WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin March 2018
27 February 2018
Giles Dickson
CEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope Member,
You may have seen that last month we released our 2017 wind installation and investment statistics.
The headline news was we installed a record 15.6 GW of new capacity last year, taking us to a total 169 GW. 12.5 GW was onshore and 3.1 GW was offshore. Wind now accounts for 12% of Europe’s electricity consumption. 2017 was also a record year for new investments in future wind farms. 11.5 GW worth of projects reached Final Investment Decision (FID): 9GW in onshore and 2.5 GW in offshore. But the value of these investments, €22.3bn, was 19% down on 2016. This of course reflects cost/price reductions. Each unit of new capacity now requires less investment.
We’re not getting too excited about these figures though. A large number of projects ‘squeezed through the gates’ last year to benefit from feed-in-tariffs or other old support schemes. This was especially so in Germany: 5.3 GW of new onshore. And in the UK which installed 2.5 GW onshore – whilst Renewable Obligation Certificates were still available. France squeezed through 1.7 GW of new onshore too.
The medium- and longer-term outlooks for wind are uncertain. The transition to auctions has been messier than we’d hoped. Crucially, we’re still lacking clarity from many governments on their post-2020 renewables ambitions. We need this visibility to allow us to plan ahead and reduce costs. It will also allow others such as Transmission System Operators to plan the necessary infrastructure build-out.
It’s now clear given the expansion of renewables and the cost reductions that Europe can deliver on a 35% renewables target for 2030. A 35% target is not just affordable, it’s economically desirable. The difference between a 27% and 35% EU renewables target is 132,000 jobs and €92bn worth of investments. What will be the target is still under negotiation between the EU Member States and the European Parliament as they finalise the EU’s “Clean Energy Package” for 2030. The Parliament is insisting on 35%. The Member States are officially still backing 27%, though many have now said they could back something higher. The fact that Germany is now at last forming a new Government, and one that has an ambitious domestic renewables target (65% of electricity by 2030), could be helpful. We may end up with a target of 30%.
Many of you joined us recently for our Grids meet Renewables event in Brussels. The main takeaways were the need to be even more strategic about new grid investments, that they should reflect and support the planned further expansion of wind, and that grid (and wind) investors need to be even more inclusive in their engagement of external stakeholders and the general public. You can read more about the event here.
In other news, Germany announced the results of its first onshore wind auction of 2018, the first under new rules. Prices were up slightly (average €47.3/MWh) but there was fair competition between all the bidders this time. And community projects were still among the winners, even having to bid with a permit this time.
France also just had an onshore wind auction. The average winning price was €65 MW/h. This was lower than the current tariff for smaller projects (€72 MW/h) and the €82 MW/h Feed-in Tariff previously awarded. We should not be too quick to compare this with auction results in other countries. Project lead-time in France is long, seven to nine years on average, and once you apply for your permit at the start of the process it’s almost impossible to update it later on with the latest technology. That leads to higher prices.
Finally, a date for your diary: harnessing big data to optimise operations and maintenance is a major part of improving the performance of wind technology. Our 2018 technical workshop – Analysis of Operating Wind Farms, 15-16 May in Vilnius – will look at this.
Members’ interview feature
In February 2018, WindEurope conducted an interview with Tony Inglis, Managing Director of MPI Offshore. We discussed the impact of recent offshore technological developments, regulatory and cross-border challenges for international businesses, bottom-fixed vs floating wind technology, and much more.
Read interview
Members’ successes
Sentient Science Named Industry Leader in Wind Turbine Life Extension by Frost & Sullivan
Sentient uncovers a 68% difference in the life of wind turbine components and systems using physical test verses live data.
Frost & Sullivan, a Growth Partnership firm, has recognized Sentient Science and its flagship DigitalClone life extension solution for wind turbines with their New Product Innovation Award for Wind Prognostics.
