Archive for the ‘Wind’ Category

Sweden gives green light for huge wind farm with more than 1100 wind turbines

March 12th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

The Swedish government has recently given the go-ahead to Markbygden Vind AB, a Swedish wind energy company, to build 1101 wind turbines with a height of no more than 200 meters, to be used at a wind farm (comprised of interconnected smaller wind farms) in the Piteå Municipality (northeast of Sweden). The wind farm will have anywhere from 2500-4000 MW of installed capacity, depending on the final decision on which wind turbines to use. It will cover an area of about 450 square kilometers. Enercon became part owner of Markbygden Vind in 2008, so it is expected the wind turbines will come from Enercon. Wind turbines will have capacities of 2-6 MW, depending on the final decision on the best technology to use.

The wind farm, when fully operational, will produce 12 TWh of electrical energy annually, which is four times more than what the country currently produces from wind power, but more significantly, this production is equivalent to the energy output of two Ringhals nuclear power reactors, produced in 2005-2008.

Sweden is expanding its renewable energy portfolio, with wind as one of the main sources of renewable energy. The country has formidable wind potential. In order for the project to move forward, it has to comply with several necessary terms, such as health and environment standards, but also satisfy the interests of defence and industries such as the reindeer industry.

[source: Swedish Ministry of Energy, image: Energy Technology Centre]


Phase one of offshore Belwind wind farm completed

March 12th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Van Oord announced last week the completion of the first phase in the construction of the offshore Belwind wind farm, off the coast of Belgium. The wind farm now has the foundations for each wind turbine installed. The foundations, consisting of a monopile and a tower platform (TP), weigh from 410-660 tons each, with each TP weighing at more than 160 tons. Additionally, as part of this phase, the company has also installed the offshore transformer station.

Everything is now ready for the 55 wind turbines to be placed on top of the foundations. Each wind turbines will have 3 MW of capacity, which will total in 165 MW of installed capacity at the Belwind wind farm, once completed.

[source: Van Oord]

Acciona to build three wind farms in Mexico – totalling 306 MW of capacity

March 11th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Mexico will be getting 306 MW of new wind energy capacity.

Three new wind farms will be built, with 1.5 MW wind turbines to be supplied by Acciona, under a supply contract awarded to the company by the Mexican government. Acciona won the tender against three other companies, all from Spain – Iberdrola Renovables, Recursos Eólicos de México (ACS), and Enerfin Sociedad de Energía (part of the Elecnor group).

The wind farms will be located in the Oaxaca state, Mexico, and represent an investment of about EUR 450 million, totalling in 306 MW of new wind energy capacity. Construction is expected to begin in 2010, and operation of the new wind farms is planned to begin near the end of 2011. Once completed, the new 306 MW of capacity will represent 12.7% of Acciona's strategic wind power implementation plan to install 2400 MW of new wind capacity by 2013.

The particular wind farms are Oaxaca I, II and III, each to have 102 MW of installed capacity. The model of choice for these projects is Acciona's AW 70/1500 wind turbine.

[source: Acciona]

Nordex launching new Gamma generation wind turbine

March 11th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Nordex N100 wind turbine.

Nordex announced the launch of its new generation Gamma wind turbine. The new turbine has 2.5 MW of capacity, and it will be unveiled at the European Wind Energy Conference (EWEC) in Warsaw, April 20-23, 2010.

The Gamma generation brings new technological advancements to the existing N80, N90 and N100 wind power systems, resulting from the latest research and development and a decade of production and operational experience with multi-megawatt wind turbines.

All the models are manufactured to be modular, with a maximum weight of 50 tons. The units' modularity will make it easy for the company to speed up installation and service of the wind turbines. The new units also have built-in control of reactive power, thus enabling power companies to stabilize the frequency of the power grid during transient voltage dips or power surges.

The new nacelles and hubs are larger, allowing uninterrupted working areas with enough space for faster and safer servicing. All the wind turbine components can be directly accessed, with each weighing no more than a ton, allowing for easy extraction using a new crane system.

[source: Nordex]

Vestas to supply 34 MW of wind turbines to Italy

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Vestas is to supply 17 of its V90-2.0 MW units under a supply contract signed with Camas Energy S.r.l. and W3 S.r.l., for the Maida wind farm, which is being developed in the Calabria region of Italy. Along with the wind turbines, Vestas will also provide service and maintenance for five years, as well as its VestasOnline Business SCADA system.

