SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE VENSYS Wind Turbines: – Fewer Components – Less Maintenance – Less Downtime + More Efficiency + More Power + More Energy … … for our future! www.vensys.de ES MORE nes: European Onshore Q3 2017 Community spirit giving Germany a hangover The experts in due diligence THE NETHERLANDS Giant turbine prize coming down the pipe at Zeewolde p4 p2 FRANCE Compagnie popping the cork on 100MW construction spree p7 TRIGGER HAPPY: Innogy has taken a final investment decision at its 6MW Sommerland repowering project in Schleswig-Holstein, one of the few non-community bids to secure capacity in Germany’s first auction in May. Three Senvion MM100 turbines (pictured) will go up at the site and commissioning is slated for spring 2018. Photo: Senvion p6 ITALY Siemens Gamesa four-cheese pizza BELGIUM Anti- wind groups go for industry jugular on new planning rules p5
Transcript
SOMETIMESLESS IS MOREVENSYS Wind Turbines:– Fewer Components – Less Maintenance– Less Downtime+ More Efficiency+ More Power + More Energy …
… for our future!
www.vensys.de
ESMORE
nes:
SOMETIMESLESS IS MOREVENSYS Wind Turbines:– Fewer Components – Less Maintenance– Less Downtime+ More Efficiency+ More Power + More Energy …
… for our future!
www.vensys.de
ESMORE
nes:
SOMETIMES LESS IS MOREVENSYS Wind Turbines:– Fewer Components – Less Maintenance– Less Downtime+ More Efficiency+ More Power + More Energy …
… for our future!
www.vensys.de
ES MORE
nes:
European OnshoreQ3 2017
Community spirit giving Germany a hangover
The experts in due diligence
THE NETHERLANDSGiant turbine prize coming down the pipe at Zeewolde
p4
p2FRANCECompagnie popping the cork on 100MW construction spree
p7TRIGGER HAPPY: Innogy has taken a final investment decision at its 6MW Sommerland repowering project in Schleswig-Holstein, one of the few non-community bids to secure capacity in Germany’s first auction in May. Three Senvion MM100 turbines (pictured) will go up at the site and commissioning is slated for spring 2018. Photo: Senvion
p6
ITALYSiemens Gamesafour-cheese pizza
BELGIUMAnti-wind groups go for industry jugular on new planning rules
Most of the 1.8GW of capacity allocated in the two German onshore wind auctions held so far this year will struggle to get built, according to industry experts.
The issue is uncertainty over the viability of the community projects that have dominated each round.
Some 125 of the 137 winners are community-backed, according to figures from federal network agency BNetzA. Citizen-led wind farms secured 96% of the total in May’s round and 90% this month.
Some 67 bids totalling 1013MW were selected in the August auction at an average price of €42.80 per megawatt-hour, which was
down 25% from the €57.10/MWh average recorded in the 807MW tender in May.
The latest tender was heavily oversubscribed with 281 bids representing a shave under 3GW filed by the 1 August deadline.
BNetzA said all citizen projects will receive a uniform price of €42.90/MWh with developer-led winners to receive whatever they bid.
Community projects, unlike those filed by commercial developers, were able to bid before securing planning permission and few details about construction timetables or financing have emerged
Just one of the winning 60 bids from community sources in this month’s 1GW auction
has construction approval in place, according to industry group VDMA.
Fellow industry organisation BWE said the results of the second auction “further increase the uncertainty” over whether projects will be built on time or at all.
Risks associated with the tender could lead to the “demolition” of the sector in 2019 and 2020, it added.
National expansion figures for the coming years are now highly contentious.
“Germany’s technological leadership in fast-growing international markets will be jeopardised as a result. At the same time, it calls into question climate protection targets,” BWE said. VDMA
added the current situation “aggravates” the risks for supply chain companies.
Vestas chief executive Anders Runevad said the longer lead times for citizen wind farms will impact on turbine delivery numbers.
“From a delivery point of view we will be down but by how much it is hard to see,” he said when unveiling the second-quarter results earlier this month. “We are still waiting for orders to firm up.”
} Penalties for developers that fail to begin construction within four years of auction awards start at €10 per kilowatt (€10,000/MW), rising to as much as €30 per kilowatt after four-and-a-half years,
BNetzA said. The network agency insisted “checks” on successful bidders in the first auction have found no indications that bidding requirements were breached.
Berlin has scrapped the permitting privilege for community projects for the February and May auctions in 2018 but it remains in place for this November’s tender, when a further 1GW of capacity will be up for grabs.
Removing the permit privilege is the right move, said VDMA deputy chairman Andreas von Bobart.
“In addition, non-implemented volumes must be submitted for tender again in order to remain on the path of expansion,” he added.
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} Senvion is looking to offload its stake in the 34MW Streu & Saale wind farm in the Bavarian municipality of Unsleben. The manufacturer stepped in to develop the site last year when the original community-led developer sold its share. Senvion 3.4M122 machines feature.
Senvion is now eyeing similar opportunities. “We have the know-how and the expertise to develop more projects,” a spokeswoman said.
} The new CDU/FDP coalition government in North-Rhine Westphalia has announced a new 1500-metre setback distance although it is unclear when the rules will come into effect.
