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[waldron] 15/9/2009 06:07

Roof wind turbine maker wound up
A Glasgow-based company which makes wind turbines for domestic homes has gone into administration.

Windsave was founded in 2002 and the company and its products have won many environmental awards.

A separate part of the business, Windsave Holdings, which supplies turbines to companies and public buildings, is continuing to trade.

A spokesman for Windsave blamed planning regulation for making it difficult for people to fit windmills.

Accountancy firm Martin Aitken confirmed it had been appointed as interim liquidators.

Windsave launched its small turbine amidst a great deal of publicity.

The company claimed the roof-mounted windmill could save households up to 15% of their electricity bill.

It said its competitive advantage came from its "Plug 'n' Save" technology which allowed electricity generated to be sent straight into the mains power unit instead of being stored in batteries.

However, the company acknowledged that, after paying for the turbine, it could take five to 10 years before homeowners started saving money.

Until recently, Windsave turbines were sold through the B&Q chain but were withdrawn after research by The Energy Saving Trust.

A statement of the company's website said: "The study confirms that current micro wind turbine technology fails to deliver the results we originally hoped it would for the everyday householder living in an urban environment".

A spokesman for Windsave said that some turbines had been erected in locations which were not suitable because of the lack of wind speed.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/09/11 11:01:08 GMT

[ariane] 12/9/2009 10:40

Technip Joins StatoilHydro in Announcing the Inauguration of the World's First Full-Scale Floating Wind Turbine





Regulatory News:

Technip (Paris:TEC) (ISIN:FR0000131708) joins StatoilHydro in celebrating the inauguration of the Hywind demonstration wind turbine, which took place on September 8 in Karmøy, Norway. Located 10 kilometers offshore Karmøy, Hywind is the first full-scale floating wind turbine and has a capacity of 2.3 MW.


Following the award of the turnkey contract for the substructure of the wind turbine in May 2008, Technip's operating center in Oslo, Norway, performed the project management and installation engineering. Detail design and fabrication of the substructure was carried out at the Group's construction yard in Pori, Finland, which is specialized in the construction of Spar platforms.


After being towed in a horizontal position to the Åmøyfjoden fjord in Norway, the substructure was up-ended and stabilized before assembly with the wind mill, including the generator and the turbine blades. The completed floating wind mill, now in a vertical position, was then towed to the final location by three vessels and connected to the anchor system in June 2009. The total structure measures 165 meters of which 100 meters below the sea level.


The Hywind demonstration unit will operate for a period of at least two years. The objective is to gain knowledge on practical aspects of the operation and maintenance of floating offshore windmills.


This project illustrates Technip's ambition and ability to implement expertise from its core business in service of renewable energies.


Technip is a world leader in the fields of project management, engineering and construction for the oil & gas industry, offering a comprehensive portfolio of innovative solutions and technologies.


With 23,000 employees around the world, integrated capabilities and proven expertise in underwater infrastructures (Subsea), offshore facilities (Offshore) and large processing units and plants on land (Onshore), Technip is a key contributor to the development of sustainable solutions for the energy challenges of the 21st century.


Present in 46 countries, Technip has operating centers and industrial assets (manufacturing plants, spoolbases, construction yard) on five continents, and operates its own fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.


The Technip share is listed on Euronext Paris exchange and over the counter (OTC) in the USA.

[ceohunter] 30/6/2009 12:02

The directors of Ascent Resources (AIM: AST), Blue Energy Limited (ASX: BUL) and Kenmare Resources (AIM: KMR) will be presenting:

Thursday the 16th July 2009
Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, 35 Charles Street, Mayfair, W1J 5EB

The presentations will start at 6:00pm and finish at approx 7:30pm. After the presentations are complete the directors will also be available to take questions during a free canapé and wine reception.

[waldron] 24/6/2009 07:36

Wind Power Will Overtake Nuclear in U.K., BWEA Says (Update1)
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By Mike Anderson

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- The British Wind Energy Association predicted the industry will produce more U.K. power than nuclear reactors in the next decade and said competition and investment are needed to bring down costs.

