Offshore Wind without the sinking feeling

The first floating offshore wind turbine has been deployed for field tests at sea.

Renewable Energy World reports that the world first is a 2MW wind turbine that can be deployed without  heavy machinery, normally associated with off-shore wind farm construction.

Special 'Windfloat' technology enables the semi-submersible structure to operate by decreasing wave and wind induced motion.

This amazing piece of engineering was constructed onshore before being towed over 217 miles out to it's resting point for trials which will include a full production capacity test.

Read more at Renewable Energy World here.

photo credit: brett marlow

A case of Bond imitating real life

"oh-oh - look out!"

Watching the 'Bond film - The World Is Not Enough - the other night (the principle story line being a plot to destroy oil carrying pipelines from Russia, leaving just the one new pipeline the 'villain' of the piece is building) it struck me that art could be imitating real life.

Not in the details, you understand, but more in the fact that the renewable industry is facing an expensive time to build new grid networks to transport the renewable power they're generating (or planning on generating.

In particular, the massive offshore wind farms around the coast of Britain - particularly those in the North Sea, which it's hoped will also export / import power from similar european installations, will need a massive new infrastructure to move that power around.

I believe work's already started on such a grid, but you can be sure more work will be required, on both sides.

And the problems aren't restricted to off-shore developments. Because many of the best sites for onshore wind farms are very remote, the costs of actually 'plumbing' those installations into the existing grid are substantial.

The 'Bond film is pure fiction but in real life, the problem's of transporting this new breed of energy are all to real.

photo credit: dave mclear

Offshore wind farm technology still in its infancy

The European Wind Energy Association reckons the current offshore wind industry is in its infancy.

Now it's recommending looking to the oil and gas industry for advice in tackling the harsh conditions if tomorrow's next generation of wind turbines are to be deployed farther out at sea.

 "The goal is to make offshore turbines and structures more reliable, efficient and ever-cheaper to produce".

The association admits the industry is so new that there are very few standards for designing, installing or running these major installations.

The comments come as the Association reckons we could be heading for an offshore energy boom from 2020 onwards.


photo credit: jumanji solar

Offshore wind farm destroys childhood beaches

Holidays are supposed to be relaxing, however, my blood boiled when lasts week, whilst on holiday in Sheringham when a day trip to the beaches of my childhood at Wells-next-the-sea revealed a far from familiar scene.

Where once there had been delightful pools left behind by the outgoing tide, where children (and adults) could paddle in safely, was now a huge channel dredged out, to make room for a new mooring.

The 4 or 5 boats moored were apparently supply / service vessels to the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, which we could see quite clearly from the beaches of Sheringham.

The 'long beach' at Wells' with its row of brightly painted beech chalets is still as friendly as ever, if a little on the chilly side, depending on which way the wind blows of course.

Thankfully, it didn't spoil the day too much and the week itself was glorious, so thank you Sheringham.

Pity the Well's planners didn't consider the impact of the new mooring a bit more though...

photo credit: russell james smith

EU Offshore Wind Farms installations increase capacity by 4.5%

Offshore wind energy in Europe is making good progress in the first half of 2011 compared with last year reports Renewable Energy Magazine.

101 new offshore wind turbines were connected to power grids in the UK, Germany and Norway from January to June this year.

The total capacity is 348MW.

Add another 2,844 MW currently under construction and it's not hard to see why everyone's getting so excited.

Even the very size of installed turbines has increased - up from an average of 2.9MW in the first half of 2010 to 3.4MW in the first six months of this year.

photo credit: phil hollman

Offshore wind energy - Germany finds out it's not as easy as it seems

The German newspaper Spiegel Online reported last week how Germany's offshore wind farms were expecting brisk business after Germany apparently turned its back on Nuclear solutions.

However, with EnBW's first commercial wind farm almost complete in the Baltic Sea, it's highlighted the huge costs involved in building wind farms in such regions where the depth of the ocean is anything up to 50meters.

The 21 turbines cover an area of 2.7 square miles and will feed approx 185 gigawatt hours of electricity into the grid each year - enough to supply around 50,000 homes.

The environmental conditions aside, there is also the problem of distributing off-shore power to the south of Germany where industry is heaviest and the need the most.

And with environmentalists also calling for care due to the harm they believe is being done to sea life disturbed by the noise of the deep sea foundations being made, some analysts are predicting that Germany may still yet, switch to lower cost, quicker to inaugurate, onshore wind farms.

How Germany's decisions and experiences may affect UK policy remains to be seen.

photo credit: rick rowland

South West renewables could generate 5,750+ new jobs

The Engineer reported that marine renewables in the South West of England could generate more than 5,750 new jobs, contributing £4.8bn into the areas economy from 2015.

Research estimates that the South West has the capacity to generate 9,220MW of electricity from marine sources - more than double the regions domestic power requirements.

Whilst the bulk of the source will be offshore wind farms, the report reckons tidal and wave technology could make substantial contributions.

