There are many job opportunities in the wind energy sector, with more vacancies expected to arise as the industry expands globally. But what skills does it take to cope with often hostile conditions, towering structures and unpredictable wind supply? UK-based offshore wind farm site manager Derek Whyte divulges all.
Gwynt y Môr is a 576MW offshore wind farm being built in the Irish Sea, Liverpool Bay. Located 14km off the north Wales coast, the wind farm will cover about 79km² of the site leased from the Crown Estate. It is located close to North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats offshore wind power facilities.
The coal industry was recently criticised for running a coal and climate event alongside UN emissions negotiations in Poland. The Warsaw Communiqué emphasised 'high-efficiency' coal power technologies as a way for the sector to contribute to climate change mitigation, but without carbon capture, are they enough?
Tidal Lagoon Power is seeking approval for a £12bn project to develop a series of tidal energy plants in the UK that is claimed to be the world's first tidal lagoon power plant.
In the context of nuclear power, the term 'black start' at first conjures up images of sinister government secrecy and doomsday scenarios. The reality is far less dramatic, but no less intriguing.
Oldbury Power Station, a 434MW, twin nuclear reactor station, was decommissioned in 2012. At the time it was the world's oldest operating nuclear power reactor and the UK's first nuclear power station to use pre-stressed concrete pressure vessels instead of steel. The plant entered service in 1967.
Inspired by the pilots that placed themselves at risk to monitor radiation levels following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a team from Bristol University has developed a drone with Thunderbirds-style adaptability to make radiation monitoring safer.
The Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project in the UK and the MeyGen tidal array project in Scotland stand out among the few large-scale tidal power projects currently under development.
The UK announced a £7bn package in the 2014 budget to reduce energy costs for British manufacturers and households by 2019, and GDF Suez launched the Sohar 2 and Barka 3 gas-fired combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) plants in Oman.
Germany has witnessed a surge in renewable technology ever since the decision in 2011 to do away with nuclear power. Critics however, doubt the country will be able to meet ambitious C02 unless coal can be cut out of the equation.
Scientists in California have reached an important milestone in nuclear fusion research; generating more energy from a fusion reaction than transferred to the nuclear fuel. The holy grail of ignition remains elusive, but each step brings the world closer to a virtually limitless nuclear energy source with no emissions and negligible waste.
The International Ashden Awards champions some of the most interesting and life-changing sustainable energy projects created at a grass-roots level for local communities.
The proposed Pentland Firth tidal power plant will be the biggest tidal turbine array in Europe. The project, proposed by MeyGen, a subsidiary of Atlantis Resources, will be located in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, between mainland Scotland and Orkney.
Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) is developing the new 1,250MW Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Centre (PEEC) to replace the existing Port Everglades power plant of the 1960s. FPL demolished the Port Everglades power plant in 2013 and plans to begin construction of the new $1bn combined-cycle power plant in the second quarter of 2014.
Jasper solar power project is a 96MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant being developed in Northern Cape Province near Kimberly in South Africa. The plant will become one of the biggest solar power plants in Africa, upon completion. The project will be developed and operated by California-based solar developer SolarReserve and its consortium partners Kensani and Intikon Energy.
Iran's enormous energy reserves could transform the country into a major economy, but for this to happen nuclear-non proliferation must be adhered to if international sanctions are to be lifted. Kumar Nishant, GlobalData's Associate Project Manager for Power, reports.