Delivery of the wind turbines is scheduled for the second half of 2010, while the wind farm is to be completed by the end of 2010. The Maida wind farm is located in one of Italy's best regions for wind energy – Calabria. This region is now seeing wind energy development, previously usually associated with Italian regions in the south. Once completed, the Maida wind farm will produce enough clean electricity to supply about 37,000 average Italian households.

[source: Vestas]

Small wind development in US gets boost through Westerly Wind

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

US Renewables Group has launched Westerly Wind, a company that will provide development capital for wind energy projects for small wind energy developers, who are currently struggling to advance projects due to difficult economic times.

Westerly Wind will focus at all stages of wind energy development, working with developers, communities and other stakeholders in the industry, with a goal to push these projects towards completion. One of the main changes in the current industry approach is that wind developers can no longer enter a wind energy project and "flip" it early on in the development process. Things are moving towards actually bringing projects very close to construction, before they can actually be sold to another company which will simply execute the project and start exporting power under a PPA.

[source: US Renewables Group]

US DoE loans USD 117 million to Hawaii wind energy project

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

The US Department of Energy is conditionally loaning USD 117 million to an "innovative" wind energy project on Hawaii. The island state is going to get a wind farm with 30 MW of capacity, using 2.5 MW wind turbines, but with an additional component which will ensure electricity load stability – batteries for storing produced energy. The Kahuku wind farm, to be developed by Kahuku Wind Power, will be receiving the 117 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Once completed, the Kahuku wind farm will output electricity estimated to be enough to supply about 7700 average homes on the island state with clean electricity. The construction of the wind farm will provide about 200 jobs.

The Kahuku wind farm will be located on the island of Oahu. Hawaii has set a very high goal for renewable energy, which is to achieve 70% of electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2030. At the moment, each of the islands is using its own separate power grid, mostly using fossil fuels to produce electricity. The company sponsoring the project is First Wind Holdings.

[source: US DoE, image: Hawaii State]

Suzlon planning 728 MW of new installations in 2010

March 5th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Suzlon is planning to install 728 MW of new wind power capacity during 2010. The nine new projects will feature a total of 351 wind turbines, will be able to produce clean electricity for about 220,000 average homes in seven US states. The company will be supplying the units for projects being developed by Duke Energy, Iberdrola Renewables and other renewable energy developers.

Nearly all the new projects will be using the S88-2.1 MW wind turbines, which has been proven around the world in various conditions.

With the 728 MW of capacity planned for this year, Suzlon should have a total of 2480 MW installed in the US by the end of 2010.

[source: Suzlon]

NRG Energy to acquire 101 MW wind farm in Texas

March 5th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

NRG Energy announced the company has signed a letter of intent with AEP Energy Partners for purchasing the South Trent 101 MW wind farm located near Sweetwater, Texas. The wind farm consists of 44 2.3 MW Siemens wind turbines, and can generate enough clean electricity for about 80,000 average local households during peak generation times.

The South Trent wind farm is exporting electricity under a long-term PPA for the next 20 years. Once the acquisition is complete, NRG Energy will own and operate its fourth onshore wind farm. The company already owns and operates Elbow Creek wind farm (120 MW), Langford wind farm (150 MW) and owns a 50% stake in the Sherbino wind farm (150 MW), all located in Texas.

[source: NRG Energy, image: NRG Energy]

OwnEnergy and Horn Wind complete 51 MW wind farm in Texas

March 5th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

OwnEnergy, a development platform for community wind in the United States, and Horn Wind have completed the Windthorst 1 wind farm near Windthorst, Texas. The wind farm has 51 MW of installed capacity, and is a joint-venture project between the two companies. A majority stake in the wind farm has been sold to a global renewable energy company.

The wind farm was developed in the spirit of community wind which includes characteristics like local ownership, increased local jobs, greater involvement, control and financial upside for members of the local community. OwnEnergy co-owns wind projects and operates them in collaboration with local partners. OwnEnergy and Horn Wind will continue to have long-term interest in the wind farm.

[source: OwnEnergy, image: OwnEnergy]

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