Areva buys out Multibrid

French nuclear heavyweight, Areva, has acquired an additional 49% stake in Multibrid, a German wind turbine manufacturer, as part of its plans to target the offshore wind market. Multibrid was already a 51%-owned subsidiary of Areva.

The company will now be called Areva Wind, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group. Financial details of the acquisition from previous holder German renewable energy Prokon Nord Energiesysteme were not disclosed.

Areva Wind designs, assembles, and commissions offshore wind turbines. Its M5000 turbine is the first wind turbine in the world designed using technology specifically developed for marine parks. With a power of 5 MW, this turbine uses the very latest technology incorporating a hybrid drive system and reduced weight.

PN Rotor, Areva’s 100%-owned rotor blade manufacturing division, now becomes part of Areva Wind. PN Rotor is the exclusive manufacturer of M5000 offshore turbine platforms, developed by Areva Multibrid.

Areva Wind now accounts for 600 MW in large European projects, according to Felix Debierre, managing director of the company. 

Six M5000 turbines have already been installed by Areva in the Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm, built in the North Sea, and are currently in the test phase.

Alpha Ventus was the first German wind energy park to be constructed out at sea. The main phases of this pilot project - construction, assembly, operation, and connection to the power grid - have provided the Alpha Ventus research committee with initial feedback. This will be used in the development of the future parks.

U.S. faces a growth-constrained 2010

The U.S. wind market finds itself confronting a growth constrained 2010 and a near-term market landscape wrought with increased competition, according to a new market study.

The study, US Wind Power Markets and Strategies: 2010-2025 from IHS Emerging Energy Research, forecasts anywhere from 6.3- 7.1 GW of wind could be installed in 2010, 40-60 percent lower than 2009 installations. Significantly, 2010 marks the first time since 2004 that the U.S. wind industry will not surpass the previous year’s growth level.

The projections follow a record-breaking year of capacity additions in 2009 — with 9.8 GW of wind projects installed.

However, with the proliferation of favourable state and federal policies, the U.S. wind industry is on track to add more than 165 GW of new capacity through 2025, resulting in a total installed base of 200 GW, according to the study’s projections.

Despite unprecedented federal wind incentives, reverberations from the financial crisis continue to create a difficult near-term market landscape especially in light of continued energy policy uncertainty.

However, the U.S. wind market is poised to emerge from this near-term uncertainty with a clearer path toward strong future growth, said IHS Senior Analyst Matthew Kaplan, one of the study’s authors.

The U.S. wind industry will represent US$330 billion in investments between 2010 and 2025, with more than 90% stemming from onshore wind, according to the study’s projections.

While the U.S. is closer than ever to tapping into its enormous offshore potential with the expected completion of the Cape Wind project in 2013, offshore is expected to account for only 5 percent of total U.S. wind build by 2025.

Vattenfall signs contract with A2SEA

European energy company, Vattenfall, has signed a contract with A2SEA for the transport of 30 5MW RePower turbines from Belfast Harbour to the Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm.

A2SEA, a provider of offshore wind installation and service solutions, will use its vessel, the Sea Jack, to transport 30 of REpower’s pre-assembled 5MW turbines to Ormonde, set 10km off the coast of Cumbria.

The company will manage the logistics and planning involved in transporting the turbines and lifting the components into place, ready for in situ assembly by an external crew. Sea Jack is expected to be on site from March 2011.

Vattenfall is making progress with the construction of the 150MW Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, with offshore works starting at the beginning of May this year. 

The project will cover a total area of 8.7 sq km and Vattenfall expects to be producing power by late 2011.

Suzlon banks upon new product additions

Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy reported consolidated revenues of US$4.3 billion for FY2009-10, 21% less than the previous year.

Suzlon reported a loss of $206 million in 2009-10, as against a net profit of US$49.5 million in 2008-09.

The Suzlon Group order book stood at approximately $3.9 billion. The Suzlon Wind (excluding REpower) order book stood at 1,126 MW ($1.3 billion) as on 26th May, 2010.

REpower reported an order backlog, including purchase agreements, with a potential sales volume of approximately €2.1 billion as on 31st March 2010, compared to ~€1.5 billion as of 31st March 2009 - an increase of 40% , and accompanied by a major increase in orders of large-size wind turbines in the 3 MW to 6 MW class.

