Wind

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Wind: China Maintains Emerging Markets Top Spot Following 19.7GW Build Boom

Wind industry intelligence service A Word About Wind has launched its Emerging Markets Attractiveness Index report for 2018, which provides insight and analysis into the most attractive emerging markets for wind companies. The index, now in its second year, ranks the top 30 emerging markets that investors should consider when investing in wind in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. The list considers factors including political and economic stability for investors, alongside the growth of electricity demand and potential for wind growth, in order to rank the countries by overall potential. As with last year’s report, China tops the list and the ongoing trade war with the US shows no sign of slowing China’s formidable growth.

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India: Improved Monsoon Winds Help Power Producers in 2018 

After a prolonged period of decline, wind speeds in India during the 2018 monsoon season were significantly higher than normal; and up to 20% higher than long-term averages in some regions. These higher wind speeds benefit wind farm production; welcome news for wind energy operators and investors, who have faced several years of lower-than-normal wind energy production during the monsoon period. These increased wind speeds can thus counter recent patterns of decline contributing to an increase in investor confidence with a data-driven approach.

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Europe: Investment In Ports Infrastructure Can Cut Offshore Wind Costs by 5.3%

European ports are set to take on an expanded role in the offshore wind supply chain. By 2030 Europe is expected to have installed 70 GW of offshore wind. This means there will be more than 10,000 turbines in the water. This is equivalent to a build-out rate of 6 GW per year, 20% of which will be repowering existing sites with brand new turbines. Investments of €0.5-€1bn in new port infrastructure could help the offshore wind sector to cut costs by up to 5.3%, according to figures released recently, by the WindEurope Ports Platform in Hamburg.

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Ingeteam’s Indian Wind Converter Factory Achieves DNV GL Certification First

Ingeteam has announced that it received DNV GL’s “Shop Approval in Renewable Energy” certification for the wind converter manufacturing facility recently established by the company in the Tamil Nadu region. Its new facility is the first-ever wind converter factory to receive such a certification in India. DNV GL’s Shop Approval is awarded upon successful completion of a comprehensive audit and enables Ingeteam to simplify the scope of subsequent quality inspections. This next level certification guarantees that a workshop operates within a high-standard manufacturing environment and that adequate working procedures and methods are consistently deployed by qualified staff.

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Ørsted Announces Plans For Offshore Wind Farm To Power 1 Million UK Homes

Ørsted, the largest energy company in Denmark has recently unveiled its plans for a sustainable energy solution to power more than 1 million homes in the UK when completed. The company is one of many leading organisations speaking and presenting at the 17th annual Benelux Infrastructure Forum on 21–22 November in Amsterdam. This year’s 2-day conference is the biggest yet, hosting an international gathering of industry leaders from law firms, banks, investment asset and fund managers, energy companies, insurance companies, European Commission, and engineering consultancies.

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MHI Vestas Signs Firm Order for Largest MW Project in Company History

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind will supply 90 of its flagship V164-9.5 MW turbines for the 860 MW Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm project; its largest MW project to date. MHI Vestas celebrated the financial close of the deal with innogy, at the site, confirming the project as the largest (MW) in the history of the turbine company. Affirming its strengthening position in the UK offshore wind market, the Danish-Japanese joint venture will supply 90 of the world’s most powerful commercially available turbine, the V164-9.5 MW, and has agreed on a comprehensive 5-year O&M agreement.

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Ingeteam Develops New Optimal Offshore Power Conversion Architecture

Ingeteam, an independent global supplier of electrical conversion and turbine control equipment, has announced that a recent in-house R&D study allowed them to work out the optimal electrical power conversion designs for offshore wind turbines up to 15 MW. The research, taking into account the complex set of parameters at play in LCoE, enabled it to develop a Medium Voltage Power Converter reaching up to the 15 MW power range. Ingeteam claims that its new design is the ideal solution for scaling up offshore turbine platforms and will present its converter and the associated research at the Global Wind Summit in Hamburg next month.

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Electrification The Key To Decarbonising Europe’s Economy

Electrification is the key to decarbonising Europe’s economy, according to WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson. He said: “according to the IEA, wind will be the #1 source of electricity soon after 2030, providing more than 30% of Europe’s electricity, but electricity is only 22% of the final energy needed by Europe’s economy. Political momentum is starting to grow for an EU target of net-zero emissions in 2050. To do this we’ll need to electrify heating and transport, where the share of renewables is just 18% and 6% respectively; that has to be the #1 priority”.

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Poland Scores Big: Mercedes-Benz Agrees Europe’s First Automotive Sector PPA

Mercedes-Benz has announced Europe’s first automotive Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a Polish wind farm. It is also the first such deal signed in Poland. It will buy electricity generated at the 45MW wind farm to power its manufacturing facility in Jawor, 10km away from the wind farm. The longer-term goal is to source all of its power needs from renewables. Corporate PPA deals like this are expanding rapidly in Europe. There was a 130% increase in the volume of wind energy contracted through such PPAs in 2017 alone.

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Europe Adds 4.5 GW Of Wind Energy In First Half Of 2018

Europe added 4.5 GW of wind energy capacity in the first half of 2018, according to figures released by WindEurope. The figure is down on the same period last year (6.1 GW) though is in line with expectations. For the whole of 2018, we expect to see 3.3 GW new offshore wind and 10.2 GW of onshore wind. This will mean 13.5 GW of new wind capacity in total for the year. WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu said: “We are on track for a solid year in new wind farm installations”, but expressed concern that “the growth is driven by just a handful of markets”.

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ABB Wins Big: $150m Order To Grid-Connect World’s Largest Offshore Wind-Farm

ABB has won orders worth over $150 million from Danish energy company, Ørsted (previously Dong Energy), to supply a range of technologies that will help integrate and transmit renewable wind energy from Hornsea Project Two, slated to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Upon completion; in addition to powering 1.3 million homes, it will also provide the additional power supply to support economic growth in the UK’s Humber region and help the UK meet its target of generating 15 per cent of energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.