THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2018
4 Americas News
Ørsted buys onshore wind
pipeline
n US offshore pipeline grows n NY agencies study European T&D models
Siân Crampsie
Ørsted is branching out into the US
onshore wind energy sector in a bid to
reinforce its position in the global
renewable energy market.
The Danish renewable energy giant
has announced an agreement with
global infrastructure investment manager
I Squared Capital and management
shareholders to acquire a 100 per
cent equity interest in Lincoln Clean
Energy, a USA-based onshore wind
energy developer.
The deal has an enterprise value of
£580 million and will give Ørsted “a
strong growth platform in the USA”,
said Henrik Poulsen, CEO of Ørsted.
Lincoln’s portfolio of projects include
513 MW of operating assets, 300 MW
under construction and a pipeline of
over 1500 MW in development due to
be completed by 2022.
Ørsted has made the USA a key target
market and it says that the onshore wind
sector is especially attractive because
of a strong and established supply
chain, good wind conditions and a
booming market for corporate PPAs.
In the US offshore wind sector,
Ørsted is developing the Bay State
wind project off the coast of Massachusetts
with a potential capacity of up to
2000 MW, and the Ocean wind power
project off the coast of New Jersey,
with a capacity of up to 1000 MW.
In all, the US offshore wind power
pipeline has reached 25.46 GW, according
to the US Department of
Energy (DOE).
The DOE says that the overall project
pipeline consists of 3.92 GW of project
specific capacity and 21.54 GW of
undeveloped lease area potential capacity.
The capacity comes from projects
in 13 states and also includes the
30 MW Block Island wind farm, which
was commissioned in 2016.
A total of 1.91 GW of capacity is
expected to be deployed by 2023, the
DOE said in its Offshore Wind Technologies
Market Update. Offshore
solicitations have awarded 800 MW in
Massachusetts, 400 MW in Rhode Island
and 200 MW in Connecticut to
Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind.
Other states having projects in the development
pipeline are Maryland,
New York and New Jersey.
Overall, most of the projects are still
in the planning and site control phase,
the DOE said, while four schemes have
initiated procurement. Contracts have
already been awarded for Deepwater
Wind’s 90 MW South Fork wind project
off Long Island and its 120 MW
Skipjack development off Maryland,
as well as for a 248 MW scheme by
US Wind off Maryland.
Last month power agencies in New
York signed a memorandum of understanding
to conduct a study of successful
offshore wind transmission models
with a specific focus on large scale
European projects.
The findings of the study are expected
to help guide the state’s development
of 2400 MW of offshore wind
in waters off the Atlantic Coast by
2030.
Naturgy is set to get the go-ahead for
the construction of a 144 MWp solar
power plant in Chile after the country’s
environmental regulator recommended
approval.
Naturgy subsidiary Global Power
Generation is developing the Inca de
Varas II solar plant in the Atacama
region of Chile and says that the project
is at a very advanced stage of
development.
The company is also responsible for
the development of the 50 MWp Inca
de Varas I solar power plant, and is
currently building the 204 MW Cabo
Leones II wind farm in Chile.
A regional evaluation commission
was scheduled to review Inca de Varas
II late last month.
The project will be an important addition
to Chile’s power generation
mix as well as its drive to reduce dependence
on energy imports.
Chile aims to source 60 per cent of
its electricity from renewable energy
by 2035, and 70 per cent by 2050, up
from the current level of 40 per
cent.
Earlier this year the International
Energy Agency praised Chile’s efforts
to boost sustainable energy
growth and capitalise on its large renewable
energy resources with forward
looking policies.
Eletrobras is aiming to raise at least
BRL3.1 billion ($794 million) from
the sale of wind and transmission
assets this autumn.
The state-owned Brazilian electric
utility last month released details of
the assets that it wants to sell and the
minimum price it wants to achieve for
each sale. It is executing the sale via
an auction scheduled for the end of
September.
The company will be selling its interests
in 71 special purpose entities
(SPE) in 18 lots. This includes eight
wind power generation lots for a total
capacity of 1605 MW and ten lots for
power transmission lines totalling
2910 km.
With a minimum price set at
BRL635.6 million, the most expensive
lot is that for Santa Vitoria do
Palmar Holding SA, which includes
17 different wind energy SPEs.
Electricity and transmission company
Eletrosul last month started the
sales process for three power transmission
concessions in Mato Grosso
do Sul state.
The concessions relate to two 230
kV transmission lines and an electricity
substation and were awarded in
2014 to a consortium led by Eletrosul.
They were due to come online in
March 2018 but works have not yet
started due to Eletrobras’ decision to
divest.
n Brazil’s Agencia Nacional de Energia
Eletrica (ANEEL) has approved
the rules and prices of power generation
auction A-6. The auction will
contract electricity from new generation
schemes and was due to be held
at the end of August. Contracts will
be awarded for power supplies starting
on January 1, 2024.
US utilities are pushing ahead with
plans for renewable energy capacity
in spite of efforts by the federal government
to support the coal sector.
Berkshire Hathaway-owned Pacifi-
Corp has secured approvals from
Idaho and Utah regulators for the
construction of 1.15 GW of wind
farms, while Dominion Energy Virginia
has filed its first set of plans
under Virginia’s Grid Transformation
& Security Act (GTSA) committing
it to build 3 GW of renewable energy
capacity by 2022.
The plans are being pushed forward
in spite of proposals by US President
Donald Trump to roll back Obama-era
rules on carbon dioxide emissions and
replace them with measures to support
coal fired plants.
PacifiCorp’s plans are part of the
company’s Energy Vision 2020 initiative
and will see it add three wind
power projects to the grid, as well as
build 225 km of high voltage transmission
line and repower 900 MW of
existing wind energy capacity.
PacifiCorp’s division Rocky Mountain
Power CEO Cindy A. Crane said:
“As this exciting initiative receives
these approvals, we look forward to
the benefits the projects will bring to
all our customers in the form of lowcost
renewable energy and a more
robust transmission system.”
In Virginia, Dominion Energy’s
plans include an initial 240 MW of
solar energy capacity and a ten-year
grid transformation plan. It said that
the GTSA would enable it to expand
investments in renewable energy,
smart grid technology and energy efficiency,
and therefore allow it to meet
the increasingly complex demands
and expectations of its customers.
Dominion is also expected to file
plans for the development of a 12 MW
offshore wind farm in the coming
weeks.
PacifiCorp said its plans would cost
just over $3 billion.
Naturgy closes in
on approval for
Chilean solar farm
Brazil utilities
sell wind and
transmission assets
Energy companies
push on with renewable
plans
Thumbs up for Canyon Creek
Construction of a new pumped storage
hydro project in Canada is set to
go ahead after the Alberta Utilities
Commission gave the project the
green light.
The 75 MW Canyon Creek pumped
storage hydro project in Alberta is being
developed by Turning Point Generation,
a subsidiary of WindRiver
Power Corp. The plant will play a
critical role in Alberta’s energy system
as more renewable energy resources
are connected to the grid, the developer
said.
The Canyon Creek project will use
existing site infrastructure from a decommissioned
open pit coal mine near
Hinton. Turning Point said that once
operational, the energy storage facility
will be able to supply power for up to
37 hours at full output. The closedloop,
off-stream design will also limit
the adverse environmental impacts to
Alberta’s natural river courses, it
added.
The province of Alberta is in the
process of introducing a capacity market,
in which Canyon Creek could
participate. Earlier this summer the
Alberta Electric System Operator
(AESO) presented the final design of
the capacity market, the first auction
of which is planned for 2019 with first
delivery of capacity in 2021.