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☆ Wooden turbine towers could make wind power even greener
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Arya Jyothi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Swedish company Modvion believes it has found a greener alternative — building turbine towers from wood. ModvionAccording to Otto Lundman, co-founder and CEO of Modvion, using wooden towers reduces the lifecycle emissions of a wind turbine by over 25%, and by 90% if you only compare the tower component of the turbine. He adds that if you take into account the carbon dioxide absorbed by trees when they grow, the wooden towers can be considered to store more carbon that they emit. In 2023 the company installed its first commercial two-megawatt unit, a 105-meter-high (345 feet) wooden turbine tower, called Wind of Change, outside Skara, Sweden, for electric utility company Varberg Energi. “But in wind power standards, wood is not really considered for the towers, it’s mostly steel and concrete.

Persons: Modvion, Otto Lundman, Lundman, David Olivegren, Wood, ”, Abbas Kazemi Amiri, Amiri, “, Paul Wennerholm Organizations: CNN, Swedish Energy Agency, Wind Energy, Control, University of Strathclyde, Voodin Blades Locations: Sweden, Skara, University of Strathclyde , Glasgow

☆ Wind Power Write-Downs Cast Shadow Over Industry Outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Giulia Petroni | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Wind-power developer Orsted scrapped projects in New Jersey citing supply-chain problems and high interest rates. Orsted , BP and Equinor have collectively written off $4.8 billion against U.S. offshore wind projects in recent days. Equinor, BP’s partner on the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects, booked an impairment of around $300 million on its U.S. portfolio. Utility Dominion Energy on Tuesday received a key federal approval for its 2.6-gigawatt offshore wind project in Virginia. And Orsted confirmed its final investment decision into Revolution Wind, an offshore 704-megawatt project in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Persons: Wayne Parry, Orsted, Mads Nipper, henning bagger, ”, Phil Murphy ’, Martin Tessier, Stifel ’, —, Engie, Vattenfall, Russ Mould, AJ Bell, Dominic, Giulia Petroni Organizations: Associated, U.S, Agence France, Republicans, Democratic Gov, ”, BP, Iberdrola, Shell, Business, Siemens Energy, Dominion Energy, giulia.petroni@wsj.com Locations: New Jersey, U.S, Danish, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Swedish, Norfolk, Virginia, Rhode Island, Asia Pacific, Europe

[1/4] A view of the turbines at an offshore wind farm near Nysted, Denmark, September 4, 2023. Time is short: The EU has a legally binding goal to nearly double renewable sources as a share of total energy by 2030, to 42.5%, requiring a rapid expansion of offshore wind. But of the governments surveyed, only Britain and Poland said they had invested or budgeted for steps to improve the security of offshore infrastructure. It requires a lot of effort from the government side," said Mattia Cecchinato, senior adviser for offshore wind at WindEurope. It said it would establish a permanent coast guard base close to where offshore wind farms are planned.

Persons: Tom Little, Thomas Almegaard, Vladimir Putin, Mads Nipper, Orsted, Ewa Skoog Haslum, James Appathurai, Germany's RWE, Anitta, Mattia Cecchinato, Rasmus, Krzysztof Jaworski, Orsted's Errboe, Benjamin Mallet, Riham, Elizabeth Piper, Toby Sterling, Andrius Sytas, Marek Strzelecki, Sara Ledwith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Baltic Seas, EU, NATO, NewNew, Sweden's, Soaring, Emerging, Research, Solutions, Internal, Fund, Military, Naval Operations Centre, Polish Navy, Thomson Locations: Nysted, Denmark, Europe, Baltic, Nord, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Russian, Russia, NewNew Shipping, Netherlands, Britain, Poland, Germany, North, Swedish, Copenhagen, Moscow, Sofia, European, Anitta Hipper, Belgium, Norway, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Baltic . Poland, Paris, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Vilnius, Warsaw

We are growing but nowhere near fast enough," said Ben Blackwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council. In June, Siemens Gamesa said quality problems at its two most recent onshore wind turbines would cost 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to fix. "The ratio between risk and reward is out of line in the offshore wind market in many jurisdictions. You can see this from investors not showing up," the Global Wind Energy Council's Blackwell told Reuters. "The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said last month.

