Finland catching-up in wind turbines

Finland lags behind the rest of the Nordics in terms of energy use from wind turbines. The country hopes to construct 200 new wind turbines by the end of this year, which would bring the country's total to over 700. Denmark already boasts more than 4,000 onshore and offshore turbines – while Sweden has more than 3,000.

Finland's Wind Power Association says there were 552 wind turbines in the country at the end of 2016. Estimates put the number of new generators scheduled to be built in 2017 at between 150 and 200.

This means Finland will soon boast a wind turbine fleet of over 700 turbines, with a combined capacity of approximately 2,000 to 2,200 MW, but even then, the country will still lag behind other Nordic countries in wind energy production.

Anni Mikkonen, executive director of the association says that even though Finland was one of the largest investors in wind power in Europe last year, Germany increased its capacity ten-fold during the same period.

The Swedish wind power firm OX2 has been building four wind turbines in western Kokkola, on the shoreline of the Bothnia Bay. They should be complete by the end of October. It usually takes another two weeks or so to hook the new turbines up to Finland's grid. 

One new turbine per week - if it's not windy

Project leader Pasi Tammivaara says that it takes about one week to erect a single turbine, if the winds cooperate. Building work has to be called off every time the winds get too strong, for safety reasons.

"The wind limits when we are building the steel tower is 10 metres per second. When we install the blades, this falls to 8.5 m/s. It is normal to have wind delays in this work, because most wind farms are located in areas with windy conditions," he says.

Work at the site ranges from periods of frantic activity to standstills due to windy conditions. If weather conditions permit, assembly work continues for up to 10 hours at a time.

Still contributing less than 5% energy

Once finished, the new wind farm in Kokkola will have a 14.4 MW capacity, with a projected annual production rate of 556 Wh. The finished hub height, the distance from the platform to the rotor (not including the turbine blades) is 134 metres.

Before the erection of the tower, extensive excavation on the site is necessary to shore up the foundation and build service roads, for example.

Kokkola's groundwater situation has made this site in particular more of a challenge, in that the surrounding terrain needed to be protected before the work could begin. It also required that the foundation for the soaring structure be partially enclosed above ground, as it couldn't be completely buried underground to protect the water supply.

Last year wind power accounted for 3.6 percent of Finland's total energy consumption.

Source: Yle News - Finland

Financial Innovation Set to Cut the Cost of Offshore Wind

FTI Consulting Releases First FTI Intelligence Report

LONDON, May 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the release of an FTI Intelligence report, the first of a series of data-driven publications evaluating competitive markets, policy, finance, technology and business models across the energy spectrum.

The report, Innovative Financing of Offshore Wind, focuses on renewable energy and explores the significant potential for cutting the cost of energy from offshore wind power by reducing financial fees and interest charges, which represent an astonishing 28 percent of project life cycle expenditures. The report is authored by members of the FTI-CL Energy practice, a cross-practice team of energy experts from both FTI Consulting and its subsidiary, Compass Lexecon.

A cost-of-equity sensitivity analysis by FTI-CL Energy professionals demonstrates how small changes in financing variables have a major impact on offshore wind energy costs to the consumer. The levelised cost of energy ("LCOE") is extremely sensitive to changes in debt margin. This analysis found that an increase of 100 basis points results in an average 3.4 percent increase in LCOE.

"Offshore wind energy economics are strongly governed by life cycle financial costs, and the potential to reduce these is considerable," explained Aris Karcanias, Managing Director at FTI Consulting and Leader of the Company's FTI-CL Energy practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "Although financial costs normally are not expressed in terms of their share of overall capital expenditures, identification of the size of the opportunity to reduce capital expenditures shows the importance of financial innovation in providing cheaper electricity from offshore wind."

The report also found that the entry of new investors and lenders to the renewable energy sector with innovative ideas for structuring both equity and debt is applying beneficial pressure to financial margins. "Respectable returns without exposure to risk" was a strong message from European wind industry and financial sector chief executive officers interviewed for this report.

"Corporate and institutional investors looking for low risk, long-term and predictable yield investments are signing on pension, insurance and sovereign wealth funds, to name a few," said Athanasia Arapogianni, Consultant and member of the Company's FTI-CL Energy practice. "Innovative financing and an increase in the number of players in offshore wind finance are creating more competition among lenders, which will lead to lower charges, fees and risk premiums on interest rates."

