Offshore windpower company loses partner
Aberdeenshire-based offshore windpower company SeaEnergy said yesterday it was not immediately looking for a new partner for a project in the outer Tay estuary after RWE npower said it wished to pull out.
Oil & Gas
Fledgling sector must not forget safety
Workers in the fast-growing offshore renewables industry could die unless safety lessons are learned from the oil and gas industry, delegates at the opening day of the All-Energy show in Aberdeen were warned yesterday.
Work starts on new Hallin HQ at Westhill
OIL and gas industry subsea contractor Hallin Marine has begun work on new £3million premises for its western division headquarters which will house 180 staff.
Shell investors reject challenge to oilsand plans
ROYAL Dutch Shell said yesterday that investors holding more than 94% of its shares voted against a resolution challenging its multibillion-pound investments in Canadian oilsand projects.
Dana hails success of 2010 drilling campaign
Dana Petroleum said yesterday that since the start of the year it had completed drilling six exploration prospects which had resulted in three discoveries.
Learning important lessons from North Sea oil sector
Companies planning to create offshore renewable energy operations can learn lessons from the past and take decommissioning seriously from the outset, according to an offshore expert.
RBG wins work on Maersk’s Janice unit
RBG has announced the award of a £7million inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) diving contract from Maersk Oil North Sea UK.
PwC sells Sovereign’s French business Serco
Accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has sold one of two companies that were still trading in the drilling arm of collapsed Aberdeen company Sovereign Oilfield Group, it emerged yesterday.
New North Sea operator has £100m-plus to spend on deals
The boss of new UK North Sea oil and gas operator EnQuest said yesterday that significant growth opportunities lay ahead.
Right ships – and kit – key to success
A GEOPHYSICAL survey boom is in progress for the North Sea as momentum builds in the still young offshore renewables business.
Can history repeat itself for Aberdeen?
Over the past 30 years, Aberdeen has been the epicentre of a spectacular period of industrial development, resulting in the city achieving the number-two position in the world for the supply of engineering and support services to the oil&gas sector.
Near-shore waves look a better prospect
NEAR-SHORE waves offer much better prospects for wave energy development than previously thought, according to a report published in the New Scientist. Indeed, author Dr Matt Folley, of Queen's University, Belfast, who has calculated how much energy can be extracted from all wave types, has found that near-shore waves offer almost as much exploitable energy as offshore waves.
Nordex buys into German project
GERMAN turbine manufacturer Nordex SE has signed a contract to acquire roughly a 40% stake in the project company which is developing the Arcadis Ost 1 windfarm offshore Germany.
First US offshore wind project gets the go-ahead after years of legal wrangling
TODAY, there are just three wind turbines in the sea off the American coastline, but that is about to change with the US federal government's approval of an array of 130 machines to be located off the eastern seaboard at Cape Cod. After years of battling, Cape Wind at last has the green light for construction to start shortly on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts.
Ormonde construction kicks off
WAY up, if not at the top of, the current European offshore windfarm league table is Swedish utility Vattenfall, which has just started work on its third UK project - Ormonde - a hybrid wind-gas project, with the current focus on the wind element.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Let's be honest about this, shall we? Since the last All-Energy, it really has not been the best year for the UK and Scottish renewables sectors, although perhaps, given the state of the economy and the attitude of the banks to small companies, it hasn't been quite as bad as some - including me - had actually expected.
Green Ocean treads towards goal with care
Green Ocean Energy is an SME hopeful. Three or so years ago, it developed a free-floating wave device called Ocean Treader but decided that a faster way to market might be to design and build a cousin, Wave Treader, that would clamp on to the substructure of an offshore wind turbine and exploit energy in a commercial symbiotic relationship.
Hydro-power – the reliable Cinderella of renewables
Amid the bloated claims that are made about what renewable energy will deliver for Scotland, the technology to which least attention is paid is the one that actually delivers most - hydro electricity.
Critical need for offshore wind to embrace safety standards
As momentum builds and North Sea wind-turbine growth accelerates so the pressure for effective safety standards builds. In about two years, the number of turbines in the "North Sea" will have passed the 1,000 mark. By that, I mean machines installed not just in UK waters, but offshore The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and so on.
All-Energy 2010 squaring up to smash all previous records
THE "AGM" of Britain's burgeoning renewables industry, to be staged in Aberdeen this week, promises to be the biggest and best yet. All-Energy 2010, the 10th in the annual series, will be staged on Wednesday, May 19, and Thursday, May 20, at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. In addition, Renewables UK is running a share fair on the Tuesday.
Next step for Granite City – a renewables heat strategy
MORE than half of the energy we use in Scotland goes to heat our buildings and homes. At the moment, much of this is provided by fossil fuels - gas in areas served by the gas grid, oil or electricity elsewhere. But the UK and Scottish Governments have important plans to encourage us to heat our buildings using renewable sources.
Offshore renewables firmly on map
For just over a decade, the renewables industry has been meeting in Aberdeen to sketch out the future of offshore wind and marine energy at All-Energy, plus Scottish Renewables has, on occasion, staged events, too.
Brazil set to lead Latin American wind power base to 46GW
THE race for renewables is now global, with bold targets set by a growing list of countries. Even generally resource-rich Latin America is embracing the revolution, including one of the world's most successful deepwater oil&gas producers - Brazil.
Accessing new capital for cleantech
Finding enough money to commercialise clean technology poses a major challenge to all involved. Without it, the technology and business-model innovation needed to enable a global transformation towards a more resource-efficient and low-carbon future is tough.
Subocean preparing for push into Germany
Aberdeen company Subocean is preparing to set up a satellite office in Germany in a bid to capture lucrative contracts with offshore wind developers on that side of the North Sea.