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T h e e u r o p e a n
w i n d i n d u s T r y
m a g a z i n e
Novembe 2010
Voume 29/No 5
TiNA BirBiliGreek Energy Minister
inTerview
Unravelling the gridBringing wind power tothe consumers
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MINING FRONT ENDREACTORS
& SERVICESBACK END RENEWABLE ENERGIES
Wind powerDesigned for offshore
AREVA is fast becoming a global reference in renewable energies witha rich portfolio of four technologies: wind, bioenergy, solar, hydrogenand energy storage solutions.
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turbines specifically for the offshore market.
Proven know-how in rotor blade design and manufacturing enables fast ramp-up of this keycomponent.
250 AREVA M5000 turbines have been selected for use in European offshore wind parks.
Most recently, the group installed and commissioned Alpha Ventus, Germanys first offshore
wind park.
www.areva.com
Energyisourfuture,
dontwasteit!-
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10-Designandproduction:
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Fax: 33 (0)1 34 96 34 47
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3WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| contents |
Wind Directions is published fve times a year.
The contents do not necessarily reect the views and policy o EWEA.
Publisher: Christian Kjaer
Editor: Sarah Azau
Writers: Sarah Azau, Chris Rose, Crispin Aubrey, Elke Zander,
Zo Casey
Design & production: www.inextremis.be
Cover photo: Stitung Oshore Windenergie
letter from the editor 5
For a greater grid
brussels briefing 6
The latest EU news
country focus 9
A closer look at Croatia
interview 11
Tina Birbili, Greek Energy Minister
wind news 14
site visit 18
Scaling the heights o technology
feature 21
A question o supply
guest columnist 27
A change o mind
wind bites & wind dates 29
focus 30
The grid that never sleeps
Powering Europe: EWEAs new grids report
How does the grid work?
Dr Klaus Rave on a citizens electricity network
mini focus 42
The wind star state
technology corner 46
Larger turbines: bigger and better?
wind energy basics 48
Is wind energy competitive?
run-up to COP16 51
That was then; this is now: the climate change hiatus
EWEA news 52
EWEA welcomes new members 55
the last word 58
Bicycles, bands and bad guys
T H E E U R O P E A NW I N D I N D U S T R YM A G A Z I N E
November 2010
Volume 29/No 5
Cert no. SGS-COC-006375
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Our new wind turbine in Hamburg is 40 metres
higher than conventional ones. Since wind speed
increases with every extra metre of height, this
means 20 % more power. This 190-metre turbine
is the highest of its kind anywhere in the world.
2,500 households are now benefitting from clean,
green power, and CO2 emissions have been cut
by 3,100 tonnes a year. Is there anything we can
develop for you?
WE GIVE THE WIND
20 % MORE POWER
IF YOU WANT.
www.nordex-online.com
You ask:
Can we generate 20 % more
power from a wind turbine?
We answer:
Yes, if we make it
40 metres higher.
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5WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| letter rom the editor|
Iwant you to imagine or a minute you are walk-ing on top o a cli overlooking the North Sea.The wind is so strong you can lean your wholebody into it. Below, almighty waves, swept up in
the gale, are crashing into the rocks.
Now imagine you are in Spain, or perhaps Italy
or Portugal. The sun is soaking into your skin.
The sky dazzles with the intense southern light
that bounces glaringly o buildings and cars.
With such immense renewable sources o
power to hand, it seems incredible that Europe
is still orking out or ossil uel imports. It is as
though a armer with a huge and er tile orchard
were paying an unreliable neighbour or ruit while
his own rotted in his back garden.The analogy is o course not quite accurate
Europe is developing its renewables and ast, with
wind leading the feld or new power installations
two years running. But i the abundant winds
and the sunshine with which Europe is blessed
are not connected to those who need the power
they provide the electricity consumers we will
remain dependent on polluting and expensive uel
imports rom outside.
The grids question and more specifcally, the
idea o a supergrid, laid over Europes current power
networks and stretching out into the seas and pos-
sibly the deserts o northern Arica is discussedin this Wind Directions on p. 30. It is also the ocus
o EWEAs GRIDS 2010 event, being held rom
23-24 November in Berlin, and o our latest report:
Powering Europe: wind energy and the electricity
grid, which will be launched at GRIDS 2010.
Further away, but no less drenched in sunshine
and swept by the wind is the state o Texas, which
has seized the lead in wind energy in the US,
reaching 9,410 MW o cumulative installed capac-
ity by the end o 2009. Chris Rose travelled to
Texas or Wind Directions to fnd out more read
all about it on p. 42.
Bits and piecesIt is easy to think o a wind turbine as an
object in itsel, but it is o course made upo dierent bits, or components, which each
have to be manuactured and rigorously
tested. This was brought home when I visited
the Technology R&D headquarters o Vestas
in Denmark in September and ound out a
little bit about the complex procedures that
rame every stage o the design, building
and monitoring o every turbine (p. 18).
Chris, meanwhile, was exploring how those
components come together: who provides
the materials? How is it coordinated? What
materials make a turbine a turbine? His articleon the supply chain is on p. 21.
Aside rom all o this, we have an exclusive
interview with the Greek energy minister Tina
Birbili on p. 11, an exclusive extract rom
a speech on grids by Dr Klaus Rave rom
Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein, the
Technology Corner exploring larger turbines,
and the usual other sections including the
Country Focus, Wind Energy Basics, Brussels
Briefng, Wind News and EWEA News, not to
mention articles rom external contributors
Rol De Vos and Mark Edwards.
And as you read, perhaps by electric light,or on a computer screen, remember the
silent work o the grids that transported that
power to you. Oten overlooked, grids are
ast becoming the key issue on which the
urther development and use o wind energy
in Europe depends. We must ensure they
are modernised and extended to guarantee
a secure, cost-efcient and renewable-based
energy uture.
More inormation on GRIDS 2010:
www.ewea.org/grids2010
For a greater grid By Sarah AzauEditor
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6 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
EU energy policy must be bolder,
more effective and more ambitious
says Commissioner
EU energy
ministers: grid
interconnectionsmust be sped up
Grid projects o European interestshould automatically receive theastest possible realisation in each
individual Member State, the Energy
Ministers proposed at a recent inormal
meeting.
Having agreed on the need to improve
interconnections to integrate the energy
market properly, and shore up the EUsenergy supply, ministers stated that in
many Member States there are severe
delays or building energy transmission
and distribution inrastructure. These de-
lays could be reduced by putting projects
considered to be o European interest
into a ast track system.
Ministers also agreed that the market
should fnance energy inrastructure
projects, and that this should be made
easier by simpliying the administra-
tive procedures. One suggestion rom
the European Investment Bank was tosupport high risk energy inrastructure
projects by a customised European
fnancing mechanism.
The energy ministers have correctly
identifed the importance o improving
grid interconnections or an integrated
energy market with more renewable
energy, said Justin Wilkes, EWEAs
Policy Director. Simpliying the red tape
involved will allow this to happen rapidly
and help ensure the EU meets its renew-
able energy targets by 2020.For more inormation please contact Justin Wilkes at
In a speech on the preparation o the
EU energy strategy 2011-2020, EU
Energy Commission Gnther Oettinger
stressed the need to take urgent and
ambitious actions today to be ready or
a low-carbon, efcient and democratic
energy uture.
One o the guiding principles o the
energy policy should be the vision o a
largely decarbonised economy by 2050,
he said, also warning that Europe risked
losing its renewables leadership to the
US and China i action is not taken.
Oettinger stated that he wants toimprove conditions or investments
in low-carbon energy so we can look
orward to a real energy revolution, and
to develop large-scale production o
renewables.
Developing the power networks is
key to this, said the Commissioner. We
must completely renew our electricity
networks to cope with a much larger
renewable production, he said, and
cited the need or pan-European energy
inrastructure.
Commissioner Oettinger concluded
his speech by announcing that a consul-
tation on a 2050 Energy Roadmap wouldbe opened in November.
New environment information tool for
EWEA members
Need to read the latest fndings on windpower and bats? Want to show howwind turbine noise has changed over time?
