Europe's largest onshore wind farm, which is already powerful enough to meet Glasgow's electricity needs, is to expand by more than a third as part of a major green energy initiative by Scottish ministers.
The first minister Alex Salmond announced that the 322mw Whitelee wind farm south of Glasgow had been given permission to increase its capacity to 452mw, as he officially switched on the wind farm this morning.
The disclosure came as plans for an even larger scheme, to build a vast community-owned 150 turbine, 540mw scheme on Shetland, were lodged with the Scottish government.
Both projects would significantly boost Salmond's plans for half of all Scotland's electricity to come from green sources by 2020. The interim target – to generate 31% of electricity from renewable sources by 2011 – has already been surpassed, officials said.
Salmond said Scotland had the theoretical potential to generate 60 gigawatts of green energy, ten times the country's peak demand, because of its geographical position.
"The Scottish government is committed to taking full advantage of our 25 per cent share in Europe's wave and windpower capacity," he said.
"We are determined to get rid of harmful emissions from our environment while capitalising on the vast economic opportunities our natural advantage in renewable energy poses."
The scheme on Shetland is being submitted to ministers later today by Viking Energy, a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy, which owns the UK's largest hydro-electricity plants, and an offshoot of
the local council, Shetland Charitable Trust.
If it wins ministerial approval, the scheme could alone supply 20% of Scotland's electricity needs. Shetland has the highest and most consistent wind speeds in the UK, making it a prime site for green energy developers.
However, the Viking windfarm is proving highly controversial. Despite five years of planning, negotiations with residents and redrafting of the scheme, more than 2500 islanders, over 10% of the population, have signed a petition opposing the project.
Campaigners with Sustainable Shetland argue the 150-turbine scheme, which will dominate the desolate hills and moors in the centre of Shetland's mainland, would significantly damage peat bogs and destroy the area's scenic value. A group spokesman said it would effectively industrialise the semi-wilderness area.
"The concern is that the project is too large for Shetland. It is located on some of Shetland's most inaccessible hills with the deepest peat and that will have huge environmental implications," he said.
"That would include the question how the windfarm will affect tourism, how it will affect property prices and how it will change any perception of Shetland."
Shetland Charitable Trust insists the project will greatly benefit the islands' vulnerable and isolated economy, bringing in direct profits, wages and community investments of up to £37m a year.
That would outstrip the island's income from the Sullom Voe oil terminal on Shetland, which has been crucial in giving Shetlanders the best standard of living of any of Scotland's island groups. The islands' main power station is run on diesel, which has to be imported specially be tanker.
In a unique deal brokered in 1973, Shetlanders received £80m in a part-share of all oil landed at Sullom Voe until 2000. The oil fund's value has fallen to £180m in the recession, but over the last 25 years, £200m has been spent on maintaining excellent roads, and building facilities such as sports and swimming centres, and old people's homes.
The oil fund no longer receives money from Sullom Voe, and with North Sea oil running out, Shetland faces much tougher economic times, becoming more reliant on fishing, agriculture and tourism.
David Thomson, Viking Energy's project officer, said: "Shetland is a fragile economy and we have to take every opportunity we can to diversify the economy. This is one of those very rare circumstances when something we can do is both good for Shetland but also for the rest of the nation. It's a win-win scenario."
Apart from securing ministerial approval, the Viking wind farm will also need a £500m, 600mw sub-sea cable laid from Shetland to export the electricity to the UK mainland. The tendering process for that interconnector is now underway; without it, the wind farm would be pointless.
Source - The guardian
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Thursday, 7 May 2009
PSC Industries Establish Solar Business In Nigeria
PSC Industries will supply 5 turn key PV Solar module manufacturing lines, to be utilised in Nigeria. It is anticipated that PSC Industries will start producing Solar Modules in Nigeria by December 2009 or early 2010.
A total of 5 manufacturing plants of 10MWp each has been concluded upon and will all be operational by end of 2010.
