This week’s news round-up includes: Dong, Siemens, Centrica, SSE, National Grid & Cape Wind, Theolia, EDP Renvaveis, Vestas, Prokon & Global Wind Power, LM Glasfiber & Samsung and Riverstone & SeaJacks.

Dong, Siemens buy 50 percent stake in Centrica wind farm

Danish energy group Dong Energy has partnered with Siemens Project Ventures to acquire 50 percent of the Lincs offshore wind farm project from Centrica for £50 million (€56mn; US$80.5mn).

The parties will acquire the stake through an equally owned company and with the indirect share of each of the two joint venture partners being 25 percent.

Their share of the Lincs wind farm represents a capital investment of approximately £375 million (€423mn; US$604mn).

Lincs, which has a permitted capacity of up to 270 MW and is located eight kilometers (5 miles) off the coast of Skegness, Lincolnshire, is in the final design and procurement phase.

Besides supplying wind turbines, Siemens will also be the design-build contractor for grid connection including offshore substation, onshore substation and the laying of the cables onshore.

Completion of the transaction is expected in January and Centrica will continue to own 50 percent of the company.

SSE takes stake in Dong’s Walney offshore wind farm

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has agreed to buy 25.1 percent share of Dong Energy's 367MW Walney offshore wind project in the United Kingdom. The purchase comes with a price tag of roughly £39 million (€44mn; US$63mn).

Walney is due to begin construction this year and is expected to cost around £1 billion (€1.1bn; US$1.6bn). The project is located 14km west of the Isle of Walney in the Irish Sea.

SSE will cover its quarter share of these costs, with payments due when each phase of the wind farm is commissioned.

The wind farm is expected to have an average load factor of 43 percent and the final payment of £17 million (€19mn; US$27mn) of the £39 million transaction will be subject to operational performance.

Dong Energy will be the leading partner in the construction and operational phases of the development, and has provided SSE with financial guarantees relating to the final construction cost of the project and its timely completion.

Dong will retain a 74.9 percent stake in the farm.

Dong, Siemens ink pact for offshore wind turbines

Dong Energy and Siemens have entered into a new supply agreement for offshore wind turbines.

Siemens is to deliver wind turbines and grid connection for offshore wind farm, Lincs, in the UK.

Last year, the two companies had signed an agreement for the supply of up to 500 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of up to 1,800 MW.

Approximately 1,000 MW under the agreement has been utilised for the 367 MW offshore wind project Walney 1 and 2 and for the 630 MW offshore wind project, London Array. Siemens will deliver 75 3.6 MW turbines to the 270 MW offshore project Lincs, in which the two firms have jointly acquired a 50 percent stake.

The turbines for the Lincs project will, as for the Walney 2 and London Array projects, be delivered with the newest version of Siemens offshore wind turbine with a large 120-meter rotor. The supply agreement has been expanded to include further potential volumes of turbine deliveries to be used for Dong’s Northern European project pipeline.

Regulators greenlight Cape Wind, National Grid contract talks

The state Department of Public Utilities (DPU) of Massachusetts has approved a plan by National Grid to begin negotiations on a power purchase agreement for the proposed Cape Wind offshore wind farm at Nantucket Sound.

“Any proposed long-term contract for renewable energy between National Grid and Cape Wind will be subject to the review and approval of the Department before it becomes effective...The Petition of Massachusetts Electric Company and Nantucket Electric Company and potential execution of a long-term contract for renewable energy with Cape Wind Associates is approved,” said a statement from the DPU, which is expected to hold a public hearing on the proposed contract before voting on it.

Until then, the parties need to determine how much National Grid will pay for the electricity generated by Cape Wind.

The decision by the regulator comes less than a month after National Grid said it would buy power generated by Cape Wind when the project is built. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick had termed this development as a tremendous step forward for the Cape Wind project, which has been challenged repeatedly in the Legislature, Congress, and the courts.

A long-term contract is critical to obtaining financing for the project planned for Nantucket Sound, Gov. Patrick’s office said.

Chu pledges US$350m clean tech fund for developing countries

US energy secretary Steven Chu has launched a new Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (Climate REDI) to accelerate deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in developing countries.

The fund will be used to encourage the development of renewable energy projects such as wind and solar power and more energy efficient appliances in the developing world.