All major studies on wind energy and
the environment can now be ound on
EWEAs newly launched Environmental
Impacts Inormation Tool (EIIT), exclusive-
ly available or EWEA members.The EIIT includes a review o the exist-
ing and most relevant literature on the
various potential impacts o wind energy,
both onshore and oshore. Browse
by category birds, bats, marine lie,
landscape issues, light eects, noise,
electromagnetic disturbance, and various
saety issues - search or the main docu-
ments or look or the leading experts on
each topic to get in touch with directly.The EIIT will be regularly updated with
the latest research.
| brussels briefng|
Photo: iStockphoto
Photo: C-Power
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7WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
EU-Africa renewable energy
cooperation programme launched
The EU is to contribute 5 millionto a renewable energy cooperationprogramme (RECP) which it recently
launched together with the Arican Union
at a meeting o the Arica-EU Energy
Partnership (AEEP). The programme will
help contribute to the EU-Arica renew-
able energy targets or 2020.
The targets include building at least
5,000 MW o wind energy and adding over
10,500 MW o other renewables. Theyalso cover giving access to modern and
sustainable energy to at least 100 mil-
lion more Aricans by 2020, and improving
energy security by doubling the capacity
o cross-border electricity interconnec-
tions, the use o natural gas in Arica, and
Arican gas exports to Europe.
The Renewable Energy Cooperation
Programme will run or ten years.
Offshore grid gets EU Presidencyboost
In October, at a high level conerence inOstend jointly organised by the BelgiumPresidency and EWEA, representatives
rom energy ministries and industry
agreed the importance o developing
oshore electricity inrastructure. They
were ocusing on plans to build an o-
shore grid in the North Seas.
The Belgian Director General orEnergy, Marie-Pierre Fauconnier, ex-
plained that This intergovernmental
initiative aims to create an integrated
oshore electricity grid in the North Seas
[...] Building this North Seas oshore
grid is essential to meet Europes uture
energy needs secure electricity supply,
ree o carbon emissions, at an aord-
able price - as it will connect Europe with
its greatest domestic energy resource,
oshore wind.
Christian Kjaer, Chie Executive oEWEA told the conerence: It is vital
that European countries work together to
create the North Sea grid which will im-
prove security o energy supply and bring
more competition into the electricity
market. Europe needs this international
inrastructure to connect oshore power
to onshore grids.
On 2 December 2010 the North
Seas Countries that is, Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland,Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden and the UK - will sign a
Memorandum o Understanding on
what is known as the North Seas
Countries Oshore Grid Initiative. The
Memorandum o Understanding will pro-
vide a ramework or regional cooperation
to fnd solutions to questions relating
to current and uture grid inrastructure
developments in the North Seas.
To date in Europe there are 948
oshore wind turbines in 43 ully opera-tional oshore wind arms, with a total
capacity o 2,396 MW.
| brussels briefng|
Pilot network
code to be
finalised in 2011
The European grid operators pilotnetwork code or grid connection re-quirements with a special ocus on wind
energy will be fnalised in 2011, with
stakeholder consultations being carried
out in the frst three months o the year,
according to the body o European trans-
mission system operators (ENTSO-E)
drat work programme or next year.
The work programme, which has
ended its public consultation period,
also covers the plan that outlines uture
changes or additions to the power grid -the Ten Year Network Development Plan
(TYNDP). ENTSO-Es work programme
states that given the stakeholders mes-
sage o urgency on applying a top-down
pan-European approach to the TYNDP,
the Member States National Renewable
Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) will be
examined this year and, i they sug-
gest a signifcantly dierent generation
scenario or 2020 rom the pilot TYNDP,
ENTSO-E will publish the results in
mid-2011.It is very encouraging that ENTSO-E
is pushing ahead with the network code,
and that it has listened to the wind
industrys calls to integrate the NREAPs
into the TYNDP, said Paul Wilczek,
EWEAs Regulatory Aairs Advisor. It is
essential that the EU countries plans
are taken into account so that sufcient
grid upgrades are made to integrate the
planned amounts o wind and other re-
newables and meet the 2020 targets.
In another recently closed consulta-
tion, the EU energy regulators (ERGEG)asked about the so-called ramework
guidelines on grid connection require-
ments. Framework guidelines are
supposed to provide clear guidelines or
developing network codes, contributing
to the overall goals o non-discrimination
and eective competition, as set out
in the third Liberalisation Package. The
responses will go towards ENTSO-Es
work developing the network code on
grid connection requirements.
Find out more: www.entsoe.eu;www.energy-regulators.eu
Photo: Gamesa
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REpowerSystems AG berseering 10 22297 Hamburg GermanyPhone: +49-40-5 5550 90-0 Fax: +49-40-55550 90-3999 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.repower.de
MM100:Get the Maximumat low wind speeds
CanWEA2010
PalaisdescongrsdeMontral
PleasevisitusatBooth1805
Rated power 1,800 kW
Rotor diameter 100 m
Rotor area 7,854 m2
Hub height 80 m
Certification IEC S Class(IEC IIIA annual wind,IEC IIA extreme wind)
Sound power level 104.8 db(A)
Start of Sales 2011
With its 100 m rotor diameter, the new
MM100 turbine is especially designed for
locations with low wind speeds. As such, it
has a high Net Capacity Factor which will
optimize yields even where limited grid
capacity exists. Advanced and reliable, the
MM100 incorporates all the benefits of
the proven MM series.
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9WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| country ocus |
Stretching almost the entire length othe Eastern Adriatic Sea, Croatiasplentiul coastline and long coastal
islands make it an ideal location or
wind arms. Although the country leads
the Balkans when it comes to wind
power, it is a relative newcomer to the
sector. Its frst arm with a total capacity
o 5.95 MW was installed in 2004 on
Pag, the fth largest island in Croatia.Situated in the northern Adriatic Sea,
Pag an island also amous or lace
making - is bueted by the Bora wind,
which in pre-Slavic means cruel wind.
In 2006 a second arm opened near
Sibenik one o the oldest towns in
Croatia which was frst mentioned in
1066 in a Charter o the Croatian King
Petar Kresimir IV. Currently, this arm
called Trtar Krtolin is the largest arm in
the country with an installed capacity o
11.2 MW.Croatia has a current total o
27.75 MW o wind power the com-
bined total o our wind arms across the
country. Two additional wind arms with a
combined total o 51.2 MW are under-
going a trial run. In addition, there are
several projects under construction in the
country with a combined total o 30 MW.
These arms are awaiting equipment de-
liveries, but they should be ully installed
by the end o this year. While wind power
in Croatia is still small ry compared to
nearby Italy, its total capacity is on therise: back in 2007 Croatia had 17 MW
installed, rising only slightly to 18 MW by
the end o 2008, EWEAs fgures show.
Looking at the overall power mix, the
country currently gets most o its energy
A closer look at
Croatia...
In 2010, Wind Directions will
take a look at a selection o the
developing wind energy markets
with the most potential.
Croatia the wind energy facts
rom gas, while hydropower also plays
a signifcant role. In terms o renewable
energies, Croatia is set to reach a 5.8%
renewable energy share by the end o
2010 (excluding large hydro), according to
the Energy Institute Hrvoje Poznar. Wind
power will provide the biggest contribution
in achieving this target, the Institute said.
In order to encourage a greater devel-
opment o renewables, in July 2007 fve
regulations were enacted on incentives
to generate electricity rom renewablesources, including eed-in taris. In 2010
the eed-in tari or wind power was
0.09/kWh. However, the Energy Institute
Hrvoje Poznar said that there are still
some unresolved issues surrounding the
regulations, such as a lack o coordina-
tion between energy and construction
laws. A wind arm developer may also
have to obtain several dierent permits
and have multiple contacts with dierent
state institutions beore getting the green
light or a arm.
Croatia and its surrounding countries
are also working on creating a regional
energy market. In October 2005, Croatia,
an EU candidate country, the EU and
nine other South-Eastern European coun-tries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic
o Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro,
Kosovo and Romania signed the Energy
Community Treaty. (Since then, Ukraine
has also joined the Energy Community,
while Romania and Bulgaria have be-
come EU Member States.) This treaty,
which was also the frst legally binding
agreement signed by the South East
European states since the 1990 wars,
aims to create the legal basis or anintegrated European market or electricity
and gas.
