Category: Technology

European Investment Bank finances EnBW Baltic 2 wind farm

EnBW Baltic 2 is being developed by German company EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH and the funding deal was signed this week in Karlsruhe.

The wind farm consists of 80 wind turbines installed within an area of 27 square kilometres, 32 km north of the island of Rügen. This is a particularly demanding location for an offshore wind farm because the sea in this area can be as much as 44 metres deep in some places requiring the use of special foundation structures called ‘jackets’.

Nevertheless, EnBW Baltic 2 has a capacity of some 288 megawatts and will generate an annual output of 1.2 billion kWh, enough to supply 340,000 households while achieving emissions savings of around 900,000 tonnes of carbon.

“Demanding projects are required so that Germany can implement its ambitious energy aims” said Wilhelm Molterer, the Vice President of the European Investment Bank.

“EnBW Baltic 2 sets standards. It will be exemplary for future projects of this magnitude. With the financing that has now been agreed, it will be possible to implement the extensive project quickly and make a decisive contribution to the success of the energy transition.”

The turbines used in the project are Siemens SWT-3,6-120, 39 of them erected on monopoles with another 41 using jackets.

“The commitment of EIB to a project like EnBW Baltic 2 makes a very essential contribution towards the energy transition” said Thomas Kusterer, the Financial Chairman of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. “Participation of the EIB in such projects represents a decisive element in structuring and financing.”

600 MW wind farm in Romania finalised

The final wind turbine for Fantanele/Cogealac wind farm in Romania was connected to the regional grid in late November.

CEZ Group´s 600 MW wind farm thus is now in full operation and is producing enough cleaner energy to power more than one million Romanian households each year. The project utilizes 240 GE 2.5 MW wind turbines, including the 1,000th 2.5 MW class machine installed by GE worldwide.

The new wind park is located in Dobrogea, Constanta County, which is one of the most promising wind power regions in Romania. The individual wind turbine components for the Fantanele/Cogealac wind farm were produced all over the world. The turbine nacelles were supplied from GE’s facility in Germany. The rotor blades and towers came – apart from Germany – from Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and China.

The size of the components – one rotor blade measures nearly 50 m in length – and the number of units required comprehensive planning. Twelve modes of transportationwere needed to move all of the components for each wind turbine from the port of Constanta on the Black Sea to the project construction site. At peak times, 25 cranes were in action at once at one of the largest building sites in Europe.

The project owner, CEZ Romania, is part of CEZ Group, the largest utility in Central Europe. “We chose GE because of its proven technology and the extensive experience of its project teams. The 2.5 MW technology offers the efficiency, availability and energy performance that will safeguard our success,” said Ondřej Šafář, CEZ project manager. “Thanks to the Fantanele-Cogealac wind farm, CEZ is making a major contribution to increasing Romania’s renewable energy generation. Before this project, Romania’s installed wind capacity was only 14 megawatts.”

German manufacturer delivers solar thermal system to Kabul

Many hours of sun at consistently low temperatures: The winter in Afghanistan is predestined for the use of solar heat.

The German collector manufacturer REM, Rottenburg/Laaber, has now delivered the first solar thermal system for a multiple dwaelling with 20 flats in Kabul – the beginning of a series of contracts for a total of 21 systems, which will be installed in Kabul and the surrounding area. Solar Sky GmbH in Kassel was in charge of project planning and construction of the system, consisting of 20 collectors and a 3,000 litre tank.

The private builder in Afghanistan hopes to find a solution to support heating during the cold season by the use of solar thermal energy. “The winters in Kabul are similar to those in Germany. There are four months in which the average temperature falls below freezing,” according to the solar expert Assghar Mahmoudi from Solar Sky. Measured in kWh/m², however, the amount of solar energy there is two or three times higher than in Germany.

“In Afghanistan there aren’t any real heating systems. Because of the frequent power failures, reliable heating for housing is quite difficult,” explains Mahmoudi.

The collector system is now being installed and, augmented by a gas fired boiler, will supply energy to heat drinking water and rooms in the future.

