Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

More Offshore Wind Turbine Jobs for the UK

Wind turbine giant has Siemens announced that it is to sign a memorandum of understanding with Associated British Ports to set up an offshore wind turbine manufacturing and export facility at Alexandra Dock, Port of Hull.

The investment is expected to create hundreds of green jobs at the site, with thousands more in the associated supply chains.

Welcoming the investment, Dr. Gordon Edge, RenewableUK Director of Policy, said:

Mitsubishi Aquires Scottish R&D Company

The Guardian reported this week that Mitsubishi has taken over the Scottish renewable energy technology company Artemis Intelligent Power.

The Japanese company has said that the move will lead to an investment of £100m over 5 years and an additional 200 green jobs.

US Gears Up for Offshore Wind Energy

This week saw US politicians taking action to encourage offshore wind energy along the US Atlantic Coast.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a new initiative dubbed ‘Smart from the Start’ with the purpose of selecting the best sites for offshore wind farms. The initiative is based on regulatory change designed to speed up the permitting and leasing of offshore wind sites leading to speedier wind farm delivery.

Scots Strive for 80% Renewable Energy

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond announced last week a massive leap in the Scottish renewable energy targets from 50% to 80%. The target is expected to be met by 2020.

By setting the ambitious target, Salmond has confirmed Scotland’s status as a global leader in the renewable energy field. Scotland now hosts a substantial number of wind farms and is expected to meet an interim target of 31% renewable energy by 2011.

Salmond said “Scotland is blessed with abundant natural energy sources…

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 [...]

Adopt a Wind Turbine

The European Wind Energy Association has launched a new campaign encouraging people to ‘adopt a wind turbine‘.

The ‘Give Europe a Breath of Fresh Air’ campaign aims to show that wind energy is a mainstream power source that EWEA believes could power Europe seven times over.

EWEA say that European countries are the world leaders in wind energy and that wind energy creates green jobs, lowers electricity prices and emits no C02.

GE to Create 2000 Green Jobs in the UK

Wind turbine manufacturer GE announced this week that it plans to spend 110m Euros (US$147m) and create up to 2000 green jobs in the UK. The company is to join other wind turbine manufacturers who have recently decided to invest heavily in the UK offshore wind energy market.

GE plans to build an offshore wind turbine manufacturing base in the UK and will also create application and service engineering centres around the country. GE say the investment will follow the successful outcome of the UK governments grid infrastructure competition which is intended to make the roll out of Round 3 UK offshore wind a reality. The company wants to develop a 4 Megawatt capacity wind turbine.

President and CEO of GE International Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco said;

US Provides Direct Funding for Renewable Energy

The US Treasury opened its doors to a scheme offering payments for renewable energy in lieu of tax credits today.

The initiative is designed to help energy generating businesses and was introduced via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009. The scheme was set up partly because of the nose-diving investor demand for tax credits. The tax credit system has to date been the US government favoured incentive for renewable energy projects.

£1 Billion Loans for UK Wind Energy Projects

The UK Government today announced plans to allocate £1 bn (US $1.6) of loans to wind energy companies through part – state owned banks.
After announcing that offshore wind energy would recieve double the financial incentives in the budget earlier this year, the Government has stepped in again to help smooth the path for struggling [...]