The report further discovers that offshore wind now rates as an infrastructure asset favourably comparable with airports and highways, qualifying it as a safe harbour for investment and unlocking money markets previously closed to the sector.

"New classes of investors and lenders now are competing for involvement in offshore wind farms during construction and even pre-construction — once considered risky compared with investments in an operational facility," said Mr. Karcanias. "The latest innovation under discussion is bond finance. Investors are well-acquainted with bonds as a financing instrument and are using them to transform offshore wind projects into easy-to-comprehend investment opportunities, which, in turn, will assist in attracting capital to the sector."

In addition to the influx of capital for offshore wind investments, utilities and other equity investors are exercising exit divestment strategies and are selling their interests in completed projects to release capital back into more offshore wind construction.

"Replacement of equity with debt is creating a secondary market in refinancing offshore wind projects," continued Mr. Karcanias. "A clear pattern is emerging of how offshore wind construction will be financed in the future. Capital recycling and the lower capital expenditure levels achieved through learning curve experience are benefits expected to contribute to decreasing annual capital requirements for construction."

The report includes an analysis of this trend and reveals that 46 percent of the required investment by 2020 will be met by recycled capital. Global capacity today is about seven Gigga Watts ("GW") and the report projects capacity reaching 52GW in 2020, driven by notable growth in northern Europe, and 112GW by 2025, as markets in Asia and America continue to grow.

To purchase the FTI Intelligence Innovative Financing of Offshore Wind report in its entirety, visit the FTI Intelligence website at www.fti-intelligence.com or contact Aris Karcanias at aris.karcanias@fticonsulting.com.

Russia sues EU over ‘Third Energy Package’

Russia has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the EU's so-called 'Third Energy Package,' according to media reports.

“This procedure is provided for in the rules of the Organization,” a source said, adding that “Russia sent a note to the EU Mission at the WTO and notified the WTO Secretariat thereof,” Itar-Tass news agency reported.

A second news agency, Interfax, stated that a “source close to WTO” spoke of “the start [of a] court examination.” The agency said it obtained confirmation from the director of the Ministry of Economic Development’s department of trade negotiations, Maksim Medvedkov.

Signed in 2007, the Third Energy Package outlines a set of rules regulating the European gas and electricity market. The European Commission insists the Third Energy Package was aimed at increasing competition on the energy market, allowing other players to join the sector and liberalizing energy prices.

One of the core elements prohibits a single company from both owning and operating a gas pipeline and contains rules on third party access to the natural oil transportation grid.

“These and other elements of the Third Energy Package, in the opinion of Russia, contradict the obligations of the EU in WTO on basic principles of non-discrimination and market access...the Third Energy Package creates serious obstacles to ensure a stable supply of Russian gas to the EU, including a threat to the construction of new transport infrastructure, for example, in the framework of the ‘South Stream,'” Medvedkov told Interfax.

Moscow broke ground on the South Stream project after securing agreements with intergovernmental agreements with all countries which the pipeline would pass through: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia.

The Third Energy regulation mandates 50 percent of the pipeline can be operated by Russia's Gazprom, but the other 50 percent must be operated by a third party, a condition Russian energy ministers do not accept, as Gazprom is the only company that has the right to export gas via pipeline.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that the "Third Energy Package" and other documents “should not be backdated to the contracts that were signed before the decision on the Third Energy Package came into force.”

Medvedkov has stressed that Russia has unsuccessfully tried to solve “emerging problems” on a bilateral level.

Now, under WTO rules, Russia and the EU have 60 days to hold joint consultations. If no solution is found during this time, Moscow can demand the right to initiate the creation of a group of independent arbitrators to look into the case.

However, Medvedkov has not ruled out the possibility of Russia and the EU reaching an agreement during consultations.

“We do not aim to have legal proceedings with Brussels for the sake of the judicial process, we want to ensure predictable conditions for export to the EU under WTO rules,” he said.

The Third Energy Package is a set of regulations for an internal gas and electricity market in the European Union. Its purpose is to further expand the gas and electricity markets in the European Union. The package was proposed by the European Commission in September 2007 and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in July 2009. It entered into force on September 3, 2009.

