This week’s news round-up includes: Nexans, Centrica, Cape Wind, Ofgem, the EU's European Investment Bank, Bilfinger Berger, Per Aarsleff, Eneco, AXYS, E.ON, enXco, Linden Wind Project, and an update on the UK's Onshore Wind Turbines Bill.

Nexans wins €50m contract from Centrica

French cabling solutions provider Nexans has won a €50 million (US$75mn) contract to design, manufacture and supply high voltage sub sea power export cables for Centrica’s Lincs wind farm project.

The two 145 kV XLPE sub sea power cables will be laid in parallel, each 50 km in length.  They will connect the wind farm, which is being constructed eight kilometres off the coast of England, to the existing National Grid substation at Walpole, North Norfolk. The company will deliver the cables in 2011.

Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, recently shared that its 270 MW Lincs offshore wind project had received final investment approval, and that construction is expected to begin in 2010. Investment in this project is expected to total approximately £725 million (US$1,212 mn; €812mn).

United States: Cape Wind anticipates green light from US government this year

The US Interior Department is working on an “expeditious conclusion” of approvals required for Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound.

US Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, said his department is currently consulting with state agencies and that the final decision on the Cape Wind project will “hopefully” be made by the end of this year.

The project received a major boost from the Interior’s Minerals Management Service in January when the agency gave the project a favourable review in its proposed environmental impact statement.

The wind farm, originally scheduled to come online in 2005, comprises 130 turbines capable of generating 420 MW of electricity that will stand 440 feet above the surface of the water.

United Kingdom: Ofgem to inject £1billion in green grid projects

 UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has proposed funding arrangements of up to £1 billion  (€1.12bn; US$1.67bn) over the next two years for electricity transmission grid projects, which could amount to a 20 percent down payment on the investment needed over the next 10 years.

The remaining 80 percent will fall into a period of new regulatory controls, which come into play when the current controls run out in 2012.

Ofgem will decide on arrangements for the on-going investment once the new regime is in place.

European Investment Bank plans to invest £300 million in UK wind 

The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering providing over £300 million (US$502mn; €336mn) in funding to investors in high voltage transmission links to offshore wind farms in Britain.

The funding will be available for six projects that will connect around 1.6 GW of offshore generation.

The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the UK energy regulator’s administrator, Ofgem E-Serve, have established competitive arrangements to ensure that generators benefit from cost effective connections to the mainland electricity network. Those firms competing to run connections to these six projects can now apply to the EIB for funding.

The UK’s minister for energy, Lord Hunt, acknowledged the EIB’s support and mentioned that connecting offshore wind farms to the grid quickly and cost-effectively is crucial to tackling climate change and securing future energy supplies.

United Kingdom: Bilfinger Berger, Per Aarsleff secure €400m contract

Bilfinger Berger and its Danish partner Per Aarsleff have secured a contract for construction of the foundations for 175 wind turbines and two substations at the new London Array offshore wind farm in the outer Thames Estuary.

The total order volume is around €400 million (£357mn; US$597mn), for the fabrication and installation of 175 wind turbines and two substations, to be built at a distance of between 20 to 35 kilometres from the coastline.

The order includes the design, prefabrication and installation of monopiles up to 60 meters long. The steel pipes have a diameter of nearly six meters and the longest weigh almost 500 tons. They will be driven into the seabed at a water depth up to 25 meters. To connect the wind turbines to the foundations, they will be fitted with steel adapter elements, each weighing 400 tons.

Netherlands: Eneco given the go-ahead for two offshore wind farms

The UK’s Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management has awarded concept permits to Eneco for the construction of two offshore wind farms.

Eneco divisions, New Energy and Evelop, were granted a concept permit for the realisation of the Q10 Wind Farm and the 212 MW Scheveningen Buiten Wind Farm, respectively.

The new Q10 Wind Farm is to be constructed 17 kilometres south of the Princess Amalia Wind Farm, at the same distance from the coast (23 kilometres) and at a similar water depth (20 - 25 metres) on the Dutch Continental Shelf. The installed capacity will amount to approximately 165 MW.

Scheveningen Buiten is located at a distance of 28 kilometres off the coast of the Scheveningen district of the city of The Hague.

Canada: AXYS deploys latest Catch the Wind sensor 

AXYS Technologies has deployed Catch the Wind’s Vindicato Laser Wind Sensor (LWS) as part of its validation testing of the WindSentinel, the world’s first offshore wind assessment buoy.

The Wind Sentinel buoy combines an AXYS floating platform with a Vindicator LWS as per the OEM agreement between Catch the Wind and AXYS. Validation testing of the buoy is being conducted off Race Rocks Island in Canada to compare wind data collected by the Vindicator LWS on the moving and stationary buoy.

According to Catch the Wind, the Vindicator fiber optic laser wind sensing system is capable of measuring real-time horizontal and vertical wind speed and direction data at varying ranges ahead of the sensor location.

United Kingdom: E.ON submits proposal for Lancashire-Cumbria borders wind farm

E.ON has announced that it plans to build a new wind farm near Kirkby Lonsdale. The wind farm, for which planning application will be submitted in 2010, will be constructed on the county border between Lancashire and Cumbria.

E.ON has submitted the scoping statement to Lancaster City Council and other interested parties, detailing its plans. Comprised of around nine turbines, the 20 MW farm could power around 9,000 homes for up to a year. E.ON plans to conduct more detailed studies in the area in coming months.

United States: enXco begins construction work for Linden Wind Project

enXco, an EDF Energies Nouvelles company, has started construction of the 50MW Linden Wind Project in Klickitat County, Washington.

The facility is due to be delivered to US power company Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) in early 2010.

The project comprises 25 REpower MM92 turbines. It is expected to be operational early next year and will be transferred to the SCPPA upon completion. 

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will provide project management for SCPPA participants. The utility will receive 90 percent (45MW) of power produced by the wind farm, representing about 0.5 percent of the utility’s renewable portfolio goal of 20 percent by 2010.

The project received SCPPA board approval in August this year and the Notice To Proceed was delivered in early October.

In its nine-month revenues review released in early November, EDF Energies Nouvelles revealed that revenues posted by its Operations & Maintenance business surged from €14. 5 million, (US$21.6mn; £12.9mn) to €28.2 million (US$42.1mn; £25.1mn), representing a rise of 94.5 percent. This strong growth was led by enXco, which signed several contracts in 2008 and the first nine months of 2009, totalling 2,525 MW in capacity.

United Kingdom: MP introduces Onshore Wind Turbines Bill

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has introduced the Onshore Wind Turbines (Proximity of Habitation) Bill. The proposal received a first reading in the House of Commons.

Luff, who has been working with residents on the proposed Lenches/Bishampton wind farm in his constituency, said the objective is to raise the aesthetic and environmental concerns associated with large wind turbines when they are located too close to homes.

Referring to onshore wind farms, Luff stated that the Government policy on this issue is vague, giving little protection to local communities who have legitimate objections to the building of these turbines in their area. The companies appear to comply with a voluntary 500m “buffer zone” but this has no legal force, he said.

Luff had originally suggested a one-kilometre buffer zone for all turbines. However, following engagement with local residents, he proposed smaller turbines should be at least 0.5 of a mile from residential areas; medium sized turbines a mile; and large turbines 1.5 miles from inhabited areas.