French energy major TotalEnergies has opened its UK Offshore Wind Hub in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The Hub was opened by Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies. It will be part of the company’s existing offshore operations centre in Aberdeen and will enable the transition of staff from oil and gas to offshore wind.

”Investing in energy projects in Scotland and the North Sea has been at the heart of TotalEnergies’ history,” Pouyanné said.

”I am proud of the success of our partnership with Scotland and of our joint achievements, in particular the development of the offshore industry. With the energy transition gathering speed, we see Scotland as a great place to broaden our relationship by investing in offshore wind.

As a global multi energy company long engaged in UK energy supply, our decision to base our UK Offshore Wind Hub here in Aberdeen is a mark of our confidence in the future of renewables in the UK and our continued commitment to Scotland and the North Sea.”

The announcement comes as TotalEnergies, in partnership with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG), takes part in the ScotWind leasing round having proposed a 2 GW offshore wind project called West of Orkney Windfarm.

The first offshore wind project to be built in Lithuania’s sector of the Baltic Sea could comprise wind turbines of up to 16 MW of capacity each, with a minimum of 43 units erected at a designated site approximately 29 kilometres offshore.

The possible number and capacity of the wind turbines has been mentioned in the latest press release from the Lithuanian government, which announced on 15 October that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) programme for the project had been prepared.

The programme was prepared following an agreement concluded this August between the Ministry of Energy and the Institute of Coastal Research and Planning on the environmental impact assessment for offshore wind farms to be developed in the Lithuanian maritime territory.

Back in June 2020, the Lithuanian government adopted a resolution to organise a tender for 700 MW of offshore wind and selected a site where the country’s first offshore wind farm will be built.

The plan is to hold the auction in 2023, after all the necessary actions and research have been completed.

Vestas has announced it will install the V236-15 MW offshore prototype wind turbine at the Østerild National test centre for large wind turbines in Western Jutland, Denmark, in the second half of 2022 with generation starting in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The prototype is 280 metres tall and has a production output of GWh/year, making it the tallest and most powerful wind turbine in the world once installed.

“Colleagues across Vestas have worked very hard and collaborated closely to ensure the rapid progress in developing and assembling the V236-15.0 MW prototype, and this announcement is an important step forward for Vestas and our customers” said Anders Nielsen, Vestas Chief Technology Officer.

“Getting the prototype turbine in the ground will underline how the V236-15.0 MW will raise the bar in terms of technological innovation, industrialisation and scale in the wind energy industry”.

The prototype development work has already progressed across Vestas’ R&D and production sites in Denmark.

The blade moulds have been developed at Vestas’ blade factory in Lem and the 115.5 metres long prototype blades will begin manufacturing later this year at Vestas’ offshore blade factory in Nakskov.

The nacelle will be developed and assembled at the offshore nacelle factory in Lindø port of Odense. All large components will be preassembled and transported to Østerild, where installation will take place.

The prototype will be installed onshore to facilitate easy access for testing prior to installation, and the main prototype components will already have undergone thorough testing and verification at Vestas’ and our partners’ test facilities.

During the initial period of operations, Vestas will collect data needed to obtain a Type Certificate, which is a key step in reaching serial production of the turbine in 2024.

With a swept area exceeding 43,000 m², the V236-15.0 MW delivers industry-leading performance and moves the boundaries of wind energy production to around 80 GWh/year, enough to power around 20,000 European households and displace more than 38,000 tonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent to removing 25,000 passenger cars from the road every year.

The V235-15.0 MW is designed to deliver excellent performance while reducing the number of turbines at wind farm level, strengthening the project business case. The globally applicable offshore turbine offers 65 percent higher annual energy production than the V174-9.5 MW, and for a 900 MW wind farm it increases production by five percent with 34 fewer turbines. It offers excellent partial-load production, resulting in a more stable energy production, and a capacity factor over 60 percent depending on site-specific conditions.

Launched in February 2021, Vestas secured its first pre-selected tenderer status for the V236-15.0 MW turbine in July 2021 for the 900 MW He Dreiht project in Germany.

In Estonia, national transmission system operator Elering has secured funding from the European Commission to speed up the integration of renewable energy onto the grid.

The €30 million ($34.7 million) in funding approved by the European Commission will enable Elering to modernise existing and build new energy transmission infrastructure.

Elering plans to strengthen its 110KV power line in Western Estonia to ensure the transmission network is able to transport an increasing amount of renewable energy capacity.

Kalle Kilk, Member of the Management Board and Head of Asset Management of Elering, said: “110 kilovolt power lines approaching the 330 kilovolt network from the islands and Lääne County are currently a major impediment when it comes to improving dispersed renewable energy and are in need of significant reinforcement.”