The award recognizes that Sentient’s DigitalClone software has addressed the challenges in accurately predicting mechanical failure of wind turbines beyond the capabilities of simply monitoring. Sentient’s DigitalClone software provides a solution that will extend the life of wind turbines past their expected design life and financing models.
The DigitalClone platform is designed to reduce the cost of wind energy today by 13% of revenues, using advances in materials science, over a 1% to 2% savings coming from data science alone. It does this by keeping assets healthy, through life extension of subcomponents and systems, and by incorporating the supply chains in an integrated platform to provide critical parts and services when and where they’re needed.
Sentient’s platform is now under contract for over 30 GW of GE, Siemens and Vestas wind turbines, and the company is just beginning operations in China.
“We learned that there are significant differences between physical testing done in a lab and live data from fielded assets, and those differences are affecting the life of wind assets,” said Ward Thomas, CEO and President of Sentient Science.
Accuracy measurements for life extension studies dropped from a high of 98% in 2016, when compared against physical testing, to 30% using live data from field assets – a 68% difference. This finding has implications for OEM design of new components used for life extension and why suppliers are looking to partner with Sentient Science.
Ørsted select Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy as exclusive supplier for world’s biggest offshore wind farm
Ørsted has selected Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) as the exclusive supplier for the wind turbines for Hornsea Project Two, which will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm when operational in 2022.
The project will deploy the SGRE 8 MW turbine, with the majority of the turbine blades delivered from the SGRE facility in Hull.
As part of the agreement, SGRE also plans to partly source the wind turbine towers from the UK. Speaking about the selection of SGRE, Duncan Clark, Programme Director for Hornsea Project Two at Ørsted, said: “Hornsea Project Two is a game-changing renewable energy project in terms of both size and cost, and this selection is an important step in the procurement and construction process.”
Hornsea Project Two will be built 89 kilometres from the Yorkshire coast and has a capacity of 1.4 GW. It will produce enough green energy to power over 1.3 million UK homes. Hornsea Project Two will be operated from Ørsted’s new operations and maintenance hub in Grimsby, where construction is underway.
Nordex receives contract for two wind farms in Greece
The Nordex Group has received a contract for the construction of two neighbouring wind farms in Avlaki, Εtoloakarnania, Greece. The manufacturer will be installing 16 wind turbines of the N117/2400 and N100/2500 series.
The customer is Hellenic Capital Partners (HCP), on behalf of a private equity fund managed by the company and focused on investments in renewable energy assets in Greece. Deliverables include the servicing of the turbines over a period of 15 years. Nordex will also establish a service station in the vicinity of the farms.
Both projects are expected to be feeding clean power into the grid by the end of 2018. “This will allow us to grow in this windintensive market and extend our presence there,” says Patxi Landa, Chief Sales Officer of Nordex SE. “This is a key step for our business in Europe.”
Factory roll-out takes place for the first nacelle of Rentel’s 309 MW Offshore Wind farm
This nacelle will now go into storage close to the load-out ramp where it will be conditioned and await the first shipment to the REBO Site in Ostend, planned for early March 2018.
The different parts of the nacelle were assembled in separate production lines for the generator, hub and back end. They were then ‘clicked’ together at the end of the assembly lines, after which rotational and system tests were conducted.
All relevant offshore wind turbine components such as nacelles, blades, towers and electrical modules, will be shipped to the REBO Site in Ostend (Belgium) where additional assembly activities (tower assembly) and load-out on the installation vessel takes place.
EU Projects
Horizon 2020 – Upcoming calls for proposals
On 15 March 2018 the European Commission will open a new call for proposals for Research & Innovation projects under the Horizon 2020 programme.
The topic of the call is “Cybersecurity in the Electrical Power and Energy System (EPES): an armour against cyber and privacy attacks”. Proposals should aim to increase security and resilience of the EPES against cyberattacks through various measures, including novel designs. The Commission expect proposals to ask for a funding contribution of €6-8 million.
Proposals are encouraged to include the following types of entities: TSO, DSO, electricity generators, utilities, equipment manufacturers, aggregators, energy retailers, and technology providers.
