BNDES Shuts $3.5 Billion Wind Market to Five Companies

Five of the biggest wind-turbine makers have been shut out of Brazil’s $3.5 billion market by the national development bank BNDES after failing to meet local- content requirements.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL), Siemens AG (SIE), Acciona SA (ANA) and Fuhrlaender AG aren’t getting at least 40 percent of their parts from local suppliers and are no longer eligible for BNDES financing, the country’s only source of loans for turbines, said Elbia Melo, executive president of the wind- industry trade group, Associacao Brasileira de Energia Eolica.
Developers can’t tap BNDES loans for 2,000 megawatts of turbines they agreed to buy from the suppliers, and will either suspend construction on some projects or switch vendors, Melo said. The world’s top turbine makers are setting up Brazilian plants to meet surging demand and haven’t established the domestic supply chain they pledged to create, according to government officials.
“BNDES and the turbine makers agreed on a timeline to develop factories and turbine makers didn’t keep to it,” Henrique Tinoco, a director at state development agency Superintendencia do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste, said in a telephone interview. “This is a public bank with limited resources. Of course it’s going to prioritize the acquisition of capital goods produced nationally.”
Wind-turbine installations in Brazil may almost triple to 1,695 megawatts this year from 2011, making it the fifth-largest market, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and the country is promoting policies to ensure the boom benefits other parts of its economy.
Vestas, based in Aarhus, Denmark, dropped 57 percent this year through yesterday. Pune, India, based Suzlon increased less than one percent over the same period compared with the Bloomberg Wind Energy Index (BWIND) of 64 companies that’s lost 13 percent.

Civicon Limited will do the roads at LTWP for Ksh.3.2 Billion

News just in confirm that Civicon Limited, a lading construction company has won the contract for the construction of access roads in the Lake Turkana Wind Farm and also a roads to the station.

The contract which is worth Ksh. 3.2 Billion will entail the construction of 109km on-site road network at another 204km access road. These roads will be built to gravel standards and should provide the much needed capacity to handle the excruciating weight of the mighty Vestas Wind Turbines that shall be brought to the site.


The project will last 15Months by which the turbines will be ready for mounting.

Stadium/Complex Power Systems - The Olympic Park-London

As is customary with any major event that is happening in the world, I have to cover the electrical power aspect to inform you of what happens under the hood. Anyway last time was the 2010 FiFa World Cup now its the London Olympics 2012.

The Olympics are much held in one location except for the few events that need a separate location so I presume that things will be much easier.

Let's go back in-time during the early stages pf constructions so that we get a clear understanding of the relocation of H.T Pylons and other switchgear.

Before construction work could begin on the London Olympic Park the electrical infrastructure needed to be put in place, as E&T discovers.

From the moment that International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge announced in July 2005 that the UK, or, more accurately, London, was to host the 2012 Olympics, the race was on to ensure that the electrical infrastructure in east London could support the requirements of the proposed high-tech 2.5sq km Olympic Park.
The combined electrical network will consist of more than 100km of electrical cabling and over 100 local substations. The first decision, taken back in January 2008, was to award the electrical contract to power company EDF. Construction began in the summer and already several key milestones have been reached, most notably the completion of all underground cable work and the removal of overhead pylons, which was completed just before Christmas.

The electrical networks will be connected to a primary electrical substation located next to Kings Yard in the west of the Olympic Park. Clearance work on the site of the primary substation was completed early last year allowing construction work to start. The 132/11kv electrical substation will be a key piece of electrical infrastructure for the Olympic Park, the Stratford City development and the ongoing regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley area.
"These utility networks and infrastructure are not just for a summer of sport in 2012, but will power the long-term regeneration of the area for many years to come and show that we are planning the Games and legacy together from the very beginning," Simon Wright, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) director of infrastructure and utilities says. "The electrical networks will be a key part of the world-class infrastructure that will form the backbone of the Olympic Park."

Sustainability was at the core of London's bidding process so, naturally, it is at the heart of the design and construction plans for the primary electrical substation.
Crushed materials from the demolition of the former Kings Yard buildings in the Olympic Park will be reused in the construction of the substation.
The building has also been designed to include a 'brown roof', which involves crushed materials laid down on a flat roof to allow species to colonise naturally. The brown roof will help enhance the ecological value and biodiversity of the Olympic Park site by attracting local wildlife including black redstarts, a rare bird that thrives on brownfield land.

