[WIND ENERGY] FCC of Spain buys into wind energy

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, or FCC, one of the largest Spanish builders, agreed to pay €190 million for Babcock & Brown Wind Partners' wind energy assets in Spain.

FCC will assume €590 million, or about $880 million, in debt as part of the deal, the company, which is based in Barcelona, said in a filing to regulators. The assets include 14 wind parks with capacity of 421 megawatts.

The purchase marks FCC's first investment in energy as it embarks on a €4 billion drive announced in May to diversify its business as the Spanish building market slumps. The sale of the assets will yield a profit of about 266 million Australian dollars, or $234 million, for Babcock & Brown Wind Partners, the company said in a statement to Australian regulators.

"The size of the total portfolio is substantial and will allow FCC to become the sixth-largest wind-energy operator in Spain," Alejandra Cosio, an analyst at Ahorro Corporación Financiera, wrote in a note.

Buying the Spanish wind parks gives FCC assets with capacity to produce energy for a city of 200,000 people, FCC said. The transaction includes an additional 45 megawatts of capacity still under development, FCC said.

Babcock & Brown Wind Partners said in February that it might sell assets in Europe to benefit from increased valuations from projects that were not reflected in its own market value.

The price for the Spanish assets "produces a large gain on sale for BBW and, importantly, is materially higher on a per megawatt basis than the current market implied value of BBW's total portfolio," said Miles George, chief executive Babcock & Brown Wind Partners.

FCC fell 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to €33.10 in Madrid trading. Babcock Wind fell 16 cents, or 12 percent, to 1.15 dollars in Sydney. The Spanish assets represent about 17 percent of its total wind portfolio.

Babcock & Brown Wind Partners decided not to sell its assets in Germany, after reviewing offers it received for the ventures. A divestment process for projects in Portugal and France has been extended and any sale would be agreed in the fourth quarter, it said.

Source: Reuters

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NEW TECHNOLOGY: Ricardo Inc., Develops Next-Generation Wind Energy

Massachusetts-based wind energy company General Compression and its compressor technology partner Mechanology are using Ricardo's automotive engineering and development expertise to develop technology which aims to make wind power as reliable as conventional power.

With energy security and global warming at the very top of the political agenda in all parts of the world, renewable energy resources are increasingly seen as an important contributor to the future of regional and national grid power supplies. Of the potentially large-scale renewable energy resources wind is perhaps the most universally available, as virtually every part of the earth's surface experiences the natural force of the wind.

However, as the wind is subject to the vagaries of the weather and as such is inherently unpredictable, wind energy has traditionally been seen as an intermittent source of electrical power. General Compression's proprietary Dispatchable Wind system carries the descriptive tagline 'wind energy on demand' because it decouples wind energy capture from electrical power generation by substituting the electric generators in its wind turbines with advanced compressor systems linked to a central high pressure compressed air reservoir at each wind farm.

The reservoir acts as an energy buffer, storing compressed air which can be passed through an expander plant in order to generate electricity whenever it's needed - not just when the wind is blowing.

Dispatchable Wind is based on the use of the innovative, high energy density Dragonfly compressor under development by Mechanology, Inc. Ricardo has been chosen by Mechanology to be one of its key product development partners to assist in developing the Dragonfly such that it will meet or exceed the rigours of round-the-clock operation with an expected life in excess of 20 years.

Ricardo is applying its well-proven product engineering skills and practices in areas such as design optimization and material selection, performance modelling and analysis, mechanical dynamic analysis, reliability and robustness engineering, design for manufacture and cost optimization.

"Increasing energy efficiency has been a prime focus at Ricardo for many years," said Ricardo Inc. President Dean Harlow.

"Our deep engineering experience places us in an ideal position to assist in the development of the high energy density Dragonfly compressor. General Compression's goal of making wind power available on-demand with its Dispatchable Wind system signals a major advancement in the practical application of this important renewable energy source.

"For Ricardo, it is yet another opportunity to apply our advanced engineering skills and technology to address global energy issues in a range of rapidly developing industrial sectors."

Ricardo, the Eco-Innovation Technology Company, is a leading independent provider of technology, product innovation, engineering solutions and strategic consulting to the world's automotive, transport and new energy industries. The company's skill base represents the state-of-the-art in low emissions and fuel-efficient powertrain technology, and can be best summarized: "Ricardo is Fuel Economy."

Source: SPX|by Van Buren Twp

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UNITED KINGDOM: British plans for wind turbines contested by defence ministry

Britain's defence ministry has raised objections over proposals to ramp up the proportion of the country's energy produced by wind farms, because of concerns over the impact of the turbines on military radar, The Times reported on Monday.

