Fluor takes hit on Greater Gabbard

Irving, Texas-based engineering company Fluor has reported a sharp decline in quarterly profit due to charges for the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm project.

Fluor took a US$180 million charge on the Greater Gabbard wind farm in the fourth quarter after reporting a US$163 million expense in the previous quarter for the same project.

The company stated that its Industrial & Infrastructure segment was impacted by pre-tax charges totaling US$343 million on the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm project last year, including an incremental pre-tax charge of US$180 million in the fourth quarter. Overall, The Industrial & Infrastructure group reported a segment loss of US$170 million, compared with a segment profit of US$140 million in 2009.

The company highlighted that the project is experiencing a number of issues that have substantially increased the estimated cost to complete the project. Cost overruns reflect the impact of the bankruptcy of a major subcontractor, weather-related delays which worsened during the fourth quarter and low wind turbine and subsea cable installation rates which have added substantial costs for additional maritime assets.

Fourth-quarter net profit declined to US$117 million, from US$149 million in the same quarter a year before, Fluor said. Revenue slipped 3.9% to US$5.27 billion.

Greater Gabbard was affected by the bankruptcy of Subocean, which was responsible for installing subsea cabling for giant wind turbines, and the higher costs to replace the contractor, said David Seaton, Fluor’s chief executive officer on a conference call with analysts.

Seaton said even though the company experienced substantial challenges on the Greater Gabbard project during 2010, the company is well positioned for growth in 2011.

Consolidated revenue for the year totaled US$20.8 billion, down 5% from $22 billion a year ago. Net earnings attributable to Fluor for 2010 were US$357 million compared with US$685 million in 2009.

Nexans bags €30 million order from Dong Energy

Nexans, a specialist in cables and cabling solutions, has been awarded a contract to supply Denmark-based energy group Dong Energy the submarine cables and related accessories for biggest offshore wind farm in Denmark.

The order for the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, worth around €30 million, includes the installation and commissioning of the cables.

The Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Kattegatt, sea area between Denmark and Sweden, approximately 20km off the Danish coast between Djursland and Anholt Island.

A total of 111 wind turbines, each generating 3.6 MW (in total 400 MW) of electrical power, are to be placed over an area of 88 km². The operator, Dong Energy, would like to start generating electricity at the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm as early as the end of next year.

Roughly 160 km of medium voltage 34 kV cables are required to connect the 111 wind turbines with each other and to link them to the offshore transformer station.

The cables will be produced at the Nexans plant based in Hanover in Germany and delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2012. The volume of the order is the largest individual order placed to date in the history of the Nexans plant of Hanover.

Global Marine Energy opens office in Boston

Marine engineering company Global Marine Energy has opened its office in Boston, Massachusetts.

The company, an American-owned licensee of Global Marine Systems, a specialist in marine cable installation and maintenance for the offshore power cable, is counting on its experience in handling offshore wind projects completed in the North Sea as it targets the North American market. The company has been associated with the installation of cables on several projects including Horns Rev, Horns Rev 2, Kentish Flats, Estlink and Britned.

The company intends to use its expertise to develop American and Canadian personnel, equipment, and vessels in order to correctly plan and install the offshore cable plant required for North American projects.

With both offshore wind and interconnect projects in the planning stages up and down the East Coast and in the Great Lakes, the North American market is beginning to move forward, according to Global Marine Energy. Considering the status of the market, the company also believes that many of the issues which have plagued the industry in Europe, can be avoided in North America through proper planning and demonstrated experience.

It highlighted that offshore power cable installation has been particularly troublesome in the North Sea resulting in cost overruns, insurance losses, and the failure of a number of companies. The types of problems, which have regularly occurred are often in the areas of installation procedure, resulting in cable damage, and installation delay, due to lack of installer experience and the use of improper equipment.

Maine Offshore Wind Report released

The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Centre and the DeepCwind Consortium have released the Maine Offshore Wind Report.

Funded by more than US$1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and compiled by the University of Maine and the James W. Sewall Company, the report examines economics and policy, electrical grid integration, wind and wave, bathymetric, soil, and environmental research. It also includes summaries of assembly and construction sites, critical issues for project development and permitting.

