RWE Eyes Renewables Deals as Part of $8.4 B Expansion
Germany's largest power producer RWE plans to spend part of its 7 billion euro ($8.4 billion) war chest on growing its 24.7 gigawatt pipeline of renewables projects, its CFO said, just weeks after BP announced a major low-carbon push."A pipeline needs to be worked on constantly. It doesn't grow overnight," Markus Krebber told Reuters, less than a day after the group raised 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in a share sale to fund growth.Unfazed by the COVID-19 crisis, Krebber said that the environment for renewables had improved in the course of the year…
Nordex Wind Energy Orders Top 6.2GW in 2019
The turbine manufacturing and installation company Nordex Group booked turbine orders totaling 6207MW in 2019, up 31% on the 4754MW in 2018.The German manufacturer secured deals with a combined capacity of 1477MW in the fourth quarter of last year, which was down on the 1679MW in the last three months of 2018.Overall, the Nordex Group received orders to deliver 1,616 wind turbines with a total output of 6,207 MW in 2019, representing a 31 percent increase on the previous year (2018: 4,754 MW).In the fourth quarter of 2019, the majority of this volume (57 percent) was attributable to turbines in the Delta4000 series.
Top Turbine Makers to Spend $2.6bln on R&D
Research and development (R&D) expenses among the world's top ten wind turbine manufacturers are expected to exceed $2.6 billion by 2023.The R&D expenses more than doubled in the last four years, reaching $1.8m in 2018, as demand grows for ever-bigger on- and offshore models, according to the latest research from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.The analyst said that over 90 new onshore and offshore turbines are expected to be launched within the next five years by the top 10 leading manufacturers."Turbine OEMs have accelerated R&D investments in next-generation turbine platforms…
TRIG Acquires French Wind Farms
UK-based investment fund The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has acquired stakes in four French onshore windfarms, with a total capacity of 107.8 MW. InfraRed’s listed renewables vehicle did not disclose financial details of acquisitions. Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has advised British investment fund.WFW assisted TRIG on the acquisition, from their operations manager Renewable Energy Systems (RES), and financing of the two ready to build “Rosières” and “Montigny” wind farms in the Northern French departments of Meuse and…
Europe Invests in African Renewable Energy
The provider of testing and advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables and energy management, DNV GL has joined European signatories including ABB, EDP Renewables, Enel Green Power, Ge Renewable Energy, Pöyry, Prysmian, PwC, Siemens Gamesa and Vestas."DNV GL has signed a ‘declaration of intent’ to commit its interest and participation to the initiative renewAfrica, aimed at boosting renewable energy investments in Africa, alongside leading players in the African and European renewable energy market," said a statement.The…
Nordex Gives Strong Sales Outlook
Wind turbine maker Nordex on Tuesday forecast higher-than-expected sales for the current year, pushing its shares up 5.6 percent in early trade.The group expects revenues of 3.2 billion to 3.5 billion euros ($3.62-$3.96 billion) in 2019, an increase of up to 42 percent from last year and also beating the Refinitiv estimate of 2.94 billion.($1 = 0.8842 euros)(Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Riham Alkousaa)
Offshore Wind Energy Market to Grow 20%
Global offshore wind energy market was valued at $2,727 thousand in 2019, and is expected to reach $11,334 thousand by 2025, registering a CAGR of +20% from 2019 to 2025, said a study.The global offshore wind energy market has been set blazing with a number of schemes that have recently began power production, according to Researchnreports. For instance, following the installation of its first 7-MW turbines, Scotland's biggest offshore wind farm has sent power for the first time to the National Grid.The growth of the offshore wind…
Germany Reaches Deal to Boost Renewable Energy Capacity -SPD
Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU and its Social Democrat (SPD) partners have agreed to keep their promise to speed up the expansion of renewable power installations, ending months of wrangling, an SPD spokeswoman said on Wednesday.Renewable energy is one of the most important drivers of Germany's plans to become a low-carbon economy, part of the country's commitment to help to combat global warming.As part of these efforts, the German government agreed in January to plan for additional tenders for 4 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaics and 4 GW onshore wind as well as an unspecified offshore wind energy contribution in 2019 and 2020…
German Onshore Wind Installations Dropped 29 pct in H1
Germany installed 1,626 megawatts (MW) of new onshore wind power capacity in the first six months of 2018, industry groups said on Thursday, adding that total installations this year could run to between 3,300 and 3,500 MW.Wind energy is one of the most important drivers of Germany's transition to renewable energy, with onshore wind power already accounting for 14.7 percent of total power generation volumes in Jan-Jun, according to industry statistics.The additions in the six months measured in MW were down by 29 percent however from the same period a year earlier, engineering group VDMA and wind energy association BWE said in a statement.The installed total is
Nordex scores biggest ever single contract
German wind turbine maker Nordex on Tuesday said it had won a contract to supply and install 191 wind turbines with a capacity of 595 megawatts in Brazil, marking the company's biggest ever single contract to date.The order from Italian utility Enel is for the Brazilian wind farm Lagoa dos Ventos, which is located in the north of the country. It will bring Nordex's total capacity installed and under construction in Brazil to 1.9 gigawatts.Nordex said it would start installing the turbines from October 2019 and provide service for them for at least two years.(Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Acciona Gets DNV GL Certification
Acciona Energia, the biggest global operator exclusively in renewable energies, received the first ever prototype certificate for a grid-scale energy storage solution by DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body. The handover of the certificate took place at the American Wind Energy Association’s 2018 Windpower Conference in Chicago. To explore the possibilities of grid-scale storage, Acciona Energia started up a hybrid plant for storing electricity in batteries as part of its grid-connected wind farm at Barasoain in Navarra, northern Spain.
