Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

Minister Takes Helicopter to Visit Wind Farm

Department of Energy and Climate Change renewables minister Charles Hendrey, took a tour of an offshore wind farm in a helicopter last week. The Minister does not appear to be phased by the irony as he cruises over the 172 Megawatt Gunfleet Sands wind farm, off the east coast.

Gunfleet Sands wind farm provides for the average annual needs of 125,000 homes and unlike the Minister offsetts the production of a significant amount of carbon dioxide.

Green Jobs Threatened By Government Cuts

Green jobs could be threatened by UK government spending cuts it has emerged this week.
Government departments are for the first time facing 25% budget reductions and this is expected to have significant consequences for the country.
One area of public spending at risk is ‘The Ports fund’. The fund was announced by the Labour government [...]

German Companies Join Forces to Build UK Offshore Wind Farm

German utility company Stadtwerke München (SWM) has bought a 30% stake in RWE Innogy’s Liverpool Bay wind farm Gwynt Y Mor.

According to industry sources, the company has been looking for a finance partner to share the £2bn offshore wind investment required for well over a year. Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens has also bought a 10% stake in the project.

Vestas Open Wind Turbine Office in South Africa

Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas opened a new office in South Africa yesterday to support its expected future expansion in the region. The company has been active in the country for a number of years and says the new office has been opened in recognition of the bright future for wind energy in the region in the longer term.

Leicester Square Wind Turbine Installed

A 13 metre wind turbine was installed in London’s Leicester Square today.

The temporary wind turbine installed by SIAC Wind Power was installed as part of the UK wind week event. The wind turbine and wind week is hoped to promote wind energy in the UK.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Hulne said:

Duputy PM’s Wife Joins Spanish Renewable Energy Giant

The Times, The Telegraph and the Daily Mail have this week all reported on Miriam Gonzalez, the wife of the UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joining the board of renewable energy giant Acciona.

Spanish born lawyer Miriam Gonzalez has been invited to provide independent advice to the company’s board. According to cabinet sources, discussions progressed with Acciona prior to the general election.

Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona both manufactures wind turbines and constructs wind farms throughout the globe.

Wind Turbine Report Confirms No Health Effects

If you are baffled by people referring to terms such as ‘vibro-acoustic disease’, ‘wind turbine syndrome’ or just generally worried about wind turbine noise, a report has been published confirming that many wind turbine claims are ill founded.

The review ‘Wind Turbine Sound & Health Effects‘ carried out last year includes an assessment of so called research carried out by anti-wind farm campaigners (including Nina Pierpont).

Lib Dem Reveals Nuclear Decommissioning Liability

The Coalition Secretary of State for Energy has spoken out this week about huge legacy nuclear decommissioning costs. According to the Guardian Chris Huhne disclosed a £4bn black hole in what he described as ‘unavoidable’ nuclear power station decommissioning and waste costs.

Huhne has brought the costs to the attention of the Cabinet and pointed out that the total budget for the energy and climate change department is limited to £3bn annually. Huhne described his department as “not so much the Departement of Energy and Climate Change, as the Department of nuclear legacy and bits of other things“….He went on to say that what we are effectively paying for here is “decades of cheap nuclear electricity for which we have suddenly got a massive postdated bill“.