Wind and solar technology made up over half of Europe’s new electricity generating capacity in 2009, as the number of new coal and nuclear facilities fell.
Wind accounted for 39 per cent of increased European energy capacity, ahead of gas (26 per cent) and solar (16 per cent). In contrast, the nuclear and coal power sectors decommissioned more megawatts of capacity than they installed in 2009, with a total of 1,393 MW of nuclear and 3,200 MW of coal decommissioned.
'It is a remarkable result in a difficult year. The figures, once again, confirm that wind power, together with other renewable energy technologies and a shift from coal to gas, are delivering massive European carbon reductions, while creating much needed economic activity and new jobs for Europe’s citizens,' said EWEA CEO Christian Kjaer.
According to the EWEA report, €13 billion has been invested in wind farms across the EU in the last year, making them capable of meeting 4.8 per cent of EU energy demands.
Spain is the country with the biggest share of new wind capacity (24%), followed by Germany (19%), Italy (19 per cent), France (11%) and the UK (10%).
The wind energy sector has grown by an average of 23 per cent over the last 15 years, with annual installations up from 472 MW in 1994 to 10,163 MW in 2009.
Commenting on prospects for 2010, Kjaer added: “I am quite optimistic about the medium-term outlook for wind power in Europe, but project finance is still tight and it is clear that more orders must be announced in the coming months for the sector to repeat the 10 GW installed this year.”
Source: http://www.greenjobs.ie/newsletters.cms.asp
Showing posts with label wind energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wind energy. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Samsung Signs $6.6 Billion Deal to Build Wind and Solar Power in Canada
In what’s being described as the largest deal of its kind in the world, Samsung C&T and the Ontario government signed a $6.6 billion investment deal Thursday under which the Korean industrial conglomerate will build 2,500 megawatts of wind and solar power in the province, as well as establish manufacturing facilities that will build the equipment.
Photo
The third player in the deal is Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s largest utility, with 10,200 megawatts of generation capacity worldwide, including a new 1,200-megawatt wind farm in China.
The deal, initially proposed by Samsung a year ago, was spurred on by the province’s Green Energy Act, which was passed last year to provide generous incentives for clean-energy production. “This means Ontario is officially the place to be for green energy manufacturing in North America,” Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, said during a signing ceremony in Toronto.
Under the terms of the agreement, officials said, Samsung must build four manufacturing plants in Ontario, promising 16,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. The energy generated will be enough for 580,000 homes.
“I think 16,000 jobs in this economy is pretty good,” said Mr. McGuinty, who has taken some criticism for selecting Samsung without an open tendering process. He rejected suggestions that Samsung’s presence would crowd out other suppliers.
The first phase will be built near Windsor, in southwestern Ontario where energy was once generated by a coal plant that is due to be decommissioned by 2014.
Korean trade officials said at the event that Samsung selected Ontario as a base of operations to make wind and solar equipment for customers not just in Ontario, but across North America.
Ontario’s green energy laws include domestic content provisions that require some of the equipment to be made in Ontario. It also gives the province a leg up in the race to supply wind and solar equipment to the rapidly transforming American electricity sector, Mr. McGuinty said. “If you ask around state capitals in the U.S., they would be secretly asking themselves why they didn’t do it first.”
Quebec adopted similar domestic content rules for its own wind sector, which is largely based in the Gaspe region on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Samsung is a relative newcomer to the green energy business and says it is using expertise from its other heavy industry divisions, including its shipbuilding group, to manufacture wind turbines.
And it is not the only Korean firm pushing into the North American green energy market. Last year, Hyundai Heavy Industries moved into wind turbine manufacturing and has also been pushing to make inroads into the United States.
Source: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/samsung-signs-66-billion-deal-to-build-wind-and-solar-power-in-ontario/
Photo
The third player in the deal is Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s largest utility, with 10,200 megawatts of generation capacity worldwide, including a new 1,200-megawatt wind farm in China.
The deal, initially proposed by Samsung a year ago, was spurred on by the province’s Green Energy Act, which was passed last year to provide generous incentives for clean-energy production. “This means Ontario is officially the place to be for green energy manufacturing in North America,” Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, said during a signing ceremony in Toronto.
Under the terms of the agreement, officials said, Samsung must build four manufacturing plants in Ontario, promising 16,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. The energy generated will be enough for 580,000 homes.
“I think 16,000 jobs in this economy is pretty good,” said Mr. McGuinty, who has taken some criticism for selecting Samsung without an open tendering process. He rejected suggestions that Samsung’s presence would crowd out other suppliers.
The first phase will be built near Windsor, in southwestern Ontario where energy was once generated by a coal plant that is due to be decommissioned by 2014.
Korean trade officials said at the event that Samsung selected Ontario as a base of operations to make wind and solar equipment for customers not just in Ontario, but across North America.
Ontario’s green energy laws include domestic content provisions that require some of the equipment to be made in Ontario. It also gives the province a leg up in the race to supply wind and solar equipment to the rapidly transforming American electricity sector, Mr. McGuinty said. “If you ask around state capitals in the U.S., they would be secretly asking themselves why they didn’t do it first.”
Quebec adopted similar domestic content rules for its own wind sector, which is largely based in the Gaspe region on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Samsung is a relative newcomer to the green energy business and says it is using expertise from its other heavy industry divisions, including its shipbuilding group, to manufacture wind turbines.