Kilk added that the project will also help Estonia to secure its energy supply and achieve its climate goals by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

The most significant benefit for the security of supply is the construction of lines feeding the islands on separate masts.

Presently, there is a potential hazard of the interruption of the entire supply of electricity to the islands should the double-circuit line be switched off.

The investments to be made will improve the resistance of the 110KV network to weather conditions with regard to impact arising from icy conditions and high temperatures.

The funding will be issued through the Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Facility which aims to accelerate the digital and green transition for member states.

Projects to be deployed are also expected to help the integration of the Estonian grid with that of western European countries, a move that will help reduce the reliance of Estonia on the Russian grid.

Elering says it has developed a new methodology that will reduce the Russian energy supply into Latvia.

The method includes reducing the amount of electricity the country purchases from Russia.

The news follows Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency announcing that by leveraging renewables including solar and wind, Europe has the potential to address the soaring energy prices being witnessed across the bloc’s energy market.

BayWa r.e. has completed the acquisition of the project rights for Broken Cross Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The Broken Cross project, purchased from developer Brockwell Energy, is a 48MW, ten turbine wind farm site sitting 3.5km to the northwest of Rigside in South Lanarkshire.

Gordon MacDougall, Managing Director, BayWa r.e. UK and Ireland, said: “Broken Cross is another high-quality project developed by Brockwell Energy and we’re thrilled to add this new project to our growing UK portfolio of renewable energy generation sites.

“We look forward to starting on site and expanding Scotland’s capacity for wind energy generation while creating opportunities for the local community through a significant community benefit package.”

The project is located on a restored coal mine that underwent a transformation after development company Hargreaves purchased the land from the liquidators of Scottish Coal in 2013.

Working with South Lanarkshire Council over the last eight years, Hargreaves has developed and delivered a site-wide restoration scheme paving the way for the wind scheme and other industrial and agricultural uses.

Alex Lambie, Chief Executive of Brockwell Energy: “We are delighted to complete a second transaction with BayWa r.e. that highlights the quality and value of the project we have developed at Broken Cross.

“The transaction proceeds will be reinvested to further expand our development activities at other sites and projects as we strive to deliver more projects to help achieve climate change goals.”

The work to complete Bangladesh’s first-ever nuclear power plant took another significant step forward this past week when the reactor pressure vessel was installed at Rooppur NPP Unit 1.

Russian-based contractor and supplier ROSATOM announced the completion of the installation. The vessel was manufactured by Russia’s AEM-Technologies.

The Rooppur project is planned by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and will eventually include two units generating 1.2GW capacity each.

The first unit work began in 2013 and is expected to be completed and operational by 2024, with Unit 2 planned for a 2024 start.

Installation of the 334-ton unit began more than three weeks earlier, with a polar crane moving it into design position with a tolerance of one-tenth of a millimeter.

“The high qualification of the specialists and the thorough preparation ensured the performance of the works with a pinpoint precision,” Alexey Likhachev, director-general of ROSATOM, said in a statement.

“The unique combination of active and passive systems of the power units will ensure safe operation of the power plant and guarantee the declared level of electricity generation. The development of nuclear power industry will not only resolve the problem of energy supply in Bangladesh but will also contribute to the development of the region and enhance the living standards of the people.”

The Rooppur plant will include two VVER-1200 pressurized water-cooled reactors. The VVER model includes horizontal steam generators, hexagonal fuel assemblies and high-capacity pressurizers.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the nation will build another nuclear power plant once Rooppur is completed. The nation’s growth is pushing leaders to ensure electricity access to all of its population.

The Prime Minister of Egypt, Moustafa Madbouli, has attended the signing of two agreements on establishing a 500MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area.

The deal was signed by the Electricity Ministry and a consortium comprising Orascom, France’s Engie and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation in the presence of Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Masaki Noke and France’s deputy ambassador to Egypt.

Shaker referred to efforts exerted by the ministry in cooperation with the private sector to carry out power projects based on renewable energy sources.

The efforts come as part of the ministry’s strategy to produce 42% of electricity from renewable sources by 2035, he said.

In October, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) agreed with the Red Sea Wind Energy Company to set up a wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area under a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) system, a form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP), to produce 500 megawatts of electricity from wind energy.

The EETC will buy the electricity produced from the project, Shaker said.

The total investment cost of the project is estimated at $600 million and it is expected to become operational in 2024.

He added that the project is anticipated to provide 1,100 direct jobs in addition to many other indirect jobs related to supplies and services.