Author: Anela Dokso

Ocean Power Technologies has launched its newest product, the hybrid PowerBuoy. The hybrid PowerBuoy utilizes solar panels and a clean-burning Stirling backup engine to power topside or subsea payloads. Power is generated independent of wave activity. The hybrid PowerBuoy can be utilized across many industries and applications, including emergency and short-term power and communications support for maintenance, testing and repair services. It can be configured with OPT’s marine surveillance solution for security monitoring of offshore areas. Customized solutions are also available, including the addition of subsea sensors to monitor for acoustic signatures, tsunami, and other environmental conditions. Data from the hybrid PowerBuoy is…

Minesto and SEV’s joint tidal energy demonstration project in Vestmannasund, Faroe Islands, is moving forward with the installation work at full speed to connect Minesto’s DG100 kite system to the electricity grid. Earlier Minesto completed the first offshore installation phase of the project, when the gravity-based foundation for the power plant was installed at the site. In 2018, Minesto signed an agreement with SEV to install two DG100 units in Vestmannasund. The agreement also included a power purchase agreement through which SEV committed to purchase the electricity generated by the tidal energy converters. “The team is doing a terrific job and…

European Energy has signed the divestment of Viertkamp wind farm, which consists of four 3.6 MW Vestas V126 turbines in Northern Germany, with Hamburg-based Encavis. With a total capacity of 14.4 MW, Viertkamp will generate approximately 50.000 MWh per year, delivering green electricity to more than 12,500 German households. “Encavis is one of the leading independent power producers in Europe and we greatly appreciated our collaboration with them. We have a common focus on delivering green energy from wind and solar, and we hope that we can build on this collaboration in the coming years.”Knud Erik Andersen, CEO of European…

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has, on behalf of the Australian Government, provided $5 million in funding to TransGrid to conduct a detailed feasibility study to develop the proposed Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in New South Wales (NSW). The $16.2 million study will assess the technical and commercial options for the development of new high voltage transmission lines to enable Australia’s first coordinated REZ and demonstrate a pathway for future REZs across the National Electricity Market. The Central-West Orana REZ will unlock more than 3,000 MW of new electricity generation by the mid-2020s, enough to power around 1.3…

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has conducted an analysis proving that hydrogen has the greatest potential among technologies for seasonal energy storage in the future. Seasonal energy storage can facilitate the deployment of high and ultra-high shares of wind and solar energy sources, according to Omar Guerra, a research engineer at NREL and lead author of a new paper, ‘The value of seasonal energy storage technologies for the integration of wind and solar power.’ Guerra’s co-authors, all from NREL, are Jiazi Zhang, Joshua Eichman, Paul Denholm, Jennifer Kurtz, and Bri-Mathias Hodge. They developed a multi-model approach that considers both the…

 ZeroAvia has conducted the first ever electric-powered flight of a commercial-scale aircraft carried out in the UK. The company completed the first flight of the new version of its powertrain from its  base at Cranfield Airport.​ ZeroAvia is focused on developing a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. Hydrogen-electric offers the same zero-emission potential of battery-electric, but has a much more promising energy-to-weight ratio, making it viable for commercial operations at a much larger scale and in a shorter time frame, the company explained. ​Beyond HyFlyer, ZeroAvia plans commercially relevant, certified 10-20 seat configurations ready to go within three years, and 50-100…

Smulders has completed the load-out of the first two jackets for Moray East offshore wind farm at its facility in Newcastle upon Tyne. The jackets are going to the port of Nigg, which was chosen as the foundations staging port for the construction of the offshore wind farm. According to Smulders, the installation of the jackets will take place shortly at the project site located 22 km off the Caithness coast. The company will deliver 55 wind turbine jacket foundations for the project from its facility in Newcastle, with the remaining 45 being delivered by Lamprell from its Sharjah and Hamriyah yards…

CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering (CDWE), an offshore wind EPCI contractor, has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the construction of ‘Green Jade’, the first floating DP3 heavy lift and installation vessel to be built in Taiwan. Green Jade will feature a combination of high transport and load capacity, lifting heights and green technology. The new vessel will be built at CSBC in Kaohsiung and is set to be delivered in 2022. CDWE was established at the end of 2018 by CSBC, the largest shipbuilder in Taiwan, and DEME Offshore. Green Jade highlights CDWE’s ambitions to further support development of the offshore wind industry in…

CS Energy has completed a 4.5 MWdc solar project installed with a 3.8 MWh lithium-ion storage solution on a landfill cap site located in Amesbury, Massachusetts. The largest solar plus storage system to be completed to date is part of a partnership between the City of Amesbury and Kearsarge Energy. The project was one of the first solar plus energy storage projects to participate in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program. “CS Energy has a significant market share in the solar-plus-storage business. We are strategically scaling up our energy storage division and growing our register of successfully completed projects.…

Triton Knoll offshore wind farm’s operations and maintenance base on Grimsby’s Royal Dock has been handed over to Innogy’s Triton Knoll team by the contractor Tolent. Once fully fitted out, the operations and maintenance facility will become the long term regional home for a team of technicians and support staff, responsible for maintaining the offshore wind farm for the next 25 years. Built across almost four acres of quayside, it features an open plan office space, complete with a control room, meeting rooms, canteen and gym, with associated showers and locker rooms, as well as a new warehouse facility that…