Feb 27

Renewable News 28th February 2012

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Acciona Joins Solar Flagship Venture After BP Drops Out

Acciona, has joined Pacific Hydro in a venture seeking Australian funds to build the Moree solar farm in New South Wales state after partner BP Solar pulled out.

Acciona will provide engineering and construction services to the solar-power project, while Pacific Hydro and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures will take up the ownership stake previously held by BP. The venture will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Hydro, which plans to start its own retail energy group, according to the statement.

While the partners in the proposed A$923 million solar plant won government funds last year, they failed to sign a power-purchase agreement in time to reach a December financing deadline. That prompted the government to reopen the funding competition to other bidders, including AGL.

moree solar farm

Minister approves Hawkesdale, Ryan Corner wind farms
Two Victorian wind farm developments at Hawkesdale and Ryan Corner have been approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy after months of negotiation.

Spanish proponents Union Fenosa announced yesterday that work on the two sites would start as early as next month, ahead of state government reforms of the renewable energy sector. More than $500 million will be pumped into the two projects, one which is located in farmland south-east of Hawkesdale and the other between Yambuk and Orford.

Union Fenosa managing director Domingo Asuero said the company would provide site possession to Portland-based GR Carr Construction. He said early works on the sites would start within weeks. The two projects will generate a combined 196 megawatts of renewable electricity, enough to power the needs of about 80,000 houses.

Abengoa Beats Estimates as Construction Surges
Abengoa net income jumped last year, exceeding analysts’ estimates by 22 percent as sales from its engineering and construction division surged.

The Spanish based company, which develops solar thermal power plants, builds power transmission lines and ethanol refining facilities, posted profit of 257.4 million euros compared with a mean forecast of 210.3 million euros in a survey of 13 analysts.

GE and JP Morgan Chase
GE and JP Morgan Chase & Co. jointly purchased a minority stake in the Capricorn Ridge wind farm in Texas for US$225 million from NextEra Energy Inc.

The 662.5-megawatt Capricorn Ridge wind farm, which began operating in 2007, uses turbines produced by both GE and Siemens AG (SIE) and can produce enough power for about 220,000 homes.

Suzlon
It is rumored that Mauritius’s state-owned Central Electricity Board named a group led by Suzlon Energy Ltd. as the preferred bidder for a 29.4-megawatt wind farm, the Port Louis- based Le Mauricien reported.

This news comes after Suzlon Energy’s convertible bonds have been falling at the fastest pace since 2009 after India’s biggest wind-turbine maker signaled it will fall short of funds to repay debt maturing this year.

Suzlon is exploring options including asset sales to meet $569 million in bond redemptions this year as losses widen, said Chairman Tulsi Tanti.

Fitch Ratings sees “extremely high” risk of default for a fifth of Indian convertible bonds due this year, according to a report dated Feb. 21. Another 17 percent of the debt may need to be reorganized, mostly by extending maturities, Amey Joshi, a Mumbai-based analyst at Fitch, wrote in the report.

The global wind power market rose 6 percent to 41 gigawatts last year, led by China, the Global Wind Energy Council said in a report on Feb. 7. Suzlon currently has orders worth $7.5 billion, according to a Feb. 11 statement. Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark, the biggest turbine maker, announced a loss in 2011 that was four times wider than expected on Feb. 8. Sinovel Wind Group Co., China’s biggest supplier, said Jan. 30 it expects 2011 earnings to fall by more than 50 percent.

Port Fairy Wind Farms

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Dec 18

Renewable News 18th November

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ACT Solar Tender
The renewable industry will have an opportunity to compete for establishment of up to 40MW of solar generation from large scale facilities (greater than 2MW capacity) located in the ACT and connected to the ACT distribution network.

After consultation on the design of an auction and price support mechanism, the ACT Government tabled facilitating legislation on 17 November 2011, including a draft Instrument for the release of 40 MW of solar energy generation capacity through a competitive auction process:

* Electricity Feed-in (Large-scale Renewable Energy Generation) Bill 2011 External Link

The ACT Government recognises that competent solar energy developers can lower the cost of renewable energy if they are given an opportunity to optimise the technology employed, and the size and location of their proposed facilities.

The auction will lead to the establishment of solar energy generation, in addition to the Micro and Medium scale elements of the existing ACT Electricity Feed-in Tariff Scheme, that will:

* significantly contribute to the Territory’s greenhouse gas abatement targets;
* leverage economies of scale and location, provide financial security for developers and reduce solar energy costs; and
* enhance the clean energy industry in the ACT.

