In the run-up to the crucial climate change talks in Copenhagen, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has published a league table showing which EU countries are best at exploiting CO2-cutting wind energy. Top of the table is Denmark, with the highest amount of wind energy capacity per square kilometre of national territory. Germany comes… Read more »
Today, as European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs speaks to the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on the European Economic Recovery Plan, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) warned that the EU needs to speed up its stimulus package. The €5 billion plan, approved by the European Parliament last May, includes €565 million… Read more »
European Offshore Wind 2009 conference and exhibition (EOW09) – the world’s largest gathering of offshore wind energy professionals took place in Stockholm from 14-16 September. The event, organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), was hailed a huge success, doubling in size from its previous edition in 2007. {pagebreak} Over 4,800 participants saw more… Read more »
SGS Presents Wind Energy Services at the Korea Green Energy Show 2009 The SGS Wind Energy Competence Center participated in the Korea GreenEnergy Show 2009 as the main exhibition for the energy industry in Korea.Attendees had the chance to learn more about the project life cycle of windturbines and about the services that SGS offers… Read more »
The Asia-Pacific Weeks (APW) Wind Energy Conference in Berlin was a great opportunity for SGS to present its Wind Energy Technology Center (WETC). The presentation held by Torsten Muuß, Global Technical Manager for Wind Energy from SGS, proved to be a success as participants showed great interest in the services provided by the Center. {pagebreak} The Asia-Pacific Weeks… Read more »
With EU Environment ministers meeting tomorrow to finalise the EU’s position for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December, the European Wind Energy Association is releasing new calculations on how much wind power can contribute to achieving greenhouse gas emission targets. {pagebreak} In a briefing for Ministers and Members of the European Parliament, EWEA says… Read more »
History was written in global merchant shipping during August and September 2009 when two multipurpose heavy lift carriers under the flag of Beluga Shipping GmbH successfully mastered the premiere in the commercial transit of the legendary Northeast-Passage from Asia to Europe. MV “Beluga Fraternity” and MV “Beluga Foresight” delivered various heavy lift modules from Ulsan,… Read more »
One of the continent’s foremost stevedore and marine terminal operators, Gulfstream Marine is making a name for itself in the specialised field of wind turbine transportation. caught up with company founderPES: Welcome to PES magazine. Firstly, can you give us a basic overview of Gulf Stream Marine (GSM) as a company and how it operates… Read more »
Union Pacific operates North America’s premier railroad franchise, covering 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States. PES spoke to Byron Willis and Beth Whited to ask just what that means for the transportation of freight for the wind industry. What are the points of differentiation for Union Pacific compared to other railroads… Read more »
New Federal tax incentives established by the ARRA for financing wind projects [sell] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) added two new and significant provisions, enacted as part of an effort to spur domestic development and installation of renewable energy, that are available to developers to help finance their wind projects. {pagebreak}… Read more »
Turbine moves a part of CN’s growing green businesses CN and CN Specialized Services (CNSS) has recently completed the first-ever rail move of twin-pack wind turbine blades from German manufacturer Enercon GmbH and Salco Energy Services Inc. of Calgary. Enercon is a leading global manufacturer of wind turbine systems, and Salco Energy is an experienced… Read more »
For more than 100 years, the team behind Mobil Industrial Lubricants continues to help companies all around the world to meet their most demanding energy challenges, pushing the boundaries of innovation and setting new benchmarks for lubrication excellence. Today, Mobil Industrial Lubricants’ family of premium oils and maintenance solutions help successful companies within the global… Read more »
Richard L Wottrich, Managing Director, International, IMAP Chicago (Dresner Partners) looks at the future for the alternative energy industry in the US and concludes that we will have to look to our laurels if we are to stay ahead of the global competition … There is a powerful wind emanating out of Washington, foretelling that… Read more »
A recent Harvard-led research project suggests the potential of wind energy could be considerably higher than previous estimates by both wind industry groups and government agencies. In this exclusive extract, PES looks at the report, garnered from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Using data from thousands of meteorological… Read more »
or rather, their energy could well be. A newly-published study commissioned by the Canadian Wind Energy Association found considerable potential for wind energy exports from the Maritime Provinces to the US north east. In this exclusive extract, PES reveals how the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island could transport their surplus… Read more »
Wind power, one of the fastest-growing sources of energy around the world, is popular, not least because of its obvious abundance and because it provides many communities with a clean, local source of electricity, as opposed to imported fossil fuels. In the US – which recently passed Germany to become the country producing the most… Read more »
The US Department of Energy has traditionally concentrated its efforts and support on the oil industry, but in recent months it has shifted its stance towards renewables, and specifically towards wind energy, investing massive amounts in research and development and manufacturing. PES looks at the motivation behind this change and examines what economic factors and… Read more »
The battle lines are drawn for supremacy in the developing US offshore wind-generation business as various states vie to be the first to achieve that crucial milestone – going online. So what stage are we currently at in this all-important race? Jennifer Zajac of SNL Energy is your guide to the current movers and shakers… Read more »