In late 2013, Russia filed a lawsuit against the EU over energy adjustments.

Source: RT.com

Wind energy is a “massive new paradigm of employment”

Wind energy can create hundreds of jobs as part of a new climate change-aware world, said Eddie O’Connor, founder and CEO of Mainstream Renewables. O’Connor described this point in time as a “massive opportunity to go entirely renewable.”

He was referring to today’s threat of rising sea levels which could swamp many of the world’s major cities – a consequence of climate change in turn fuelled by carbon emissions. The fact remains that we are emitting the equivalent of “four Hiroshima bombs into the atmosphere every second of every minute of every day,” he said at EWEA 2014 in Barcelona.

And, if we ignore the threat of climate change, “how do we actually get the money to pay for the consequences?” he asked. If we don’t pay attention to climate change, we might not have a species, he warned.

By 2050, 90% of the EU’s electricity can be powered by renewables, O’Connor said. Meanwhile, for Paolo Frankl, head of renewable energy division at the International Energy Agency (IEA), a level of 58% renewables by 2030, rising to 70% by 2050 is attainable.

But to reach these levels “we need a robust CO2 price, a price that has a meaning”, greater flexibility in electricity markets and more interconnections, Frankl said. We need to work out how to fit in new power generation and phase out the old – “this is a massive power transformation,” he said.

Alexandre Affre, director of industrial affairs at Business Europe, backed the call for a stronger carbon pricing as part of the European Emissions Trading System. He also said a greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 is needed, and said that Europe must continue to build renewables. However, he questioned whether or not Europe has been “too quick” and has “gone too far” with its renewables build-out, chiding the continent’s “excessive subsidies” and questionable priority grid access for renewables, he said.

Turning to another issue high-up on the energy agenda – costs – Frankl underlined that the high price of fossil fuels is the driver behind today’s high energy prices. “The high prices of fossil fuels is the problem number one in the last five years in Europe,” he said. Rounding-up cost the issue, O’Connor asked: “What can be cheaper than an energy system based on 95% free fuel?”

Vestas receives largest order ever in Finland for 99MW

Last 7th of March TuuliWatti Oy has placed a 99MW order with Vestas for two projects in Finland using V126-3.3 MW turbines and the new Large Diameter Steel Tower technology. The order consists of two projects utilising V126-3.3 MW turbines and featuring Vestas Large Diameter Steel Towers (LDST), which allows for taller hub heights and therefore greater annual energy production at low wind speeds.

The order comprises the 73 MW Kalajoki project, which will be the first large-scale wind power plant in Finland. Delivery of the turbines will begin in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the project is expected to be completed in Q3 2015.

Delivery of the 26 MW Siikainen project will begin in Q3 2014 and is expected to be completed in Q1 2015. Both projects include a Vestas Online Business SCADA system and a five-year Active Management Output (AOM) 5000 service agreement with options for two additional extensions of five years.

The two projects feature the V126-3.3 MW, which can produce up to 20% more power compared to the V112-3.0 MW on a site with average wind speeds of 6.5 m/s. The towers for the projects will be the recently launched Large Diameter Steel Towers, (LDST), a Vestas-patented concept that features a special wider diameter lower section of the tower, resulting in increased strength without adding extra steel. Therefore Vestas can provide higher towers to customers to optimise power generation at
low wind speed sites for the V117-3.3 MW and V126-3.3 MW.

Wind and Investment in 2013? Not so much :(

Unfortunately, 2013 wasn’t all good news. Wind energy hit the doldrums in 2012, with revenue falling precipitously to $58.5 billion from $73.8 billion in 2012, and just 35.5GW new capacity installations worldwide – a far cry from a record 44.7GW the previous year.

The wind market would have been even worse if not for China, which installed 16.1GW in 2013 (a whopping 45.4% of all global new capacity) and extended its status as the world’s leader with 91.4GW cumulative installed capacity – 30GW ahead of the US and nearly 60GW ahead of Germany. For context, the US market added just 1GW last year as Production Tax Credit uncertainty created industry headwinds. Clean Edge forecasts fuller sails in the future, with modest growth leading to $93.8 billion in market revenue by 2023.

