Author: Anela Dokso

Denmark leads the way when it comes to putting zero-emission urban buses on the streets in Europe, with 78% of new vehicles being electric, according to the latest data from green NGO Transport & Environment. In Luxembourg and the Netherlands about two-thirds of new buses were zero-emissions. T&E said other EU countries now have a chance to catch up by including emissions-free buses in the Covid recovery plans they must submit to the European Commission by the end of April. In Sweden, Norway and Finland, respectively 26%, 24%, and 23% of urban buses registered in 2019 were zero-emission (electric or…

U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) plans to make $160 million in federal funding available to help recalibrate the Nation’s vast fossil-fuel and power infrastructure for decarbonized energy and commodity production. The funding, for cost-shared cooperative agreements, is aimed to develop technologies for the production, transport, storage, and utilization of fossil-based hydrogen, with progress towards net-zero carbon emissions. Fossil fuels currently provide the lowest cost pathway for producing hydrogen, according to cost data in a recent DOE/FE Hydrogen Strategy Document. The U.S. will authorize advanced and novel technologies capable of improving the performance, reliability, and flexibility…

Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) and Siemens Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the intention of creating a strategic partnership to drive investment and development of advanced technology, manufacture of equipment, and green hydrogen and synthetic fuel production. The initial focus of activity will be in Abu Dhabi and it is intended this will be expanded to international markets over time. Together with Masdar and other energy players in the Mubadala Group, the companies will work closely towards the following goals: Utilizing renewable energy to produce green hydrogen and synthetic fuels, providing clean and transportable energy to fuel…

Vestas plans to lay off approximately 220 colleagues in Denmark and Great Britain, following the integration of Vestas and recently acquired MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW). The integration of the two companies includes combining, expanding, and simplifying existing functions within Vestas to meet market demand and create synergies. In the integration planning, the company has seen synergies across several functions, which will unfortunately entail redundancies. The majority of lay offs will be in Denmark. No layoffs are expected of hourly paid employees. “Since we announced the agreement to acquire MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, we have meticulously planned how we can build…

Eneco and European Energy have joined forces with the purpose of submitting a proposal for the Thor offshore wind farm tender. To that purpose they have established the joint venture, Swan Wind, that has just been qualified by the Danish Energy Agency to participate in the tender on Thor offshore wind farm. Both companies look forward to delivering a strong bid that contributes to Denmark’s goal of reducing its carbon emissions to 70% below its 1990 levels by 2030. “We find that having a Danish partner offers strong local benefits. European Energy brings the regulatory experience, stakeholder management and other…

Equinor has been selected to provide New York State with offshore wind power in one of the largest renewable energy procurements in the U.S. to date. Under the award, Equinor and incoming strategic partner bp will provide generation capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) renewable offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2, and another 1,230 MW of power from Beacon Wind 1 – adding to the existing commitment to provide New York with 816 MW of renewable power from Empire Wind 1 – totaling 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of power to the State. The execution of the procurement award is subject to…

Siemens Gamesa has closed its Somozas (La Coruña) and Cuenca plants and will present a collective dismissal agreement for up to 266 employees, 215 in Somozas and 51 in Cuenca. The closure of the Somozas factory is a result of a lack of orders for the SG 2.X-114 model produced at the plant, and because it would be unable to competitively produce larger blade models demanded by the market. Specifically, the company has no confirmed orders for this blade model in Spain in 2021 and there are no plans to have any projects with this turbine in the future, as…

Vattenfall and Kaunis Iron have signed a letter of intent to develop fossil-free and electrified mining operations at the iron ore mine in Pajala, Sweden. The collaboration means finding business solutions to reduce the need for fossil fuels in the mining operations. Here, future wind power projects such as Käymävaara and Selkävaara can play an important role. “We have high ambitions when it comes to not merely meeting the requirements already in place for sustainability. We have expressed our vision that we will supply the world’s most sustainable iron ore. This is an important step in achieving that goal.” Klas…

Vikram Solar, India’s leading module manufacturer, Solar EPC player and O&M solutions provider has launched its Series 6 modules- Somera and Prexos, with next-generation M6 type of cells– a superior, advanced technology module. The new Series 6 modules will provide higher power output of up to 505 watt-peak (Wp) and an efficiency of more than 21%. The Series 6 modules are also cost-effective as it reduces the overall project cost and increases project-level cost savings for the customers. The specially designed modules have less land requirements, subsequently leading to reduced costs pertaining to cabling, civil works, and Operations and Maintenance…

SunPower will close SunPower Manufacturing Oregon, its solar panel manufacturing plant in Hillsboro, Oregon. The decision to close the plant will impact approximately 170 employees. SunPower will provide all impacted employees with comprehensive separation packages, including severance, work transition assistance and six months of COBRA for continuation of health insurance coverage. “We made the difficult but necessary decision to close our plant after careful evaluation and the change in focus of our business over recent months. We recognize how hard this is for all the employees impacted and are dedicated to helping them through this transition.”Tom Werner, CEO and chairman…