Mid American Energy to Build Largest Wind Farm in Iowa

Mid American Energy is filing a request with the Iowa Utilities Board to build WIND 11, a project that will add up to 2,000 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa. Mid America’s Ruth Comer says their $ 3.6 billion investment is the largest economic development project in Iowa history.

She says those additional 1,000 wind turbines bring Mid American’s total to 3,000 wind turbines. Comer says Iowa will receive over 40 percent of its energy from wind once their Wind 11 project is completed.

Comer says Mid American Energy has great relations with Iowa’s farmers, landowners and local communities which has allowed them to move forward successfully with these projects.

Mid American Energy began their Iowa wind projects in 2004.

Mid American Energy to Build Largest Wind Farm in Iowa

US will finally get its first offshore wind farm this year

Almost as long as I’ve been covering green tech, the Block Island Wind Farm has been in the works. The project, first approved by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission in 2010, was seen as a smaller-scale pilot project that could prove the feasibility of offshore wind power generation in the U.S.

Six years later, it will be a 30-MW installation that will provide most of the power needs of Block Island, an island off Rhode Island that currently gets its electricity from diesel generators.

The project was initially planned for completion in 2012, but set backs and plan changes have delayed it. GE, the makers of the five 6-MW “Haliade” turbines that will make up the project, has just announced that the wind farm is on target to be up and running by the end of the year. Even with the delays, it will be the first completed offshore wind farm in the country.

The five wind turbines, each twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty and with a diameter of double the size of a 747 Jumbo jet wingspan, will be able to generate about 125,000 MWh of electricity, or enough to meet 90 percent of Block Island’s energy needs. They will be located three miles offshore of Block Island and underwater transmission cables will connect them to the island and mainland Rhode Island where excess energy will go to the grid.

Read More: TreeHugger

US will finally get its first offshore wind farm this year

ScottishPower Renewables gives green light to 'best value offshore wind farm in the world'

Energy giant announces final investment decision for giant £2.5bn East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, which will deliver power at £119/MWh

ScottishPower Renewables has today confirmed it is to start work on the 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, hailing it as the “best value offshore windfarm in the world”.

The company said it had reached a final investment decision for the £2.5bn project, which is now expected to create up to 3,000 jobs during construction before coming fully online in 2020.

The project is expected to deliver enough clean power for 500,000 homes and has secured a price support contract of £119/MWh through the UK’s first renewable energy auction process.

ScottishPower Renewables said the contract meant the project would deliver clean power at a price that is 15 per cent lower than any other offshore wind farm project currently under construction in UK waters.

The projects is also regarded as the latest step towards the industry’s goal of delivering offshore wind power at a price of below £100/MWh from 2020, a benchmark that ministers have said developers will have to meet if the industry is to continue to expand post-2020.

However, critics of offshore wind development, including supporters of some rival clean technologies, argue costs remain at more than double current wholesale power prices and have called for greater competition between all clean energy sources for price support contracts.

“East Anglia ONE will deliver substantial environmental benefits for the UK, it will stimulate considerable UK investment, and it will support thousands of jobs,” said Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia ONE project director, in a statement. “Offshore wind has proven itself as a technology that works, and the more offshore wind capacity we have in the UK, the more secure our energy supplies will be.”

He added that the project would provide a boost to the wider East Anglia region, with the company inking a £25m deal with the Port of Lowestoft and vowing to spend at least half of the total £2.5bn investment in the UK.

“East Anglia has some of the best conditions anywhere in the world for the development of offshore wind, and we are fully committed to the region, with future developments already in the pipeline,” Jordan said. “ScottishPower Renewables is leading the way with its approach of actively working towards a target of at least 50 per cent UK supply chain content over the lifetime of the East Anglia ONE project. We have already worked with a wide range of companies across East Anglia and we look forward to working with many more.”

The announcement is the latest boost to an offshore wind sector that has been tipped by Ministers to play a major role in the UK’s future clean energy mix, as long as it continues to deliver cost reductions.

The news follows confirmation from rival developer DONG Energy that it is to build the giant 1.2GW Hornsea Project One wind farm, touted as the world’s largest wind farm, off the Yorkshire coast, delivering clean power to over one million homes from 2020.

Further reading

ScottishPower Renewables gives green light to "best value offshore wind farm in the world"

Beothuk Energy holding wind farm information sessions

People interested in finding out more about a proposed offshore wind farm in western Newfoundland will have the opportunity next week.

Other news

Beothuk Energy Inc. is holding information sessions in Stephenville and Corner Brook. The informal sessions are being held to ensure transparency regarding Beothuk’s western offshore wind projects, including the proposed $466-million, 180-megawatt St. George’s Bay wind farm, which includes manufacturing and service facilities.

Sessions take place 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday in Stephenville at the Days Inn, and at the same times Thursday in Corner Brook at Glynmill Inn.

Executives of Beothuk and of some of its consortium partners and alliances will be available to answer questions from stakeholders and the public.

“Our plans have progressed to the point that they are generating excitement regarding the possible socioeconomic benefits our projects will bring to the region,” said Kirby Mercer, president and chief executive officer of Beothuk, in a prepared release.

