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[waldron] 06/4/2012 12:36

French Government Picks EDF, Dong, Alstom For Offshore Wind Farms
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EDF (EU:EDF)
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Today : Friday 6 April 2012
The French government has picked a venture between state-controlled utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) and Danish company Dong Energy Power to build and operate three wind farms off Atlantic and Channel coasts.
The group will install wind farms with a combined capacity of 1.4 gigawatts using wind turbines made by French manufacturer Alstom SA (ALO.FR), the energy ministry said Friday in a statement.
The government also picked a group owned by Spain's Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and EOLE-RES SA to build and operate a fourth wind farm located offshore in Northern France. Iberdrola and EOLE-RES will install wind turbines made by engineering company Areva (AREVA.FR).
The energy Ministry said there weren't enough bidders to grant a contract for a fifth wind farm.
The four wind farms represent investments of about EUR7 billion, the ministry said. A new tender for more wind farms will be held in the second half of this year, the ministry said.
-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[waldron] 03/4/2012 13:58

UPDATE: Result Of French Wind Farm Tenders Expected This Week
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EDF (EU:EDF)
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Today : Tuesday 3 April 2012
The result of the offshore wind farm tender offer in France should be announced this week, French energy minister Eric Besson said Tuesday, following the weekly cabinet meeting.
Earlier Tuesday, Electricite de France SA's (EDF.FR) Chairman and Chief Executive Henri Proglio had said he expected the results of the tender offer "very soon."
"I'm waiting for the results of the tender offer, it seems to be imminent but it is not up to me to disclose the schedule," Proglio told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference.
Out of five planned wind farms off the north and west coasts of France, EDF has made bids for four, two off the Normandy coast and two off the Brittany coast.
"The CRE (Commission de Regulation de l'Energie) issued a report which I was told was rather positive for EDF but I don't have it and it's up to the government to decide," Proglio also said.
Monday, French business daily Les Echos reported that the French energy regulator CRE recommended to the French government to grant four projects to a consortium led by EDF and also comprising engineering firm Alstom SA (ALO.FR) and Denmark's Dong Energy, and drop the last project, off Normandy's Le Treport city.
EDF's French rival GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) bid for the Le Treport offshore windfarm project, along with Vinci SA (DC.FR) and Areva SA (AREVA.FR).
Ten bids have been made in total for the five French offshore windfarm projects, by three consortiums, one led by EDF, a second led by GDF Suez and the third led by Spain's Iberdrola (IBE.MC).
-By Geraldine Amiel, Adrien Richard and Gabriele Parussini, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 31/3/2012 08:11

Floating Windmills in Japan Help Wind Down Nuclear Power: Energy
By Chisaki Watanabe - Mar 30, 2012 5:27 PM GMT+0200 .LinkedIn Google +1 5 Comments
Print QUEUEQ..Japan is preparing to bolt turbines onto barges and build the world's largest commercial power plant using floating windmills, tackling the engineering challenges of an unproven technology to cut its reliance on atomic energy.

Marubeni Corp. (8002), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011) and Nippon Steel Corp. (5401) are among developers erecting a 16-megawatt pilot plant off the coast of Fukushima, site of the nuclear accident that pushed the government to pursue cleaner energy. The project may be expanded to 1,000 megawatts, the trade ministry said, bigger than any wind farm fixed to the seabed or on land.

Enlarge image
Floating Windmills in Japan Help Wind Down Nuclear Power Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg News
Japan's production of wind turbines and parts and maintenance services is forecast to grow from an estimated 300 billion yen ($3.6 billion) a year currently to 500 billion yen in 2030, according to the Japan Wind Power Association.

Japan's production of wind turbines and parts and maintenance services is forecast to grow from an estimated 300 billion yen ($3.6 billion) a year currently to 500 billion yen in 2030, according to the Japan Wind Power Association. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg News
."Japan is surrounded by deep oceans, and this poses challenges to offshore wind turbines that are attached to the bottom of the sea," Senior Vice Environment Minister Katsuhiko Yokomitsu said at a meeting in Tokyo this month. "We are eager for floating offshore wind to become a viable technology."

