During the past week, there were some major announcements that revealed continuing developments and growth on the European wind energy landscape. Probably the most intriguing announcement came from Norsk Hydro and Siemens AG’s Power Generation Group, who have entered into an agreement to cooperate on technology to develop floating wind turbines based on Hydro’s Hywind concept. Siemens will deliver the first wind turbine for the demonstration unit, which will be positioned off the coast of Norway.
Locating wind turbines offshore has obvious advantages, such as reduced visual impact and increased power production due to strong and stable wind conditions. Floating offshore turbines could be installed at sites with greater water depths. Hydro currently has a license to place a demonstration turbine offshore near Karm&oslah;y, an island in the southwest of Norway. The company is also considering the possibility of locating the wind turbine near an oil installation with the aim of supplying it with renewable energy.
Siemens Power Generation also announced that it has successfully completed installation of 25 wind turbines for the Burbo Offshore Wind Farm in Liverpool Bay. The turbines, with a capacity of 3.6MW each, were erected in less than 1.5 months, well ahead of schedule. Following commissioning and connection of the offshore wind farm to the power grid the wind turbines will start commercial operation by the end of the year, supplying power to more than 80,000 households. The Burbo offshore wind farm has a total capacity of 90MW and will be operated by SeaScape Energy Ltd., a company owned by the Danish utility DONG Energy A/S.
For onshore operations, Siemens leased a 45,000 square-meter area in the port of Mostyn, located in North Wales. The 65 m high steel towers were assembled upright and all internal and electrical systems were tested before they were loaded onto the installation vessel. The purpose built vessel carried towers, nacelles, hubs and blades for 3 turbines per trip to the site area, which is located approximately twelve kilometers from shore. At the site, each wind turbine was erected in five heavy lifts with a maximum weight of approximately 185 tons. The average erection time per turbine weighing almost 500 tons each was less than half a day.
The Burbo Wind Farm is the first offshore project using the Siemens SWT-3.6-107 turbine and the first in a series of offshore projects to be built by Siemens. In a few weeks’ time, erection of 48 turbines of the SWT-2.3-93 type will commence offshore at Lillgrund near the Swedish city Malmoe. With a capacity of 110MW, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in Sweden. The Lillgrund project will be operated by the utility company Vattenfall and commercial operation is scheduled to start in the fall of 2007.
In 2008, Siemens will start erection work on what is claimed will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world off the east coast of Great Britain. The Lynn and Inner Dowsing project comprises 54 SWT-3.6-107 wind turbines. The wind farm will have a maximum capacity of 180MW and will be operated by the British gas provider Centrica.
Energias de Portugal, S.A. (EDP) signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Horizon Wind Energy LLC, a developer, owner and operator of wind power generation in the United States. The company claims that the combined entity resulting from the acquisition will be a leading global renewables player, with over 3,800 gross MW of wind power generation in operation by the end of 2007.
Founded in 1999, Horizon currently owns 559 gross MW of operating wind projects and has 997 MW of projects under construction, for expected operational capacity by the end of 2007 of 1,556 gross MW (1,324 net MW). Horizon also has a pipeline of projects in several stages of development in 15 different states across the United States, with combined aggregate generating potential of over 9,000 MW.
