Ofgem selects three firms to run UK offshore transmission link

British energy regulator Ofgem has selected Balfour Beatty, Macquarie and Transmission Capital Partners as preferred bidders to link seven offshore wind projects to the grid.

This is part of a joint Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Ofgem scheme to encourage investment in high voltage transmission links for the potential 50GW of new offshore wind generation.

The successful bidders from this tender round will own and operate links for around 2GW of renewable electricity for Britain’s first wave of offshore wind farms.

The regulator said that strong competition has attracted almost £4 billion of investment appetite for all nine transmission links worth around £1.1 billion and seen five consortia bid for the right to own and operate offshore transmission links in return for a 20-year regulated revenue stream. The current tender round has resulted in overall forecast savings of £350 million for offshore wind farms and ultimately consumers.

Preferred and reserve bidders have been selected for seven of the nine transmission projects in this tender round and the remaining two projects are Ormonde and Greater Gabbard. Three bidders have been selected to submit Best and Final Offers (BaFO) for the Ormonde transmission project while the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage is to be re-run for the Greater Gabbard project.

Ofgem will commence a second transitional round of tenders later this year for assets for around 2GW of capacity, with a potential asset value of around £1.8 billion.

Crown Estate announces companies for offshore demo sites

The Crown Estate has awarded four companies the right to build four offshore demonstration projects off the coast of England and Scotland.

While Dong Energy and the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) have been awarded leases in England at Gunfleet Sands and Blyth respectively, 2-B Energy and Aberdeen Offshore Wind have been given exclusivity agreements for Methil Offshore Wind Farm and European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, respectively.

These agreements follow the process of engagement that the Crown Estate launched in May 2009. Applications for sites were received in early December 2009, for projects limited to less than 100 MW.

The lease and exclusivity agreements enable the companies to take their proposals through the planning and consenting phases. Exclusivity agreements have been used in Scotland to allow the companies to begin initial survey and consultation processes for their sites while the Scottish Government conducts a Strategic Environmental Assessment for offshore wind within Scottish territorial waters.

Key points of the agreements are:

• Gunfleet Sands extension: Dong Energy to test up to two next generation offshore wind turbines.
• Blyth Offshore Wind Demonstration site: National renewable energy centre Ltd (Narec) to build a 100 MW grid connected site to test and demonstrate up to 20 next generation offshore wind turbines and associated infrastructure.
• Methil Offshore Wind Farm: 2B-Energy to demonstrate 2B-Energy’s two offshore wind turbines
• European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre: Aberdeen Offshore Wind Ltd, a company owned 75% by Vattenfall and 25% by Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) to test and demonstrate up to 11 next generation offshore wind turbines and other technology in Aberdeen Bay.

Chinese research institution and Vestas conclude first part of joint study

China’s State Grid Energy Research Institute (SGERI) and wind energy company Vestas have concluded the first part of a “Joint Study on Coordinated Development of Wind Power and the Electricity Grid”.

The research project focuses on current grid challenges in China, in terms of wind energy planning, wind power plant operation and grid connectivity management. It will also provide recommendations on incentive mechanisms and policies for development of wind energy and grid absorption, and economic frameworks for coordinated development of the wind energy industry and electric grid respectively.

The research project was launched in February of 2010 and is scheduled to end in December 2010.

The research project comprises three individual but interlinked studies, researching international experiences of realising a coordinated development of wind energy and the electricity grid; an in-depth research on Jilin wind integration and consumption based on the Jilin Wind Project; and research into solutions for turbine and wind power plant adaptations to grid requirements.

Gamesa, Iberdrola to build Honduras wind farm

A consortium comprising Gamesa and Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción has won a contract to build the 102MW Cerro de Hula wind farm in Honduras.

The wind farm will be 76% controlled by Gamesa with Iberdrola controlling the remaining portion.

The project has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Honduras' Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica and will be financed with funds from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.

Gamesa will manufacture, supply, transport, erect and supervise the wind turbines whereas Iberdrola Ingeniería will design and build the wind turbine foundations, access roads and erection platforms. It will also be responsible for construction of the site’s operation and maintenance building and the design and execution of a system for exporting the wind farm’s energy to the grid. 

The contract calls for a “turnkey” project with scheduled completion in 18 months and will service Mesoamérica Energy, a company that develops renewable energy projects in Central America and neighbouring countries via its local subsidiary, Energía Eólica de Honduras.  The new wind farm will consist of 51 Gamesa G87-2 MW wind turbines.

Iberdrola secures grant for Peñascal II wind farm

Wind power company Iberdrola Renovables has received US$109 million in grants from the U.S. government for its investment in the Peñascal II wind farm, taking the total grants that it has received till now to US$976 million.

