Wind Industry Highlights - August 2014

Highlights from recent news reported by  North American WINDPOWER:

Court Orders N.J. BPU to Reconsider Fishermen's Energy Offshore Wind Project
An appellate superior court in New Jersey has ruled in favor of Fisherman’s Energy (Cape May, N.J., USA), requiring the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to reconsider the developer's application for the 25 MW offshore wind demonstration project off the coast of Atlantic City. The company has received a $47 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, Washington, D.C.), but has struggled with the local government. The BPU denied its project application in April, claiming that the alleged energy price of $263/MWh was too high; however, Fishermen’s has maintained that its actual proposed price was $199.17/MWh.

U.K. Wind Power Sets New Generation Record
On Sunday, Aug. 17 wind power generated 22 percent of the U.K.’s electricity, a record high. This beats the previous 24-hour record of 21 percent set earlier this month on Aug. 11, according to RenewableUK.

First Commercial Siemens 6 MW Turbine Installed in U.K.
The first Siemens (Munich, Germany) 6 MW turbine has been successfully erected at the 210 MW Westermost Rough offshore wind farm in the U.K. A total of 35 will be installed. This project — a joint venture split 50 percent DONG Energy (Fredericia, Denmark), 25 percent Marubeni Corp. (Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan) and 25 percent the U.K. Green Investment Bank (Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.) — is the commercial scale installation of the Siemens 6 MW turbines. DONG Energy says the machines, which feature a 154m/505-ft diameter rotor and have been tested on demonstration sites, allow the farm to produce more energy output using fewer turbines.

Nordex Reports Solid Progress in First Half 2014
In the first half of 2014, turbine maker Nordex (Hamburg, Germany) achieved a 23.4 percent year-over-year increase in sales to EUR 815.4 million, and its earnings more than doubled to EUR 37.1 million from the same period last year. Nordex says that while its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business remained stable, the company grew in new Latin America and Asia markets. Sales in the Americas, in particular, rose at a three-digit rate.

Poll: Majority of Americans Want Their Utilities to Use More Renewables
According to a new report from General Electric’s (GE, Schenectady, N.Y., USA) Digital Energy business, 81 percent of U.S. utility customers expect their utility provider to use higher levels of renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal biogas to meet their future energy needs. That is just one of many findings from GE's Grid Resiliency Survey, which was conducted by Harris Poll (Rochester, N.Y., USA) and measures the U.S. public's current perception of the power grid, experiences and future expectations.

MAKE Report Says Oversupply of Wind Turbine Components Remains a Problem
According to the report “Global Wind Turbine Supply Chain 2014” issued by MAKE Consulting (Aarhus, Denmark) oversupply of critical wind turbine components continue to challenge the global wind energy supply base. Supply of blades, nacelles and gearboxes is approximately 50 percent, 80 percent and 90 percent in excess of global demand, respectively. The report goes on to say that although the supply-demand gap has closed over the last 12 months, persistent overcapacity continues to negatively impact pricing and furthers the case for additional consolidation throughout the supply chain. However, the report notes that the divestment of non-core production assets and increased focus on higher-margin-yielding operations and maintenance business allowed several turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to return to profitability in 2013.