} Germany added 790 onshore turbines with a combined capacity of 2.28GW in the first half of 2017 and is set to reach total installed capacity of 5GW by the end-year, according to trade bodies VDMA and BWE. First-half growth was an 11% improvement on the earliest six months of 2016.
} Citizen co-operative EWS Schönau officially inaugurated its Rohrenkopf wind farm featuring five Enercon E-115 turbines in Germany’s Black Forest this June. Locals are being given an opportunity to invest in the Gersbach site, the highest in the country, according to EWS.
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MOVING SIGHT: Blades en route to the Herrenstein development Photo: EcoWind
Giant blades give EcoWind edge in Styria
Vienna’s €45m boost to ‘loosen the logjam’
AUSTRIA
AUSTRIAN RECIPE
Project, Location MW Developer TurbineRecently completedAndlersdorf/Orth, Lower Austria
39 Wien Energie/ImWind
Enercon E-101
New into constructionHerrenstein, Styria 20 ECOwind Vestas V112
Oberwaltersdorf, Lower Austria
19.8 EVN Naturkraft/Wien Energie
Vestas V112
Sommerein, Lower Austria 34.5 EVN Naturkraft Vestas V112, V126
Recently consentedSchildberg, Lower Austria 10.4 EVN Naturkraft Vestas V126
The Austrian government has agreed €45m of new funding for the onshore wind sector that industry sources believe will support up to 350MW of stalled projects.
Vienna said it will make available an additional €30m this year and a further €15m in 2018 on top of the around
€20m annually already assigned to support wind farms.
Industry body IG Windkraft said the decision, which came into force with an amendment to the country’s Green Electricity Act in July, is a “good compromise”.
Which projects will secure
the additional funds remains unclear with 900MW currently on a waiting list that grew when the government constrained the country’s funding mechanism in 2012.
Those projects will be able to apply for the funds from October with awards on a first-come, first-serve basis expected in early 2018.
The tariff available for onshore wind this year is 8.95 eurocents per kilowatt-hour, some 2.5% less than the 2016 price.
Projects that fail to win cash from the additional supports will get more time as the amendment also includes a longer expiry period for pending subsidy applications, increased from three to five years.
This boosts the chances for stalled projects to be realised, IG Windkraft said, provided
Developer EcoWind will soon commission the 20MW Herrenstein wind farm near Rettenegg in Styria.
The project, which features six Vestas V112 machines, boasts the largest turbine blades installed in an alpine region in Austria, according to the developer.
The Herrenstein construction site is located some 1400 metres above sea level.
Elsewhere, co-developers Wien Energie and EVN Naturkraft are set to commission the 19.8MW Oberwaltersdorf wind farm this autumn.
Six Vestas V112 machines
are due to be completed soon at the site 30km south of Vienna.
Developer EVN Naturkraft has kicked off construction at its 34.5MW Sommerein project in Lower Austria.
Six Vestas V112 and four V126 machines will feature with commissioning expected in the first quarter of 2018.
the current Green Electricity Act remains in place until 2022.
A new government formed after the general election in October will need to table a major overhaul of the
legislation, the industry body added.
A total of 186MW of new onshore wind capacity is on track to be added this year, down from the 228MW completed in 2016.
CURLING CONTEST: Enercon E-115 blades awaiting installation at the 34-turbine Krammer wind farm at the Krammersluizen dam in Zuid-Holland. Ten of the foundations at the 102MW project have already been completed and commissioning at the site is due in 2019.
Photo: Windpark Krammer
Final lap in Wieringermeer supply race
Giant turbine prize comingdown the pipe at Zeewolde
Oude Maas, Zuid-Holland 20 Eneco, Renewable Energy Partners
198.5m tip
Developers of the up to 320MW Zeewolde mega-farm in the Dutch province of Flevoland will hit the market with a prize turbine supply contract early next year, according to sources.
Almost 200 locals, landowners and farmers grouped under the Windpark Zeewolde BV banner are preparing to issue a tender for 91 machines.
Varying tip heights of 220, 160 and 150 metres will feature across the site due to restrictions imposed by the nearby Lelystad airport.
Windpark Zeewolde is aiming to strike a deal with a single supplier but has not ruled out a multi-party approach. A spokeswoman said the developer expects
the government to award planning consent early next month with a bid due for an SDE+ subsidy in the next auction launching on 3 October.
The aim is to start engineering and construction in June 2018 if it wins a support contract with full operation in December 2021.
The new hardware will replace 221 existing turbines in the area. Dismantling has yet to kick off but all the current machines must be removed by the end of 2026.
Windpark Zeewolde is also seeking the participation of a further 1000 residents of towns outside the project’s immediate locale, which would make it Europe’s largest wind farm co-operative.
Developers are pressing the Dutch government to row back on larger than expected proposed cuts to SDE+ price supports for 2018.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is planning to slash the payments available in the spring and autumn auctions by more than 17% for projects with wind speeds greater than eight metres per second.
Wind farms in this category
will be eligible for a basic subsidy of €53 per megawatt-hour for 15 years under provisional prices published by enterprise agency RVO, down from the €64/MWh that will be up for grabs in this year’s tender.
