Googleは、これまでにも再生可能エネルギー関連の投資を行ってきています。今回のマカニ・パワー 社の買収は、Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal プロジェクトの一環として行われたということです。今後は、Googleにおける開発プロジェクトのなかでも、特に未来的な技術の開発に取り組んでいるGoogle Xプログラムに参加して、実用機の開発が行われるようです。自律飛行凧での発電、そして高高度飛行体による発電など、今後の発展が楽しみです。
"We are happy to announce that Makani Power has been acquired by Google.
This formalizes a long and productive relationship between our two companies, and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels.
The timing couldn’t be better, as we completed the first ever autonomous all-modes flight with our Wing 7 prototype last week.
Makani could not have reached this point without the support of the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program and the hard work of our talented team, past and present.
We look forward to working with our new colleagues at Google[x] to make airborne wind a cost-effective reality."
"- High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal system able to convert 80 percent of the collected solar energy
- System can deliver electricity, potable water and cool air in remote locations
- Design based on a low-cost, large dish-like concentrator and micro-channel cooled high performance photovoltaic chips suitable for mass-production
Today on Earth Day, scientists have announced a collaboration to develop an affordable photovoltaic system capable of concentrating solar radiation 2,000 times and converting 80 percent of the incoming radiation into useful energy. The system can also provide desalinated water and cool air in sunny, remote locations where they are often in short supply.
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The prototype HCPVT system uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which are attached to a sun tracking system. The tracking system positions the dish at the best angle to capture the sun's rays, which then reflect off the mirrors onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips -- each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 50 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.
The entire receiver combines hundreds of chips and provides 25 kilowatts of electrical power. The photovoltaic chips are mounted on micro-structured layers that pipe liquid coolants within a few tens of micrometers off the chip to absorb the heat and draw it away 10 times more effective than with passive air cooling.
The coolant maintains the chips almost at the same temperature for a solar concentration of 2,000 times and can keep them at safe temperatures up to a solar concentration of 5,000 times.
The direct cooling solution with very small pumping power is inspired by the hierarchical branched blood supply system of the human body and has been already tested by IBM scientists in high performance computers, including Aquasar. An initial demonstrator of the multi-chip receiver was developed in a previous collaboration between IBM and the Egypt Nanotechnology Research Center.
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"Bruno Michel, a research scientist at IBM Research - Zurich, explains his latest invention--a technique for concentrating solar radiation to create a much more effective system for harvesting energy from the sun. His hope is that this technique will prove to be so successful that we'll be able to use it to replace all fossil fuel and nuclear energy with solar. The work is being done in conjunction with the Egypt Nanotechnology Center: http://www.egnc.gov.eg
On Earth Day 2013 scientists announced a collaboration to develop an affordable photovoltaic system capable of concentrating, on average, the power of 2,000 suns, with an efficiency that can collect 80 percent of the incoming radiation and convert it to useful energy. The proposed system can be built anywhere sustainable energy, drinkable water and cool air are in short supply at a cost of three times lower than comparable systems."
＊：2013年4月現在の多結晶系シリコン太陽電池モジュールの変換効率は15％前後とされる（Shyam Mehta, Senior Solar Analyst, GTM Research “The module market landscape”, GTM Solar Summit 2013より）
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メイン大学 University of Maineは、アメリカ初の浮体式洋上風力発電機 VolturnUS 1:8 を実証稼動させました。メイン大学は、浮体式洋上風力発電機の開発のアメリカにおける中心的な役割を担ってきました。そして今回、2017年に6MW機２機の浮体式風力発電機の稼動を目指しているニューイングランドのAqua Ventus I 計画の前段階として、1/8スケールのモデルがお披露目され、アメリカ初の系統連系を行う実証試験として、プロジェクトが動きはじめました。VolturnUS 1:8 の大きさは、全高65フィート(19.5m)で、Aqua Ventus Iで利用される6MW機の全高520フィート(156m、翼の直径は423フィート、つまり126.9m!)の八分の一のサイズとなります。
VolturnUSプロジェクトが採用した浮体とタワーの構造は、コンクリート複合材料です。この部分の開発は、University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Centerが担い、プロジェクト全体はメイン州、メイン大学、そして30人以上の企業パートナー から構成されるDeepCwindコンソーシアムがエネルギー省の支援のもとに推進しています。アメリカ合衆国の洋上風力発電機開発の中心的なプロジェクトです。
"UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center unveils VolturnUS deepwater floating offshore wind technology"
"VolturnUS 1:8, the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine to be deployed off the coast of North America, was launched in Brewer May 31 by the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center and its partners.