"Wind will overtake nuclear in terms of installed capacity within the next four to five years," Maria McCaffery, chief executive officer of the London-based association, wrote in an e-mail statement. The group, with 499 members in the wind- and tidal-energy industries, released two reports today calling on the U.K. to set policies to connect producers of renewable energy to the country's power grid.

Britain will have installed offshore wind capacity of as much as 9 gigawatts by 2015, the report said. Wind generation has the potential to provide electricity to every U.K. home by 2020, it said.

The wind industry is suffering from increasing capital costs and needs three to four manufacturers competing to bring down construction costs, the association said. Costs of building wind capacity are forecast to rise for the next few years and then decline from current levels until 2015, the group said.

"We could see prices fall by as much as 20 percent from today's 3.1 million pounds ($5.1 million) per megawatt" of installed capacity, McCaffery said. "Government must pull out all the stops to accommodate this program."

Companies developing wind capacity in the U.K. include Iberdrola SA's Scottish Power Ltd. and Vattenfall AB, Sweden's largest utility.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Anderson at [e-mail]

Last Updated: June 24, 2009 01:38 EDT

[ariane] 15/6/2009 05:36

Today is Global Wind Day
In U.S. organizers hope to alert country to risk of losing jobs in this sector to China

Compiled By Adrienne Selko

June 15, 2009


U.S. Seminconductor Manufacturer Lands Contract with Chinese Cell Phone Maker
Today is Global Wind Day
Millipore Opens New Bioprocess Manufacturing Facility in Massachusetts
Report Blames Petroleum Industry for 25% of Toxic Pollutants
Manufacturing Ranked #1 Industry for Economic Prosperity
Ikea Shelves India Expansion Plan
More News »June 15 marks the first-ever Global Wind Day. It will be celebrated in 25 countries. Organized by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), it aims to promote awareness of wind energy worldwide, and asks the public to celebrate wind power as a near-term solution to global climate change and a driver for economic growth in local communities.

"In the United States, Global Wind Day comes at a time when the nation is surging forward in wind and renewable energy development," said AWEA CEO Denise Bode, "but we risk losing this momentum and tens of thousands of jobs if Congress does not adopt a strong national renewable energy standard, or RES. America could lose ground to China and Europe where strong renewable energy policy commitments are driving investment in manufacturing and development. It's time for a national RES here in the U.S We need to seize this historic opportunity to create jobs, build up our renewable energy industry, and fight climate change."

Also on Global Wind Day, the Western Governors' Association will feature U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Jon Wellinghoff, and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a panel discussion about tapping the nation's vast renewable energy resources at its annual meeting in Park City, Utah.

For more information, visit

[waldron] 05/6/2009 19:20

Floating wind turbine launched
By Jorn Madslien
Business reporter, BBC News

The world's first floating wind turbine is to be towed out to sea this weekend.

Statoil's Alexandra Beck Gjorv told the BBC the technology, the Hywind, to be put off Norway's coast - "should help move offshore wind farms out of sight".

And it could lead to offshore wind farms eventually being located many miles offshore, away from areas where they cause disruption, Ms Gjorv added.

This would benefit military radar operations, the shipping industry, fisheries, bird life and tourism.

"Taking wind turbines to sea presents new opportunities," said Ms Gjorv, of Statoil's new energy division.

"The wind is stronger and more consistent [and] areas are large."

The Hywind, a 2.3 megawatt (MW) wind turbine built by Siemens, combines technologies from both the wind farming industry and the oil and gas sectors, and will be tested off the coast of Norway for two years.

In a similar way to how large parts of icebergs are hidden below the sea surface, the turbine has a 100 metre draft that is anchored to the seabed with cables, that can be up to 700 metres long.