Beothuk is an international green energy company, headquartered in St. John’s with a branch office in Corner Brook.

Beothuk Energy holding wind farm information sessions

LETTER: County residents deserve say on wind farm

In The Daily Republic article dated Dec. 31, Jeff Bathke, the Davison County zoning administrator, was interviewed about the zoning issues surrounding the proposed Juhl wind project west of Mitchell.

In the article, Bathke confirmed that the Davison County Commissioners have been working on updating the zoning ordinances prior to the Juhl application. Bathke explained the process for developing the wind ordinances, wherein his recommendations would first be presented to the commissioners for their input and changes, then to the public for input and changes. Finally, the commissioners would vote to include the resultant items in the revised Davison County zoning ordinance, which would apply to all future wind conversion projects.

But wait! What about Juhl’s permit that is still on the table? Its permit contains no conditions or safeguards. Bathke’s reported view in the article was, “If Bathke’s recommendations are approved in early 2016, Juhl Energy’s proposal would already meet the new guidelines.”

That sounds like the Juhl proposal is a done deal and the county should, in good faith, approve its permit with no conditions because they are voluntarily agreeing to comply with a set of standards that they wrote and that he assumes will, in the future, be in compliance anyway.

Bathke’s assumptions that the people of Davison County even want wind energy conversion projects and that his already formed recommendations would weather the process he laid out for creating them are, well, presumptuous.

Shouldn’t the process he outlined for drafting these recommendations be followed prior to the approval or denial of Juhl’s permit? Wouldn’t it be prudent of the Board of Adjustment in the upcoming Feb. 9 meeting to simply deny the permit on grounds that it is not in the best interest of the citizens of Davison County because it lacks any conditions or safeguards?

Concerning industrial wind conversion projects, there are so many controversial issues related to them, let’s first find out what the people of Davison County want and how they want to do it and then act on their behalf for the safety and protection of everyone.

Jerry Scott

Mitchell

LETTER: County residents deserve say on wind farm

Mainstream finds partners for 448-MW wind farm off Scotland

InterGen-led tie-up ready to take on 448-MW wind project off Scotland

Jan 26, 2016 13:57 CET by Tsvetomira Tsanova

Siemens turbines at Westermost Rough wind farm. Source: Siemens AG. www.siemens.com/press

January 26 (SeeNews) – An equity consortium that includes InterGen, Siemens Project Ventures, The Marguerite Fund and Infrared Capital is ready to take the 448-MW Neart na Gaoithe wind project off Scotland into construction.

Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power, which developed the project, said today it is in exclusive discussions with the InterGen-led tie-up to take the wind farm to financial close and into construction. 

In July it was reported that Mainstream is negotiating the sale of the project to InterGen and Siemens Project Ventures. The developer did not reveal any further details on the talks today.

The project, planned for the Outer Forth Estuary in the North Sea, will use Siemens’ 7-MW turbines. It has secured a 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) at a strike price of GBP 114.38 (USD 162.3/EUR 149.7), which Andy Kinsella, chief operating officer (COO) at Mainstream, says is the lowest rate achieved for offshore wind in the UK.

The Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm has already received several offers for power purchase agreements (PPAs) for its full output over the term of the CfD, Mainstream added. The deals are currently under negotiation.

Subject to the outcome of a judicial review by Scottish courts, the power plant could be fully operational by 2020. The contracts for the equipment and construction have been agreed and the needed debt funding has been sourced from commercial banks, Kinsella added.

According to the developer’s estimates, GBP 540 million will be directly spent in Scotland during the offshore wind park’s construction, followed by GBP 610 million during the operational phase.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.419/EUR 1.309)

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Mainstream finds partners for 448-MW wind farm off Scotland

Windlab, Eurus Plan $102 Million Australia Wind and Solar Farm

Windlab Ltd. and Eurus Energy Holdings Corp. plan to build a A$140 million ($102 million) wind and solar energy park in the Australian state of Queensland.

The Kennedy Energy Park plant will be the first large-scale hybrid solar and wind park in Australia, Canberra-based Windlab said in a statement posted on its website. Construction is expected to start after June next year.

The companies will install six wind turbines and 64,000 solar panels in the first stage of the project, according to the statement. Successful completion of the first stage may lead to adding 1,200 megawatts of clean-energy capacity, Windlab said in the statement.

The Kennedy Energy Park follows an announcement earlier this year of a 20-megawatt wind project in Victoria that Windlab and Eurus are building together. Eurus, a Tokyo-based clean-energy developer, is a venture between Toyota Tsusho Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Windlab, Eurus Plan $102 Million Australia Wind and Solar Farm

Duke Energy breaking ground for solar farm at Camp Lejeune - San Antonio Express-News

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Duke Energy Corp. is breaking ground on a solar energy farm on the East Coast’s largest Marine Corps base as the military diversifies from petroleum power.

The country’s largest electric company is starting construction Friday at Camp Lejeune on a 13-megawatt solar array on 100 acres. The project’s goal is helping the Navy and Marines meet their energy and security goals while furthering Duke Energy’s renewable energy holdings.