A spokesman for Britain's business ministry conceded there had been "issues" regarding potential sites for wind farms, and military radar systems.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD), however, insisted that all applications for new wind farms would be assessed on a "site-by-site" basis.

"The MoD is committed to government targets for renewable energy and whenever possible we seek to work with wind farm developers to find a mutually acceptable solution," an MoD spokesman said.

According to The Times, the defence ministry has objected to at least four proposed sites for wind farms on Britain's east coast because they make it impossible to spot aircraft.

The newspaper noted that, in written evidence to a planning inquiry in October, Squadron Leader Chris Breedon, a senior ministry expert, wrote that wind turbines disrupt radar coverage so that aircraft flying overhead cannot be detected, and noted that this occurred "regardless of the height of the aircraft, of the radar and of the turbine."

Just two percent of Britain's energy comes from renewable sources at present, and wind produces only half a gigawatt of power -- the government hopes to increase that to 33 gigawatts by 2020.

Source: Agence France Presse

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ASIA: La India creará una zona económica especial para potenciar a las empresas de energía solar

La India establecerá una zona económica especial con beneficios fiscales dedicada exclusivamente a fabricar equipamiento relacionado con la energía solar a fin de promover este tipo de recurso, informó el ministro para Energías Renovables, Vilas Muttenwar.

"Será una zona para fabricar materiales para producir energía renovable. Ello ayudará a aumentar la eficiencia energética de la India", dijo Muttenwar, en declaraciones recogidas por la agencia IANS.

Añadió que cinco regiones de la India ya han mostrado su disposición a albergar esta Zona Económica Especial (SEZ, siglas en inglés) y "pronto se tomará una decisión final sobre el lugar" donde se levantará.

Cerca del 7,7 por ciento de la energía que genera la India proviene de energías renovables, como la solar y la eólica. De estas fuentes se producen cerca de 11.000 megavatios anuales, aunque según el ministro el país asiático tiene potencia para generar, sólo a partir de estos recursos, cerca de 200.000 megavatios.

Muttenwar hizo estas declaraciones durante un seminario celebrado para conmemorar los 25 años de la creación de un departamento gubernamental dedicado exclusivamente a energías renovables, y que a finales de la década de 1990 se convirtió en Ministerio.

El Gobierno indio está embarcado en un plan que promueve las Zonas Económicas Especiales, terrenos en los que las empresas gozan de beneficios fiscales, a fin de potenciar la industrialización.

Via: EFE

India |Zona Economica,IANS,solar energy,renewable energy,SEZ,Vilas Muttenwar,India,wind energy,energyblog

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CHINA: Pekín instalará 33 turbinas eólicas que darán energía a 100.000 hogares

Pekín instalará desde finales de año 33 turbinas eólicas al noroeste de la ciudad que producirán 100 millones de vatios para 100.000 hogares y en uno de los cuatro parques eólicos previstos en la capital, según el periódico "China Daily".

El proyecto permitirá un ahorro de 50.000 toneladas de carbón, reducirá las emisiones de dióxido de carbono hasta en 100.000 toneladas, las de dióxido de azufre en 782 toneladas y las de monóxido de carbono en 11 toneladas.

Antes de llegar a los hogares pequineses, la energía producida por las nuevas turbinas eólicas abastecerá a las villas olímpicas en las que se alojarán los atletas durante los Juegos Olímpicos de Pekín en 2008.

Se trata de la primera parte de un proyecto que finalizará en 2010 y con el que sus responsables esperan doblar la capacidad del parque para producir energía.

Muchas empresas extranjeras han entrado en el sector de la energía eólica en China, entre ellas, la española Gamesa, la danesa Vestas, la estadounidense GEWind y la alemana Enercon.

Via: EFE

China| energia eolica,wind energy,Gamesa,china,Vestas,GEWind,Enercon,energyblog

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INDIA:IWPA seeks virgin areas for wind generation

The Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA) has appealed to the Union ministry for renewable energy to start steps for wind mapping and exploration of new areas across the country that has the potential to generate wind power.

Addressing the 11th AGM of the association, IWPA Chairman PR Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha said the best areas of wind have already saturated, the second best areas should now be identified and encouraged to set up windmills with additional concessions.

On infrastructure bottlenecks, he said the creation of infrastructure in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu has not kept pace with the growth of windmills in the region.






Via: India Economic Times

Indian Wind Power Association,Union ministry for renewable energy,India,wind energy,energyblog

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WIND ENERGY: Oil tycoon plans major wind farm

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens is planning to cash in on the wind energy boom by building the world's largest wind farm in West Texas.

