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BayWa r.e. increases its onshore wind pipeline in the UK with the acquisition of the High Constellation wind farm from Blue Energy.
The proposed 10 turbine wind farm is located on the Kintyre peninsula, roughly 20 km south of Tarbert and 30 km north of Campbeltown, Scotland. Once installed, it will have a capacity of approximately 50 MW.
Blue Energy will continue to support BayWa r.e. in the development process and ensure an effective handover of the project.
Simon Foy, Commercial Director at Blue Energy, added: “We’re very pleased about this first successful collaboration with BayWa r.e. and look forward to establishing an ongoing relationship with their team. We are currently exploring possibilities for future collaboration on other large-scale wind farms in Scotland.”
Wind turbine market leader Vestas has revealed the first investment made by its venture fund with a stake in Swedish wooden wind tower start-up Modvion.
Modvion builds wind towers from sections of specially prepared wood laminate panels. As well as being lighter, the modular nature means transporting the towers to the construction sites is far easier.
As onshore wind turbines increase in size beyond the 6-megawatt mark, hub heights and towers will need to grow too. If successfully commercialized, Modvion’s solution would solve the transport problem, while also replacing carbon intensive-steel with what could be a carbon-negative alternative.
No details on the size of the deal have been released but Vestas previously told
Scaling Renewables: the converging world of Oil & Gas and the Clean Energy Supermajors
As part of the increasing focus on climate change, several regions and countries have announced targets and pledges to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century and limit warming to 1.5°C. According to the Climate Action Tracker, countries responsible for around 63% of emissions are now considering or have adopted net zero targets.
These pledges point to a major boost for renewable power investment. The IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario – which assumes the planet will achieve net-zero later than mid-century – forecasts average annual investment in renewables to almost double from $310bn/pa over the last five years to $615bn/pa over the next 20 years.
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Luxcara and GE Renewable Energy have announced an agreement to deliver 753 MW of onshore wind capacity to the Önusberget wind farm in northern Sweden. The project will be one of the largest single onshore wind farms in Europe and GE Renewable Energy s largest onshore wind farm contract outside of the US. Luxcara has already started infrastructure work, and GE Renewable Energy will begin installing turbines as early as July 2021.
GE Renewable Energy will supply 137 of its Cypress 5.5 MW turbines, a powerful turbine with a 158 m rotor, ideally suited for the project site s wind speeds and climate. The turbine blades will be equipped with an innovative ice mitigation system, ensuring a stable level of availability and reduced downtime. The parties also agreed on a 25-year full-turbine maintenance and service contract.