Renewbl – renewable energy news

Inbicon, Otoka Energy and Great River Energy sign MoU for for biomass refinery in North Dakota

December 1st, 2009 | Posted in Biomass | No Comments

hayrolls-inbicon-energy

Inbicon announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Otoka Energy and Great River Energy, both US based companies, for collaboration, which includes the development of a biomass refinery in North Dakota.

The planned biomass refinery will use Inbicon's proprietary technology to convert more than 400,000 tons of wheat straw into fractions of liquid fuels, solid fuel lignin pellets, and other co-products, according to the company's CEO Niels Henriksen.

The new refinery would be integrated with the existing adjacent Spiritwood Station, a 62 MW coal-fiered power plant being constructed by Great River Energy in North Dakota.

Energy exchange, planned between the two facilities, will significantly increase efficiency of both operations, and reduce the carbon footpring of both facilities.

Currently, Inbicon is demonstrating the technology with its refinery at Kalunborg port in Denmark, producing 1.4 million gallons of fuels a year. This facility is integrated with DONG Energy's Asnaes Power Station. Inbicon is owned by DONG Energy.

[source: Inbicon, image: Inbicon]

Shell puts brakes on excessive optimism towards biofuels

December 1st, 2009 | Posted in Biomass General | No Comments

slow-traffic-sign Even though biofuels represent a great hope for the future of energy, Shell CEO expressed a conservative view of the current state of this part of the renewable energy industry. In a recent statement made to the press at a briefing recently, Peter Voser said it will be quite a number of years before there was a commercially proven biofuel plant. Indeed, so far there is still no biofuel production plant capable of outputting enough biofuel to put a dent in the supply of traditional fossil fuel supply.

Voser's assessment is not that biofuels are not going to take over at some point, but rather that it will take more development and focus towards second generation biofuels, such as cellulose ethanol, to contribute significantly to the world's fuel supplies. Shell has been contributing to research and development in this area for many years now.

First generation biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn, are being criticized for producing even higher carbon footprints than traditional fossil fuels. Additionally, fuel made from crops competes directly with the food industry, bringing prices up, which creates social, as well as environmental issues, according to an article on Financial Times.

[via: Financial Times]

UK to get world class biofuel center

November 30th, 2009 | Posted in Biomass | No Comments

UK will be getting a world class biofuel center in Hull, according to latest news from Brittish Petrol. Lord Mendelson, during a recent visit to Hull, said the new cutting-edge technology development center will help the country's economy and "enhance" its reputation as the world class center for innovation and research.

BP and DuPont have joined to develop Kingston Research Ltd, focusing on biofuel technology. The GBP 25 million facility will be used as a development and demonstration facility at BP Saltend site, near Hull. Twenty seven jobs will be created as a result of this project. The facility will be producing biobutanol, which is a new low-carbon alternative to bioethanol, a commong biofuel product these days. Biobutanol can be made from various crops, the same ones used for bioethanol production. The produced biofuel can be blended into petrol at higher levels, making the introduction of biofuels quicker.

Saltend facility in Hull

The BP site will additionally be home to Vivergo Fuels, a joint venture project between BP, British Sugar and DuPont. Vivergo is in the process of building a world-scale bioethanol facility that will start producing this biofuel in 2010. Vivergo will employ some seventy people once fully operational.

[source: BP, image: Vivergo Fuels]

New electrical generator design show promise for cheaper and more realiable wind turbines

November 30th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

ngentec

A new design involving electrical generators for wind turbines may revolutionize the wind energy industry and bring down the price of wind energy, as well as improve reliability of wind turbines. The proposed new design comes from Scottish scientists and engineers, namely Markus Mueller and Alasdair McDonald, from the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Energy Systems.

The new design does away with the gearbox, the most sensitive part of a wind turbine assembly, not particularly resistant when it comes to dealing with abrupt wind speed changes – an frequent occurence, especially in offshore wind conditions. Sudden increases in wind speed can and do cause damage to gerboxes, which poses a great problem, since any service and maintenance has to be done on site, and during these same, often quite dangerous, wind conditions.

CWE and ELEM announced official completion of 50 MW Kozjak hydropower plant

November 30th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro | Comments (1)

Macedonian Power Plant (ELEM) and China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) have signed a protocal about complete fullfilment of all obligations from the agreement for the construction of the Kozjak hydropower plant in the Formey Republic of Yugoslavia Macedonia.

The Kozjak power plant has 50 MW of installed capacity, and can produce 150 GWh of energy annually, which is about one eighth of the total annual energy production in the country. The power plant uses two Francis hydraulic turbines to power the electrical generators. The project was launched by CWE in 2002. The Kozjak dam is one of the tallest such constructions in Europe, located about 25 km upstream from the river Vardar.

