French power generation firm Alstom has agreed a deal with Scottish Power Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish energy group Iberdrola Renovables, to construct the 217 Megawatt (MW) extension at Whitelee wind farm in Scotland. The deal is said to be worth more than €200 million, reports Utility Week.

Alstom – a world leader in hydroelectric power generation; in conventional islands for nuclear power plants; and in environmental control systems – will be responsible for the installation of 69 ECO 100 wind turbines – each with an output of 3 MW, and six ECO 74 wind turbines – that will each have an output of 1.67 MW. It is expected the turbines will be fully operational in May 2012.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alstom will be responsible for the supply, transportation, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the turbines.

Commenting on the deal, Simon Christian, UK director of ScottishPower Renewables, said:

“The agreement with Alstom means that work will start shortly on this major extension at Whitelee windfarm, and we expect to be generating electricity by 2012. By itself at 217MW, the extension would be one of the largest onshore windfarms in the UK, so we are starting another major construction project in Scotland…

… Whitelee windfarm is already the largest onshore windfarm in Europe and this extension pushing the overall capacity to 539MW will make it one of the largest in the world”

This latest project will create up to 200 jobs and once the extension is complete, the windfarm will be capable of producing enough electricity to power approximately 300,000 homes.

Sources: Utility Week / Herald Scotland

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Facebook is facing criticism for running its new giant data centre on electricity generated by a coal fired power station, reports The Guardian.

The social networking site is under pressure from users to change to sources of renewable energy with Greenpeace saying around 500,000 people have so far protested.

No-one is really sure how much electricity Facebook uses but it’s estimated that at its present rate of growth all the data centres and telecommunications networks will triple their present consumption and by 2020 will be using more electricity than France, Germany, Canada and Brazil together.

Facebook is set to build the largest data centre in the world. It will be based in Portland, Oregon but despite using some of the most energy efficient computers the centre looks set to use more electricity than do many developing countries.

Pacific Power is set to supply Facebook with electricity but it generates its electricity from coal. Only 12% of its electricity comes from sources of renewable energy although it has said that it does plan to generate more electricity from renewable sources but the energy company gives no details on when this is likely to be.

A Facebook statement said “It is true that the local utility for the region we chose, Pacific Power, has an energy mix that is weighted slightly more toward coal than the national average. However, the efficiency we are able to achieve because of the climate of the region and the reduced energy usage that results minimises our overall carbon footprint. Said differently, if we located the data centre most other places, we would need mechanical chillers, use more energy, and be responsible for more overall carbon in the air – even if that location was fuelled by more renewable energy”.

Meanwhile Greenpeace is urging the boss of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg to commit to no longer using electricity generated from coal.

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Source: The Guardian

The Capital Markets Climate Initiative (CMCI) is being launched today at the London Stock Exchange where according to Climate Change Minister Greg Barker – The vital role of capital markets in tackling climate change has been ignored for too long…

It is expected that Mr. Barker, who is opening the conference with Mayor of London Boris Johnson, will highlight the City of London’s potential of becoming a global hub for green finance and why low carbon investment provides such a huge opportunity for the UK’s financial services industry.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is hoping to bring together key players from the City with international financiers and policy makers, where the aim is to drive green economic investment in emerging economies and identify how the current barriers to new investment can be overcome.

The CMCI intends to help unlock the private sector’s ability to help meet the $100 billion of new green investment that will be needed annually by 2020 to tackle climate change in developing countries.

Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, remarked:

“The vital role of capital markets in tackling climate change has been overlooked for far too long. The finance needed to help developing countries become low carbon isn’t flowing at the rate and scale needed…

… However, this is a huge opportunity for the UK financial services industry to grab a share of a completely new international market that will be worth billions in the years to come…

… I have convened today’s meeting to bring together our key players from the City and internationally to help drive green economic investment…

… We want the City of London, with its unique expertise in innovative financial products, to lead the world and become the global hub for green growth finance. We need to put the sub-prime disaster behind us and focus back on investment in genuine wealth creation and in ways that don’t damage the environment”

Source: DECC (Press Release)

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Utility Exchange has been reporting over recent weeks on the Wave Hub being developed and positioned off the Cornish Coast, see: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2010/08/wave-hub-cable-arrives-on-shore/. After problems laying the cable engineers managed to lower the electrical socket on to the seabed after initially failing, reports BBC News Online.

The Wave Hub weighs 12 tonnes and is 180ft below sea level. It will act as a socket for experimental energy machines. They will be connected to a substation on shore via the Wave Hub and generate a source of renewable energy.

The Wave Hub will undergo testing in the autumn.

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Source: BBC News Online

The leading renewable energy supplier in the UK, Good Energy, has launched the world’s first voluntary staff carbon trading scheme, the Personal Allowance Carbon Tracking (PACT) scheme, reports FavStocks.com. Over two thirds of the energy firm’s staff has signed up to the scheme.

The PACT scheme was developed by WSP Environment & Energy three years ago. It means that employees who have joined the scheme will have their carbon usage monitored quarterly. It’s done using a web based tracking tool developed by WSP.

They will have their home energy consumption monitored along with the vehicles they own, their daily commute, holidays taken and other significant journeys. It takes around 20 minutes a quarter to complete the programme.

The aim is to help people to monitor their carbon emissions and encourage them to cut their energy use. There is a benefit too for those taking part in the scheme. They each have an annual CO2 allowance of 4.5 tonnes (4,500kg) and for every kg under or over the total 5p is either cashed or taken off up to the value of £100. It means if your carbon footprint at the end of the year is 4.2 tonnes then you will be 300kg in credit and you’ll get a payment of £15. In trials people have usually reduced their carbon emissions by 10% in the first year.

The Founder and CEO of Good Energy, Juliet Davenport said “This is another step forward in Good Energy’s continuing commitment to build a 100% renewable future”.

It also means that as participants reduce their carbon footprint they are also likely to be reducing their energy bills and travelling costs. So participants will benefit in several different ways and have the knowledge that they are doing their bit for the environment.

Good Energy supplies electricity from sources of renewable energy to homes and businesses throughout the UK. They supply 100% renewable electricity with a guarantee of no electricity generated by fossil fuels or nuclear fuel. They use a variety of sources of renewable energy from solar and wind power to hydro and biogas.

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Source: Favstocks.com