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.