An information package for prospective participants in the auction process will be provided following the passage of the legislation.

See for more information.

Ryan Corner & Hawkesdale Windfarm Extension
The Victorian Minister for Planning has approved the extension of time for Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale wind farm project planning approvals, enabling Early Works construction to commence in early 2012

Union Fenosa Wind Australia is progressing its plans to build two wind farm projects in south west Victoria, and the company has today received an extension of time for its Planning Permit Approval. The extension enables the company to proceed with the Early Works construction that it plans to commence in early 2012.

The extension enables the company to proceed with Early Works construction that it plans to commence in early 2012. The Early Works construction will include a VicRoads-approved entrance to the site from public roads, a site compound for the location of the Site Management Team offices, and part of the internal access track network. Union Fenosa Wind Australia has selected Portland-based GR Carr Construction to construct and deliver the Early Works package at both Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale sites.

victorian wind farms

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Oct 06

Renewable News 6th October

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Suzlon Energy and REpower
Suzlon Energy Australia and REpower Australia are combining operations in the Australian market. The new entity will go forward as REpower Australia, which is a subsidiary of German REpower Systems SE, which is a Suzlon Group Company.

Importantly, the Suzlon Group will continue its partnership involvement in wind projects. Ownership of these projects shall remain unchanged from the current structure.

Taralga Wind Farm
CBD Energy, and its partners acquired the planned and much delayed Taralga wind farm project in NSW from RES Group.

The proposed 100MW Taralga wind farm, located 45km Nth of Goulburn in the Southern Highlands has government approval for 61 turbines.

CBD is a partner with China Datang Renewable Power Co. and Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co. in AusChina Energy Group, which bought the right to build the wind farm, including the land needed for the project. The joint venture plans to develop A$6 billion ($6.3 billion) of renewable-energy projects over the next eight years.

Construction of the Taralga wind farm may start this year, with completion due in 2013, CBD said.

Exmoor Wind Farm
Acciona, plans to develop a 144-megawatt wind farm in South Australia.

The proposed 48 turbine Exmoor wind farm, located about 15 kilometers Nth of Naracoorte in the southeast of the state.

Aquamarine
Aquamarine Power Ltd., a Scottish developer of wave technology, got a loan from Barclays Plc (BARC),

“For us this opens the door to securing debt finance for our first pre-commercial 10-megawatt project which will commence in 2014,” Martin McAdam, chief executive officer of Aquamarine, said in a statement.

The 3.4 million pound loan ($5.5 million) over five years, will be used to complete a 2.4-megawatt installation at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, adding two wave-power devices in 2012 and 2013 to the one already installed.

The marine energy industry last year raised $58 million, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. By comparison the wind industry raised $7.59 billion in public markets and $1.33 billion in private capital. ABB Ltd., a power-grid supplier, in November invested 8 million pounds in Aquamarine.

Wave energy

SolarReserve
SolarReserve, who received a $737 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee for a solar thermal project in central Nevada, will use equipment from United Technologies Corp.

The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes plant near Tonopah will use mirrors to focus sunlight and heat molten salt, which generates steam to drive a turbine. SolarReserve has an exclusive license for the United Technologies solar-thermal system.

First Solar
First Solar, sold a 550MW project in California to NextEra Energy and General Electric

The U.S. Energy Department has recently announced the $1.46 billion loan guarantee for the Tempe, Arizona-based company’s Desert Sunlight project.

Solar Millennium
Solar Millennium, said the solar field in its 250-million euro ($336 million) hybrid development in Egypt helped generate 8 percent more energy than forecasted.

Output from the 53,000 parabolic mirrors of the Kuraymat plant, south of Cairo, “considerably” exceeded expectations, the company said.

The 150-megawatt site was one of the first solar and gas- fired hybrid generators when operations began in June, combining a gas turbine with parabolic trough technology, in which mirrors concentrate solar energy to heat liquids and power turbines.

Wave energy

ABB
ABB will work with Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned electricity company, to build two solar photovoltaic power plants. The pilot projects will be located near coal-fired plants in the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces, the Johannesburg- based newspaper reported.

Wind in the Pub
Drinks for wind professionals.

Details:
Venue - The Commodore Hotel, 206 Blues Point Road North Sydney
Date - 12th Oct 2011
Time - 4:30 PM-6:30 PM

Wind in the Pub

REGYP
REGYP supplies high quality gypsum products for large scale solar farm construction including a solar flagship project. The gyspum can be used in the bulk civil and rehabilitation works due to the sulphur and calcium available in gypsum.