Wealthy customers


Floating wind turbine
The floatation element stretches 100 metres below the sea surface
It is anchored to the seabed in three places
It can be moored in waters up to 700 metres deep
Offshore wind farms cost considerably more than wind farms on land, and initially floating ones will be more expensive than static offshore installations.

But over time, insisted Ms Gjorv, the floating turbines should not cost more than fixed ones.

Statoil plans to target markets where there is both an ability to pay as well as large and growing demand for energy, she added.

Floating wind farms could later be established off both coasts of North America and off the Iberian peninsula and the coasts of Norway and the United Kingdom, she said.

Floating wind farms could provide an additional source of energy for countries that have run out of space for their onshore wind farms, or where there is not enough wind on land, Ms Gjorv added.

"The global market for such turbines is potentially enormous, depending on how low we can press costs," she said, though she was not able to quantify it or to outline a timescale for when floating wind farms would become commercially available.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/06/05 17:38:58 GMT

[ariane] 21/5/2009 05:37

Largest wind farm to be expanded
Europe's largest onshore wind farm is to be expanded further, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has announced.

Mr Salmond was speaking as he officially switched on the 140-turbine Whitelee wind farm on Eaglesham Moor in East Renfrewshire.

He said developers ScottishPower Renewables had been given permission to add a further 36 turbines to the site.

That will allow the £300m wind farm to power 250,000 homes and could create up to 300 jobs, Mr Salmond said.

The first minister officially connected the wind farm, which covers an area about the size of Glasgow city centre, to the National Grid in a ceremony alongside Ignacio Galan, chairman and chief executive of Iberdrola, the Spanish owners of ScottishPower.


" This is now the first over 300 megawatt wind farm in the United Kingdom and we believe others will follow "
Keith Anderson ScottishPower Renewables

Each turbine at Whitelee, which started producing electricity in January 2008, stands 110m high.

Mr Salmond said the Scottish Government's approval of the extension would give the wind farm a total power capacity of 452 MW.

He added: "Whitelee in its current form is already flying the flag for onshore wind power in Europe.

"The planned extension, which I am delighted to announce today, will enable the wind farm to harness its comparative and competitive advantage in wind generated energy within Europe.

"It has the infrastructure, the expertise and the capacity to continue to develop in the future."

'Size and scale'

Director of ScottishPower Renewables Keith Anderson said Whitelee was a landmark for the country because of its size and scale.

Mr Anderson said: "This is now the first over 300 MW wind farm in the United Kingdom and we believe others will follow."

But he said more work was needed on infrastructure to develop the industry, particularly to improve power grid connections and capacity to handle even larger offshore wind farms and wave and tidal projects.

"We're currently in conversations with the Crown Estate and the Scottish Government about the development of an offshore wind farm off the west coast of Scotland which could be anything up to 1,800 MW, at least five or six times the size of Whitelee," he added.


He said the Whitelee site had generally received good support from the local community and local authorities and the biggest challenge had been potential interference with Glasgow Airport radar.

This led to the construction of a new radar tower for the airport at a disused power station in Kincardine, Fife.

Eaglesham Community Council objected to the scheme on the grounds of its size and location, although the area's local authorities did not oppose the development.

The organisation Rural Scotland also raised concerns about "large-scale industrial schemes" which would alter the nature of the countryside.

ScottishPower Renewables said it was key to the project that it was close to large areas of population, such as Glasgow, had good transport and energy transmission links but was also an open area of countryside with a good supply of wind.


WIND TURBINES IN GRAPHICS
Discover how the turbines work, how much they cost, what they generate and where the best sites are

A planning application was submitted for the 36 additional turbines last year, and the company will lodge a further application for another 45 turbines at the site later in the summer.

David MacKay, professor of natural philosophy at the University of Cambridge's department of physics, said Whitelee was a step towards targets to cut carbon emissions, but warned it was only a start.

He said: "To achieve the government target of a complete decarbonisation of our electricity supply system by 2030 we need to be talking about a 100-fold increase in wind farms in Britain and perhaps as much as a five-fold increase in nuclear power.

