Green Port Hull facility’s planning application cleared

Hull City Council’s Planning Committee has given the nod to the proposed Green Port Hull facility, on the basis of plans submitted by port operator Associated British Ports (ABP) and Siemens.

Negotiations between Siemens and ABP to secure and sign a commercial agreement are ongoing. It is expected that a deal will be closed later in the year.

Councilor Steven Bayes, Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration and Employment, said the plans being prepared for the Secretary of State must be concluded and approved ahead of Siemens’ final investment decision.

In December last year, joint applications were made for the demolition of existing buildings at Alexandra Dock and the development of a factory, office and amenity facilities and a helicopter landing site, as well as areas for the storage, handling, assembly, and testing of wind turbine components. An additional joint application was made for the erection of an operational wind turbine together with associated infrastructure.

Ofgem opts for TCP as preferred bidder

Energy watchdog Ofgem has appointed Transmission Capital Partners (TCP), a consortium comprising of Transmission Capital Partners and International Public Partnerships, as the preferred bidder to own and operate the high voltage transmission link to the 250 MW Lincs offshore wind farm.

With this move, Ofgem has appointed the preferred bidder for the first project in the second round of tenders (known as Transitional Round 2) to own and operate offshore links for the Lincs project. This is the second largest offshore transmission project to have reached this stage; the estimated value of the assets is £282 million.

The TCP consortium was selected following the Invitation to Tender (ITT) process run by Ofgem, in which bidders compete to become offshore transmission owners (OFTOs).

The Lincs wind farm project is owned by a consortium of Centrica, Dong Energy and Siemens Project Ventures. Lincs is the second Centrica project to reach the Preferred Bidder milestone. Dong was involved in four of the first round one projects. Both companies worked together in a joint venture on the Barrow project, which TCP financially closed in September last year.

The entire first phase of the second transitional tender round will link 1.4GW of offshore wind farms with a total value for the transmission assets of £1.1b. Other projects that form part of the first phase of the second tender round include London Array (Phase 1) and Gwynt-y-Mor.

Spain trumps US for Gamesa’s offshore prototype

Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa has reached a critical milestone in its offshore strategy. The company has initiated the permitting process for the installation of its first offshore prototype, the G128-5.0 MW (50 Hz), at Arinaga Quay in Gran Canary Island (Canary Islands, Spain).

The offshore prototype has a nominal capacity of 5 MW and a 128-metre rotor. Also, this offshore prototype will be the first to be installed in Spain.

The company expects to begin the installation of this prototype in the second quarter of 2013. Gamesa intends to achieve certification in the following months, and to permit the installations of the pre-series turbines in an offshore wind farm towards the end of 2013 or early 2014.

The company says its priority in the offshore market is to achieve product certification in order to guarantee the successful launch, marketing and manufacturing of its offshore platforms in the years ahead.

Gamesa also mentioned that the installation of its first offshore prototype in Europe freezes the offshore prototype project in Virginia, US. The milestone to design a competitive offshore turbine in the R&D centre in Virginia has been fulfilled, but the prospects for the US offshore market and its regulatory conditions in this segment so far do not justify the next step, the installation of a prototype in the US.

TAG Energy strengthens substation capacity

UK-based project management and construction company TAG Energy Solutions has expanded its substation capacity at Riverside production facility.

The company, which has continued the development of its riverside facility in North East England, has increased its capacity to deliver a wider range of offshore wind turbine project management and fabrication services. The company mentioned that part of this development involved creating an additional assembly area by levelling what were previously among the longest slipways in Europe.

This expansion of the assembly area compliments the main Production and Construction Halls. The 6,920 m2 production hall is part of TAG’s 170,000 m2 facility, which is located on the River Tees, has the capability to deliver up to 100,000 te of steel monopiles per annum.

GVSU deploys wind research buoy

Grand Valley State University (GVSU) has announced that a data collection research buoy was placed 35 miles offshore of Lake Michigan last week.

The six-ton, 20-by-10 foot, boat-shaped research buoy will remain there until December, collecting data for its offshore wind assessment. According to the University, this is the first time a research buoy of this type will operate this far offshore.

The buoy will continuously collect data about offshore wind characteristics, along with meteorological, marine and avian data, to help assess the viability of commercial-scale wind energy generation in the Great Lakes.

The buoy can measure wind characteristics up to 175m above the water using advanced laser pulse and Doppler wind sensing technology in remote locations. It was constructed by AXYS Technologies of British Columbia, and is equipped with a Vindicator laser wind sensor manufactured by Catch the Wind of Virginia.

The measurements will be interesting because the mid-lake plateau, where the buoy is positioned, is expected to have very high wind energy potential. Data retrieval from the buoy will take place mainly by satellite due to its remote location.

US: Largescale drivetrain test facility on target

Construction of Clemson University’s Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility reached a milestone last week.

Engineers with Choate Construction poured 750 cubic yards of concrete into a channel 25 feet wide by 86 feet long by 10 feet deep, all resting on 75 steel piles, to form the 7.5-MW test rig foundation.

In November 2009, Clemson and its partners were awarded a US$45 million grant from the US Department of Energy, which was combined with $53 million of matching funds, to build and operate the large-scale testing facility for next-generation wind turbine drivetrains.

When complete at the beginning of next year, the facility at the Clemson University Restoration Institute will have the capability for full-scale highly accelerated testing of advanced drivetrain systems for wind turbines in the 5-MW to 15-MW range. It also will have 50 hertz and 60 hertz testing capability, which means it can accommodate test specimens destined for anywhere in the world.

Bayer MaterialScience plans wind energy centre

Polymer materials manufacturer Bayer MaterialScience plans to establish a global wind energy competence and development centre at its existing site in Otterup, Denmark.

The facility will spearhead and coordinate the global development activities for advanced materials used in wind energy applications. It will bundle the development capabilities from across the company’s entire portfolio of polyurethanes, polycarbonates as well as coatings, adhesives and specialties materials, pooling expertise from research and development teams around the world.

Kim Harnow Klausen has been assigned as lead of the new global Competence Centre in addition to his current responsibility as Managing Director of Bayer MaterialScience, Denmark. Full details of the global wind energy competence centre have yet to be decided.

The group plans to extend its capabilities at the existing polyurethanes systems house site in Otterup, by additionally building on solutions for wind turbine applications that include spacer materials, raw materials for coatings and adhesives, carbon nanotubes, matrix materials and production processes for rotor blades, as well as fiber composite materials and production processes for nacelles.

Bayer MaterialScience considers the move as an opportunity to deploy the company’s expertise in chemistry and processing to help achieve a sustainable reduction in the cost of generating energy from wind turbines.