Mar 16

Renewable News 17th March 2011

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Happy St Patricks Day!

Yass Valley Wind Farm Activity
Wind Prospect is investigating the Yass Valley region and has submitted a preliminary application in to the Department of Land and Planning for at Bango near Bowning. The company installed a monitoring mast near Wargeila Road in July 2009.

Once the full development application is lodged for the Bango wind farm, the state government will assess if the specific wind farm is to be considered a major project. The WindProspect also have the approved 122 turbines Boco Rock wind farm near Nimmitabel south of Cooma.

Locals councils in the Yass Valley are concerned on their lack of influence during the planning process of a large wind farm project. Yass Valley Council’s General Manager David Rowe said there needed to be some changes to the way these significant developments are administered. “There are no requirements to listen to local government at all,” Mr Rowe said. “Council can lodge a submission in relation to state significant development however there is no guarantee it will be listened to.”

Incumbent member for Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson said Part 3A of the planning legislation has been grossly misused and that applications, especially in relation to wind farms, should be put on hold until after the election. “It is very important that local communities be given a say about what is to be built in their area,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

Other proposed projects in the Yass area are:

  • Epuron’s Birrema wind farm, 60 - 80 turbines, 30km west of Yass, near Bookham between the Benangaroo and Childowla Raods,
  • Epuron’s Yass Valley wind farm, up to 200 turbines, 2okm south west of Yass on the Coppabella & Marilba hills and Carrolls Ridge,
  • Suzlon/Windlab Rugby wind farm, up to 90 turbines 40km north of Yass,
  • Epuron’s Rye Park wind farm, 80 - 100 turbines, near Rye Park running south east to the north of Yass.

GWEC
Wind turbine installations may rise 20 percent this year worldwide and double by 2015, the Global Wind Energy Council said in a statement today.

Capacity to produce electricity from the wind may rise by 40 gigawatts in 2011 from 294.4 gigawatts at the end of last year, the lobby group said in a statement from Brussels. By 2015, it forecasts 450 gigawatts.

“2010 was a tough year for our industry, but 2011 is looking up,” said Steve Sawyer, secretary general for GWEC. “We’ve paid the price for the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis. Now we’re back on track.”

GE
GE has unveiled a 4.1MW wind turbine specifically designed for offshore applications, which the company said will improve reliability and efficiency. The new turbine is a direct drive model, in which the blades directly drive a generator, in contrast to the gearboxes used in most other turbines.

GE said this design, which cuts the number of moving parts in the turbine, minimises the need for maintenance, which is costly and complicated for offshore turbines. It is based on the company’s 3.5MW onshore direct drive model, and will be installed in the harbour at Gothenburg in Sweden in the second half of 2011 through a contract with Göteborg Energi.

ABB
ABB Ltd.has agreed to buy 35 percent of the concentrated sun-power technology developer Novatec Solar, which is a subsidiary of Transfield Holdings. ABB also has an option to acquire the rest of the German company.

ABB also agreed to cooperate with Novatec on solar power projects, the Zurich-based company said today in a statement. It did not give a price. Concentrated solar systems reflect sunlight, usually with mirrors, to heat liquids and produce steam to generate electricity.

ABB’s acquisition “comes at the tail end of a couple of years of strategic consolidation in the solar thermal industry through acquisitions by major power equipment companies. Recent solar thermal acquisitions:

  • Siemens AG acquired Israeli parabolic trough leader Solel Solar Systems and a 45 percent stake in Italian receiver maker Archimede Solar Energy in 2009,
  • Areva SA (CEI) bought the U.S. Linear Fresnel CSP firm Ausra Inc. in 2010, and
  • Alstom SA (ALO) took a stake in the tower and heliostat technology and project developer BrightSource Energy Inc. in 2010, Chase said from Zurich.

Novatec, of Karlsruhe, is currently building the world’s first commercial 30-megawatt Linear Fresnel power plant in Spain.

NextEra Energy
NextEra the largest U.S. operator of wind power, is in discussions with a utility to build a solar-thermal plant at an existing natural gas generator to reduce fuel costs and pollution, said Chief Executive Officer Lew Hay. He declined to name the utility.

NextEra’s Florida Power & Light utility last year completed a 75-megawatt solar steam system to feed its Martin natural gas plant, part of a plan to add 110 megawatts of solar energy to the utility’s supply in the state. That plant was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, he said.

