Canadian Pension Fund To Consolidate Its Offshore Wind Holdings Into UK-Based Reventus Power
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) will consolidate its existing direct and indirect offshore wind holdings into Reventus Power, its UK-based portfolio company, which will become its dedicated global offshore wind platform.
This first paragraph gives more details.
Subject to customary approvals, the move will see Reventus Power growing its teams in the UK, Germany, Poland and Portugal to form a team of approximately 50 offshore wind specialists, according to CPP Investments, whose current exposure to offshore wind is more than CAD 1 billion (approximately EUR 678 million; USD 737 million).
According to their web site, the Reventus HQ is in London.
There is nothing on the web to indicate a special reason, so it must have been one of the following.
- Canadians like investing in the UK.
- The UK is good for tax reasons.
- London has all the lawyers, accountants and other services they will need.
- I suspect several wind farms, that they will develop will be in UK waters.
- Many of the extra staff, they have said they will recruit will be UK-based or UK-educated.
But overall, it must be a feather in its cap for London.
World’s First Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Farm Smashes Predictions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
WindFloat Atlantic, the world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm, has completed its third year in operation, closing in 2023 with an electricity production of 80 GWh.
These four paragraphs outline the performance of the wind farm.
Connected to the grid by the end of 2019 and fully commissioned in 2020, the floating offshore wind farm was developed by the Windplus consortium formed by Ocean Winds, a 50:50 joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE, Repsol, and Principle Power.
The pioneer wind farm consists of three platforms, each supporting one 8.4-MW Vestas turbine, which are anchored with chains to the seabed and connected to the onshore substation in the Portuguese municipality of Viana do Castelo through a 20-kilometre cable.
According to the project’s owners and operators, the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic also closed in 2023 breaking more records with Storm Ciaran posing challenges with waves reaching a maximum height of 20 metres and wind gusts up to 139 kilometres per hour.
These conditions far surpassed the project’s previous records, demonstrating the readiness and robustness of the floating technology, even in extreme offshore conditions.
It would appear that this and the previous post; France’s First And Only Operational Floating Wind Turbine Gets Lifetime Extension, are not only indicating that floating wind power works, but that it works well in all types of conditions.
Is This Better News For Offshore Wind Farm Developers?
Two months ago this article on offshoreWIND.biz was published, which was entitled Offshore Wind Developers Take A Pass On UK’s Fifth CfD Round As Maximum Bid Price Was Too Low.
This was the sub-heading.
The UK government has awarded 3.7 GW of renewable energy projects with Contracts for Difference (CfDs) in its fifth allocation round. Among the 95 new projects that secured CfDs are onshore wind, solar and tidal energy developments – and not a single megawatt of offshore wind.
These are the first three paragraphs of the article.
According to the government, the global rise in inflation and the impact on supply chains presented challenges for projects participating in this round. The government also noted that similar results have been seen in countries such as Germany and Spain.
The industry does not disagree, however, multiple players have voiced their disappointment that the government had not taken these pressures into account for this round and emphasised that the UK’s goal of having 50 GW of offshore wind and 5 GW of floating wind could now be jeopardised.
Last year, the UK awarded CfDs to 7 GW of offshore wind projects alone.
Today, articles with these titles and sub-headings were published on offshoreWIND.biz.
- 50 Developers Express Interest To Build Wind Farms Offshore Portugal
Fifty entities, including individual companies and consortia, from more than ten countries have submitted their expressions of interest to develop offshore wind projects in Portugal as the country prepares for its first auction.
2. Fugro To Survey Site For Lithuania’s First Offshore Wind Farm
Ignitis Renewables has awarded Fugro a contract to conduct a geophysical survey at Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm site.
3. Norway’s Offshore Wind Tender Attracts Seven Applications
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received seven applications to participate in the tender for the Southern North Sea II offshore wind project area.
4. Project To Retrofit CTV With Hydrogen Fuel Cells Kicks Off
A project to retrofit a crew transfer vessel (CTV) with hydrogen fuel cells, to cut CO2 and NOx emissions while servicing offshore wind farms, has kicked off.
