Mark Albenze said: “This new long-term agreement further strengthens our position as the world’s leading service provider for offshore wind and underscores our ability to help our customers realise the full potential of their wind turbines throughout the units’ estimated lifecycle.

“The Rhyl Flats Wind Farm is one of 12 offshore wind projects Siemens is providing expert service and maintenance for in Great Britain and we are particularly proud that our services continue to make a growing contribution towards the implementation of an environmentally friendly, reliable power supply in the region.”

The German company has a combined generation capacity of nearly 21GW. It offers service and maintenance for over 8,700 wind turbines worldwide.

Image: Siemens has been overseeing 25 of its SWT-3.6-107 turbines at Rhyl Flats wind farm since 2009. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.

Danish power firm Dong Energy has awarded a contract worth £21.8m to J Murphy & Sons for setting up an onshore substation for the 580MW Race Bank wind project in offshore UK.

The substation will be developed beside the UK National Grid’s Walpole substation unit during 2016.

Under the contract terms, Murphy will be responsible for providing all the substation equipment required to transmit power from the wind facility to the UK’s grid network.

Murphy managing director North John Murphy said: “Renewable energy is crucial to the UK, and we’re pleased to be a part of this project, which will support both future economic growth and more resilient infrastructure.

“We look forward to working closely with our client Dong Energy to safely and innovatively address the challenges that lie ahead and achieve sustainable efficiencies.”

The Race Bank offshore wind facility will be developed around 17 miles away from the Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk Coast.

Once operational, the 580MW project will be able to meet the power requirements of more than 400,000 households in the country.

Dong Energy had invested £50m for purchasing the wind project from Centrica in December 2013, and acquired approvals from UK authorities for its construction and operation.

Other offshore projects handled by Dong Energy in the UK include West of Duddon Sands, Westermost Rough, Hornsea Project One, Walney Extension, and Burbo Bank Extension.

The UK intends to increase its offshore wind production to up to 6GW by next year, which will be further raised to approximately 10GW by 2020.

Construction work has been initiated to develop the largest onshore wind farm in Belgium, which will be located in the Antwerp port area to the left bank of the Scheldt river.

The wind farm is expected to house 40 to 50 turbines, 15 of which will be installed under the first phase of development at an estimated investment of €70m.

Once completed, the first phase will be able to generate enough power for 35,000 Flemish households.

The turbines for the initial phase have a generation capacity of 3MW each. They are manufactured by Siemens Wind Power in Denmark.

Each of the turbines has a rotor diameter of 113m, a shaft height of 115m, and is fitted with Siemens anti-icing system to prevent ice build-up and freezing weather damages.

Siemens Wind Power CEO for onshore activities Jan Kjaersgaard said: “One of the challenges of this project is installing the turbines on sites with restricted area, because of the high-density of industrial activities in the port.”

The equipment will be installed on port company sites of Antwerp Gateway, Borealis, Euroports, Global Container Services, Indaver, Luiknatie, Norbert Dentressangle, Sea Port Terminals, Tabaknatie, and Van Loon Transport.

Antwerp Port Authority has teamed up with the Left Bank Development Corporation and Antwerp Green Port construction consortium in September 2011 for the large-scale wind development.

Wind aan de Stroom obtained the initial planning permission for the project in June 2013.

Turbine foundation works for the project was initiated by the end of 2014, following which at the beginning of 2015, the first components for the turbine foundations were delivered at the site.

FLiDAR has completed the onsite wind measurements at the 448MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland that is developed by Mainstream Renewable Power.

The Belgian firm had deployed a floating LiDAR buoy for the measurements at the facility, which is located off from the east coast of the country.

The FLiDAR equipment is presently being decommissioned and is going through post-validation tests at the ORE Catapult offshore met mast.

The deployment has been able to save considerable development time and costs for the project, as compared to the conventional meteorological masts used for similar processes.

Neart na Gaoithe project manager David Sweenie said: “Mainstream recognised the innovative approach of FLiDAR from an early stage, bringing accurate wind data at a low cost in a short delivery window.

“The data provided by FLiDAR has contributed to the great successes of Neart na Gaoithe so far.”