200 MW of solar power projects in Rajasthan

The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) has again invited proposal from any interested company or bidding consortium for setting up 100 MW of solar PV projects and 100 MW of solar thermal projects under the Rajasthan Solar Policy 2011.

The selection of these solar power projects shall be through a tariff based competitive bidding process.

According to the press release the project sizes would be from 5 to 10 MW each. The winning bidder will be the company that offers the highest discount upon RRECL’s benchmark solar tariff of INR 8.42 (EUR 0.13) per kWh. A feed-in-tariff will be paid to the winning bidder for 25 years, who would have to supply power to the procurer in agreement with the terms and conditions of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The last date for submission of bids through online form is January 11, 2013.

It may be recalled that RRECL had postponed its Request for Selection for solar power projects which was originally scheduled for March 19, 2012. Although the exact reasons for the postponement are not known, it is assumed that mounting losses of the state’s distribution company DISCOM could be the reason.

Unlike the National Solar Mission there is no compulsion for domestic contents of modules or cells and the bidder is free to choose any solar PV power generation technology – it may be crystalline silicon solar cell or thin film modules, concentrated PV or any other technology commercially established.

Also noteworthy is a mechanism through which DISCOM is not liable to make payments to the project developer, as the project developer will be signing a PPA with RRECL, that will also provide payment security to the developer. RRECL in turn will supply the procured solar power to DISCOM through a Power Sale Agreement (PSA)

GE sells 230 turbines to Renova Energia

GE and Renova Energia, a wind developer leader in Brazil with 1 GW installed, have signed a contract worth US$ 394 million for 230 GE 1.68-82.5 wind turbines.

All 230 turbines have a 10-year operating contract, which will be managed from GE’s services centre.The purchase is part of Renova’s expansion plans that began in November 2011 with the construction of the Alto Sertão 2 Wind Farm, comprising 15 parks with a total installed capacity of 386 MW.

The contract is to supply energy sold by Renova in the Reserve Energy Auctions (LER) in 2010 and 2011. The Alto Sertão 2 Wind Farm is in the cities of Caetité, Guanambim and Igaporã, in the southeast of Bahia state, in Brazil.

“Scale and efficiency are increasingly important factors in the wind power segment and they have created a new scenario, which is more complex and which requires internationally recognised partners such as GE,” says Luiz Freitas, Legal and Purchasing Director at Renova. “This contract is the result of the value generated by a joint Renova and GE team in the pursuit of the state of the art in wind power technology in Bahia.”

The partnership between the two companies began in Brazil’s first exclusively wind energy auction in December 2009. “Renova built the largest wind farm in and we are proud to take part in this project and to help boost wind power generation in Bahia,” says Jean-Claude Robert, leader of GE’s Renewable Energy business in Latin America.

The farm, opened in July 2012, has 184 GE wind turbines producing a total of 294 MW.

The first kerosene free lighting state in India

The state government of Chhattisgarh in central India will become the first state of the country which is going to replace kerosene powered lanterns for lighting homes by LED based solar lanterns and solar study lamps.

On December 5, 2012, the two programmes “One child One Solar lamp” and “Solar for each family” were launched. The state government decided it will distribute free solar lighting systems to 1.3 million families as well as free solar study lamps to about 1.65 million school students. The implementation of the scheme will cost the exchequer approximately Indian Rupees INR 2.05 billion (about € 30 million).

Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) will be the agency to implement the programme.

The scheme is based on findings of Census 2011 where it came to the fore that approximately 1.3 million families in Chhattisgarh are still deprived of electricity.

These families use kerosene or fire wood to illuminate their houses. The government provides a subsidy of INR 0.32 per litre of kerosene, while allocated quota for each family is about 3 to 4 litres kerosene every month. Thus the government spends approximately INR 100 to INR 120 per month per family. In addition, each family spends INR 50 to INR 60 per month. The distribution of solar lanterns to about 1.3 million families will save the government subsidies of approximately INR 1.43
billion annually and it will save family expenditure of approximately INR 0.78 billion. Solar lanterns would cost close to INR 1,200 each and solar study lamps will only cost INR 300 each.

Wind power is growing in Italy

The installation of small wind turbines is growing rapidly in Italy since the introduction of feed-in tariffs.