Clean energy investment’s ledger ran into the red again last year, with total 2013 clean energy investments dropping to $254 billion, down from $286.2 billion in 2012 and a peak of $317.9 billion in 2011. Even China experienced less investment, with a 3.8% funding decline, the first year-to-year drop in more than a decade. Europe and the US fared even worse, with 41% and 8.4% plunges, respectively.

But even though overall investments continued their downward trend, Clean Edge sees a few bright spots. Clean energy funding jumped 55% in Japan to $35.4 billion, while some of the world’s biggest corporations made major investments, and the performance of clean tech companies in publicly traded markets outpaced other industries.

Read full article at http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/27/2013-renewable-energys-best-times-worst-times/#ztxR5RuHEhzjusCK.99

Trends on clean energies for 2014

Trends for 2014

In the 2014 Clean Energy Trends Report, Clean Edge showcases five trends to watch for the coming year. For the first time, this year the authors looked at green building and electric and hybrid vehicles. Since 2000, these sectors have experienced compound annual growth rates of 68.9 percent and 38 percent respectively, according to Clean Edge.

The first trend to keep an eye on is in the utility sector.  Clean Edge believes that in 2014 we will start to see “enlightened utilities begin to embrace distributed generation assets.” As rooftop solar continues its steady march towards adoption, utilities will continue to grapple with how to maintain healthy businesses in the face of declining electricity sales. “Some forward-looking utilities, if not fully embracing a distributed energy future, are making investments, forming partnerships, and acknowledging that the threat of DG might also be a business opportunity,” the report states.  Clean Edge points to some examples of this that took place in 2013, such as Edison International’s purchase of SoCore Energy, a Chicago-based rooftop solar developer that does work in the commercial space. It also uses Duke Energy’s investment in Clean Power Finance as another example of utilities starting to think about profiting from distributed PV. 

This type of movement in the utility sector is taking place in Europe and Asia, too, said Clean Edge. German utility RWE is leading this transition by overhauling its entire business model while in Japan, a country that installed 7 GW of PV in 2013, consumers are seeking technological solutions to their energy woes in a post-Fukushima world. “The country already has some 30,000 homeowners who use fuel cells like Panasonic’s Ene-Farm to generate power on site,” said Clean Edge.

Energy storage is also mentioned as something to keep an eye on and the report said that consumer-sited battery technology is comparable to where PV was in the early 2000s with some early adopters already onboard.

This disruption in the utility sector will have a huge impact on regulators, said Clean Edge. The report quotes former FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff saying that regulators will need to change from being rate setters for monopoly markets to become rule setters for competitive markets.

Cities Spearheading Change

Interestingly, the 2014 Clean Energy Trends report explains that cities are now starting to take leadership roles in the transition to a low-carbon economy as a way to buffer themselves against the devastating effects of disasters caused, at least in part, by climate change.  New York, Seattle, Copenhagen, Sydney and others are showcased in the report as setting initiatives that seek to lower carbon emissions within their city limits. 

Many of those low-carbon initiatives center around the building sector, and Clean Edge predicts a rise in net-zero energy buildings in the coming years.  The report points to several high-profile net-zero energy buildings that have been erected over the past two years and said that these buildings are raising awareness and helping to prove the net-zero concept. 

Although skeptics may contend that examples of net zero buildings are isolated, that will change dramatically in coming years. The European Union has mandated that all new public buildings must achieve “nearly zero” energy status by the end of 2018, and that all other new buildings achieve the same status by the end of 2020.

The marriage of clean tech and the Internet is creating a growing “cleanweb” sector and this is another trend to watch according to Clean Edge.  The cleanweb is essentially the use of big data and the Internet to manage resources more efficiently or deploy renewable energy.  Everything from ridesharing to financing large-scale renewable energy projects is part of the clean web. Venture Capitalists are paying close attention to this sector as well as we pointed out in our 2014 Renewable Energy Finance Outlook.

Finally the report shows the growing interest in vertical farming. Clean Edge authors believe that as the world population grows vertical farming will become more and more mainstream.  This is the last of its five trends.

The full 24-page Clean Energy Trends 2014 report can be downloaded for free at the Clean Edge website.

Read full article here:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/03/renewable-energy-trends-illuminated-in-clean-edges-market-report?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4557407

Financing Solar Projects in Chile Is a Tricky Business

Is Chile’s solar future tied to commodity prices?