The world's third-biggest economy is struggling to diversify its energy mix after last year's earthquake and tsunami crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear station. A few countries including Britain, the U.S. and South Korea are testing windmills that float, a technology far more expensive than most fossil-fuel or renewable energies.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its partners are positioning themselves for future contracts to develop gear that so far isn't used in commercial electricity production.

Cost Comparison
Capital expenditure is about $1.7 million a megawatt for an onshore wind project and $5.5 million a megawatt for offshore, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Statoil ASA (STL) has the largest floating project currently, a 2.3-megawatt "Hywind" turbine off the coast of Norway, which cost $29 million a megawatt, according estimates by Fraser Johnston, an offshore wind analyst for the agency in London, based on company data.

"Hywind is a 10-year project from the drawing board in 2001 to when we were done with the demo period last year," Morten Eek, a Statoil spokesman, said by phone. "In a commercial phase, the costs will be significantly lower based on the experience from the demo project."

Statoil is currently considering two test parks off Scotland and the U.S. with 3-5 windmills each, potentially by 2016.

In Japan, the country "certainly has excellent offshore wind resources and huge potential to develop this sector," Justin Wu, lead wind analyst for New Energy Finance in Hong Kong, said in an e-mail. "But offshore wind is significantly more expensive than onshore wind at the moment."

Earthquake Risk
Japan, whose island geography and earthquake risk have long shaped its economy, is lagging behind developed nations including the U.S., Germany and Spain in wind energy, which supplied just 0.4 percent of its electricity demand in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency Wind 2010 Annual Report. Ranking as the world's fifth-largest carbon emitter, Japan is trying to elevate its wind-energy capacity from 2,500 megawatts, the 13th-highest among all nations, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

Land-based wind-energy development is limited by Japan's mountains, making offshore developments more viable. The depths of its oceans creates a bigger potential for floating turbine technology, still in its infancy compared with the more conventional method of deploying fixed versions of the machines.

The turbines are mounted on a floating structure that allows them to generate electricity in water depths where bottom-mounted towers cannot be erected easily. The country aims to develop the floating offshore wind turbines for commercialization by March 2017.

Engineering Challenges
The biggest challenge in erecting floating turbines offshore is ensuring the buoyancy mechanisms are stable, and getting fixed lines to the sea floor which can be extended to depths of 200 meters (656 feet).

A so-called feed-in tariff program due to start in July that guarantees above market rates for clean energy including solar, wind and geothermal could boost the development of wind energy, analysts say.

"We believe Japan's sluggish wind market will experience a kick-start under the FIT," CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analysts Penn Bowers and Dean Enjo said in a Feb. 20 report. "Historically, in countries that have implemented FIT schemes it is wind, not solar, that grows the most," it said, citing Germany and China as examples.

Japan's production of wind turbines and parts and maintenance services is forecast to grow from an estimated 300 billion yen ($3.6 billion) a year currently to 500 billion yen in 2030, according to the Japan Wind Power Association.

Comparison With Nuclear
The industry group has set a wind-power installation target of 50,000 megawatts by March 2051, including 17,500 megawatts and 7,500 megawatts in floating and fixed offshore wind respectively. That compares with the 49,000 megawatts of nuclear power, which is being debated by government officials after the Fukushima meltdowns. JWPA estimates Japan's potential for wind is 144,000 megawatts for onshore and 608,000 for offshore.

The Japanese government hasn't determined what rates they will earn. A delay in price setting may deter investments and put wind power at a disadvantage compared with solar because it takes longer to build a wind farm.

A new regulation due to take effect in October could also delay wind projects. Wind will be added to a list of power plants such as nuclear and thermal that will be subjected to environmental impact assessments to address concerns on noise and birds.

Such surveys can take as many as four years and cost developers an additional 100 million yen for a plant with about 10 turbines, according to Tetsuro Nagata, president of the wind association.

Faster Wind Speeds
That also means wind developers may fail to take advantage of the first three years when feed-in tariffs are expected to be higher, he said in an interview.

