Global wind power capacity to increase 160% by 2015

Assuming an average growth rate of 21% per year, global wind power capacity is expected to increase by 160% in the next five years, taking the global installed wind capacity to 409 GW by 2014, up from 158.5 GW at the end of 2009, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

The annual market will be more than 60 GW in 2014, up from 38.3 GW in 2009.

The Council highlighted that despite the absence of a global price on carbon, wind energy will continue to grow due to national energy and economic recovery policies in key markets that prioritise renewable energy development.

GWEC expects the U.S. and China to continue as the main drivers of wind capacity growth, although the financial crisis and legislative uncertainty in Canada is expected to limit growth of the North American market until 2012.

The North American market is forecast to stay flat for the next couple of years, and then pick up again in 2012, to reach a cumulative total of 101.5 GW by 2014 (up from 38.5 GW in 2009). This would translate into an addition of 63 GW in the US and Canada over the next five years.

China accounted for one third of all the wind power capacity added globally in 2009, taking China's total capacity up to 25.9 GW. China's annual capacity additions are expected to be over 20 GW by 2014.

GWEC expects that by the end of 2014, Europe's installed capacity will stand at 136.5 GW, compared to Asia's 148.8 GW.

By 2014, the annual European market will reach 14.5 GW, and a total of 60 GW will be installed in Europe over this five-year period. 

Vattenfall appoints new president and CEO

Swedish power group Vattenfall has appointed Øystein Løseth as its president and CEO.

Løseth succeeds Lars G. Josefsson. Løseth was previously CEO of Dutch company Nuon Energy, which is 49% owned by Vattenfall.

Løseth was appointed as first senior executive vice president in Vattenfall AB and deputy CEO for the group last November.

Løseth, according to Financial Times, is the first non-Swede to run the group. He reportedly said his first priority is improving operational performance. While revenues have increased by 70% since 2005, return on equity has fallen from 19% to 9.5%.

EU can switch to a 100% renewable energy supply: EREC

It is possible for the European Union (EU) to be entirely powered by renewable energy for electricity, heating, cooling and transport requirements, according to the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).

EREC, in its new report, has outlined a roadmap to a 100% renewable energy system for the EU, which it says is the only sustainable option in economic, environmental and social terms.

The report states that renewable energy deployment by 2020 will reduce annual energy related CO2 emissions by about 1,200 Mt against 1990 emissions. By 2050, the EU would be able to reduce its energy related CO2 emissions by more than 90%. This reduction would result in an additional total CO2 benefit in 2050 of €3,800 billion.

If the report’s guidelines are followed, then the renewable energy sector will employ a total of more than 2.7 million people in 2020 and about 4.4 million in 2030 in the EU. By 2050, employment in the sector will bring 6.1 million people into work.

The report assesses how the different renewable energy technologies can contribute to a fully sustainable energy supply by 2050 provided there is strong political, public and economic support for all renewable energy technologies.

The full publication of RE-thinking 2050 will be available as of Tuesday, 20th April 2010:

SSE buys into BiFab

UK utility Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has purchased a 15% stake in Fife-based Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) for £11 million.

In addition to the equity stake, SSE Renewables, the renewable development division of SSE, has signed an agreement with BiFab for the supply of at least 50 jacket substructures annually to support SSE’s offshore wind developments.

BiFab, a fabricator of structures and equipment for the oil and gas industry, recently extended its expertise into the fabrication of jacket substructures suitable for offshore wind developments. It operates three fabrication facilities in Scotland, two in Fife and one at Arnish Point in Lewis, Stornoway.

BiFab has already attracted government support to develop a new manufacturing facility for offshore wind jacket substructures. The investment follows BiFab’s successful delivery of jackets for the Greater Gabbard offshore wind project.

SSE’s investment will be used to further develop this facility and this is expected to expand BiFab’s capabilities to a total annual capacity of up to 130 units.

SSE has been awarded offshore wind development rights as part of the Crown Estate’s Round 3 and Scottish territorial waters offshore wind development programme.

The company has identified that it needs to establish a reliable supply chain, particularly for those elements where manufacturing bottlenecks have already been identified as a significant risk. This investment, according to SSE, secures a reliable supply of offshore structures for its SSE Renewables business.

Ontario announces 47 onshore wind projects

The Ontario Power Authority has awarded contract offers for almost 2,500 MW of renewable energy.

These projects, approved under the province’s landmark Feed-in Tariff (FIT), are part of the largest green energy investment of its kind in Canadian history. These projects are in addition to the 510 renewable energy contract offers totalling 112 megawatts (MW) approved last month.

