Renewable energy firm RWE Innogy UK has opened the £45m Goole Fields 1 Wind Farm, located at East Riding in Yorkshire, the UK.

The wind farm features 16 turbines and has an installed energy capacity of 32.8MW.

According to RWE Innogy UK, the wind farm will contribute towards tackle climate change, and secure the UK’s energy supply.

The wind farm is expected to provide power annually to around 18,200 average households.

Meanwhile, the Goole Fields Wind Farm Community Fund is expected to become operational this autumn and will make investments over the operational lifetime of the wind farm.

RWE Innogy UK Goole Fields Wind Farm project manager Tim Daldry said: “Goole Fields Wind Farm is testimony to everybody involved, and will create a cleaner energy legacy for the area by generating home grown electricity from the wind for thousands of homes.”

Goole Fields 1 wind farm comprises 16 Senvion 2.05MW turbines.

The farm received approval from local authorities in 2010 and the construction began in early 2012.

Earlier this month, over 50% of the 160 turbines at the RWE Innogy’s offshore wind farm in North Wales were commissioned to generate power.

Once completely operational, the £2bn Gwynt y Môr farm is expected to generate power for around 400,000 homes.

This facility includes 160 3.6MW Siemens turbines, two offshore substations and 161 inter-array cables.

Siemens has received a contract from the Norwegian firms Statoil and Statkraft for the delivery of grid connections to be set up at 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the UK.

As per the terms of the agreement, Siemens will deliver the complete power transmission system, which also includes two transformer substations – one each for onshore and offshore respectively – for the project.

The cable will run 42km offshore and another 47km onshore.

The grid connection is slated to be completed by the end of 2016, while the installation of the wind turbines will commence in early 2017.

Last month, the firm secured an order for the delivery of 67 wind turbines of 6MW class, in addition to maintenance of the wind farm.

The Dudgeon project, which is being build 32km north of Cromer, can generate electricity sufficient to power more than 410,000 homes in the UK.

Siemens’ Power Transmission Division’s Transmission Solutions Business Unit CEO Tim Dawidowsky said, “This order marks a milestone for us. Dudgeon will be our tenth grid connection project using AC technology.

“To date, we have installed nine connections using AC technology with a total transmission capacity of more than 3GW, transporting enough electricity to supply three million households with wind power.”

Siemens is also installing five DC grid connections with cable lengths running up to 200km off the coast of Germany in the North Sea.

Danish wind energy firm Vestas has received an order from ERG Renew for the supply of 21 V90-2.0MW turbines for a wind power project in Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Radziejow province, Poland.

According to the terms of the contract, Vestas will supply, install and commission 21 turbines for the power project, along with VestasOnline Business SCADA solution.

The turbines are expected to be delivered by the second quarter of fiscal 2015 while they will be commissioned by the third quarter of fiscal 2015.

Vestas Northern Europe president Klaus Steen Mortensen said: “As a business partner Vestas will ensure a flawless execution of the project to maximise the business case for ERG.

“It is a long-term partnership we embark on every time we sign an order for Vestas turbines.”

The Radziejow onshore wind project, when operational, is expected to annually generate 100GWh power.

Earlier this week, the Danish turbine manufacturer received orders from renewable energy firm EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN) to supply 29 of its V100-2.0MW turbines to a wind power project in Poland.

These turbines will be installed at the wind power project in Lubuskie near Rzepin.

This plant is considered to be one of the largest in the north-western region of Poland.

Vestas claims to have delivered around 540 wind turbines in Poland, which accounts for more than 1,100MW of power in the Central European country.

anish turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems has received orders from renewable energy firm EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN) to supply 29 of its V100-2.0MW turbines to a wind power project in Poland.

The turbines will be installed at the wind power project in Lubuskie near Rzepin.

This plant is considered to be one of the largest in the north-western region of Poland.

The contract involves foundation works, supply, installation and commissioning of the turbines in addition to providing the VestasOnline Business SCADA solution and a two-year service agreement.

The delivery of the V100-2.0MW turbines for the wind farm will start by the first quarter of 2015 and the commissioning is expected to start by the fourth quarter of the same year.

The wind power project is a part of the 2011 Frame Agreement signed between EDF EN and Vestas for Europe and the US.

Vestas Northern Europe president Klaus Steen Mortensen said: “It is a pleasure for us to announce another large order for Poland and to further build on the long-term partnership with our highly-valued customer EDF EN.

“We are happy to be chosen as the wind turbine supplier and service provider for these wind power plants and to consolidate our market leadership in Poland.”