These grants are being offered as part of the US government’s incentive package for renewable energies.

The company says that such grants will be crucial in helping the company attain its ambitious targets in the US. These include the installation of 1,000 MW per year in 2011 and 2012.

It received the latest of these grants last week, totalling US$109 million, for the start-up of its 202MW Peñascal II wind farm which is part of the Peñascal wind complex, the largest operated by the company worldwide with installed capacity of 404 MW.

The Peñascal complex is located in Kenedy County (Texas) and comprises two wind farms Peñascal I and Peñascal II. The facility is fitted with 168 Mitsubishi MHI 92 wind turbines, with unit capacity of 2.4 MW.

REpower to repower Kronprinzenkoog wind farm in Germany

REpower Systems has launched a wind farm project in the district of Dithmarschen (Schleswig-Holstein) with Repowering Kronprinzenkoog as one of the biggest repowering projects in the region.

According to REpower, 29 aging turbines have been replaced by 15 high-performance multi-megawatt turbines from the MM series.

Moreover, the project is the first REpower wind farm to receive a system certificate in line with the German System Service Ordinance (SDLWindV). This according to the company meant that the operators received all the necessary expert opinions for the wind farm “quickly and smoothly”.

Since the beginning of June, four REpower MM92 turbines with hub height of 80 metres and 11 REpower MM82 turbines with hub height 59 metres were erected and commissioned at the Kronprinzenkoog wind farm. Each of these 15 turbines has a rated output of 2.05 MW leading to trebling of the total output of the Kronprinzenkoog wind farm.

ABB to carry out underwater cabling for RWE Innogy

Power cable systems company ABB has won a €10 million contract to deliver underwater cable for RWE Innogy’s offshore wind farm “Nordsee Ost”.

ABB will supply around 63 kilometres of sea cable which will be used to interconnect the 48 wind turbines of the wind farm and connect them to an offshore transformer station.

The 33 kilovolt underwater cable ordered by RWE Innogy has a diameter of up to 16 centimetres and it will be produced by an ABB subsidiary in Sweden.

RWE Innogy also said that the home port for construction of the “Nordsee Ost” wind farm will be Bremerhaven. From there, the 48 wind turbines will be taken out to sea and installed around 33 kilometres northeast of Helgoland.

The work will be carried out by one of the world’s biggest offshore construction ships and the firm has awarded the contract for the building of two of these vessels - with an investment volume of €100 million each - to a Korean shipyard. RWE Innogy has ordered the wind turbines of the 6 MW class from the turbine manufacturer REpower Systems. These are planned to produce power from as early as mid-2012.

Full completion of the “Nordsee Ost” wind farm is planned for 2013 and from then onward, the wind power plant with an installed capacity of 295 MW.

Acciona Energy’s first half revenue increases by 42.1%

Spanish conglomerate Acciona’s EBITDA (gross operating margin) for the first half of the year stood at €528 million, 38.5% more than in the same period of the previous year while revenues of €3,015 million jumped 2.8% from those in June 2009.

This improvement in the results is largely due to the growth of Acciona Energy in terms of EBITDA (+60.1%) and revenues (+42.1%).

The group’s attributable net profit is €78 million an increase of 10.7% in comparative terms, without taking into account the results of non-current activities corresponding to the Endesa stake.

The company stated that the main contribution to the EBITDA came from Acciona Energy (73.4%) followed by Acciona Infrastructures (14.9%).

By division, the revenues of Acciona Energy increased by 42.1%, to €741 million and the EBITDA grew 60.1% up to €395 million.

The 2,078 MW acquired from Endesa, the incorporation of 462 MW of organic growth during the last year, and the higher load factors in Spain contributed to this growth.

All of this has lead to an increase of 73% in total production, which has compensated for the fall in the average price of wind energy in Spain in the first half 2010 (-12.8%) stemming from a fall of the  pool price in Spain (-27.8%) in the same period.

As of June 2010, the total capacity installed  by Acciona Energy  rose to 7,437 MW and the company has 635 MW in construction.

Nexans wins submarine cabling contract in Greece

French cable maker Nexans has won a €64 million turnkey contract from Greece’s largest electrical power utility Public Power Corporation (PPC) to design, manufacture and install a new high-voltage power link between Evia and the region of Attika on the mainland.

The 150 kV link will interconnect the Nea Makri substation on the coast of Attika with the Polypotamos substation on Evia.

Nexans will manufacture, supply and install three subsea cable circuits that will take a 21 km route across the Gulf of Evia in waters reaching a maximum depth of 85 metres.

The project will facilitate the development of wind power projects totaling around 400 MW on Evia, the second largest of the Greek islands, by enabling the power they produce to be exported directly into PPC’s national power transmission grid.