Europe/Middle East/Africa

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Nordex To Surpass 2GW Threshold On Wind Turbines Installations In UK And Ireland

After installing and commissioning a total of 862 turbines in the UK and Ireland, the Nordex Group has now reached the 2 GW milestone of installed capacity in these two countries. At typical capacity factors, this represents enough power for 1.3 million homes, resulting in a market share of installed turbines of around 20% in the Republic of Ireland and around 10% in the UK. The Group has installed more than 21 GW of wind energy capacity in over 25 markets and in 2016 generated revenues of EUR 3.4 billion.

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IKEA, Solarcentury Revolutionise Home Energy Market With Solar Battery Storage

Home furnishings expert IKEA has teamed up with leading solar firm Solarcentury to launch a new Solar Battery Storage solution to help homeowners make huge savings on their electricity bills by using more of the electricity that’s generated by solar panels. In addition, the battery storage system also increases the rate at which users can reap the benefits from their solar investment. With prices for Solar Panel and Battery Storage from IKEA and Solarcentury starting from as little as £3000, the new solutions can provide savings of up to £560 a year. Following Government plans to invest £246m in battery technology, saving consumers £40bn by 2050, battery storage is set to revolutionise the UK and international energy markets.

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Methanol ‘Green’ Fuel Cell Has Potential To Transform Large Scale Transport

Earlier this week, the MS innogy commenced operations for green tours on the beautiful Lake Baldeneysee. The passenger vessel, is the first in Germany to be powered by methanol fuel cells, is a part of innogy’s “greenfuel” project where they demonstrate the entire value chain of environmentally friendly methanol, from a green production of methanol using CO2 from the surrounding air, green electricity, and water, to the use of methanol as a fuel in the excursion vessel and in cars, ships, and aircraft. The demonstration took place in Essen – this year’s “Green Capital of Europe” and went hand in hand with the ambitious transition the city is undergoing in reinventing itself as a “Green City”.

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Offshore Wind Prices Drop By 50% In 5 Years. Now Cheaper Than Nuclear And Gas

Offshore wind continues to highlight UK market leadership. During the last decade; government support and innovation combined with increases in turbine efficiency and sizes have resulted in the UK heading the global ‘installed capacity’ charts. Figures just published show that offshore wind is now the lowest cost option for large-scale, low-carbon power. Advances in turbine technology have contributed significantly to recent reductions in costs per megawatt hour. Huge blades, with a single rotation, now can generate enough energy to power a home for 24 hours. Impressively, by the mid-2020s turbine, capacities are set to double again.

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Offshore Wind Drives 6.1 GW Of European Wind Installations In First Half Of 2017

6.1 GW of extra wind energy capacity was installed in Europe in the first half of 2017, according to figures released by WindEurope. The figure puts Europe on course for a bumper year for installations, although hides some worrying trends. WindEurope Chief Policy Officer, Pierre Tardieu, said: “We are on track for a good year in wind capacity installations but growth is driven by a handful of markets. At least ten EU countries have yet to install a single MW so far this year. Although this won’t translate into lower installations for another few years, the industry needs clarity on volumes for the post-2020 period to maintain the current cost reduction trend”.

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Major Realignment In Motorsport As Porsche Prioritises Formula E Over Le Mans

Significant changes in motorsport are taking place as Porsche implements its strategy to develop a combination of pure GT vehicles and fully electric sports cars, such as the first fully battery-powered Mission E road car. “Entering Formula E and achieving success in this category are the logical outcomes of our Mission E”, says Michael Steiner, Executive Board Member, R&D at Porsche AG. “For us, Formula E is the ultimate competitive environment for driving forward the development of high-performance vehicles in areas such as environmental friendliness, efficiency and sustainability”.

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TELE-FONIKA Kable Acquires JDR, Strengths Position In Offshore, Subsea Sectors

JDR Cable Systems (Holdings) Ltd., a leading supplier of subsea umbilicals and power cables to the offshore energy industry, has announced that it is to be acquired by TELE-FONIKA Kable. TFKable is a leading global producer of wires and cables. Both companies have a long history of collaboration, with TFKable being JDR’s important business partner providing water blocked power cores for its cable and umbilical systems. JDR’s subsea systems, used in the global offshore oil, gas and renewable industries, allow its customers to power and control their offshore operations, and will enhance the range of cable solutions TFKable can provide to its customers.

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Solar Power Exceeds Wind Installations; Can Surpass 80GW In 2017, 1TW In 2021

SolarPower Europe (SPE) has launched the ‘Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2017-2021.’ The report confirms 2016 as another record year for solar, with global annual additions for solar growing by 50% with 76.6 GW installed. There’s now a total worldwide solar power generation capacity of 306.5 GW. James Watson, CEO of SPE said: “When looking at solar, the cost reductions experienced and predicted outstrip all other power generation technologies. Today, utility-scale solar is already cheaper than new gas, coal and nuclear power plants.”

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Digital, Smart, Connected: A New Energy World Emerges At Intersolar Europe 2017

With a total of 40,000 visitors and 1,100 exhibitors from 51 countries present at the Intersolar Europe and at ees Europe 2017; the topic of smart renewable energy took centre stage, propelling the industry ever onward. Annual global deployment of PV installations cracked the 80 gigawatts(GW) mark for the first time in 2017 with 2016 already seeing a 50 percent increase in deployment over the previous year; a renewable energy future is arriving at a breathtaking pace. “Our vision of ‘24 hours of sunshine’ clearly foresees an energy future in which all energy is generated by renewable sources,” says Martin Hackl, Global Director of the Solar Energy Division at Fronius International GmbH. “We will achieve this vision by observing the four pillars of this future – intelligent and efficient generation, distribution, storage and consumption of energy.”

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Wind Power Can Provide Energy On Coldest Days: Met Office, Imperial College

A new study by climate scientists has advanced the understanding of the potential for wind power to provide energy during the coldest spells of winter weather. The team, which involved scientists from the Met Office Hadley Centre, Imperial College London and the University of Reading, compared wind power availability with electricity demand in winter and they found an interesting result. The team found that during the highest 5% of energy demand days, one-third produce more wind power than the winter average. “The very coldest days are associated with a mix of different weather patterns, some of which produce high winds in parts of the UK.

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ČEZ Enters French Wind Energy Market With 100MW Portfiolio Initiated By ABO

ABO Wind reports its largest single transaction in the company’s history to date. The project developer has sold nine wind farm projects with a total nominal capacity of about 100 megawatts to the Czech supplier ČZ. 70 percent of ČZ is owned by the Czech government and it is by its own account among the ten largest European energy suppliers. ČZ operates wind farms in several European countries – including Germany – and will now enter the French wind market in cooperation with ABO Wind.