By Zo Casey
Pho
to:
Thinks
toc
k
INSTALLED CAPACITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.75 MW
TRADITIONAL ENERGY SOURCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GasSUPPORT MECHANISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Feed-in tari o 0.09 per kWh
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11WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| interview|
25% o Greeces electricity will come rom wind by 2020,
says the countrys energy minister.
Boosting green
development
looks as one
of our best
alternative
for gradually
reshaping our
economy.
Modern Greek
Tina Birbili has been Greeces Minister orEnvironment, Energy and Climate Changesince October 2009. Dr. Ioannis Tsipouridis, CEO
o PPC Renewables, asked her some questions
on behal o EWEA.
Greece recently approved a bill raising its 2020
renewables target to 20%. This is higher than
the 18% target set in the EU Renewable Energy
Directive. Why did you set a higher target? How
has this affected your National Renewable Energy
Action Plan (NREAP)?
We have indeed done so because we are con-
vinced that investing in renewables, and clean
energy technologies in general, is the most e-
fcient way to achieve our medium and longer term
national targets regarding energy, environmental
protection and economic growth. At this stage, in
particular, boosting green development looks like
one o our best alternatives or gradually reshap-
ing our economy, transorming it rom a con-
sumption-based to a production-based one that
also exploits indigenous resources. Thus, setting
ambitious still realistic targets is a conscious
political decision and our NREAP reects that and
is ully compatible with that.
What proportion of the 20% do you expect wind
energy to meet?
Our 2020 target or electricity rom renewables is
40%. Out o that 40%, wind will account or 25%
and the other 15% will come rom other renewables.
This results in 10% wind contribution in the overall
20% fgure, when it comes to the total fnal energyconsumption.
What measures does Greeces renewable energy
bill include to help the wind energy industry meet
this goal?
There are two critical things. The frst has to do
with the new legislative ramework we established
by law in early June 2010 which a) accelerates
permitting procedures, b) removes non-technical
barriers or realising large projects, including grid
interconnections, in order to exploit the huge wind
potential o our Aegean sea islands, c) oresees
The energy mix in Greece
As o 2005, 6.9% o Greeces energy - 10% o
its electricity - came rom renewables. This 10%
broke down into 8% hydro and 2% wind power.
By the end o 2009, Greece had installed a
cumulative total o 1,087 MW. Wind currently
provides around 4% o Greeces electricity.
Greece has to reach 18% o its energy
rom renewables (40% o its electricity) by
2020 according to the 2009 EU RenewableEnergy Directive.
In its National Renewable Energy Action Plan,
Greece stated that this 40% renewable elec-
tricity in 2020 would break down into 24% rom
wind, 9% rom hydro, 4% PV, 1% biomass, 1%
geothermal and 1% CSP.
In its 2008 Pure Power report, EWEA
predicted that Greece would install 6,500-
8,500 MW o wind power capacity by 2020,
providing between 22% and 29% o thecountrys power.
Photo: Greek Energy Ministry
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12 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| interview|
the possibility or an increased eed-in tari or
exploiting low wind potential areas and d) taking
frst steps towards oshore development by
employing a centrally coordinated licensing and
bidding procedure. The second has to do with the
grid. New grid extension, reinorcement and inter-
connection actions are now seriously planned orthe short-medium and longer term timeline.
Greece had 1,087 MW of wind energy capacity
installed by the end of 2009. What are the main
barriers to wind energy development in Greece?
How are they being tackled?
The problems were always well known; the
complicated and unriendly legislative ramework,
the grid inadequacy, and public acceptance.
In all three o them we have now made some
real eorts or change. For the grid we already
discussed earlier. We have much improved the
legislation in an attempt to shorten the licens-ing period rom (practically speaking) our to six
years to one to 1.5 years and, most importantly,
we have built a One-Stop-Shop in the ministry to
accelerate the licensing procedures. We also did
some indirect work regarding public acceptance
by providing incentives, through the reduction o
their electricity bill, to people living close to wind
arms. We are aware that much more has to be
done regarding public acceptance and awareness
and we plan to put additional eort into that.
What do the Greeks think of wind energy? Do you
have any issues with social acceptance?
NIMBY (not in my backyard) is a universal dis-
ease. We defnitely ace social acceptance issues
as we already discussed earlier.
Greece has a lot of coastline. Are you planning to
develop offshore wind?
Yes, we have started doing so under a centrally
coordinated scheme, as I already mentioned. Wehave concluded the preliminary sitting exercise
and now we are quickly moving to the needed
Strategic Environmental Assessment procedure.
Although the sea in Greece is much deeper than
it is in northern Europe, it looks like our country
has some signifcant oshore resource as well.
The country is heavily reliant on coal and two
new lignite plants will have been built by 2017.
Surely this is cancelling out the positive steps
taken developing CO2-free wind energy?
It is clear or us that lignite will continue tocontribute to our electricity mix as an important
indigenous resource that we cannot just ignore.
Evidently, the technology we will use or our new
power plants will be much cleaner and efcient
that it used to be beore. O course, this is not
solving the CO2
emissions problem. It is also clear,
on the other hand, that the lignite contribution into
the energy mix will be continuously ading in the
uture and the resulting defcit will be mainly substi-
tuted by RES electricity. The two new lignite plants
replace others that will be shut down.
At the upcoming COP16 meeting in Cancun, coun-
tries will again try and come up with a binding
agreement on climate change. Do you think they
will succeed? What needs to be included in the
agreement in your opinion?
This is a very difcult one. We went to
Copenhagen under better global economic condi-
tions than today and, still, we ailed to achieve a
binding agreement. I dont know how Cancun can
do better in that. What I can say is that Greece is
a very strong supporter o the European position
that urges or such a binding agreement and we
believe that it is just a matter o time that everynation will streamline with this belie. But, per-
haps, time is not enough.
Tina Birbili was born in Athens in 1969. She graduated with a degree
in Physics rom the University o Athens in 1990. Ater a Masters
course at Imperial College, University o London on Environmental
Technology, she did a PhD on environmental management and eco-
nomics, completing it in 1995.
From 2004, she was advisor to the President o the Panhellenic
Socialist Party.
Ater the elections o October 2009 she was appointed Greeces frstever Minister or Environment, Energy and Climate Change.
New grid
extension,
reinforcement and
interconnection
actions arenow seriously
planned for the
short-medium
and longer term
timeline.
Pho
to:
HWEA
Wind energy-related
activities were organised
in Greece or this years
Global Wind Day.
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14 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
|wind news |
BRAZIL
Three wind arms to be builtEnel Green Power has signed a contract
or three 30 MW wind arms to be built in
Brazil, at sites at Cristal, Primavera and
Sao Judas (state o Bahia) where the
capacity actor is nearly 50%. The wind
arms should come online in the sec-ond hal o 2012, doubling Enel Green
Powers installed capacity in Brazil.
More inormation: www.enelgreenpower.com
CANADA
New rotor blade manuacturingacility to openSiemens Energy intends to invest in
setting up a new rotor blade manuactur-
ing acility in Canada, which will cre-
ate up to 300 jobs, the company has
announced. Siemens has also signed
a ramework agreement with SamsungC&T Corporation or the supply o wind
turbines with a combined capacity o
600 MW to various projects in Ontario,
which is sufcient to supply power to
the equivalent o 240,000 Canadian
households.
More inormation: www.siemens.com
GERMANY
Developers order new Vestasturbines
German developers PROKON have placedthe frst ever order or the new V112
turbine rom Vestas. The 17 turbines,
which each have a capacity o 3 MW, will
be used in the Krackow wind arm project
in Germany. They will be delivered by the
beginning o 2012.
More inormation: www.vestas.com
Central German wind arm toexpandGE is supplying three wind turbines
totalling 7.5 MW or the expansion o the
wind arm Gro-Santersleben Sd near
Magdeburg in central Germany, to add to
the 12 MW currently in operation there.
More inormation: www.gepower.com
Upcoming 74.8 MW wind armnear RostockREpower is to deliver and install 22 o its
3.4 MW wind turbines at the 74.8 MW
Hohen Luckow wind arm near Rostock,northern Germany. The arm, which is
being developed by German company
Denker & Wul, is expected to be built by
mid 2012.
REpower has signed a 15 year con-
tract to service and maintain the wind
turbines, which have a hub height o 128
metres.
