March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Solar | No Comments
MetLife and John Hancock Financial Services will finance the construction and third-party ownership of a 19 MW (AC) PV power plant that SunPower is contracted to build for Xcel Energy in Colorado's Alamosa County. Construction on the plant, which will be the largest solar power plant in Colorado, will begin this spring, with operations expected to commence before the end of the year. Approximately 100 jobs will be created during construction.
The plant will use SunPower T20 Tracker systems, which tilt toward the sun as it moves across the sky, increasing energy capture and providing more power on hot summer days when utilities need it most. SunPower Trackers generate up to 30% more energy per land area than conventional systems and, therefore, reduce land-use requirements.
CP Energy Group served as an advisor to MetLife on the transaction.
[source: MetLife]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Solar | No Comments
Yingli Green Energy has signed a three-year framework agreement to supply 285 MW of PV modules to Gehrlicher Solar over a three-year period through 2012. The PV modules to be supplied by the company are expected to be installed mainly in residential, commercial roof-top and ground-mounted power plants across key European PV markets.
According to Yingli's CEO, Mr. Liansheng Miao, the deal provides the two companies with additional visibility on sales and supply volumes as well as a solid foundation for long-term cooperation.
He went on to add: "We believe the establishment of our partnership with Gehrlicher Solar, one of the leading system integrators with a diversified portfolio of customers in Europe, will further strengthen our position in this important region. In establishing this partnership, we were particularly impressed by Gehrlicher Solar's successful track record in the PV industry, their focus on innovative solar PV solutions as we approach grid-parity, and their business partnership philosophy."
[source: Yingli Green Energy]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Biomass | No Comments
Tseai Energy's team is traveling to Sierra Leone to lay the foundation for its first pilot program. The company installs small-scale agricultural processing plants that take advantage of local crops, employ local farmers and make commercial products in underdeveloped communities. Biomass digesters are added to the plants, converting leftover agricultural waste into biogas, which is then used to produce electricity for locally built schools.
The first plant is planned to be opened in the town of Mile 18 in Sierra Leone. It will process palm fruit, which is abundant in the region, into palm oil. All of the waste generated will be converted into biogas for generating electricity.
As part of its activities in Sierra Leone, Tseai Energy's team plans to meet with local farmers, Schools for Salone NGO, nearby health clinic, Njala University, building contractors as well as the country's ministries of Education, Youth and Sports; and Agriculture and Food Safety.
[source: Tseai Energy]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Biomass | No Comments
Alternativa (IOM) Limited and GreenShift Corporation have entered into an exclusive supply and cooperation agreement to design and develop sustainable integrated feedstock and renewable energy production facilities.
The two companies will initially focus on selected geographies throughout the world that have both abundant undeveloped biomass-derived feedstock resources and the downstream supply-chain infrastructure needed for robust distribution and use of renewable energy and other biomass-derived products at scale.
The first facility is planned for Ukraine, and will be designed to process rapeseed into renewable fuels, edible oils and animal feed. While the development of the Ukrainian project is at an advanced stage, Alternativa is also evaluating several additional sites in Russia and Canada. Each site will be designed to cost-effectively refine undeveloped first-generation biomass resources into value-added carbon-neutral products, but also to include fully-integrated applications of innovative second- and third-generation feedstock production and refining technologies, such as GreenShift's oil extraction and Cellulosic Oil technologies…
[source: Alternativa]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Biomass | No Comments
Fortum is building a new 140 million EUR combined heat and power plant in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Purchasing of main equipment has been now agreed and the power plant will be completed for production by January 2013.
The plant will use municipal and industrial wastes and biomass as fuels, and will have a capacity of approximately 50 MW heat and 20 MW electricity. The district heating will be sold to Klaipedos Energija and the electricity will be sold to the national grid.
Heat production of the plant will replace production in old natural gas fired heating plants of Klaipedos Energija. In addition, the CO2 emissions of the heat production in the area will reduce significantly.
The plant is the first waste-to-energy plant in the Baltic countries and will be an essential element in waste management of the Klaipeda region significantly reducing the need to deposit wastes in the landfill.
[source: Fortum]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
General Wind | No Comments
The Australian government has recently introduced reforms into the country's legislation to support the newly set renewable energy target (RET) of 20% renewable energy by 2020.
The new reforms make a distinction between small scale solar PV and solar water heating technologies and large scale renewable energy projects. It is these large scale RE projects that are expected to allow the country to reach the set renewable energy goal set for 2020.
One of the major global renewable energy companies, Vestas, expressed great content over the Australian government's announcement about the reforms, stating the changes will give investors confidence to invest into the Australian renewable energy sector, emphasizing large wind energy projects, being first and foremost a wind energy development company.
