Vattenfall completes world’s largest offshore wind farm

Vattenfall, one of the biggest wind power operators in Britain and the fifth largest energy producer in Europe, has completed the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm -  currently the largest offshore wind farm in the world - off the south east coast of England.

A total of 100 Vestas V90 wind turbines with a total capacity of 300 MW, give the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm a combined energy capacity corresponding to the annual electricity needs of over 200,000 households. 

The Thanet project is located approximately 12 km off Foreness Point, the most eastern part of Kent.

For the Swedish state-owned energy company, Thanet Offshore Wind Farm represents a significant investment in renewable wind energy.

Vattenfall’s President and CEO, Øystein Løseth, will perform the official opening ceremony at the wind farm on 23 September along with UK Secretary of State, Chris Huhne, and other dignitaries.

Image credit: Thanet wind farm location (Siemens)

Iberdrola to expand Whitelee wind farm capacity

French engineering group Alstom has secured an order worth over €200 million from Scottish Power Renewables (SPR), a subsidiary of the Spanish energy group Iberdrola Renovables, to build a 217 MW extension to the Whitelee wind farm in Scotland.

By signing this deal, Iberdrola has expanded the capacity of its Whitelee wind farm, located south of Glasgow, by 217 MW to 539 MW using 75 turbines made by Alstom. The new capacity is slated to come on stream in 2012.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alstom will install 69 ECO 100 wind turbines, each with an output of 3 MW, and six ECO 74 wind turbines, each with an output of 1.67 MW, to be fully operational in May 2012. The contract includes supply, transportation, installation, commissioning, and operation & maintenance.

The expansion of Whitelee is part of Iberdrola’s agreement with Alstom to install 250 of its wind turbines in nine of the former’s facilities in Spain and the U.K. with a combined capacity of 500 MW.

Iberdrola already employs 85 MW of Alstom technology at its Badaia (Vizcaya), Almendros (Murcia) and Clachan Flats (Scotland) wind farms, while a further 98 MW are currently under construction at its Cruz de Carrutero, Fuentesalada and Los Collados facilities in the region of Castilla y León.

An additional 315 MW will also be installed at its Whitelee (Scotland) and Peñaflor III and IV (Castilla y León) wind farms. Besides, it has also agreed to build the 11 projects that have been presented in the new wind tender in Catalonia and which would add a power of 489 MW, with wind turbines supplied by Alstom.

Ikea buys Gamesa’s six German wind farms

Ikea Group has bought six German wind farms in four locations with combined installed capacity of 45.05 MW from wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa.

The wind assets are in Lower Saxony (Oberende), Hesse (Diemelsee I and II) and Rhineland-Palatinate (Winterspelt I and II and Zettingen), in northwest and southwest Germany, respectively. The latest extension of the project in Zettingen is currently being constructed. 

The projects have been recently developed by Gamesa. 

“This transaction marks further progress in Gamesa’s strategy for developing and enhancing the value of its wind farm portfolio, which totals 22,000 MW on three continents,” said Gamesa in a statement.

The acquisition, according to the Financial Times, has increased the number of wind turbines owned by Ikea to 52 after a similar deal involving four French wind farms last year.

For Gamesa, this transaction marks further progress in the company’s strategy for developing and enhancing the value of its wind farm portfolio, which totals 22,000 MW on three continents. Gamesa’s current project pipeline in Germany exceeds 500 MW at different stages of development.    

Blade part falls from Vestas’ prototype turbine

A seven-metre part of a blade fell off Vestas’ first V112-3.0 MW prototype in Lem, Denmark while running tests.

“This incident is an undramatic occurrence in our first V112-3.0 MW prototype which we do take to the limits. Since this is a prototype we know incidents may happen even if we don't expect them, but we are testing our products rigorously to make sure we provide business case certainty for our customers,” said Finn Strøm Madsen, president of Technology R&D.

Investigation into the root cause of the incident is taking place. The turbine’s serial production is scheduled to begin in June 2011.

Vestas inks global order for 400 MW

Wind technology company Vestas has signed a global supply agreement for delivery of 400 MW in 2011-2014 with a company with worldwide operations. Details pertaining to the signing were not disclosed.

The contract has an option for an additional 1,000 MW and comprises supply, installation, commissioning and a 2-10 year service agreement.

The turbines will be delivered and installed at different wind sites in several countries all over the world.

Delivery is scheduled to start in 2011 and is slated for completion before the end of 2014.

Vestas creates iPhone app

Wind technology major Vestas has created weather forecasts applications based on the specific GPS coordinates for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

The app’s key features include tailored weather report at favourite locations, world weather on map along with five-day forecast, updated every six hours. It also offers customised weather alarms besides offering the user an option to check how much energy a V112-3.0 MW would be generated on that particular moment at that (current) location.

