Governor Ralph Northam today announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia Offshore Wind project will be among the first in the nation to use a new federal permitting process designed to accelerate offshore wind development in the United States. This comes as the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) and the North Atlantic Division of the…
Federal government opens New York/New Jersey waters to offshore wind development leases
In support of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of installing 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, the Department of the Interior today announced a proposed sale for offshore wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the New York Bight – an area of shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast.…
REsurety whitepaper discusses the accuracy of 8760 energy models
A new white paper from REsurety, with contributions from Hannon Armstrong, a leading investor in climate solutions, offers an in-depth analysis into how using an “8760” energy model can lead to significant errors in revenue modeling — topping 30% in some high renewable penetration markets. An 8760 (also known as a typical meteorological year, or…
Keystone Tower System ready to debut its spiral-welded towers to wind industry
Keystone Tower Systems will expand its presence in the wind industry with its patented spiral-welded steel towers. Keystone’s tapered spiral-welded technology can significantly drop the cost and time to build both onshore and offshore towers, adding strength and saving steel versus traditional can-welded towers. Its towers will enable turbines to reach higher heights for stronger…
Leosphere launches dual scanning lidar for wind measurement
Leosphere, a Vaisala company that specializes in developing, manufacturing, and servicing turnkey wind lidar instruments for wind energy, announced its new WindCube Scan Dual Lidar Ready offering. It enables offshore wind project developers and operators to reduce multiple sources of uncertainty and gain an even more comprehensive picture of wind resource profiles by observing an…
Pearce Renewables acquires Mortenson’s wind O&M division
Pearce Renewables, a renewable energy engineering, operations and maintenance provider, acquired Mortenson’s O&M division, Mortenson Energy Services. Within the last year, Pearce Renewables has assembled O&M companies serving utility-scale solar, wind, electric vehicle (EV) charging and battery energy storage system infrastructure. “The combination with Mortenson Energy Services creates a full suite of services to meet…
Atlantic Shores, Rutgers University studying offshore wind development effects on native clam species
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Rutgers University launched a multi-phase modeling study in collaboration with the surfclam industry to better understand how Mid-Atlantic wind farm developments and climate change may influence the distribution and abundance of surfclams. The study will also examine the economics of the Surfclam Fishery within the Atlantic Shores Lease Area and…
RWE Renewables enters Ohio market with 250-MW wind farm
RWE Renewables has started commercial operation on its 250-MW onshore Scioto Ridge Wind Farm located in Hardin and Logan counties in Ohio. Scioto is powered by 75 Siemens Gamesa turbines and represents RWE’s first onshore wind project in Ohio and 28th in the United States. “Scioto Ridge marks our successful entry in the Ohio market,”…
Dominion Energy will allow Ørsted to use its Jones Act-qualified offshore install vessel on additional projects
An agreement has been reached for Ørsted and Eversource to charter Dominion Energy’s Charybdis, the first Jones Act-qualified offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the United States, for the construction of two offshore wind farms in the Northeast. Charybdis, which is expected to be sea ready by late 2023, will first be deployed out of…
Mayflower Wind offshore project finds grid connection in decommissioned coal-powered plant
Mayflower Wind and Anbaric Development Partners have signed an agreement for Mayflower Wind to use transmission assets developed by Anbaric to bring offshore wind to the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts. “Mayflower Wind is committed to helping Massachusetts and New England achieve their ambitious clean energy goals,” said Michael Brown, Mayflower Wind CEO.…
US Wind deploys meteorological buoy in Maryland offshore wind lease area
Offshore wind developer US Wind deployed a meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) buoy to collect wind and marine life data off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. Ocean Tech Services (OTS) will provide turn-key data services from the system, which include construction, testing, deployment and operations of the buoy and associated sensors. The Floating Light Detection…
Biden Administration gives greenlight to offshore development off West Coast
California Governor Gavin Newsom today joined Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl to announce an agreement that opens the West Coast for offshore wind development for the first time in history, a promising development that could help achieve…
Ardexa updates remote renewable operations toolkit with upped security
Ardexa, a global IoT platform provider, has expanded its feature set with a highly secure and fast remote working toolkit for renewable energy operations. Traditional remote access tools can be complex to install and securely manage, particularly for large portfolios. Ardexa has a simplified toolkit to enable granular access management and full portfolio oversight, including…
Uniper signs long-term PPA on Pattern Energy’s 1.05-GW New Mexico wind project
Pattern Energy Group and international energy company Uniper have signed a 15-year power purchase agreement for up to 219,000 MWh per year of wind energy in New Mexico, enough to power more than 20,000 homes annually. The power will be delivered from Pattern Energy’s 1,050 MW Western Spirit Wind project, which is currently under construction…
EDP Renewables powers on 209-MW Texas wind farm
EDP Renewables North America‘s (EDPR) 209-MW Reloj del Sol Wind Farm has reached commercial operations in Zapata County, Texas. The Reloj del Sol Wind Farm is the latest project in EDPR’s growing energy portfolio in Texas, joining the company’s four operating wind farms in the state. Collectively, EDPR’s Texas portfolio now totals 909 MW in…
GE turbines to power 302-MW Lincoln Land Wind project in Illinois
GE Renewable Energy will supply 107 of GE’s 2.82-127 onshore wind turbines for the 302-MW Lincoln Land Wind project in Morgan County, Illinois. The wind farm is owned by funds managed by the Infrastructure and Power strategy of Ares Management Corporation. Apex Clean Energy led the development of Lincoln Land Wind, and Ares finalized preconstruction…
EDP Renewables begins repowering project on Oklahoma wind farm
EDP Renewables North America (EDPR) has initiated its first North American repowering construction proceedings at the Blue Canyon II Wind Farm in Oklahoma. The repowering of Blue Canyon II, which is located in Caddo and Kiowa counties and is part of a four-phase project, ensures significant economic benefits and affordable energy will continue with the…
NREL uses VABS software for complex wind turbine blade simulation
Composite modeling software provider AnalySwift announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has used its VABS blade simulation tool in two recent projects. The software is used to generate accurate blade properties. Modern wind turbine blades can be 100-m or longer with dozens of separate layers of advanced composite materials.…
DNV research project aims to automate verification of offshore wind turbine inspections
DNV has launched a collaborative research project to develop an automated data processing procedure for verification of detected wind turbine blade defects, with the aim of building trust and generating broader acceptance of automated data processing techniques across the industry and to inform future regulation. “With many inspections still being carried out manually, visual inspection…
Big Sky Wind Farm in Illinois to get repowering facelift and increase output by 60%
Exus Management Partners has been selected to lead on the repowering of Illinois’ Big Sky Wind Farm by Vitol. The deal follows Vitol’s acquisition of the project from a BlackRock-managed fund earlier this year. Exus will play a central role in Vitol’s plan to invest more than $250 million to upgrade the project, with the…