Siemens Gamesa, GRI Renewables Invest in NE England Offshore Wind Production
Siemens Gamesa and GRI Renewables Industries will invest more than $360 million into offshore wind manufacturing facilities in northeast England.Siemens Gamesa will invest a total of $258m to expand its blade manufacturing site located near Hull - Britain's largest offshore wind manufacturing facility - readying it for the next generation of offshore wind turbines and blades greater than 100 metres, the government said.Siemens Gamesa will add 200 workers to the 1…
8 Rivers Capital, Sembcorp Energy to Build Net-Zero Emissions Plant in UK
U.S. clean technology firm 8 Rivers Capital and Sembcorp Energy UK, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries, plan to build a net-zero emissions power plant in Teesside in northeast England, the firms said on Tuesday.The 300-megawatt project, called Whitetail Clean Energy, would use a process to produce energy which combusts natural gas with oxygen, rather than air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide…
GE to Trial World’s Largest Wind Turbine in UK
U.S. conglomerate General Electric will test the world's largest wind turbine in a facility in northeast England, it said on Tuesday. GE Renewable Energy, the renewable arm of the U.S. firm, and the British government-funded Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult signed a five-year agreement to test GE's Haliade-X 12 megawatt (MW) turbine in Blyth, Northumberland. "This is an important agreement because it will enable us to prove Haliade-X in a faster way by putting it under controlled and extreme conditions…
Swiss Traders Grab $10 Billion Slice of LNG Market
Traders mopping up LNG glut, finding new emerging market buyers. Swiss trading houses are muscling in on the global market for liquefied natural gas, until now the preserve of energy giants, and expect to grab a $10 billion share of the rapidly growing business this year. Trafigura, Gunvor, Vitol and Glencore are all shaking up a decades-old system dominated by Western oil majors and state energy producers which sell LNG directly to large consumers on long-term contracts.
Kotug Aids Allseas in Topsides Transport
Kotug International’s offshore division has assisted Allseas with the transfer and transport of Shell’s Brent Delta topsides after the record-setting removal of the structure by Pioneering Spirit. Kotug was mainly involved in the assistance of the cargo barge Iron Lady during the transfer of the topsides from the Pioneering Spirit to the Iron Lady and the ensuing tow of the barge to the Able UK decommissioning yard in Teesside, Northeast England.
DONG Energy Wins Order to Sell Onshore Wind Power in the UK
Danish utility and wind farm developer DONG Energy has signed an agreement with Britain's Banks Renewables, in what would be its first move into distributing onshore wind in the UK, the company said on Tuesday. The 15-year order includes buying power from three onshore wind farms under development by Banks Renewables, a unit within UK land developer Banks Group, and reselling it on the UK's power market. "This is…
Subsidy-Reliant Offshore Wind Takes Cue from Big Oil
From a helicopter, it looks like just another North Sea oil rig, a grey cube supported by massive yellow pillars, 90 kilometres (56 miles) off western Denmark. But the DanTysk facility is the world's first accommodation platform for offshore wind, which is borrowing techniques and labour from the crisis-hit oil sector as it tries to cut costs and end an addiction to state subsidies. The wind industry is moving further…
DONG Energy to Build Hub for UK Offshore Wind
Denmark's DONG Energy said on Thursday it would build a multi-million-dollar maintenance hub in Grimsby, northeast England, to provide services for its offshore wind operations. The new facility would, subject to planning approval, be built at the town's Royal Dock and provide maintenance support to the company's wind farms in the region. "It represents a massive vote of confidence to the UK offshore wind industry…
UK Mulls plan to pay Households affected by Fracking
Some tax proceeds from shale gas developments in Britain could be given directly to residents, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday, in a bid to help clear the path for an industry hampered for years by local opposition to fracking. Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shale gas trapped in underground rocks yet fracking applications have struggled to find approval from local communities, concerned about noise and environmental impacts.
Brexit Could Provide Boost for Britain's Shale Gas
Britain's shale gas industry could get a helping hand from a falling pound and a supportive new prime minister just as it is gearing up for its first production this year, after facing economic and political challenges that slowed its start. The British pound's weakness since the Brexit vote has made it more expensive to import gas, helping the case for shale gas which had been hurt in the past by weak oil prices and by opposition to planning approval from local campaigners.
DONG Becomes Lead Developer of UK's Offshore Wind Hornsea Zone
Denmark's DONG Energy has become the lead developer of Britain's Hornsea Zone offshore wind scheme after it bought the project rights to the second and third phases of the development Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Financial Services. The Hornsea Zone, off the coast of northeast England, is being developed in phases to ultimately provide 4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable wind energy and has the potential to meet 40 percent of Britain's electricity demand.
Ensus in Job Cut Talks as UK Biofuels Plant Remains Offline
Biofuels producer Ensus said on Friday that its bioethanol plant in northeast England remained offline and it was consulting staff about possible job cuts. The plant, one of the biggest in Europe, was closed temporarily in February because of adverse market conditions. "It is widely anticipated that it may take up to a year or more for European demand and prices to sustainably improve," the company said in a statement. Ensus was acquired in 2013 by German bioethanol producer CropEnergies.
BP to Sell Stake in Major North Sea Gas Pipeline
Oil major BP has put up for sale its stake in one of Europe's biggest natural gas pipelines in the North Sea as part of its ongoing asset disposal programme. BP holds a 36 percent interest in the 404-kilometre subsea Central Area Transmission System (CATS) that runs through the central sector of the British North Sea. The pipeline pumps up to 1.7 billion cubic metres of gas a day from UK North Sea fields, more than eight times Britain's average daily gas demand.
Scottish Power, Egdon Give Go-Ahead to UK Shale Gas Project
Scottish Power, owned by Spain's Iberdrola, and Egdon Resources have decided to move ahead with a joint project to explore and develop shale gas in Britain, after seismic data showed the potential for reserves. Britain is counting on the development of shale gas to help lessen its increasing dependence on imports as North Sea output declines. Under a farm-in agreement between the two companies, Scottish Power, which holds the mineral licenses for two sites in northeast England…
Scottish 'Yes' Would Boost Chances for Norway Power Cable
A win for the Scottish independence movement in Thursday's referendum would boost the chances of building a power interconnection to Scotland from Norway, a project partner said. Three Norwegian power producers and Swedish utility Vattenfall plan to build a 1,400-megawatt cable, NorthConnect, from Norway to Peterhead in northeast Scotland. Norway's state-owned grid operator Statnett and Britain's National Grid are seeking government approval to build another cable…
UK Approves New Gas-fired Power Plant
The British government said on Friday it had approved the development of a 470-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power station at North Killingholme in northeast England, proposed by power plant developer C.Gen. The government's planning inspectorate also granted approval for a 96-MW onshore wind farm at Clocaenog Forest in Wales, spearheaded by RWE Innogy, and the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a new sewer system for London proposed by Thames Water.
British Diesel Car Breakdowns Linked to Northeast Terminals
An investigation into hundreds of car breakdowns across Britain last year has narrowed the cause to diesel from three storage terminals in northeast England, the British Standard Institute said on Wednesday. However, an industry task force set up by the BSI earlier this year found no evidence that the filter-blocking incidents were caused by Russian diesel or additives, as initially suspected. The BSI said it will…
Foster Wheeler Signs Agreement With BOC to Replace Heat Exchangers
Foster Wheeler AG announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has signed an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) services agreement with BOC, a member of the Linde Group, for the installation of replacement heat exchangers at BOC’s Teesport facility, Teesside, in northeast England. The Foster Wheeler contract value was not disclosed and was included in the company’s first-quarter 2014 bookings.