The oil tycoon wants to install large wind turbines in parts of four Panhandle counties in a project that would produce up to 4,000 megawatts of electricity, Pickens spokesman Mike Boswell said Wednesday.

If Pickens' company, Mesa Power LP, does build the wind farm it would be the largest in the world, American Wind Energy Association spokeswoman Susan Williams Sloan said. It would generate more than five times the 735 megawatts produced at the present largest wind farm near Abilene.

One megawatt is enough to power 250 homes in Texas, Sloan said.

Pickens' proposal, which would cost as much as $6 billion, would fall just short of nearly doubling what Texas had at the end of 2006, when wind power totaled about 2,700 megawatts, she said.

Not all planned wind projects in Texas become reality, though. Earlier this week, a developer who planned to build what would have been the nation's largest offshore wind farm in South Texas called off the project because it didn't make economic sense.

Texas, which stood to gain from the project because it owns the submerged land up to 10.3 miles from the state's coast, learned a month ago that Babcock & Brown Ltd., an Australian investment bank, was giving up its 30-year lease on nearly 40,000 acres in the Gulf of Mexico off Padre Island.

Construction of Pickens' project would begin in 2010 and involve as many as 200,000 acres in Roberts, Gray, Hemphill and Wheeler counties, Boswell said. The farm would have as many as 2,000 wind turbines, and some would be large enough to generate 2.5 megawatts each.

Pickens met Tuesday in Pampa with about 250 area landowners. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

"We have entered into a limited number of agreements with a limited number of landowners to put in some test towers," Boswell said.

Landowner deals for Mesa Power were expected to be finalized by the summer's end, he said.

Another of Pickens' companies, Mesa Water Inc., has plans to pump water from West Texas and sell it to urban areas. Some landowners who attended the Tuesday meeting already had sold Pickens the rights to water from the Ogallala Aquifer beneath their land.

"We've mated those two together but haven't said you have to have one to have the other," Boswell said.

Pickens' wind farm proposal could get help from the state. The Public Utility Commission this week began hearings involving parties interested in developing wind farms and in installing transmission systems.

In 2005, Texas legislators passed a law directing the commission to establish Competitive Renewable Energy Zones.

Business Week
by BETSY BLANEY

DUBAI: the energy Wind and The Fisher Towers

Marvelous. I was reading the update from Domokyo and I found a interesting project about eco buildings. This project is a propouse of the designer DAVID FISHER, this project is using a wind turbine between every floor.


Dr David Fisher, Architect and Town Planner, is an Italian citizen, who has been passionately working on redefining the technical and technological extremes of buildings, especially in urban centres like New York, Moscow, Hong Kong, Paris and Dubai, for over three decades now.

Fisher started as an artist in Florence , the home of Italian Renaissance. After graduating with Honors from the University of Florence in 1976, Fisher started teaching Architecture in the same university and at the School of Structural Engineering .

With David’s Tower you gonnna find the integration of a large wind turbine sandwiched between each floor giving the tower its potential for energy. Inserted at every other floor, the turbines alone might be enough of an energy generator to stop residences heads from spinning, giving the penthouse owners at the top of the building the ability to control their view rotating to their hearts content. You should imagine that such a unique tower would be destined for the Dubai skyline, but Fischer plans to build this tower in a place only fitting of its energy potential, in the windy city of Chicago.

DynamicArchitecture

Blogalaxia Tags: energy wind,Green Building,David Fisher

UE: Nuevo récord eólico en EUROPA en 200

La Unión Europea registró un nuevo récord eólico en 2006, año en que se instalaron 7.613,3 MW, lo que ha elevado la potencia de su parque a 48.042,3 MW, según el último barómetro EurObserv’ER Entre los hechos más destacables del año pasado, el barómetro destaca el crecimiento, de nuevo, del mercado alemán, el despegue del francés y la progresión espectacular del portugués.

Después de tres años a la baja, el mercado alemán vuelve a crecer. En 2006 se instalaron 2.233,1 MW y la potencia total de su parque eólico se sitúa ahora en 20.621,9MW, según los datos del eurobarómetro. Este incremento de 425 MW respecto de 2005 corresponde a un crecimiento del 23,5 % del mercado.

España, con unos 1.587,2 MW instalados durante el año 2006, se mantiene como segundo mercado de la Unión Europea y dispone de un parque de 11.615,1 MW.

