Author: Anela Dokso

Fugro IOVTEC has secured its third offshore geotechnical site investigation project in Taiwan for the Hai Long 2 and Hai Long 3 offshore wind farms, following two previous geotechnical data acquisition awards in Taiwan during 2020. The project will follow Fugro’s ‘Triple A’ approach of acquiring, analyzing and advising on geo-data, and the contract will take around 10 months to complete. The Hai Long offshore wind farms are being co-developed by Northland Power, Yushan Energy and Mitsui. Fugro IOVTEC will acquire geo-data at 32 wind turbine locations and the site investigation will be carried out in two phases: seabed and…

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has released a study showing how used electric vehicle batteries could provide a backup storage for grid-scale solar photovoltaic installations. The study was carried out by six current and former MIT researchers, including postdoc Ian Mathews and professor of mechanical engineering Tonio Buonassisi, who is head of the Photovoltaics Research Laboratory. As a test case, the researchers examined in detail a hypothetical grid-scale solar farm in California. They studied the economics of several scenarios: building a 2.5-megawatt solar farm alone; building the same array along with a new lithium-ion battery storage system; and building it…

Inovateus Solar has completed three solar projects for Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO). The projects, which are the utility’s first solar installations, include a ground-mount solar array at NIPSCO’s Merrillville headquarters. A 120 kilowatt, alternating current (kWac) array with 432 solar panels will generate 216,958 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean power annually. Another 100 kWac system with 360 panels was installed at the energy company’s LaPorte local operating office, and a similar-sized system was installed at its Valparaiso local operating office. Each of those projects will produce 181,841 kWh of solar power per year. In total, the three installations will…

Vineyard Wind has partnered with Geoquip Marine to begin geotechnical surveys of the 501 North Federal Lease Area. The site will be the eventual location of Vineyard Wind 1, an 804 megawatt (MW) project that will power roughly 400,000 homes in Massachusetts.   Using two separate vessels, Geoquip Marine’s geotechnical team will gather information on the ground conditions for prospective turbine and substation locations, providing necessary data to the project design.  “Getting to this step would have been a milestone under normal circumstances but to do so now in light of the current pandemic makes reaching this point all the more significant and rewarding. We look forward…

Asahi Tanker, Idemitsu Kosan, Exeno Yamamizu Corporation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Tokyo Electric Power Company and Mitsubishi Corporation have established the “e5 Consortium”, with the goal of establishing new ocean shipping infrastructure services through various initiatives to develop, realize, and commercialize zero-emission electric vessels. Coastal shipping in Japan faces structural issues such as a shortage of mariners due to the aging of the seagoing workforce, and the aging of the vessels. In addition, the ocean shipping industry has urged the coastal shipping industry to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) as one of Japan’s measures…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest inventory of electric generators has shown that the number of solar and wind generation sites co-located with batteries has grown from 19 paired sites in 2016 to 53 paired sites in 2019. Pairing renewable energy generators with energy storage, particularly batteries, is increasingly common as the cost of energy storage continues to decrease. This trend is expected to continue: according to planned installations reported to EIA, another 56 facilities pairing renewable energy and battery storage will come online by the end of 2023. Combining energy storage with renewable technologies such as wind and solar…

The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) has released an eight point economic stimulus plan of action to bring the benefits of solar and storage to more consumers and support thousands of locals jobs. In a recent industry survey 92 percent of solar and storage businesses pointed to negative impacts on their operations as a result of COVID-19. Businesses reported laying off or furloughing 21 percent of employees, indicating a loss of 15,600 solar and storage jobs in California during the first six weeks of the pandemic.      At the same time, interest in a solar and storage from residential,…

Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) and the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) have appointed the leader of the new multi-technology association that will provide a unified voice for solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage in Canada. Effective July 1, 2020, the members of CanSIA and CanWEA will unite within the Canadian Renewable Energy Association under the leadership of Robert Hornung, the long-standing president of CanWEA. “The launch of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association is a major step forward toward the realization of more comprehensive energy solutions encompassing wind, solar and energy storage in Canada. It needs a leader with…

Dutch consultancy and engineering company IX Wind has opened a new office in Tokyo. IX Wind has been active in Taiwan, Korea, China and Japan for several years now. To improve the service to clients in those countries, IX opened an office in Taipei with the hiring of Paris Tzou. Now, with the welcoming of Rob van Veen to the team, a Dutch/British national living in Tokyo, IX has a local presence and which allows to work closer with clients. With this step, there is a good basis for further expanding the business in Japanese market. Earlier this year IX…

The growth of renewable energy installations is expected to resume next year, following the drop in building of wind turbines, solar plants and other installations that produce renewable electricity this year because of the impact of the Covid-19. The growth is expected to resume in 2021 as most of the delayed projects come online and assuming a continuation of supportive government policies, according to the International Energy Agency. Renewable power sources have so far showed impressive resilience despite the disruptions and changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with their share of the electricity mix increasing in many markets. But the…