This week’s Wind Energy Update news brief includes the following companies and organisations:
SMart Wind, Mainstream Renewable Power, Siemens Financial Services, The Crown Estate, The Planning Inspectorate (U. K.); Vestas; Deutsche Offshore-Testfeld und Infrastruktur, EWE, E.ON, Vattenfall;The American Wind Energy Association

By Ritesh Gupta

Weekly Intelligence Brief: 22 – 29 April 2013

New milestone for SMart Wind and Hornsea Zone

SMart Wind, the joint venture between Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Financial Services, has signed an Agreement for Leases (AfL) with the United Kingdom’s The Crown Estate for Optimus Wind and Breesea, which together comprise the second phase of projects within the Hornsea Zone. 

Optimus Wind and Breesea combined could have a capacity of up to 1,800MW. The plan is to take these successfully through to the Planning Inspectorate next year. 

The 4GW Hornsea Zone is adjacent to the River Humber, 200km South of Newcastle and 75km north of The Wash. 

SMart Wind signed an AfL for its first phase of projects, comprising Heron Wind and Njord, which together could have a capacity of up to 1,200MW. It was signed in 2011. The company will be submitting its first phase of projects in the Hornsea Zone to the Planning Inspectorate this summer.

SMart Wind is the supply chain-led consortium developing the 4GW Hornsea wind farm as part of The Crown Estate’s Round 3 offshore wind programme. 

Scotland launches £15m deep-water foundations fund

The Scottish government has announced a £15m fund to help develop deep-water wind turbine foundations. 

The Scottish Innovative Foundation Technologies Fund will support the development of prototype foundations for offshore wind turbines sited in water depths greater than 30m.

Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing mentioned that this move will help lower costs in developing the foundations needed for wind turbines in deeper water and more varied seabed conditions. The initiative is also expected to help Scottish companies through the supply chain in addition to securing jobs. 

Vestas takes its pre-assembly concept forward

This month Vestas shipped its first ever V112-3.0 MW offshore turbines to the 48 MW Kaarehamn project in Sweden. The shipment consists of 16 turbines, all pre-assembled onshore at the harbour in Esbjerg, Denmark. 

The development is significant for the company as it marks the first shipment of offshore turbines based on Vestas’ pre-assembly concept where the offshore turbines are substantially assembled and pre-commissioned onshore. 

According to Vestas, its team has worked out a new approach to cut the cost of installing offshore turbines. At a new site at the port of Esbjerg, onshore pre-assembly of turbines means fewer expensive hours spent at sea. 

This, according to Head of Pre-assembly for Vestas Offshore, Bo Bjerregaard, will significantly reduce the cost associated with cranes and installation vessels. He explained that nacelles arrive in Esbjerg with hub and drivetrain mounted. 

At the harbour, blades also arrive in plug-and-play mode from production. The towers will arrive in two sections and then be fully assembled at the harbour and put in up-right position on the installation vessel before shipment. At the pre-assembly site, both nacelle and tower will be tested together before shipment. Installation and commissioning will be a plug and play solution.

Vestas is scheduled to ship 73 V112-3.0 MW turbines to the 219 MW Humber Gateway project as well as 72 V112-3.0 MW turbines for the 216 MW Northwind Offshore Wind Farm in Belgium during 2013 and 2014. 

Alpha Ventus’ annual yield continues to impress 

The annual yield of German offshore wind farm alpha ventus exceeded expectations last year, according to its operating company Deutsche Offshore-Testfeld und Infrastruktur (DOTI). 

The pilot project, which is located some 45 kilometres from the coast of Borkum, fed 267.8 GWh of power into the German power grid last year. The power yield is 15.3% higher than the originally forecast value, shared DOTI, an entity set up by EWE, E.ON and Vattenfall. During operating year 2012 the 12 wind power turbines at alpha ventus achieved 4,463 full load hours, a value matching the level of 2011. The wind farm’s availability during 2012 was an average of 96.5%. In the first quarter of this year, alpha ventus fed over 63 GWh into the transmission grid, almost as much as in the same period of 2012. 

The project features six Areva Wind M5000 turbines and six REpower 5M turbines, resting on two different foundations. Research and development results will be incorporated into the design, construction and operation of future offshore turbines.

AWEA to appoint Tom Kiernan as new CEO 

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has chosen Tom Kiernan as its new CEO. 

Kiernan has served as president of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) since 1998. On May 28, he will officially take the helm at AWEA.

The announcement was made by the Chair of AWEA’s Board of Directors, Tom Carnahan. 

Vestas signs renewal of service contract

Vestas has signed a 10-year extension of the service contract for Eneco’s wind power plant, Prinses Amaliawindpark (PAWP), in the Netherlands. 

The contract has a total capacity of 120 MW comprising 60 units of the V80-2.0 MW wind turbine.

The contract is a 10-year service agreement extension with Vestas’ latest Active Output Management (AOM) 5000 service option. Consisting of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, the AOM 5000 introduces an energy-based guarantee, which ensures the turbines are fully operational when the wind is blowing. Thus, Vestas guarantees the customer an energy-based availability through a challenging capture ratio of the available wind energy for each site covered minimising the wind power plants’ lost production.