Operations and Maintenance on a wind turbine

Obelisk Energy are thrilled to announce that they will be exhibiting at Husum Wind Energy, the leading wind energy trade fair and the most important meeting place for the industry’s experts on the 21st-25th September. With over 800 exhibitors and more that 25,000 visitors it is arguably the biggest wind trade fair.

Obelisk Energy are participating with the support of Invest NI and will be exhibiting at the UK Pavilion Hall 1, Stand NoF105.

Our core activity is the development of met masts in both on and offshore in conjunction with the design, construction, operation and maintenance of wind farm projects worldwide. We have the capability to deliver at every phase of the project from feasibility, design and fabrication right through to installation implementation and operation of met masts and wind turbines.

The Obelisk Energy stand we will be showcasing a simulation of a 3D offshore met mast installation.We will have experts on hand to answers any questions you may have. We help clients achieve their goals by ensuring that all projects are designed and built with cost efficiencies in mind, with unrivalled safety standards and minimal environmental impact.

If you are attending the conference you can find our profile on the Husum Wind Community part of their website. To view our profile please click here: Wind Community Husum- Obelisk Energy Company Profile

If you would like to get in touch before the conference please contact:

Mr Dom Kimber       Email Address:  dkimber@obeliskenergy.co.uk

Obelisk Energy looks forward to seeing you there.

“Wind will overtake nuclear in terms of installed capacity within the next four to five years,” Maria McCaffery, chief executive officer of the London-based association, wrote in an e-mail statement. The group, with 499 members in the wind- and tidal-energy industries, released two reports today calling on the U.K. to set policies to connect producers of renewable energy to the country’s power grid.

Britain will have installed offshore wind capacity of as much as 9 gigawatts by 2015, the report said. Wind generation has the potential to provide electricity to every U.K. home by 2020, it said.

The wind industry is suffering from increasing capital costs and needs three to four manufacturers competing to bring down construction costs, the association said. Costs of building wind capacity are forecast to rise for the next few years and then decline from current levels until 2015, the group said.

“We could see prices fall by as much as 20 percent from today’s 3.1 million pounds per megawatt” of installed capacity, McCaffery said. “Government must pull out all the stops to accommodate this program.” ]
Cited by Mike Anderson, Bloomberg

Power derived from wind turbines and other 'clean' sources fell by 7.5% in the first three months of 2010. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/Guardian

Fall of 7.5% in power obtained from wind, hydro and other renewable sources blamed on dry winter with low wind speeds

Britain’s renewable energy revolution suffered an abrupt setback this winter when the power supplied from wind, hydro and other “clean” sources fell, despite years of promises and policies to end the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and slash global warming pollution, the Guardian can reveal.

The news comes as the government will tomorrow unveil a major report into how it will pay for the hundreds of billions of new spending needed to meet the UK’s targets for renewable energy and cutting climate change emissions by setting up a new Green Investment Bank (GIB).

Figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that the proportion of electricity supplied from renewable sources such as wind and hydro power fell 7.5% in the first three months of this year compared to 2009.

The drop was officially blamed mostly on a dry winter, which reduced power from water turbines, and low wind speeds, leading to the lowest absolute supply from those two sectors for four winters – as far back as the DECC figures recorded.

Experts also expressed concern that renewable energy could also have suffered from a hiatus in investment and from competition from cheap gas from overseas, as the government figures showed the UK became a net importer of gas for the first time in more than 40 years in January to March.

The latest renewable energy figures will be seized by critics and other experts who have long argued that the UK needs fewer reports and targets and more action to support and fund the long-promised low carbon transformation.

“It’s absurd that despite having one of the best green energy resources in Europe, too many UK renewable projects struggle to get off the ground,” said Andy Atkins, executive director of one of the country’s biggest environmental groups, Friends of the Earth.

The DECC Energy Statistics for the first quarter of 2010 show renewable electricity fell from 6.7% to 6.2% of total supply. Supply from coal power also fell, while nuclear and gas generation increased, bringing the total electricity supply up slightly, by 1.1%, although consumption of electricity fell fractionally. Total energy consumption, including heating, fell by 1.1%.

RenewableUK, the industry lobby group, said the ongoing increase in wind power would reduce problems from relying on hydro schemes as climate change was expected to bring an era of less reliable rainfall.

O&M on a Wind Turbine

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) today released its forecast for wind power installations in 2010. It expects 10 gigawatt (GW) of new wind power capacity to be installed in the EU during 2010, taking total installed capacity by the end of 2010 to almost 85 GW – an increase of 13%.

Last year – a record year for wind power installation – saw 10.163 GW of new wind power capacity installed, constituting 39% of all new power capacity installed in the EU that year. Total installed wind power capacity by the end of 2009 was 74.767 GW.

“We predict another strong year for wind turbine installations in Europe, repeating the high level achieved in 2009,” said Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA. “What is encouraging is that, unlike in 2009, the 2010 results consist of orders placed after the start of the financial crisis. This shows continued and strong investor confidence in the technology.”

“It is too early to say whether, for a third year running, there will be more wind energy capacity installed than any other electricity generating technology, but it is clear that wind energy will be competing for the top spot with new gas power plants,” added Kjaer.

2010 will see more installations in offshore wind power, with up to 1 GW of new capacity expected to be installed during the year compared to 577 MW installed in 2009.

