Aerial view of cloud-shrouded wind farm on February 24, 2023 in Yichang, Hubei Province, China. The IEA said 55% of all renewable energy additions in 2023 are expected to come in China (pic credit: Visual China Group / Getty Images)

Top Story

China to lead renewable energy installations in record year for onshore wind - IEA

1 June 2023 by Orlando Jenkinson

New additions of wind, solar, and other renewables are expected to jump by a third, according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that suggests the green transition is accelerating.

One of the few deals announced for Europe last month was an agreement for Siemens Gamesa to supply its SG 5.0-145 turbines for six wind farms in Spain

Top Story

Analysis: European onshore wind slump continues

1 June 2023 by David Carr

May saw several turbine orders reported from the Asia-Pacific region, but apparent demand in the European onshore sector remained in the doldrums, according to analysis by Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.

News

Enercon wins large turbine order in Turkey

Enercon has agreed to supply five new wind farms in the country with a total of 260MW of turbines (pic credit: Enercon)

Denmark eyes state ownership in 14GW offshore tender plan

The up to 14GW of new capacity will add to Denmark’s existing 2.3GW operational offshore wind fleet (pic credit: Jan De Nul)

State-owned energy firms win Polish offshore wind leases

Four of the lease areas secured by PKN Orlen are off the coast of Kołobrzeg (pic credit: arkanex/Getty Images)

Mexico alarms developers with 'clean' energy label for natural gas

Amlo, as the Mexican president is known, has promoted state-owned fossil-fuel generation over privately developed wind and solar power (pic credit: Luis Barron / Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Offshore wind giants target Australian tender

Mainstream, Parkwind and other offshore wind developers hope to build projects off Gippsland, Victoria (pic credit: Amith Jayasuriya)

Corio and Hyperion join scramble for Portugal offshore wind

The 25MW Windfloat Atlantic offshore wind farm off the coast of Viana do Castelo, in northern Portugal (pic credit: SOPA Images / Getty Images)

New Jersey authorities pass resolution against Ocean Wind projects citing tourism hit

Authorities in Cape May County, New Jersey, claimed the Ocean Wind projects could be detrimental to tourism (Image credit: Roy Rochlin via Getty Images)

US unsubsidised onshore wind LCoE jumps by nearly 40%

Avangrid Renewables' 200MW Golden Hills wind farm in Oregon

Ørsted buys Eversource stake in US offshore wind area for $625m

The deal will see Eversource provide tax equity for the South Fork Wind project in which both companies have a 50% stake

WindEconomics: Will wind face more competition from nuclear?

Finland is also building a ‘permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste' on Olkiluoto, where spent material will be buried more than 400m below ground for 100,000 years (pic credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)

News in brief

Ørsted buys out Ocean Wind 1 partner PSEG

Norway’s oil fund to back Iberdrola’s gigawatt-scale Spanish renewables portfolio

EDF joins Simply Blue for gigawatt-scale Irish floating wind

Lithuania closes first offshore wind tender with just two bidders

Serbia to call wind power tender in June

US produced more electricity from wind and solar than coal in Q1

Gulf of Mexico offshore wind leasing to have ‘no significant environmental impacts’

Japanese energy companies to assess floating vertical-axis turbines

Frankfurt Airport owner inks five-year PPA with German wind developer

Vestas receives 37MW order for Turkish wind farm

Italian offshore wind association launched

Greenlink transmission lines move step forward in US

French car supplier signs 10-year PPA for output from Swedish wind farm

BW Ideol targets multi-gigawatt floating wind off Spain and Portugal

Iberdrola inks offshore wind PPA with cement giant Holcim

PODCAST Episode 13: Is the cyber-attack
threat for the wind industry growing?

As the wind industry increasingly relies on remote systems to control its systems, the so-called ‘attack surface’ grows with it and everyone from organised hacking groups to state-sponsored actors will do their best to exploit vulnerabilities.

Discover

Is the cyber-attack risk for the wind industry growing?

Is the cyber-attack risk for the wind industry growing?

Exclusive: Vestas’ cable-stayed rotor achieves ‘technology leap’

Field testing of Vestas' cable-stayed rotor system, based on a standard Vestas V136-4.2 MW turbine with a 112-metre hub height, is to run from May 2023 to Q4 next year

Analysis: Which UK wind firms are making progress on gender diversity at board level?

