Nordsee One is entitled to a feed-in tariff subsidy under the German Renewable Energy Act.

By Ritesh Gupta

Weekly Intelligence Brief: March 15 – 22, 2015

Companies mentioned: Northland Power, RWE Innogy, Nordsee One, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), AW Hawaii Wind (AWH), Eneco Luchterduinen Offshore Wind Farm, Siemens, Innergex Renewable Energy, Nodinosi Wind Project

€1.2bn Nordsee One reaches financial close

Northland Power and RWE Innogy have shared that the €1.2bn Nordsee One project has reached financial close. The project is expected to be operational in 2017.

As per the latest update, all of the equity contributed to the project and all debt required for the 332MW project is now fully committed by the project lenders. Around 70% of the project’s required costs will be provided from an €840m non-recourse secured construction and term loan and related loan facilities from 10 international commercial lenders.

Nordsee One is entitled to a feed-in tariff subsidy under the German Renewable Energy Act.

Senvion is to supply, install, and maintain the 54 wind turbine generators for the project, each with a 6.15 MW capacity.

Northland owns 85% of the offshore wind farm to be located 40 km off the coast of Germany, and RWE retains the remaining 15% interest.

The two companies also jointly own two early-stage development projects, Nordsee Two and Nordsee Three, each with the same ownership levels as Nordsee.

Source: RWE Innogy

BOEM receives AWH unsolicited lease requests

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received two unsolicited lease requests from AW Hawaii Wind (AWH) for two projects - the Oahu Northwest Project and the Oahu South Project.

Each project proposes an offshore wind facility with a capacity of MW of renewable energy generated by 51 floating 8 MW wind turbines.

The energy generated by the projects would be transmitted to Oahu by undersea cables.

In its lease applications for both the projects, the group mentioned that it is difficult to come up with apt evaluation of project costs at this early stage. The team has set a target price not to exceed $5m/MW installed for a 400 MW project. The project mobilisation costs are estimated to be in the order of $20m.

The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative calls for 70% renewable energy by 2030, where 40 percent of the electricity production should come from renewable energy.

The bureau established the BOEM/ Hawaii Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to promote planning and coordination, and to facilitate effective and efficient review of requests for commercial and research leases and right-of-way grants for power cables on the Federal outer continental shelf (OCS). The OCS begins three nautical miles offshore Hawaii.

Source: AWH

RWE Innogy to test second metocean buoy

RWE Innogy’s first metocean buoy test in the Netherlands has delivered promising results, and the trial of additional buoy has now commenced as part of the floating LiDAR validation project.

The company mentioned that it has wrapped up trial of an offshore buoy for measuring wind and wave data in the Netherlands. This was done in partnership with the operator of Eneco Luchterduinen offshore wind farm.

Now an additional floating LiDAR was installed off the Dutch coast mid-March in order to evaluate further technical configurations with various manufacturers.

The objective is to establish a cost-effective alternative to fixed met masts. Floating LiDAR systems are expected to only cost 10-20% of a conventional measuring mast.

The first trial conducted in 2014 was supported by the research and development programme FLOW (Far and Large Offshore Wind), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

US to fund larger wind blades

The U. S. Energy Department has planned $1.8m in funding for the development of larger wind turbine blades.

The objective is to support more power from wind resources and increase the efficiency of wind energy systems. This funding will support the R&D of technological innovations to improve the manufacturing, transportation, and assembly of wind turbine blades longer than 60m.

As highlighted by the department, taller turbines accompanied by longer blades have the potential to harness wind power resources from more than one million additional square miles of the U. S., roughly triple the amount of developable land that was accessible with turbine technology in 2008. This funding opportunity will help mitigate the transportation and logistical constraints associated with larger turbine blades.

Siemens and Egyptian government sign deals

Siemens and the Egyptian government have finalised agreements to step up power generation capacity, and one of the deals pertains to installing wind power capacity of 2 GW.

Siemens will build a factory in Egypt to manufacture rotor blades for wind turbines, creating up to 1,000 jobs.

The agreements were signed at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in the presence of Egypt’s Minister of Electricity Shaker al Markabi, Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, and Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens.

Siemens highlighted that Egypt has great potential for wind power generation, especially in the Gulf of Suez and the Nile Valley.

The Egyptian government plans to expand wind capacity over the coming years as part of a plan to increase wind generation to 7.2 GW by 2020.

Innergex terminates Nodinosi project

Innergex Renewable Energy has chosen to terminate further development of the Nodinosi prospective wind project located near Mattawa, Ontario.

The Canadian independent renewable power producer and its partner the Algonquins of the Pikwàkanagàn First Nation confirmed the development last week. The Nodinosi prospective wind project was located in the Townships of Phelps, Olrig and Mattawan of the Nipissing District. It had a proposed installed capacity of approximately 150 MW.

François Morin, senior advisor at Innergex, shared that considering concerns expressed by residents and local authorities, the company has come to conclusion that it does not have social acceptability for the Nodinosi project. The team does not pursue a project without the appropriate level of support of the community, he said.