En cambio, el mercado italiano ha presentado una disminución respecto de 2005: frente a los 453 MW instalados en el 2005, el año pasado solo fueron instalados 417 MW. Paralelamente, la eólica en el Reino Unido ha confirmado su progresión con la suma de 630,8 MW, de los cuales 90 MW corresponden al parque offshore de Barrow. El total de la potencia eólica del Reino Unido suma ahora 1.962,9 MW (303,8 MW off-shore).

En 2006, Francia se ha posicionado como tercer mercado de la Unión Europea por delante del Reino Unido, con 879,4 MW y un total de 1.635 MW instalados (incluidos los territorios de ultra mar). La potencia del parque portugués es ligeramente superior a la francesa. La instalación complementaria de 673,4 MW en 2006 lo establece con 1.716,4 MW en total, lo que confirma su rápida progresión.

Como sucede con la industria fotovoltaica, la eólica se enfrenta actualmente a una escasez de componentes básicos para la construcción de generadores eólicos, en concreto de rodamientos y engranajes. Esta escasez, reflejada en los informes financieros de numerosos fabricantes, podría frenar el crecimiento del sector para al menos los próximos dos años. Aún así, y a pesar de haber aumentado el riesgo financiero para los fabricantes, en general, la situación de la industria se mantiene positiva gracias a la abundancia de pedidos.

Nuevas perspectivas
Esta situación favorable de la eólica indica, asimismo, que Alemania y España ya no son los únicos países que permiten sostener el crecimiento europeo. Francia, el Reino Unido, Portugal e Irlanda, junto con algunos países más, parecen bastante dispuestos a llevar adelante sus mercados nacionales.

Estas nuevas perspectivas nos han conducido a reevaluar por completo nuestras estimaciones para 2010: prevemos que la potencia total del sector ascienda a 89.000 MW. Se trata de un pronóstico superior al nuevo objetivo de la EWEA, European Wind Energy Association, que espera alcanzar 80.000 MW para finales de 2010.

La principal incógnita actualmente es si la industria será capaz de responder a la demanda europea ya que la carestía de componentes esenciales ya ha causado retrasos en la entrega de generadores eólicos. Cabe esperar que se realicen las inversiones necesarias para garantizar el mayor crecimiento europeo posible.

Situación internacional
Igualmente favorable es la situación internacional. La industria eólica esta conquistando nuevos mercados en países donde la eólica está en plena expansión como Estados Unidos, China o India. Además, gracias al crecimiento importante que experimenta hoy en día, propicio al aumento de los precios de venta de los generadores eólicos, un gran número de industrias ha logrado sanear su situación financiera y consolidar su posición.

Finalmente, después de varios años de debilitación por causa de la reorganización industrial (absorciones y fusiones de empresas), los fabricantes han podido recuperarse.

El barómetro de EurObserv’ER consiste en una publicación periódica dirigida a la prensa europea que contiene unos indicadores que reflejan la actualidad de las energías renovables (energía solar, eólica, hidroeléctrica, geotérmica y de la biomasa) en el mundo y en Europa. El barómetro eólico ha sido publicado en el número 177 de la revista francesa Systèmes Solaires y se puede bajar desde la página web www.energies-renouvelables.org

ENERGIAS RENOVABLES

Blogalaxia Tags: Energia,
Sostenibilidad y
Tecnologia

USA: U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Wins Massachusetts Approval

by Tina Seeley
Massachusetts environmental officials have approved plans for the first U.S. offshore wind farm, a needed step in the project to build 130 windmills near Cape Cod that's opposed by some the state's most prominent residents.

The state's environmental affairs secretary, Ian Bowles, issued the final environmental review today for the project, which is being developed by Cape Wind Associates LLC. Cape Wind, based in Boston, still needs other permits, including from the federal government, before construction can begin.

``We hope with the success of Cape Wind we can inspire other communities to look at their indigenous offshore wind resources,'' Jim Gordon, chief executive officer of Cape Wind, said at a press conference in Boston.

The project has been controversial, with Massachusetts Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry opposing it and some citizens raising concerns it will harm ocean views from Cape Cod.

The Mid-Atlantic coast stretching from North Carolina to Cape Cod has enough wind to generate 330 gigawatts of electricity, according to a study by the University of Delaware. That is enough power to serve all of the citizens of those states and supply electricity to plug-in hybrid vehicles as well, Gordon said.

Generation Capacity

The Cape Wind project would be capable of generating as much as 420 megawatts of electricity, enough power for 75 percent of the cape's needs. It would offset production of almost 734,000 tons of carbon dioxide in New England, if the electricity were generated by fossil-fuel-powered plants, Bowles said. ``This is the equivalent to taking 175,000 cars off the road,'' he said.