More inormation: www.repower.de
INDIA
5,000 MW o wind powerSuzlon Energy Limited, Indias largestwind turbine manuacturer, announced
it has now reached 5,000 MW o wind
energy capacity in India. The installed
turbines avoid 8.5 megatonnes o CO2
every year.
More inormation: www.suzlon.com
POLAND
Further wind energy growth insouthwest PolandVestas is to supply 29 o its 2 MW
turbines to subsidiaries o Polish Energy
Partners S.A, or wind arms in ukaszw
and Modlikowice in the southwest o
Poland. Delivery o the turbines is sched-
uled to be completed in 2011.
More inormation: www.vestas.com
SWEDEN
Sweden builds wind powertechnology centreThe centre has been set up in Sweden to
support the countrys wind energy sector.
The Swedish Wind Power Technology
Centre (SVTC) has total unding o nearly
11 million rom the Swedish Energy
Agency, the wind energy industry andChalmers university o technology. The
centre will ocus on wind power design
and on training engineers.
UK
Worlds largest oshore windarm opensThe 300 MW Thanet oshore wind arm,
12 km o the coast o Kent in the UK,
opened in late September. The wind arm is
made up o 100 o Vestas V90 3.0MW tur-
bines, which were installed in less than 100days. The turbines have a tip height o 115m.
The Thanet arm boosts the UKs
oshore wind energy capacity by nearly
one-third, and will produce enough power to
supply more than 200,000 homes per year
with clean energy.
More inormation: www.vattenall.co.uk
Parts o Brazil oer
a 50% wind energy
capacity actor
Photo:Su
zlon
Tradition and modernity: India is installing more
and more wind turbines
Pho
to:
Ke
enpress
Pu
blis
hing
Sisse
Brim
berg
&Co
tton
Couls
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15WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
|wind news |
Growth planned or one o
Europes largest wind armsThe Whitelee wind arm in Scotland is to be
expanded to 539 MW as rom 2012, own-
ers Iberdrola Renovables have announced.
69 Alstom turbines will add 250 MW to the
arms capacity. The wind arm should sup-
ply the equivalent o more than 300,000
households with power, while avoiding
840,000 tonnes o CO2per year.
More inormation: www.iberdrola.es
New actory to build oshore
oundationsTag Energy Solutions, a UK company,
has secured fnancing worth
23.5 million in order to build an
oshore manuacturing plant in
Billingham, northeast England. The
actory is to produce monopiles or
oshore oundations in the
North Sea.
More inormation: www.tagenergysolutions.com
Hornsea oshore wind armgranted grid connectionThe frst 1 GW o the planned 4 GW
Hornsea oshore wind arm, situated o
the north-east coast o England in water
depths o up to 70m, has been granted
grid connection. The frst section will be
built and connected in 2014, and the
other 3 GW between 2015 and 2020.
The Hornsea arm is owned by the SMart
Wind consortium, led in a joint venture
by Mainstream Renewable Power and
Siemens Project Ventures.
More inormation: www.mainstreamrp.com;
www.siemens.com
US
Monitoring station opens inOregon
Iberdrola Renovables has openedPortland NCC, a renewable energy control
acility that will monitor the companys
wind arms and substations in the US all
year round, then story the inormation
or analysis. Iberdola currently operates
nearly 3,900 MW in the US, rom 41 di-
erent wind arms. The centre will employ
25 members o sta.
More inormation: www.iberdrola.es
Pho
to:
Keenpress
Pu
blis
hing
SisseB
rim
berg
&Co
tton
Cou
lson
The UKs oshore sector
is expanding
wpm??? 1/2??
industry expertWith 25 years of experience in the wind sector to draw
on, no other publication matches our expertise as an
independent source of news, views and analysis.
How to subscribeVisit windpowermonthly.com/subscribeEmail [email protected] Europe +45 86 365 900 US & rest of the world +1 951 325 8010
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17WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Discover
five reasonsto join EWEA
EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting
the utilisation of wind power in Europe and worldwide
For further information visit
www.ewea.org/membership
Access to the largest network o wind industry proessionals
Key inormation about the wind sector
Significant discounts on exhibition stands, delegate ees and advertising
Improved visibility and usage o Member o EWEA logo
Representation at the highest level
Did you know? As an EWEA member you receive 5 key benefits:
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18 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Reading trade news stories rom thewind energy sector, one could beorgiven or thinking that building a windarm is a simple matter. Order wind tur-
bines, pay money, get turbines delivered,
put them up. Hey presto: more clean,
ree energy or consumers to enjoy. O
course, one o the things those stories
simply do not have space to cover is the
enormous amount o technology research
that goes into every component o each
turbine design, and the extensive monitor-
ing o its perormance once its up.
My recent trip to the Technology R&D
headquarters o Vestas, situated on the
east coast o the Danish mainland in thetown o Aarhus, gave me a glimpse into
the extraordinarily advanced technolo-
gies used to control and optimise every
part o the development o a wind arm,
rom siting to designing and building
to monitoring.
In the lab, failure is knowledgeWhere the wind turbine itsel is con-
cerned, Vestas technological expertise
works towards two main goals: robust-
ness and reliability.A wind turbine has to be ten times
more robust than a car, pointed out
Bjarne Ravn Srensen, President o
Vestas Control Systems. A 2 MW tur-
bine runs or 8,750 hours a year on aver-age, with two maintenance visits, while a
car runs around 500 hours a year1 with
two maintenance visits.
At the product laboratory, we had a
practical demonstration o how robust-
ness is achieved, as engineer Niels
Martin Henriksen showed us a chamber
or testing components, and told us how
it is used.
All products degrade over time, and a
turbine has a lietime o about 25 years,
so we build in a degradation margin.
This means we overstress the product atthe testing stage and make sure it can
withstand conditions ar more extreme
than it will ever encounter, he explained.
We can fnd out in a day what would
happen over the turbines lietime; in the
lab, ailure is knowledge.
In order to do this, the chamber contains
a platorm oating on springs with ham-
mers that punch the component. The
component is subjected to temperatures
o 200C which are then brought down to
minus 100C with liquid nitrogen.Other tests include resonance to
ensure no two turbines have the same
Scaling the heights o technology
1 40,000 km at 80 km/hour.
| site visit |
requency and electromagnetic compat-
ibility, which is checked in a room entirely
covered with oam pads and spikes, aswell as vibration, humidity and a lightning
simulator. There is also a heavy duty
test centre at Aarhus Harbour where
they test complete systems.
Choosing your spotFinding the optimal turbine design with
the most robust components is one
thing, but choosing where to install the
turbine is quite another.
Turbines are not dropped randomly
like bombs: we put a lot o eort into
planning where they go, says LarsChristian Christiansen, Vice President o
Vestas Wind & Site Competence Centre.
He explains that they have worldwide
weather data going back ten years, and
receive updates rom the 33,000 meteor-
ological stations around the world every
six hours to have a complete overview o
wind conditions everywhere over time.
Showing us a wind map o the United
States, he demonstrates how unsuitable
wind arm sites can be eliminated with a
click o a mouse.
By Sarah Azau
Photos: Vestas Wind Systems AS
Inside the oam-covered electromagnetic capacity testing room
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19WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Simulating a turbine
So that engineers and technicians can amiliarise themselves with the turbines
beore they have to work on them, and customers see more o their purchase,
Vestas have developed a virtual reality centre which simulates what it is like
inside the nacelle o a real machine.The centre is a replica nacelle o a V90 turbine, empty except or the screen
that covers the end wall. Stepping into it eels rather like stepping into one o the
simulators o rockets or cars you sometimes come across at theme parks.
We put on 3D glasses as instructed, and as the screen comes on we see,
not the latest oering rom Pixar, but a row o oshore turbines at sea. We
whiz towards them and fnd ourselves in a nacelle, this time ully equipped and
unctioning.
As Visualisation Designer Rasmus Dejgaard Jensen works the controls, he
explains that we are inside a 3 MW V112 turbine, which should go into serial
production in the second quarter o 2011. In the simulator, we can explore the
dierent components and move around as though we were inside.
The virtual nacelle is liesize - that is, 14 metres long, and the real thing will
weigh 230 tonnes. The V112 turbine itsel will have a tip height o 175 metres.