Discussions are underway for additional Manufacturing Plants in Ghana and Gambia slated for 2011.
The manufactured Solar Panels will be Sold mainly for the West Africa Market.
Equipment will be delivered and installed by Rimas B.V. in the Netherlands who is active in the field of module manufacturing since 2000. The turn key solution is set up especially for this challenge and combines high quality equipment with a compact semi-automatic solution.
The initial is estimated at 12,000,000 Euros/2.8 Billion Naira and will create over 1,500 Jobs in Nigeria in 2009/2010.
Dr. Patrick Owelle, Managing Director of PSC, has been deeply committed to the idea of establishing the First Solar Manufacturing Plant idea in West Africa for more than a decade now and found the right partner in Rimas for the realization of his ideas.
Mark Verstraten, director of Rimas, believes that this opportunity is a new challenge to him and his team and will contribute strongly to his company's growth.
Source - Solardaily
A total of 5 manufacturing plants of 10MWp each has been concluded upon and will all be operational by end of 2010.
Discussions are underway for additional Manufacturing Plants in Ghana and Gambia slated for 2011.
The manufactured Solar Panels will be Sold mainly for the West Africa Market.
Equipment will be delivered and installed by Rimas B.V. in the Netherlands who is active in the field of module manufacturing since 2000. The turn key solution is set up especially for this challenge and combines high quality equipment with a compact semi-automatic solution.
The initial is estimated at 12,000,000 Euros/2.8 Billion Naira and will create over 1,500 Jobs in Nigeria in 2009/2010.
Dr. Patrick Owelle, Managing Director of PSC, has been deeply committed to the idea of establishing the First Solar Manufacturing Plant idea in West Africa for more than a decade now and found the right partner in Rimas for the realization of his ideas.
Mark Verstraten, director of Rimas, believes that this opportunity is a new challenge to him and his team and will contribute strongly to his company's growth.
Source - Solardaily
Monday, 3 November 2008
UK aims to support solar panels from 2010
The UK says it wants to guarantee a price premium for small producers of renewable power, for example from the wind and sun, from 2010.
The government included the proposals in amendments tabled Wednesday to an energy bill being debated and due to pass into law by December this year.
The plan would support households and communities which install solar panels or small wind turbines on their property.
They would earn a feed-in tariff, which guarantees a price premium for supplying electricity from renewable sources into the national grid.
“We hope to have it available by 2010,” said a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change Thursday.
Britain’s present price support, or renewables obligation (RO), is considered complicated and bureaucratic for small producers, and will be replaced by a feed-in tariff for microgeneration of renewable electricity up to 3 megawatts (MW) — enough to power about 1,500 homes.
The 3 MW cut-off would make feed-in tariffs available for schools, hospitals and communities as well as households.
“We don’t want to tinker with the RO,” the spokeswoman added. Some 95 percent of RO claimants now were above the 3 MW threshold.
The RO forces utilities to get a certain portion of their electricity from renewable sources or else pay a penalty, money which is then used to pay renewable power producers.
Feed-in tariffs have been very effective in boosting the adoption of solar power by households, farmers and communities in Germany. Such tariffs, also very popular in Spain, guarantee a certain power price premium typically for 20-25 years.
The government had not yet decided on the value or duration of a British tariff, the spokeswoman added.
Under EU targets Britain will have to get 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 compared to just 1.3 percent in 2005.
Source - Reuters
The government included the proposals in amendments tabled Wednesday to an energy bill being debated and due to pass into law by December this year.
The plan would support households and communities which install solar panels or small wind turbines on their property.
They would earn a feed-in tariff, which guarantees a price premium for supplying electricity from renewable sources into the national grid.
“We hope to have it available by 2010,” said a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change Thursday.
Britain’s present price support, or renewables obligation (RO), is considered complicated and bureaucratic for small producers, and will be replaced by a feed-in tariff for microgeneration of renewable electricity up to 3 megawatts (MW) — enough to power about 1,500 homes.
