GE will supply Finnish wind farm. General Electric (GE) announced at the end of May that it would deliver 16 Cypress onshore wind turbines for the 88 MW Puskakorpi wind farm in Finland. Each 5.6 MW 158 turbine is installed under a 30-year full-service contract. The project was jointly developed by Finland's Smart Windpower Oy, Mincovest Oy and GE Renewable Energy. GE Energy Financial Services (EFS) was also a partner on the project and has taken out the long-term project finance debt. GE EFS was also responsible for sourcing an investor for the project, which was acquired by Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners, a Luxembourg special limited partnership for which Foresight Group LLP is the portfolio manager. The sole lender is Societe Generale, a leading bank in the field of renewable energy financing. The project marks Foresight's first onshore wind investment in Finland and its first partnership with GE's onshore wind technology. The facility is expected to play an important role in supporting the Finnish target of 50% of its final energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2030. The project is scheduled to go into commercial operation at the end of 2022. The construction contracts are carried out by Suvic Oy. executed as civil and electrical balancing of the system builder and Ramboll as construction manager of the project Both companies have experience in the Finnish market. GE Renewable Energy now has more than 1.5 GW of committed onshore wind capacity in the Nordic countries for its Cypress platform.
Companies work together to recycle wind turbines. GE Renewable Energy announced two wind turbine recycling announcements in mid-June and entered into separate agreements with neowa, a Germany-based waste recycling company, and LafargeHolcim, a Switzerland-based building materials group. The deal with neowa includes the dismantling of decommissioned German onshore wind turbines and the recycling of components, including rotor blades, as part of a partial or complete repowering. GE and neowa also announced that they will jointly investigate expanding neowa blade recycling technology across Europe. The agreement includes neowa’s move to offer GE Renewable Energy and its customers deinstallation services, including the dismantling and removal of decommissioned turbines from the turbine block and recycling of various components. neowa said it will recycle up to 90% of the wind turbine mass and use its proprietary process and tools to shred wind turbine blades – including the glass fibers – into different sized pellets that will be used as feedstock in production. of cement. The agreement with LafargeHolcim involves exploring new ways to recycle wind blades, including using them as building materials to build new wind farms. The companies said the partnership was another step in moving companies towards circular solutions for the energy sector after the European Commission adopted a circular economy action plan as part of the European Green Deal. According to GE Renewable Energy, around 10 GW of older turbines in Europe are to be repowered or decommissioned by 2025.
Siemens builds special gas works in Bavaria. Siemens Energy announced in mid-June that it would build a new turnkey gas-fired power plant as network-related special equipment in Leipheim in southwest Bavaria as part of a contract with the German energy supplier LEAG. The plant is being built on a former military base. The grid support system is operated by grid manager Amprion in order to support grid stability – especially in emergency situations – and to guarantee a reliable power supply in southern Germany. The companies emphasized that the gas-fired power plant serves exclusively to protect and ensure the reliability of the transmission network. According to the Energy Industry Act, it will not be available for the free energy market. The Leipheim plant will be able to supply power generation capacities of up to 300 MW for up to 30 minutes. Together with LEAG, Siemens Energy will initially operate and maintain the system for a period of five years. The system is operated by the Siemens Remote Support Center in Erlangen, Bavaria. In addition to turnkey construction, operation and maintenance, Siemens is supplying an SGT5-4000F gas turbine, an SGen-2000P generator and the SPPA-T3000 control system. Siemens is also supplying an intake air cooling system and equipment for injecting desalinated water into the gas turbine.
Wind Project is about adding storage. The independent power producer Lekela Power has commissioned Denmark's DNV to carry out a feasibility study for Lekela’s energy storage project in the Taiba N'Diaye wind farm in Senegal. The plant in Tivaouane has a capacity of 158.7 MW and provides 15% of the electricity produced in Senegal. Lekela Power, a joint venture between UK mutual fund Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power, selected DNV to provide risk management and insurance expertise. DNV's study is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Development. Lekela Power said in a statement that DNV will help “develop the technical specifications of the battery storage system to ensure a successful technical solution that will provide services to the grid over time”. [the farm’s] Lifespan of up to 20 years. ”DNV is also helping with the negotiations on the power purchase agreement (PPA) for the project between Lekela Power and Senelec, Senegal's national electricity supplier. Lekela is planning a battery energy storage system (BESS) that can store up to 40 MW of electricity and provide up to 175 MWh of electricity. Construction of the BESS is scheduled to begin next year.
Storage part of Malawi Solar Farm. A Chinese company has placed an order to supply an energy storage system for a solar power system in Malawi. Sungrow Power Supply announced in late May that it would add a 5 MW / 10 MWh BESS configuration and supply the inverters for the 20 MW Golomoti solar power plant in the Dezda district. The project is being developed and built by JCM Power and InfraCo Africa with financial support from Energy Catalyst, Rina Tech UK and Innovate UK. Sungrow said it will install its medium voltage or medium voltage solution, which includes an inverter, substation and power conversion system, as well as the BESS and energy management system. The electricity generated by the Golomoti solar plant is sold to the state-owned Electricity Supply Corp. as part of a PPA. of Malawi (Escom). Also in May, Sungrow announced that it had received an order to supply inverters for the 200 MW Kom Ombo solar power plant in Egypt, the country's largest private solar project to date. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the OPEC Fund for International Development, the African Development Bank, the Green Climate Fund and the Arab Bank support the Kom Ombo project with a financing package of 114 million US dollars with ACWA Power.
Wärtsilä commissions two energy storage projects. The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä announced that it has signed several energy storage agreements with SMC Global Power Holdings Inc. through its subsidiary Universal Power Solutions Inc. in the Philippines. The first two projects, Integrated Renewable Power Hub-Toledo and BCCPP, Limay, Bataan, were finally put into operation in May. The projects have capacities of 20 MW / 20 MWh or 40 MW / 40 MWh. These are the first energy storage systems that Wärtsilä is delivering to the Philippines. The projects were carried out on an engineering, procurement and construction basis and include Wärtsilä's own software and hardware solutions. The systems include the company's GridSolv Max system, a standardized energy storage solution that, in addition to the advanced GEMS Digital Energy Platform, offers flexible and modular storage of the systems' key hardware assets, including batteries, a security and fire alarm system, and inverters.
Pharma Group installs solar on the roof. Cleantech Solar announced in June that it had commissioned a photovoltaic rooftop solar system for Kotra Pharma, a Malaysian pharmaceutical company, for this group's research and production center in Melaka. The solar project is operated as part of a long-term PPA in which Cleantech Solar is responsible for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the system during the term of the contract. The Melaka facility is the center of Kotra Pharma's research, development and manufacturing activities. The 600 kW solar system is expected to generate around 790 MWh of electricity in the first year. ■
—Darrell Proctor is the Senior Associate Editor at POWER.