I can have dierent options allowing
me to eliminate any land that is over
1,500 metres high which makes wind
turbines less efcient, any areas where
wind speeds are less than 3m per
second, cities, national parks, airports
and so on. So I instantly see areas to
avoid or my wind arm. I can then alsozoom in on a very precise spot and
see the wind conditions there. The tool
even allows me to calculate where I
should position each turbine within a
particular site.
Turning such highly detailed inorma-
tion into a user-riendly tool needs a
powerul computer.
In 2008 we bought a 9 metre long,
8 tonne computer that produced enough
heat or 18 Danish houses. That com-
puter is now too small and we have just
ordered one that is 40 metres long. Itcosts $500 just to hit enter....
Following throughOnce the turbines are installed, they
need to be constantly monitored
throughout their lives so that any errors
or aults can be quickly fxed or, preer-
ably, prevented. Vestas does all this
rom its global perormance and diag-
nostic centre, which is also situated in
Aarhus. A small, circular room, it seems
unbelievable that 20% o the worldsinstalled wind power capacity 27 GW,
| site visit |
Vestas Technology R&D is situated in the green heart o Denmark
rom 16,000 turbines is monitored
rom here.
Operations Engineer Helle Kirstine
Lauridsen explains how it works.
We base our calculations on a
standard deviation. That means we
compare the perormance o the turbine
against the standard perormance othat model to see how ar it deviates.
We have dierent deviation ratings so we
know how serious the issue is.
The beauty o the system, she says,
is that it can oten predict the problem
even beore it becomes one, and alerts
the person in charge o the wind arm.
Since the system was installed a ew
years ago the average time between
inspections has doubled.
The Vestas customer is also able
to log on to the system and ollow the
perormance o their turbines, which isupdated every ten minutes. They also
access an FAQ section which shows all
the aults there have previously been
with that type o turbine, and in what
proportion.
The height o modernity: inside Vestas Technology R&D
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20 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Q&A with Finn Strm Madsen, President of Vestas Technology R&D
What is the most exciting technology trend for
you right now?
Our aim is not to go with any particular technol-
ogy, it is to make wind the cheapest energy
source on the planet. We are not religiousabout which type o technology we use to do
this.
What is essential is that the technology is
reliable and lowest cost.
When will onshore wind energy become the
cheapest power generating technology?
I expect to see it happen in the next fve to 10
years. The cost o onshore wind energy is going
down all the time. Today, oshore is 2.5 times
higher but the gap will close.
What will be the main technology develop-
ments that will help the industry get there?
The developments that will help include substantially bigger rotors, the shape
o the blade, more advanced control system and sotware and the use o lighter
materials such as urther development o carbon fbre and other composites.
Do you think it most important to focus onshore or offshore wind technology
development in the coming years?
Both! We need to make onshore more attractive and bring down the costs
o oshore.
A sea of technologyTravelling rom Aarhus to Brussels
involves changing planes in Copenhagen.
As we take o rom Copenhagen airport,
I peer out o the window at the windturbines dotting the sea. It is difcult
to imagine the complex, cutting-edge
technology behind them as they turn
graceully, yet nowadays this determines
everything about the wind turbines we
see, rom their shape, to the materials
used or them, to their location and their
continued efciency.
| site visit |
Photo: Andr Andressen
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21WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| Feature |
Although photographs o wind turbinesgraceully generating electricity havebecome the easily recognised icons othe wind energy sector, the success o
the growing industry actually depends on
thousands o components and services.
Called the wind power supply chain,
these diverse ingredients which
include grease, wrenches, computer
printouts, test studies, minerals, metals,
plastics, trains, boats, trucks, concrete,
fbres and bolts and muscle power
are vitally necessary on a long, arduous
and expensive journey rom the planningstage o a wind arm to grid connection
completion.
Michael Holm, head o the global
press ofce or Danish company Vestas
Wind Systems, says having a unctional
supply chain is the oundation o the
wind power industry.
I we dont have a supply chain, we
dont have a business, said Holm. Its
that simple.
Pointing out that the average wind tur-
bine has approximately 9,000 dierentcomponents, Holm said Vestas which
has about 16,000 employees in Europe
A question o supplyBehind the booming wind power sector is a highly important supply chain. By Chris Rose
and another 7,000 around the world puts most major turbine components
together except or gearboxes.
He added, however, that Vestas gets
many types o materials or its turbines
rom various suppliers in dierent parts
o the world.
Holm said that while the company
does not rely only on single-source sup-
pliers, it does work hard at developing
sound relationships with its suppliers
so that materials and components are
available when needed. By doing so,
he added, Vestas which expects toachieve an EBIT (earnings beore interest
and taxes) margin o 5-6% and revenue
o 6bn this year attempts to keep
warehousing costs to a minimum.
This is an evolving industry and we
work together with our suppliers, he
said, adding that one challenge to having
a universally seamless supply chain is
the act that in some parts o the world
suppliers are not as ully developed as
in others.
He added it is extremely importantto have a dependable supply chain that
can deliver high-quality materials on
an agreed to date. We will not startproducing our turbines beore we have a
signed order.
Feeding the supply chainSupplying the growing wind power sec-
tor both onshore and oshore has
become a huge business in recent years
as nations and companies around the
world try to tap into the emerging green
electricity market as a way o replacing
ageing ossil uel and nuclear
power plants.
Indeed, in its 2009 annual reportthe Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)
noted wind power grew a staggering
41.5% compared to 2008.
More than 38 GW o new wind power
capacity was installed around the world
in 2009, bringing the total installed ca-
pacity up to 158.5 GW, the GWEC report
said. This represents a year-on-year
growth o 31.7%.
GWEC also noted that last years mar-
ket or turbine installations was worth
about 45 bn, and that they expect toreach close to 200 GW worldwide by the
end o 2010.
A2SEAs Sea Jack vesselis specially converted
or oshore wind turbine
installation
Photo: Medvind
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| Feature |
A 2009 EWEA report provides one way o
trying to understand wind power supply
chain costs. The Economics o Wind
Energy notes that about 75% o the total
cost o energy rom a wind turbine is
related to upront expenses such as the
cost o the turbine, oundation, electrical
equipment and grid connection.
Additionally, a recent drat EWEA
research paper notes that the main
materials used in wind turbines include
stainless steel, aluminum, copper, epoxy
and polyester resins, glass and carbon
fbres, oam, concrete, balsa wood and
nickel. Many, i not all, o these materi-
als are also required in other industries,
making a smoothly operating wind power
supply chain all that more important.The drat paper adds that the
European wind power sector is becom-
ing an increasingly important player in
the raw materials market as it con-
tinues to grow in terms o capacity
installed.
Supply chain management is key to
wind turbine supply, says EWEAs 2009
edition o Wind Energy The Facts.
The relationships between manuac-
turers and their component suppliers
have become increasingly crucial, thereport notes. Supply chain issues have
dictated delivery capabilities, product
strategies and pricing or every turbine
suppler. Manuacturers have sought to
strike the most sustainable, competitive
balance between a vertical integration o
component supply and ull component
outsourcing to ft their turbine designs.
According to a MAKE Consulting Supply
Side report published in May, last years
ongoing economic crisis
created some difculties
or the European and
American companies in
the wind energy supply
chain, as orders dropped
by more than 40% over
2008 measured by MW
orders announced.
Following years o
shortages o several important compo-
nents in the wind power supply chain, the
supply balance shited towards overca-
pacity in 2009, the report said.The report said this was rom tight
project fnancing, slowed development
plans, a considerable number o wind
turbines on the resellers market, and
increased sales o existing wind arms by
distressed developers.
Predicting that situation will improve
in the latter hal o this year, the MAKE
report said the tremendous wind power
growth in the Asia Pacifc region in 2009
largely shielded it rom the fnancial cri-
sis elt elsewhere in the global sector.Overall, global supply capacity did
not experience any bottlenecks in 2009,
but wind power installations in 2009
approached the nominal annual capacity
o bearings, orgings, and castings, the
report said. However, there has been a
large expansion o capacity in the compo-
nents during 2009, particularly in the
Asia Pacifc region.
The report said it did not expect short-
ages o any o the main
wind power components
this year and in 2011.
Towards 2012 we
orecast that bearings,
particularly main bear-
ings, may once again
become a key restraint
or the industry and
that increasing demand
or larger [wind turbines] could create
bottlenecks or some o the large sized
components such as gearboxes and
blades. Nevertheless, overall globalcomponent capacity will be sufcient to
meet demand.