The 3 MW cut-off would make feed-in tariffs available for schools, hospitals and communities as well as households.
“We don’t want to tinker with the RO,” the spokeswoman added. Some 95 percent of RO claimants now were above the 3 MW threshold.
The RO forces utilities to get a certain portion of their electricity from renewable sources or else pay a penalty, money which is then used to pay renewable power producers.
Feed-in tariffs have been very effective in boosting the adoption of solar power by households, farmers and communities in Germany. Such tariffs, also very popular in Spain, guarantee a certain power price premium typically for 20-25 years.
The government had not yet decided on the value or duration of a British tariff, the spokeswoman added.
Under EU targets Britain will have to get 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 compared to just 1.3 percent in 2005.
Source - Reuters
Monday, 9 June 2008
German solar sector starting to attract investors
Germany's solar energy industry can breathe a sigh of relief: Subsidies are set for smaller cuts than expected, and the sector is set for consolidation many say is the crucial next step in its development.
The global electronics group Bosch was first off the mark, announcing the purchase last week of German solar energy equipment producer Ersol.
Bosch is set to spend more than 500 million euros (770 million dollars) for a majority holding in Ersol and could invest up to 1.1 billion if it decides to take full control.
Analysts at the private bank Sal Oppenheim called it "the boldest move so far in what we see as the start of a consolidation process in the solar industry."
Matthias Fawer, who works at the Swiss bank Sarasin and wrote a study on the sector, had a similar interpretation.
"It is a very positive sign for the the photovoltaic industry that a major company is entering the market," he told AFP.
"This is proof the market is reaching maturity. Others may follow."
WestLB analyst Peter Wirtz added: "Other large industrial groups are potentially interested in entering the sector as part of their long-term strategy."
The main reason is solar energy's growth potential in light of soaring oil prices and a possible depletion of the earth's fossile fuel resources.
"The market is going to grow by more than 20 percent per year over the next decade," forecast Carsten Koernig, head of the German sector federation BSW.
In Germany alone, which leads Europe in the solar energy field, sales are expected to double within three years to 10 billion euros in 2010, according to a study by the Ifo and EuPD Research institutes.
Turnover is then tipped to quadruple by 2020 and to multiply seven-fold by 2030.
"And it is not only in Germany, in every country in the world we realize we don't have enough energy sources," Koernig told AFP.
That said, not all solar energy pioneers will profit from the anticipated boom, analysts say.
The sector attracted hundreds of entrepreneurs but represents only around one percent of total German energy production
"Many companies are too small," Wirtz said.
Created for the most part in eastern Germany, companies must compete with Chinese rivals that are also in their early stages but will undoubtedly grow as well, putting pressure on prices.
Major investments, meanwhile, are required to develop technology that is still in its infancy.
BSW estimates that solar energy will only be able to compete with fossil fuels in five to seven years.
That is the time needed for large, specialised companies to emerge and to attract investment from traditional industrial groups in the automotive and machine tool sectors.
"It is important that during this phase of expansion, we do not lack capital. So that we make the competitive leap successfully," Koernig said.
He expressed satisfaction that a draft law adopted which after much debate would extend the period during which the sector benefits from subsidies.
"At term, there will be large companies and niche players," said Wirtz at WestLB.
Sector employment, meanwhile, should grow, according to Ifo and EuPD Research, from 41,000 jobs last year to around 110,000 by 2020.
Source - Solardaily
The global electronics group Bosch was first off the mark, announcing the purchase last week of German solar energy equipment producer Ersol.
Bosch is set to spend more than 500 million euros (770 million dollars) for a majority holding in Ersol and could invest up to 1.1 billion if it decides to take full control.
Analysts at the private bank Sal Oppenheim called it "the boldest move so far in what we see as the start of a consolidation process in the solar industry."
Matthias Fawer, who works at the Swiss bank Sarasin and wrote a study on the sector, had a similar interpretation.