5.Terna Energy Secures Survey Permit for Wind Farm Sites Offshore Greece
Terna Energy has been granted one out of the two first exploration and survey licences issued for pilot offshore wind projects in Greece.
6. UK Increases Offshore Wind Strike Price Ahead Of Next Auction
The government of the United Kingdom has increased the maximum strike price for offshore wind projects in the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction by 66 per cent for fixed-bottom and by 52 per cent for floating wind projects.
All would appear to be positive stories.
- Story 1 is about success in Portugal. What are the Portuguese doing right?
- Stories 2 and 5 are about offshore wind development in new countries; Lithuania and Greece.
- Story 3 may not appear significant, but Terje Aasland, who is Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy seemed pleased in the article.
- Story 4 is about development of new technology, which wouldn’t be done if the market was non-existent.
- Story 6 is surely good news for wind farm developers in the UK.
I did leave out three stories, one of which was negative and two were rather boring. But six out of nine isn’t bad.
Is it Getting Better All The Time, as The Beatles once sang?
IberBlue Plans To Install 18 MW Floating Wind Turbines On Spanish-Portuguese Atlantic Ocean Border
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
IberBlue Wind has announced plans to build two floating wind farms on the North Atlantic border between Spain and Portugal. The projects, planned to be installed off the coasts of Baixo Miño in Pontevedra and Viana do Castelo, would have a total of 109 turbines of 18 MW and a combined capacity of up to 1.96 GW.
These two later paragraphs also describe two other offshore wind farms being developed by IberBlue in Spain and Portugal.
Since then, IberBlue has already announced two floating offshore wind projects of 990 MW capacity each, one in Spain and one in Portugal.
In Spain, the joint venture is developing the Nao Victoria floating wind farm, planned to be built off the coasts of Cadiz and Malaga, in the Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. The wind farm is planned to comprise 55 floating wind turbines, also with a nominal output of 18 MW per turbine.
It does look as if IberBlue have defined that for the seas around the Iberian peninsular, 18 MW floating wind turbines will be their standard.
As these giants could have a 20 % increase in capacity compared to 15 MW turbines for the same number of turbines, I think that developers will seriously look at the costs and performance pf the larger turbines and could install them more widely.
Irish Floating Wind Tech Developer Unveils Pilot Project In Portugal
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Dublin-based floating wind technology company Gazelle Wind Power (Gazelle) has partnered with the Portuguese renewable energy developer WAM Horizon to accelerate the development of a pilot project in Aguçadoura, Portugal, which will use Gazelle’s floating wind platform.
And this is the first paragraph.
Within the partnership, WAM will provide Gazelle with strategic advisory to implement the pilot project.
There is also a picture, which does not look like any other float for a wind turbine, that I’ve seen.
Gazelle Wind Power’s home page, has a series of pictures and an explanation of how it works.
The web site claims the technology is Light, Agile and Fast and gives a few details in this paragraph.
Introducing Gazelle’s hybrid attenuated mooring platform, an evolutionary step-change in the design of floating platforms. Lighter, smaller and more agile than current designs, the Gazelle delivers unmatched stability and capacity. Moreover, our design benefits from modularisation, time-tested manufacturing processes, and can easily be assembled at port facilities worldwide.
From my experience of modelling floating structures in the 1970s, I believe that there a lot more permutations and combinations of components, that will work as floats for wind turbines.
Gazelle Wind Power’s design, is one of the first of a new generation of designs.
If anybody comes up with an unusual design and needs someone to criticise or model its floating behaviour, I’d be happy to help.
World’s First Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Farm Exceeds Expectations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
The article is based on this news item from WindFloat Atlantic, which is entitled WindFloat Atlantic Closes 2022, Reaching 78GWh.
These are the first three paragraphs of the news item.
WindFloat Atlantic, world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm, that was connected to the grid by the end of 2019 and commissioned in 2020, now finishes its full second year in operation.