Kozjak hydropower plant

The completion of Kozjak, along with the hydropower plants Sveta Petka and Matka, envelopes the entire project with three cascade hydropower plants at the river Treska, which will provide 250 TWh of energy annually. ELEM plans to modernize existing hydropower plants in the future, as well as construction of new hydropower capacities.

[source: Macedonian Information Agency, image: ELEM]

Siemens to supply wind turbines for wind farm in New Zealand

November 27th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

New Zealand is going to get a new 64 MW wind farm – the Te Uku – located near Hamilton. The wind farm is going to be using 28 Siemens SWT-2.3-101 wind turbines. Te Uku is scheduled to be completed in 2011, and will be able to generate enough clean electricity for about 30,000 average homes in the area. The developer of the Te Uku wind farm, and Siemens' partner in the supply agreement is Meridian Energy.

Photo simulation of the Te Uku wind farm (wind turbines visible at the upper edge of the hills in the background).

According to the agreement, Siemens will provide delivery and installation of the turbines. Additionally, Siemens has entered into a two-year service and maintenance contract as well. This is not the first wind energy project between these two companies. In October, Siemens commissioned another Merdian Energy owned wind farm, the 143 MW West Wind wind farm, now supplying about 70,000 homes with clean electricity.

New Zealand has abundant wind energy resources, with consistent strong wind speeds, making the country an ideal wind energy development region.

[source: Siemens, image: Meridian Energy]

EDF and REpower sign agreement for 954 MW of wind turbines

November 27th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | Comments (1)

EDF Energies Nouvelles and REpower signed an agreement under which REpower is to supply EDF with 954 MW of wind turbines (427 2 MW units) for the porposes of EDF's Canadian wind energy developments. The turbines will be used for five projects currently under development in the Canadian province of Quebec by Saint-Laurent Energies Inc. EDF Canada owns the majority of shares in this company, while the major shareholder in REpower iz Indian wind energy company Suzlon Energy.

The five projects are planned for commissioning between the end of 2011 and 2015, all subject to the delivery of all the necessary permits needed for the completion of construction.

wind-farms-quebec

It's important to explain that 748 MW of the total 954 MW is the minimum guaranteed purchase, while the remaining 206 MW is an additional option in the agreement. This is one of the largest orders in North America, underlining REpower's significance as a wind energy manufacturer for onshore wind turbines, as well as offshore. This agreement strengthens the company's position in the region, allowing mid and long-term visibility for future growth.

[source: EDF Energies Nouvelles, Suzlon Energy , Image: HydroQuebec.com]

Suzlon gets repeat order for 42 MW from Infigen Energy

November 26th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

s88 Suzlon Energy Australia, Suzlon Energy's subsidiary "down under", just received a repeat order to supply Infigen Energy with 42 MW worth of S88 wind turbines, each with 2.1 MW of capacity.

The wind turbines are going to be installed on one of Infigen's wind farms, currently in early development, in New South Wales. This is the second order from Infigen, which now brings the total capacity ordered from Suzlon to 183 MW.

[source: Suzlon]

EIB loans a total of EUR 270 million in renewable energy projects in Pakistan and Iceland

November 26th, 2009 | Posted in General | No Comments

eib The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a loan worth EUR 100 million to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as partial finance for renewable energy projects in the country. The investment operation is being co-financed in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The lending operation has been structured as a framework plan, which grants support from the EIB for a series of investments in Pakistan's renewable energy sector. This is only a part of much larger financial plan set up by the Pakistani government, involving some USD 2.2 billion. This is the fifth lending operation between EIB and Pakistan, the first having happened back in 1993.

EIB made another loan, EUR 170 million, to Iceland for the purpose of devcelopment of a geothermal energy project. The loan was made to Orkuveita Reykjavikur (Reykjavik Energy), which the company will use to expand its geothermal capacity.

The financing is aimed at further development of the Hellisheidi geothermal complex, which will add 90 MW to the existing capacity, but also for a completely new geothermal project also to have 90 MW of installed capacity. The expansions are planned to supply energy for aluminum smelting operations, an existing one, and a new one to be built soon.

[source: European Investment Bank]

US DoE announced USD 45 million for next generation wind turbine research

November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

wt-drivetrain US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, announced USD 45 million in funds for Clemson University, to be used to finance next generation wind turbine research. A facility for this purpose is going to be built, for enhancing performance, durability and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines.

The Large Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing facility, as it's called, will allow for testing of drivetrains for wind turbines with 5-15 MW of capacity. This means, testing and research will be done on future wind turbines reaching more than the currently largest wind turbine in development with 10 MW of capacity, such as Clipper Wind's Britannia Project. Better drivetrains will improve US competitiveness in the wind energy market, lower energy costs and allow for a more rapid growth and deployment of wind energy.

[source: US DoE , image: Ecotecnia]