"It is a very positive sign for the the photovoltaic industry that a major company is entering the market," he told AFP.
"This is proof the market is reaching maturity. Others may follow."
WestLB analyst Peter Wirtz added: "Other large industrial groups are potentially interested in entering the sector as part of their long-term strategy."
The main reason is solar energy's growth potential in light of soaring oil prices and a possible depletion of the earth's fossile fuel resources.
"The market is going to grow by more than 20 percent per year over the next decade," forecast Carsten Koernig, head of the German sector federation BSW.
In Germany alone, which leads Europe in the solar energy field, sales are expected to double within three years to 10 billion euros in 2010, according to a study by the Ifo and EuPD Research institutes.
Turnover is then tipped to quadruple by 2020 and to multiply seven-fold by 2030.
"And it is not only in Germany, in every country in the world we realize we don't have enough energy sources," Koernig told AFP.
That said, not all solar energy pioneers will profit from the anticipated boom, analysts say.
The sector attracted hundreds of entrepreneurs but represents only around one percent of total German energy production
"Many companies are too small," Wirtz said.
Created for the most part in eastern Germany, companies must compete with Chinese rivals that are also in their early stages but will undoubtedly grow as well, putting pressure on prices.
Major investments, meanwhile, are required to develop technology that is still in its infancy.
BSW estimates that solar energy will only be able to compete with fossil fuels in five to seven years.
That is the time needed for large, specialised companies to emerge and to attract investment from traditional industrial groups in the automotive and machine tool sectors.
"It is important that during this phase of expansion, we do not lack capital. So that we make the competitive leap successfully," Koernig said.
He expressed satisfaction that a draft law adopted which after much debate would extend the period during which the sector benefits from subsidies.
"At term, there will be large companies and niche players," said Wirtz at WestLB.
Sector employment, meanwhile, should grow, according to Ifo and EuPD Research, from 41,000 jobs last year to around 110,000 by 2020.
Source - Solardaily
Thursday, 22 May 2008
The Queen goes green with world's largest wind turbine
The Queen is going green by investing in the largest wind turbine in the world, her property company the Crown Estate said on Wednesday.
The Estate, which owns most of the seabed off Britain's shores, regularly leases out its land to wind farm projects but has never invested in the turbines.
With a capacity of 7.5 megawatts, the Crown has gone for the biggest yet.
"This is not something we've ever done before and I think it will raise quite a few eyebrows," Ben Barton, the company's offshore manager for wind farms said.
Speaking at an energy conference in Aberdeen, Barton said the Crown Estate had decided to make the investment to help overcome turbine supply difficulties, which he said were a key constraint to the construction of off-shore wind farms.
The turbine will be built by the London-listed wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower and will be fully operational by 2010, Barton said, with all the power generated to be sold to the national grid.
The Crown Estate is looking at areas in north-east England as a possible site for the project, he said.
The company also said it was seeking initial expressions of interest from firms wishing to be considered for developing 100 MW or more capacity in Scottish waters.
Source - Reuters
The Estate, which owns most of the seabed off Britain's shores, regularly leases out its land to wind farm projects but has never invested in the turbines.
With a capacity of 7.5 megawatts, the Crown has gone for the biggest yet.
"This is not something we've ever done before and I think it will raise quite a few eyebrows," Ben Barton, the company's offshore manager for wind farms said.
Speaking at an energy conference in Aberdeen, Barton said the Crown Estate had decided to make the investment to help overcome turbine supply difficulties, which he said were a key constraint to the construction of off-shore wind farms.
The turbine will be built by the London-listed wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower and will be fully operational by 2010, Barton said, with all the power generated to be sold to the national grid.
The Crown Estate is looking at areas in north-east England as a possible site for the project, he said.
The company also said it was seeking initial expressions of interest from firms wishing to be considered for developing 100 MW or more capacity in Scottish waters.
Source - Reuters
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