Windier weather brings welcome boost to offshore wind-farms

The news is that it is getting windier down south. This unexpected quirk of climate change has given a welcome boost to offshore wind-farm developers.

Experts have said that as a result the waters off the coast of East Anglia and Essex could be home to many more wind farms.

Research from Atmos Consulting, has found that wind speeds in these areas have been rising so much that wind farms could generate 50% more electricity than imagined a decade ago.

10 GW of offshore projects - enough to power 10m homes - being planned for the southern part of the North Sea could benefit.

Research based on information taken from NASA satellite images found that the average annual wind speed in the southern part of the North Sea has increased from about 7.5 metres per second in 1990 to 8.5 metres in 2008. In comparison, wind speeds in the northern part of the North Sea just off the coast of Scotland, have remained the same during the period.

The good news is that if these trends continue, in a decade the south could be windier all year round than the north and therefore double the power generated by wind farms off the coast of East Anglia and Essex.

New software has been developed by Atmos Consulting to process 22 years of satellite images from space agency NASA. These images measure the size of small, capillary waves on the ocean surface, which indicate the strength of the wind.

In the past developers have relied on wind-speed levels taken on oil and gas installations or have used meteorological masts planted offshore. The Met Office has only limited satellite data to track offshore wind spends in the North Sea but work is underway to produce a comprehensive set of data of the last 30 years. It has been revealed that this would take two years to develop.

Head of offshore renewables at the British Wind Energy Association, Duncan Ayling, said “There have been wind-speed measurements on oil and gas installations that give some localised historic data, but a lot of the rest of it is extrapolation. If this technology provides an accurate measurement, it would be very exciting. More wind equals more money for projects. It would enable wind-farm developers to more accurately forecast revenues and have more certainty about the expected return on their investment.”

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk

Norwich and Yarmouth set to cash in on North Sea offshore energy

Norwich and Yarmouth is set to cash in on investments of more than £80bn in the North Sea offshore energy industry in a major boost to jobs, a conference has heard.

Experts from across the region descended on the Holiday Inn at Norwich International Airport this week for the 2009 Southern North Sea Conference this week, organised by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR).

Speakers from firms in the sector said the offshore oil and gas industry, off the Norfolk coast, is set to play a key role supplying reliable energy to the country to help reduce reliance on from overseas.

And with offshore wind set for major expansion Norwich and Yarmouth are well placed to benefit from the massive investment in the sector.

Blair Ainslie, managing director of Yarmouth-based offshore firm Seajacks UK, which manufactures self-propelled platforms used in the offshore sector, said his firm was set to take on nearly 100 new workers this year, with potential for hundreds more in the coming year.

He said: “We have already generated 36 jobs. By the time we take delivery of our second vessel in September that number will be about 130 and we are looking to build additional vessels.

“These jobs are just for offshore operations, and don’t include construction, and these are new jobs, not moving people from other parts of the UK or the world.”

He added: “The reason me and a lot of other people are in Yarmouth now they are not fishermen is because of the oil and gas industry, and we are ready to take the skills and experience we have into the renewables sector which is ready to boom.”

The area is also set to be host to the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, Greater Gabbard, off the Suffolk coast.

Steve Rose, offshore operations manager for the development, said about 140 turbines would be in operation by the end of next year, and said the industry would generate thousands of new jobs.

He said: “Our wind farm will create 100 new jobs just in operations. A lot of others are developing now and all projects are going to need local, dedicated technicians.”

John Best, EEEGR chief executive, said the event was aimed at ensuring businesses and different energy sectors worked together to offer secure, lower carbon emitting energy, and said the region was in an ideal location to benefit.

He said: “This is about continuing collaboration to deliver a robust, secure energy sector moving towards a lower carbon future.

“In this location we have got everything, shallow seas, gas reserves, a supply chain in place and 40 years’ experience and a demand for secure, reliable supplies for the future.

“Employment in the oil and gas sector is in excess of 20,000 people. Employment in growing offshore wind and continuing gas industry is all continuing to grow.

“You can’t spend the sort of sums we are talking about, which is in excess of £80bn, without requiring real, long-term employment.”

Is your company set to create new jobs? Call Evening News business reporter Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or email sam.williams@archant.co.uk

For the very best selection of local jobs log onto www.eveningnews24.co.uk and click on jobs24 or see the Evening News every Wednesday for the jobs24 supplement.

Source: Norwich Evening News 24. Sam Williams. 07/02/2009

Yarmouth Seajacks’ $100m contracts

SPECIALIST vessel builder Seajacks, with an office in Great Yarmouth, have been awarded contracts for both of their new vessels Seajacks Leviathan and Seajacks Kraken, with a combined value in excess of $100m.