``Global climate change, sea level rise, dependence on foreign oil and the health impacts of local and regional air pollution create an urgent need for sustainable alternatives to energy produced from fossil fuels,'' Bowles said in a statement.

To mitigate environmental effects of the project, Cape Wind agreed to spend $780,000 to restore a bird habitat, $4.22 million for coastal projects in the area and about $5.6 million in lease payments over 20 years.

The project, first proposed in 2001, won state approval two years ago for the transmission line that would bring power from the turbines to the grid. It still needs certain state permissions and local conservation permits and approval from the U.S. Interior Department, Gordon said. About $30 million has been spent thus far on getting permits for the project.

``We're hopeful that we will complete the permitting process by the end of this year and hopefully receive a final decision by the first quarter of 2008,'' Gordon said. ``We could be producing clean, renewable energy in the 2010 timeframe.''

Bloomberg

EOLICA: Portuguese utility has deal for Houston power developer Horizon Wind Energy

Breezing in from Europe

Less than two years after Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy was purchased by Goldman Sachs, the wind power developer will be sold to Portugal's largest utility for $2.2 billion.

Energias de Portugal, a utility with nearly 7 million customers in Portugal and Spain, announced its successful bid for the firm on Tuesday.

EDP said it will invest an additional $600 million in existing wind power projects as part of the deal and assume about $180 million in debt, bringing the total deal value to nearly $3 billion.

The move is another example of European companies' taking a greater interest in the U.S. wind energy business. BP and Shell have been growing their American portfolios in recent years while Spanish utility Iberdrola has entered the U.S. wind business through its acquisition of Scottish Power.

Goldman Sachs' ownership of Horizon over the past two years helped it move forward on a number of projects, Chief Development Officer Michael Skelly said. In the past, the company maintained small stakes in the projects it built, but since Goldman's involvement it has remained the primary owner.

Today, Horizon has 559 megawatts of wind power on line and 997 megawatts under construction.

"Under EDP's ownership we should be able to continue to expand, particularly since renewable energy is at the heart of its business," Skelly said.

One megawatt of wind power can power about 300 homes, according to wind industry data.

EDP has said previously it plans to triple its wind-energy capacity by 2010 by investing in Europe and the U.S.

"We believe the U.S. wind energy market has a significant growth potential," EDP's chief executive, Antonio Mexia, said in a prepared statement.

Financier once owned it

Horizon was previously known as Zilkha Renewable Energy, a company co-owned by Houston energy financier Selim Zilkha and his son, Michael Zilkha.

In March 2005, Goldman Sachs announced it would purchase the company. Terms were not disclosed at the time, but several news reports, including those from online energy news site SparkSpread, cited unnamed sources who said the price was less than $1 billion.

Goldman began shopping Horizon late last year. A large number of companies reviewed Horizon's books for a possible purchase, according to sources familiar with the process, including Exxon Mobil. Its officials declined to comment.

Prominent role of U.S.

The U.S. is the birthplace of large-scale wind projects and up until at least 1990 was home to up to 90 percent of the world's wind power capacity, said Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association.

In the 1990s, however, countries like Denmark, Germany and Spain created a broad range of incentives for wind projects. Today, Europe has 70 percent of worldwide wind energy production and seven of the 10 largest wind equipment manufacturers. Firms like BP, Shell and Spain's Iberdrola are among some of the biggest wind power developers.

A lot has changed in the U.S. renewable energy business in recent years, however, particularly in the two years since Goldman purchased Horizon.

A continuation of a federal production tax credit for wind projects, the broadening of renewable power goals in states like Texas and utility companies' increased familiarity with wind projects helped fuel an investment in wind power, Swisher said.

The European market is far from saturated when it comes to wind projects, but the U.S. has much greater capacity for new projects.

"You've got some pretty strong capabilities in Europe around the wind business, so they are now turning their attention to markets like Asia and the U.S.," Swisher said.

The U.S. had the greatest increase in new wind capacity last year, with 2.5 gigawatts of equipment worth about $4 billion installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. Texas accounted for about one-third of all new wind generation installed in 2006 and overtook California as the top wind-energy-producing state in the U.S., with 2,768 megawatts of capacity.

Houston will likely continue to be a hub for wind energy in the U.S., Swisher said.

In addition to Horizon, which Swisher called "one of the crown jewels of the U.S. wind industry," Shell and BP have their American wind businesses based here. Australian developer Babcock & Brown has a sizable Houston office, and PPM, a wind power subsidiary of Scottish Power, also has an office here.

Houston will play host to the American Wind Energy Association's annual meeting in May 2008, which could attract as many as 7,000 participants.

Chron