Emu Ltd has recently taken delivery of a Reson SeaBat 8101 Multibeam Echosounder. The integrated multibeam system also comprises Reson PDS2000 data acquisition and processing software, a Reson SVP-15 sound velocity probe and a TSS MAHRS attitude and heading sensor. The SeaBat 8101 will enable Emu Ltd to conduct bathymetric surveys in extremely testing environments of strong currents and high turbidity within lakes, rivers, estuaries, channels and coastal areas. The small object detection capability and characteristic clean data has already been proven as the system is currently being used in offshore wind farm site surveys.

Acciona Energía, through its renewable energy subsidiary EHN, has signed an agreement with Energías Renovables Mediterráneas (Renomar) to construct 21 turnkey wind farms totalling 793MW. This contract, including the infrastructure related to the wind farm’s energy output, represents € 850 million (including taxes). Renomar’s work in the field of wind energy has begun with the construction of three wind farms in the north of the province of Castellón, Spain, totalling 124.5MW, and the construction of several other wind farms will begin this year. The company expects to complete the implementation of its wind power plan in three years. Renomar, jointly owned at 50% by the Valencia-based company Med Wind and EHN, the renewable subsidiary of the Acciona Group, will carry out most of the project with wind turbines of INGETUR technology. Renomar will install 453 turbines of the IT-1500 model, representing a total installed capacity of 679.5MW (86.5% of the total). The remainder –113.9MW – will consist of 134 model G52-850 wind turbines. The electricity produced in these ten wind farms in the north of Castellón province will be sent to the grid through a 400kV substation constructed by REE in the municipality of Morella.

The Soderglen Wind Project, which will be Canada’s largest merchant wind plant and one of the largest wind facilities in the Canadian province of Alberta when it enters operation, will feature 47 of GE Energy's 1.5MW wind turbines. The 70.5MW project, being developed through a joint venture between GW Power Corporation and Nexen Inc, will begin construction in the autumn of 2005 with completion scheduled for the summer of 2006. The Soderglen project has been approved to receive the Canadian Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI), which provides qualifying projects with payments of 1.0 Canadian cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from wind energy. In support of expanding renewable energy's contribution to Canada’s electricity mix, the Canadian government recently increased its original 1,000MW WPPI to 4,000MW.

Flight trials have commenced to demonstrate a technical solution that, if successful, will be used to iron out objections to wind farms from the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and individual airport operators. Government and industry have been working together to better understand the cause of the radar impact for several years but this is the first time they have come together with a potential mitigation solution. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) members are financially supporting BAE Systems to lead the science behind the technology, known as the Advanced Digital Tracker (ADT). The ADT will be fitted to a portable radar provided by the MOD. The mobile air traffic control radar is being temporarily sited in mid Wales. The site in Wales has been chosen for the trials as it is situated in the region of four working wind farms of various sizes, scales and models of wind turbines, which will collectively provide the most rigorous test for the technology. Various types of aircraft will fly over the wind farms and the ADT will be investigated to establish whether the radar can register the aircraft while not cluttering the screen with similar images caused by the wind turbines’ rotating blades. The results obtained will then be analysed at BAE Systems. The results of the trials will be available by October 2005. If successful, the ADT could be on the market to tackle site-specific wind farm issues by the end of 2006.

The Vestas Group’s positive expectations for the Italian market have been confirmed by receipt of orders for a total of 36 units of the V80-2.0MW wind turbine. The turnkey orders have been placed by a joint venture between the Italian developer Fri-El GreenPower and companies of the French EDF Group. The contracts comprise turbines, monitoring system, transport, installation and commissioning, as well as electrical and civil infrastructure. The turbines will be installed in 2005 and 2006 in four adjacent wind parks. The wind parks, which will have a combined capacity of 72MW, are located in the Puglia region, in the south of Italy. The four sites stretch over the commune of Sant’Agata di Puglia.

Gamesa Eólica has agreed five new contracts with the Italian companies Windpower Sud Srl, Enpower Srl and the Moncada Construzioni Srl Group for the supply of 136 wind turbines with 850kW of unitary power destined for various wind farms located on the island of Sicily. These 136 wind turbines, 126 of which correspond to the G58-850kW model and the remaining 10 to the G52-850kW model, together account for the installation of an overall output of 116MW. Of the 136 wind turbines, 44 are to be delivered to the Monte Petrasi wind farm, 28 to the Narbone wind farm, 21 to the Malvizzo wind farm, 33 to the Durrá wind farm and the remaining 10 wind turbines, which are to be supplied without towers, to the Monte Mele wind farm, all located in Agrigento, on the Italian island of Sicily. These new contracts, which record a value in excess of € 76 million, include the supply of the wind turbines, their installation and commissioning, and also their operation and maintenance. Assembly work is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2005.