The Navy has decided its reliance on oil is a national security problem and plans to produce at least half of its on-shore energy needs from alternative sources by 2020.

Duke Energy is required by state law to generate 12.5 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2021. Duke is investing about $500 million on three other North Carolina solar projects.

Duke Energy breaking ground for solar farm at Camp Lejeune - San Antonio Express-News

Construction starts on wind farm to help meet ACT's energy needs

The ACT aims to source 90 per cent of Canberra’s electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Photo: Rohan Thomson

The first wind farm to supply renewable energy to power thousands of Canberra homes is one step closer. 

Building work on the Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm near Bendigo is set to start today. 

It was one of three wind farms in Victoria and South Australia to win 20-year deals with the ACT government to supply a third of Canberra’s electricity needs within two years.

The deals are worth a total of $68 million a year to the three companies and will cost Canberra households an average $93 extra a year on their power bills at the peak in 2020. 

The farm will help the ACT meet its goal to source 90 per cent of Canberra’s electricity from renewable energy by 2020.

Environment Minister Simon Corbell said the Victorian farm would generate “the lowest-cost wind energy in Australia” at $81.50 per megawatt hour.

“Wind is currently the lowest-cost renewable energy generation available, and will play a big role in the decarbonisation of the ACTs electricity supply.

“It will contribute approximately three-quarters of the ACT’s 90 per cent renewable energy target.”

Mr Corbell said an expected annual output of 82,000 megawatt-hours would be enough to power about 12,000 homes.

The farm will be managed by wind energy development company Windlab from its global operation centre in Canberra. 

The hub was set up as part of the company’s bid for the wind auction and currently employs 15 staff, a number which should grow to 70 by 2035.

Construction of the Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm should be finished in the first half of next year. 

Construction starts on wind farm to help meet ACT"s energy needs

Goonhilly Wind Farm 'grants for good causes'

Goonhilly Wind Farm ‘grants for good causes’

First published in News

Good causes on the Lizard Peninsula can find out about grant funding from Goonhilly Wind Farm at a drop-in event next week.

Cornwall Community Foundation is hosting the event for community groups, charities and voluntary organisations in the TR12 postcode to help with grant applications for the Goonhilly Wind Farm Community Fund.

Operator REG Windpower donates £48,000 per year to support good causes in the local community. Since the six turbines began generating renewable energy, the fund has made grants worth almost £200,000 to groups on the Lizard.

The Cornwall Community Foundation administers the fund, and a panel of local people decides twice yearly which applications are most deserving of support.

The drop-in event takes place on Wednesday, April 1 at Gweek Village Hall, between 3.30pm and 6.30pm.

The deadline for applications for the next round of grants is April 16.

For more information visit www.goonhillywindfarm.co.uk In the past grants have gone to the Zelda School, Mullion Cricket Club, Sunshine Café Memory Club, St Keverne Village Hall, Gweek Village Hall and Mawgan Recreation Ground in past rounds of funding.

Goonhilly Wind Farm "grants for good causes"

Fedeli says North Bay needs a champion in wind farm fight

Tuesday, March 24, 2015   by: Liam Berti

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli held a town hall meeting regarding wind power generation at the Davedi Club on Tuesday night, where a crowd of over 100 listened to the impact of wind farms based on facts from the Auditor General of Canada. PHOTO BY LIAM BERTI

If North Bayites are as passionately opposed to wind farms as Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli is, they are going to need a local champion.

Fedeli hosted a town hall meeting at the Davedi Club on Tuesday night, where he told the audience of over 100 people why they should oppose wind energy generation. 

With Innergex Renewable Energy proposing a project just north of city boundaries in Merrick Township, Fedeli felt it was time to present the facts about wind farms in Ontario.

“In Southern Ontario, this is discussed on a daily basis because they are so prevalent, but this is the first time it has come up our way, so it’s new discussion,” he said. “They are running out of places who will accept these wind turbines, so we are fresh meat, new territory.

“Find a champion who will give you the facts and figures and will walk you through how to attack this, how to fight it, how to delay it and ultimately cancel it,” he added. “These developers will do and say anything to convince you that this is a good thing.”

Fedeli quoted previous Auditor General reports to tell the audience that he thinks the provincial Green Energy Act is an empty, ideologically driven mistake. 

Despite spending some $50 billion on lucrative subsidies and long-term fixed contracts with the green energy companies, renewable energy sources continue to provide the province with just 25 per cent of their power he said.

What’s more, the province has paid more than $2.6 billion to export excess energy to the United States and Quebec since 2006.

But most importantly for Ontario ratepayers, Fedeli said hydro rates are expected to soar thanks to costs of exporting Ontario’s extra energy, paying the wind developers regardless of if the energy is needed or not.

“There’s nothing green about this Green Energy Act,” he said simply. “We still make the same amount of green energy that we made $50 billion ago, the Auditor General has told us it’s bad for the economy, and it cost us 300,000 manufacturing jobs in Ontario.”

Despite Ontario already having some of the highest industrial hydro rates in North America, Fedeli said rates are forecasted to increase by up to 42 per cent in the next three years.