"That's the scale of the building challenge we have if we're serious about getting off fossil fuels."

A £2m visitor centre is also planned at Whitelee and the wind farm is due to be fully opened to the public, walkers, cyclists and ramblers in the summer.


" We cannot sacrifice the world famous wildness and beauty of Scotland in order to meet the energy demands of southern Britain "
Dave Morris Ramblers Scotland
Efforts have also taken place to promote blanket bog and moorland regeneration, with the removal of more than two million non-native conifers and work to promote black and red grouse and upland wildlife.

Dave Morris, director of Ramblers Scotland, said the scale of the wind farm may be justified as it would "make a significant contribution to the development of Scotland's renewable energy capacity".

But he warned: "We cannot go on depending on massive land-based wind factories to meet our future renewable energy targets.

"Existing UK energy policy will require an incredible 600 Whitelees to be built by 2050 - that would cover an area of land the size of Wales.

"Hundreds of giant turbines and their associated electricity transmission lines must not be built on the land of Scotland. We cannot sacrifice the world famous wildness and beauty of Scotland in order to meet the energy demands of southern Britain."

Mr Morris said the future for giant turbines should lie offshore, with much smaller, community based wind turbine developments forming the basis for onshore development.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/05/20 11:29:30 GMT

[grupo guitarlumber] 06/5/2009 06:53

EDF Energies Nouvelles: 1Q Revenue Up 66% To EUR231.8 million





PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French renewable energy company EDF Energies Nouvelles (EEN.FR) Wednesday posted a 66% rise in first-quarter revenue because of strong wind and solar electricity activity.

EDF Energies Nouvelles also reiterated its guidance of achieving earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization between EUR280 million and EUR300 million in 2009.

EDF Energies Nouvelles, half owned by French state controlled utility group Electrcite de France (EDF.FR), said first-quarter revenue climbed 66% to EUR231.8 million from EUR139.3 million.

Company Web site: www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com

-By Nicolas Parasie, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[ariane] 14/4/2009 18:50

UPDATE: UK Government Should Give Financial Support To Offshore Wind





(Adds comment from the British Wind Energy Association.)

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The U.K. government should give direct financial support to companies that want to build offshore wind farms or it will run the risk of missing its renewable energy targets, a report from a think tank close to the U.K.'s ruling Labour Party said Tuesday.

"The government should consider underwriting investment in the grid if a lack of available finance threatens to prevent the necessary upgrades," said the report from the Institute of Public Policy Research.

"The government should offer to underwrite borrowing for this sector and/or encourage banks to lend," it added.

The report, based on interviews the IPPR conducted with industry players, said the government should develop a new offshore wind investment program - run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change - to consolidate existing subsidies, target investment on key infrastructure development and give short-term funding guarantees.

"Without a more interventionist approach from government, the U.K. will struggle to capture a significant share of jobs" that the offshore wind industry could support and may miss its target of getting 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, the report said.

"Government primarily needs to act to make sure that there is a strong market for offshore wind," said Gordon Edge, director of economics and markets at the British Wind Energy Association. "Then there needs to be strategic investment in infrastructure, such as port facilities, with a single area chosen to be a manufacturing hub." "Finally, there needs to be strong focus on training the skilled employees needed and on simplifying and extending support for innovation in this sector," he added.

The U.K. Treasury will announce its budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year on April 22. Industry groups for both renewable energy and oil and gas are hoping for measures to stimulate development, which has been hit hard in both sectors by the fall in energy prices and constraints on finance for new projects.

Company Web site:

-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 06/4/2009 17:08

Europe's Biggest Wind Farm Planned In Sweden





STOCKHOLM (AFP)--Plans to build the biggest wind farm in Europe are underway in Sweden after winning approval from a local county administrative board on Monday, officials said.