They should also foresee activities and envisage resources for clustering with other relevant projects in the field funded by H2020, in particular under the BRIDGE initiative.
The call will close on 23 August 2018.
The topic identifier for this topic is SU-DS04-2018-2020.
INNWIND.EU breakfast event: How next generation offshore wind turbines can contribute to LCOE reduction
On Wednesday 21 February, WindEurope organised a breakfast event in Brussels titled Next generation offshore wind turbines – meeting our cost reduction challenge.
The event saw leading academic and industry representatives gather with representatives of the European Commission to explain the latest research on the development of large wind turbines. Experts highlighted how cutting-edge 10-20 MW offshore wind turbines could reduce energy costs and facilitate the integration of wind in the energy system, playing a critical role in providing clean, secure and affordable energy to EU citizens.
The research comes from a 7th Framework Programme project, INNWIND.EU, led by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) which ended in December 2017. Its objectives included the conceptual design of beyond-state-of-the-art 10-20 MW offshore wind turbines and hardware demonstrators of their critical components.
Key messages of the event included:
- Large integrating projects are an efficient way to mobilize the use of European research capacity to develop more competitive technology and industry;
- Innovations in the project an overall LCOE reduction of more than 30% compared to the reference 5 MW turbine;
- There is a need to bring costs further down for big offshore turbines.
Events
Global Wind Summit: last stands available for the world’s largest wind energy gathering
Time is running out if you haven’t booked your stand for the Global Wind Summit 2018!
The Global Wind Summit is the world’s largest wind energy gathering:
- 35,000 people from 50 countries
- More than 1,400 exhibitors from 34 countries
- More than 500 oral and poster presentations by top experts from all around the globe
This event combines WindEnergy Hamburg, the world’s leading wind energy expo, and the WindEurope Conference, – where industry experts will put you at the forefront of market, political and technological innovations.
Only a few exhibition spaces remain for the WindEnergy Hamburg expo. This is where market leaders and emerging players from all over the world will meet, network and do business.
Do not miss your chance to maximise your visibility at this truly global event.
For more information on the expo, please contact Andreas Arnheim.
Global Wind Summit: Final month to submit an abstract
Call for abstracts deadline: 4 April
The call for abstracts for the WindEurope Conference at the Global Wind Summit 2018 is closing on 4th April. The Global Wind summit is the world’s largest wind energy event – conference speakers will be presenting their work to a truly global audience.
Learn how write an impactful abstract: Register for our webinar on writing abstracts for WindEurope conferences.
Submit your abstract today: See here for guidelines and submission forms
Webinar: how to write impactful abstracts for WindEurope conferences
When: Thu, Mar 8, 2018 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM CET
By organising this webinar, WindEurope invites its members to learn about the conference programme development, with a special focus on the abstract selection process.
WindEurope Conference & Exhibition 2019
When: 2 – 4 April 2019
Where: Bilbao
The 2019 WindEurope Conference & Exhibition in Bilbao will build on the tremendous momentum achieved in recent years by wind power. Over 8,000 industry insiders and more than 400 exhibitors will gather to expand their knowledge base, make the contacts they need, and shape the vision for the industry going forward.
Registration now open: Analysis of Operating Wind Farms – Technology Workshop
When: 15 – 16 May
Where: Vilnius
The 2018 edition of Analysis of Operating Wind Farms Technology Workshop will focus on big data and innovative approaches to boost performance and optimise O&M strategies.
See here for a detailed list of the topics we will address.
Interested in exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities? See here for more information
Save the date: RE-Source 2018 – Connecting renewable energy buyers and sellers
After the enormous success of last year’s inaugural RE-Source event, SolarPower Europe and WindEurope are proud to announce the second edition of the biggest corporate renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) event in Europe: RE-Source 2018. Organised in partnership with RE100 and WBCSD, RE-Source 2018 will allow renewable energy buyers and sellers to connect and capitalise on the corporate renewable PPA boom.
Visit resource-event.eu for more information.