The revised legislation is not yer in effect, as it needs to appear before the Australian parliament in winter (June/July). Vestas is working with the Australian government on the details of the revised legislation, hoping to achieve a start of major wind energy developments in Australia during 2010.
Other renewable energy developments in Australia include geothermal and solar energy. The country also has significant marine energy resources as well, and with the development of this renewable energy sector, we may be seeing marine energy harvesting technology installed in Australia soon.
[image: Cristina Archer (Stanford University)]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Wind | No Comments
Deere & Company is reviewing strategic options regarding its wind energ business, and is relying on Goldman, Sachs & Co, as the its exclusive financial advisor, to reach a decision about the company's long-term investments in the wind energy sector. So far, Deere has several wind energy projects, either operational or in construction phase in several US states.
The company has been involved in various aspects of wind energy development, from financing to development and ownership of wind farms in the past five years. At the moment, Deere has 34 wind energy projects in seven US states totalling in 706 MW of operational capacity.
[source: Deere]
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March 1st, 2010 | Posted in
Wind | No Comments
SeaJacks, the company specialized in providing transportation and installation services for the offshore wind industry, is planning to build two or more new jack-up vessels. So far, SeaJacks has two such ships in its fleet, SeaJacks Lieviathan and SeaJacks Kraken, both already quite busy at various offshore wind projects. The company has recently been acquired by Riverstone Holdings, and much of the funding for the expansion of SeaJacks' fleet is coming from the renewable energy fund.
The new vessels will be modified versions of the existing models, with the fully redundant DP2 propulsion system. They will be able to accommodate about 90 persons, and will feature an 800 ton leg encircling crane. SeaJacks has contracted GustoMSC to develop the Basic Design Package, prior the a final decision on the shipyard where the ships are to be built. This will ensure the delivery schedule for the new vessels is maintained. The first one is expected to be completed in Q1 2012.
[source: SeaJacks]
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February 26th, 2010 | Posted in
Wind | Comments (1)
Currently, Mitsubishi offers MWT-1000 with 1 MW of capacity as its top offer. A 2 MW version is in development.
In what may the loudest bit of news regarding European wind energy industry, Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe (MPSE) may be entering the UK wind energy market. The company has recently "signaled" its plans for establishing a UK based wind turbine R&D project. The UK government and Mitsubishi have signed a non-binding MoU, under which Mitsubishi is to invest up to GBP 100 million in an offshore wind turbine project in the UK. This project could create as many as 200 highly skilled jobs.
The UK government is working with MPSE and will provide up to GBP 30 million in finance support for the project. The project could be the first step towards establishing a much stronger presence of Mitsubishi in the UK wind energy market. The company could choose the UK for its manufacturing base for next generation wind turbines, which could result in more than 1500 new jobs.
Furthermore, the UK government is financially supporting with GBP 18 million a test site for an offshore wind farm which will feature next generation wind turbines, with blades about 100 meters in length. The units will be multi-megawatt machines, to be used in the future for large scale wind energy projects. The test site will be in the North East of England. The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NAREC) in Blyth will be used for testing new turbine blades, and will hopefully create an attractive R&D environment for companies such as Mitsubishi. The UK government regards Mitsubishi's involvement in wine energy R&D in the UK as significant for achieving the countries low-carbon, cleaner energy goals.
[source: Deparment of Energy and Climate Change, image: Mitsubishi Power Systems]
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February 26th, 2010 | Posted in
Hydro | No Comments
Siemens has purchased a stake in Marine Current Turbines, a marine energy developer based in Bristol, UK. Siemens has acquired just under 10% of ownership in the company, and has thus entered into a new energy development field, so far not visited by the company.
With this acquisition Siemens is hoping to enter and participate in what it regards as a "new market with good future prospects". Marine Current Turbines is an early stage company, with plenty of research and development ahead, so Siemens is this way securing access to an innovative promising technology.
The ocean power (marine energy) market is regarded as one of the future renewable energy markets which show the greatest growth potential in the industry. It is estimated that marine energy will experience double-digit growth by 2020. The UK has certainly made sure to promote and develop marine energy as one of the future sources of energy, by establishing a marine energy research center in Orkney (Scotland), and attracting investors and developer companies with incentives.This
Marine Current Turbines is not just sitting and waiting. The company has already had a successfull deployment of the SeaGen prototype in a demonstrator project in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Two axial turbines have been generating power since November 2008, outputting as much as 1.2 MW of power. At the moment, this is the most powerful working ocean current turbine in the world.
Future development include spreading the SeaGen concept around the world at various faborable locations in the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, and East Asia, where marine current conditions allow for an economically viable implementation. Siemens will use its international reputation and network to help push the new technology around the world.
[source: Siemens, image: Marine Current Turbines]
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