The agency has set out similar cuts to projects with wind speeds between 7.5 m/s and 8 m/s, which will receive €58/MWh. Projects with
Nordex and Senvion will shortly learn which supplier has won a 180MW turbine contract at Nuon’s 50-turbine Wieringermeer wind farm in Noord-Holland.
A final decision is due in October, it is understood. Wieringermeer is being built in three separate phases of 16, five and 29 turbines with first power slated for March 2019. Hardware around 3.6MW will be limited to 120-metre hub heights.
Nordex is competing with Vestas for a 32-turbine supply contract at the adjacent Windcollectief Wieringermeer wind farm being developed by local farmers. A supply deal should be wrapped up early in the fourth quarter, said a source.
} Nuon will launch a turbine tender by the year-end for its 18MW Haringvliet wind farm in Zuid-Holland. The developer holds consent for six machines with 91.5-metre hubs and 117-metre rotors.
Draft SDE+ support cuts come with a stingspeeds lower than 7 m/s will receive €72/MWh.
Wind industry players said the draft cuts are significantly more than the forecast 10% and are lobbying officials to improve the support on offer.
“It is going to have consequences for the business cases of projects we are currently developing,” a source said.
“We understand why subsidies are reducing due to cheaper capital costs and turbine prices but we did not expect it to be this low.”
A spokeswoman for RVO said the government will publish the definitive SDE+ subsidy levels for 2018 by the end of the year.
The new rates were set with guidance from the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, which said basic amounts were reduced in line with a 10% fall in turbine prices plus a lower cost of capital.
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Developers get take-off signal for 54MW project
Ventis well on the way in Wallonia
Anti-wind groups go for the jugular on new planning rules
BELGIUM
Belgian industry groups have warned that wind farm construction could grind to a halt in Wallonia due to a new legal case that is threatening to overturn permitting concessions.
Industry opponents are targeting planning rules introduced in June that have opened up land for projects near roads and railways.
National lobby group EDORA said an earlier, separate high-profile court victory over noise level standards has emboldened anti-wind groups.
The new legislation is not just for wind farms but opponents have the parts specifically related to the sector in their crosshairs,
it is understood. EDORA adviser Fawaz Al Bitar said the provisions for developers could be cancelled altogether if the case is successful and would leave industry with no clear planning policy.
“So it could conceivably put a total stop to wind turbine installations in Wallonia because it will not be possible any more to deliver a permit,” he added.
Several developers told renews they are nevertheless pressing ahead with their plans in the region.
Engie Electrabel said it expects to break ground on its 16MW Modave project in Liege province during the fourth quarter.
The developer also applied
in June for a permit to build the 19.2MW Trois Ponts project, also in Liege. A public consultation is running until 4 September.
An Engie spokesman said: “We are glad that the new legal framework prioritises a certain number of zones.
“Opponents have attacked a part of this legal framework that will be defended by the authorities but we are confident in the good quality of our projects.”
Storm Wind chief executive Jan Caerts added: “Although we believe that this issue will ultimately be resolved, the current legal proceedings contribute to a general climate of regulatory uncertainty in the Walloon region.”
} Eneco has suspended construction at its 18MW Boneffe wind farm in Namur province after opponents appealed against the project’s consent to Belgium’s Council of State.
A spokesman for the Dutch developer said: “Works are stopped for the moment as there was an appeal. We are awaiting a decision to proceed.” Construction started in April.
BELGIAN BEAT
Project, location MW Developer Turbine
New into construction
Nivelles, Wallonia 13.6 Ventis Senvion 3.4M114
Recently consented
Eeklo-Maldegem-Kaprijke, Flanders
54 Engie Electrabel/EDF Luminus
150m, 134m tips
New into planning
Trois Ponts, Wallonia 19.2 Engie Electrabel 150m tip
Authorities in East Flanders have given Engie Electrabel and EDF Luminus an environmental permit for the 54MW Eeklo-Maldegem-Kaprijke wind farm.
The 18-turbine project is based on 150-metre tip heights although it is thought three machines could be capped at 134 metres due to potential issues with aircraft from a nearby military facility. A full consent decision is due soon.
Construction is pegged to start in June 2018 and finish by the following December.
Final procurement is being mulled for the site, which will be the largest in East Flanders.
The entire Flanders region
has meanwhile surpassed 1GW of operational onshore wind capacity.
Flemish Energy Minister Bart Tommelein said he wants to hit 2.5GW by 2030.
Elsewhere, progress has been made at the Port of Antwerp where two of five Enercon E-115 3W turbines have been installed at Wind aan de Stroom’s 15MW Left Bank 3 project.
The two machines are currently being brought online with a further two units under construction.
The five Enercon units will add to 16 Siemens turbines that are already spinning at the Left Bank complex.
Belgian developer Ventis is close to completing its 13.6MW Nivelles wind farmin the Walloon Brabant region in Wallonia.
Senvion is supplying four 3.4M114 turbines and is responsible for foundation work at the site, where the first machines have already begun to rise (pictured).
The German manufacturer has also signed up for a maintenance contract for 15 years with an option to extend up to 20 years.
Commissioning of the project, where locals hold
a 30% stake, is planned for September. Nivelles will connect to a grid substation in Baulers.