Women continue to be under-represented in the UK energy sector according to a new report (Image credit: Getty Images)

Why science matters when it comes to wind power

On my radar with Eize de Vries column pic

Analysis: Vietnam must solve challenges to hit ‘very ambitious’ 2030 wind targets

Vietnam currently has 3.1GW of operational onshore wind capacity, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly (pic credit: Quang Ngoc Nguyen/Getty Images)

EU member states set to approve 42.5% renewables target

Lengthy and complex permitting processes have long held back the wind sector in Europe (Image credit: Getty Images)

Why IRA changed everything: Windpower Monthly talks to GE onshore chief Vic Abate

GE is now focused on fewer products and core customers, in core markets says Vic Abate

Exclusive: Modvion 105-metre wooden wind turbine tower takes shape

Modvion installed a scaled 30m prototype wooden tower on Sweden’s west coast in 2020. It plans to install a 105m demonstrator this year

Fortum launches arbitration against Vestas over Russian wind farm contracts

Vestas signed agreements to supply Fortum wind farms in Russia prior to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (pic credit: Frank Boutrup Schmidt)

Analysis: Why did Siemens Gamesa and GE settle their legal battle?

(Image credits: Getty Images U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts)

Opinion

Time the wind industry found its ambition on gender diversity

Being better than the wider energy sector on diversity is not enough for the renewables industry - it must go further, faster, argues Katie Jackson

Solving wind industry bottlenecks requires a tripartite solution

Governments, developers, and civil society must work in tandem to solve bottlenecks argues Elena Pravettoni

Offshore wind must live up to its sustainability credentials

Don't lose sight of sustainability in the drive to scale up offshore wind, warns Anne Haase

US policymakers must work with industry to meet offshore wind goals

pic credit: Lyfted Media/Dominion Energy

GE has learned a hard lesson from its patent battle with Siemens Gamesa

The settlement is the best possible outcome for everyone, argues Shashi Barla

We're undaunted by grid capacity challenges for ScotWind

There is cause for optimism despite the challenges ahead, argues Jean Lewis

US whale deaths illustrate how wind’s biggest challenge is misinformation

Biden's biggest challenge for the wind roll out could be misinformation, argues Shahid Mahdi (Image credit: Shahid Mahdi and Getty)

Europe must protect offshore wind from sabotage as it shifts from Russian energy

It is time to increase measures to prevent espionage and sabotage of offshore wind, argues Stefan Thimm

Envision’s turbine underlines threat to western OEMs' market share outside Europe

Western OEMs are decelerating new product launches just as Chinese turbine firms increase them, writes Shashi Barla

Podcasts

What’s keeping the wind industry awake at night?

What’s keeping the wind industry awake at night?

11 May 2023 by Claire Warren

Experts from RES, Rystad Energy, Statkraft, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Gazelle Wind Power and Fugro discuss the challenges facing the wind industry today.

Ian Griggs and Sven Utermöhlen discuss the EU's package of measures for the wind industry

WindEurope chair dissects the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act

21 April 2023 by Ian Griggs

Sven Utermöhlen - chair of WindEurope and chief executive of offshore wind for RWE - discusses the EU’s package of measures to stimulate the wind industry.

In conversation with BOEM chief Elizabeth Klein

16 March 2023 by Ian Griggs

Elizabeth Klein, the new chief at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), discusses the route ahead for offshore wind in the US.

The future of turbine blades

23 February 2023 by Ian Griggs

Blades represent up to a third of the cost of a wind turbine but they do not yet benefit from the sophisticated sensor technology which exists for other components.

Can green hydrogen live up to the hype?

2 February 2023 by Ian Griggs

Experts from the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition, DNV and Bellona discuss green hydrogen’s potential as a component of the renewable energy transition.

Is biggest best when it comes to wind turbines?

21 November 2022 by Ian Griggs

Anders Nielsen, chief technology officer for the turbine manufacturer Vestas, discusses why the race for the biggest turbine has to slow down.

Unlocking the potential of floating offshore wind

7 November 2022 by Claire Warren

Experts from Corio Generation, Vestas and Northland Power discuss the opportunities and the challenges for this nascent industry

WindEnergy Hamburg round-up with GWEC's Ben Backwell

4 October 2022 by Ian Griggs

Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council, discusses the key themes to emerge from WindEnergy Hamburg.

