Windletter #71 - The regulation for offshore wind power in Spain, published
Also: GE focuses on a 15.5 MW version of the Haliade X, Envision is the Chinese manufacturer with the most sales outside its market, the Saitec Offshore prototype facing a storm, and more.
Hello everyone and welcome to a new issue of Windletter. I'm Sergio Fernández Munguía (@Sergio_FerMun) and here we discuss the latest news in the wind power sector from a different perspective. If you enjoy the newsletter and are not subscribed, you can do so here.
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The most read from the last issue has been: the Siemens Gamesa SWT-DD-4.3-130 video, the Edda Goelo launching video, and the Ingeteam system's white paper on its new design for feeding the offshore wind turbines yaw system.
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Now, as dictated by the standards, let's move on to the news of the week.
The Spanish Government launches the long-awaited regulation for offshore wind
Last week we were talking about how the legislation on offshore wind in Spain was taking longer than desired. And also that it was expected to be published in the coming weeks.
Well, it seems that the Ministry must have heard our prayers because yesterday the royal decree was finally released for public information by which the auctions of offshore wind will be regulated. Or, in legislative language:
This royal decree establishes the regulation of the production of electrical energy in installations located at sea, in relation to the administrative authorizations that apply to them, as well as the economic regime and the mechanisms and procedures necessary for their granting.
After the publication of the Offshore Spatial Planning Plans, this is the next necessary step for offshore wind to become a reality in Spain one day.
The truth is that there are no big surprises, the most relevant aspects we had already anticipated in Windletter, but here are the most important points about the auctions:
They will refer to one or several maritime zones, which may compete with each other for the allocation of power.
They will simultaneously grant the tariff, the access capacity to the grid, and the use of the maritime space for a maximum period of 30 years.
The auction may include up to 30% of non-economic criteria. These criteria may be related to the design of the project, to the environmental and landscape impact, to the socioeconomic impact, to the dismantling of the project, to the capacity to contribute to supply security and/or to the impact on maritime safety.
There will be a reserve (maximum) price and a risk (minimum) price that may be confidential.
Requirements may be established for participants that may be related to legal form, technical solvency, company experience, size, or other economic-financial aspects.
You can access the draft royal decree, and even submit comments, at this link. You can also read the Ministry's press release (using a translator) with the summary of the main ideas.
After a period for comments (until March 25), we will have to wait for the first call to be finally launched, with Gran Canaria being the best positioned to be the first location.
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General Electric will focus on a 15.5 MW version of the Haliade X
General Electric wants the Haliade-X 15.5 MW-250 to become its new flagship product in the offshore wind sector. This was revealed by the American company itself in a document sent to the US stock market on the occasion of the spin-off of GE Vernova.
According to the document, the Haliade X platform includes offerings with capacities ranging from 12 to 18 MW, which would fit with the rumors that have been circulating lately and have been around since March of last year. Also in December, we mentioned how RWE had won an auction in Japan to install a new version of the Haliade X that would reach 18 MW.
But beyond the 18 MW, the document also mentions that GE will focus on the Haliade-X 15.5 MW-250 as a "workhorse" product for the offshore sector.
According to several reports, GE has halted the development of the 18 MW version, but reading the text published by GE, I honestly don't find it that clear. In any case, if this is true, it could affect various projects that have already started processing thinking about those future 18 MW machines. On this note, Juan Pinilla's post on LinkedIn is interesting.
GE also acknowledges that it will struggle to balancing the books of the Haliade X contracts already sold, but expects those margins to improve later on.
We are clearly facing a slowdown in the development of new offshore wind turbines by Western manufacturers, who seem willing to focus on the industrialization of these platforms and on the quality and maturation of the designs. However, let's not forget that Siemens Gamesa should install the world's most powerful wind turbine prototype before the end of the year.
By the way, regarding onshore, the document can be interpreted as GE focusing on the United States, its local market, and also on the GE 2.8-127, GE 3.6-154, and the Cypress platform with the 6.1-158 and 6.0-164 models.
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Envision positions itself as the Chinese OEM with the most sales outside its local market
Orders for wind turbines in China reached a record in 2023, with an impressive figure of around 100 GW, as reported by Wood Mackenzie in its latest report.
Goldwind has once again become the manufacturer with the largest market share (17.7%), followed closely by Envision, which has maintained a 17.4% share. Mingyang closes the podium with a 16.1% share but leads in orders for offshore wind. The top ten are completed by Windey, SANY, CRRC, DEC, CSSC Haizhuang, Shanghai Electric Wind, and United Power.
