RenewableUK has heralded new announcements which will bring floating turbines a step closer to UK waters and open up the possibility of further developments. At RenewableUK’s Offshore Wind conference in Manchester, the Crown Estate, the managers of the seabed, announced a new offshore wind leasing round for innovative structures.
The Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP announced the introduction of the new bands of Renewables Obligation in Scotland, with a new band of 2.5 ROCs is aimed at supporting generation from offshore test and demonstration sites, and a higher rate of 3.5 ROCs aimed at providing financial support for innovative offshore structures such as floating turbines.
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The Intersolar Europe Conference 2013 kicks off today at the ICM – International Congress Center in Munich, bringing experts from the international solar industry to the Bavarian capital. Up until June 20, around 400 speakers and 2,000 attendees are set to discuss the latest trends, new applications and the future of the international markets. In particular, attendees benefit from first-hand knowledge about all of the world’s growth markets, shared by industry experts in Munich. In addition to photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies, one of this year’s focus topics is innovative energy storage systems, which also have a dedicated exhibition segment at Intersolar Europe this year. The conference is also complemented by a multitude of side events. The conference program expands on and consolidates the topics presented at Intersolar Europe, the world’s largest exhibition for the solar industry, taking place at Messe München from June 19–21.
Seeking a solution to the food-versus-fuel dilemma, a research study examined the conditions under which biomass for energy can be produced without harming food security.
ACCIONA held its annual Corporate Volunteering Day for the second year running. Company employees took part in Sustainability Workshops with primary school children aged between 7 and 11. This year’s event drew 350 employees and reached out to more than 7,000 schoolchildren.
GDF SUEZ has inaugurated the Green Unit biomass plant at Polaniec in south-east Poland, the world’s biggest power plant entirely fuelled by biomass, made up of treefarming and agricultural by-products. It illustrates the Group’s commitment to developing renewable energy in Poland, and across Europe as a whole.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, AEC, ICT Europe and Enel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at smart grid area implementation within the Saudi Arabia Kingdom and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
For Nordex business with the new “Delta” wind turbine generation is picking up speed: the turbine manufacturer has now signed a contract for the supply of 24 N117/3000 turbines for the “Maevaara” wind farm in the north of Sweden. The contract includes at least 15 years of Nordex Premium Service. The customer is O2, a leading Nordic wind farm developer. It is Nordex first large-scale project for the N117/3000, which was only launched in February 2013. Google will buy all the wind power generated from the wind farm for 10 years in order to provide their data center in Finland with clean energy. Allianz will provide a loan facility to construct the wind farm during 2013 and 2014 and take over ownership of the asset once it is successfully commissioned.
In the presence of Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister, Stephan Weil, ENERCON officially inaugurated its new rotor blade manufacturing facilities in Haren/Emsland on Wednesday. Operations at the new rotor blade factory for ENERCON’s E-101/3 MW series started up in record time. Construction of the approximately 26,600 m² production facility started in summer 2011 and test operations began just slightly over a year later. In the meantime, Aero Ems GmbH is now producing one to two blade sets per week.
Mastervolt will be presenting the new Soladin WEB generation of inverters made in Holland at Intersolar 2013. The included Wi-Fi and the new and free IntelliWeb internet portal allow users to easily access their PV system. Solar system owners can monitor their system’s yield in real time – anytime and from anywhere. The Soladin WEB inverters with outputs of 700W, 1,000W or 1,500W are designed for small PV installations.
The European Commission has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports into the EU of solar panels, wafers and cells originating in the People’s Republic of China. A provisional duty of 11.8% will be imposed on 6 June 2013 and will be applicable until 6 August 2013, at which point the average duty level will increase to 47.6%. It is important to remember that a final decision regarding this anti-dumping investigation will only be made by December this year, and that definitive duties, if any, will be decided by the Council representing the 27 European Member States.