The group said it is focusing on developing group synergies with its portfolio of onshore and offshore turbines.

Suzlon Energy’s chairman and managing director, Tulsi Tanti, said with new product additions designed specially for low wind speeds, the company “now has the industry’s most comprehensive product portfolio helping us to push into promising new markets while building on our position in key markets like the Americas, Australia, Europe, India, China and other parts of the world.”

The new Suzlon and Repower offerings are designed with larger rotor diameters, increased hub heights, improved aerodynamic efficiency, and grid-friendly characteristics for delivering higher project performance.

• Suzlon S97: The S97 – 2.1 MW platform, with a 97 meter rotor diameter, is specially designed for optimized aerodynamic efficiency to harness widely available lower wind speed (Class-III) sites.
• REpower 3.XM: REpower launched product variants to its 3.XM platform – the 3.2 MW with a 114 meter rotor diameter for Class-III wind sites, and the 3.4 MW with a 104 meter rotor diameter for Class-II wind sites.

Management shuffle at NaiKun 

British Columbia-based renewable energy company, NaiKun Wind Energy Group, has announced that its current president and CEO, Paul Taylor, will be leaving the company and also resigning from the Board of Directors. His departure will be effective as of June 15.

In his place, Naikun’s board of directors has appointed Michael O’Connor as president and CEO, and director.

O’Connor joined NaiKun Wind in May 2008 serving as senior vice-president of NaiKun Wind Energy Group. He will also continue to serve as president of the company’s generation subsidiary, NaiKun Wind Generating.

The changes announced support the corporate restructuring of NaiKun Wind initiated in May, and the company’s plan to significantly reduce its cost structure to sustain the development of the NaiKun Wind offshore wind energy project. 

NaiKun Wind expects to reduce its annual operating costs from US$4.5 million to less than US$2 million. NaiKun Wind will incur a one-time charge of approximately US$665,000 arising from the buy-out of Taylor’s employment agreement.
  

Iberdrola to build wind farm in Mexico

Spanish company Iberdrola Ingeniería has bagged a US$99 million contract to construct a wind farm at Piedra Larga in Oaxaca state, Mexico.

The facility will be one of the country’s largest, with an installed capacity of 228 megawatts (MW). The Piedra Larga facility, in the municipality of Unión Hidalgo, will be developed in two stages. The first, which amounts to 90 MW of installed capacity, is expected to be completed by mid-March next year. The second, in which the remaining 138 MW will be brought on stream, is to be completed one year later, on 15 March 2012.

The Spanish company, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, has already built two wind farms in Mexico (La Venta II with 83.3 MW of installed capacity and La Ventosa with 80 MW) and is developing a third, La Venta III, which will have an installed capacity of 102.85 MW.

Iberdrola is the majority shareholder in the consortium, which is to undertake the work, with Global Energy Services Mexico (GES) holding the remaining 49.7%.

The two companies have been commissioned to carry out the turnkey project by Gesa Eólica México, which is the project’s main contractor, is owned by Desarrollos Eólicos Mexicanos de Oaxaca (Demex).

The mandate includes engineering and public works, the installation of wind turbines and other infrastructures, such as a medium voltage grid and transformer stations. The consortium will also be responsible for operating and maintaining the wind farm during the guarantee period.

Virginia offshore wind gets boost

The DoD has identified a substantial area off the Virginia shoreline as provisionally acceptable for wind energy use in federal waters, a decision that has been applauded by the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition.

According to retired Navy Vice Admiral Hank Giffin, officer of the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition, the move is an important first step in identifying areas that could be feasible for offshore wind development without compromising military training and testing activities in the Virginia Capes Operating Area.

The provisional approval was made public at the second meeting of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Virginia Task Force and constituted the DoD’s first public comments on the development of offshore wind energy off the coast of Virginia.

Last October, the Task Force was formed by the MMS to facilitate intergovernmental communications between local, state, federal and tribal interests for the purpose of development of renewable energy activities on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition is a stakeholder organisation formed in 2009 by localities, manufacturers, utilities, developers and supply chain members to promote the development of the offshore wind industry in Virginia.

Enercon to set up operations in Ireland

German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon is to establish a technical services headquarters in Tralee, Ireland.