Solar thermal technology could also be added to coal plants as a way to reduce pollution and fuel costs when the sun shines, without the loss of reliability that can come from intermittent sources of energy.

hybrid solar plants

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Feb 18

Renewable News 18th February

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Waterloo Wind Farm
The Waterloo wind farm has been officially opened in the mid-north of South Australia. Roaring 40s has built 37 wind turbines which it says will power about 46,000 properties from its 111MW capacity. The Premier Mike Rann said renewable energy now provided 18.8 per cent of SA’s power requirements and it was planned to reach 33 per cent by 2020.

Roaring 40s wants to put additional turbines at the Waterloo site and is keen to build wind farms at Stony Gap and Robertstown.

India
The Indian government may enlist the help of Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the state-run explorer, in surveying offshore wind-power potential and setting up the nation’s first two wind farms at sea. “We’re thinking of two pilot projects in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat states,” Deepak Gupta, secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said yesterday in an interview on the sidelines of a wind conference in New Delhi.

offshore wind india

Jan 27

Renewable News 27th January

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Atlantis Resources
Atlantis will meet Australian investors next moth as it looks to raise $150 million next year. Atlantis is a tidal power technology provider and tidal farm developer.

Transfield
Transfield Services proposed Collector wind farm is feeling the heat of opposing neighbours after a billboard was erected on the Federal Hwy.

Netherlands
Van Oord Groep NV, the Rotterdam- based marine services company, agreed to build a 600-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, the nation’s largest clean energy project.

Romania
Vestas has said that Romania has the greatest potential for growth for the wind energy industry in eastern Europe during the next five years.

Siemens
Siemens will work with Prysmian SpA, an Italian cable manufacturer, to install the 160-kilometer undersea line to connect a 288-megawatt wind farm, named DanTysk, with 80 Siemens turbines. Located near the German island of Sylt, with a forecasted operation date early 2014.

Abengoa
Abengoa, Spain’s biggest developer of solar-thermal power plants, has said that it signed an agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. to build projects in India.

tidal power generator

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Jan 18

Renewable News 18th January

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Solar Flagship Program
The race for $1.5 billion in federal funding to create commercial scale solar projects is tightening, with Acciona pulling out due to continuing uncertainty with the carbon price and the project’s financial viability. Infigen Energy has also mentioned it will only proceed with their three solar projects if the numbers work.

Acciona also recently pulled out of the bidding race for the Emu Downs wind farm in WA.

solar pv

Victoria
THE Victorian Coalition government is standing by Labor’s target of a 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions this decade, but is yet to come up with a plan to meet it.

Also a test case is looming for Victoria’s tough new wind farm policy. This could be an issue for Victorian wind farm developers as the new Planning Minister Matthew Guy has warned that all decisions on new and pending wind projects should take account of the incoming changes ahead of new guidelines.

The state’s Supreme Court has ordered the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to rehear the case of a proposed 12-turbine wind farm that was refused council approval. The Wind Farm Developments, Sisters wind farm near Terang, 220km west of Melbourne, would put turbines within 500m of residents who oppose the project, defying the Coalition’s policy for a 2km buffer zone.

“We would expect VCAT and any other responsible authority for wind farms to be very mindful of the new government’s intentions on our setbacks policy before it is formally implemented,” Mr Guy told The Australian.

Apart from The Sisters, two proposed wind farms, at Chepstowe and Pykes Hill, are currently seeking approval. No new applications for wind farms have been made since the November election, but Mr Guy said the industry’s predictions of a wind farm exodus to more friendly states was false.

Last year the Tribunal ruled, The Sisters should not proceed, applying 2010 New Zealand noise standards to assess its impact. The Supreme Court found VCAT erred by not keeping to 1998 acoustic standards.

Victorian wind farm policy

REpower
REpower has secured the first contract with Canada’s Saint-Laurent Energies for a project called Lac Alfred northwest of Quebec City. REpower will deliver 150 2MW turbines by late 2013. The developer Saint-Laurent Energies, is jointly owned by EDF EN Canada Inc. and RES Canada.

Atlantis and Gujarat
Atlantis and Gujarat team up to build Asia’s first tidal power project with plans for a 50MW project.

Contact Energy
Contact Energy received resource consent for the 250MW Tauhara Stage Two geothermal power station project in New Zealand’s Taupo region.

Suzlon
A deal by Suzlon Energy, to develop a 150-megawatt project with U.S.-based Affinity Wind may help revive the company’s international orders. Suzlon and Affinity agreed to form a joint venture to build the wind farm in Illinois, which is expected to start commercial operations this year.