And it is not the only Korean firm pushing into the North American green energy market. Last year, Hyundai Heavy Industries moved into wind turbine manufacturing and has also been pushing to make inroads into the United States.
Source: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/samsung-signs-66-billion-deal-to-build-wind-and-solar-power-in-ontario/
Sunday, January 3, 2010
China Guarantees a Market for Renewable Energy
China is trying out an interesting new rule that privileges energy sources like solar and wind power over coal. The country has modified existing law to require that utilities buy all the available power from renewable energy developments.
The new law is more than a bureaucratic formality: it’s an attempted antidote to habitual under-planning. Some completed wind farms weren’t even hooked up to the grid last year, and the waits have continued this year. It’s also tempting for Chinese utilities to buy from existing coal plants at the expense of renewables.
Now, any utility company that fails to buy power from a renewable energy development in its territory will be fined.
As the Motley Fool points out, domestic wind companies like A-Power Energy Generation Systems stand to benefit from the rule. Solar power isn’t as development-ready, but aggressive companies like First Solar, which is already planning a huge solar farm for Inner Mongolia, could also use the rule to their advantage.
The real winner, though, may be China’s distribution grid. Forced to quickly connect remote developments with urban centers, the utilities will in the process have the chance to build an interconnected super-grid that pools the country’s wind resources.
There’s good reason to put money into a national grid — with current wind generation fragmented, new coal plants have had to be built just to deal with wind’s intermittency problems. The government’s strong central planning abilities suggest that it could easily help push such a project.
It’s a grand experiment, of sorts; in the United States, lawmakers are considering pushing renewables from the opposite direction, by requiring utilities to use more as part of their power mix. It may turn out that the Chinese plan, aimed at creating an assured market for those best qualified to build solar and wind plants, will turn out to be the superior option.
Source: http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10002714/china-guarantees-a-market-for-renewable-energy/
The new law is more than a bureaucratic formality: it’s an attempted antidote to habitual under-planning. Some completed wind farms weren’t even hooked up to the grid last year, and the waits have continued this year. It’s also tempting for Chinese utilities to buy from existing coal plants at the expense of renewables.
Now, any utility company that fails to buy power from a renewable energy development in its territory will be fined.
As the Motley Fool points out, domestic wind companies like A-Power Energy Generation Systems stand to benefit from the rule. Solar power isn’t as development-ready, but aggressive companies like First Solar, which is already planning a huge solar farm for Inner Mongolia, could also use the rule to their advantage.
The real winner, though, may be China’s distribution grid. Forced to quickly connect remote developments with urban centers, the utilities will in the process have the chance to build an interconnected super-grid that pools the country’s wind resources.
There’s good reason to put money into a national grid — with current wind generation fragmented, new coal plants have had to be built just to deal with wind’s intermittency problems. The government’s strong central planning abilities suggest that it could easily help push such a project.
It’s a grand experiment, of sorts; in the United States, lawmakers are considering pushing renewables from the opposite direction, by requiring utilities to use more as part of their power mix. It may turn out that the Chinese plan, aimed at creating an assured market for those best qualified to build solar and wind plants, will turn out to be the superior option.
Source: http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10002714/china-guarantees-a-market-for-renewable-energy/
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Danish island becomes one of first places on Earth to be energy self-sufficient
The Danish island of Samsø has become one of the first industrialized places on Earth to qualify as completely energy self-sufficient.
The tiny island — just 30 miles long and 15 miles wide — first began its push toward sustainability in 1997. In just over a decade, Samsø erected 21 electricity-producing wind turbines and a heating system fueled by wood chip- and straw-burning furnaces accompanied by several small solar panels.
Eleven of Samsø’s turbines are onshore and ten are offshore; all generate one megawatt each. The onshore turbines produce more electricity than the island consumes — enough to offset 690,000 gallons of oil — while the offshore turbines produce enough power to handle the island’s transportation energy budget.
The island invests excess power in new energy projects.
If that’s not enough, the Samsø experiment has also inadvertently transformed the island’s workforce into green collar workers. Plumbers and carpenters regularly perform energy-efficient home conversions, and their expertise has allowed them to work on green projects elsewhere, including mainland Europe.
Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/danish-island-becomes-one-of-first-places-on-earth-to-be-energy-self-sufficient/2443/
The tiny island — just 30 miles long and 15 miles wide — first began its push toward sustainability in 1997. In just over a decade, Samsø erected 21 electricity-producing wind turbines and a heating system fueled by wood chip- and straw-burning furnaces accompanied by several small solar panels.
Eleven of Samsø’s turbines are onshore and ten are offshore; all generate one megawatt each. The onshore turbines produce more electricity than the island consumes — enough to offset 690,000 gallons of oil — while the offshore turbines produce enough power to handle the island’s transportation energy budget.
The island invests excess power in new energy projects.
If that’s not enough, the Samsø experiment has also inadvertently transformed the island’s workforce into green collar workers. Plumbers and carpenters regularly perform energy-efficient home conversions, and their expertise has allowed them to work on green projects elsewhere, including mainland Europe.
Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/danish-island-becomes-one-of-first-places-on-earth-to-be-energy-self-sufficient/2443/
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