Germany strengthens domestic wind energy industry
Germany plans to provide state guarantees for the production of wind energy, it announced on Thursday. This is part of a package that aims to boost Germany's wind industry, amid concerns among European governments and businesses about Chinese firms taking a lead in this sector. Berlin will include guarantees in the KfW program for sustainable transformation, according to the Economy Ministry. Around 16 billion euros (17.34 billion dollars) of guarantees are required for a production ramp up by 2030.
ArcVera Gets IECRE Approval for Wind Power Performance Testing Services
ArcVera Renewables, a consulting and technical services for wind, solar, and storage projects, has received an approval by the International Electrotechnical Commission - Renewable Energy (IECRE) to operate as a Renewable Energy Testing Laboratory. IECRE is the IEC system for certification to standards relating to equipment for use in renewable energy applications."IECRE approval validates the quality of ArcVera’s wind turbine PPT processes and the thoroughness of its quality management system…
DNV GL Mulls Digitalization in Wind Energy
Digitalization is already playing a major role in the growth of wind energy, but it can still drive further improvements in operational efficiency, decision making and cost efficiency – if it can overcome concerns around data sharing.According the report ‘Digitalization and the Future of the Wind Energy Industry’ published by DNV GL, iproving operational efficiency (identified by 52% of respondents), decision making (42%) and cost efficiency (40%)…
Floating Windpower Partnership Formed
Japanese engineering giant Hitachi Zosen Corp and French marine renewables technology outfit Naval Energies will work together in the field of floating wind power.The French marine renewables specialist said in a press release that the two companies will design and build floating wind turbines with a capacity of several hundred megawatts off the Japanese coast using Naval Energies' semi-submersible floating solution, which is a concrete, steel…
VA Offshore Wind: A Strong Foundation
Virginia officials have established a well-planned, extensive strategy to build out an offshore wind industry, including wind towers for electricity generation and the supply chain to support that extensive infrastructure and operations. The State’s big picture is ambitious: developing 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2028.As currently envisioned, VA’s offshore wind development will likely start this year with two 8-megawatt wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.
DNV GL Study on Wind Turbine Blades
The global quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL released an in-depth study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which examines the challenges associated with manufacturing and deploying next-generation, increasingly larger land-based wind turbines.In the past decade, the U.S. wind energy industry has achieved significant improvements in energy production and cost efficiency, driven in part by increased turbine…
US' First Planned Floating Wind Farm Taking Shape
Plans for America’s first floating offshore wind farm are taking shape with the news that California’s Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) has selected a consortium to enter into a public-private partnership to develop the project off the Northern California coast. The consortium is comprised of Principle Power Inc., EDPR Offshore North America LLC, Aker Solutions Inc., H. T. Harvey & Associates, and Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc. and was one of six respondents to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued by the RCEA on February 1, 2018.
DNV GL Appoints Peter Brun as New Global Offshore Wind Segment Leader
DNV GL, the world’s largest independent energy advisory and certification body, has appointed wind energy professional Peter Brun as Global Offshore Wind Segment Leader. Brun is responsible for stakeholder management, alliance building and promoting offshore wind development throughout the world. Brun brings more than 26 years of experience in the wind energy industry and international diplomacy. His rich and varied expertise in the wind industry…
Siemens Gamesa Gets DNV GL Type Certificate for Wind Turbine
DNV GL has awarded Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy with the Type Certificate for its eight megawatt (8 MW) offshore wind turbine SWT-8.0-154. Fully compliant to the international wind turbine standard IEC-61400-22, the turbine is now ready for immediate market implementation. New technologies like large offshore wind turbines with an output rate of 8 MW are vital to support the growing wind energy industry in reducing the levelised cost of energy.
Vestas 'Pleased' US Tax Bill Retains PTC Phase-out
Vestas, the world's top wind turbine manufacturer, said Thursday it was "pleased" the final U.S. tax bill retains a phase-out of production tax credits, after concerns over the bill had shaved almost a quarter of its share price. The final U.S. tax bill retains the production and investment tax credits for wind and solar energy that have spurred investment in these industries. It also eliminates the alternative minimum tax, which would have reduced the value of those credits.