Ventis expects to generate between 20,000 megawatt-hours and 30,000MWh per year at the wind farm.
The developer operates several projects in Belgium and France with over 200MW developed in the latter country.
It is currently working on a 100MW pipeline of newbuilds in these markets, including the three-turbine Courcelles and five-turbine Sprimont, both in Wallonia. Photo: Ventis
Siemens Gamesa has secured a plum 100MW contract to supply up to 40 turbines to Italian developer E2i for four wind farms in the country.
Hardware in the 2MW class from the Gamesa stable is expected to feature at the 35MW San Giorgio La Molara and 15MW Montefalcone in Campania, southern Italy, and 15MW Mazara del Vallo in Sicily.
The manufacturer will also deliver 14 machines to repower the Vaglio Basilicata wind farm, again in southern Italy, replacing the existing 20 Enercon E-40 units and boosting capacity from 12.3MW to 35MW.
E2i has elsewhere lined up a deal for 16 Vestas 3.3MW turbines for a pair of repowering projects in the south, said sources.
All the wind farms hold €66 per megawatt-hour support
Developers in Italy are calling on authorities to remove tip height restrictions to enable more competitive bids in the next onshore wind auction.
The vast majority of permits allow turbine heights of up to 125 metres but developers said they believe more powerful hardware will be required to better the €66 per megawatt-hour average awarded in the 2016 tender.
Glennmont Partners chief financial officer Francesco Cacciabue said low load factors already make Italy a challenge for developers, adding authorities should take their lead from Nordic countries where larger machines are reducing subsidy levels.
State agency Gestore dei Servizi Energetici is yet to detail the terms of the next auction. Up to 800MW is expected to be on offer.
contracts secured in last year’s Italian capacity auction with completion of the sites due by end-July 2019.
German developer Eon is meanwhile aiming to start pre-construction activities next month at its 57MW Morcone wind farm in Calabria after the 19-turbine project cleared a late legal challenge over forestry consents. Vestas V112-3MW turbines are scheduled to enter operations in 2019.
} Eon is to create 40 jobs following the launch in May of Eon Wind Service Italy, which will provide cover for its 10-project portfolio in the country totalling 328MW and offer full-service and emergency maintenance support to the wider market.
} BayWa has kicked off construction at its 10MW Arlena wind farm in Lazio. Five Vestas V110-2.0MW turbines are due online next year.
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} Deliveries of Siemens Gamesa SWT-2.3-108 components have started to utility EP HZHB’s 51MW Mesihovina wind farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All 22 turbines at the site in Tomislavgrad province are expected to be completed by the year-end with commissioning set for early 2018.
Utility Elektroprivreda BiH is meanwhile mulling bids from turbine suppliers for its 48MW Podveležje wind farm near Mostar. A construction finance deal for Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske’s 48MW Hrgud project in Berkovići municipality is expected in 2018.
} A Siemens Gamesa-led group is to sign off on a deal with authorities in Turkey shortly for construction of the up to 1GW YEKA wind complex after winning a rights auction in August. The consortium, which includes Kalyon and Türkeler Holding, will have 90 days to detail its plans for the scheme to be built across five regions.
Turbine orders “can be expected within a year”, a spokesman said, with the first power due in 2019. A turbine manufacturing facility will be built in Turkey as part of the agreement.
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Developers gearing up for maiden 500MW auction
‘Hair-raising ride on policy rollercoaster’
Compagnie popping the cork on 100MW construction spree
FRANCE
POLAND
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} Boralex has started commercial operations at the 10MW Voie des Monts and 24MW Mont de Bagny wind farms.
The former, in the Aisne region, features five Vestas V100 turbines while the latter is in the Nord area and comprises eight Siemens Gamesa SWT-113 3MW machines.
} France installed 492.35MW of new onshore wind capacity in the first half of 2017, down 13% on the previous year, according to France Energie Eolienne. The trade body blamed policy uncertainty over onshore wind.
FRENCH PROGRESS
Project, location MW Developer Turbine
Recently completed
Boule Bleue, Somme 14.1 WPD Enercon E-82
Mont de Bagny, Nord 24 Boralex Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.0-113
Scaer Crenorien, Finistère
10.25 Futures Energies SARL (Engie)
Senvion MM92
Voie des Monts, Aisne 10 Boralex Vestas V100-2MW
New into construction
Barly, Somme 10 Compagnie du Vent (Engie)
Vestas V100
Bois de Montrigaud, Drôme
24 Compagnie Eolienne du Pays des Romains
Senvion MM92
Courant-Nachamps, Charente-Maritime
21 Futuren Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.2-113
Espiers, Eure-et-Loir 17.2 EDF EN Nordex N117/3600
Forêt Thivolet, Drôme 17.6 Compagnie Eolienne du Pays des Romains
Vestas V110
Guilleville, Eure-et-Loir 17.7 EDF EN Nordex N117/3600 and N100/3300
Les Monts, Aube 35 Futuren Vestas V112
Sainte-Colombe, Yonne
15.4 Compagnie du Vent (Engie)
Vestas V110
The Polish onshore wind sector is in its most turbulent period in recent history due to government policy changes, according to the chief financial officer of US developer Invenergy.