Waking the 'sleeping giant' of German onshore wind

13 September 2022 by Ian Griggs

Industry specialists discuss how a raft of new policy measures from the German government could ramp up its onshore wind industry.

How will SGRE-GE court battle affect US offshore wind?

7 July 2022 by Ian Griggs

The US Business Network for Offshore Wind discusses SGRE and GE’s court battle and Biden’s big policy announcement.

Windpower Monthly’s new podcast

Will war in Ukraine lead to faster energy transition?

4 May 2022 by Ian Griggs

Vestas, Acciona and the European Commission discuss whether the war has sharpened minds on green energy roll-out

Windpower Monthly’s new podcast

Is the EU's 480GW wind target for 2030 realistic?

19 April 2022 by Claire Warren

WindEurope's CEO Giles Dickson joins us to discuss whether we can hit the EU's ambitious wind target

Technology

GE plans New York assembly line for 6MW onshore wind turbines

A 6MW GE turbine at a site in New York state

Oil and gas majors shelve 1GW floating wind farm off Norway

Trolllvind was due to power the Troll A, B and C oil and gas platforms in the North Sea (pic credit: Øyvind Hagen/Equinor)

Siemens Gamesa to divest Windar stake

Windar makes towers and foundations for wind turbines – both onshore and offshore – and has factories in Brazil, India, Mexico and Spain

Rare earth metals needed for turbines to be recycled at UK plant

Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham (pictured) will host the rare earth recycling plant expected to be the first of its kind in the UK

MingYang eyes offshore wind ‘production hub’ in South Korea

MingYang plans to invest in both onshore and offshore wind farms in South Korea through its new agreement with Unison

Siemens Gamesa deal for vessels to transport next-generation turbine parts

Artist impression of the vessels designed with the aim of reducing energy consumption and transporting the largest offshore wind components

Goldwind launches largest onshore wind turbine

Goldwind has supplied turbines to more than 1,000 wind farms globally, mainli in mainland China (pic credit: Li Hua/VCG via Getty Images)

Russian firm to take over old Vestas blade factory

Rosatom’s takeover of the factory is enabled by the same presidential decree that allowed Moscow to seize Fortum’s Russian renewables subsidiary (pic credit: Soltan Frédéric/Getty Images)

Monopile welded with electrons set for Dogger Bank offshore wind farm

Consortium partner Sif is also supplying monopile foundations to Dogger Bank C

Supply chain bottlenecks 'threaten floating wind rollout'

Hexicon's floating wind platform concept (pictured) was one of four highlighted by Aegir's report as well positioned to capture early market capacity

Green hydrogen

Green hydrogen faces ‘significant step-up challenge’ - report

Electrolysis projects are taking longer to deliver than expected, according to the report (image credit: jroballo/Getty Images Plus)

ABB joins Swedish SoutH2Port project to integrate green hydrogen

The SoutH2Port hydrogen production plant will be located in Söderhamn, Sweden (Image credit: Hans Fryklund/Pixabay)

NextEra to swap gas pipelines for renewables and green hydrogen

NextEra’s hydrogen include 1.3GW of potential wind repowerings (Image credit: NextEra)

HDF Energy signs MoUs for green hydrogen on two continents

The partnership could help Indonesia overcome unique geographical constraints (Image credit: Kampee Patisena/Getty Images)

Wind to ‘supplement’ Australian solar-based green hydrogen project

Wind power is to supplement solar energy at a green hydrogen production in Queensland (Image credit: Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Converted crude carrier to produce green hydrogen and ammonia

The project will see a floating hydrogen and ammonia production and storage plant constructed by 2027 and connected to a nearby wind farm (pic credit: DNV)

Electrolyser manufacturer expects FID on gigawatts of hydrogen by 2025

Nel chief Håkon Volldal said demand for green hydrogen was increasing

Scottish port could become offshore wind-powered hydrogen hub

Cromarty Firth has ambitions to become a green hydrogen hub (Image credit: ATGImages)

Iberdrola signs PPA for green steel power supply

Monopile foundations for Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind project, which will supply electricity to the Salzgitter low-CO2 steelmaking transformation programme (pic credit: EEW Group)

Dutch ‘energy hubs’ to connect hydrogen pipelines by 2050

The Dutch government is considering offshore wind targets of 50GW for 2040 and 70GW for 2050 (pic credit: Octopus Energy)

Amp Energy pairs with mining firm to develop green hydrogen hub in South Australia