The report also identifed several supply
chain challenges in the next three years,
including increasing capacity to meet
Northern Europes oshore wind demand
or large and specialised components,
increasing capacity to meet Asia Pacifcs
demand or larger turbines and compo-
nents, and expanding the US supply chain.
Nicolas Fichaux, a technical consult-
ant with EWEA, agrees with the MAKEreports prediction that there will be no
signifcant shortages in turbine compo-
nents beore the end o 2011.
What we see are the eects o the
fnancial crisis, Fichaux said, adding that
he also agrees with MAKEs suggestion
The relationships
between
manufacturers
and their suppliers
have become
increasingly crucial.
22 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Photo: LM Wind Power
This 61.5 metre long blade will be installed
on a 5 MW wind turbine at sea
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23WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| Feature |
the industry could start acing supply
chain bottlenecks again ater 2012.
Thats because, he added, the industry is
continuing its shit towards oshore wind
and increasing turbine size rom 3 MW
machines to 5 MW and larger.
Melding a companys abilities withthe needs of wind energyWhen people think o materials and serv-
ice supplied to the wind power sector, it
is a sae bet they likely do not ocus on
adhesives, glues and sealant products.
Yet Sebastian Schilling, Henkels
business manager or industrial adhesive
technologies in the Benelux countries,
says his companys products are ex-
tremely important elements o the windpower supply and material chain.
Schilling said about 24,000 o
Henkels 50,000 employees working
around the world are employed in the
companys Adhesive Technologies unit,
which last year generated 6.2 bil-
lion working with various industries,
including the transportation, consumer
products, electronics, packaging and
aerospace sectors.
But dealing with the wind power sec-
tor is an important part o the industrialadhesives units work, he said.
As an example, he said his unit helps
Hansen Transmissions with its gearbox-
es. Our products are used in dierent
parts o the gearbox production, such
as threadlocking, gasketing and retain-
ing applications, he said, adding that
adhesives help protect against corrosion.
In a way, then, he said Henkel is a
supplier o a supplier
since Hansen is well
known or providing wind
power manuacturerswith its noted gearboxes.
Schilling said the wind
power sector is a target
market or his company
which, according to its website, also
provides UV- and weathering-resistant
sealants or blades, nacelles and steel
tower segments and anaerobic thread-
locking systems or mechanical engineer-
ing since it is always changing and
improving. Also, the wind power market
believes in sustainability and Henkelwants to be as sustainable as possible.
Theres a good ft between our company
and the wind power sector.
He added he can not think o a windenergy company that Henkel does not
supply. I cant imagine there is any
wind turbine in the world that is without
our product.
LM Wind Power, which is involved in
blade manuacturing, brake manuactur-
ing and service and logistics, describes
itsel as the worlds leading component
supplier to the wind
turbine industry, says
the companys sen-
ior communications
manager Helle LarsenAndersen.
Headquartered in
Kolding, Denmark, LM
Wind Power employed
4,676 people globally by the end o
2009 and had annual revenues o
777m, Andersen said.
LM Wind Power supplied rotor solu-
tions to 28 and brake systems to 44
wind turbine manuacturers worldwide
last year, he said, adding the more
than 130,300 blades the company hasproduced in over 30 years corresponds
to approximately 43 GW o installed wind
power capacity.
Andersen also said more than 46,000wind turbines have been supplied with
braking systems over the past 20 years
and the companys newly-created Service
and Logistics division helps increase the
lietime value o the investment o wind
arm owners.
Asked how competitive it is or a com-
pany to be involved in the wind power
supply chain, Andersen said competition
is increasing as the sector becomes
more mature and additional companies
enter the industry. LM Wind Power still
has a strong oothold in the wind energymarket and we are determined to con-
tinue to grow our market share.
LM Wind Power is a good example
o a company growing and develop-
ing along with the wind energy sector.
Noting that LM Wind Power (at that time
LM Glasfber) started producing blades in
1978, Andersen said the blade produc-
tion was a spino o the companys
activities within boat manuacturing.
Ater continual product refnements, he
said the company is now the leadingindependent supplier o blades.
The industry could
start facing supplychain bottlenecks
again after 2012.
Europes oshore industry needs
12 new installation vessels to
meet its 2020 targets
Pho
to:
A2SEA
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24 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| Feature |
Employing and building specialequipmentOnce materials or wind power compo-
nents have been located and the various
parts have been manuactured and as-
sembled, the nearly-completed turbines
still need to transerred to the site wherethey will fnally be erected.
For the onshore wind sector this
phase usually means using trucks or
reight trains. For the oshore sector it
means special vessels or transportation
and installation.
Danish company A2SEA has installed
60% o the worlds oshore wind turbines
since 2000, said Chie Sales Ofcer
Kaj Lindvig.
A2SEAs project teams strive to com-
plete every installation saely, on time,and on budget, Lindvig said.
With 220 employees in Denmark and
another 20 around the world, the com-
pany is owned by DONG Energy but in
June, Siemens invested 115 million to
buy 49% o A2SEAs shares, putting the
value o the company at around
250 million.
Lindvig estimated the value o A2SEAs
contracts with wind power companies
last year at 80 million.
He said the only challenge A2SEAaces is having the right installation
equipment or the products being in-
stalled or serviced.
Equipment and vessels the company
currently uses include two identical sel-
propelled crane vessels equipped with
our jack-up legs that are eective or
mounting turbines in shallow waters, a
specially constructed barge loaded with
advanced equipment that enables o-
shore tasks to be carried out with great
precision in deeper waters and high tidal
ranges, and a modern jack-up barge spe-
cially equipped to operate oshore wind
and install a wide range o equipment.A2SEAs website also notes that it is
having a next generation wind turbine
installation vessel built that will be able
to operate in the more challenging con-
ditions that will be encountered urther
oshore and in deeper water.
In keeping with EWEAs Oceans o
Opportunity report published last year,
which emphasized that the European
oshore industry will require 12 new
installation vessels, each costing about
200 million, i the sector is to meet atarget o 40 GW by 2020, Fichaux noted
that construction on our new vessels
began earlier this year.
And there will be more o them,
Fichaux predicted, adding the rapid
expansion o the UK oshore sector is
driving much o the demand or the sup-
ply chain to come up with new ships.
The rotor is
about ready to
be hoisted into
positionPho
to:
LM
WindPower
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25WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
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The backboneo Europes energy uture
Grids 2010, Berlin, Germany, 23-24 November 2010
Upgrading, extending and connecting Europes electricity grids is essential to meet
Europes emissions reduction and renewable energy targets. Without new and better
grids Europe cannot exploit its enormous wind energy resources and rapidly move
towards a renewable energy economy.
This two-day conerence and exhibition will explore the fnancial, technical, policy
and regulatory issues that will shape the development o a grid that meets Europes
energy, consumer and climate needs.
Photo:Chrtien
Rudy
ORGANISED BY:SUPPORTED BY:
www.ewea.org/grids2010
Register onlineto attend this essential debate
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27WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Inrastructure has fnally made it to the top othe agenda o policy makers and what iseven more important o investors. It took quite
some time to achieve that position. I still recall a
specialist meeting in Amsterdam, some ten years
ago, concluding that inrastructure is the key to a
sustainable energy supply. But during ten years
since that meeting, no real development in this
direction has occurred in grids. That is about to
change substantially, and it is about time!
It is not hard to understand why knowledgeable
people came to the conclusion that inrastructureis a very important asset in an energy transition.
Building a sustainable energy supply is not simply
a matter o replacing coal or gas-fred power
stations with wind arms, bio-energy power or pho-
tovoltaics and connecting them to the grid. That
simply doesnt work, because eatures o renew-
able power generation and use are quite dierent
rom ossil ueled energy generation.
Grid investments lagged behind or a
number o years, especially in EU power grids.
Liberalisation o the EU energy market caused
a hiatus in the responsibility or the grids.Organisations like the International Energy Agency
and the European Union acknowledged the urgen-
cy o renewed investments to secure the reliable
supply that we are used to. Several new initia-
tives started, such as the trans-European energy
networks (TEN-E) project, coordinating a solution
or a number o bottlenecks in the EU.