Steve Ryder said officials are “moving in the complete opposite direction” to stable legal and regulatory frameworks achieved
elsewhere in Europe. Invenergy launched a $325m legal case last month against energy company Tauron over the latter’s 2015 decision to terminate power purchase contracts for four of the US outfit’s wind farms.
Tauron’s actions, together with the drop in value of green certificates, have made Poland a “very difficult
environment”, Ryder added. The Polish Wind Energy Association said the sector is in “crisis” because of an oversupply of green certificates and an effective ban on the construction of new wind farms.
Invenergy said it will continue to operate its 11 projects in the country but has halted all new investments.
Developer Compagnie du Vent has kicked off a 100MW-plus onshore wind construction spree in France due for completion in early 2019.
The company, a subsidiary of Engie, has broken ground at its 10MW Barly project in the Somme department in the north of the country.
Cabling and ground works are underway to prepare for five Vestas V100 turbines that
will start arriving in February. Barly’s substation will be built in November and the developer is eyeing a May commercial operations date.
This is the first of seven wind farms totalling 112MW the developer will build in the next 18 months.
Compagnie du Vent will shortly start full installation at the 15.4MW Saint-Colombe project in the central French department of Yonne. Up
LIFTING SPIRITS: Senvion turbine blades being installed at RES’s 18MW Monts de l’Ain wind farm in eastern France. The project features a mix of MM92 and MM100 hardware and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. RES has meanwhile recorded a 2% increase in yield at its operational 10.5MW Clave wind farm in the south of the country using Montpellier-based Sereema’s WindFit cloud-based remote monitoring system. Photo: RES
next will be the 17.6MW Forêt de Thivolet located in the Drôme department in south-east France.
Both sites will feature Vestas V110 hardware and will be completed by next summer.
These will be followed by 11 Siemens Gamesa SWT-113 turbines that are expected to be completed in December 2018 at the Les Monts 2 project in the Aube department.
Construction works at three additional onshore wind farms will commence next year. The 21MW Vouillon, 7MW Pouldergat and 6MW Saint-Hilaire are in the Indre, Finistère and Loire-Atlantique departments, respectively.
French developers are preparing for next month’s deadline for the submission of bids in the country’s first onshore wind tender.
Some 500MW of capacity will be allocated with seven-turbine projects the minimum size allowed. At least one machine must be 3MW.
Developers do not require authorisation to take part in the auction and the price cap is set at €78.80 per megawatt-hour.
Tenders will be assessed in November and those selected will have two months to secure grid access and bank guarantees of €30,000/MW. Developers will have three years to complete their projects to secure support.
The government is planning to launch one 500MW bidding
round every six months over the next three years.
Meanwhile, France’s sole onshore wind turbine tower manufacturer FrancEole is to stop making components for the sector after it entered insolvency proceedings.
Potential bidders for the company include investment funds Nimbus and Cica2M, and bridge builder Matière but none is planning to stay in the tower manufacturing business.
FrancEole’s current owner Pelican Venture took over from German company Siag in 2012.
Former clients included Senvion, Nordex, GE, Vestas and Enercon. The manufacturer was producing between 400 and 600 tower sections a year.
Future rests on subsidy talks Support cut-off fires
3GW building surge
DENMARK NORWAY
SWEDEN
The Danish onshore wind industry is pinning its hopes on a new support mechanism after it emerged politicians are discussing the issue.
Senior figures in the Danish parliament are considering a new subsidy to replace the regime that will close next February, it is believed.
Installed capacity recently passed the 4GW mark following the completion in late June of Hofor’s 20.7MW Korsnakke wind farm in Lolland.
However, the Danish Wind Industry Association fears this could be the country’s high water mark without new
support as an ageing fleet of turbines at old sites are heading for decommissioning.
“If the Folketing (parliament) is willing to use the model we are now presenting, we will have twice as much wind over the next couple of years while it will cost less for the Danish public,” DWIA managing director Jan Hylleberg said.
A 3GW construction campaign is in full swing in Norway as developers race to complete projects before the country axes support for the onshore wind sector in 2021.
Developers Zephyr and Norsk Vind Energi are leading the pack having just wrapped up installation of 50 Siemens Gamesa 3.2MW turbines at the 160MW Tellenes project in the county of Rogaland.
A total of 27 of the units are already spinning with full operations due next month.
Norsk Vind has kicked off civil engineering works on the grid substations at its 260MW Bjerkreim wind farm.
Construction work is focusing on access roads with operations pegged for 2020.
Statkraft is also “on schedule” at its giant 1GW Fosen cluster, according to the company.
Building of internal roads and infrastructure is ongoing at the 256MW Roan and 288MW Storheia elements, with construction of the 101MW Kvenndalsfjellet, 108MW Harbaksfjellet, 155MW Geitfjellet and 94MW Hitra 2 to kick off in 2018.
Finnish developer Fortum has also begun work on access roads and internal infrastructure at its 50MW Ånstadblåheia project.
The Norwegian Wind Energy Association said it estimates up to 3GW will be built before 2021.
Fortum is tendering for turbines for its recently-
acquired 90MW Sørfjord project that it hopes to build in 2019.
Swedish developer OX2 is meanwhile talking to potential debt and equity partners for its up-to-50MW Kjølberget site in Hedmark county in the south west of the country.