Adam James 
January 30, 2014

Etrion recently announced the delay of construction for the 8.8-megawatt Aguas Blancas solar park in Chile. The project was being developed in Antofagasta to supply power to an iodine mine owned by Atacama Minerals, under a fifteen-year power purchase agreement. As iodine prices have dropped, the mine has suspended operations.

Most of the offtakers for solar power in the northern part of the country are in a similar situation. Softer commodity prices, or even the threat of softer commodity prices, can cast a shadow over mining companies’ ability to sign long-term power purchase agreements.

So is this Etrion announcement a harbinger of things to come, or just a one-time fluke in a country with solid fundamentals for solar development and a huge potential market upside?

Continue reading: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Financing-Solar-Projects-in-Chile-Is-a-Tricky-Business

Finnish wind energy on the way up

Finland has one of the lowest amounts of wind energy capacity in Europe but the situation could be changing. Anni Mikkonen from the Finnish Wind Energy Association tells us why…

Finland’s target for 2020 is to meet 38% of the country’s energy consumption with renewable energies. The main renewable energy sources to meet this target are biomass, wind power and hydro power. In the national renewable energy action plan, the target for wind is 2,500 MW in installed capacity. It is not much compared to the leading wind energy countries in Europe, but it is an ambitious target for a country that has currently got a very modest wind energy capacity – only 198 MW.

So far construction has been extremely slow in Finland, but there will be a change in speed from this year onwards since the feed-in-tariff was implemented in March 2011 and work to remove administrative barriers has started. About 100 MW worth of wind power will be installed this year, which is a good start!

The rise in interest in the Finnish wind power market could also be seen at the EWEA 2012 Annual Event held in Copenhagen last month. There were at least 14 Finnish companies exhibiting – that must have been a record! There were also plenty of Finnish conference and exhibition delegates listening to the interesting presentations and making important connections. It seemed that wherever you went there was always a Finn around the corner!

The Finnish Minister of Economics, Jyri Häkämies, who is also in charge of energy issues, visited the exhibition on the final morning of the event. The visit was a very important signal to the industry showing that there is a really strong political will in Finland to reach the 2020 targets. Minister Häkämies talked about the importance of wind power in meeting the Finnish 2020 targets and said that administrative barriers will be removed.

Like in every other market, wind power in Finland still faces challenges. One of these could be local acceptance. However, public acceptance of wind energy is very high – according to a survey carried out by the Federation of Energy Industries in spring 2012, over 89% of Finns would like to see more wind power installed. The communications academy organised by EWEA after the conference gave participants excellent ideas on how to work with local people to gain local acceptance. For example, I was really interested to learn about a number of studies the Canadian Wind Energy Association have made on wind energy and health. Moreover, information I gained from wind farm developers and other national associations will help me write a code of conduct for Finnish developers later this year.

By Anni Mikkonen, Finnish Wind Power Association

source: http://www.ewea.org

Keep your landscape free of noise!

Soundim Rail innovative solutions are all about the noise barrier for the silent landscape.

In June 2013 the City of Tampere and the Traffic Authority of Finland completed the test project in Järvensivu, Tampere, Finland.

Soundim Rail is a new type of railroad noise barrier with innovative solutions, which revolutionizes the railroad noise prevention at various levels. The inclinable Soundim Rail facilitates the barrier installation and considerably simplifies special transportations and rail maintenance. The new barrier is only 85 cm high, so the railroad environment landscape stays almost undisturbed.

The barrier was built on both sides of the track, the other side being 0.85m high and the other side 1.1m high. The lenght of the barrier is 2*140m.

Source: http://www.soundim.fi/gb/

REPERCUSIONES POR EL POSIBLE AUMENTO DE PRODUCCION DE LA EX BOTNIA

El canciller Héctor Timerman advirtió que “las relaciones entre Argentina y Uruguay están por encima de los intereses de una empresa”. El intendente del departamento uruguayo de Río Negro, Omar Lafluf, dijo que “hay que tratar de acordar la solución” con los argentinos.

