Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

UK Offshore Wind Ambition Steps Forward

The UK electricity regulator has this week launched a tender for offshore wind farm grid connections. The move takes the UK’s offshore wind energy ambitions a step further towards delivery.

Transmission links to 2.8 Gigawatts of offshore wind farms are to be put out to competitive tender with the winning bidders to be announced in summer next year.

The Ofgem tender is the second tender round for offshore wind farm high voltage transmission links worth an estimated £1.9 billion (over US$ 3 billion). The tender is aimed at cost effectively incentivising the building of the necessary grid infrastructure to connect 6 UK offshore wind farms to the onshore grid network.

Britain Hits 5 Gigawatts of Wind Power

British Renewable Energy trade association Renewable UK announced this week that the UK has reached the milestone of 5 Gigawatts of installed wind power.

The announcement comes as another offshore wind farm is commissioned in UK waters off the coast of Kent.

Thanet wind farm comprises 100 Vestas wind turbines each rated at 3 Megawatts. Thanet owner and operator Vattenfall say it is the largest operational wind farm in the world.

Wind Turbine Installation Kicked off at Sheringham Shoal

A specialised vessel is now installing wind turbine monopiles and transition pieces at Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm off the UK north Norfolk coast.

The 317 megawatt (MW) wind farm is located between 17 and 22 km north of the town of Sheringham. Construction work began in March of this year and the wind farm is expected to be generating green electricity by the end of 2011.

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.

US Sanctions First Offshore Wind Farm

The first US offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound secured consent from the Obama administration on Wednesday after a 9 year battle.

The Cape Cod wind farm will consist of 130 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 420 Megawatts (MW).

The decision comes after 9 years of information requests and legislative tussels between the developer – Cape Wind Associates, wind energy supporters and vociferous opposers.

Executive Director of grassroots support group Clean Power Now said:

More Wind Turbine Factory Jobs on their Way

Siemens is the latest wind turbine manufacturer to announce plans for a new UK factory. The factory is expected to create 700 new green collar jobs.

Siemens is looking at sites for the plant in the North East and East of England with good harbour access being a fundamental requirement.

Last of the Round 1 Offshore Wind Farms Heads for 2009 Completion

It will have taken nearly 10 years to get the first round of UK offshore wind energy projects up and running by the time the last Round 1 offshore wind farm is completed at Rhyl Flats later this year.

Back in April 2001, following a pre-qualification process, 18 companies were selected by the Crown Estate to progress projects in the first round of offshore wind farm sites on the UK seabed. This represented an unprecedented step by the then Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in pushing forward offshore wind farms. Under the agreements, the companies were given a three-year period in which to secure the required consents for a full lease to be granted by the Crown Estate.

npower renewables built the first commercial scale offshore wind farm in UK waters in 2003 between Rhyl and Prestatyn off the north coast of Wales. This 30 turbine wind farm known as North Hoyle was built with help from capital grants and now generates enough green electricity for the annual average needs of 40,000 homes.

Over 6 years later npower has purchased the rights for the development of sister project “Rhyll Flats” from Celtic Offshore Wind Limited (COWL). The site is located to the west of North Hoyle 5 miles from shore.

Huge Area of Sea Needed for Offshore Wind Turbines

In order to meet the renewable energy aspirations of the UK government, offshore wind power developers need to find 10,000 km2 of sea area.

A strategic environmental assessment carried out by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) calculated that up to 10,000 km2 of sea area would be needed to accommodate 25 Gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind energy capacity. This area of sea could be difficult to find given the number of ecological constraints – birds and marine life – and the need for shallow waters for economic reasons.

Up to 7000 Wind Turbines Mooted for the UK Coastline

A new government report says there is potential for between 5000 and 7000 offshore wind turbines around the UK Coastline. The report was commissioned by the department of Energy and Climate Change and recommends that offshore wind energy developments should minimise impacts on the tourism and fishing industries by locating new turbines at least 22km from the coast.