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- Category: Publishers Note
Focus on Storage, Smart Energy Solutions and Component Technology Advances
WindEnergy Hamburg will be held from 27 to 30 September. Once again it will be the global business platform for companies in the wind industry, with more than 1,200 exhibitors from over 30 nations presenting their latest products and services for onshore and offshore in a total of nine exhibition halls.
The event will feature national pavilions presenting the wind companies of the respective countries – a total of 18 pavilions are currently registered. The largest country presentation, filling a whole exhibition hall, is from Denmark, with 90 exhibitors. Other pavilions are from European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Turkey. And the Basque Country makes its presentation in its own pavilion with companies from the offshore sector. The wind energy markets in North and South America will be present with joint pavilions from Argentina, the USA and Canada. Asia is there too, with a national pavilion from China.
- Category: Publishers Note
Brexit and consolidation
On 23 June the UK population voted to leave the EU and although it is difficult to tell what the full consequences of this are it is clear that the renewables industry in the UK will be affected by it. In the short term not much will change, since running projects will be finished as planned. Also the negotiations of a Brexit will take at least two years and during this period the UK is still a EU member country.
- Category: Publishers Note
Offshore wind industry is confident of driving costs down by 2020
This year Global Offshore Wind will be organised in Manchester, UK, from 21 to 22 June. A big theme for the offshore wind business is to bring down the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) to be more competitive with other energy sources. And, according to a report from ORE Catapult (the second Cost Reduction Monitoring Framework), the industry is confident of driving costs below GBP 100/MWh by 2020 on the back of long-term market certainty. Offshore wind costs are falling fast, with 12 of 13 cost indicators on or ahead of target. The report shows that investment in turbine technology has delivered significant cost benefits, but that further reduction will need to come from the innovations in ‘balance of plant’, such as foundations, cables and substations. The report warns that investment in research and development and manufacturing industrialisation to deliver such improvements will only come with greater visibility of future rates of deployment and market size as government sets out details of contracts for new offshore wind farms.
- Category: Publishers Note
Records and Developments in the USA and Europe
In 2015 the US wind market saw good performance, with 8.6GW of added capacity, the strongest growth since 2012. Also Congress extended renewable energy usage tax credits by another five years. It looks like the US market is entering a new era and will flourish again, which is good news for all of us. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) will organise its annual show in New Orleans from 23 till 26 May. The set-up of the show differs a little from the past few years, with the exhibit hall and the educational sessions situated in one contiguous space. This set-up will help increase the interaction between the exhibitors and attendees of the show and hopefully the show will become a lively event again as it used to be before the global financial crisis. Of course Windtzech International will be present in New Orleans, so feel free to come along to pick up your personal copy of the magazine at the media point and/or to say hello.
- Category: Publishers Note
Growth in Europe and Around the World
Normally around this time of the year many of us are preparing for the annual wind energy conference organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). But EWEA has recently signed an agreement with Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH to host its annual conference in parallel with the WindEnergy Hamburg exhibition at least till 2020 and thus has given up its spot in the first part of the year.
- Category: Publishers Note
Long-term consistent policies appear on the horizon
In my Publisher’s Note from the beginning of this year (and in many others over the years too) I urged for a long-term and consistent policy to really develop a global stable base market. And, finally, it looks like we might be heading that way based on events that happened in December 2015!
- Category: Publishers Note
Can global wind installations double in 5 years?
According to Anders Runevad, CEO of Vestas, cumulative wind energy installations worldwide may double within 5 years as falling costs help producers compete with conventional power. It is true that wind has become more competitive with conventional energy sources. recent study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) shows that the global average levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind decreased from US$ 85 per MWh to US$ 83 in 2015. On average the LCOE for conventional energy sources such as coal-fired generation and combined-cycle gas turbine generation increased in the same period to US$ 92.