Latest issue

A ray of sunshine

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Richard Rigg, Project Director of the London Array Offshore Wind Farm

The London Array Offshore Wind Farm is being built by a consortium of three world-leading renewable energy companies, DONG Energy, a leading European energy group and a market leader in offshore wind technology, E.ON, one of the world’s largest power and gas companies and involved in renewables since 1991 and Masdar, a subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company which specialises in developing and commercialising renewable and sustainable energy technologies. The consortium is combining their experience and expertise to develop and build the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

The London Array project began in 2001, when a series of environmental studies confirmed the area was a suitable site for a wind farm. The lease for the 200km site was granted as part of The Crown Estate’s Round Two in December 2003. Onshore and offshore consent applica – tions were submitted in June 2005. In June 2006 Swale Borough Council rejected the application for the onshore substation. Offshore consents were granted in December 2006 and, following a public inquiry, onshore consent was granted in August 2007. (more…)

Tagged with: London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Offshore Wind, Richard Rigg

Denmark’s statement of intent

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Flemming Thomsen, Project Director of DONG Energy’s offshore construction projects in Denmark

DONG Energy is to build Denmark’s next large-scale offshore wind farm between Djursland and the island of Anholt in the Kattegat. Anholt offshore wind farm will be Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm with a total capacity of 400MW. The wind farm will be able to supply more than 400,000 Danish households with CO2 free power every year. This corresponds to four per cent of the overall Danish power consumption, and is thus a significant contribution to meeting Denmark’s objective of ensuring that the share of renewable energy reaches 30 per cent by 2020.

Construction work will commence at the turn of 2011, and will involve a large number of special purpose vessels and employees operating in and around the area. We aim to have the 111 3.6MW 120m rotor wind turbines from Siemens in operation by the end of 2013, with production from the first turbine starting in late 2012.

Output

The Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy invited tenders for Anholt Offshore Wind Farm on 30 April 2009, and on 2 July 2010, the Danish Energy Agency announced that DONG Energy had been awarded the licence for construction and operation of the project. (more…)

Tagged with: Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, Denmark, DONG Energy, Flemming Thomsen, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy

Playing by the rules

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Julien Chevallier, Assistant Professor University of Economics at the University of Paris Dauphine

The creation in 2005 of the European carbon market concerns approximately 11,000 installations, and covers 46 per cent of CO2 emissions in Europe. Across its 27 Member States, the EU ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) includes large plants from CO2 intensive emitting industrial sectors: power generation, mineral oil refineries, coke ovens, iron and steel and factories producing cement, glass, lime, brick, ceramics, pulp and paper, and all combustion activities with a rated thermal input exceeding above the threshold of 20MW.

The economic activity of industrial actors has been impacted by this environmental regulation from the European Commission on climate change issues. Industrials need to resort to market mechanisms in order to manage their CO2 allowances. They also need to introduce carbon costs in their development strategies.

This article reviews the main industrial actors on the European carbon market, based on the various sectors covered by the scheme. A vivid industry of brokers, consultancies (in origination or management of credit offsets), risk managers and investment bankers have been developed in order to meet industrial needs to analyse the carbon market, execute their operations and ensure their compliance position. This article will explain the structure of this industry, which has developed carbonbased derivatives products to hedge against the risk of carbon price variation, while facilitating the access to the market for smaller participants and enhancing the liquidity of the market. (more…)

Tagged with: Carbon Finance, CO2 Emissions, Dr. Julien Chevallier, University of Paris Dauphine

Northern Irish ports and offshore growth

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Olive Hill, Director of the Technology and Process Development Division at Invest Northern Ireland

With so much attention currently focused on commemorating the launch of the RMS Titanic, it would be difficult to forget the huge contribution that Northern Ireland, and in particular the port of Belfast and Harland and Wolff, made to the ship-building industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although the golden age of ship-building in Northern Ireland has long passed, its legacy, of excellent port facilities, innovation and strong engineering skills, coupled with Northern Ireland’s natural energy resources, has resulted in the region being perfectly placed to exploit the opportunities offered by offshore energy.