Sparrows Group Acquires Alpha Offshore Service
Sparrows Group has cemented its position in the renewables sector with the acquisition of Danish wind energy specialist Alpha Offshore Service A/S. Already a supplier of capital equipment to the wind energy industry, the deal significantly strengthens the group’s operations and maintenance capabilities in the sector. Alpha Offshore provides engineering personnel and inspection services to the energy industry, specialising in the delivery of operations and maintenance, and supervisory and commissioning services to onshore and offshore wind developments.
U.S. Wind Firms Cheer Senate Tax Bill Provisions
The U.S wind energy industry on Friday cheered a Senate tax proposal that, unlike the House version unveiled last week, preserves the tax credit that helps wind farms compete with plants fired by fossil fuels. The Senate plan brought relief to an industry that has spent the last week warning lawmakers on Capitol Hill that changes to the credit would put $50 billion in planned investment at risk. However, if the House and Senate pass their differing proposals on the Republicans' broad tax-cut plan…
ZephIR Lidar Expands Engineering Team
ZephIR Lidar has announced the expansion of its Engineering and Supply Chain Team as part of a larger strategy to increase production and meet the growing demand for more accurate wind measurements within the wind energy industry. ZephIR Lidar has invested its own resources and has also applied for and received government-backed ‘Innovate UK’ funding in support of expanding the engineering function for production and manufacturing, as well as creating new jobs in the rural location of Ledbury, UK, where the Company is based.
Sierra Club sues US Energy Department
Environmental group the Sierra Club sued the U.S. Energy Department on Monday in hopes of forcing it to reveal the groups it has consulted in conducting an eagerly awaited study on the electricity grid. It was the latest push-back on the department’s study from backers of renewable energy such as wind and solar power who fear it could be used by the Trump administration to form policies that could slow growth in the industry. Energy Secretary Rick Perry…
Germany Linked Up 818 MW of Offshore Wind in 2016
Germany connected 818 megawatts (MW) of newly built offshore wind capacity to power networks last year, wind energy industry group BWE said on Thursday, less than in 2015 but still leaving the industry on course to beat government targets for 2020. BWE said Europe's largest economy had 4.108 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity in total linked up with electricity networks at the end of last year. The government is targeting 6.5 GW by 2020. In 2015…
Mammoet Moves Longest Turbine Blade
Mammoet Wind, the turnkey solution provider for the wind energy industry, has successfully transported the world’s longest wind turbine blade from LM Wind Power’s pilot plant in Lunderskov to the Blaest Test Center in Aalborg. Being the longest blade in the world, no transport equipment has been previously planned for such scale, so LM Wind Power needed a specialist transport company to carry out this unique operation. The blade measures 88.4 meters in length, with a height of 4.47 meters when loaded on the truck.
Bill Creates 1,600MW Offshore Wind Procurement
On August 1, the Massachusetts State Legislature voted on and passed Bill H.4568 An Act to Promote Energy Diversity. The bill passed the State House 157-1 and the Senate passed the bill shortly after midnight. It will now go to Governor Charlie Baker for his signature. This is the first legislation of its kind that includes a specific carve out for offshore wind at a scale necessary to create a viable market in the United States. The bill requires big utilities to buy up to 1,600 megawatts of off-shore wind energy. This bill marks the start of the U.S.
Siemens Ordered to Compensate Sick Workers in Denmark
Siemens has been ordered to pay compensation of almost 1 million Danish crowns ($150,000) to three people who fell ill after working at a wind turbine factory, a court in the city of Aalborg in Denmark said on Thursday. The ruling comes at time of increased focus on health conditions in the wind energy industry in Denmark and marks the first such verdict against a turbine maker there. The three former employees were ruled to have suffered conditions such as asthma…
Ulstein Equipment Wins IRO Innovation Award
Ulstein Equipment B.V. was awarded the IRO Oil & Gas Innovation Prize for its Ulstein Colibri, a 3D motion-compensated crane add-on system for the purpose of increasing vessel operability. This aims to enable smaller and more cost-effective vessels to be used in harsher weather conditions. On Thursday, December 3, 2015, the biannual IRO Oil & Gas Innovation Event took place at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, where the three preselected companies presented their innovations and competed for the IRO Innovation Prize.
Boost for Offshore Wind Energy
As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Hopper today announced the release of an Environmental Assessment (EA) supporting a potential lease sale for more than 300,000 acres of federal waters off the coast of North Carolina for wind energy development.
