Информационный обзор

Wind Power

Vestas seeks to cool rumours it secured a 300 MW order
// RenewableEnergyMagazine

Thursday, 09 June 2011

Dan McCue

Not so fast. That’s what Danish wind turbine manufacturer said as word began to spread early Thursday that it had won a supply and long-term service agreement for two wind projects in Canada.

In a highly unusual announcement on its web site, Vestas confirmed that negotiations between itself and the Greengate Power Corporation in Canada are ongoing, but it emphasized that it had “not yet received a firm and unconditional order for the project”.

The company said it was making the announcement based in its obligation as a Danish listed company.

“If the negotiations between the customer and Vestas will result in a firm and unconditional order, Vestas will make a company announcement immediately thereafter,” the company’s statement continued.
The current discussions regard the possibility of supplying 166 wind turbines for Greengate’s Blackspring Ridge I wind project, which the developer has said it expects to construct by 2013.
With a capacity of 300 MW, the project is expected to become the largest wind energy project in Canada.
For additional information:
Vestas’ statement
http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/energias/renovables/index/pag/wind/botid/48/colright/wind/tip/articulo/title/Go%20to%20Wind/pagid/15825/

Santiago-based company to be first to manufacture turbine towers in Latin America
// RenewableEnergyMagazine

Monday, 13 June 2011

Toby Price

The metal transformation company, Metallurgical Arrigoni, will become the first company to produce wind turbine towers on the continent. The move reflects the maturing nature of Latin America’s wind industry and the need to develop an indigenous components manufacturing base.

Last month, neighbouring Argentina took receipt of 43 turbine towers for the 160 million-dollar Rawson wind farm, located on Route 1, the road leading to the town of Camarones in the coastal Chibut province.
The Port Authority of Puerto Madryn had worked hard since January to prepare the port terminal to receive the bulky loads related to the Rawson wind energy project, expanding dock space and refurbishing part of its facilities. The 43 Vestas turbine towers arrived mid-May on a Dutch-flagged ship in three segments of different lengths. The considerable investment made to enable the components to be offloaded highlights the importance of developing a local manufacturing base for these bulky parts, which can measure up to 100 metres in height and weigh up to 210 tonnes.
For this reason, the metal transformation company Metallurgical Arrigoni, based in Santiago (Chile), has taken the decision to integrate the ability to fabricate turbine towers into its operations. It has announced plans to build a new facility which, it reveals, will make it the only company able to manufacture wind turbine towers in South America, “aiding to the creation and functioning of new wind farms that are being planned up for the coming years”.
Currently, Chile has more than 4,000 MW of projects that could be built over the next 10 years, and having the capacity to produce these towers would be of great help to the domestic energy market. As CEO of Metallurgical Arrigoni, Dante Arrigoni, says: "Chile urgently needs to increase its electricity generation. Wind power is a real solution to the energy needs we have as a country today”.
The new plant, located in Quilicura on the outskirts of Santiago will meet the highest international manufacturing standards, becoming the most modern plant in Latin America. Metallurgical Arrigoni explains that one of the main features of the plant, its design under its Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) policy, means that the Quilicura community will be involved in developing and running the plant in order to boost local job prospects and the social development of the commune.
For additional information:
Latin American Wind Energy Association
http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/energias/renovables/index/pag/wind/colleft//colright/wind/tip/articulo/pagid/15855/botid/48/

China agrees to halt subsidies to wind power firms
// Reuters

By Doug Palmer and Leonora Walet

WASHINGTON/HONG KONG | Tue Jun 7, 2011 10:41am EDT
WASHINGTON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has settled a green technology trade dispute with the United States by agreeing to stop subsidizing wind power firms that use domestic parts at the expense of imports, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Tuesday.
"The United States is pleased that China has shut down this subsidy program. Subsidies requiring the use of local content are particularly harmful and are expressly prohibited under WTO rules," Kirk said in a statement.
The decision is a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which last year urged President Barack Obama's administration to challenge a number of Chinese clean energy measures that it said violated World Trade Organization rules.
"We challenged these subsidies so that American manufacturers can produce wind turbine components here in the United States and sell them in China. That supports well-paying jobs here at home," Kirk said.
China's ministry of commerce could not be reached for comment.
USTR said the subsidies took the form of grants to Chinese wind turbine makers that agreed to use key parts and components made in China rather than buying imports. Individual grants since 2008 ranged from $6.7 million to $22.5 million and could collectively total several hundred million dollars, it said.
The agreement comes as the Obama administration is struggling with high unemployment and concern about the ability of the U.S. economy to generate enough new jobs.
Obama has highlighted green technologies such as wind power as a promising source of job creation.
THIRD U.S. VICTORY
The case marked the third successful U.S. challenge against Chinese subsidy programs at the WTO. Each was resolved through consultations rather than a ruling from a WTO dispute settlement panel that can takes years to obtain.
But Kirk chided China for failing to meet a WTO obligation to provide information on a regular basis about its subsidy programs.
"China is the second largest trader at the WTO, and it is simply not acceptable that China continues to evade its transparency commitments," he said.
While the United States applauded China's decision to halt subsidies to wind power firms, the move is unlikely to prevent China's biggest power producers from moving ahead with plans to expand internationally.
"Chinese wind power companies have reached a stage that, regardless of subsidies, they will head out and aim for overseas markets if there are opportunities," said Dennis Lam, an analyst with DBS Vickers.
China's largest wind turbine makers Sinovel Wind Group Co and Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology -- also among the world's biggest wind turbine makers -- have announced plans to supply markets overseas.
Goldwind established a wholly owned U.S. unit in Chicago last year, marking its ambition to serve American markets.
Analysts and industry executives in China said any announcement on halting subsidies to wind firms is unlikely to change an overall policy of strengthening the industry.
"I wouldn't think this to be a major policy shift on the part of China. From the outset, the issue was more symbolic and more of a political gesture," said a senior executive at Suzlon Energy's China unit.
"Removing one or part of the subsidies offered manufacturers won't mean a strategic shift from the overall policy framework."
China has said its new five-year plan for renewable energy will include pledges to boost wind power capacity. The country has built the most wind power capacity in 2010, adding 18.9 gigawatts and bringing its total capacity to 44.7 GW, according to Global Wind Energy Council.
In 2010, China overtook the United States as the country with the most installed wind energy capacity.
(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and John O'Callaghan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-china-windpower-idUSTRE7561B920110607