Since the introduction of feed-in tariffs for small wind turbines in 2008, installations have grown exponentially, says the University’s Wind Energy Report. Yet installed capacity of small wind turbines doubled from 2008 to 2009 and again in 2010 and 2011.

More than 90 % of the small wind turbines are less than 80 kW in size. 70 % of the capacity is installed in the southern provinces, 25 % in the central region, and only 5 % in the mountainous north.

Up to 10 MW may be installed in 2012, says the report. Nevertheless, in absolute terms, installed capacity of small wind turbines in Italy remains a fraction of that of commercial-scale turbines. By the end of 2011 cumulative capacity of small wind turbines in Italy was 13 MW – 2 % of the 6,700 MW of wind generating capacity in the country.

Italian feed-in tariffs for small wind turbines are quite lucrative, effectively double that of total payments for commercial wind under Italy’s Green Certificate (Certificati Verdi) system. Yet, Italian small wind tariffs are comparable to those in Britain, e.g. new tariffs go into effect at the end of the year.

Italy will differentiate small wind into two size tranches: <20 kW, and 20 kW to 200 kW. While the tariffs have been cut modestly, the contract term has been extended from 15 years to 20 years.

According to the University’s Wind Energy Report, 3 % of Italy’s land area has average wind speeds of greater than 6 m/s or good to excellent wind, 37 % has average wind speeds from 4 m/s to 6 m/s or sites with good wind. The report quotes the Italian wind energy association (Associazone Nazionale Energia del Vento), that Italy has the potential for 1,000 MW of small wind turbines capable of generating 1.5 to 2 TWh per year.

Costa Rica opens first large-scale solar facility

Costa Rica is celebrating the opening of the country’s first large-scale solar power plant.

The solar park, which was built on the slopes of Miravalles Volcano and is comprised of 4,300 solar panels, will generate 1.2 GWh per year, enough to electrify about 600 homes.

“Today we not only took another step in terms of increasing installed capacity to continue generating more electricity and meet our economy’s demands, but we also confirmed that our growth will continue to rely on renewable energy generation,” said President Laura Chinchilla in the inauguration.

The project wa originally proposed by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, and developed by GeSolar, a Chinese manufacturer of solar products, and Greenersys, a Coasta Rican supplier of renewable energy products.

Environment Minister René Castro said the project is important because it marks the entry of Costa Rica to the production of large-scale electricity based on solar energy, and “also mark[s] the way to bring electricity to thousands of families across the country in the future.”

The project was financed by the Japanese Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), which provided a $10 million grant under the Japanese government’s Project for Introduction of Clean Energy by System Solar Electricity Generation for the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica programme.

Vestas and Mitsubishi can become partners on world’s largest offshore turbine

Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. are in talks which could lead to them building the world’s largest offshore wind turbine.

The report by Stefan Nicola and Gelu Sulugiuc says the envisioned 8 MW turbine would be about 30 percent more powerful than the prevailing market leaders.

The report comes just hours after Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, announced it had received €900 million (About $1.17 billion) in financing from nine international banks.The financing period extends through 2015.

The funding should also help shore up its competition with rival Siemens AG, which has been regularly announcing deals for turbines with offshore wind farm developers in Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Bloomberg reports that Siemens is currently testing a 6 MW turbine, and quotes a company spokeswoman as saying a 10 MW turbine may be in the offing.

Renault has the automotive world’s biggest solar-powered vehicle canopy

French automaker Renault has come up with a fabulously green way to shelter the cars that roll out of its assembly lines.

The company has recently installed a canopy soaked through with solar panels that has been termed as “the world’s largest photovoltaic system in the auto industry”.

The canopy generates green energy and also shelters the company’s cars beneath. Six of Renault’s production sites including Douai, Maubeuge, Flins, Batilly, Sandouville and Cléon will make use of these systems covering 40 hectares or 400,000 square meters in all.

Capable of generating 52,600 MWh of electricity a year and reducing Co2 emissions by 200-tons annually, these solar panels will prove to be a boon for Renault, helping the automaker substantially reduce its carbon footprint in France.