Special Focus – Wind Power in the EU
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 www.renewableenergyfocus.com January/February 2009 Special focus – Wind power in the EU inside: Obama: prospects for alternative energy Can solar PV beat the downturn? Small wonders: biomass from algae RENEWABLE ENERGY FOCUS ENERGY RENEWABLE Hydrogen production from renewables $(*&&5*6%&!!&!*&+!'%#$#%& 7#&+7*8!$#+*65!&$%$! (9)#+ ! % : ;< ; = . > ; > .: ; > ; . ? ! % : ; . ; = . : > > ; 7:7 * ;, $ : "= .. @ ; A6 = != #= #; % ? > 8 , $: > . ! % ; > ; ;>: > ); -: ;> . : ; ". : ;..: ". !"#$!$%%&%!'(#)#$*$$!&+ , -+.. ,//001230/ .4 Editorial Many believe that the USA could very quickly become the next signifi cant growth engine for the renewables industry. Er, show me the money? By the time this editorial is in your hands the US President will have signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 Editor – authorising the David Hopwood spending of US$789 billion. And though the details will become apparent in the [email protected] T +44 1865 843648 coming weeks, early indications are that this could be a major boost for the F +44 1865 843973 renewables industry, with provisions including: Assistant Editor t "OFYUFOTJPOUPUIF1SPEVDUJPO5BY$SFEJU 15$ TVOTFUEBUF Kari Larsen t 5IFBCJMJUZGPSUBYQBZFSTUPFMFDUUPDMBJNUIF*OWFTUNFOU5BY$SFEJU *5$ JOMJFV [email protected], T +44 1865 843639 F +44 1865 843973 PGUIF15$GPSDFSUBJOQSPKFDUT Weekly/News correspondent t 5IF BCJMJUZ GPS UBYQBZFST UP SFDFJWF DBTI HSBOUT JO MJFV PG DMBJNJOH UIF *5$ PS Bill Eggertson [email protected] 15$GPSDFSUBJOQSPKFDUT T +1 613 728 0822 F +1 613 728 2505 Correspondents’ network 5IPTFXIPIBWFCFFOMPCCZJOHGPSZFBSTPOCFIBMGPGUIFSFOFXBCMFTTFDUPSJO Asia/Pacifi c: Richard Mogg; the USA could well be forgiven a wry shake of the head. Financial support for Europe/ROW: George Marsh North America: Don Smith; Paula Mints renewables has, at best, been inconsistent in recent times - and there is an irony Editorial advisory board that it has taken an economic crisis to deliver substantial support for renewables Christine Hornstein Executive Director, ISES UISPVHI UIF OPUJPO UIBU QSPNPUJOH BEWBODFNFOU JO DMFBO FOFSHZ XJMM TVQQPSU [email protected] BO BJMJOH FDPOPNZ XJUI OFX KPCT XIFO USBEJUJPOBMMZ UIF NBJO BSHVNFOU VTFE Bradley Collins against renewables is that the technology isn’t cost competitive with fossil fuels Executive Director, ASES [email protected] and not worth promoting. What a diff erence a year – and a change of President Production/Design Controller - makes. Russell Purdy Marketing Manager Tom Cox 0GDPVSTFHFUUJOHUIFDBTIJTPOFUIJOH TQFOEJOHJUXJMMBQQBSFOUMZCFUIFOFYU [email protected] T +44 1865 843654 hurdle to overcome. New Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu has already gone on F +44 1865 843987 SFDPSEUPTBZUIBUIFMMIBWFUPiUSBOTGPSNwIPXQBSUTPGIJTBHFODZ %P& XPSLT Sales Managers if the President’s stimulus plan is to succeed. Why? Because the stimulus bill Janine Castle [email protected] could see as much as US$40 billion handed over to the Energy Department T +44 (0) 1865 84 3844 F +44 (0) 1865 84 3973 XIJDIIBTBIJTUPSZPGEFMBZT IJHIDPTUT BOEBMBDLPGFYQFSJFODFJOEFBMJOHXJUI Martine Cariou-Keen spending on such a monumental scale. Despite that, the agency will be under [email protected] pressure to hand out money quickly to projects that would modernise the elec- Tel: + 44 (0) 1865 843845 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 843973 tricity grid, build electric cars and make homes and buildings more energy effi - Advertisement sales cient – thus promoting renewable energy. – Germany/Austria/Switzerland: Irene Smetana [email protected] But if this potential banana skin is avoided, many believe that the USA could T +49 (0) 611 880 86-20 F +49 (0) 611 880 86-10 WFSZ RVJDLMZ CFDPNF UIF OFYU TJHOJmDBOU HSPXUI FOHJOF GPS UIF SFOFXBCMFT Commercial Director & Publisher industry, taking over some of the demand from Germany and Spain as modifi ca- Laurence Zipson [email protected] UJPOTUPUIPTFDPVOUSJFT'FFEJO5BSJõT 'J5T LJDLJOBOEQVUUIFCSBLFTPOTPNF T +44 (0) 1865 843 685 of the growth. One thing is certain though: With a new renewable energy direc- F +44 (0) 1865 843 973 Editorial and advertising offi ces tive in the EU now signed into law, and the US President’s signature on the Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, David Hopwood TUJNVMVT QBDLBHF UIFTF BSF JOEFFE FYDJUJOH UJNFT UP CF BDUJWF JO SFOFXBCMF Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Editor energy. renewable energy focus January/February 2009 1 DO WE LOOK WHEN THERE ARE NO FOSSIL FUELS TO LOOK FOR? As the world races on towards development, our fi nite conventional energy supplies continue to deplete. To power sustainable development, we need to look towards renewable, eco-friendly energy sources, like the