10Feb

AROA’s Second Solar Tulip Power Plant Springs Up in Spain

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AROA’s Second Solar Tulip Power Plant Springs Up in Spain

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By Andrew Michler

Clean tech company AROA recently installed their second energy-generating Solar Tulip power tower in Spain, and the soaring flower-shaped power plant just went online this week. The beauty of the system stems beyond the elegant solar energy capturing tower – the system is designed to be modular, unlike any other concentrated solar power (CSP) electrical generator out there. The system also uses much less water than steam solar generators, enabling it to conserve precious resources on its hot desert site.
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10Feb

World’s largest offshore wind farm opens for business

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World's largest offshore wind farm opens for business

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Walney wind farm off the coast of Cumbria in the UK yesterday became the world’s largest offshore wind facility. One hundred and two turbines over 73 sq km (28 sq miles) provide a maximum output of 367.2 MW. It’s claimed the facility will provide enough power for about 320,000 homes – half as many again as the total number in Cumbria.

The project’s first phase, Walney 1, has been providing power since January 2011 from 51 137-meter-high (450-ft) turbines, each with a 107-m (350-ft) rotor diameter. The completed second phase, Walney 2, adds another 51 turbines of even greater size to the installation. These 150-m (492-ft) tall turbines have three 18-tonne (19.8-short ton) blades with a total diameter of 120 m (394 ft). Despite the differing dimensions, all turbines are Siemens-made 3.6 MW turbines. All told a single wind turbine weighs a hefty 550 tonnes (606 short tons). The Walney 2 installation was completed in an impressively tight six-month window.

(more…)

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17Dec

How WindFlip Will Deliver Gigantic Floating Turbines to Site

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How WindFlip Will Deliver Gigantic Floating Turbines to Site

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To tow the new gigantic off-shore wind turbines now being developed in Europe far out to sea, a Norwegian company has devised a clever and simple mechanism. Their WindFlip tows the turbine out almost horizontal – and then when it gets to the site, tilts it up into position – using only the weight of seawater to do it.

The structure contains 29 air filled compartments. Once at the site each of the compartments inside the Windflip is sequentially filled with water, causing the stern to slowly submerge, so that both the Windflip barge and the turbine it is holding flip up 90°. Then it releases the turbine for connection with a pre-installed mooring spread, and then tips the barge back to horizontal by clearing the ballast tanks of seawater with compressed air.

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12Dec

Why DOE-Funded Floating Turbines May Change Future of Offshore Wind

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Why DOE-Funded Floating Turbines May Change Future of Offshore Wind

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This week, Statoil has an application for a pilot demonstration of their Hywind floating wind turbine 12 miles off the coast of Maine before the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for approval. The demo would be the fruition of a project begun in 2009, and funded by the Department of Energy.

Then Maine Governor John Baldacci had visited Norway to inspect Statoil’s Hywind floating turbine project with state and university officials and business leaders and encouraged Statoil to consider his state for deep-water testing of the commercial floating wind turbine technology in the Gulf of Maine. A return visit introduced Norway’s Statoil to turbine construction expertise in Maine, visiting the Vinalhaven wind turbines on the Fox Islands constructed by Cianbro.

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8Dec

First Atlantic Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Deployed

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First Atlantic Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Deployed

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The offshore wind industry passed a milestone recently with the installation of the world’s first floating offshore wind turbine off the coast of Agucadoura, Portugal. The WindFloat project consists of a 2-MW semi-submersible wind turbine that can be deployed without heavy machinery.

(more…)

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29Nov

Denmark: 100% Renewable Energy by 2050 – 100% Clean Electricity by 2035

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Denmark 100 Renewable Energy by 2050 - 100 Clean Electricity by 2035

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Not quite Scotland’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2025, but still a highly ambitious one (relative to other countries), Denmark’s newest renewable energy target proposals aim to have wind supplying it with half of its electricity by 2020, and renewable energy supplying it with ALL of its energy by 2050. And all of its power and heat would come from renewables by 2035.

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28Nov

Africa at the Energy Crossroads: Ethiopia Launches 6 Wind, 1 Geothermal Power Project

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Africa at the Energy Crossroads Ethiopia Launches 6 Wind, 1 Geothermal Power Project

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Ethiopia isn’t a country that comes up often when discussing renewable energy, but the Ethiopian Electric Power Coroporation (EEPCO) this past week announced it’s starting construction of six wind power projects and one geothermal power plant. In total, electricity generation capacity for the renewable energy projects totals more than one gigawatt (1 GW), Ethtiopian news service NewsDire reported.

The renewable energy projects are part of EEPCO’s plans to increase national electricity generation capacity five times by 2015, from a current 2000 megawatts (MW) to about 10,000 MW. Increasing electricity generation, in turn, is key to the government’s broader economic development plans.

(more…)

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22Nov

Wind Turbine Big Enough To Land A Helicopter On? Scotland Has It Covered

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Wind Turbine Big Enough To Land A Helicopter On Scotland Has It Covered

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Scotland has an ambitious and admirable goal: 100% renewable energy. Taking steps toward reaching this goal, the Scottish government approved an offshore test site for a new 6MW wind turbine.

2-B Energy, based in the Netherlands, has permission to install an innovative two-bladed wind turbine approximately 70 feet off the coast of Methil in Fife, according to Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing. 2-B is one of several companies which has a lease in the 2010 offshore wind demonstration leasing round, which is supposed to help develop wind farms offshore and in deep water.

(more…)

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18Nov

GE To Provide Turbines for $100 Million Mongolian Wind Farm

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There have been a lot of articles about how many Asian countries, namely China, are starting to dominate the solar energy sector. However, General Electric Co. has decided to enter the Asian alternative energy sector by announcing they will be providing 31 turbines for a $100 million wind farm in Mongolia. The farm will be built by Newcom LLC, a Mongolian investment company.

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18Nov

Efflux – An integrated wind turbine structure designed to perfection

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Efflux - An integrated wind turbine structure designed to perfection

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You would have heard of various wind turbine projects that run toward the generation of power by using the naturally blowing wind’s energy. This generated power is then used to run several applications that require electrical energy as an input. For that purpose, the energy is generally transported and fed into the power grid. But, here is a unique and power-packed German design for an integrated wind turbine structure that is termed as Efflux. There are various unique features of this pylon that take its efficiency level to newer heights when compared to the regular wind turbine structures. You would be wondering what is the addition to this pylon that makes it different from other similar structures! Then, check out some of the exclusive characteristics of this power producer.

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