The UL Government has recently awarded contract for difference (CfD) to Mainstream Renewable Power for the project.

FLiDAR general manager Reinhardt Stevens said: “We are delighted to have delivered high-availability and accurate wind data in such a short time to our client and congratulate Mainstream Renewable Power on being awarded the CfD.”

3E and Offshore & Wind Assistance (OWA) are the developers for the FLiDAR technology.

VolkerWessels Boskalis Marine Solutions (VBMS) has won a contract to support installation of export cables at the 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

Dredging and marine contractor Van Oord is the lead contractor for the project, which is located in the Dutch part of the North Sea, 85km north of the Groningen coast.

The Netherlands-based VBMS will assist Van Oord for work on two cable sections having a total length of 11km in the transition area between shallow and deep waters.

Cable-laying vessel Stemat Spirit will be used for the work, which is likely to be mobilised by VBMS in mid-March 2015.

VBMS CEO Arno van Poppel: “After our successful cooperation for the Eneco Luchterduinen OWF last year, we are very pleased to install this export cable for Van Oord and contribute to one of the most productive offshore wind farms in the world.”

The Gemini wind project is owned by a consortium formed by Northland Power, Siemens Financial Services (SFS), Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors, and NV HVC.

The offshore facility will be equipped with 150 wind turbines from Siemens, which will each have a capacity of 4MW.

Once operational, the farm will generate 2.6TWh of electricity a year, which is enough to power around 785,000 households. The project is also expected to reduce 1.25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in a year.

Power utility firm Energie Baden-Württember (EnBW) will sell its 49.89% stake in the 288MW Baltic 2 offshore wind farm in Germany to Macquarie Capital for about €720m.
The wind farm is presently under construction at a 32km distance to the north of the Baltic island Rügen.

EnBW will retain its remaining interest in the project, which will be equipped with 80 wind turbines from Siemens. Approximately 34 of the turbines have already been installed at the facility.
Once operational, the offshore wind farm is likey to generate around 1,200GWh of electricity annually, which will be enough to power around 340,000 households.
“Macquarie’s strong balance sheet has allowed us to actively identify and invest in projects across Europe.
Macquarie Capital Europe head of infrastructure, utilities and renewable Mark Dooley said: “Macquarie’s strong balance sheet has allowed us to actively identify and invest in projects across Europe.
“Given the strong regulatory renewable energy regime, we see Germany as a key market for this type of investment going forward.”
EnBW chief financial officer Thomas Kusterer said: “EnBW has now successfully implemented its second participation model in the area of offshore wind energy.
“With deep experience in infrastructure, Macquarie Capital is the right partner and investor for such an ambitious project.”
The project completion and financial close for the wind farm is likely to be in June 2015.
EnBW wants to invest more than €7bn for strategic restructuring of its activities in the future.
The firm plans to spend around €3.5bn for expanding wind energy portfolio and another €3bn for grid business, as part of its 2020 strategy.

Danish power firm Dong Energy has acquired the Borkum Riffgrund West 2 offshore wind project in Germany from Energiekontor.

Application for setting up grid link for the project is likely to happen in 2017 or 2018.

Construction for the project is expected to start by 2020, once grid connection is approved and the developers agree on a final investment decision.

The wind farm will have a generation capacity of 215MW.

It will be located near Dong Energy’s German offshore wind development project 312MW Borkum Riffgrund West 1 project, and will be equipped with 43 turbines.

Dong Energy Wind Power executive vice president Samuel Leupold said: “With the Borkum Riffgrund West 2 project we are now strengthening our post-2020 pipeline.

“Having our other offshore wind project, Borkum Riffgrund West 1 right next to it, there are a number of synergies for the development, construction, and operation of this project.”

As well as the Borkum Riffgrund West 1 and 2 offshore projects in the German North Sea, Dong Energy also has Gode Wind 1+2 with a combined capacity of 582 MW under its portfolio.

Germany plans transition to renewable energy supply, with it needing to install 15GW of offshore wind power by 2030.

With almost one-third of all offshore wind projects in Europe under its portfolio, Dong Energy has built almost 2.5GW of such projects till date. The firm intends to take it up to a total of 3.5GW by 2020.