Do we really have to regret that investments
lagged behind or so many years? Yes we have,
but I am also quite sure that had we made
investments previously, we might have invested in
old-ashioned types o grid which would possibly
have ended up prolonging the lock-in situation inwhich we are at present.
Looking at the TEN-E initiatives and other re-
cent assessments like the Roadmap 2050 o the
European Climate Foundation (ECF), new invest-
ments in old inrastructure are still necessary.
ECFs analysis shows that analysed that a signif-
cant expansion o grid interconnection between
and across regions in Europe will be needed to
acilitate large shares o renewables by 2050.
But while investing too little, we also saved
some money to be spent in a more sustainable
direction.When thinking about new development,
it helps me to get out o the box by asking
A change o mindmysel: what would we do i humanity started
all over again, on a new planet (because the
resources on the old one would be used up)?
With our current knowledge we would defnitely
optimise on sources like wind, solar, ocean en-
ergy, hydro pump storage, and in the end maybe
even some ossil uels. But we would have to dig
them up again, p.
So ar or this little brain experiment; lets go
back to reality and build on our ormer achieve-
ments. We defnitely need to expand the grid and
overcome some grid barriers right now.So interconnections need to be improved and
cables need to be thicker. On a lower level, distri-
bution networks have to get smarter. I we want
to harvest all renewable possibilities, we have to
start at the end-user and explore local opportuni-
ties frst, like local storage, demand control, and
so on. And last but not least, we have to work on
intra continental super-connections. Think o har-
vesting energy rom the oceans, solar power rom
southern Europe, storage in Scandinavia, etcet-
era. These sources will ourish with a supergrid.
In any case, the most important thing thathas to be applied to grids is a change o mind.
Instead o centering the grid on large central
power stations, ueled by ossil uels, grids have
to be designed or many local and also many
central power generators, and or many small and
many large users.
| guest columnist |
Grid
investmentslagged behind
for a number of
years.
By Rol de VosJournalist at Ecoys International
By invitation
Pho
to:
iStoc
kp
ho
to
We must work on intra continental
super-connections
-
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29WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
|wind bites |
I believe that Northern Ireland
needs, and is able, to move rapidly
to much higher levels of renewable
electricity production and so am
confirming that Northern Ireland will
seek to achieve 40% of its electricity
consumption from renewable sources
by 2020. I see this new target as a
real challenge.
Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland Department o
Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister
Overall, wind energy continues to
be a growth market, weathering the
economic crisis much better than
some analysts had predicted.
Steve Sawyer, Secretary-General o the Global Wind
Energy Council
Scotland has
unrivalled green
energy resources
and our new
national targetto generate
80 percent of
electricity needs
from renewables by 2020 will be
exceeded by delivering current plans
for wind, wave and tidal generation.
Alex Salmond, Scottish First Minister
The Government has a very ambitious
target of reducing carbon emissions
by 80% by 2050. As we look to rebuild
the whole of our energy infrastructure
the development of wind is going to bea very important part of that process
both onshore and offshore and so its
critical towards achieving our goals
of low carbon energy and energy
security.
Charles Hendry, UK Minister or Energy
I firmly believe we should be
harnessing our wind, wave and tidal
resources to the maximum.
Chris Huhne, UK Secretary o State or energy and
climate change
Wind bites
We need to do for energy what
we have done for mobile phones:
real choice for consumers in one
European marketplace.
Jos Manuel Barroso, European Commission
President
The larger the renewables industry
in Europe becomes, the sooner
European industry can benefit from
economies of scale, ultimately making
renewables more competitive.Paul Rbig, MEP
Renewables have gone from being
a sideshow to being the key solution,
together with energy efficiency, for the
transition to a low-carbon economy.
Willy De Backer, Head o the Greening Europe
Forum, Friends o Europe
Wind power really impacts the energy
scenarios of today.
Ingmar Wilhelm, Executive Vice President o ENEL
Europe must do
whatever we can to
protect and develop
our stronghold
within the energy-
efficient and
renewables sectors.
Connie Hedegaard,
European Commissioner or Climate Action
Wind power is an opportunity for
Turkey. In order to exploit this poten-tial, permitting procedures must be op-
timised and the government must put
in place a legal framework that offers
stability and certainty to those who
want to invest for the next 15 years.
Murat Durak, Chairman o the Turkish Wind Energy
Association (TREB)
We are seeing real changes and a
historical transition in low carbon
technology.
Nobuo Tanaka, IEA Executive Director
The European
Union is a world
leader in wind
energy but faces
serious competition
from China, the
United States,
Japan, South Korea
and India. I would hate to see Europe
losing out.
Christian Kjaer, CEO o EWEA
The 32 GW of installed capacity
proposed by the offshore wind energy
developers for 2020 would supply a
quarter of the UKs electricity needs.
This means the UK will have a secure
and low carbon electricity supply. In
addition, the UK economy will benefit
as offshore wind is a growth industry
that will create new businesses and
jobs as well as attracting inward
investment.
Roger Bright CB, Chie Executive o The Crown
Estate
Europe must become more
independent from energy imports.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, centre-right MEP
Something to say?
Do you have something to say
about Wind Directions, wind energy,
renewables, EWEAs events or any-
thing else? Write to Sarah Azau at
[email protected] with the
subject title: Wind Directions letters
page, and your letter could appear
in the next issue!
Photos: EWEA
-
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| ocus |
30 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
Photo: inmagine
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| ocus |
The grid thatnever sleepsWhen European Commission president Jos Manuel
Barroso recently spoke to the European Parliament o
the need to complete the internal market o energy,
build and interconnect energy grids, he was voicing a
point o view that is becoming ever more widespread.
By Sarah Azau
31WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
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32 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| ocus |
While it would be unthinkable or Europe
not to have the most modern telephones,
motorways or aeroplanes, our power grids inra-
structure that is even more undamental to our
daily lives are embarrassingly out-o-date and
old-ashioned. The links carrying power between
countries known as interconnectors are ew
in number and unable to handle much electric-
ity. As a result o this, variable renewable ener-
gies like wind power are not exploited properly
and there is little cross-border trade in electric-
ity. As Eddie OConnor, CEO o wind developers
Mainstream Renewable Power points out, 95%
o power in Europe is consumed in the country inwhich it is produced.
An updated, Europe-wide power grid, with
stronger, more numerous interconnectors, would
allow wind power to be transported rom wherever
in Europe its blowing to wherever in Europe the
consumers are.
It would also mean power could be traded
in an internal electricity market. Think what it
would mean i you could only buy shoes made
by one company: you would pay whatever price
was set. Opening up the power market in Europe
would have a ar greater impact on thousandso consumers, bringing prices down as uel-
ree wind power and other renewables would
be preerred by the market to ossil uels with
unpredictable costs.
Yet the theory is o course surrounded by a
host o practical questions. What has to be done
frst? How and who by? Who will pay? What needs
to be built? Where does the material come rom?
And who is in charge o the process?
Supersizing the gridThe grid at EU level need to develop in a more
coherent way and ocus especially on intercon-nection to integrate large amounts o wind and
renewable energies, says Jos Luis Mata rom
Spanish transmission system operator (TSO) Red
Electrica. Or as President Barroso put it in his
speech: We need to make rontiers irrelevant or
pipelines or power cables.
One o the most talked about grid concepts
o the past ew months is what is known as a
supergrid. This supergrid is not just a bigger
version o the grid we have had or years, but a
whole new concept. The Friends o the Supergrid
(FOSG) - a group o companies who have come to-gether to lobby or, and work towards, a supergrid,
explain this clearly on their website:
Supergrid is not an extension o existing or
planned point to point HVDC interconnectorsbetween particular EU states, it says. Even the
aggregation o these schemes will not provide
the network that will be needed to carry marine
renewable power generated in our Northern seas
to the load centres o central Europe. Supergrid is
a new idea.
This notion is supported by Konstantin
Staschus o European grid operators body
ENTSO-E, who says a supergrid would be over-
laid on Europes existing inrastructure, work-
ing together with the current grid and the entire
electric system. ENTSO-E is developing a work
programme to plan or a 2050 supergrid, andsays it intends to take a lead role in developing a
pan-European supergrid.