Belfast Harbour is one of 10 ports in Northern Ireland all offering excellent facilities including first-rate seaward access and outstanding development potential with a supportive planning regime and zoning already in place. Belfast is one of four ports in the region classed as large, the others being Londonderry, Larne and Warrenpoint. Between them these large ports provide some 150 fast ferry and freight sailings per week to Great Britain, Europe and beyond.

The major ports in Northern Ireland offer a range of services and activities. These include significant development lands, high quality infrastructure and logistical and service support. (more…)

Tagged with: Blefast Harbour, Invest Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland, Offshore Wind, Olive Hill, Ports

Off-grid renewable energy solutions

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Simon Rolland, Secretary General of the Alliance for Rural Electrification

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 1.4 billion people, or 20 per cent of the world’s population have no access to electricity, and 85 per cent of these live in rural areas of developing countries. Two particularly affected regions are Africa and Southern Asia, where, although several rural electrification programmes are being deployed, the current situation is still far from ideal.

In Africa, for example, the population growth is already outpacing the minor increase in electrification rates. Current rural electrification rate is just 25 per cent, and the remote location of many African communities makes gridextension too expensive. Similarly, in spite of impressive progress achieved during the last decade, Southern Asia accommodates the biggest group of un-electrified people in the world, which is nearly 50 per cent of the region’s total population.

Access to energy alone is not enough to achieve development and progress in these deprived parts of the world, but it is fundamental for major social, economic and environmental change as well as helping to fight diseases. The goal must be to achieve enhanced literacy, women’s empowerment, increased competitiveness, and improve basic living conditions. (more…)

Tagged with: Alliance for Rural Electrification, Developing Countries, Off-grdi Renewables, Simon Rolland

A2SEA’s dynamic future

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Ole Jacob Wang Nielsen, Regional Manager, A2SEA

Specialist offshore wind installers A2SEA have complimented their expertise by signing a co-operation agreement with Teekay Corporation, an organisation that specialises in the control of large vessels through dynamic positioning (DP).

International Sustainable Energy Review’s Mark Glover spoke to Ole Jacob Wang Nielsen, Regional Manager at A2SEA about the partnership and what benefits it will bring to their new vessel.

Mark Glover: The work with Teekay will enable you to deal with more, deeper challenging sites – can you define a ‘deeper more challenging site’ in terms of offshore installation?

Ole Jacob Wang Nielsen: In terms of water depth we will now be working at a range of 35- 60 meters, previously we had been working at a depth of 15-30 metres. Furthermore, deeper water means that the vessels will be working in a more significant wave height. Previously our vessels would operate in a wave height of 1.5 to 2.0 metres; the new foundation installation vessels can now work amongst a three metre wave height and therefore are more weather robust. This is a big step in cost reduction as it means that the working weather window can now be increased by more than 30 days a year, enabling us to utilise more components per trip. (more…)

Tagged with: A2SEA, Dynamic Positioning, Ole Jacob Wang Nielsen

Breaking into the British mainstream

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Richard Kemp-Harper, Lead Technologist for Transport and Energy at the Technology Strategy Board

There is strong evidence supporting the large potential of the global market for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies and little doubt in the role that commercially successful systems can play in support of sustainable energy and transport systems. The challenge for all those involved in the industry is to recognise how we take these technologies from the periphery into the mainstream – and how we integrate them into everyday living in a way that people and companies will positively and readily embrace.

As an organisation whose primary aim is to support British businesses in the areas where we believe they have the capacity and potential to become a world leading force, we see a huge opportunity for the UK to take a significant share of the worldwide markets that are now emerging in these sectors – driven by the ever increasing demand and seemingly ever more urgent solution for sustainable energy.

In 2009 we launched a fuel cell and hydrogen demonstrator programme on behalf of the UK Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change with a view to offering companies the opportunity to produce working products for the stationary power and transport markets. The aim was to support businesses in bridging the considerable gap between concept and commercialisation in these sectors. The programme has provided critical support to businesses developing these technologies by helping them to overcome the risks inherent in this sort of innovation and to accelerate bringing products to market. The result is a portfolio of a number of working systems addressing a range of markets and a showcase of the breadth and depth of UK capability in these technologies. (more…)

Tagged with: Dr. Richard Kemp-Harper, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen gas

ABB’s string inverter for photovoltaic systems

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / ABB

The worries of global warming and soaring oil and gas prices mean the utilisation of renewable energy sources looks set to increase to meet growing global energy demands. The planet has always received generous amounts of one source of renewable energy, sun rays. The simplest method of harnessing solar energy is through the use of photovoltaic modules. These modules produce direct current (DC) which are converted into alternating current (AC).