South Australia’s Cape Hardy Port has the potential to become a green hydrogen production hub (image credit: Scharfsinn86/Getty Images Plus)

Port to tender for offshore wind-powered 1GW green hydrogen plant

The Port of Rotterdam will reserve 11 hectares at Maasvlakte for the winner of a tender to build the IJmuiden Ver Beta wind farm (pic credit: Danny Cornelissen/Port of Rotterdam)

G7 promises ‘enabling environment’ to boost hydrogen development

G7 leaders meeting in Sapporo, Japan, promised to enable an environment that accelerates the deployment of hydrogen (pic credit: Yano Keisuke/Getty Images)

Firm claims breakthrough could ‘unlock’ green hydrogen economy

The company’s technology combines hydrogen gas with a liquid carrier to enable transport with existing infrastructure

Green hydrogen at chemical plant could cut blades’ carbon footprint

Graphic representation of an electrolyser at the Evonik site in Herne (pic credit: Evonik)

Grids and Transmission

Onshore construction work starts for Poland’s 1.2GW Baltic Power project

Turbine installation for the Baltic Power offshore wind farm will take place at a terminal in the port of Świnoujście that is due for completion in 2024–25 (pic credit: fhm/Getty Images)

Hitachi to supply HVDC tech for 3GW SunZia project in the US

The new transmission link will connect the 3.5GW SunZia Wind project in New Mexico to the power grid in Arizona and southern California (pic credit: Getty Images)

Tennet awards contracts for 2GW offshore converter stations

Heerema’s Sleipnir semi-submersible crane vessel will be deployed for the 2GW programme (pic credit: Heerema)

Seatrium wins Empire Wind offshore substation platform deals

Singapore's Seatrium has won two contracts for offshore substation platforms for the Empire Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind farms (image credit: Seatrium)

NKT to invest in new Swedish factory and cable-laying vessel

NKT is investing in a new cable-laying vessel to respond to growing demand for long-length power cable solutions

Volvo to buy power from Vattenfall wind farm in Sweden

Volvo will buy 50% of the 139MW Bruzaholm wind farm's output under a ten-year contract starting in 2025

US gives SunZia Transmission project final green light

The SunZia Transmission line will run between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona (Image credit: Brian Hicks / 500px/Getty Images)

Germany and Estonia eye subsea offshore wind link

Baltic Sea states have made a series of declarations to boost offshore wind capacity and transmission (pic credit Iberdrola)

Tennet awards final cable deals for North Sea offshore grid connections

The agreements are the final cable system contracts awarded under Tennet's large-scale grid connection system tender, which was launched in November 2022, covering 14 offshore projects and one onshore corridor project

Floating wind developers plan transmission network to power oil and gas

Oil and gas platforms will be able to “plug in” to the system when they need power, the developers explained (pic credit: FredyTb/Getty Images)

Business and finance

Scandinavia round-up: Late-spring flurry of projects, PPAs and investments

Late spring has seen a flurry of project announcements, PPA deals and investments across Scandinavia (Image credit: James O'Neil, via Getty Images)

RWE takes over gigawatt-scale Nordseecluster

RWE Offshore Wind CEO Sven Utermöhlen said the Nordseecluster will benefit from “size and scale”

Mercedes Benz announces wind farm at its German test track

An artist impression of what the planned wind farm at the Papenburg test track will look like

Major OEM launches online store for spare turbine parts

Turbine components supplied by LM Power (pictured) and used by GE will be available in the online store

First large-scale US offshore wind farm wins whale lawsuit

A North Atlantic right whale off Cape Cod, Massachusetts (pic credit: korinoxe/Getty Images)

Jera and NTT sign ‘$2bn deal’ for Pattern’s Japanese renewables assets

GPI recently commissioned the 113MW Sumita Tono wind farm in Japan

Mainstream pulls back from US offshore wind

Mainstream Renewable Power CEO Mary Quaney

US renewables body names oil and gas veteran as new policy chief

Frank Macchiarola is currently the senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute

Shell and University of California sign PPAs with 3.5GW SunZia

The transmission project will transport wind-generated electricity from central New Mexico to Arizona and California (pic credit: Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

MingYang signs deal to supply onshore wind farms in Philippines

MingYang currently boasts an installed fleet of over 36GW worldwide according to Windpower Intelligence, the data and research division of Windpower Monthly, with the vast majority of turbines operating at wind farms in mainland China