Developers, however, remain cautious about the post-2021 future.
OX2 wind managing director Paul Stormoen said: “It will be hard to make the financials work if you are completely subsidy free.”
However, Fortum wind vice president Philippe Stohr said some sites could be developed on a “merchant basis” if market power prices increase.
Swedish developer Eolus has all but wrapped up civil engineering works at its 79.35MW Jenåsen wind farm in the Sundsvall municipality on the country’s east coast.
Access roads, hardstands and all 23 turbine foundations are completed. Installation of the Vestas V126-3.45MW turbines is set to be finished by next summer.
Eolus has meanwhile gone to market seeking turbine suppliers for the 40-unit Nylandsbergen and 20-unit Kråktorpet wind farms in the same region totalling around 220MW.
Eolus has yet to clarify model specifications and delivery dates but said the tender process is expected to be completed in the autumn.
Farther south, Rabbalshede Kraft is nearing the halfway point on turbine installation at the 79MW Lyrestad project.
Nine of 22 V126-3.45MW units are in place ahead of a planned inauguration on 1 October.
OX2 is meanwhile in the final stages of sourcing debt and equity financing for the
Amot-Lingbo and Tönsen sites in eastern Sweden with a combined 350MW capacity.
} Windhoist has installed the first of nine Nordex turbines at ABO Wind’s 27MW Ratipera
wind farm in the country’s Jämijärvi municipality. OX2 has completed installation of all 13 Siemens Gamesa turbines at its 42.4MW Ajos project in Kemi. Eight 3.3MW units and five 3.2MW machines feature.
Korsnakke, Lolland, Denmark 20.7 Hofor Vestas V117Långmarken, Kristinehamn, Sweden 26.4 Eolus Vestas V126Silovuori, Pyhäjoki, Finland 26.4 ABO Wind Vestas V126
New into constructionÅnstadblåheia, Sortland, Norway 50.4 Fortum Vestas V126Åskalen, Jämtland, Sweden 288 Vasa Vind Vestas V136Grimsås, Västra Götaland, Sweden 46.8 Kraftö Vind Siemens Gamesa
3.6MWHaapajärvi 2, Haapajärvi, Finland 23.1 ABO Wind Vestas V126Midtfjellet 3, Stord Island, Norway 39.6 Midtfjellet
VindkraftNordex N117
Ratiperä, Jämijärvi, Finland 27 ABO Wind Nordex N131Svartnäs, Dalarna, Sweden 115 Arise Vestas V136Bremangerlandet, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
Recently consentedBremangerlandet, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
Onshore wind developers that secured 1.1GW of capacity in Spain’s latest renewables tender face a battle securing finance and building projects by the end-2019 deadline, according to industry experts.
Madrid has yet to agree its
level of support to successful wind farms but renewables association Fundación Renovables said a rate of return figure of 4.5% favoured by government will not be enough.
Officials described
} Forestalia is putting the finishing touches to preparations ahead of a 90MW build campaign at six wind farms in the north of Spain next year.
GE hardware is expected to feature at the projects located in the Belchite, Daroca and Cariñena districts of the Aragon region under an exclusivity pact between the developer and the US manufacturer.
Forestalia is currently finalising wind measurement data and is in concluding talks with landowners at each location.
A company source said: “We decided to construct all our developments in Aragon after the regional government pledged to reduce administrative delays for the authorisation process by half.”
The source said the GE deal has also helped bring forward construction schedules. Investment
giant BlackRock is also on the brink of buying a share in the developer, it is understood.
} Siemens Gamesa is to supply Canary Islands energy distributor Disa with turbines representing 23.1MW for two wind farms on Tenerife.
The turbine manufacturer will install a total of 11 G114-2.1MW machines at the Bermejo and Vera de Abote sites in Arico, due for commissioning in the second half of 2018.
Construction is already underway and delivery of hardware components will start at the end of this year.
Siemens Gamesa is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and will provide all of the infrastructure needed to install and operate the facility, it said.
the potential offer as “reasonable”. The minimum bid price has been set at €42 per megawatt-hour.
FR vice president Jorge Morales said: “The government’s formula is highly complicated and its assessment of the costs very low and unrealistic.
“In addition, some of the factors in the formula can be modified by the government, so that we cannot be sure what the final remuneration will eventually add up to,” he added.
Morales said developers will have difficulties securing financial close with banks as a minimum return rate of 10% will be needed to secure construction cash.
The government also has powers to make changes to agreed subsidy levels for the next two years, according to Heikki Willsteedt, energy
policy director at industry body Asociación Empresarial Eólica.
“This tender would have been a good occasion to put an end to that possibility, which is the biggest worry
in the market,” he said. Spanish developer Capital Energy secured the lion’s share of capacity in the auction, winning 720MW as part of a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Alfanar.
PPA deals picking up paceDevelopers in Spain are looking to strike direct power purchase deals with heavy energy users in a bid to avoid ongoing subsidy uncertainty, according to Fundación Renovables.
Vice president Jorge Morales said PPAs could give companies greater long-term certainty.
EDP Renewables and dairy company Calidad Pascual have signed one of the first such deals in Spain.
