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NewsDigest

January/February 2013 | Renewable Energy Focus

CZECH DEVELOPER CEZ Group has brought Europe’s

largest onshore wind farm into

full operation. The 600MW project

is the biggest of a series of Roma-

nian wind energy project announce-

ments recently, which include a major

contract supply deal for Nordex and

a key fi nancing agreement for Portu-

guese fi rm EDP Renováveis.The fi nal wind turbine for CEZ

Group’s Fantanele/Cogealac was con-

nected to the regional grid in late

November in the Dobrogea region of

Romania, which is one of the most

promising wind power prospects in the

country.

The start-up of the project, which

comprises 240 GE 2.5 MW turbines,

seriously marks the start of Roma-

nia’s emergence as a large-scale wind

producer. Prior to Fantanele/Cogealac,

the total installed wind capacity in the

country was less than 20MW.

“The 2.5MW technology off ers the

effi ciency, availability and energy per-

formance that will safeguard our suc-

cess,” said Ondrej Šafár, CEZ project

manager. “Thanks to the Fantanele/

Cogealac wind farm, CEZ is making

a major contribution to increasing

Romania’s renewable energy genera-

tion. Before this project, Romania’s in-

stalled wind capacity was only 14MW.”

The turbine nacelles were supplied

from GE’s facility in Salzbergen, Ger-

many, while the rotor blades and tow-

ers came from Germany, Brazil, the

Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and

China. GE said that the turbine tech-

nology used for the site enables “high

effi ciency and reliability in a wide

range of weather conditions”. The

machines feature larger rotors, higher

towers and greater hub heights than

previous models, resulting in greater

power output. “This signifi cantly

increases the wind park production

capacity,” said Stephan Ritter, GE’s

general manager for renewable energy

in Europe.

The size of the components - one

rotor blade measures nearly 50 m in

Europe’s biggest is online in Romania

length - and the number of units re-

quired comprehensive planning, GE

said. Twelve modes of transportation

were needed to move all of the compo-

nents for each wind turbine from the

port of Constanta on the Black Sea to

the project construction site. “Detailed

planning, clear processes and a lot of

dedication ensured that the project

was completed on time,” said Ritter.

“We were able to feed the experience

we gained during the construction

phase straight back into the project.”

Meantime, Spanish renewable en-

ergy developer Iberdrola has awarded

Nordex a contract for the supply and

installation of wind turbines for the

80MW Chirnogeni wind farm, located

in the Dobrogea region of Romania,

near the Black Sea coast. The con-

tract, Nordex’s largest in Romania to

date, will see the company supply 32

of its 2.5MW N90/2500 turbines for

the project. The wind turbines will be

supplied in the summer of 2013, with

commercial operation scheduled for

late 2013.

The European Bank for Recon-struction and Development (EBRD), meanwhile, has granted €50mn fi nanc-

ing to two Romanian wind farms with

a combined capacity of 57MW.The fi -

nancing has been granted to developer

VS Wind Farm, majority-owned by

Portuguese company EDP Renováveis

(EDPR), which has developed the

24MW Vutcani and 33MW Satichioi

wind farms in Romania. Both projects

are already operating, notes EDPR.

Environmental

approval for Perth

wave project

CARNEGIE WAVE Energy

has secured environmental

and maritime safety approv-

als for its Perth Wave Energy Proj-

ect (PWEP). The commercial-scale

project, which uses Carnegie’s CETO

wave system, will power Australia’s

largest naval base, HMAS Stirling, on

Garden Island in Western Australia.

Construction on the project is set to

begin at the beginning this year.

The Garden Island project will be

the fi rst commercial deployment of

the CETO technology, of which over

half has been funded by the Austral-

ian government, including a $10.45

million Low Emissions Energy De-

velopment grant from the Western

Australian government. Anchored to

the sea fl oor, the CETO system oper-

ates out of sight. An array of fully

submerged buoys is tethered to seabed

pump units. The buoys move in har-

mony with the motion of the passing

waves, driving the pumps which in

turn pressurise water that is delivered

ashore via a pipeline.

Carnegie’s CEO, Dr. Michael Ot-

taviano, said: “Carnegie has designed

CETO with zero visual impact and to

be as environmentally friendly as pos-

sible. We are pleased to receive these

key approvals which allow construc-

tion to begin in quarter 1, 2013.”

The Environmental Protection Authority said “potential impacts

[of the project are] not signifi cant”

and can be managed under a marine

environmental management plan.

Maritime safety approvals were re-

ceived from the WA Department of Transport last summer, while onshore

environmental approvals were grant-

ed last month by the Department of Defence through an Environmental

Clearance Certifi cate.

Ful l news service at http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com

REF0113_NewsDigest 8 17-01-2013 08:09:52