So far, Vestas has delivered around 540 wind turbines in Poland, totalling more than 1,100MW.

Vestas claims that its V100-1.8/2.0 MW turbines enable its clients to increase productivity by opening up low- and medium-wind sites that were earlier considered non-feasible.

JDR, a provider of technology for the global offshore energy industry, has secured a new contract with VolkerWessels Boskalis Marine Solutions (VBMS) for the Statoil/Statkraft Dudgeon offshore wind farm, which is off the UK coast in North Norfolk.

The wind farm, which is located 32km off the UK coast, will use more than 95km of copper core inter-array cable and an array of cable accessories supplied by JDR.

These inter-array cables will collect and transmit the generated power, and then export it to the mainland UK.

JDR’s UK sites in Cambridgeshire and Hartlepool will look into the designing and manufacturing aspects of the inter-array cable and cable accessories.

The farm, with 67 wind turbines of 6MW each, will generate electricity for more than 410,000 household annually.

The project will use two inter-array cables designed by JDR; a 185mm² copper conductor cable, and a 500mm² copper conductor cable.

These cables will be XLPE insulated and type-tested to meet IEC 60502-2 and CIGRE standards.

JDR will also deliver accessories such as hang-offs, connectors, pulling grips, cable cleats, fibre optic patch panels, subsea repair joints and three-month abandonment kits.

JDR chief executive officer Andrew Norman said: “The UK has led the global market for offshore wind developments.

“JDR has been involved right from the start with our work on the London Array and Greater Gabbard projects. We are now delighted to have been selected as inter-array cable partner for Dudgeon.”

UK Government Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: “I am delighted this contract has been awarded to JDR Cables, one of the UK’s premier offshore wind suppliers, demonstrating their success in a very competitive market.

“As part of our long-term economic plan we are working with the offshore wind industry to bolster a thriving manufacturing industry here in the UK, ensuring more energy jobs comes to our shores.”

A joint venture (JV) between China-CEE fund and Israeli-based Enlight Renewable Energy plans to invest up to $406m to acquire control of two wind energy projects in Poland, which together will have 250.5MW of installed capacity.

The projects to be acquired by the joint venture include Wroblew and Project 2, which were developed by GEO Renewables.

Wroblew, which is estimated to be worth around PLN200m ($62m), will be completed by November and will have an installed capacity of approximately 36MW.

Project 2 is expected to have a capacity of around 214MW; its first phase will be finalised by the end of next year.

The deal for this project is currently undergoing due diligence, reports Reuters.

Following the sale, Geo will hold minority stakes in these two wind farms.

China-CEE holds a 49.9% stake in the JV while Enlight holds the remaining equity.

The China-CEE Fund, which is managed by CEE Equity Partners, had earlier revealed that it was willing to invest $500m over the next three years in the Eastern and Central European regions.

The Export-Import Bank of China set up CEE Equity Partners in partnership with state-supported financial organisations from eastern and central Europe in order to tap investment opportunities.

As Poland produces around 90% of its power from coal, it plans to shift to renewable energy.

It aims to generate 15% of the total power requirements from renewable energy by 2020 in order to cut down carbon emissions as per the EU rules.

Image: Poland produces about 90% of its power from coal and plans to shift to renewable energy. Photo: courtesy of dan/Freedigitalphotos.net.

The British summer may be over but it has ended on a high for the renewables sector, with new records set and wind generation levels exceeding both nuclear and coal.

According to official National Grid statistics, wind overtook coal-fired power plants for generation on five separate occasions in August – the first time this has ever happened.

It provides some consolation for what proved to be a damp-squib August which turned out to be the wettest for a decade and coldest for 21 years as a month’s rain sparked flood warnings nationwide.

Commenting on these statistics, Jennifer Webber, director of external affairs at trade association Renewables UK, said: “Wind energy is taking its place as the UK’s new powerhouse, overtaking coal and nuclear as one of the most important resources we have to keep Britain’s lights on.

“It continues to surpass its own records, and these figures prove that can happen at any time of year. As we approach autumn and winter, we can expect wind to maintain this strong performance and provide electricity when demand is especially high.”

Record-breaker

Wind energy exceeded coal on 3, 9, 11, 12 and 17 August. This strong performance continued towards the end of the month when onshore and offshore wind generated more than the nuclear fleet on 29 August – 5,805MW from wind compared to 5,379MW from nuclear.

On 11 August, wind also set a new daily record when it provided 21% of the UK’s electricity needs. This was exceeded on 17 August when wind energy broke its own record, setting a new figure of 22%. It led to what proved to be the best-performing August to date, with total wind generation at 10% – close behind the 13% record set during December 2013.