After nearly 2 years and a half in fully operation, WindFloat Atlantic closes 2022 with an electricity production of 78GWh (+5% more than its first year). This production enables the supply of green energy to more than 25,000 households, as well as the avoidance of 33,000 tones of CO2.
These favourable data show Portugal’s potential on offshore wind energy, which is reflected in the annual availability of the wind farm, which was between 93-94%, as well as showing the success of WindFloat Atlantic’s innovative technology, being a benchmark within the offshore sector.
These points are from the news item.
- The wind farm is only 25 MW. So it is only a small wind farm.
- There were no lost time accidents in the last year of operation.
- It produced more electricity in 2022 than 2021.
- I have calculated the capacity factor at 36 %.
It certainly looks to be a successful application of floating wind power.
Portugal Were Glued, Stitched And Morocco-Bound
Metier’s amazing company accountant; Brian used to use a phrase of screwed, glued and tattooed, when a person or company was in trouble with the authorities and they would have to pay up.
My father was a printer and bookbinder and after today’s World Cup match between Portugal and Morocco, he’d have come up with an appropriate phrase like glued, stitched and Morocco-bound.
Note that both Brian and my father had a lot of the real East End about them.
BayWa r.e. Unveils Subsidy-Free Floating Wind Project Offshore Portugal
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the first paragraph.
BayWa r.e. has officially applied to secure the rights for an exclusive use of the seabed for a commercial-scale floating offshore wind project in Portugal, which the company said will be the first subsidy-free floating wind farm in the world.
Note.
- BayWa are a German company headquartered in Munich.
- The windfarm will have a 600 MW capacity in total, in a dedicated zone off the coastline of Viana do Castelo.
- It will be a floating wind farm.
- Viana do Castelo is situated at the mouth of the Lima River and is about 74 km. to the North of Porto.
But surely the most significant fact about this project is that it is subsidy-free.
BayWa And Subsidy-Free Wind Farms
This page on the BayWa web site is entitled BayWa r.e. Sells UK’s First Subsidy-Free Wind Farm.
This is the first paragraph.
BayWa r.e. has reached a milestone for itself and the UK renewable energy sector with the completion and sale of the country’s first subsidy-free windfarm to James Jones & Sons Ltd and London-based specialist asset manager, Gresham House Asset Management.
Note.
- This is the first time, I’ve seen Gresham House associated with wind farms.
- BayWa appear to have a fifteen year agreement with Tesco for the generated electricity.
The whole page is a must read.
Conclusion
Does this mean, that we will be seeing subsidy-free floating wind farms around the UK?
Get the engineering, manufacturing and financial support right for floating wind farms in the UK and wind farms could be bumper-to-bumper around these islands.
Portugal’s Sevenair Eyes Up To 6 Heart Aerospace ES-30 Electric Aircraft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Simple Flying.
Some points from the article.
- Sevenair are a Portuguese regional airline.
- Sevenair run several short routes.
- Heart Aerospace has 230 firm orders and a 100 options for the the ES-30.
Heart Aerospace may not have been the first company to fly an electric airliner, but they do seem to be attracting orders.
IberBlue Wind Launches In Spain And Portugal With The Objective Of Promoting Iberian Leadership In Floating Offshore Wind
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from the Simply Blue Group.
These three paragraphs introduce the project.
Simply Blue Group, Proes Consultores and FF New Energy Ventures have formed a joint venture that brings together expertise in all phases of floating offshore wind farm development.
The joint venture will focus its operations in Spain on Andalusia and Galicia, while in Portugal it will focus on the central and northern parts of the country.
IberBlue Wind aims to develop around 2GW of floating offshore wind farms.
This paragraph describes the plans of the Irish company; Simply Blue Group.
Simply Blue Group is a global developer of floating offshore wind farms with projects in Ireland, UK, US, Poland, and Sweden. Simply Blue Group currently has a pipeline of 10GW of projects under development. As part of its growth strategy, the company is now expanding into the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
It appears to be a very ambitious company.
Every GW of renewable energy helps.
The Anonymous Widower 