Those rates, he said, have chased some big, high-consumption industrial players out of the province because their hydro bills were too high.

Guests Warren Howard of Wind Concerns Ontario and Raymond Beaudry of the Manitoulin Coalition for Safe Energy Alternatives backed him up with anecdotal support as well. 

Beaudry, in particular, said that economically, the imminent increases on hydro bills are going to outstrip everyone’s ability to pay and, ultimately, bring the wind power projects down. 

Some of the members in the audience said they have witnessed the negative impacts of wind farm projects elsewhere in the province, like Lake Erie, Manitoulin Island, Huron County, and Port Dover.

In the end though, the trio of presenters emphasized that, while the municipalities have little power in preventing the projects, it’s up to the community to rally against them and make the statement themselves.

“You are going to have to start fighting it now,” said Howard.

The Merrick Township Wind Farm Proposal

While Fedeli said he didn’t host the town hall meeting to address any specific projects or companies directly, those in attendance were clearly gearing up for the one that’s expected to hit close to home.

Innergex Renewable Energy, the Quebec-based company proposing the industrial turbine system for Merrick Township, had the preliminary plan to erect a 50-60 turbine wind farm in one of the flight corridors of Jack Garland Airport in the unorganized Merrick Township.

But after the Mayor and City Council submitted a letter of opposition to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change objecting the wind farm, Innergex met with Mayor McDonald and airport representatives last week to resolve their early concerns.

Chief among them was the threat to their heavy investment in the Airport Industrial Park.

But François Morin, the senior advisor of public affairs for Innergex, who was in attendance for Fedeli’s meeting on Tuesday, said the company has already addressed the city’s concerns by proposing the turbines be outside a 15-kilometre area from the airport.

He said they are now in the process of developing a sound proposal that they are confident will come to fruition with social acceptability.

“It was a good, positive first meeting and we have clarified many things, so it was a constructive meeting,” said Morin. “The city will be careful to question and be sure that we bring something to the community, but I think we share the same objective.

“Yes, there will be short-term jobs; but it’s 300 jobs against zero jobs without the project,” Morin added. “They just want to be sure that if we build a project that we don’t cause problems and there will be a positive contribution to the community.”

After the strong opposition to the proposed wind farm for the Mattawa area, Innergex pulled the plug on their proposal. But the Merrick project remains in the early planning stages for now.

Morin said he and Innergex are more confident in the Merrick project and plan on hosting public meetings in the coming months. 

“Now we will have the meetings and answer the concerns one-on-one, but there will also be public meetings and consultations, but only once we know we have a better project,” he said.

Some of the early issues from area residents, he said, revolve around environmental and health concerns.

“I heard many stories tonight that are not related to what we do at all,” said Morin. “We have 25 years of experience in developing projects with 33 facilities all over North America, and we have a spotless record when it comes to environment and we intend to keep it that way.”

While Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled well before the Mattawa project was called off, Fedeli said it’s a good opportunity to keep the momentum rolling. 

“It’s my role as an MPP to bring the facts from Queen’s Park for all groups,” he said. “After the Mattawa victory, it was important to carry on.”

What do you think? Do industrial wind turbines belong close to North Bay? Why or why not?

Note: Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of BayToday.ca. Keep discussions civil and on topic. Refrain from obscenity and don’t post anything that your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

Fedeli says North Bay needs a champion in wind farm fight

Solar farm developers confident Hightown scheme will get the green light

Developers behind plans to build a huge solar park have said they are confident their scheme will go ahead.

The proposed development would see rows of solar panels laid out on farmland off Orrell Hill Lane, between Ince Blundell and Hightown, using an area the equivalent of almost 60 football pitches.

The developers behind the scheme, Hive Energy, say the park, which would be active for 25-30 years, will generate up to 20 megawatts of renewable electricity. This is enough for about 6,000 homes.

The park would employ two full-time staff, with up to 100 workers required for the site’s construction.

Hive Energy’s commercial director, Tim Purbrick, said: “The feedback from local residents has been positive and that’s great.

“People are looking at weather events around the world and the changes in our meteorology circumstances and realising these are important things.

“The sun is the biggest nuclear reaction in the solar system and we should make use of it. We can generate an awful lot of our own energy for our own use in the UK from solar energy and other renewable sources and we should be.

“Look how unstable other areas of the world are – do we really want to rely on Russia for our gas and other fuels?”

Many of the site’s existing features would be retained, including hedges and ditches, with developers proposing a number of environmental improvements and Mr Purbrick stressed that ecological factors play a big part in the site’s development.

“We have lost 97% of our grass meadows since World War II and there are so few places for our wildlife to exist now.

“We will put bird and bat boxes up and invite bee keepers to put hives in the solar field so it will be a haven for wildlife.”

Hive have recently resubmitted their plans to Sefton Council following a number of consultation events last year, with a decision expected shortly.

Mr Purbrick added: “Things look positive and we do not go into any scheme without the support of the panning officer. We’ve got that and I hope we’ve secured the support of the local community.

“We are very positive this is a good thing for the area.”