Last week, a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that wind, solar and hydro energy grew at its fastest ever pace in 2013, equating to almost 22% of global power generation.

The Paris-based organisation’s third annual Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report estimated that global renewable energy generation will rise by another 45% to make up nearly 26% of global electricity generation by 2020. But it also warns that annual growth in renewable power will begin to slow after 2014, as policy and market risks threaten to slow deployment.

Luke Nicholls

The offshore wind project DanTysk has achieved an important milestone, with the INSTALLATION of the last of its 80 turbines.

The 288MW offshore wind farm, erected by Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München (SWM), will have a production capacity equivalent to the consumption of up to 400,000 households.

The wind farm is LOCATED 70km west of THE ISLAND of Sylt.

Around 80 Siemens WIND TURBINES, each 3.6MW in class were built, with a maximum rotor tip height of just under 150m above sea level.

Vattenfall and SWM began constructing the first WIND TURBINE in mid-April this year. Benign weather helped the companies install 80 turbines in approximately four months.

THE WIND project will be linked to the grid via the SylWin1 link.

The wind farm is located on a sprawling 70km² area in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on the border to Danish territorial waters.

In addition to its low GREENHOUSE emissions, the farm can also produce power for 400,000 households.

“Benign weather helped the companies INSTALL 80 turbines in approximately four months.”

Vattenfall’s Continental/UK region renewables business unit head Gunnar Groebler said, “We are delighted that the 80 WIND TURBINES in the DanTysk offshore wind farm could be set up so quickly. Additionally particularly positive is that the inter-array cable installation between the turbines and the offshore substation went smoothly.”

Stadtwerke München Corporate INVESTMENT MANAGEMENTChristian Vogt said, “The erection of the last turbine in the DanTysk project could be completed as scheduled and is an important step on the way to the implementing of the whole wind farm.

“The successful construction progress on this project allows us to look forward to the NEXT joint project “Sandbank” from SWM and Vattenfall which will be placed in the neighborhood.”

DanTysk is a joint venture of Vattenfall (51%) and Stadtwerke München (49%).

Norwegian energy firms Statoil and Statkraft have awarded a contract worth approximately £500m to Siemens to deliver turbines for the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the east of England, UK.

Under the contract, Siemens will manufacture, supply, install and commission 67 6MW direct-drive wind turbines.

Turbine installation is expected to start in 2017 and the contract includes a five-year service and maintenance agreement.

Siemens Energy wind power division CEO Markus Tacke said: “With Dudgeon we extend our project pipeline for this new turbine.

“This gives us the opportunity to further ramp up production capacity, which is a precondition to bring down the costs for offshore wind.”

The Dudgeon offshore wind farm, which is expected to cost £1.5bn, is located 32km north of the city of Cromer in North Norfolk.

The wind farm will deliver enough energy for around 410,000 households in the UK.

Statoil owns a 70% stake in the wind farm, and Statkraft holds the remaining stake.

As per the plan, the companies will initially build an onshore substation and lay cables on land before commencing offshore construction in 2016.

Statoil will operate the wind farm, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2017.

The UK Government awarded the license for the Dudgeon site in the Round 2 allocation in 2003.

E.ON Kraftwerke has awarded a contract to Voith for the modernisation of a generator at its 620MW Waldeck 2 pumped storage power plant in North Hesse, Germany.

Under the terms of the contract, which is worth approximately €9m, Voith will replace, assemble and commission the stator and rotor of machine 6 at the plant, increasing the efficiency by around 10%.

The contract also includes an option for the modernisation of an additional machine unit for around €5m.

The Waldeck 2 pumped-storage power station houses two generators, which have a capacity of 265MVA.

Voith, which delivered the original generators when the facility was constructed in 1970, said the vertical placement of the classical pump-turbine unit presents a challenge in the modernisation programme.

The turbine is situated vertically above the motor-generator and a multi-stage pump is equipped below.

Voith will have to first disassemble the original turbine to replace the generator.

Voith Hydro management board chairman Roland Münch said: “Pumped storage power plants such as Waldeck will continue to make a vital contribution to secure and stable energy supplies.

“As giant batteries, they store energy from irregularly available regenerative sources such as wind and solar and feed this energy quickly and flexibly back into the grid as and when required.

“Hydropower is reliable, sustainable and climate-friendly, and has long become an indispensable part of the

mix. This is why we are consistently developing our technologies for utilising these energy sources.”