The initiative, which is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland,

will create employment opportunities in technical and management roles. Enercon has already employed an Irish turbine installation crew and recently employed several site managers.

The company, which is a supplier of direct driven wind turbines with 330kW to 7.5MW rated power and produces its own rotor blades, generators, towers and other components for its turbines, has installed 197 turbines with about 290 MW in Ireland. Main concentrations of turbines are in Kerry, Wexford and Donegal.

The company initially entered the Irish market 1998 and currently employs 30 technicians in three service stations to maintain and service its equipment.

Minwind Energy, Outland sign O&M deal

Minwind Energy has awarded Minnesota-based Outland Renewable Energy, a two-year contract to provide post-warranty operations and maintenance services for Minwind’s Vestas and NEG-Micon turbines in southwest Minnesota.

Specifically, Outland will perform all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on Minwind’ seven Vestas V82 1.65 MW turbines and four NEG-Micon 950 kW turbines beginning on June 1, 2010.

Minwind is a management and development company, which oversees the operation of nine independent wind farms, along with a transmission site.

The company mentioned that Outland is an authorised North American service provider for the Hansen gearboxes that currently outfit its Minwind turbines.

For its part, Outland says it is the first and only U.S.-based wind energy operations and maintenance company to achieve ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification.

Outland has more than 100 wind turbine technicians who commission, operate, and maintain wind farms across the US. Outland has more than 600 MW of wind turbines under long-term contract.

Recently, U.S. electricity and natural gas company Xcel Energy awarded Outland a three-year contract to provide operations and maintenance services at Xcel Energy’s 100 MW Grand Meadow wind farm in Mower County, Minnesota. 

The wind farm, developed for Xcel Energy by enXco Development Corp., began commercial operation in December, 2008. Its 67 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines power 25,000 Minnesota homes each year. Outland will begin its O&M of Grand Meadow in October, 2010.

US grid can handle more wind and solar integration

A study, released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), examined the benefits and challenges of integrating enough wind and solar energy capacity into the grid to produce 35% of its electricity by 2017. 

The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (WWSIS) found that this target is technically feasible and does not necessitate extensive additional infrastructure, but does require key changes to current operational practice.

According to NREL, the Department of Energy’s  primary national laboratory for renewable energy, if key changes can be made to standard operating procedures, then large amounts of wind and solar can be incorporated onto the grid without a lot of backup generation.

To facilitate the integration of wind and solar energy, coordinating the operations of utilities can provide substantial savings by reducing the need for additional back-up generation, such as natural gas-burning plants. 

The study focuses on the operational impacts of wind, photovoltaics, and concentrating solar power on the power system operated by the WestConnect group of utilities in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The study was conducted over two and a half years by a team of researchers in wind power, solar power, and utility operations.

Though wind and solar output vary over time, technical analysis performed in this study shows that it is operationally possible for the WestConnect region to accommodate 30% wind and 5% solar energy penetration.

This requires key changes to current practice, including substantial balancing area cooperation, sub-hourly scheduling, and access to underutilised transmission capacity.

WWSIS finds that both variability and uncertainty of wind and solar generation impacts grid operations. However, the uncertainty (due to imperfect forecasts) leads to a greater impact on operations and results in some contingency reserve shortfalls and some curtailment, both of which are relatively small.

The variability leads to a greater sub-hourly variability reserve requirement, but because conventional units are backed down, the system naturally has extra reserve margins.

To accomplish such an increase, utilities will have to substantially increase their coordination of operations over wider geographic areas and schedule their generation deliveries, or sales, on a more frequent basis.

Currently generators provide a schedule for a specific amount of power they will provide in the next hour. More frequent scheduling would allow generators to adjust that amount of power based on changes in system conditions such as increases or decreases in wind or solar generation.

The report discusses the development of data inputs, the design of scenarios to address key issues, and the analysis and sensitivity studies that were conducted to answer questions about the integration of wind and solar power on the grid.

WestConnect is a group of transmission providers that are working collaboratively on initiatives to improve wholesale electricity markets in the West. Participants include Arizona Public Service, El Paso Electric Co., NV Energy, Public Service of New Mexico, Salt River Project, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Tucson Electric Power, Western Area Power Administration, and Xcel Energy.