"Even though the government may set high tariff prices, developers will be left unable to do anything" while conducting an assessment, Nagata said. "That is not fair."

The government is considering measures to simplify the process, said Kenji Kamita, an official at the Ministry of Environment who oversees assessment of projects.

To increase wind capacity in a mountainous country, Japan is looking offshore where wind speeds are faster and more stable.

Fukushima Project
"Japan has a weak position in onshore wind," the trade ministry's task force on new energy industries said in a report released March 12. "But the floating offshore technology is not yet established so this is an area we can aim for a comeback," it said.

The environment ministry plans to set up a 2-megawatt floating offshore turbine in Nagasaki in southwestern Japan by June 2013. The project is being developed by Toda Corp. (1860) and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (7270)

The Fukushima pilot project will have three floating turbines installed by March 2016 with plans to eventually expand the capacity to 1,000 megawatts in the region, according to the trade ministry. It has set aside 12.5 billion yen as the ceiling to fund the initial stages of the study.

The trade ministry has also been steadily increasing funding for offshore wind research and development, mainly for fixed turbines, from 200 million yen in 2008 to 5.2 billion yen this year.

For offshore wind farms, cooperation with local fishing industries is also key, said Chuichi Arakawa, a professor at the University of Tokyo who studies wind power. "It all begins with having thorough discussions with local partners," he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at [e-mail]

[waldron] 26/3/2012 15:03

GDF Suez: Could Create As Many As 6,000 Jobs On French Windfarm
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Gdf Suez (EU:GSZ)
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Today : Monday 26 March 2012
French consortium comprising GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) and Vinci SA (DG.FR) and its industrial partner Areva SA (AREVA.FR) Monday said that would they be the successful bidder on three offshore windfarm tenders off Normandy, Northern France, the whole project would mobilize up to 6,000 jobs.
MAIN FACTS:
- More than 400 skilled jobs would also be created over the 20 years of operation in the ports of Fécamp, Dieppe, Le Treport and Ouistreham. The consortium is also committed to creating a sustainable manufacturing industry that creates jobs in Normandy. It has already met more than 80 local companies of the 300 identified, particularly in the coastal areas concerned in Normandy and Picardy.
- In Normandy today, GDF Suez Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Mestrallet, Vinci CEO Xavier Huillard, CDC Infrastructure CEO Jean Bensaed and Areva CEO Luc Oursel highlighted their energy, economic and social plan connected with the call for bids to site 3,000 MW of wind power off France's coasts starting in 2015.
- Areva, as industrial partner of the consortium formed by GDF Suez, Vinci and CDC Infrastructure for the three zones in Normandy - Dieppe-Le Treport, Fecamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer - gave details of its industrial plan and, together with Gilles Fournier, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Port of Le Havre Authority, presented the 50-hectare site selected in the port area to host new offshore wind turbine manufacturing plants.
- By Paris Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[hugepants] 19/3/2012 10:39

interims:

Not massively impressed to be honest. I was expecting the dividend to be hiked.

[shammytime] 14/3/2012 09:45

60p before Monday I'd suggest.

There are also reports of some of a deal with a company called Clear Edge Power.

[hugepants] 12/3/2012 11:56

Up 0.5%. Rocketing now.

[moretimeforlife] 12/3/2012 09:47

shrewd must also be expecting another positive update on 19th :)

[praipus] 09/3/2012 09:19

Sells or shrewd buying?

[ronan7] 08/3/2012 15:07

aload of sells ?? going through may be reason for recent slide

hope this is cleared out now and we can move on

[moretimeforlife] 27/2/2012 15:04

Agree HP, this is a solid company which is well positioned to deliver a solid return for a long time even if it doesn't get absorbed. Good luck to all fellow investors. NAI/DYOR etc

[hugepants] 27/2/2012 09:25

Interims on 19th March


Clear upside here imo given the 67.7p offer was rejected out of hand.