OConnor, who is involved in FOSG, was one o
the frst to launch the idea o a pan-European and
oshore network in which the dierent national
grids would be linked together at points called
supernodes, and baptise it the supergrid, in
around 2001.
We saw a research paper rom the University
o Kassel in Germany that pointed out that the
wind is always blowing somewhere, and we
realised that i we could smooth out the uctua-tions we would solve the intermittency issue, he
explains.
95% of power
in Europe is
consumed in
the country
in which it is
produced.
Photo: Hemera
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33WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
HVDC network which would provide interconnec-
tion between dierent countries, which is how itwould work in a supergrid - than to connect each
arm directly to shore as is currently the case.
For OConnor, this direct
to shore, or point to point
connection is illogical. Its
rubbish! he says. It makes
no sense to connect each
oshore project individually to
land in the UK they only get
40% use out o a wind arm
like that. They need to think
about what theyre doing.
OConnor believesthe supergrid could dra-
matically change the amount o use o renewa-
bles by linking together ar-ung sources o
carbon-ree energy.
I we build the frst leg rom Norway running
down to Scotland and the UK coast, going into
German waters and fnishing in the Rhr, we can
have Norway with its hydro capacity as the bat-
tery, Scotland can develop its oshore wind, and
trade and system reliability will be boosted, with
the countries selling electricity to each other. We
should get 90% utilisation o the lines.
The supergrid is essential or integrating large
amounts o wind energy in the long term, agreesMata.
The EU is pushing or renewables, which
means we have to go and pick
the electricity where it is or
example wind energy rom the
North Sea, solar energy rom
the desert and take it to the
consumption points. We need
a supergrid or that.
Frans Van Hulle, consultant
or EWEA, believes that or the
time being, reinorcing what
we currently have should bethe frst step.
There is no economic case or a high voltage
direct current (HVDC) overlay grid1 or supergrid
today, but we do need in the short and me-
dium term - an intelligent solution or connecting
oshore arms in Northern European waters, he
says, and reers to the IEE-unded OshoreGrid
project (see box p. 38) which is investigating the
best way, technically and economically speaking,
to integrate oshore wind into an oshore grid
using computer-based models.
Van Hulle points out that the OshoreGridproject has already shown that it is more econom-
ical to connect oshore wind arms in a meshed
We need to make
frontiers irrelevant for
pipelines or power
cables.
1 See section on A technical matter.
The wind is always blowing somewhere
| ocus |
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34 WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| ocus |
A technical matterThe vision painted is certainly attractive, but ques-
tions remain on the practicalities, such as which
cable technology to use. Currently, high-tech
turbines are plugged into one o Europes ageing
onshore grids - Finn Strm Madsen, President
o Vestas Technology R&D, describes this as
like plugging your new laptop into a switchboardrom the 1940s. When electricity rom oshore
turbines is being carried 30km or more just to get
to land, the power loss rom traditional cables can
be considerable.
As reported in Science Corner in the
September issue o Wind Directions, new types
o cables known as High Voltage Direct Current
or HVDC are being developed which promise a
good deal. These have ar less power loss than
the traditional alternating current AC cables,
while being able to carry ar more power. The tech-
nology is ar more expensive, but once the cable
in question is longer than about 80 kilometres,the power losses avoided by HVDC justiy the ad-
ditional cost.
The people I spoke to were generally cautiously
positive on HVDC.
I cant speculate too much on it, but we are
currently talking about putting 40 or 50 GW o
power in the North Sea, while we currently have
cables which carry just 1 or 2 GW, says Crouch.
We should not underestimate the challenge!
Strm Madsen and OConnor are more a-
frmative. We need to create superhighways
o HVDC, says Madsen. OConnor states thatA wide DC grid will open Europe up to being
energy-independent.
However, using DC oshore would necessitate
highly sophisticated and expensive breakers,
to convert it back into AC or the onshore grid.
Financing, when discussing any aspect o the
supergrid, is key. Building a new power line is not
like putting up a wind turbine. It takes an aver-
age o seven years in the EU and it is a major in-
vestment. EWEAs new report Powering Europeestimates the investment cost o a transnational
oshore grid to be 20 to 30 billion up to
2030. An entire supergrid would o course cost
ar more: according to OConnor, between 300
and 600 billion, but he stresses that prices will
go down.
Grids are really airly cheap, considering
they are permanent and low maintenance. Once
theyre under the ground, its unlikely theyll have
to be dug up again.
And o course, the benefts the supergrid would
bring in terms o security o supply would mean
a good deal less European money going towardsuel imports, and the increased use o renewables
would bring power prices down.
Ownership mattersEventually, it seems certain that the cost o the
new lines would be paid or by the consumer,
but who would make the initial investments, and
above who should own the supergrid, is a matter
o some debate.
When talking about an oshore super-
grid, the ownership question is one o the real
challenges, says Mata. Should each powerproducer build his own wind arms with his own
link, or should they really all sit down and plan
It makes
no sense to
connect each
offshore project
individuallyto land.
Better interconnection is essential to create an internal electricity market in EuropePho
to:
Thinks
toc
k
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35WIND DIRECTIONS | November 2010
| ocus |
it? Should the new lines be decided nationally or
in a pan-European way? Some TSOs such as
Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany
are trying to sit down and do this together but
they have no mandate to do so.
OConnor suggests several pos-
sibilities or the ownership o the
frst leg o the supergrid, including
the grid companies or a consor-
tium o private companies.
Staschus believes that the
TSOs should own the supergrid as
they are responsible or operating
and planning it. In the immediate
uture, however, ENTSO-E are, with
their ten-year network development
plan (TYNDP) which includes
all new grid lines and projects up to 2020 and isupdated every two years - providing all grid stake-
holders with a valuable insight into what is actually
planned in terms o upgrades and new lines.
Martin Crouch rom the European energy regulators
group, CEER, stresses that the TYNDP is key or
seeing what the next steps are.
Although the TYNDP is certainly not a super-
grid plan, its essential or improving the current
network, and seeing the weak grid points to be
reinorced, says Mata.
Van Hulle also thinks that one o the crucial ac-
tions to be taken rapidly is to reinorce points on thegrid where there are bottlenecks, meaning the line is
at times unable to transport enough power. He points
out that the IEE-unded TradeWind project identifed
42 points in the European transmission network,
mainly interconnections between dierent countries,
that need to be strengthened and ound that this
would bring about savings o 1,500 million per year,
justiying investments o around 20 billion up to
2030. The European transmission system operators
(TSOs) need to act quickly to ensure
this happens. The onus is on the
TSOs, agrees Crouch.
The TSOs themselves in theorm o ENTSO-E are working
towards a Roadmap towards
a pan-European power system
2050, which will involve consulta-
tion with grid stakeholders and the
European Commission. In their
preparatory work, ENTSO-E have
identifed three categories o issue
to address technological (or example, technical
easibility and voltage levels), economical/fnancial
(which includes realisation and ownership o the
supergrid and electricity prices) and political/socio-political (such as the legal and regulatory rame-
work and permitting processes).
For OConnor, the next steps are above all politi-
cal a policy debate on the supergrid should
be launched by the industry with the EU and
national decision-makers, he says. He believes
that the supergrid must be thought out in the
next our years, and we need to
start building in 2015 to 2020.
Otherwise, theres no way coun-
tries like the UK can meet their
oshore 2020 targets.
Others are slightly more cau-
tious when they look to 2020.
Well have the same grid as
now, says Mata. But it will be
reinorced, better connected, and
without the main constraints we
currently have.
In 2020 Europe should have an improved,modernised transmission network with increased
capacity and some additional lines, says Van
Hulle. At distribution network level, there will
also be increased use o smart grid principles,
which include more active network management
through enhanced communication and demand
response, assisted by smart meters.
A 2050 visionBy 2050, according to Mata, there could well be
a supergrid overlaid on the current grid, taking
power long distances to where it is needed.This timerame is backed up by ENTSO-Es work
on a 2050 supergrid roadmap.
While it is perhaps impossible now to specu-
late too ar ahead, what is certain is that great
change is aoot or Europes grids, which have
or too long been ignored by the modernisers.
The wind industry, which has lobbied legislators
to upgrade and extend the network or many
years, is now being listened to. Legislation like
the European Commissions up-
coming inrastructure package
is a sign that grid development
is being taken seriously.It is esse