The project was developed by Vestas Technology’s R&D division and uses both global databases and the sensors on the company’s turbines around the world. The forecast models are run and maintained by meteorologists at Vestas Plant Siting and Forecasting.

MetLife invests in Pattern Energy’s Gulf Wind project

Insurance company MetLife has made an equity partnership investment in wind energy company Pattern Energy’s 283 MW Gulf Wind project located in Kennedy County, Texas.

The terms of the investment were not disclosed. The current transaction incorporates project debt and consistent cash flows.

Pattern currently has 239.2 MW under construction in southern Manitoba, Canada and northern California.

In May this year, Pattern secured a total of more than US$800 million in equity funding from investment funds controlled by Riverstone Holdings, Pattern management and select employees.

The fundraising will be used primarily to finance the expansion of Pattern’s development, construction and operating pipeline of wind and renewable energy projects. The financing will also be used for general corporate purposes.

REpower to register as European company

Hamburg-based REpower Systems AG is transforming itself into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) from a German stock corporation (AG). The company’s domicile and headquarters will remain in Hamburg.

“The change in legal form of REpower Systems AG into an SE will not lead to the dissolution of the company or the formation of a new legal entity. The company will retain its legal and business identity. This change will also not affect shareholders’ investments in REpower,” the company said in a statement.

The move reflects REpower’s European and international outlook. In particular, it highlights the growing significance of REpower’s international and pan-European business activities.

Construction of RWE Innogy installation vessel begins

Construction work has begun on RWE Innogy’s first offshore installation ship which is intended for the construction of the company’s 295 MW German offshore wind farm Nordsee Ost.

Construction of the vessel is scheduled for completion next year. The vessel will be capable of transporting up to four offshore wind turbines of the multi-megawatt class at the same time and erect them in water depths of more than 40 metres.

The company had already placed the order for construction of two identical offshore installation ships with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering at the end of last year. The contract value for each of these jack-up vessels is around €100 million.

Completion of the first platform is planned for the autumn of 2011. The installation ship will be operated from its home port of Bremerhaven during construction of the Nordsee Ost wind farm. The installation ship will set sail with two jacket foundations every week. Later it will take over the transport and installation of a total of 48 wind turbines of the 6 MW class. Full completion of the “Nordsee Ost” wind farm is planned for 2013.

Crown Estate, SeaEnergy Renewables sign deal

SeaEnergy’s 80% subsidiary SeaEnergy Renewables Limited (SERL) has agreed a Heads of Terms (HoT) agreement with The Crown Estate for the funding of certain Inch Cape wind farm development activities.

As per the agreement, The Crown Estate will directly invest up to £1.4 million in key surveys and reports, including scoping reports, geophysical surveys and bird and mammal surveys, which will be directly contracted and managed by SERL. The Crown Estate and SERL now seek to finalise a formal development agreement in respect of these arrangements.  

The Inch Cape site was awarded to a consortium comprised of RWE npower renewables (npower) and SeaEnergy Renewables Limited last year as a part of the Scottish Territorial Waters leasing round conducted by The Crown Estate in association with the Scottish Government. 

Following the site award, the consortium entered into an Exclusivity Agreement with The Crown Estate providing exclusive rights to enter into an Agreement for Lease once the Scottish Government had concluded the Strategic Environmental Assessment process. 

npower notified SERL and The Crown Estate earlier this year of its desire to exit the Inch Cape project.

The Crown Estate and SERL then entered into discussions with the aim of ensuring that the site’s development schedule and activities progressed with minimum delay.

The discussions were intended to lead to the establishment of a MoU between The Crown Estate and SERL that would provide terms for the delivery of Inch Cape. 

Pension fund buys into Nysted offshore wind farm

Danish labour-market fund PensionDanmark will buy 30% of Dong Energy’s Nysted offshore wind farm at a cash consideration of DKK 0.4 billion ($0.07 billion).

PensionDanmark is the first pension fund to enter into a direct agreement with a major Danish industrial partner within this area, according to an official statement.

At the same time, Dong Energy will buy E.ON’s 20% ownership interest and resell it to PensionDanmark at a price of DKK 0.3 billion ($0.05 billion). Dong Energy and PensionDanmark will each own 50% of the Nysted offshore wind farm, and Dong Energy will continue to be responsible for the operation of the farm.

The two companies have signed an agreement under which, Dong will provide an operating guarantee to PensionDanmark and will get a larger share of the operating profit if the power price increases over the current power price level in return. The transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities.

The Nysted offshore wind farm located south of the island of Lolland has a capacity of 165.6 MW. Since being commissioned in 2003, it has delivered around 570 GWh of renewable energy annually.