A report published by global market research company Lucintel predicts that the market for wind turbines will experience a compound annual growth rate of 12 per cent between 2011 and 2016.
Growth Opportunities in Wind Energy Markets 2011-2016 estimates that the total installed global capacity will be 568GW by the end of 2016. Asia is expected to remain the leader in wind-energy installations, with China and the US expected to continue to top the list in new turbine installations. Portugal, France, Italy, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands are also expected to continue steadily adding capacity.
For its part, Vestas has received an order from Iberdrola Engineering and Construction Poland for 22 units of the V80-2.0MW wind turbine and 19 units of the V90-2.0MW wind turbine.[Page Break]
The order has a total capacity of 82MW and the turbines will be installed in Marszewo, 20km north-west of Slupsk/Zajaczkowo. The delivery of the turbines is scheduled to start at the end of 2012 and to be completed in 2013. The contract includes supply, installation and commissioning of the turbines, a VestasOnline business Scada solution as well as a three-year service and maintenance agreement.
Tauron Polska Energia is the end-owner of the Marszewo project and the second largest utility in Poland.
"We are very pleased with the confidence Iberdrola and Tauron are showing us by choosing Vestas as partner on the 82MW Marszewo project. It is a sign of Vestas' continued expansion in Poland, one of our main markets in Northern Europe. We look forward to a close partnership with both Iberdrola and Tauron," said Klaus Steen Mortensen, president of Vestas Northern Europe.[Page Break]
Vestas' commitment to the Polish market springs from the country's great wind power potential and the outlook of a growing Polish market. According to Emerging Energy Research, Poland has the potential of reaching 7GW of installed capacity by 2020.
Vestas has also received an order for a total capacity of 56MW consisting of 28 units of the V90-2.0 MW platform for the Castellaneta wind farm, which will be located in the Apulia region of Italy.
The contract comprises supply and installations of the turbines, a VestasOnline business Scada system, as well as a 12-year service and maintenance agreement.
The order has been placed by Tozzi TRE, a company of the Tozzi Holding Group that develops and manages renewable energy generating plants. The company, which has been building wind, hydro, photovoltaic and biomass power plants, has an installed wind base of about 250MW.[Page Break]
Delivery of the first turbines is expected to start during the second quarter of 2012 and the project is expected to be commercially operational before the end of 2012.
"The 2MW platform is the industry's most proven turbine family with more than 9300 installations worldwide. This means high reliability, low operational downtime and high performance," declares Juan Araluce, Vestas mediterranean president and recently appointed global chief sales officer, Vestas Wind Systems. "We are glad to provide our expertise to Tozzi TRE and to start up a new business relationship in Italy, based on the companies' shared values and missions."
The Castellaneta wind power plant will produce approximately 162,000 MWh per year, which corresponds to an annual saving of 63,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, it will provide enough electricity to cover the residential electricity consumption of more than 143,000 people in Italy.
Turbine manufacturer Nordex has received an order to supply and install the Sincik wind farm in Turkey for the Tektug Elektrik Group. The wind farm will consist of 11 large N100/2500 turbines, which are especially designed for sites with medium wind speeds.
Nordex plans to start installation work in eastern Turkey as soon as autumn 2012. The wind farm is located at an altitude of 1500 metres on a mountain ridge near the city of Adiyaman. The average annual speed prevailing here is 6.9m/s. Under these conditions the turbines are able to generate an annual yield of 60GWh.
Nordex will be coordinating the local construction work through its Turkish subsidiary, which will later take charge of servicing the machines. In order to create as much local value added as possible, the turbine manufacturer will be procuring its towers from Ciltug, a well known 40-year-old hydro mechanical and electro mechanical equipment manufacturer, which belongs to the Tektug Group.[Page Break]
"This order is a major success in the growing Turkish market as this is the first wind project for Tektug Elektrik. And our new customer has ambitious plans to expand. In addition to this, our pilot project is located in the East of Anatolia. This also offers opportunities for follow-up projects," says Ayhan Gök, md of Nordex Turkey (Fig. 1).
Meanwhile, Nordex has also signed a deal to supply, build and commission a 42.5MW project in County Tipperary, Ireland, for utility Bord Gais Energy, using 17 N90/2500 machines.
The project, called Garracummer, was awarded under a framework agreement signed by the two firms in October 2011 that could see Nordex install up to a further 200MW of capacity between now and 2014.
Siemens Energy remains busy as well, with two major orders for a total of 90 wind turbines with a combined capacity of roughly 200MW for two wind power plants, Korat 1 and Korat 2, in Nakorn Rachasrima Province in Northeastern Thailand (Fig. 2).[Page Break]
For Korat 1 the customer is KR Two Company, while the purchaser for Korat 2 is First Korat Wind. Both companies are subsidiaries of Thailand's Wind Energy Holding Company. The scope of supply encompasses delivery, installation and commissioning of 90 Siemens-wind turbines of type SWT-2.3-101. Installation of both projects has begun, while commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2012.
With a rotor diameter of 101 metres, the new powerful wind turbine SWT-2.3-101, which is ideally suited to sites with low to medium wind speeds, will provide more power at lower wind speeds, significantly increasing the return on investment of wind farms.
"The market entry in Thailand proves that our business gains momentum in Asia," said Kay Weber, ceo of the Siemens wind power business unit APAC. "We are confident that we will receive more orders in this dynamic region," Weber added. The two orders for the two Korat wind power plants are the first ones Siemens received from Thailand so far. The wind turbines of the type SWT-2.3-101 have a capacity of 2.3MW, a rotor diameter of 101 metres and a tower height of 99.5 metres. The blades and the nacelles for the projects will be manufactured in China. The projects have been acquired in a time of growing importance and support for renewable energy in Thailand.
Internationalisation is a key pillar of Siemens' strategy in the global wind market. Just recently, the company announced the establishment of two joint ventures with Shanghai Electric to serve the world's largest wind power market in China and the surrounding region.[Page Break]
Other developments
German utility Eon has announced plans to build a 700MW offshore wind farm in the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Poland. The project would be one of the largest of its kind in the region. The site earmarked for the wind farm is the southern middle bank, about 100km from the coast of Sweden and bordering the Polish economic zone. It has been costed at SKR 20b (EUR2.24b).
Nairobi-based Aeolus Kenya has got the green light to build a 60.8MW wind farm at Kinangop, north of the capital, powered by 38 GE 1.6MW turbines. The company has also signed a power purchase agreement with state utility Kenya Power. The plant should come on line late 2013.[Page Break]
Success for first phase of Chinese offshore pilot
China Longyuan has successfully put the first phase of Jiangsu Rudong pilot offshore wind farm into operation, with an installed capacity of 99.3MW. The planned capacity of the project is 150MW, which will be the largest offshore wind farm in the country.
The company has also successfully completed onshore wind power projects with an installed capacity of 1308.2MW. These are distributed among 12 provinces, including: five new wind power projects located in Inner Mongolia with an installed capacity of 247.7MW; two new wind power projects located in Heilongjiang with an installed capacity of 99MW; two new wind power projects located in Liaoning with the installed capacity of 99MW; three new wind power projects located in Hebei with the installed capacity of 249MW; one new wind power project located in Gansu with the installed capacity of 49.5MW; and one new wind power project located in Xinjiang with the installed capacity of 49.5MW.
Meanwhile the Heilongjiang Heihe Aihui wind power project and the Inner Mongolia Helingeer Phase I wind power project have both been successfully put into operation. Heilongjiang Heihe Aihui wind power project is located in Heihe City, Heilongjiang province, and has an installed capacity of 49.5MW.