wind. At Suzlon, we serve your energy needs by providing dependable wind energy solutions backed by excellent customer response and a fully integrated and secure supply chain, which delivers customised solutions to ensure project performance globally. Come to us, so the wind can power the world’s future and yours. www.suzlon.com World’s 5th largest and fastest growing integrated wind turbine manufacturer | 350kW to 2.1MW capacity wind turbines | Workforce of 12,000 people in USA, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, India, Italy, Nicaragua, Portugal, Spain and Turkey | R&D in Germany and The Netherlands | Global Management Headquarters in Amsterdam Contents 13 Contents 01 Editorial 04 News 20 President’s corner 22 Wind: Operation & Maintenance 28 Steve Sawyer/GWEC 30 Carbon 32 Utilities/Renewables Focus: Wind power in the EU 38 EU wind market: an introduction What’s the state of play in the EU wind power marketplace, and how will the 32 financial crisis affect wind players in the Bloc? 46 Harnessing geography for European wind The concept of location intelligence is playing a growing role in the planning, design and siting of European wind farms. 50 Siemens Wind: a profile What does the future hold for the major EU wind player? Interview with ceo Andreas Nauen. 54 Turbine innovation at BWEA30 Solar 58 Full steam ahead for PV in US homes? How will recent tax legislation Stateside 50 affect the takeup of new PV projects? 62 Can Solar PV beat the downturn? Wind 70 Recycling wind turbine blades As more and more material goes into bigger and bigger turbines, what are the recycling options? Editor’s pick 66 Economic stimulus in the USA 68 Renewables in Africa Other articles 54 34 Hydrogen production from renewables 74 Biomass from Algae Small wonders – biomass from Algae 79 Chile to warm up renewables market 84 How to invest in geothermal 88 Obama: prospects for alternative energy 92 Product Finder 94 Upcoming Events renewable energy focus January/February 2009 3 News/Headlines ■ 3TIER, an independent provider of global fuller overview, see GWEC’s Steve Sawyer report International renewable energy assessment and forecasting, back from the conference on page 28. ■ Trojan Battery Company has developed a has unveiled a 5 km resolution global wind map new RE Series line of batteries optimised to based on a dataset of global wind resources deliver “unmatched life, durability and excel- and their spatial and temporal variability. Europe lent charge efficiency” in renewable energy ■ The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) ■ OpenHydro has been selected by Électricité applications. has released a new report, Utility Procurement de France (EDF) to develop a tidal current ■ ICP Solar Technologies Inc, a developer, Study: Solar Electricity in the Utility Market, demonstration farm that will be connected manufacturer and marketer of solar panels the first in a series of research reports to be to the French electricity grid. The project and products, has entered into a binding released in 2009. The full report is available involves the installation of between four Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire Spanish for download at www.solarelectricpower.org. and 10 seabed-mounted marine turbines, Ibersolar Energía, which manufactures and ■ Elsevier is launching a ‘one-stop’ site for energy with a total capacity of 2–4 MW in a tidal supplies solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, solar researchers covering all aspects of energy farm located in the Paimpol-Bréhat (Côtes thermal systems, and absorption units. Under including renewables – Energylocate (www. d’Armor) region of Brittany. The turbines will the terms of the LOI, ICP will acquire 100% of energylocate.com). The platform features be progressively connected to the French the shares of Ibersolar. energy content, social networking tools, discus- electricity network from 2011. ■ A report indicating that 12% of the world’s sion forums, subject news feeds, and RSS feeds ■ GreenFuel Technologies Corporation and energy needs could be supplied from wind powered by ScienceDirect and Scopus. renewables management company Aurantia in 12 years, and 30% by 2050, has been ■ RWE Energy, Siemens and partners have kick are now in the second phase of their joint published by the Global Wind Energy started a project focused on developing and project to develop and scale algae farming Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace Interna- implementing integrated concepts to harness technologies in the Iberian Peninsula. The tional . Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008 looks and exploit the optimisation potential of goal is to demonstrate that industrial CO2 at the global potential of wind power up to information and communication technologies emissions can