This report consists of the compilation and preliminary analysis of relevant data on the Gulf of Maine, to provide important information for parties seeking to respond to the RFP titled: Request for Proposals for Long-Term Contracts for Deep-Water Offshore Wind Energy Pilot Projects and Tidal Energy Demonstration Projects, released September 1, 2010 by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The RFP calls for bidders to propose the sale of renewable energy produced by a deep-water offshore wind energy pilot project that employs one or more floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine (GoM) at a location 300 feet (91 m) or greater in depth no less than 10 nautical miles (nmi) from any land area; or a tidal energy demonstration project that uses tidal action as a source of electrical power and that:

1. Has a total installed generating capacity of 5 MW or less; and
2. Has proposed for the primary purpose of testing tidal energy generation technology.

As specified in the Act, the PUC may authorise one or more long-term contracts for up to 30 MW of installed capacity and associated renewable energy and renewable energy credits (RECs) from deep-water offshore wind energy pilot projects or tidal energy demonstration projects, as long as no more than 5 MW of the total is supplied by tidal energy demonstration projects.

The initial is response is due May 1, 2011.

Vestas opens R&D test centre in Chennai

Vestas has expanded its Technology R&D capabilities in India with the opening of a state-of-the-art test centre for wind turbine components in Chennai.

The test centre is located at Rajiv Gandhi Salai, adjacent to the existing Technology R&D office that opened in 2008.

This new facility adds to its global testing and verification of wind turbine components to further improve their reliability and performance, said Servet Sert, VP of Test, Verification and Quality for Vestas Technology R&D.

In India, Vestas has an installed capacity of over 2400 MW. Earlier this month, Vestas India confirmed the appointment of Rajiv Wahi as its executive chairman. The company also announced the appointment of Amit Kansal as VP Sales, Vestas India. Kansal will be based in Mumbai and will report into Wahi.

Dong to build first German offshore wind farm

Denmark-based energy group Dong Energy is to build the offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 1 in the German part of the North Sea.

The construction will represent a total investment of approximately €1.25 billion. Construction work is expected to start in 2013 with first power production in 2014.

The wind farm will be situated in the North Sea, approximately 55 km off the north-west coast of Germany 

Borkum Riffgrund 1 will consist of up to 89 3.6 MW turbines from Siemens Wind Power with a total capacity of 320 MW.

The company, which is getting ready for its first offshore wind farm in Germany, will receive a fixed price per kWh of electricity produced until approximately 13 years of operation.

Siemens will be responsible for supply, installation, and commissioning of the wind turbines over an area of 36 square kilometres and at water depths of as much as 29 metres. Each turbine has a capacity of 3.6 MW and a rotor diameter of 120 meters. In addition, Siemens signed a five-year service, maintenance, and warranty agreement for the units with an extension option.  

Dong Energy currently has approximately 700 MW of offshore wind power in production and approximately 1GW under construction in the UK and Denmark.

Gamesa signs deal with E.ON

Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa has signed an agreement to supply energy company E.ON with an offshore prototype of its G11X-5.0 MW platform in 2012.

The agreement also includes the installation of one, and possibly two, Gamesa G128-4.5 MW wind turbine(s) for an E.ON site in Europe. Gamesa will undertake the transport, installation and commissioning of the turbine(s) in 2012.

Gamesa will also install G9X-2.0 MW wind turbines in a wind farm under construction in Alcamo – Sicily (Italy) for more than 30 MW. Transport, installation and commissioning is scheduled for 2011.

Gamesa is currently designing and developing two families of offshore turbines (G11X-5.0, and G14X with a capacity of 6-7 MW) based on proven technology that was validated in the G10X-4.5 MW turbine. Prototypes of the G11X-5.0 MW platform will be tested in the last quarter of 2012, and the pre-series will be ready in 2013.

Nstar signs land-based wind contracts

Boston-based utility Nstar has agreed to buy electricity from three wind power providers.

According to a report filed by bostonherald.com, Nstar has signed deals for Hoosac Wind in Massachusetts, Groton Wind in New Hampshire and Blue Sky East in Maine. As per the information available, the utility is now seeking state approval for power purchase agreements with projects in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire, for a total of about 109MW of power.

NStar has expressed no interest in buying power from Cape Wind, the planned offshore wind project in Nantucket Sound.

For its part, Cape Wind, responding to Nstar’s latest land-based wind contracts, stated that the new contracts represent only a modest portion of the total quantity of clean power that will need to be purchased. In fact, it added that Cape Wind, taken together with all of the planned land based wind and solar projects in the region, still do not satisfy the demand for clean energy in New England.   

Cape Wind is America’s first fully permitted offshore wind farm and it has also secured the nation’s first offshore wind lease. The 468 MW project will locate 130 offshore wind turbines on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. The project has gained approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities for Cape Wind’s power purchase contract with National Grid.