Solar farm developers confident Hightown scheme will get the green light

Second golden eagle found dead at Nevada wind farm

Conservationists are calling for regulatory action after the death of a second golden eagle in three years at a White Pine County wind farm that sells power to NV Energy.

The body of the federally protected bird was found Feb. 9 near one of the massive turbines at the Spring Valley Wind Energy facility about 260 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Operators of the wind farm reported the death to federal regulators and collected the juvenile bird’s carcass for further examination by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“Our folks in the regional office are aware of it, and they are consulting with the Bureau of Land Management and waiting for information from them,” said Dan Balduini, spokesman for the Fish & Wildlife Service in Nevada. “As it stands right now, we’re not taking any action until we get information that’s necessary to move forward.”

The wind farm received no penalties the last time a golden eagle was killed there, two years ago this month, even though the facility lacked a federal permit for the so-called “incidental take” of such protected birds.

In a letter to regulators, members of the Western Watersheds Project, an Idaho-based environmental group, said they were “extremely disappointed” by the second eagle death and demanded to know what would be done to prevent more deaths.

“We expect a far more robust response to this second unauthorized kill,” the letter from group said.

Rob Mrowka, senior scientist for the Tucson, Ariz., based Center for Biological Diversity, said it will be interesting to see how regulators respond to this latest incident after giving the wind farm “a free pass” the first time around.

“There is no incidental take allowed after the first eagle,” he said. “After the first eagle they have to face consequences, theoretically.”

San Francisco-based Pattern Energy owns the 152-megawatt wind farm, which features 66 turbines arrayed across more than 7,600 acres of federal land at the heart of the vast Spring Valley.

The $225 million facility went online in August 2012 as the first utility-scale wind farm in Nevada. It is designed to generate enough electricity to supply about 40,000 homes, with NV Energy as its only customer for the first 20 years of operation.

Each of the wind farm’s 262-foot towers holds a rotor the diameter of a football field. When one of its three blades is pointed straight up, the structure reaches more than 425 feet in the air, roughly the same height as the Palms casino resort. Though the blades appear to spin slowly, their tips can reach 170 mph, churning the air into tornado-like swirls that can be deadly for a bird or bat that flies too close.

Eagle deaths at wind farms nationwide have stoked debate over the environmental trade-offs associated with the sort of large-scale green energy projects championed by the Obama administration in the face of climate change.

In December 2013, the Interior Department exempted wind farms from penalties associated with bald and golden eagle deaths for up to 30 years, provided companies obtain permits and make efforts to avoid killing protected birds.

Pattern Energy formally applied for a 30-year take permit early last year but has not yet been granted one by the Fish & Wildlife Service. Until a permit is issued, any eagle killed would count as a violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Balduini said.

In a written statement Monday, Rene Braud, Pattern’s director of environmental compliance and policy, said the company has already implemented some mitigation measures at the site. “It is unfortunate when any eagle is lost, and we will continue our efforts to reduce the project’s impact,” Braud said. “We also believe that other energy facilities and industries result in far more bird fatalities than wind projects.”

The Western Watersheds Project and the Center for Biological Diversity sued to block construction of the Spring Valley wind farm in January 2011, resulting in a settlement that set limits on bird and bat mortality at the site and spelled out what the facility must do to track and curb wildlife impacts.

The facility was built about five miles away from a cave where biologists think as many as 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost during their southern migration to Central America from late July through early October.

Last year, Pattern was forced to adjust when its turbines kick on after the wind farm killed an estimated 566 bats in 2013, triple the number allowed under the settlement. Preliminary data seem to show a significant decline in bat deaths since Pattern changed the “cut-in” speed for its windmills, said Paul Podborny, a BLM field manager in Ely.

Adjusting the operation to curb eagle deaths is a trickier proposition. With such a small sample size to work with — two dead birds in three years — it’s hard to know exactly what to do to reduce the chances of it happening again.

“I think that’s the dilemma that the biologists are facing,” Podborny said. “What do we need to do? It’s going to take a little thought.”

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.

Second golden eagle found dead at Nevada wind farm

Havyard delivers first wind farm service vesssel to Esvagt

FEBRUARY 15, 2015 — Norway’s Havyard Ship Technology AS reports that its Leirvik shipyard has delivered the first of three Havard  8302 SV wind farm service vessels to Danish shipowner Esvagt.

The vessel is the first of a pair ordered in July 2013 to work under long-term contracts with Siemens on service assignments for offshore wind farms. The second is scheduled for delivery from the shipyard in March this year. Esvagt has also ordered an additional Havyard 832 SOV from the shipbuilder that  will be under contract for the Dudgeon windfarm, which is operated by Statoil.

“This is yet another milestone for Havyard,” says Kenneth Pettersen, head of the Ship Technology business area in Havyard Group ASA.”Havyard has good references and a strong position in designing, building and fitting out advanced vessels for use in connection with offshore oil production. We have now used this expertise and experience to gain a foothold in the new and exciting renewable energy segment. We also design and build vessels for the fisheries and aquaculture industries, and we have orders for several icebreaker vessels on our books.”