The developer will provide
onshore wind energy at an undisclosed fixed price for five years starting in January next year.
EDP business-to-business sales director Javier Flórez said: “This agreement is a massive step forward for the Spanish market and shows that EDP is capable of delivering attractive, innovative solutions to its clients.
“This will undoubtedly lead to other organisations taking similar steps going forward.”
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Q4 2017 28 november prior to windEurope
Q1 2018 1 February
Q2 2018 19 april prior to Hannover Messe
Q3 2018 26 July prior to windEnergy Hamburg 2018
31.8MW capacity tenders in market
Eesti eyeing auction road to resurrection
ESTONIA
GREECE
Greek utility PPC Renewables is seeking companies to build 12 wind farms totalling 31.8MW.
The company has issued three tenders outlining a work scope that includes design, installation and commissioning. The provision of operations and maintenance for 14 years may also be included.
One tender is for a 7.5MW wind farm on the island of Crete, with the contract valued at €12.15m. Interested parties have until 9 October to respond to PPC.
A second tender, open until 10 October, is for a €7.5m
contract for a 4.5MW project on the island of Tinos.
The third is for 10 wind farms ranging from 900kW to
5.7MW and totalling 19.8MW. The contract is valued at more than €28m and has a 5 October deadline.
State-owned Eesti Energia is planning to file a bid in Estonia’s upcoming auction in the hope of securing land rights for its previously planned up to 150MW Tootsi mega-farm.
The company told renews it is “definitely” taking part in the competition for the site in Parnu county in the country’s south-west managed by the Estonian State Forest Management Centre.
Authorities have yet to confirm the final details for the auction but are expected
to publish the criteria once the European Commission gives the go-ahead.
Eesti had planned to be building on the 160-hectare site already but work was shelved after the Estonian government overturned an earlier decision to grant land access to the developer.
Legal challenges filed by the Estonian Wind Technology Association and rival developer AS Raisner forced the government’s hand, it is understood. Authorities have
SERBIA
Elicio gets spades in ground at 50MW duo
ROLLING OUT: Senvion components set for the 42MW Alibunar wind farm Photo: Elicio
now decided to auction off the rights to develop the site.
Eesti has sketched plans for up to 46 turbines.
Construction at Estonian turbine company Eleon’s 100MW Aidu wind farm in Viru county has meanwhile ground to a halt after the Ministry of Defence objected over the size of rotor blades.
The Estonian administrative court has ordered work to stop on the 30-turbine project because the Eleon 3.4M116 model’s blades are two metres longer than initially proposed, it is understood.
MoD officials argued the machines will impact military radar. Eleon disputes this.
Two turbine towers have already been installed at the site, which was due to be completed this year. Eleon chief executive Oleg Sõnajalg said he feared the dispute “might take years” to resolve.
The case is also holding up plans to relocate Eleon’s newly-acquired Mervento blade manufacturing plant and fittings from Finland.
The move was a key part of the company’s plans to start serial production of its 3MW wind turbine platform.
and V90-2.0MWMougoulios, Viotia 16.5 Terna Energy Nordex N100/3300Plagia Psiloma, Viotia 14.9 Terna Energy Nordex N100/3300
and N90/2500
New into constructionKafireas, Evia 154 Enel Green Power Enercon E-70Kassidiaris, Epirus 90 Eltech Anemos Vestas V136-3.45 MWPetalas, Aitoloakarnania 48 Protergia Vestas V100-2.0 MWPyrgos, Evoia 15.3 Protergia TBC
Belgian developer Elicio has kicked off construction at two wind farms in Serbia totalling 50MW.
The civil engineering job has cranked into gear at the 42MW Alibunar project, according to the developer’s Serbia country manager Christophe Bols.
A total of 21 Senvion MM100 turbines will feature at the site in the region of the same name in the north of the country.
“Turbine erection is planned for summer 2018 and operation will start by the end of the year,” said Bols.
Senvion MM100 components have meanwhile begun arriving at the developer’s 8MW Malibunar wind farm, also in Alibunar.
Installation is due to get underway by the end of this month with civil works substantially advanced.
“We plan to erect one turbine per week and our target is to start up by the end of October,” Bols added.
Elsewhere, at least 330MW of new projects entered construction in Serbia in the third quarter.
Elektrawinds K-Wind has started work at its 104.5MW Kovacica wind farm in the Banat area. GE 2.5MW turbines with 120-metre rotors are set to feature.
Vetroelektrane Balkana has kicked off construction at the 158MW Cibuk project and FK Mintel Wind has got underway at the 69MW Kosava site in Kovin and Vojvodina, respectively.
The government in Belgrade has meanwhile placed a 500MW cap on wind farm development so officials can examine the impact of the technology on the country’s grid, according to industry sources.
HIGH AND MIGHTY: SSE and Coillte’s 169MW Galway site features 58 Siemens Gamesa 3MW turbines Photo: SSE
Galway mega-farm leads way in record 250MW expansion
IRELAND
A record 250MW of new wind farms have been completed so far in the third quarter in Ireland, according to figures compiled by renews.
Industry insiders said the total is set to be among the largest three-month hauls for the sector that usually averages a similar figure over the course of a year.