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Dec 03

Renewable News 3rd December

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Carnegie
Carnegie’s wave energy CETO 3 deployment and testing activities are on track to be completed in 2010 as scheduled. The CETO 3 single unit deployment and testing at Garden Island will consist of an autonomous CETO unit, hydraulic energy dissipation system and instrumentation buoy. The hydraulic system and instrument buoy avoids, in the first instance, the investment required for a physical connection to shore for the initial single unit installation.

Kepple Prince
Portland wind tower manufacturer Keppel Prince could move its business interstate because of the Victorian Coalition Government’s wind farm policy. The company recently won a $27 million contract to build towers for the Macarthur wind farm, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs.

General manager Steve Garner says parts of the Coalition’s wind farm policy, like the minimum turbine set-back distance, could mean fewer new wind farms are built. He says Keppel Prince could relocate to New South Wales. “If Victoria does stall and we don’t see a future in it then obviously we’ve got to look where the business is and I think the next area of growth will be somewhere in NSW,” he said.

turbine tower manufacture

Contact Energy
Contact Energy has won its appeal to build a $400 million wind farm near Dannevirke, leaving local opponents “deeply disappointed” after a $150,000 legal battle.

The court has ruled in favour of the company building a wind farm on the Puketoi Range, southeast of Dannevirke, but has granted a lapse time of just five years – half that applied for. The consent allows Contact to build 58 turbines up to 125 metres high, or 52 turbines 150m high.

Gamesa
Gamesa will develop wind farms with a capacity of 324MW in Mexico with developer Eolia Renovables.

Aquamarine Power
Scotland’s Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) has nabbed a £4m ($6.2m) contract to build Aquamarine Power’s second-generation wave energy device, further fuelling its momentum in the marine renewables sector.

Dow Chemical
The Dow Chemical Company will power its largest manufacturing facility in Brazil with eucalyptus wood biomass. Dow signed a supply agreement with Brazilian firm Energias Renovaveis do Brasil to help install and operate the biomass generation plant. The plant is expected to reduce the site’s carbon dioxide emissions by 180,000 metric tons annually and conserve 200,000 m3 of natural gas daily.

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Oct 28

Renewable News 28th October

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NSW Household Solar
The NSW government has dramatically reduced the household rebate for its solar energy scheme in an effort to avoid a $2.5 billion blow out. The gross feed in tarriff would be reduced from 60c to 20c/kWh.

Carnegie
Wave Energy developer Carnegie unveiled the buoyant actuator (BA), a key component of its commercial scale CETO 3 unit. Once deployed, Carnegie’s CETO 3 will be the first commercial wave energy unit operating in Australia.

Brightsource
NRG Energy Inc. said it plans to spend $300 million on BrightSource Energy Inc.’s planned 392 MW solar thermal power station in Ivanpah, California.

Construction of the plant has already begun, and is forecasted for completion in 2012. The project will use pole-mounted mirrors, or heliostats, to reflect the sun’s rays to boilers mounted on top of towers, vaporizing the water inside with temperatures of than 538 degC. The steam produced will be piped to a turbine generator.

Kenya
Kenya plans to start drilling for geothermal steam deposits at Menengai near the southwestern town of Nakuru in December, By June 2011, the East African country plans to drill six wells in the area, using two drilling rigs. Kenya plans to seek as many as four geothermal power-plant developers to exploit deposits in Menengai.

solar thermal tower

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Oct 06

Renewable News 6th October

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Country Energy
Country Energy is assessing sites for a feasibility study to build a 50kW non-urban solar plant in New South Wales (NSW).

The solar plant will be the state’s first non-urban plant planned at the Bega Valley on the far south coast, according to Country Energy.

bega solar farm

Suzlon
Suzlon Energy said it plans to install 800 MW of wind energy in South Africa over the next two years and the company has set up an office in Johannesburg to pursue the opportunities.

Carnegie
While investors wait for the CETO wave energy technology to be commercialised and installed in utility scale, Carnegie has signed a formal collaboration agreement with Sustainable Energy Authority, Ireland’s Ocean Energy Development Unit to jointly develop projects at the Belmullet wave energy test site, as well at other locations off Ireland.

The three year deal marks a milestone in the commercial roll-out of Carnegie’s Ceto wave power device, which until now has only been tested off Australia, with a further project planned for the French-owned Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

Carnegie has also awarded a vessel charter contract to North Fremantle-based Total AMS Pty Ltd (“TAMS”), for the purposes of the CETO 3 installation activities at its wave energy site to the west of Garden Island off Perth in WA.
The installation barge will provide a working platform for the CETO 3 installation
equipment and system components. Prior to commencing the installation the barge will be fitted out with a 50 tonne crawler crane, air compressor, generator and dive operation support equipment.

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