Persons: Pascal, Jon Wallace, WindEurope, Markus Krebber, Germany's, Ben Blackwell, Rob West, Siemens Gamesa, Fraser McLachlan, McLachlan, Jochen Eickholt, Wallace, Energy Council's Blackwell, Denmark's Orsted, RWE's Krebber, Joe Biden's, Mads Nipper, Nina Chestney, Nichola Groom, Christoph Steitz, Nora Buli, Francesca Landini, Toby Sterling, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European, Jupiter Asset Management, EU, Shell, Siemens, LinkedIn, Wind Energy, Thunder Said Energy, GCube Insurance, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Energy, Reuters, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Le Havre, Normandy, France, European Union, Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Jupiter, U.S, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam

FRANKFURT/LONDON July 13 (Reuters) - Energy majors BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) have won a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany worth a record 12.6 billion euros ($14.1 billion), allowing them entry to the central European market without a partnership. The awards for capacity due to come online in 2030 also excluded leading offshore wind developers, such as RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO). AUCTION DESIGNThe 7 GW electronic auction officially opened in January and bidders had until June 1 to submit offers. In previous German lease auctions, companies have made low or negative bids with the expectation of subsidies from the state. Industry groups have said the high costs of the leases could drive up the cost of offshore wind projects.

Persons: Bundesnetzagentur, Bernstein, WindEurope, Orsted, Norway's, TotalEnergies, Vera Eckert, Susanna Twidale, Christoph Steitz, Ron Bousso, Nora Buli, Nina Chestney, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Energy, BP, Industry, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Macquarie, England, Danish

☆ Wind turbine troubles have sent one stock tumbling. There are fears it could be a much wider issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A Siemens Gamesa blade factory on the banks of the River Humber in Hull, England on October 11, 2021. Costly failures at wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa last month sent shares of parent company Siemens Energy tumbling, and analysts are concerned about wider teething problems across the industry. The German energy giant scrapped its profit guidance in late June, citing a "substantial increase in failure rates of wind turbine components" at its wind division Siemens Gamesa. He said that 20 years ago, a typical wind turbine would have 1 million watts of capacity; today, European original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, are testing 15 MW turbines. The Statistical Review of World Energy report published last week revealed that wind and solar power accounted for 12% of the world's power generation last year, with wind power output increasing by 13.5%.

Persons: Christian Bruch, Nicholas Green, —, Christoph Zipf, Zipf Organizations: Siemens, Siemens Energy, Siemens Gamesa, CNBC, World Energy Locations: Hull , England

The Global Wind Energy Council said earlier this year that a record 680 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity is expected to be installed by 2027. But the expected revenues of those planning to build wind turbines have not risen in tandem. Many governments index the prices paid for wind energy, usually through auctions, which are often too low, analysts at Wood Mackenzie said. COMPONENTSAmong the issues which arise from operating wind turbines, wear and tear on turbine blades over time can lead to erosion. Its shares fell more than 6% on Friday, while shares in Siemens Energy, the second biggest wind turbine maker, sank 37%.

Persons: Wood Mackenzie, WindEurope, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Siemens Energy, LONDON, Siemens, World Energy, Wind Energy Council, International Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: China, Ukraine, Frankfurt

☆ Concerns about golden eagles are partly prompting the redesign of a Scottish wind farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In a project update last week, the firm behind the Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm said revisions to the development had been made after "extensive and iterative discussions" with both the local community and consultees. If built, the Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm will have 60 turbines instead of the 75 that were originally proposed. Plans for an onshore wind farm in Scotland have been revised after a number of concerns, including those related to how the project might affect golden eagles. Golden eagle concernsThe decision to reduce the number of turbines for Scoop Hill follows a period of consultation for the project. "The impact of wind farms on birds and bats is extremely low compared to the impact of climate change and other human activity," it adds.

But even if the bloc's 27 member countries reach agreement on the plan, to enforce it they must overcome rising costs and uncertainties linked to power market reforms triggered by the price surge linked to war in Ukraine. As energy prices have increased all costs, including of the materials needed for renewable infrastructure, investment models built on low prices for renewably-produced electricity are in doubt. RECORD PRICES, EXTREME UNCERTAINTYFar-reaching inflation, driven by expensive energy, has led governments to seek to cap wholesale energy costs and consider reforming markets after years of stability. The wholesale benchmark German baseload front year electricity price hit a record above 1,000 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on Aug. 29. Beyond the short-term fixes, the EU plans a major overhaul of its electricity market to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas.

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