Market and policy

IEA: Record spending on renewables but global investment uneven

Global investment in wind last year was skewed towards advanced economies and China, the IEA noted (pic credit: Yaorusheng/Getty Images)

Germany outlines strategy for 160GW onshore wind by 2035

German economy and climate minister Robert Habeck unveiled the new onshore wind strategy this week (pic credit: Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images)

Tax credit uncertainty throttles Q1 onshore wind installations in US

GE's turbines accounted for 74% of US onshore installation in the first quarter of 2023 (pic credit: Rich Crowder/GE Renewable Energy)

Clarification of IRA benefits will ‘unlock billions’ of investment for renewables

The US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service have issued guidance on the IRA (Image credit: Richard Sharrocks/Getty Images)

US plan to cut power plant emissions ‘could boost wind and solar’

Under the newly proposed EPA rules, coal plants that plan to still be operating in 2040 must start to capture 90% of their emissions by 2030 (pic credit: Cavan Images/Getty Images)

Ireland awards 3.1GW power deals in first offshore wind tender

SSE’s 25.2MW Arklow Bank project is Ireland’s only operational offshore wind farm to date

White House backs proposal to streamline energy permitting

The proposed reforms would speed up permitting for wind projects (pic credit: George Frey/Getty Images)

‘Ready to go’: Vestas awaits orders in post-IRA US

Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen was optimistic about the future of the US wind market, but less so about Europe

Colombia readies first ever offshore wind tender

Columbian energy minister Irene Velez said the tender documents should be ready by August (Image credit: Sebastian Barros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Turkey seeks to reassure investors with new feed-in tariffs

Hybrid wind and solar projects incorporating storage in Turkey will attract even higher feed-in tariffs (Image credit: temizyurek, via Getty Images)

Project development

Enel suspends controversial wind farm after years of protest

Indigenous communities have protested construction of the Windpeshi wind farm in La Guajira, Colombia for years (pic credit: Nacion Wayuu)

CIP to enter Nordic onshore wind with gigawatt-scale pipeline

Finland has 5.9GW of operational wind capacity – the vast majority of it onshore (pic credit: Miemo Penttinen/Getty Images)

Siemens Gamesa targets North America with new 4.4MW turbine

Siemens Gamesa plans to make blades for the SG 4.4-164 turbine at its factory in Fort Madison, Iowa

Suzlon wins 200MW-plus order in India

The 3MW turbines will be installed on hybrid lattice tubular towers, as seen above

Work paused at Australian wind farm after reports of safety concerns

Andrew Forrest (centre), former CEO of Fortescue Metals Group and head of Fortescue Future Industries, owns Squadron Energy. (Credit: The Washington Post / Getty Images)

IberBlue submits plans for 1GW Andalusian floating project

Andalusia, known for its horses around the world, is increasingly attracting interest from offshore wind developers (pic credit: Westend61/Getty Images)

Ukraine turns on wind farm in ‘green counter-offensive’

DTEK's Tyligulska wind farm consists of 19 of Vestas’ V162-6.0MW turbines

Acciona enters Thai wind power with tender win

Acciona aims to complete the five wind farms between 2026 and 2030. (Credit: PE Pedregales)

Juwi eyes 7.5MW turbines for large German wind farm

The old Zeche Zollverein coal mine in industrialised North Rhine-Westphalia – the state where Juwi plans to build a large onshore wind farm (pic credit: Peeradon Warithkorasuth/Getty Images)

US offshore wind poised for 'critical’ future role but hurdles remain – ACP

Ørsted and Eversource have started construction on their South Fork project off the coast of New York

Turbines of the Year 2022

Eize de Vries reviews Turbines of the Year 2022

Turbines of the Year 2022 winners

Low wind offering with offshore dimensions and big order book

Turbines of the year category thumbnail

Chinese giants push boundaries to cut LCoE

Top turbines 5.6MW-plus

Offshore giants inch closer to 20MW and 250m rotor

Offshore turbines of the year

The blades behind record rotor sizes

Rotor blades category image

Leap in torque density for next-generation offshore turbines

Top drivetrains category image

Clever solutions to help accelerate the pace of the energy transition

Best innovation category image

Floating designs look towards industrialisation for GW-scale projects

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A year of record scaling, drivetrain switches and new developments

Windpower Monthly Turbines of the Year 2022 awards

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