The list of approved projects includes 47 onshore wind projects. There is one offshore wind project also, according to the authority.

Future transmission system expansion will open up capacity to accommodate more renewable projects. Projects that did not receive a first round FIT contract offer will now be put through what is called an Economic Connection Test (ECT) to identify transmission or distribution system expansion projects that support renewable generation and meet economic requirements. The first test will start in August/September.

Wind Works Power Corp, a start-up green energy producer, announced that it has been awarded seven contracts in Ontario to produce a total of 80 MW of electricity for the Canadian province’s power grid.

Ottawa-based Wind Works said its Ontario wind projects will be built over the next two or three years at a cost of about CAD$250 million, according to a report filed by Reuters. The biggest is the Ganaraska Wind Park, a 20MW project in Orono, Ontario.

Iberdrola Renovables wind farms output increases 26%

Wind energy company, Iberdrola Renovables, produced 26.2% more wind in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

It produced 6,812 million kilowatts hour (kWh) in the quarter of which 6,595 million kWh were generated by the company’s wind farms, 206 million kWh by its small-scale hydroelectric plants and 11 million kWh by other technologies, such as biomass or solar thermal.

Wind accounted for 96.8% of the generation mix. Of the total, 3,528 million kWh was generated in Spain, 2,089 million kWh in the US, 610 million kWh in the ROW –the rest of Europe and South America- and 368 million kWh in the U.K.

Much of this growth in installed capacity has been in the US, where 796 MW have come on stream in the last 12 months, taking total capacity to 3,827 MW, and in Spain, where 607 MW have been brought into operation, taking total capacity to 5,566 MW.

The largest increases in wind farm output were registered in Spain, with 35.8% (+931 million kWh); the ROW, with 41.5% (+179 million kWh), and the US, with 20.7% (+358 million kWh).

The company plans to roll out 1,750 MW of capacity around the world during 2010, taking its accumulated capacity to 12,500 MW.  

E.ON repowers Great Eppleton wind farm

UK-based energy company, E.ON, has completed the replacement of old design turbines at its Great Eppleton wind farm near Hetton-le-Hole.

The wind farm had featured four two-bladed wind turbines that were built in 1997. The new scheme now features four machines with the capacity to produce up to 8MW of power, almost three times as much as the old design.

E.ON submitted a planning application to Sunderland city council to re-power the wind farm in January 2007 and received planning consent in April 2007.

The company shared that the turbine design at Great Eppleton was rather unusual in that it had two blades rather than three. E.ON has now updated the wind farm with the latest technology, in a process known as a re-power.

In addition to the new turbines, work will soon be finished on a settlement pond on the site. The settlement pond follows sponsorship of a water vole survey in the area surrounding the Great Eppleton site.

An E.ON community fund for the local Great Eppleton community is being finalised and details will be released soon.

AWEA calls for utility reforms

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for updating the nation’s electric utility system to make it more efficient and better able to accommodate larger amounts of electricity from wind and solar power. 

In a filing to FERC, the AWAE has asked the commission to update grid-operating procedures, just as they were updated in the past to accommodate new resources, such as nuclear power a generation ago. These are a part of the utility system reforms, according to AWEA.

The ideas for many of the reforms AWEA is seeking have been adopted from experience with integrating large amounts of wind energy in Europe, where wind already provides 10% or more of the electricity supply in countries like Spain, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, and Denmark.

The reforms AWEA is suggesting will ensure that wind energy can be efficiently accommodated on the power system.

Improvements to grid operating practices and procedures are needed in all regions to successfully integrate renewable energy resources, but AWEA recognises that the reforms will likely differ, in many cases, from region to region in light of the different market structures across the country.

As such, AWEA urges the Commission to work with states in the various regions to pursue grid reforms that are appropriate for each region.

Robin Rigg offshore wind farm is up and running

Scotland’s first offshore wind farm near the Solway coastline has reached full operation.

E.ON has stated that its Robin Rigg offshore wind farm is up and running. The final turbines have completed testing in the Solway Firth. At 180MW, the scheme is one of the largest currently operating in UK waters. The offshore wind farm comprises 60 turbines.

Michael Lewis, European Renewables Managing Director for E.ON, said that the company could now look forward to building bigger schemes, like the London Array, the Humber Gateway and Round 3 project off the coast of Hastings, using the knowledge acquired by building Robin Rigg.

The scheme will be E.ON’s third offshore wind farm in the UK after Blyth - the country’s first offshore wind farm - and Scroby Sands. E.ON is also a partner in the London Array, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, once built.