Lets hope the various schemes get planning permission and funding, and quickly too.

photo credit: martina rathgens

UK making unacceptably slow progress towards renewables

The BBC reported on how a committee of MPs have declared the UK is making "unacceptably slow" progress towards its renewable energy targets.

The Committee of Public Accounts has also warned of the UK missing renewables targets because it didn't allow for the rejection of many wind farm applications.

It's also criticised the way funding has been controlled for many renewable projects, claiming that some of the £180m allocated to support renewable projects had gone unspent.

You can read the full article here.

It's all a bit predictable to be honest and the sad fact is that with apparent miss-management of funds on one side and the large amount of wind farm applications that have been rejected, the UK still trails behind in the renewable energy stakes.

Personally I don't care how but the message is clear - get your act together - quickly.

photo credit: vizzzual.com

Planning rejections could delay Norfolk offshore wind farm by a year

New Energy Focus reported that a planning application for a substation - a vital component of a proposed 560MW off-shore wind farm off the Norfolk coast - has been rejected by the local council.

This is despite the go-ahead being given to the offshore farm itself as well as the point where the power cabling comes ashore (in a separate application).

The developers will be appealing against the decision on plans which included a 20 acre woodland being planted to hide the development from the surrounding environment, and after the site had been "carefully chosen" over a 100 similar sites under consideration, for the lowest overall environmental impact.

The process of appeal is likely to delay the development by a year, developers admitted.

Read the full article here.

photo credit: tpholland. Note* Not a picture of the actual chambers or council involved in the planning decision surrounding this article.

Oh Blimey! Now Wind farms could be bad for the environment

It's an ill wind that blows....(or something like that).

Just as we're all getting used to the idea of wind turbines stretching out to sea as far as the eye can see, comes this scientific report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (as reported on USA Today).

The first study of its kind has revealed that offshore wind farms affect the temperature on the land, but not in the way you might be thinking.

The study showed that during the daytime, the land temperature dropped from 100 degrees upwind to 93degrees downwind, however, during the night, land temperatures increased.

The authors of the report theorise that the turbulence caused by the blades enhance's vertical mixing of warm and cold air.

Now they're calling for more studies as they believe land based wind turbines could have consequences for crop production, although they stress that there are enough large tracts of land in the United States where large wind farms would have little impact on the local environment.

It's interesting stuff - not least because the UK is being touted as the most idyllic spot for off-shore wind farms. After all, let's face it, the British climate is fickle enough already.

Read the full report on USA Today by clicking here.

photo credit: mike lewis

Congratulations to Thanet but where's the Green Job revolution we were promised?

Last week, the Thanet offshore wind farm off the coast of Kent officially opened amidst, I'm sure, much back slapping and reminders to the press of how much this project means to UK renewable targets.

However, I'm sure Ministers and officials won't be shouting quite so loudly that less than 20% of the £900 million investment in building the farm has gone to British firms (source: The Guardian).

Let's be frank for a moment - the Thanet project is a mighty achievement in its own right and it will contribute greatly to the UK's overall renewable energies targets.

But when the media is constantly reporting this or that Minister saying that the green revolution will kickstart the british economy and provide thousands of jobs, then I'm sorry but we're going to have to take those sorts of promises with a very large pinch of salt.

Don't forget that the Danish wind turbine manufacturer - Vestas - closed its only UK blade manufacturing unit on the Isle of Wight in 2009. Vestas actually supplied the Thanet turbines.

And the Governments dithering over future offshore wind developments means companies that were lining up to set up manufacturing operations in the UK are now reportedly waiting for signs of a Government commitment before they commit to opening here.

What's your opinion? Is it enough just to be grateful for the investment full stop or should we be demanding more of those investment pounds get spent on UK companies?

photo credit: cogdogblog

What lies beneath... Offshore wind farm - foundations completed

New Energy Focus reports that earlier in August, the last of 51 foundations (or monopiles) including the transition pieces were installed at a new wind farm off the coast of Cumbria.

10 Turbines have already been installed although lately, the weather has slowed efforts, after such good progress was made due to calm weather early at the start of the foundation laying which resulted in the finishing of that stage ahead of schedule.

There are reportedly more than 30 vessels now working in the area, completing the project including a 'floating hotel' which provides accommodation for the installation and commissioning crews.

Read the full report here.

It's great news to see this scale of development reaching such a critical milestone in a difficult environment. Good luck for the rest of the installation.

photo credit: andjohan

£30 billion needed for UK offshore wind farms

The UK's offshore wind power developers need £30 billion pounds if the UK is to meet its renewable energy targets by 2020.

That's according to Price Waterhouse Coopers - global accountancy firm in an article by Bloomberg.

It cites the figure of 12 gigawatts of generating capacity being required by 2020 compared with just 0.3 gigawatts installed last year.

I don't think cookie sales are going to help on this one but Price Waterhouse Coopers global energy advisor, thankfully, has other ideas on how the money could be raised.

Click here to read the full article.

photo credit: chovee

Plans for Wind Farm port on the Humber

The banks of the Humber could soon be home to a massive site which would construct and provide quayside facilities for their installation in planned massive wind farms off the shores of the UK.