But one of the most surprising figures is undoubtedly Envision's first position as the Chinese manufacturer with the most orders received outside its local market, when before it was a common position for Goldwind.
In total, Woodmac estimates Envision's orders at 4.1 GW, which represents 60% of the total orders received by Chinese manufacturers outside their borders. Its closest competitor in the foreign market has been Windey, with 19% of the total, followed by Mingyang, Goldwind, and Shanghai Electric Wind.
Among the countries with the highest orders received by Envision are Saudi Arabia, India, Uzbekistan, and Egypt.
Despite the quantity of orders, Woodmac has also pointed out that wind turbine prices have reached a new low in China, which is affecting manufacturers' financial results.
The Saitec Offshore prototype facing a storm
Saitec Offshore Technologies has posted a new video on their LinkedIn account, showing their DemoSATH prototype surviving a storm.
According to Saitec, the prototype has withstood waves of up to 10.58 meters in height and winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (27.77 meters per second).
This likely caused the wind turbine to stop when the cut-out speed was exceeded, which, according to what I found online for this model, is set at 25 m/s (unless it has been reconfigured for its floating application). In fact, many people in the comments section have asked this kind of question.
In any case, what the video suggests is that the wind is blowing quite strongly and that the sea is not exactly calm. My guess is that the images don't necessarily show the exact moment of the 100 km/h winds or the 10-meter waves (and neither do they have to).
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Modvion officially delivers the first full-scale wooden wind turbine tower
Several times we've talked about Modvion, the startup that has set out to design, manufacture, and industrialize wooden towers for wind turbines. Especially about their first commercial-scale prototype, a 105 meter tall tower on which they installed the nacelle of a 2 MW Vestas V90 wind turbine.
Well, Modvion has already made the official delivery or "take over" to Varberg Energi, the company that has decided to invest in this technology.
This is a milestone for Modvion, which will now have to focus on designing a viable product for commercial onshore wind turbines, which are now in the range of 4-7 MW.
In fact, a few months ago, Modvion announced on their website the "Raise me up" project, in which they talked about designing and manufacturing a tower for a 6 MW wind turbine. That section of the website is still open, but there is now much less information. They simply state that it is "under development".
Here is a video with images of the manufacturing and assembly, as well as interviews with founders and employees of the company.
As a relevant point, one of the founders assures that in 5 years they hope to have serial production and in 10 years to have a 10% global market share, with a production of more than 2,000 towers annually.
We will continue to watch for the next moves, so if you don't want to miss it, subscribe.
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Vestas incorporates the Volkswagen ID. Buzz van for the maintenance of its wind farms
Vestas is aiming to electrify its fleet of maintenance vans, and it's doing so with the help of Volkswagen and its ID. Buzz Cargo, the industrial version of the van. More than a year ago, we were talking about how these vans were going to start being tested in Germany... and now they have arrived in Spain.
Specifically, the maintenance center of Vestas in Viveiro has received its first three units, with the help of Alphabet and Volkswagen Group España Distribución.
One fact that caught my attention is that 21 units out of the 70 vehicles in Vestas' operations center are already 100% electric, which is not bad at all.
In addition, Vestas claims that in 2023 they incorporated 465 sustainable vehicles (I want to understand that they are 100% electric) into their global fleet. The Danish company has an agreement with VW in Europe and with Ford in the United States.
Interestingly, a few days ago, I was notified on Twitter about the sighting of one of these units in Galicia.
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Wind farms have paid 98 million euros in taxes in Aragon over the past 7 years
According to the Heraldo de Aragón, the wind farms installed in the community over the past 7 years have contributed 97.8 million euros to public coffers.
This amount has gone to 35 localities, which, apart from taxes, have also benefited from renting municipal land for the installation of wind turbines and power lines. In this way, it is estimated that the revenues contributed to municipal coffers amount to 105 million euros.
According to estimates by AEE, these taxes have contributed to that group of localities having gone from having budgets totaling 52 million in 2017 to reaching 93.5 million in 2023.
The largest contribution corresponds to the Tax on Constructions, Facilities, and Works (ICIO), which is paid in a lump sum. But there are also recurrent revenues such as Special Character Real Estate Taxes (Bices) and Economic Activities Taxes (IAE).
However, for some administrations, all these taxes are not enough, and they also have others at the regional level, such as the Galician wind tax, the recently created one in the Basque Country, and the one that Aragon has just created.
I've had a draft article for some time to talk about how many taxes a wind farm pays, I'll try to find some time and go into more detail. If you don't want to miss it, subscribe.
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Disclaimer: The opinions presented in Windletter are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.