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Green Globe: Vattenfall to bid for France's offshore wind tender

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Green Globe: Vattenfall to bid for France's offshore wind tender

SNL Image
Vattenfall has onshore and offshore wind operations in Sweden, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
Source: Associated Press

Vattenfall AB said it is vying to win France's upcoming offshore wind tender, as the country launches a program to harness its seaborne wind resource.

The Sweden-based state-owned utility said it will bid with French financial institution Caisse des Depots et Consignations GmbH and Germany-based wind developer WPD Power. Last year, 10 companies including Vattenfall prequalified to bid on the Dunkirk project, rated at 250 MW to 750 MW. The auction's winner will be announced in the second half of 2018.

"To gain a foothold there will allow us to consolidate our position as a leading global developer of offshore wind energy and take us a step further in becoming fossil-free within a generation" Gunnar Groebler, senior vice president and head of business area wind, said in a statement.

France has been slow to develop an offshore wind sector compared to countries like the U.K. and Germany, according to industry group WindEurope. A 2-MW demonstrator project came online in France in 2017, while the U.K. added 1,679 MW of new offshore generation capacity and Germany added 1,247 MW that same year. In Nov. 2017 Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the country would begin preliminary studies on building wind farms off the coast of Brittany and in the Mediterranean.

India's solar energy growth may slow down significantly in 2018, consultancy Bridge to India warned in its latest quarterly report on the solar market.

The country added 9,255 MW of solar capacity in 2017, bringing its total installed capacity to an estimated 19,516 MW. However, India's renewable energy industry added only about 1,500 MW in the fourth quarter. The report warns that the country's solar project installations could fall to around 6,000 MW for 2018.

In July 2017, India launched an anti-dumping investigation into imported solar cells and modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia after a local solar manufacturing industry group petitioned the government to consider imposing tariffs on solar imports.

Poland could launch a tender for 750 MW of solar photovoltaic, or PV, projects after amending its rules on auctions for renewable energy sources according to pv magazine.

Piotr Pajak, a Polish solar PV analyst, told the publication that lawmakers amended its renewable energy law, which includes regulations on clean energy auctions, and submitted the legislation to the country's parliament. Once it is signed, the new auction rules will go into effect and the Central European country plans to announce the solar tender soon after. Pajak added that some of the solar capacity from the tender could go to hybrid power projects.

If the government does go through with the tender, it could help jump-start the country's sluggish expansion of renewables. Poland consumes 77 million metric tons of coal per year, making it the 10th biggest coal consumer worldwide and the second-largest in the European Union after Germany, according to the European Parliament's September 2017 briefing on Poland. About 10% of European Union funds for reducing emissions emitted from Poland's power sector has been spent on renewable energy-related investments.

Elsewhere

* Hydro-Québec has secured the final key permit from Canada's energy regulators to build the Northern Pass transmission line to deliver hydropower to New England.

* Former executives from Spain-based Iberdrola SA have created a joint venture with an ambitious goal: acquire 3,000 of renewable energy projects in the United States by 2023.

* Statoil ASA has entered Poland's offshore wind market with a 50% stake in two projects with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW.

* In Germany, two men threw acid on renewables developer innogy SE CFO Bernhard Günther outside of his home.

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