If the Swedish government gives its green light as well, a total of 1,101 wind turbines will be built in northern Sweden at an estimated cost of 55 billion kronor ($6.9 billion), the Norrbotten county administrative board said in a statement.

Its environmental assessment delegation recommended that the government give the Swedish company Markbygden Vind AB a permit for the project. Stockholm is expected to announce its decision within the next 12 months.

"This would be Europe's, if not the world's, biggest wind farm," Caj Noren, a spokesman for the board, told AFP.

Construction could begin in two-and-a-half years and would be completed after about a decade, Noren said.

The wind farm would be located in Markbygden, west of the northern town of Piteaa, in an area measuring about 450 square kilometers.

If and when the wind farm is fully operational, it would produce a total of eight to 12 terawatt-hours a year.

The Markbygden project alone could thereby generate enough energy to meet Sweden's 2015 national wind power target of 10 terawatt-hours a year. A terawatt is equal to one trillion watts.

The turbines would have a maximum height of 200 meters (650 feet), according to the plans.

Markbygden Vind AB is 75%-owned by the Swedish group Svevind Holding and 25% by German group Enercon, one of the world's biggest wind turbine makers.

No contract has been signed yet for the construction of the turbines.

[waldron] 24/3/2009 13:41

RSPB calls for more UK wind farms
There should be a significant increase in the number of wind farms built onshore in the UK, the RSPB has said.

It called for an end to the "needless delays" that beset wind farm projects, after a study said more turbines could be built without harming wildlife.

It would be "disastrous" if the vast potential of wind power in the UK was wasted, the charity added.

Ministers said the planning process was being "streamlined" to encourage a mixture of on and offshore wind farms.

In 2007, just 2% of the UK's energy came from wind power, compared with 29% in Denmark, 20% in Spain and 15% in Germany.

'Sense of urgency'

A report for the RSPB, written by the Institute for European Environmental Policy, said that with an effective planning system, the UK could greatly increase onshore wind development without damaging nature conservation.

Ruth Davis, head of climate change policy at the RSPB, said it was in favour of such an expansion because of the "truly terrifying" impact that global warming was increasingly having on birds.

"Left unchecked, climate change threatens many species with extinction," she said.

"Yet that sense of urgency is not translating into actions on the ground to harness the abundant wind energy around us."

" We must reduce the many needless delays that beset wind farm developments "
Ruth Davis, RSPB
The RSPB called on the government to set firm regional and local targets for developing wind energy, and give more guidance to councils on how to deal with planning applications.

Currently, many become bogged down in local politics at the expense of national efforts to tackle climate change, it said.

In order to protect wildlife, the RSPB argued, there must be a program of mapping to identify which areas should be earmarked for wind turbines and which should be avoided in order to protect habitats.

Areas with large numbers of nesting seabirds or those which are home to rare birds of prey should be spared, it said.

Much more effort must also be made to win the support of local communities, the charity said, for example, by offering cheaper energy to people in the immediate vicinity of a wind farm.

Investment in local wildlife projects would also help smooth the planning process, it added.

Renewables target

"We must reduce the many needless delays that beset wind farm developments," Ms Davis said.

" We need a mixture of all forms of renewable energy "
Spokesman, Department of Energy and Climate Change
"This report shows that if we get it right, the UK can produce huge amounts of clean energy without time-consuming conflicts and harm to our wildlife.

"Get it wrong and people may reject wind power. That would be disastrous."

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the government was committed to a national increase in the use of renewable energy sources.

"To do that, we need a mixture of all forms of renewable energy, including both onshore and offshore wind farms," he said.

"The Planning Act has been passed and that sets out a more streamlined planning process, but it is one which still allows the local community to have their say."



Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/03/24 00:34:34 GMT

[ariane] 20/2/2009 18:32

US Interior Secretary: Atlantic Coast Has Offshore Wind Potential





WASHINTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Friday outlined some federal areas his department would likely be considering for renewable energy lease sales when the agency finalizes its rules.

