Wind Energy Planning

Court Costs Mount up for Anti-Wind Farm Campaigners

The recent trend of anti-wind farm campaigners challenging wind farm planning consents is unlikely to continue if the experiences of recent court cases are repeated.

Den Brook wind farm, near Crediton in Devon was first proposed five years ago. After being given the go- ahead by the Planning Inspectorate at appeal, challenges were mounted by resident Mr Hulme against the Government’s decision. The latest judge to consider the case – Frances Patterson QC however rejected all 10 reasons for the high court challenge, concluding that the decision to grant consent for the 9 wind turbines was ‘thorough and reasonable’.

Helen Hall, project manager for wind farm company RES told the BBC:

Wind Turbine Manufacturer Share Prices Fall

The BBC reported this week that shares in leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas have slumped this year.

The company suffered net losses of 119m euros in the second quarter, down from a profit of 43m euros one year ago according to the BBC.

Vestas expects a substantial new wind farm contract in China to help soften the blow of postponed orders in Europe and the US.

Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa also experienced a drop in share price on Wednesday.

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.

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:

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.

Brown Praises Siemens Offshore Wind Energy Work

The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the Siemens facility in Manchester this week and took the opportunity to speak of the bright future for the company in the offshore wind sector.

The tour involved visiting the facility that has carried out work on offshore wind energy. There were alse demonstrations of technologies used in the oil and gas sector, power stations and other industries.

Brown praised the work of Siemens in the UK and pointed to its crucial role in the future of UK wind energy and renewables.

US Maintains Top Wind Energy Position

The US is still the wind energy world leader according to a report released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today.

The US Annual Wind Energy Industry Report claims that despite a slower rate of increase in manufacturing the US remains number 1 in industry rankings.

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.

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;

Europe’s Biggest Wind Farm Loses Turbine Blade

A wind turbine at Europe’s biggest wind farm lost a blade last Friday according to wind farm operator Scottish Power Renewables.

All of the 140 turbines at the Whitelee wind farm were switched off further to the incident whilst engineers investigated possible causes.

Anti- Wind Turbine Councillor Flees to Spain

A local councillor who won his seat at Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Council due to his anti- wind turbine stance mysteriously disappeared to Spain after getting planning restrictions on his house removed and selling it.

According to the Wisbech Standard Cllr Markinson had previously been refused permission to lift the agricultural occupancy restriction but after he was elected in October 2007 he tried again with more success.

Factory Wind Turbine Turned Down

Princes Soft Drinks proposal for a wind turbine at its factory in Bradford was rejected last week due to impact on inhabitants of neighbouring properties.

Planning Inspector Elizabeth Ord said that wind turbine noise levels experienced by nearby residents, both at night and during the day would be lower than the limits recommended in nationally recognised guidance (ETSU R 97 “The Rating and Assessment of Noise from Wind Turbines” ). Despite this she believed that the wind turbine could still lead to sleep disturbance.

EDF Drops Olympic Wind Turbine Bid

French owned electricity supply and generation company EDF decided not to bid for the London Olympic wind turbine project according to the London Evening Standard yesterday.

The nuclear giant EDF say that there is not enough wind to justify building the £2 million ($3.2m) turbine at the site close to London’s Hackney Marshes. Instead they have suggested installing one on the south coast at Weymouth – close to the Olympic sailing venue.

The Olympic Delivery Authority have however accepted a proposal from electricity supply rival company Ecotricity who says that there is enough wind for the wind turbine to be viable. Ecotricity openly criticised EDF last year for ’stealing’ its green union jack logo and using it to make them appear green, renewable and British.

Using Social Media for Wind Energy Projects

People and companies are realising the potential opportunities offered by social networking sites when promoting or consulting on new projects according to PlanningBlog.

Mark Wilding asked planners what they thought of using social media as a tool for planning application consultation and although a note of caution was urged with regard to the ability of these tools to contain detail, most respondents agreed there is great potential to engage people who do not usually get involved with planning issues. That is, if IT managers would lift restrictions on the use of social network sites (particularly common within local authorities and large companies).

Two examples of social network sites currently dedicated to wind energy are the facebook sites “Yes to Wind Turbines at Spaldington & Holme on Spalding Moor” and “I want a wind farm in my back yard because I’m not an idiot”.

The former is an example of a dedicated project support group set up by the neighbour of two proposed wind farms near Spaldington – the membership is now up to 144. There are links to the project websites and information about who members can e-mail and write to in order to express their views. The latter sprung up further to the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight and now has over 36,500 members. This membership reflects numerous public opinion surveys which time after time demonstrate that although not shouting the loudest, the majority of people support wind energy.

New £15m Wind Turbine Test Facility Planned for Blyth, UK

A new wind turbine blade test facility is planned for Blyth in the north east of England it was announced by R& D company Nirec today.

The £15 million ($24m) facility will test new turbine blade designs before they are used in offshore wind farms. The wind turbine blades to be tested will be up to 100 metres in length.

Narec are providers of R&D, consultancy, test and demonstration facilities for the renewable energy sector. The blade test centre will be the biggest of its type in the world, expanding the existing testing capability developed over the last five years at Blyth.

The expansion of the centre is being funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Department for Energy and Climate Change (£11.5m / $19m) and Regional Development Agency One North East (£3.5m/ $5.7m).

Small Wind Turbine Market Expands

With fixed prices for electricity generated by small scale renewable energy on their way, are we likely to see a better range of domestic wind turbine models on the market soon?

Over the past ten years there has been a limited range of domestic scale wind turbines on the market, with disaster striking with the B&Q cheap (and ineffective) rooftop turbine. This Youtube video shows a Danish householder with a reasonable plot of land using what appears to be a much more effective stand alone Gaia wind turbine.

The turbine has a peak rated output of 11kW and is described by the manufacturer as suitable for farms, large residences, offices, small businesses and public buildings where the main aim is to reduce the amount of electricity imported. In the right locations exporting electricity is also possible. The turbine has been designed to give an optimum yield in moderate wind speeds which the manufacturer specifies as a range of between 4.5-7.5 m/s (10-12mph).

Framework Deal for Repower Wind Turbines Signed

It was announced this week that German wind turbine manufacturer Repower signed a deal with French utility EDF for the supply of wind turbines for five wind farms in Canada.

The framework agreement is for the supply of turbines totalling a capacity of 954 Megawatts for wind farms in Quebec, developed by Saint-Laurent Energies, a company part owned by EDF.

With a shortage of wind turbine supply across the globe still causing the wind energy industry problems, companies are seeking out framework deals with turbine manufacturers, sometimes even before they have planning consent. Framework deals have the benefit of providing more certainty, especially for financially marginal projects – even if overall the wind farm operator does not make significant savings.

Although there were 35 new Chinese wind turbine manufacturers entering the market last year, it will be some time until these turbines have been tested and proven in the European, US and Canadian marketplace. With the offshore wind energy market set to expand at unprecedented rates over the next few years, it seems that the global turbine supply shortage will not be remedied quickly.

NREL Installs Siemens Wind Turbine

The US energy department DOE has installed a new wind turbine on its premises near Boulder, Colorado.

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has commissioned the 2.3 megawatt turbine on its National Technology Center site as part of an R&D project with Siemens.

The wind turbine has been commissioned in order to allow detailed investigations and monitoring – in what has been described as the biggest government-industry research partnership for wind energy generation ever undertaken in the U.S.