SSE and Coillte’s 169MW Galway mega-farm led the charge with all 58 turbines now spinning at the site outside Moycullen.
The largest wind farm ever built in Ireland features Siemens Gamesa 3MW hardware and full operations are expected next month.
In Tipperary, semi-state ESB has wrapped up the installation of Vestas V112-3.45MW turbines at the 52MW Cappawhite project.
All 17 machines are undergoing final tests before full commissioning.
Elsewhere, Brookfield has completed installation of 11 Nordex N90/2500 turbines at its 27.5MW Slievecallan East development in County Clare.
“The wind farm is now entering mechanical completion and commissioning stage,” a spokeswoman for the Canadian company said.
Almost 120MW of new projects have been consented in the quarter, including developer Galetech’s optimised 22.4MW Taghart wind farm in County Cavan.
National planning authority An Bord Pleanala has given the green light for hardware in the 3.2MW category with tip heights of 125 metres.
Hub heights of 73.5 metres and rotor diameters of 103 metres are allowed at the project, which is located in an upland mainly agricultural area 6km south-west of Bailieborough.
Bord na Mona’s 63MW
Cloncreen and Craydel’s 33MW Cleanrath in Offaly and Cork, respectively, have also secured planning approval this quarter.
} John Sisk and Sons hassecured a deal for civilengineering at Brookfield’s19.2MW Ballyhoura wind farmin County Cork.
Included in the scope is the installation of six foundations
that will support Siemens Gamesa 3.2MW turbines.
The machines will feature 78.5-metre hub heights and 108-metre rotors. Tip heightsare pegged at 135 metres.
The project will share transmission infrastructure with Coillte and ESB’s nearby 33.1MW Castlepook site.
The latter is to wrap up by the end of the year while Ballyhoura will follow in 2018.
ScottishPower Renewables is planning to repower its Rigged Hill wind farm in Northern Ireland to increase headline export capacity from 5MW to 28.8MW.
The developer has scheduled a planning application for the County Derry scheme next year and is kicking off public consultations this month.
A total of eight new turbines are in the picture to replace the existing 10 500kW machines that have been
operational near Limavady since 1994.
An environmental impact assessment is already underway with SPR also considering if it can co-locate an energy storage facility.
Full details are expected to be finalised later this year.
The developer is also considering the 5MW Corkey and 5MW Elliots Hill sites, both in Antrim, as potential repowering projects, it is understood.
Repowering facelift for SPR portfolio in Northern Ireland
London investment outfit Temporis Capital has snapped up the consented but not yet built seven-turbine Tullymurdoch wind farm in Scotland from Element Power.
The 14.4MW Perthshire project is set to feature Senvion MM92 hardware and is eligible for a Renewables Obligation certificate under grace period criteria that will allow it to commission as late as January 2019.
The wind farm is the latest to change hands in the busy UK acquisitions market.
Invenergy has wrapped up the sale of its 69.5MW Corriegarth in the Scottish Highlands.
Investment fund Greencoat
Capital has acquired the project, which features German supplier Enercon’s E-82 3MW model.
Platina Partners is meanwhile expected to complete the sale of a 69MW portfolio of five operational UK wind farms known as Project Wold next month.
The asset is made up of the 20MW Burton Wold, 14MW Milton Keynes and 6MW Winscales Moor projects in England, the 15MW Garves in Northern Ireland and the 14MW Pates Hill in Scotland.
NTR, BlackRock and Octopus Investments are among the potential buyers, it is understood.
Market players said there
is little sign of the level of acquisition activity slowing down in the short term despite a lack of RO-eligible sites on the market.
“There are still a lot of sites that have not changed hands and it is a good time to sell as prices are quite high,” said Wayne Cranstone, chief operating officer at investment manager FIM.
“Utilities might want to shore up their balance sheets or the independents might want to cash in the developer premium.
“With the prices they are getting for those assets I can see it continuing.”
Among those running the numbers on UK wind
opportunities is John Laing Capital Management.
Director David Hardy said the company is looking hard at operational sites having accrued a sizeable war chest through a three-year £130m credit facility and £40m share placement.
On the other side of the fence, EDF’s next move is likely to be a sale of operational sites, according to a source.
The company picked up a 600MW portfolio of Scottish
wind assets in July from UK outfit Partnerships for Renewables.
The acquisition of the 11 in-development sites was completed via modest upfront payments that will likely be followed by balloon payments after financial close.
The projects are mainly based on 3.4MW turbines with 130-metre or larger tips but do not have an obvious route to market and will require post-subsidy solutions to enable construction.
Natural Resources Wales has awarded Innogy the rights to develop an up to 11-turbine wind farm in the TAN8 Strategic Search Area A on the Denbighshire-Conwy border.
Innogy’s bid beat off competition from six rival developers and was based on between nine and 11 turbines in the Alwen Forest
near Ruthin on land leased to the Welsh government by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water.
The project is being developed as a subsidy-free wind farm, it is understood.
A planning application will be filed via the Welsh government’s Developments of National Significance regime.
FRESH LEGS: The 20.5MW Cour wind farm in Scotland’s Argyll & Bute features 10 Senvion MM92 units and is part of a 149MW portfolio acquired by Octopus Investments from developer Blue Energy Photo: Arcus Consulting