“Las relaciones entre Argentina y Uruguay están por encima de los intereses de una empresa”, afirmó ayer el canciller Héctor Timerman y ratificó así el rechazo argentino al pedido de la firma finlandesa UPM de aumentar la producción de celulosa en la planta que opera en Fray Bentos. El intendente del departamento uruguayo de Río Negro, Omar Lafluf, sostuvo que “Uruguay no va a resolver aisladamente” y consideró que “hay que tratar de acordar la solución” con Argentina. “No quiero que se corten los puentes de nuevo –manifestó–, ni que se llegue a la Corte de La Haya.

A la espera del visto bueno del Estado uruguayo, la pastera Botnia-UPM está temporalmente inactiva tras agotar la cuota de producción anual en el período en curso. “El reinicio de las operaciones está previsto para el 25 de septiembre, sujeto a la aprobación para incrementar la producción de 1,1 a 1,3 millón de toneladas”, anunció la semana pasada. Sin embargo, Argentina ratificó que no dará su autorización, la cual es necesaria según lo estipula el Estatuto del Río Uruguay, que regula las actividades que puedan afectar las condiciones ambientales en zona binacional.

En el gobierno de Uruguay consideran que la demanda de la pastera Botnia-UPM fue presentada ante la binacional Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay y que a fines de este mes vence el plazo para que Argentina oficialice su objeción en el organismo. El presidente José “Pepe” Mujica adelantó el viernes pasado que tiene la decisión “en su cabeza”, pero que la hará pública una vez que la “comunique a las partes”.

Lafluf planteó como una solución intermedia “adelantar” el ciclo productivo de la planta de celulosa con el tope productivo vigente. “Que una vez que termine el mantenimiento, el 22 de septiembre, la empresa arranque a producir con el tope actual, hasta agosto del año próximo”, propuso. Explicó que es “para no mandar trabajadores al seguro de desempleo, como amenazó la firma, y que la empresa siga produciendo”.

“Se pretende que UPM no de-sarrolle su capacidad de producción, en una empresa que ha demostrado ser eficiente, seria y amigable con el medio ambiente”, criticaron comerciantes de Fray Bentos agrupados en la Acirn. Pidieron al Estado uruguayo que “defienda la soberanía” frente a “la prepotencia e intolerancia de nuestros vecinos argentinos”. “No aceptamos amenazas como el corte del turismo”, destacaron.

Fuente: Página 12 - Argentina

Wind Power Research in Focus 2013

TIME AND PLACE

16-17th of September, Chalmers kårhus, Gothenburg

PARTICIPANTSThe conference is aimed at researchers, administrators in planning and permitting processes, developers, consultants, operators in utilities and manufacturing companies.

PROGRAM
Day 1 has a Nordic theme and speakers from all Nordic countries are invited. The topics will range from ice on blades, electric power systems, maintenance offshore, wind power in forested areas, noise from wind power, effects on wildlife and golden eagles.

Day 2 will have two parallel sessions with technical and environmental focus respectively.

Overview program

Detailed program

PRICE
1000 SEK for both days. There will be an additional fee of 350 SEK for the evening buffet day 1.

REGISTRATION
Register to the conference at vif2013.axaco.se

Last day to register is the 4th of September.

ORGANISERS: Research program for Cold climate, Vindval, Vindforsk and Swedish Wind Power Technology Centre (SWPTC)

Analysis of wind turbine statistics in Finland

Few years ago Anders Stenberg has written a Master´s thesis on the development of wind power until today (2010) and the future wind power scenario in Finland. Pointing out there will be a large increase in wind power according to the target. This development will also have an influence on compiling of statistics as the amount of data grows. 

The thesis also deals with the operational principle of a wind turbine and the most important components of the system.

Main finding is probably that the main causes of downtime are failures in the gear and the hydraulic system. The largest number of failures arises in the hydraulic system. The downtime is spread evenly over the life time of a turbine with about 200 hours of downtime per year and turbine with the exception of the oldest turbines
in the survey. This was due to an increase in downtime in the hydraulic system and tip brakes of older turbines. This result indicates a rise in downtime as the turbine reaches an age of 15 years.

Statistics of production have been compiled since 1992 and the failure statistics since 1996. The failure statistics between years 1996 and 2008 are examined and contains data from 72 wind turbines.

The thesis (in Swedish) is available here: (pdf) 

Summer holidays...