This conversion is carried out using an inverter, and ABB string inverters are designed for photovoltaic systems, installed primarily on residential and small-to-medium sized commercial buildings. The new inverter series now includes built-in protection functions, which reduce the need for costly and space consuming external protection devices and larger enclosures.

Technological developments are con – tinuously improving the efficiency and cost effectiveness of photovoltaic systems. For its part, ABB has long been a leader in inverter and power converter technology and it has been using this knowledge and experience to provide high quality solutions for photovoltaic power systems. Its portfolio of solar inverters ranges from small single-phase string inverters to central inverters which have a large power range. The latest addition to this portfolio, the ABB string inverter, PVS300, has a power range of 3.3kw to 8kw, making it suitable for residential buildings as well as small and medium-sized commercial and industrial buildings. Its all-in-one design makes it reliable, safe and extremely cost effective, especially in installations using multiple inverters. (more…)

Tagged with: ABB, Photovoltaic power

Wind power comes to Cape Verde

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Fabio Borba, Lead Developer of the Cabeolica Wind Farm

The Cabeolica wind farm, set across four islands of the Cape Verde archipelago, has led the way in wind power generation in Africa. The wind farm is managed by a special purpose company, Cabeolica S.A., established by the founding partners in 2009. Lying across the trade winds belt, the archipelago has consistent wind speeds of up to 10m/s creating one of the best locations in the world for power generation. The farms’ ability to directly supply energy to the individual power grids on each of the islands means a sizable reduction in the need to import fuel, diminishing the country’s sensitivity to fluctuating commodity prices and reducing costs across the board.

Set over four islands; Sao Vicente, Santiago, Sal and Boa Vista the €60 million project comprises of 30 class I V52 turbines, four substations and 33.5km of power cable and has reached maximum wind penetration for the islands. Each island has varying power capacity from 4MW to 10MW producing collectively up to 100GWh/yr. Cabeolica S.A. will provide up to 26MW of wind power, resulting in Cape Verde reaching its renewable energy goals ahead of schedule.

Financing

Cabeolica S.A. is the first commercial-scale, privately financed, public private partnership (PPP) wind farm in Sub –Saharan Africa. The PPP is held between the Government of Cape Verde; Electra, the government owned utility company; and InfraCo, a publicly financed privately managed project development company. (more…)

Tagged with: Cabeolica Wind Farm, Cape Verde, Fabio Borba, Wind Energy

A bright 2012

Latest issue / 3 January 2012 / Heinz Ossenbrink, Head of the Renewable Energy Unit, Institute for Energy and Transport of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, Scientific Officer and Senior Scientist at the Commission’s Renewable Energy Unit

Estimates for global solar cell production1 in 2011 vary between 28GW and 34GW. The significant uncertainty in the data for 2011 is due to the very competitive market environment, as well as the fact that some companies report shipment figures, others report sales and again others report production figures. The continuation of the difficult economic situation worldwide, as well as a fierce competition and a production capacity which is more than twice the actual market, led to a decreased willingness to report confidential company data. The previous tight silicon supply situation reversed due to massive production expansions as well as the economic situation. This led to a price decrease from the 2008 spot market peak of around 50 $/kg to about 30 $/kg at the end of 2011.

The presented data, collected for more than 300 companies from their respective financial reports and colleagues were compared to various data sources and thus led to an estimate of 30GW, representing a production increase of about 20 per cent compared to 2010.

The change of the market from a supply restricted – to a demand-driven market and the resulting overcapacity for solar modules has resulted in a dramatic price reduction of PV systems of more than 50 per cent over the last four years. Average prices for grid connected PV systems were reported with 2,560 $/kWp (1,900 €/kWp) for residential and 2,370 $/kWp (1,760 €/kWp) for commercial systems2. (more…)

Tagged with: Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, European Commission, European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), Heinz Ossenbrink, Photovoltaic power