“In times with low oil prices and a weak market for the oil service companies, it is a strength that we have several strings to our bow,” he adds. “We will use our expertise to continue to explore opportunities in alternative markets.”

As with the other vessels built at the shipyard, the design and detailed engineering for production of the vessel are provide by Havyard Design & Solutions, with Havyard Power & Systems, which is based in Ålesund, delivering the electrical engineering, automation and alarm systems and Havyard ConceptBridge. Havyard Ship Technology now has fishing vessels, live fish carriers, offshore vessels, icebreakers and service vessels for wind farms under construction for shipping companies from Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Russia.

“Most companies in our industry are experiencing a challenging situation because of the low oil price, a reduced activity level and cost-cutting by the oil companies,” says Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, who is Senior Vice President Sales at Havyard Design & Solutions AS. “However, we also see many opportunities in other markets, not just in the offshore industry. The low exchange rate for the Norwegian krone is also an advantage for us, and we are now finding that we can compete with countries that we have previously regarded as low-cost countries. This is a golden opportunity for foreign shipping companies, or shipping companies whose revenues are in foreign currency, to build in Norway.”

In addition to designs for the building of ships at Havyard’s own yard, Havyard Design & Solutions also has orders for the delivery of design and equipment packages for the building of ships of Havyard design in Brazil, Spain, Singapore, India and China.

HAVYARD 832 SOV

The primary task of the Havyard 832 SOV vessels will be to provide accommodations and transportation for personnel and equipment involved in service and maintenance of offshore wind turbines.

The ship is equipped with a specialized gangway system that makes it possible to transfer personnel to the wind turbines in harsh weather conditions.

Emphasis has been placed on providing good facilities and comfort for the personnel on board, the ability to stay in position by the wind turbines, and environmentally friendly and economical transit between onshore bases and the offshore wind farms offshore.

The Havyard 832 SOV has a foreship designed to have good properties in both calm and rough seas and a stern with twin skegs that improve the performance of the hull and propellers and their operating economy. 

Length: 83.7 m
Breadth: 17.6 m
Speed: 14 knots
Accommodations: 60 persons

Havyard delivers first wind farm service vesssel to Esvagt

Australian Government continues to work with communities to resolve wind farm concerns

The Australian Government is committed to continuing to work with local communities and industry to resolve concerns about possible health impacts from wind farms.

The Government welcomes the report from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) looking into the evidence of impacts from exposure to wind farm noise.

The NHMRC Information Paper: Evidence on Wind Farms and Human Health found no consistent evidence that exposure to wind farm noise affects human physical or mental health but concluded further high quality research is warranted. It also found that there is some evidence that wind farm noise is associated with annoyance and parallel evidence suggests that prolonged annoyance due to noise may result in stress, which can have adverse effects on human health.

The report found that only 13 of 4,000 studies internationally have looked at the possible relationships between wind farm emissions and health outcomes. Only one of these 13 studies was conducted in Australia, showing a clear lack of research based around Australia’s unique environmental conditions.

The NHMRC also found this small number of studies to be of poor quality, including a failure by any studies to undertake monitoring of impacts on health within affected residents’ homes.

The Government supports the NHMRC’s decision to commission further high-quality research to fill current information gaps.

It’s essential for everyone involved – including both residents and the renewable energy sector – that credible evidence is gathered to ensure a considered position based on hard facts, not emotion and vested-interests can be established.

The Australian Government recognises that some members of the community are concerned about the development of wind farms.

Just as we promised prior to the election, we are listening to Australians worried about potential health effects caused by wind farms and we are working to resolve these concerns, including by independent analysis.

The Government will examine the report and will be reviewing the results of the targeted research to consider how noise from wind farms may affect human health, so that any approach to measuring noise can be targeted appropriately.

Media contacts: Minister Macfarlane’s office 02 6277 7070

Australian Government continues to work with communities to resolve wind farm concerns

Amazon on Board With Indiana Wind Farm

January 20, 2015

News Release

January 20, 2015

News Release

SEATTLE, Wash. – (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, today announced that it has teamed with Pattern Energy Group LP (Pattern Development) to support the construction and operation of a 150 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Benton County, Indiana, called the Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge). This new wind farm is expected to start generating approximately 500,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of wind power annually as early as January 2016 – or the equivalent of that used by approximately 46,000 US homes1 in a year. The energy generated by Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) will be used to help power both current and future AWS Cloud datacenters. For more information go to http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainable-energy/.

In November 2014, AWS shared its long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy usage for the global AWS infrastructure footprint. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for AWS’s new Wind Farm is an important step toward that goal. AWS introduced its first carbon-neutral region – US West (Oregon) – in 2011. Today, AWS offers customers three AWS Regions that are carbon-neutral – US West (Oregon), EU (Frankfurt), and AWS GovCloud (US).

“Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) will bring a new source of clean energy to the electric grid where we currently operate a large number of datacenters and have ongoing expansion plans to support our growing customer base,” said Jerry Hunter, Vice President of Infrastructure at Amazon Web Services. “This PPA helps to increase the renewable energy used to power our infrastructure in the US and is one of many sustainability activities and renewable energy projects for powering our datacenters that we currently have in the works.”