EWEA expects France and Italy to again install around 1 GW each in 2010. The expected decline in installations in Spain will be more than compensated for by a doubling of installations in the new member states – led by Romania and Bulgaria – and significant growth in the UK, particularly offshore. Germany is expected to be the largest market this year, closely followed by the UK.

For more information see http://www.ewea.org/index

Obelisk's Core Charity UNICEF

Today Obelisk signed a three year commitment to UNICEF Ireland. Together the Directors Colm Murphy and Padraig Brady announced a pledged to raise €75,000 for the charity UNICEF in three years.

UNICEF Ireland and Obelisk’s commitment was formalised today when Obelisk Directors Padraig Brady and Colm Murphy hosted an employee football fundraising tournament in Cavan, and celebrated the UNICEF partnership afterwards with employees. Obelisk has stated that any money raised by their employees for UNICEF will be matched cent for cent by the company.

Padraig Brady spoke about the commitment by the company and its employees to UNICEF Ireland “We are thankful to all our employees for helping us raise this money. It is about building on our corporate social responsibility and bolstering employee morale. UNICEF Ireland has other corporate partners such as Aer Lingus and Topaz Energy and Pampers in Ireland, as a smaller enterprise we are clearly demonstrating a deep commitment to social responsibility, guided by core business values that fit with UNICEF’s advocacy and fundraising goals.”

Employees of Obelisk have been raising money since the Haiti disaster in January and have already raised a substantial €15,000 for UNICEF.

Director of Fundraising at UNICEF Ireland Lisa-Nicole Dunne said “UNICEF Ireland is proud to announce Obelisk as a corporate partner today. Their support will play a critical role over the next three years, contributing to our programmes to save and improve the lives of children worldwide. With their support, we will continue to promote the rights of every child to a healthy, secure childhood and access to quality education.”

Obelisk held a raffle on the night to raise money for UNICEF. Prizes were generously donated by local independent shops. The fundraiser night helped to raise nearly €3000 more for UNICEF Ireland.

Dr Steve Ritchie will present a detailed case study of a met mast installation highlighting from a practical persepctive, the important areas that need to be focused on and the pitfalls to watch out for. The presentation will be based on a photographic chronicle of a current project and will discuss some of the challenges faced, how they were mitigated and why some of the site choices (mast type, positioning, size etc) were made.”

With an extenisive amount of experience in wind measurement, both Obelisk Energy and WMI together are acknowledged as industry leaders for the installation of wind monitoring equipment, utilising the latest methodologies and equipment to provide the highest quality service.

For more information please contact Obelisk Energy where one of our advisors is on hand to help you with your enquiry.

Obelisk wins SEAI contract

Obelisk Energy wins SEAI Contract for Data Monitoring and Evaluation Services for a Small and Micro- Scale Generation Pilot Field Trial.

Obelisk Energy today announced that they have successfully won the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) contract for Data Monitoring and Evaluation Services for a Small and Micro- Scale Generation Pilot Field Trial.

The Small- and Micro- Scale Generation Pilot Field Trial launched following an announcement by the Minister for Communications Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan early in 2009. The Energy Minister revealed measures to encourage the on-site generation of electricity in homes and farms across Ireland. Obelisk Energy successfully gained the contract for Small and Micro- Scale Generation Pilot programme through their experience and competence within this highly specialised field.

Obelisk Energy a renewable energy solutions company based in Cavan and a subsidiary of Obelisk Group, an award winning telecommunications company, is a leading renewable energy supplier in Ireland and internationally providing renewable energy solutions and maintenance services to private and public sector clients.

The key objectives of Obelisk Energy during this Small- and Micro- Scale Generation Programme is  to assess technical, financial and regulatory issues surrounding the deployment of small and micro generation technologies in Ireland. The programme includes the definition of quality standards for products and installers, the pilot trial of monitored installations, and a detailed review of commercial arrangements and potential supports for small scale and micro-generation.

As part of its small and micro scale generation programme SEAI is conducting a pilot field trial of c.30 monitored installations. Obelisk Energy will provide a data monitoring service to SEAI for the duration of the pilot field trial and will supply, install, and maintain all necessary instrumentation to monitor the performance of installed generators and to download data from each site and provide monthly data sets to SEAI.

Please see WMI’s website for more details on what Wind Measurement International specialises in; www.windmeasurementinternational.com or for a brochure please email info@obelisk.com

Example site: Evance 5kW in Northern Ireland under ROC scheme
8000kWh are consumed on site at 17p each £1,360
4000kWh are exported to the national grid at 3p each £120
13429kWh of Roc @ 18.4p £2471
Saving per annum £3,951

**10 year saving based on mean wind speed 5.7m/s £39, 510
Grant from NIE Installation £4,500
Payback 5.4yrs

Northern Ireland is clearly better advantaged since the new tariff was adopted in April of this year, although mainland UK, which is currently setting up a new and simplified payment structure called Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), is better still as it pays 26.7p for any turbine under 15kW.
The DETI has suggested that the new ROC’s tariff is an interim measure, and the ultimate aim is to align Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK. Any turbine installed after 1st April 2010, will automatically be eligible for the FIT’s payment scheme when it is eventually introduced, therefore securing that your investment will be future proofed.

For more information or advice on supplying and installing wind turbines in Northern Ireland contact Obelisk Energy’s Lisburn office.

Obelisk Energy are exhibiting at Wind Power Africa 2010 on the 12th-14th of
May at the Cape Town International Conventional Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.
Come and see us at exhibitor stall A13.