With their vessels near to completion at Lamprell’s shipyard in Dubai, Seajacks themselves view the contracts as a resounding confirmation of confidence in their business and vessels.

Both of the Seajacks vessels are state of the art, self-propelled liftboats, commissioned for their ability to perform under environmentally harsh conditions. These versatile jack-ups are designed to be utilised in the oil and gas industry and the offshore renewable energy sectors.

Seajacks first vessel, The Kraken, is contracted to ExxonMobil in Canada and will initially work as the offshore accommodation unit for the Sable Project located offshore of Nova Scotia, Canada before returning to the North Sea.

The Seajacks Kraken is scheduled for delivery to the company next month and will make her way on to Nova Scotia to start on the ExxonMobil contract in May this year.

Last week, Seajacks signed a contract with Fluor Ltd for The Leviathan to work as an installation unit for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, approximately 25 kilometers off the Suffolk/ Essex coast. This second Seajacks’ vessels is scheduled for delivery to the company in June of this year with its arrival in Europe planned for mid August in time for work to commence this coming September.

Seajacks hold options to build five more specialist vessels for use within the International offshore energy sectors.

With the news of the second contract, Seajacks has announced that, wherever possible, the recruitment for the crewing of ‘The Leviathan’ will be executed locally.

Seajacks has offices in Yarmouth at the Beacon Innovation Centre, and in the Orbis Centre at Lowestoft.

Source: Great Yarmouth Mercury 24

Floating wind farms to be developed as part of government-backed research

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), a partnership between global industries and the UK Government to develop renewables like wind and solar, has announced £20 million for its first four projects.

Two of the projects will look at the structure of wind turbines to see if there are ways to improve efficiency while a third will look at tidal power.

The fourth project, supported by a number of multinational companies including defence company BAE Systems, is looking at floating wind farms.

At the moment wind farms are usually sited at depths of up to 30m before it becomes difficult to build a standing structure.

Using technology from the oil and gas sector, where floating rigs are commonly used, the research hopes to develop wind turbines to float at a depth of up to 300m where there are high wind speeds and the structures cannot be seen onshore.

Project Deepwater Turbine will determine the feasibility of a 5MW floating offshore wind farm.

Floating wind farms are being developed in Scandinavia and other parts of the world but this is the first Government-backed project in the UK.

The UK is committed to producing 15 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020. As the windiest place in Europe it is expected much of this will be from wind.

However many communities are against onshore wind farms for fear of harming wildlife and blighting some of the UK’s most pristine landscape. Even even offshore wind farms that can be seen from the shore are blamed for ruining views.

Jon Mills, head of strategy development at BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte), said the technology could not only solve the problem of aesthetic complaints but could make wind farms easier and cheaper to install in the short time available for the UK to switch to low carbon energy.

“Wind farms are not always popular with people when they are in their backyard but they appreciate the value of the technology,” he said. “Developing wind farms off shore eliminates the complaint and could make building and maintaining the turbines easier, bringing costs down, so that you have green energy at a lower cost.”

Up to £1.1 billion could be invested researching renewables as part of the ETI initiative.

Lord Hunt, minister for sustainable development and energy innovation, said: “The UK has pledged to increase dramatically our use of renewable energy to further secure our energy supplies and help fight the damaging effects of climate change.

“In order to meet these challenges we need to turn the best innovative ideas in wind and marine power into reality.”

 

 