We are enjoying the summer time until 31.7
info@cuevasconsulting.fi

The SmartGrids ERA-Net launches a new call for applied research projects

In order to support joint European research on smart grid issues, the SmartGrids ERA-Net launches its 3^rd call for research projects. The following countries are taking part in the call: Croatia, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey. The total funding budget is set at € 3 600 000.

Focus areas of the 3^rd SmartGrids ERA-Net call are:

• Efficient operation of active distribution networks;
• Smart retail and consumer technologies and services, including smart metering hereunder costs & benefits, customer aspects, user behaviour, and flexible demand and energy management strategies in an energy market environment;
• Information and communication technology (ICT) tools for smart grids;
• Interface between the grid and the end-users, including aspects related to security, privacy, regulation and business cases;
• Storage and balancing.

Who can apply?

Within the framework of the national limitations, the 3^rd SmartGrids ERA-Net call is open to any resident researcher/eligible institution/business within the participating countries – complying in each case with the national regulations on public funding, unless specified otherwise by the specific programme. The call has a distributed fund where each country funds its own researchers.
The projects should involve cooperation/task sharing between the project partners. The project proposals must include partners from at least three of the countries participating in the call (Croatia, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey).
The call has a two-step application process:

1. Each consortium submits a pre-proposal. These will be evaluated by experts in the funding bodies or involved programmes. Some pre-proposals will be selected for the second stage.
2. The chosen consortia are then invited to submit full proposals. Final selection is made by the national funding agencies after the full proposals have been evaluated by independent international experts.

Deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 2 September 2013, 17:00 CET.
The pre-proposals and the full proposals are to be written in English and submitted via an electronic form available on the SmartGrids ERA-Net website. Proposals will be rejected if they have not been submitted correctly in due time.


More information can be found in the published call text, and on the SmartGrids ERA-Net website www.eranet-smartgrids.eu.

Source: Nordic Energy Research

Pöyry appointed to deliver EPCM services for concentrating plant expansion project at Kittilä gold mine

Agnico-Eagle Finland Oy has awarded Pöyry a services contract, for the expansion project for the concentrating plant and leaching process at Kittilä gold mine. The contract is for the provision of a total EPCM service and Pöyry will be responsible for project management, engineering and procurement and construction management. The project is an expansion to the existing operational mine. Pöyry also provided engineering and construction management services for the initial development of the existing concentrating plant. Locally, the project will employ around 100 people at the construction stage and 30 people in the concentrating process.

The Agnico-Eagle Kittilä mine is one of the largest known gold deposits in Europe, with a gold reserve of nearly 5 million ounces. Currently, the mine employs 400 people and 180 contractors. The Kittilä mine area contains several open pit deposits and deep-lying ore is excavated from an underground mine. The mine processes 3,000 tons of ore per day, and is expected to produce approximately 150,000 ounces of gold per year. The gold is separated from the ore by pressure leaching. The expansion will increase the production by 25 per cent.

Pöyry has extensive global experience of executing demanding projects. For the mining industry, we deliver consulting, engineering and project services, as well as ongoing operational services for the mine itself. Services include mine feasibility, environmental impact, geology and beneficiation of ore.

The value of the order is not disclosed. The order was recognised within the Industry business group's order stock in Q1/2013.

Finland selects Finnish-Estonian Nortal for new tax system

Finland rejects IBM's "abnormally low" offer for new tax system, and selects Finnish-Estonian Nortal.

The Finnish Tax Administration is reforming their information systems, replacing seventy tax systems with a single one. Selected was the Fast Enterprises’ Gentax taxation software, along with Finnish-Estonian Nortal, who plans to implement the project for €62 million with the overall price of procurement running around €226 million over 15 years.

Also competing in the bid was IBM, whose bid of €38 million with a total value of €143 million over 15 years was rejected. The Finnish Tax Administration was able to do so under the public procurement laws, which says the contracting authority may reject abnormally low tender.

“For us, it is essential that the operational reliability and success of the taxation will be ensured also in the future,” said the Chief Information Officer of the Tax Administration, Markku Heikura.

The story isn't over yet. After being rejected, IBM is appealing the decision to the Finnish Market Court, who may reverse the decision.

Without any real baseline to compare it to, I don't know how to interpret this news other than to shake my head. On one hand, IBM's offer could have been purposefully low to win the contract, and could "discover additional costs" later, or to spit out a shoddy delivery. But at the same time you hear about the insane amounts of money governments pay to build a barely usable website, and you have to ask yourself where they think the baseline is for ICT spending. Take for example California's $2 billion court management system, which was eventually scraped.