A separate bio-mass energy station is also planned which would provide energy to the site as well as to over half a million homes throughout the area.

Obviously such a scheme would provide a massive 'green jobs' boost to the area - the BBC report quotes figures of 27,000 jobs in total.

Three offshore wind farms will require around 5000 wind turbines for completion.

You can read the full report here.

photo credit: EOS_3

Heavy! Work starts on offshore wind farm Sheringham Shoal

You may have missed this snippet of news from New Energy Focus, what with the football and all, but apparently, the first foundation (of 90) for a wind turbine was installed at the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm development.

I won't go into the details but what did catch my eye was this paragraph which has some truly stupendous figures...

"Each foundation consists of a tubular steel monopile, driven 32-36 metres into the seabed, and a bright-yellow transition piece mounted on top. The monopiles are between 50 and 55m long and weigh from 400-600 tonnes, while the transition pieces are 22m high and weigh around 200 tonnes each."

The other 89 foundations will be installed over the next nine months.

Now that's heavy!

Pictures and the full report can be found here.

photo credit: greencolander

Wind farm scuppers plans for island airport

The London Daily News reported earlier this week how a plan to build six runways on a small island in the estuary off the coast of Kent may have received it's final blow after funding was secured for a 1GW offshore wind farm.

The London Array could be the world's largest wind power generator producing 1GW of energy - enough to power nearly a million homes.

The first phase of the development is due to be operational by 2012, providing a capacity of 630MW which amongst other things will be used to provide power for the Olympics.

You can read the excellent and enlightening article in full on the London Daily News website - click here.

photo credit: sawyerlaw

Offshore wind farm construction begins in Irish Sea

From New Energy Focus... Offshore construction has begun of a a new 150MW wind farm off of Barrow-in-Furness in the Irish Sea.

The development by a Swedish company will see 30 5MW turbines installed across a 8.7km square area.

Work had already started on the shore construction - quayside facilities and a new control room etc last autumn - the whole 'field' is set to be operational by 2011

The developers - Vattenfall are currently constructing nine wind farms, 3 of them in the UK with a 300MW development at Thanet Wind Farm and and a 41MW onshore farm on the Isle of Skye, forming part of a worldwide £1.7 billion investment.

Vattenfall has said it will seek to use local facilities and personnel during construction, commissioning and beyond.

Read the full article at New Energy Focus by clicking here.

photo credit: aussiegall

Solar Panels and Wind Turbines - the latest information right here

When we started this solar panel blog, we soon realised that there's just as much interest in, and information about, wind turbines sought by the UK Public.

Wind Turbines have the benefit of a high visibility factor - many parts of the UK now have wind farms and individual clusters of one or more wind turbines.

Of course, generating energy from the wind is not a new idea (think back to the windmills of old) but technology is trying to bring these wind giants up to date by making more use of available power in increasingly smaller turbines.

Many experts agree that the UK is well placed for exploiting wind and wave energy and if you're read back through some past posts here on this blog, you'll be aware of the various wind farm projects taking place around the country, both onshore and offshore.

Wind Turbines are not without their problems, like their solar panel counterparts, if there's no sun, there's very little energy produced. The recent cold spell at the beginning of 2010 bought very still conditions - as a result, some have estimated the power output dropped to virtually unperceptible levels.

Wind turbines may not have the appeal of solar panels on single domestic installations but for larger community based projects, wind turbines may well come into their own.

Browse through our previous posts or search for 'wind turbines' for previous blog posts and articles on generating energy from the wind.

photo credit: norhendraruslan

Wind turbine factories in the UK will create thousands of jobs

Following up on a tweet last week, I came across this story in The Independent about an £80 million investment in building a new wind turbine manufacturing plant creating 700 jobs.

Whilst the site has yet to be confirmed by the German company Siemens, another company - General Electric (American) announced it too was investing £100 million in the UK with the prospect of creating 2,000 jobs.

The Independent goes on to say that the announcement by Siemens follows "months of talks and meetings at Downing Street, and followed changes in the Budget which announced grants for ports to build green manufacturing hubs."

Read the full article here. Good news indeed.

photo credit: greenforall

Offshore wind farm story reminds me of holidays in Norfolk

You'll forgive me a moment of personal meandering but a story spotted last week on New Energy Focus about how a Wells-Next-The-Sea (on the Norfolk coast) safety and work boat provider had won a contract to support the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, sent me back to many a happy summer holiday spent in that lovely seaside town.

I don't know if the wind turbines will be visible from the beaches at Wells', and the subsequent walks along the coast.

I did manage to sneak back to Wells' a few years ago and very little had changed - the lifeboat station was still at the end of the long sea wall walk at the beach itself and the caravan and camping park, apart from newer buildings is still there.

Even from the air (Google maps) you can still see the walks through the pine forest.

A warm hello to anyone in Wells next the Sea - thank you for many happy holiday memories that remain as vivid as ever today, and congratulations to Safety Boat Services on winning the contract.

photo credit: russelljsmith


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