Donald Trump and the Wind Turbines

Image/golfvacationinsider.com

An interesting story is developing in Scotland, where the US tycoon, Donald Trump is seeking to stop the construction of a wind farm just nest to his multibillion golf estate. Trump says that the 11-wind farm would destroy the aestheticism of the golf estate and terming them as industrial turbines.

A planning application for an 11-turbine wind farm off Aberdeen Bay was submitted to Marine Scotland last summer and a decision is expected to be made later this year. Mr Trump has halted work on his resort until the decision is made by the Scottish Government.

In his letter addressed to Mr Salmond, he wrote: "Inward investors everywhere are reading the headlines and concluding that Scotland is no longer a secure place to invest because of the fact you are single-handedly destroying the economic well-being of a great country.
Read more...

Wind farm Model - Part3

Hello guys its been quite some time since I did an update of the wind turbine project. All is well, just that I had encountered some problems on the way. The type of grass that I had planted hoping it would do well, didn't, so back to square one.

Luckily I got another type that creeps on the surface and it seems to be a success story soon.

I have embarked on making the turbines coz the grass is growing up quite fast.

Have a look.

Wind Farm Model - Part 2

The Wind Park Model Project is well on track. Still fixing some parts in the design part here on my PC.
Outside the grass is picking and adapting to the new environment. Some vegetation cover is starting to grow as the grass starts to cover the surface.

The design on WindFarmer has some bit of errors and placement of Wind Turbines here and there so can't post it now but its coming soon.

Here are some pics of the veggie cover on the box.

Wind Farm Model Project

In a bid to come to a full understanding of Wind Farms, I have embarked on a project which will involve modelling an actual wind farm.

As opposed to regular models by Architects, my model will be alive but not generating. This simply means that, the vegetation will be alive and growing.

To save up on time, since the grass and other vegetation will take time to mature, I will start by preparing the land and planting the grass. As the grass takes tits time to grow, I will be working on the turbine models and associated structures on site.

I have modeled on Google Sketch-up and GH WindFarmer 4.2 (Best) to know how everything will fall in place. Sorry the model is not ready as for now, but I will upload as soon as possible. The whole model will be covered with a glass cover to protect it against dust. A grass watering system will also be working to keep the vegetation alive.

▲The plywood is cornered by cardboard to stop the soil from falling off.

▲Inside view of the setup. Note the plywood is corvered by Formica to prevent any chances of rotting.

▲Complete. I used electrical insulation tape (Green)

There is more...▼▼▼

General Electric launches a 100MW Wind Power Station

The Kenya wind energy sector is getting a boost with a new wind power plant coming in just 2years.

General Electric has announced that it will set up a 100MW Wind Power Station in Ngong, Kenya which will be under a project called Kipeto Energy and construction is said to have already started.

General Electric is an international company with its headquarters in New York, US The project is estimate dto cost this company Ksh.25Billion and it will be ready by the time Lk. Turkana Wind Project is done.

Lets wait and see the outcome...

World Future Energy Summit 2012

There are many energy events that one can afford to miss out but this one is not. The World Future Energy Summit is the hallmark of energy and innovation events. Coming this 18th to 21st January 2012 is this year's World Future Energy Summit 2012. Under the Patronage of H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.


Products to be Launched

Gold Wind 1.5 PMDD Wind Turbine.
This products offers:

1. High power generating efficiency
2. Compact,Light & Easy to transport
3. Superior power quality and grid code compliance
4. Significantly reduced maintenance costs and total operating expenditures.
5. PMDD Technology, simple drive -train construction ,high reliability. Light and compact design compared to other turbines in its class. Sealed insulation design for excellent dust resistance. Full power converter, low voltage and zero voltage ride through capabilities for excellent grid connection characteristics

This product is being launched by GOLDWIND - China

3phase blog is 2years old

Once again 3phase blog gets the privilege of celebrating our second anniversary. Getting to this point cannot be taken for granted. It has been 2 years of talking about electricity, environment and wind energy.

Since I started this blog, 2 years ago, I have taught and at the same time learnt alot and I feel like a professor in these disciplines though am still learning.

To all those who have taken the time of contributing by comments and questions, am much indebted. Thanks you all and lets make 2012 another successful engineering year.

Kudos.