Germany Awards Higher Prices in Onshore Wind Power Auction
Germany's network regulator agreed to pay higher prices for onshore wind power in its latest capacity auction, it said on Tuesday, reflecting a new set of rules that made it harder for citizens' co-operatives to compete. The average price Bundesnetzagentur (BnetzA) awarded for onshore wind projects came in at 4.6 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), up from the 3.8 euro cents per kWh it agreed to in its last auction in November. Shares in Denmark's Vestas, the world's largest maker of wind turbines, were 3.8 percent higher after the news, which signals a temporary halt to relentless price pressure that has dominated the industry for years.
Wind Turbine Maker Nordex Wins U.S. Orders
Germany's Nordex, the world's sixth-largest wind turbine maker, said on Tuesday it had secured three contracts in the United States worth a combined about 820 megawatts (MW) in power capacity. The orders were placed by two international utilities in December, Nordex said, declining to disclose their names. One order is for 67 turbines for a project in Texas, where it previously supplied turbines to Germany's E.ON. Shares in Nordex jumped 5.5 percent, hitting their highest level in three months. The stock more than halved in 2017 after a drastic profit warning and the subsequent resignation of its then CEO.
Siemens Gamesa to Cut as Many as 6,000 Jobs
Siemens Gamesa said on Monday it plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs worldwide as it braces for sales to plunge by as much as a fifth next year. The job cut would amount to more than 20 percent of the company's total workforce of around 26,000. Wind turbine makers have been facing growing competition, putting pressure on pricing and inventory values and raising expectations for more takeovers to build scale. The Spanish-based wind power joint venture, which cut its earnings forecasts twice in recent months, has to date been planning to cut only 700 positions.
Nordex to Slash Headcount, CapEx
Nordex must cut jobs and costs in response to a drop in demand for its wind turbines, the German company announced on Tuesday. It aims to save around 45 million euros by 2018 and trim its workforce by 400-450 jobs, the company said. Nordex last month flagged possible job cuts, citing dropping business volumes in Europe, even as it posted higher-than-expected second-quarter results. In the first six months of 2017, Nordex installed 682 megawatts worth of turbines in Europe, 14 percent less than in the year-earlier period. Reporting by Tom Sims
Wind Turbine Tie-Ups Under Pressure
Siemens Gamesa, Nordex underperform following tie-ups; more deals expected with Nordex, Senvion seen as takeover candidates. A sell-off in shares of recently merged wind turbine makers highlights the growing speed at which competition in the sector is heating up, raising expectations for more deals in the quest for scale. In the latest sign of the squeeze, Siemens Gamesa last week said it would cut 600 staff, less than a month after it revealed third-quarter operating profit had dwindled by a fifth, partly due to India's shift to auctions from guaranteed tariffs.
Siemens Gamesa Installs Asia's Tallest Wind Turbines
Wind power group Siemens Gamesa has installed Asia's tallest wind turbines, with a total height of 210 metres (230 yards), in Thailand, it said on Tuesday. The 33 turbines, with 153 metre-high towers and 56 metre blades, have been installed in the Sarahnlom wind farm in central Thailand, where commissioning is scheduled for later this year. Wind farm operators are betting on a new generation of colossal turbines as they seek to remain profitable after European and other countries phase out subsidies that have defined the renewables industry since the 1990s.
Nordex CEO Resigns Following Drastic Outlook Cut
Nordex Chief Executive Lars Bondo Krogsgaard will step down at the end of March, taking responsibility for a loss of confidence among investors after the wind turbine maker slashed its financial targets last month. Weaker expectations for business in Brazil, India and South Africa caused Nordex to significantly lower its sales and profit outlook for 2018. It said in February it now expected revenues of 3.4 to 3.6 billion euros ($3.7-3.9 billion), down from previous guidance for 4.2 to 4.5 billion. Shares in the group went into a tailspin following the announcement and lost a third of their value in the subsequent days…
Nordex Posts Order Intake Below Expectations, Shares Fall
German wind turbine maker Nordex said its order intake for 2016 reached 3.3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), below its full-year target, blaming the postponement of a major order in South America. Shares in the group, which had expected order intake of 3.4 billion euros for 2016, were down 3.2 percent at the bottom of Germany's technology index TecDAX. Nordex, which last year bought the wind power business of Spain's Acciona, will still meet its working capital ratio target for 2016 of below 5 percent, it said, adding it would release preliminary full-year results at the end of February. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz)
German Onshore Wind Turbine Installation up in 2016
Germany installed 4,625 megawatts (MW) worth of onshore wind turbines in 2016, up about a quarter, industry groups said on Tuesday, warning that future growth would slow as the sector moves away from subsidies and towards a tender-based system. Engineering group VDMA and wind energy association BWE expect installations of 4,500-5,000 MW this year, before dropping to 3,000-3,500 MW in 2018. In 2019, they could drop to below 2,800 MW, the industry groups said, bringing it more in line with government targets of 2,500 MW. "The industry will work on compensating for the decline of the German market via exports…
