Norway invests in deep Geothermal Energy

The Research Council of Norway has granted NOK 24 million to the four-year project NEXT-Drill, in which scientists and industry will develop the technology and tools needed to produce geothermal heat from the earth.

Geothermal heat is available all over the world, and is a clean, stable, inexhaustible, and “weather-proof” source of energy. At our latitudes, the ground temperature rises by about 20 oC per kilometre into the crust. Power from this source of energy could play a significant role in the global green energy mix.

With its strong and innovative oil industry, Norway is in a unique position to capture geothermal heat, and drilling technology has evolved significantly in the course of the past ten years, as oil and gas deposits become more and more difficult to access.
NEXT-Drill does not primarily concern deep drilling, but will form the basis for it in the future. The focus is rather on more efficient drilling and new methods of drilling in hard rock.


Industrial competence project
The expert group that is going to develop and experimentally test wells and drilling technology includes scientists from SINTEF, NTNU, IRIS and the University of Stavanger. The vision is that the group will act as a global centre of expertise in drilling and well technology for both conventional and deep geothermal energy. (www.egbu.no)
A number of Norwegian groups are already focusing on deep geological energy, and several of them are collaborating with the new project.

Click on this link to read the full article at source

Wind Energy Outlook for North America

Home to the second largest wind market in the world - the United States - the region saw a total of 5,784 megawatts of wind capacity installed in 2010.

Although 2011 was another difficult year for the industry, today the region accounts for more than 22% of the world's total installed wind capacity.

According to a recent report from Pike Research, installations in the region will pass 125 GW by 2017 - more than doubling from 2011 to 2017 - with onshore installations accounting for more than 97% of that total.

"Recovery is gradually taking hold across the wind industry in North America, and many key industry players are optimistic about the North American market as turbine costs continue to drop dramatically," says research analyst Dexter Gauntlett.

"However, the uncertainty surrounding the extension of the production tax credit in the U.S. continues to prevent the country from reaching its full potential.

The United States produces enough electricity from wind energy to power 10 million homes - but there is still plenty of room to grow. Wind still accounts for only 2.3% of total electricity generation in the United States, compared with around 20% of total generation in some countries."

By comparison, Denmark now derives 20% of its electricity from wind power, and several other Western European countries are above 10%.

One of the key factors for renewed growth in the wind power industry is the development of offshore resources.

Lacking a coordinated policy framework that would provide government support and investment certainty for transmission, developers and manufacturers in the United States and Canada are looking for ways to bring even larger economies of scale to the wind power market. Large, untapped offshore wind resources offer a primary path forward.

Pike Research's analysis indicates that wind energy installation costs in the United States will total more than $125 billion between 2011 and 2017, capturing 15% of the global market during that period.

Canada will reach 15 GW of total wind capacity by 217, with more than 400 MW of that amount derived from offshore installations. In Canada, installation costs will total $19.3 billion between 2011 and 2017.

In the midst of this market transition, turbine manufacturer market shares are fluid, as well. In 2010, Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Sinovel overtook GE Wind Energy to become the second largest wind turbine supplier worldwide, and came in at less than 1% (350 MW) behind industry leader Vestas.

Click on this link to read the full article at source

Wind and Solar increase their share in the EU Energy Mix

The steep increase of wind and solar photovoltaics (PV), has been noted in the latest edition of the Strategic Energy Technologies review – the 2011 Technology Map – produced by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).

The 2011 Technology Map provides a European and worldwide analysis of 15 low-carbon energy technologies, energy efficiency in industry, energy performance of buildings and electricity storage in the power sector.

Compared with the 2009 Technology Map, the steep increase of wind and solar (photovoltaics) generation capacity in the EU and worldwide is to be highlighted. Nevertheless, on a global scale, hydropower continues to be the technology most widely used, providing 88% of electricity generated from renewable sources.

Click on this Link to read the full article at source

UK does not want to scrap 2020 Renewable Energy Target

UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey responded to newspaper accusations today with a categorical rebuttal that the UK does not want to scrap its 2020 renewable energy target.

Under EU legislation, the UK is committed to sourcing 20% of its energy demand from renewable sources by 2020.

But according to an article in The Guardian newspaper, the government ‘secretly’ wants to see nuclear power given parity with renewables and the target system dropped after 2020.

The material seen by The Guardian calls instead for some sort of target for 2030 based on low-carbon energy, including nuclear power, rather than one purely focused on renewables.

But Davey, as a member of the Liberal Democrats who do not officially support nuclear power, issued a strong rebuttal to the “misleading” article.

“The UK is 100% committed to the 2020 EU renewable energy target and we’ve set out in our renewable energy roadmap the programme of action in place to drive delivery up and costs down,” he wrote to the newspaper.

