wiredInUSA March 2020

Monopiles secure subsea footing

Changes in power share

Data from study, “The European Power Sector in 2019”, carried out by Agora Energiewende and UK-based Sandbag, shows the EU electricity sector saw a drop of 12% in CO 2 emissions during 2019, compared to 2018 levels, while the share of renewables in EU-wide electricity production rose to almost 35%. Greenhouse gas emissions from EU power plants declined more sharply in 2019 than in any year since at least 1990. In all, emissions fell by 120 million tonnes due to the collapse in generation from hard coal- and lignite- fired power plants, which decreased 24% across Europe. Around 50% of the electricity that would have otherwise been produced from coal instead came from gas-fired power plants and renewables. For the first time throughout the EU the share of green energy in electricity generation grew to 34.6%, with wind and solar power plants delivering more electricity than coal- fired power plants. All EU countries with coal-powered plants recorded a drop in the production of coal electricity; the total volume sank by 24%, or around 150TWh.

Photo by Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash DEME Offshore and Herrenknecht have signed an agreement for the fabrication of a subsea drill to be deployed at the Saint- Nazaire offshore wind farm in France. It will be the first wind farm to use drilled XL- monopile foundations. In 2019 a consortium that included DEME Offshore and Eiffage Métal was awarded the EPCI contract for 80 foundations for the facility, to include the design, fabrication, transportation and installation of the steel foundations. The 480MW Saint-Nazaire wind farm, owned by EDF Renewables and Enbridge, will be located between 12km and 20km off the coast of the Guérande peninsula in western France. The XL-monopile foundations will be installed on a hazardous, rocky seabed. DEME Offshore and Herrenknecht are creating a custom-made subsea drill specifically for the project, which will be deployed from DEME Offshore’s installation vessel Innovation .

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wiredInUSA - March 2020