The combined budget of the programme is US$350 (€245mn; £217mn) million over five years.

According to Chu, Climate REDI is a “quick-start” initiative to complement the much broader technology and finance mechanisms of an international climate agreement. Climate REDI includes three new clean energy technology programmes under the World Bank’s Strategic Climate Fund:

• The Clean Energy Information Platform – to establish an online platform for MEF countries to exchange technical resources, policy experience and the infrastructure to coordinate various activities in deploying clean energy technologies
• The Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme (S-REP), under the World Bank’s Strategic Climate Fund, will provide policy support and technical assistance to low-income countries developing national renewable energy strategies and underwrite additional capital costs associated with renewable energy investments
• The Solar and LED Energy Access Programme - to accelerate deployment of affordable solar home systems and LED lanterns to those without access to electricity
• The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment Programme - to harness the market and convening power of Major Economies Forum (MEF) countries to improve efficiency for appliances traded throughout the world
  

Theolia sells French portfolio

Developer and operator of wind energy projects, Theolia, has sold its 47 MW wind portfolio in France to Canadian firm Boralex for an undisclosed sum.

The portfolio comprises:

• A wind farm in operation since December 2006, located in the department of Côtes d’Armor with a capacity of 7 MW
• A wind project located in the department of Seine-Maritime with a capacity of 30 MW
• A wind project located in the department of l’Eure-et-Loir with a capacity of 10 MW.

On the back of the sale, the company claims to have exceeded its target announced at the beginning of this year to sell 200 MW of wind projects and assets in 2009.

EDP Renovaveis secures US$90 million financing

EDP Renováveis, through its fully-owned subsidiary Horizon Wind Energy, has signed an agreement to secure US$90 million (€63mn; £56mn) of institutional equity financing from JPM Capital Corporation.

The financing is in exchange for a partial interest in its 101 MW Lost Lakes Wind Farm installed in December 2009 in Dickinson County, Iowa.

The institutional equity investment will provide the investor with access to the accelerated asset tax depreciation (MACRS) benefits and to a cash grant, which the Lost Lakes project will apply for pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The transaction is EDP Renováveis’ second institutional equity transaction with JPM Capital Corporation incorporating the cash grant in lieu of production tax credits.

Vestas signs deals with Prokon, Global Wind Power

Wind turbine maker Vestas has received an order from German firm Prokon to supply 48 V90-2.0 MW wind turbines destined for different locations in Poland.

The contract includes delivery, installation and commissioning of the turbines and a VestasOnline Business SCADA solution. Delivery of the turbines will take place during 2010 to 2012.

In a separate development, Vestas has received an order from Global Wind Power for delivery of 50 V100-1.8 MW and 25 V90-2.0 MW wind turbines for Bulgaria and Romania.

The contract includes delivery, installation and commissioning of the turbines, a VestasOnline Business SCADA solution as well as a five year-service agreement. Installation of the turbines will begin in 2010.

Over the last two years, Global Wind Power has implemented four projects in Bulgaria with a total capacity of 52 MW, all of which have used Vestas turbines.

LM Glasfiber signs deal with Samsung

Wind turbines blade maker LM Glasfiber has signed a five-year contract with Samsung to produce a minimum of 1,800 windmill blades in the US.

Samsung is launching a new line of 2.5-MW wind turbines. The agreement comprises a firm blade supply contract of minimum 1,500 MW over the next five years. The blades will be delivered from LM Glasfiber’s facilities in the US.

Riverstone buys out Seajacks

US private diversified energy investment group, Riverstone Holdings, is set to acquire Seajacks International for NKr 1.2 billion (€145mn; US$207mn).

Upon completion of the transaction, the parties propose to combine Bermuda-based Seajacks, the offshore wind farm service provider, with a Bermuda-exempted company to be formed by Riverstone, which will be sole owner of the amalgamated company.

As part of this all cash deal, Riverstone has offered NKr 90 (€10.86; US$15.5) for each Seajacks share, or 19 percent premium to the three-month weighted average share price on 18 December 2009.

Seajacks will be merged with a Bermuda-exempted company set up by Riverstone and be delisted from Oslo Axess. The deal is expected to be complete by late January.