Pattern Development is a leader in developing renewable energy and transmission assets with a long history in wind energy. Pattern Development’s CEO, Mike Garland said, “We are excited to be working with Amazon Web Services and we commend the Company for its commitment to sustainability and its continued pioneering and leadership in cloud computing. We look forward to working with AWS as it progresses towards its goal of using 100 percent renewable energy.”

About Amazon Web Services

Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from datacenter locations in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. More than a million customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

1 In 2012, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,837 kWh, an average of 903 kilowatthours (kWh) per month. http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3

Source: Amazon.com Inc.

January 20, 2015

News Release

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal. – Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGI) (TSX: PEG) (“Pattern Energy”), today announced the addition of 116 megawatts (MW) of owned interest in the 150 MW Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) project to its list of identified Right of First Offer (ROFO) projects from Pattern Energy Group LP (“Pattern Development”). The Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) project, which is located in Benton County, Indiana, has a 13-year PPA to supply Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, with electricity.

Highlights

-13-year PPA to supply Amazon Web Services with electricity
-Pattern Energy’s first wind project in Indiana
-Increases identified ROFO list to eight projects with 830 MW of total owned capacity

“Pattern Energy is providing wind power to America’s top corporations and looks forward to working with Amazon Web Services upon the acquisition of this exciting new project, which has been added to our growing ROFO list,” said Mike Garland, President and CEO of Pattern Energy. “In the past 18 months we have acquired four projects from Pattern Development with an aggregate owned capacity of 557 MW and have also added an additional five projects, including Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge), to the ROFO list with an aggregate capacity of 553 MW.”

“Our agreement on Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) is part of our long-term commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy to power the AWS global infrastructure,” said Jerry Hunter, Vice President of Infrastructure at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With agreements like this we’re increasing the amount of clean energy we consume while helping enable the construction of new renewable energy facilities.”

Pattern Development expects to begin construction of the Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) project in April and anticipates reaching commercial operation in late 2015 or early 2016. Upon completion, the project is expected to generate approximately 500,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of wind power annually – or the equivalent of that used by approximately 46,000 US homes. [1]

Pattern Development currently owns 100 percent of the 150 MW project and it is anticipated that Pattern Energy will acquire 120 MW of owned interest, with tax equity investors acquiring the balance. The addition of the Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) project increases Pattern Energy’s ROFO list to eight projects with a total owned capacity of 830 MW. In December, Pattern Energy acquired the Logan’s Gap Wind project, which had been part of the ROFO list, growing its portfolio to 12 operational wind power projects with a total owned interest of 1,636 MW.

The list of identified ROFO projects represents a portion of Pattern Development’s 3,000 MW pipeline of development projects, all of which are subject to Pattern Energy’s right of first offer. The table below sets forth the current list of identified ROFO projects:

Asset, Location, Owned MW, Status

-Gulf Wind, Texas, 76, Operational
-K2, Ontario, 90, In construction
-Armow, Ontario, 90, In construction
-Meikle, British Columbia, 185, Ready for financing
-Conejo, Chile, 73, Ready for financing
-Belle River, Ontario, 50, Securing final permits
-Henvey Inlet, Ontario, 150, Signed PPA; late stage development
-Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge), Indiana, 116, Ready for financing

Total- 830

About Pattern Energy

Pattern Energy Group Inc. (Pattern Energy) is an independent power company listed on the NASDAQ (“PEGI”) and Toronto Stock Exchange (“PEG”). Pattern Energy has a portfolio of 12 wind power projects, with a total owned interest of 1,636 MW, in the United States, Canada and Chile that use proven, best-in-class technology. Pattern Energy’s wind power projects generate stable long-term cash flows in attractive markets and provide a solid foundation for the continued growth of the business. For more information, visit www.patternenergy.com.

Source: Pattern Energy Group Inc.

Amazon on Board With Indiana Wind Farm

Macquarie Infrastructure lifts US Idaho wind farm investment

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NEW York-listed Macquarie Infrastructure Group has lifted its holding in an Idaho wind farm development to 72.4 per cent, having bought an …

Macquarie Infrastructure lifts US Idaho wind farm investment

Vestas in MoU over 170MW wind farm in Vietnam

By Brian Publicover, Tokyo & Andrew Lee, London

 Wednesday, December 10 2014

Updated: Wednesday, December 10 2014

Vestas has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could see the Danish turbine group equip a 170MW wind farm in Vietnam.

The MoU between Vestas and local developer Phu Cuong Group (PCG)  was signed at an event Ho Chi Minh City  organised by the Danish Embassy.

It gives Vestas “the opportunity to contribute this project as a best practice example in Vietnam”, said Chris Beaufait, the wind OEM’s president of Vestas Asia Pacific & China.

PCG hopes to develop 800MW of wind in Vietnam. The 170MW project would be its first.

Vestas installed one of Vietnam’s first wind farms, a 6MW project on Phu Quy island.

Beaufait said: “Vestas has been a first mover in Vietnam’s wind power sector. With experience delivering wind energy in 73 countries around the world, Vestas looks forward to working with its partners and colleagues here to help Vietnam realise its great wind energy potential.