Perhaps I'm again showing my naiveté, but since they're just implementing Fast Enterprise's Gentex software, it seems IBM's upfront of €38 million will buy you a moon-shot worth of man hours, even for a difficult problem like reliably putting together seventy tax systems into a new system. But I look at that winning bid and think, man, the number of entrepreneurs that would fund to build an even more badass tax system says  Greg Anderson.

In order to deliver quality results, the Finnish government should be able to reject bids that are too far south. But with the number of clown consultants driving up prices in these ICT procurements, it should be interesting to hear the Tax Authority's reasoning in court.

Source: http://www.arcticstartup.com

Åker Solutions receives contract award notification from Husky

Åker Solutions has received a contract award notification (last 10 May 2013) for offshore engineering services to support Husky Energy's activities at the offshore White Rose field in Canada.

The scope of work includes studies, modifications (EPCI) and campaign maintenance services. The duration is five years with an option to extend the contract for as many as 10 one-year periods.

The estimated contract value is NOK 900 million for the five-year period.

"We are delighted that Husky has chosen us as their preferred partner for offshore engineering services at the White Rose field," says Tore Sjursen, head of maintenance, modifications and operations at Aker Solutions. "Our presence in North America is increasing and the award will be a good foundation for further growth in Canada."

The project will employ about 70 management and engineering employees onshore, as well as 20 people on rotation offshore.

The White Rose field is located 350 kilometres southeast of St. John's, Canada, and consists of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Source: Reuters

Report of Confidence Indicators (March 2013) from the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK.

The Confederation of Finnish Industries released the report of Confidence Indicators for March, 2013.

Finnish manufacturing confidence stayed unchanged in March. However, the confidence indicator is clearly below its long-term average. The latest indicator figure is -9 (revised figure -9 in February, too). Its long-term average is +3. Production growth is expected to be weak in the coming months. Order books are well below their normal levels. Stocks of final goods have decreased somewhat but they are still slightly above average.

Construction confidence recovered somewhat but is still rather weak. The confidence indicator scored -22 points (revised figure -27 in February). Confidence is well below its long-term average (-6). Order books are smaller than average and personnel is expected to decrease during the next few months.

Service sector confidence indicator climbed to +4 points in March from 0 points in February. Despite the increase, confidence is rather weak as its long-term average is +15. Sales growth gained a little speed in March but only moderate growth figures are forecast for the next few months. The overall business situation has deteriorated further in the first quarter.

Finnish retail trade confidence indicator scored -7 points in March, down from -3 in February. The long-term average is 0 points. Sales growth became negative and expectations for the next quarter are also fairly weak.

Source:
Confederation of Finnish Industries EK

KONE elevators to ease flow of people in Delhi Metro network

KONE has won an order for 143 KONE MonoSpace ® elevators to be installed at stations in the third phase of the Delhi Metro network extension in Northern India. 

The contract follows previous orders for 395 elevators and 75 escalators in the first two phases of the expansion of the Delhi Metro.

The new order includes 70 stainless steel elevators with glass doors and a further 73 elevators with stainless steel doors. Braille buttons and a voice announcement system are included to improve accessibility for all passengers while elevator mirrors ease accessibility for wheelchair users. The vandal-proof elevators also feature additional door photo-sensors, fire-rated glass and fire retardant low smoke cables to maximize passenger safety.

"We have a long-standing relationship with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and we understand the passenger requirements in the public transport sector. This has helped us provide the best possible solutions for the Delhi Metro, and we are delighted to continue our involvement in this, the third phase of the project," said Neeraj Sharma, Managing Director for KONE India.

KONE has been involved in the Delhi Metro extension project from the start, and the third phase is currently under Indian government construction. Once completed, the network will be some 330 kilometres long.

The Delhi Metro, which aims to cover the whole of India's second-most populous metropolis by 2021, has operated since 2002, bringing relief to the city's congested transport network. To address the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's environmental considerations, the ordered machine-room-less KONE elevators include ecologically sound features such as energy-saving regenerative drives, LED lighting and low energy consuming motors.

Source: www.kone.com