Brown Says Downturn Won’t Hit Green Plans

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday the global economic downturn would not affect a government drive to reduce the country’s carbon emissions. However, an industry executive cast doubt on the ability of the UK’s existing power transmission network to cope with planned increases in wind power output. Brown told a wind energy conference in London ministers were committed to meeting a target to produce 15 percent of the UK’s energy supply from renewable sources, such as wind and wave power, by 2020. “You may have heard some people say that these difficult economic times should or will reduce the government’s commitment to building a low carbon economy. They should not and will not,” Brown said in a recorded statement shown by video to delegates at the British Wind Energy Association’s (BWEA) conference. Doubts have been expressed about the UK’s ability to meet its renewable energy targets, with investors warning that companies need more financial incentives to develop wind farms. A report in Britain’s Observer newspaper at the weekend said delays in gaining planning approval for farms, long delivery times, escalating costs, and technical problems were all threatening to derail government plans. But BWEA Chief Executive Maria McCaffery said in a news conference on Tuesday the industry was confident it would be able to meet the targets. “It’s an area where there is tremendous positivism and confidence,” she said. However, the UK’s power transmission grid system is not capable of dealing with the output from planned new wind farms, said Keith Anderson, director of the renewables division of Scottish Power, part of Iberdrola SA. The grid is between 30 to 40 years old and needs immediate modernisation and investment, Anderson said at the news conference. A proposed upgrade of the main Beauly-Denny transmission line in Scotland, which would allow a significant increase in renewable energy capacity in the far north of the United Kingdom if it gets the go-ahead, was likely to take 10 to 12 years to carry out, he added. “We need more upgrades of that size and scale,” he said. “We cannot afford for that process to keep taking 12 years. If you start the process now for the offshore and marine sector, you’ll already be in 2020. It needs to happen now. “Scotland contributes a huge proportion of the onshore target to the overall target and if you don’t start building the transmission lines, you block some of that development and reduce its potential.” BRITAIN OVERTAKES DENMARK The United Kingdom would achieve three gigawatts of installed wind energy production capacity this week, up from one gigawatt in 2005, with the completed construction of Centrica Plc’s Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms near Skegness in eastern England, the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change said in a statement. Earlier Tuesday, Centrica said it had gained approval for another 250 megawatt project off the Lincolnshire coast and was exploring the possibility of constructing two further wind farms totalling 1,000 MW. Britain had now overtaken Denmark as the world’s largest producer of energy from offshore wind, with 597 megawatts of capacity fully built, the government said. Offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom now have the potential to power the equivalent of about 300,000 UK homes, it said. “What this means is the creation of an unprecedented 100-billion-pounds market for renewable energy sources in just over a decade,” Brown told the conference. “That will create huge new business opportunities - and around 160,000 jobs.” Reporting by Phil Waller; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien, David Cowell and Simon Jessop, Reuters.

Wind turbines suitable for Fens site

A renewable energy developer seeking permission for a wind farm claims turbines are the most advanced of the clean technologies.

Notus Energy, which has submitted plans for a 19-turbine project, also claims that turbines provide a good return in terms of energy and benefits for the money required to set them up.

The Marshland Wind Farm proposals feature Enercon E-82 turbines rated at three megawatts (MW) each.

In total the wind farm would have a capacity for 57MW and would generate enough electricity to meet the equivalent of the needs of 28,000 homes.

The developer’s website lists various reasons for setting up wind turbines on the site in the Norfolk Fens.

It cites the national windspeed database, on site wind measurements and a report by Arup and Partners, which supports the assertion that there is viable wind speed at the location.

Although the developer claims that no insurmountable issues were raised by 50 organisations consulted for the scoping report, the project has been controversial.

Early plans for the project included 26 turbines but this number was scaled back to the current proposal for 19 as the project developed.

http://www.marshlandwindfarm.de/project/project_site.html

Shipdham turbine information published

Energy firm Ecotricity has produced more environmental information to support its application for a wind farm on land at Shipdham, near Dereham.

A public inquiry to re-determine the planning permission, which was finally granted for two 100m towers on land near Wood Farm following appeal in 2006 but then quashed, will be held in December but Ecotricity was told to provide extra information in advance.

This considers factors such as wind speed and direction data, sound power levels, dimensions, visibility maps, materials to assist viewpoint analyses, cable routes and risk assessment.

But the largest body of work has been in producing an ecological survey of wildlife. The information folder details findings from independent ecologists who looked at mammal species and habitats, bird numbers and reptiles to decide whether measures should be taken before any turbine construction.

Ecologist Dr Simon Pickering reported the proposed development “would not have any significant impact on the ecology of the site” and suggested the only impact could be to the habitat of great crested newts.

He found ponds on site with the potential to support the newts although no adults or larvae were found. He suggested there may be some low-level risk to newts from the proposed access road and that a scheme could be agreed with Natural England to erect appropriate fencing and to carry out daily checks before work commenced.

Lapwing Consultants suggested a further survey of possible bat roosting trees before work starts to determine whether a licence was needed from Defra so as not to disturb their habitats.

The Environmental Statement and the Further Environmental Information (August 2008 and October 2008) are available for inspection until Sunday, November 9 at Dereham and Watton libraries.

Source: Eastern Daily Press

Norfolk Fens wind farm considered

Ministers are considering granting planning permission for a proposed 19-turbine wind farm in Norfolk.

The Marshland Wind Farm, proposed by German developers Notus Energy, will generate 57 megawatts (MW) from a site near Marshland St James.

According to the developers, the site was chosen in part because of a 2007 report by Arup and Partners, which concluded that the north-west of Norfolk is the best place to site wind turbines for maximum returns in the region.

Notus Energy also cites the fact that no insurmountable issues were raised by the 50 organisations that were consulted as part of the scoping study.

Although the 3MW turbines will each be 139 metres tall to the tip, the company claims that this will not be an issue as according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the site is already in an area disturbed by visual intrusion.

Plans for the wind farm were scaled down from an original 26-turbine proposal following the withdrawal of landowner members of the consortium.

If it goes ahead, the wind farm will generate enough electricity for the equivalent of 28,000 homes.

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