Author: Anela Dokso

CMS Energy has purchased a majority stake in Aviator Wind, a 525-megawatt wind energy project in Texas that will support efforts by Facebook and McDonald’s to achieve their clean energy goals. The project will start operations by fall 2020 in Coke County, about 250 miles southwest of Dallas. Aviator Wind will be operated by CMS Enterprises, a subsidiary of CMS Energy that develops, owns and operates utility-scale renewable energy facilities, including wind and solar. “Through Aviator Wind, we’re proud to continue the drive toward sustainable energy and help two of the nation’s largest organizations meet their aggressive renewables goals. Facebook…

The Northern Territory Government has awarded ‘major project status’ to Sun Cable’s Australia-Singapore Power Link (ASPL) solar project. The proposed Australia-Singapore Power Link is a $20 billion, 10 gigawatt solar farm and a 20-30 gigawatt hour storage facility near Tennant Creek. It will supply loads in the Darwin and Singapore markets via a high voltage direct current transmission. This is the largest solar farm under development in the world. The project will seek to supply long term, competitive, stably priced renewable electricity to the Darwin and Singapore markets. Attracting and securing private investment in the Territory is critical to economic…

The Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub has given almost £1.2 million to UK universities to support research projects investigating all aspects of offshore renewable energy. The Hub’s Flexible Funding has been established to enable UK researchers to respond to a number of key research challenges in ORE. The research being funded in this second Flexible Funding call ranges from developing improved models for multivariate metocean extremes to creating advanced, modular power take-off designs for marine energy converters. There are also a number of electrical cable-based research project investigating challenges including scour, insulation reliability and partial discharge monitoring. This second…

Prysmian Group is moving forward with the construction of the Leonardo da Vinci cable laying vessel with the hull now fully completed including the entire superstructure and the launching ceremony. The Leonardo da Vinci will be towed to its final destination at Vard’s shipyard in Brattvåg, Norway, for fitting out, installation of main laying equipment, designed, manufactured and supplied directly by Prysmian, and finishing. The journey will take one month of navigation, from the Danube river and across the Mediterranean Sea, to then sail off the ocean coasts of Portugal, Spain and France up to Norway. “The Leonardo da Vinci will be…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $68 million in funding over five years for basic research aimed at making bioenergy feedstock crops more productive and resilient. The research will cover several common bioenergy feedstocks, including sorghum, pennycress, and poplar, among others. The focus will be on the complex interactions among crops, soil, and soil microbes that impact productivity and stress resistance. The research will combine controlled field studies with computational modeling. “One key requirement for sustainable bioenergy production is feedstock crops that can be grown on marginal lands that are not traditionally suitable for growing food. This research…

JDR, the global subsea cable supplier and servicer owned by the TFKable Group, has started construction of a new US headquarters in Tomball, Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The building will consolidate three of JDR’s existing facilities in the region to expand its IWOCs rental business to support current demand. The construction of the building began this month and after completion, JDR plans to acquire engineers and highly qualified service technicians, to expand its local presence. The key focus of the facility will be to construct and test new-build IWOCS equipment and support service activities on-site. It will…

Blue Offshore’s double basket carrousel barge, CC Atlantique, has arrived in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, carrying more than 8000 tonnes of high voltage cable for the connection of TenneT’s Hollandse Kust (zuid) Alpha Platform to the onshore grid. According to the company, this represents cable transport record and “Blue Offshore is proud to be able to contribute to the Dutch energy transition, as it has been awarded the contract by Van Oord to supply a full cable transport spread for both the Hollandse Kust (zuid) 2020 Alpha and 2021 Beta cable transport campaigns.” Blue Offshore’s barge with each carrousel carried approximately 4,000…

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC) have joined forces to accelerate marine energy solutions. The partnership will explore the added value of space tech and data in the commercial and technical development of marine energy services and solutions. Marine energy will play a key role in future energy systems, whilst contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions, mitigating climate change and stimulating economic growth. Space tech and data can play a key role in the acceleration of marine energy solutions and growth for the sector. The partnership will explore the opportunities of space tech and…

Xodus Group has agreed a partnership with Japanese consultancy E&E Solutions to deliver in-depth advice and analysis for the offshore wind market in Japan. The partnership will provide integrated advisory and technical services to deliver value to offshore wind developers, owners, operators and lenders. E&E Solutions has significant local market knowledge, including an extensive understanding of Japanese environmental laws and the country’s leasing and consenting system. Xodus brings multidisciplinary expertise in offshore wind. The company’s integrated skills base covers techno-commercial advisory capabilities along with subsea infrastructure, pipelines and cables engineering, offshore engineering, risk management, environmental, supply chain analysis and project…

Fugro has started the geophysical survey phase of a multidisciplinary site investigation contract worth around GBP 55 million for ScottishPower Renewables’ (SPR) East Anglia Hub project. The phased site investigations are scheduled to finish at the end of 2021 and support the development of wind farms in the UK southern North Sea over an area of more than 800 km2. The results from Fugro’s site characterization will feed into SPR’s ground models for the East Anglia Hub and support seabed mobility assessment, foundation design and cable-route engineering. Operating from dedicated geophysical survey vessels, the Fugro team began the UXO surveys…