In 1912 Frederick Law jumped from the Statue of Liberty in New York City and the modern-day sport of BASE-jumping was born. BASE, an acronym standing for the four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, has been gaining in popularity recently and it was only ever a… Read more »
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, was formed for the purpose of permitting the President to determine the effect on national security of a transaction that results in foreign control of a US business. Foreign investments in domestic wind energy generation projects may come under scrutiny, and parties to… Read more »
Jennifer Layke, Deputy Director, Climate and Energy Program, World Resources Institute, and Rick Bunch, Managing Director, The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, discuss a number of options for overcoming the real and perceived challenges to wind power purchasing. {pagebreak} Wind power is increasingly sought as an environmentally friendly part… Read more »
The US military is taking a lead in using economically-viable wind farms to generate low-cost energy for its installations around the US and abroad. While, at face value, this seems to be excellent news for the renewables industry, there is a potential major flaw in the plan, as PES discovers… It was recently reported that… Read more »
A new buzzword is striking fear and excitement in the hearts and minds of renewable energy developers and transmission providers: ‘integration.’ The term can get stakeholders from all sides of the energy industry shouting across the table. It is also a sign of how far the renewable energy industry has come in making resources such… Read more »
Kurt E Thomsen’s company Advanced Offshore Solutions (AOS) was a pioneer in the field of offshore windfarm installations. Here, he talks to PES about the successes of the industry and how AOS plans to meet the severe challenges it is likely to face in the near future. {pagebreak} PES: Welcome to PES magazine, Can… Read more »
Transiting the Northeast-Passage, applying a towing kite system, utilising the shark skin effect – three different topics, one common interface: Beluga Shipping GmbH, the project and heavy lift carrier known for great innovative spirit and the philosophy to go off the beaten tracks of commercial shipping. {pagebreak} Three Beluga vessels are the first to… Read more »
Finnish heavy haulage and project forwarding company Silvasti Ltd. specialises in wind turbine projects in Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries. The company provides total logistics solutions for the most challenging installations, and in 2008, received a major contract to deliver 13 x 3 MW wind turbines to Aulepa Wind Park, on the west coast… Read more »
The global energy marketplace remains increasingly competitive and customers are striving hard to increase their productivity. Considering this pressure, they are continuing to seek out innovative means to reduce energy consumption as one method to remain competitive. {pagebreak} To satisfy this demand Mobil Industrial Lubricants is clearly identifying those lubricants of its portfolio that demonstrate… Read more »
Intellifast GmbH is a leading name in the ultrasonic load measurement business, launching on to the market in 1997 with a focus on the world biggest bolt consumers – the car industry. Here, Managing Director Frank Scheuch talks to PES about the company, its expansion into the wind industry, and his vision for its future.Intellifast… Read more »
TradeWind – the European project funded under the EU’s Intelligent Energy-Europe programme – has recently published an essential 100-page paper on the state of the European wind power industry. In this exclusive extract from the comprehensive, hard-hitting report, PES picks out all the important and salient issues facing us all as we move into an… Read more »
pes presents half a dozen lessons, which if heeded in future offshore projects, together with the other parts of the offshore wind ecosystem, we can make for smoother, quicker, and cheaper installations and ultimately, better windfarms for the production of clean energy. {pagebreak} Over the years we have all heard much about the potential of… Read more »
The Times of London has just published its first green global rich list, with many tycoons and executives from the wind industry making the top 100, including the USA’s Warren Buffett who tops the poll at number one, being worth a cool Euro 37bn. Here, PES presents your handy guide to the top 10 movers… Read more »
During the past decade it has become extremely important to optimise all aspects of product design. Competition is tougher than ever and steel costs have skyrocketed. For economic reasons each component must be utilised to its maximum capacity. Bolted joints became the centre of attention after recent findings that they are often used to as… Read more »
Considerable wind resources place many countries across the region in an enviable position. Yet capitalising on those resources can prove problematic, due to local planning restrictions. This case study from the UK highlights the problems faced and offers a number of solutions that will resonate with wind energy suppliers throughout Europe. {pagebreak} The UK has… Read more »
CN’s rail network spans Canada and mid America, from the Atlantic and Pacifc oceans to the Gulf of Mexico. Combined with the railroad’s ability to work with connecting rail carriers throughout North America and the fact that CN provides service at more ports than any other North American railroad, CN offers attractive shipping solutions for companies… Read more »
Making wind tower maintenance easier and more efficient, international premium shrinkwrap supplier Dr. Shrink offers its new TowerMinders. Instead of crews using the traditional rope with rags tied around it to stabilize work platforms on towers, they can now utilize this innovative rolling ball system to make the job easier and safer. {pagebreak} TowerMinders eliminates… Read more »
London, UK, June 23, 2009 – Ahead of the eighth annual British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) offshore wind event that starts in London tomorrow, the European-based Renewables team of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH), the global insurance broker, say that insurers are increasingly seeing offshore wind as an attractive investment area with considerable growth potential. {pagebreak}… Read more »