He also categorically denied that the government want nuclear power to be considered as a form of renewables.

“Nuclear power is not a renewable technology, fact,” he writes.
Davey says that the UK supports 2030 targets that are technology neutral so that member states can determine the most cost-effective mix for their constituents.

Click on the link below to read the full article at source

£1Billion Investment led by Burcote Wind to create 600 jobs in Scotland

A £1bn investment in wind farm projects across Scotland led by renewable energy developer Burcote Wind could create almost 600 jobs and power over half a million homes.

The independent UK firm, which has its headquarters in Dunfermline, has plans to develop 10 wind farms at locations across Scotland, from Aberdeenshire to Dumfries and Galloway, totalling nearly 800MW of installed electricity generating capacity.

If consented, the projects could produce an annual electricity output of around 2.6million megawatt-hours (MWh), capable of meeting the energy needs of 554,000 homes and displacing over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide which would otherwise be produced by fossil fuel power plants.

The 10 pipeline projects represent a total investment of around £1.08bn, including pre-planning costs, capital expenditure on turbines and grid connection upgrades, and ongoing operating costs.

As well as creating around 110 permanent jobs in engineering and maintenance around the wind farms, the schemes would also support approximately 475 construction jobs during their build phases – a total of 585.

Burcote Wind is currently consulting on proposals for four sites – Meikleton (Aberdeenshire), Creggan (Argyll and Bute), Sandy Knowe and Benshinnie (both Dumfries and Galloway), for which planning applications will be submitted over the coming 18 months. Six other sites are at early stages of environmental and technical appraisal and not yet in the public domain.

Burcote Wind will take each of its sites through the planning process to allow the wind farms to be built, shouldering all the risk. The firm would then seek partners to make the capital investment needed to procure, erect and connect the wind turbines.

At each site, Burcote Wind is proposing to establish community benefit funds which it hopes can create a long-lasting legacy by funding education and training places at local colleges in engineering and other renewables-related subjects, as well as supporting other local priorities. The total value of proposed community benefit funding across the 10 sites totals £60million over the 25-year lifetimes of the wind farms.

Click on this link to read the full article at source

Hartlepool makes strong case to land £150m Gamesa Project

ENERGY Minister Charles Hendry reckoned the Tees Valley had made a strong case to beat a rival site in Scotland for a proposed £150m wind farm factory.

Hartlepool is in direct competition with Leith, near Edinburgh to win the investment from Spanish firm Gamesa, which could create more than 1,000 jobs.

The project to build wind turbines, towers and blades would transform the economic fortunes of the town, according to Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond.

Gamesa's decision, which Mr Hendry said was imminent, would also be a significant blow in the battle between Scotland and the North-East to be regarded as the centre for the UK's offshore wind industry.

Speaking yesterday after he addressed business leaders at the NOF Energy conference in Gateshead, Mr Hendry said: "It is encouraging to see this type of investment being made in the renewable energy sector and it would be very positive news if it comes to this region. Everything is in place here for the project to become a success and we hope that Hartlepool has made a good case.

Click on this link to read the full article at source

Renewables ‘will cut power bills by 2020’

SCOTLAND’S electricity will come solely from renewable energy by 2020, leading to reductions in households’ bills, a new government report has claimed.

Electricity bills would be almost £100 cheaper a year if the Scottish Government’s target of meeting all the country’s energy needs from renewables in the next eight years is met, according to the Electricity Generation Policy Statement (EGPS).

The report said that the SNP’s flagship policy of promoting green energy would lead to a “secure source of electricity supply” that would mean it would become more affordable.

Scotland’s reliance on forms of energy such as nuclear power would make way for a “rapid expansion” of renewable electricity that would be powered by “fossil fuel thermal generation” or steam power and increased carbon capture and storage.

The government study estimated that the share of Scotland’s electricity coming from renewables would go from the 2010 figure of 24 per cent to nearly 50 per cent by 2015 before reaching 100 per cent in 2020.

There was a stark warning in the report that carrying on with “business as usual” would lead to average annual bills of £1,379 for Scottish households compared to yearly bills of £1,285 if low carbon energy policies such as the increased use of renewables were pursued.

Niall Stuart, chief executive of industry body Scottish Renewables, said offering alternatives to existing forms of energy would “insulate consumers from future hikes in wholesale gas prices” by offering a greater choice.

He added: “This is an industry that is delivering jobs and investment today, but we can attract billions more in the future and thousands more jobs. Scotland should not lose sight of the fantastic opportunity renewable energy offers us.

“There has been tremendous amount of debate on energy costs with renewables wrongly being blamed for the sharp increases in household energy bills. Unfortunately, this myth has been persistent in certain corners of the debate.”

Click on this link to read the full article at source