“We can provide advice and support based on long experience as it pertains to project financing programs to local partners in Vietnam, which can be a strong support to them at the beginning of their wind business.”

No further details of project location or timing were given, and Vestas stressed that the MoU does not represent a firm turbine order.

Local reports suggested the project is earmarked for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.

Vestas in MoU over 170MW wind farm in Vietnam

Plans for Brookhaven Solar Farm Power Debate

Nov. 13, 2014 9:04 p.m. ET

The town of Brookhaven in Long Island’s Suffolk County is caught up in New York’s ongoing love affair with solar energy farms.

More than 50 solar energy farms, with acres upon acres of white and gray solar panels pointed skyward, have been approved on Long Island and dozens more are in the pipeline, according to PSEG Long Island, the region’s power utility. Supporters point to the low cost of energy per gigawatt using such farms and their relatively small footprint, compared with larger power-grid structures.

But the latest plan for a new 60-acre solar installation on a sod farm in Shoreham has drawn opposition from residents who say that such facilities would be better built to replace abandoned warehouses or unsightly industrial areas. The critics also cite worries about what they say are possible long-term health effects.

The proposed Shoreham solar farm would include about 50,000 panels ranging between 8 feet and 10 feet. The project to erect the panels on the grounds of the DeLalio Sod Farms was approved unanimously by the Brookhaven Town Planning Board in late October.

Some residents have filed formal objections to the Shoreham solar farm and two other solar farms planned nearby, saying they ruin the area’s rural character and that the negotiations for the Shoreham farm, off Route 25A, was done behind closed doors. MaryAnn Johnston, president of the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Associations, said a lawsuit is in the works.

“We are all in favor of renewable energy but this is an industrial-sized solar power plant,” said Ms. Johnston, who works as a paralegal. “A project of this size should not have been done quietly.”

A review of the approval and contracting process for the solar farm is under way, said

Marc Alessi,

a governor-appointed trustee of the Long Island Power Authority, which oversaw the Shoreham solar farm proposal before it was taken over by PSEG Long Island and the developer, sPower.

“I think if some of this stuff had been talked about at length, and we had agreed to house it away from an active farm, we could have avoided the disagreement,” Mr. Alessi said.

Solar power supporters say the new farm could offset the annual energy use of roughly 1,775 homes and the panels be hidden by rows of evergreen trees.

“A lot of the concerns were focused on health but there’s no risk here,” said Chris Wiedemann, the director of development for sPower, a California and Utah-based renewable energy company that is building the solar farm. Mr. Wiedemann said the company is awaiting building permits and construction could take between four months and six months to complete.

Brookhaven has a rich history with advanced technology. Inventor Guglielmo Marconi used a small shack on the campus of a nearby elementary school to train wireless operators and beam messages to ships at sea. The town of Rocky Point on the North Shore was home to the largest wireless station in the world, with a campus of 400-foot-tall steel antenna towers built by Radio Corp. of America in the 1920s.

The area is anchored by Brookhaven National Laboratory, a 5,300-acre U.S. Energy Department facility with nearly 3,000 employees. The facility is home to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a 2.4-mile atom-smashing supercollider that is the only one of its kind in the U.S.

Brookhaven lab also has the largest solar-energy project in New York state, providing 37 megawatts of power.

Paul Moskowitz, a retired environmental health scientist at Brookhaven lab who has lived next to the sod farm site since 1987, said he is disappointed the bucolic fields, a beloved spot in winter for playing in snow will be no more. But he says there were worse alternatives.

“I view it as a plus. I’d much prefer having a quiet, unoccupied field than a bunch of new houses with people using their leaf blowers and loud music,” he said.

Plans for Brookhaven Solar Farm Power Debate

Champlin's $90M Oahu wind farm starting construction by summer 2015

Duane Shimogawa

Reporter- Pacific Business News

Construction on a California wind energy development company’s $90 million, 25-megawatt wind farm on public and private lands on Oahu’s North Shore is expected to start in the third quarter of 2015 and be operational by the end of 2015 or in early 2016.

Champlin Hawaii Holdings LLC recently provided an update of its Na Pua Makani wind project, which has already signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric Co., and is awaiting the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s approval on that contract, in an environmental impact statement preparation notice.

The changes include the addition of more land for the project, which will be located near First Wind’s 30-megawatt Kahuku Wind farm, as well as modifications to the design of it with the intent of reducing impacts to agriculture.

Additionally, the developer added an access road to the project.

Champlin President Michael Cutbirth previously told PBN that once the wind farm is up and running, it could cut Hawaiian Electric Co.’s per-kilowatt hour cost of electricity by half when compared to current rates.

It is expected to create 50 construction jobs as well as about a dozen permanent positions.

Champlin and its affiliates currently have more than 4,500 megawatts of wind energy projects under development. The Kahuku project would be the company’s first project in Hawaii.

Duane Shimogawa covers energy, real estate and economic development for Pacific Business News.

Champlin"s $90M Oahu wind farm starting construction by summer 2015