Power has begun being generated from the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the London Array project, marking a major milestone for the flagship renewables scheme in the Thames Estuary. The not-yet completed wind farm, located around 12 miles off the coasts of Kent and Essex, delivered its first power to the grid on Monday, according to the companies behind the project: Dong Energy, with a 50 per cent stake; energy giant E.ON, with 30 per cent; and Abu Dhabi renewables company Masdar, with 20 per cent.
Construction of the first 630MW phase of the London Array is now due to be completed by the end of this year, with the final turbines being installed over the next few months. BusinessGreen reports that, as of Monday, 151 of the planned 175 Siemens 3.6MW turbines have been installed. Once complete, the project is expected to provide enough power to supply 470,000 homes. If approved, the second phase would bring the offshore wind farm’s the total capacity to 870MW.
Tony Cocker, E.ON UK CEO, said the first generation of power was a milestone not only for the London Array but for the global renewables sector. “We firmly believe that electricity from renewable sources has a vital part to play in helping us deliver energy in a way that is sustainable, affordable and secure,” Cocker said, quoted in The Guardian. Cocker also said that the sector was aiming to reduce the costs of offshore wind by 40 per cent by 2015.
In other news…
Alinta Energy is hoping to meet with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to discuss its plans to build a 50MW solar thermal plant at Port Augusta in South Australia. Alinta CEO Jeff Dimery told the ABC last week that a pre-feasibility study had been prepared and a solar-thermal plant could be built within four years with federal government help. A spokesperson told RenewEconomy with ARENA has not been held yet, and no formal application for funds has yet been submitted.
Environment Victoria is calling for the Baillieu government to cancel a $50 million grant for the proposed 600MW HRL brown coal power station, claiming breach on contract after a copy of the Victorian funding deed, released to Greens MLC Greg Barber through Freedom of Information and published today, revealed that the $50 million in state funding was conditional on a $100 million Commonwealth grant to the project being in place. The Commonwealth grant was cancelled three months ago.
The federal Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Department has announced new funding rounds for three energy efficiency grant programs. The programs include the $200 million Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP) for local governments and NGOs; the $100 million Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP) for low income households; and the $40 million Energy Efficiency Information Grants (EEIG) for SMEs and community groups.
Danish biotech giant Novozymes has bought a stake in Italy’s Beta Renewables, the two companies signing a deal to boost the production of second generation biofuels made from non-food crops. BusinessGreen reports that Novozymes announced on Monday that it had paid around $115 million cash for a 10 per cent share in Beta Renewables, which develops cellulosic biofuels and is part of Italy’s Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi.
A new Australian book – A Short Introduction to Climate Change, by Emeritus Professor Tony Eggleton (a geologist of 40 years), to be launched tonight at the ANU – aims to clear the air on the hot-button issue by taking the claims and counterclaims of scientists and sceptics alike and testing them against fundamental scientific principles. “Many of those who deny the science of climate change call themselves ‘sceptics’, but all good scientists are sceptics, they query and challenge all the evidence, rather than citing certain bits selectively to support a particular theory,” says Eggleton. “By objectively presenting the evidence, both for and against climate change, the conclusions in this book become all the more compelling.”