Salazar, speaking to reporters at a press briefing on spending stimulus bill funds, pointed to the Atlantic coast as having "huge potential" for offshore wind energy production, potentially hinting at an area his department would be considering in early lease auctions.

The secretary also said the southwest and the great plains regions were other areas of interest.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285, [e-mail]

[ariane] 16/2/2009 14:49

2ND UPDATE: Cos Get OK To Develop Over 6 GW UK Offshore Wind





(Recasts lead, adds other companies involved.)


By Selina Williams
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K. utility Scottish and Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) and U.K. units of Germany's RWE AG (RWE.XE) and Spain's Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) are among companies granted exclusive rights to develop over six gigawatts of offshore wind in Scottish territorial waters, the Crown Estate said Monday.

The ten agreements - to be made with nine companies and consortia - represent a key step forward for the U.K., which is relying on offshore wind to meet binding targets set by the European Union to boost renewable energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

"Offshore wind represents an outstanding resource which, when harnessed, will make a very significant contribution to meeting the ambitious renewable energy goals for 2020 agreed by the E.U. last year," said Paul Dowling, Chief Executive of SSE's renewable energy development division Airtricity.

The U.K.'s Crown Estate, which owns the U.K. seabed around the coast and part of the foreshore, granted SSE a concession to develop offshore wind farms at Beatrice, Bell Rock, Islay and Kintyre.

The proposed wind farms could have a total capacity of up to 2,700 MW, SSE said.

At two of the four sites, SSE is in partnership with other developers, including Aberdeen-based energy investment company Ramco Energy PLC's (ROS.LN) SeaEnergy Renewables subsidiary.

Through SeaEnergy Renewables, Ramco is also in partnership with RWE Innogy, RWE's renewable energy unit, to develop the up to 905-MW Inch Cape offshore wind farm.

"Inch Cape presents an ideal opportunity to take advantage of the natural wind resources off the coast of Scotland to provide clean, green electricity while at the same time utilising the local skills and infrastructure that have supported the oil, ship building and power industries in the past," said RWE npower renewables Managing Director Paul Cowling.

Iberdrola's U.K. subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables is to develop a site west of Argyll and the island of Tiree.

The site has the potential to generate between 500 megawatts and 1,800 MW, or enough to power 270,000 to one million households, the company said.

"Scotland has the best onshore wind resources in Europe, and now it is taking its first steps towards harnessing its offshore potential, which will play a major role in helping to achieve renewable energy targets," said ScottishPower Renewables Director Keith Anderson.

E.ON Climate and Renewables U.K. Developments, a unit of Germany's E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), Dong Energy A/S., Fluor Ltd., Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd., and Fred Olsen Renewables Ltd. also won concessions, the Crown Estate said.

The next step for the developers is to begin intitial surveys and consultations on the sites while the Scottish Government conducts a Strategic Environmental Assessment, due to be completed January 2010.

The Crown Estate opened the tender for offshore wind sites in Scottish territorial waters in May 2008 with interested parties submitting bids in October.

Last year, the Crown Estate also launched Round 3, a separate offshore wind power licensing tender to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind in territorial waters around the U.K.

Interest in Round 3 has already exceeded expectations. Applications are to be submitted by the beginning of March and the Crown Estate hopes to complete awards by the end of 2009.

The Crown Estate has estimated that construction is likely to require investment of between GBP60 billion and GBP80 billion.

The U.K. is counting on development of 33 gigawatts of offshore wind to reach the E.U. target of getting 15% of total energy consumption from renewables by 2020 from around 2% now.

-By Selina Williams, Dow Jones Newswires [phone]; [e-mail]

[pc4900074200] 10/2/2009 09:36

Cheers, GGL

Will try the :-] approach and see what happens.

Also will keep you informed with what transpires.

pc

[pc4900074200] 10/2/2009 08:42

Hi, Waldron.

E-mail sent to you.

regards.

pc