A "one-in fifteen years" meteorological event which caused low winds in the Northern hemisphere, reduced the wind resource to 20% below the 10-year mean. The resulting loss of close to £2m from revenues led to a Group normalised EBITDA at about break-even. With our human resource now sufficient to deliver at least the next 200MW of operating assets, our overhead cost base is sufficiently capped such that the anticipated income from additional generating capacity coming on stream in the next 18 months will flow largely as free cash after interest.



In January, your Board received a takeover bid for the company, which, after consultation with shareholders, was rejected. We believe that the strategy developed and pursued by the management team is now about to bear fruit, justifying that decision and rewarding the faith shown by our investors.



Your Board is acutely alert to the balance of shareholder benefit between reinvesting and distributing earnings. In view of the strength of asset-building opportunities available to the Directors, they propose to pay a final dividend of 1.5p per ordinary share (2010: 1.5p) in respect of the past year. As REG continues to leverage its balance sheet equity to accelerate the addition of new operational capacity, it is expected that cash returns to equity holders will quickly rise. Accordingly, your Board has begun a review of options for value distribution to ensure that shareholders receive a return reflecting the company's success.

[grupo guitarlumber] 26/2/2012 07:40

Siemens AG (SIE) (SIE GY): Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Co Holdings Co. will buy an additional 407.1 megawatts of turbines from Europe's largest engineering company for three wind farms in Iowa. Siemens fell 0.1 percent to 74.75 euros.

[ronan7] 21/2/2012 16:48

ho paper

just popped in to say hello

[praipus] 21/2/2012 16:40

Utilico have a few too and trade at a big discount and own a gold mine!

[praipus] 21/2/2012 11:21

never assume

[hugepants] 21/2/2012 10:03

Im another git still in these

[waldron] 06/2/2012 17:12

Vestas Shares Fall
Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) fell 7.7 percent to 68.70 kroner, their largest slide in a month, after ING Groep NV cut its price estimate for the world's largest maker of wind turbines. The shares rallied 14 percent on Feb. 3.

Vestas Chairman Bent Carlsen has no plans to step down or change the management, newspaper Berlingske quoted him as saying in an interview yesterday. The industry faces challenges and investors shouldn't confuse a bad market with bad leadership, Carlsen said, according to the Copenhagen-based newspaper.

A third of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party lawmakers have signed a letter urging him to cut subsidies for onshore wind farms in favor of other renewable energy sources, according to a report yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Levring in Copenhagen at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at [e-mail]

[ronan7] 30/1/2012 20:08

im the only git in these i see

oh well still a profit

alot of rolling over trades ...im assuming today.......large volumes .....mid price and no impact on price

[waldron] 30/1/2012 12:13

Siemens Wins First Wind Power Order In Africa
Published January 30, 2012
Dow Jones Newswires

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SI 96.11

SIEMENS AG...
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SIE n.a.

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FRANKFURT – German industrial conglomerate Siemens (SI) won a contract to supply 44 wind turbines in Morocco, its first order in Africa's wind power market, the company said Monday.

MAIN FACTS:

-Siemens will supply its customer Nareva Holding with wind turbines for two wind power plants, with a combined capacity of 100 megawatt.

-The two wind farms, Haouma and Foum El Qued, in the north and southeast of the country are scheduled to begin operation in 2013.

- Siemens is responsible for the supply, installation and commissioning of the wind turbines.

- The Moroccan government aims to increase the share of renewable energy in its power supply to 20% by 2020.



Read more:

[ronan7] 24/1/2012 18:50

got me divi it was reinvested last week

strange holding on to 48p given last few trading days

[ronan7] 19/1/2012 16:08

its back

how strange

[ronan7] 19/1/2012 15:36

-----------------
wind not on my monitor

not letting me put it on
no news here or on company website


any ideas any one

[ronan7] 19/1/2012 15:35

oh

i`ll have a better look around
-----------------
wind not on my monitor

not letting me put it on
no news here or on company website


any ideas any one

[ronan7] 19/1/2012 15:34

oh

i`ll have a better look around
-----------------
wind not on my monitor

not letting me put it on
no news here or on company website


any ideas any one