The event was hosted by Cianbro in Brewer, Maine. Among the dignitaries on hand for the ceremony were Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Angus King, Rep. Michael Michaud, Jose Zayas of the U.S. Department of Energy, University of Maine System Chancellor James Page, UMaine Executive Vice President and Provost Susan Hunter, Cianbro CEO Peter Vigue and Habib Dagher, director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center.
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"Scope of Work
Cianbro is working with the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine to develop the first gird-connected floating offshore wind turbine. The turbine, named VolturnUS 1:8, will be the first offshore wind turbine to be deployed off the coast of the United States/Maine and the first concrete-composite floating wind turbine in the world.
Project Details
The VolturnUS technology is the culmination of over five years of collaborative research and development conducted by the UMaine Composites Center–led – DeepCwind Consortium. The DeepCwind Consortium Research Program is a unique public-private partnership funded by the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation –Partnerships for Innovation, the Maine Technology Institute, the State of Maine, the University of Maine, and over 30 industrial partners
The 65 ft tall turbine prototype is a one-eight-scale version of a 6 mw, 423 ft rotor diameter design. It is the first floating turbine of its kind in the world, using advanced material systems with a unique floating hull and tower design
Data acquired during the 2013 deployments off Castine, Maine, will be used to optimize the design of UMaine’s patent-pending VolturnUS floating wind turbine system
The program goal is to reduce the cost of offshore wind to 10 cents/kWh by 2020, in order to compete with other forms of electricity generation without subsidies
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"The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has been awarded the first phase of a potential $93.2 million deepwater offshore wind demonstration project by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The UMaine Composites Center-led team of industry leaders and national laboratories is one of five awardees selected from over 70 competing proposals.
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The program, known as “Aqua Ventus I” and announced today by DOE and Sen. Susan Collins, will be a 12 MW demonstration wind park using the VolturnUS floating platform technology developed at the UMaine Composites Center over the last four years. This project builds on the success of the DeepCwind Consortium Research Program, spearheaded by UMaine Composites Center and its industry partners, and funded by DOE, National Science Foundation-Partnerships for Innovation, and the Maine Technology Institute, among others. A 1:8-scale VolturnUS floating platform will be deployed by UMaine researchers in spring 2013 at the UMaine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site near Monhegan Island, Maine.
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Renewables Club参加の十カ国は、中国 China, デンマーク Denmark, フランス France, インド India, モロッコ Morocco, 南アフリカ South Africa, トンガ Tonga, アラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ） the United Arab Emirates, イギリス the United Kingdom、そしてドイツ Germanyです。ドイツが積極的に進めたこのクラブの目的は、コミュニケを読む限りそれほど明確ではありません。ただ、総花的に参加している国を増やすよりも、再生可能エネルギーに積極的でより大きな利害を共有できる枠組みの構築を目指そうとしているように見えます。
-----image(”Members of the Renewables Club at the launch on 1 June 2013, in Berlin, Germany.”) : 同リリースより
" On the occasion of the World Environment Day on 1 June 2013, a Renewables Club was launched in Berlin, Germany. IRENA Director-General Mr. Adnan Z. Amin joined His Excellency Mr. Peter Altmaier, Minister of Environment of Germany, and Ministers and high-level representatives from China, Denmark, France, India, Morocco, South Africa, Tonga, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, to formally launch the Club and discuss its activities in the coming months.
Initiated by Minister Altmaier, the Renewables Club is a high-level political alliance aimed at promoting renewable energy, with a view to scale up renewable energy deployment as an essential element of a sustainable and more prosperous future.
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The Club members released a communique outlining the underlining principles and aims of the alliance. The next Renewables Club meeting will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in the margins of the fourth session of the IRENA Assembly in January 2014.
Please find the Renewables Club Communique
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" シャープが、発電事業会社NED社※3から建設を受注していたタイ王国で最大規模※1となる太陽光発電所※4が本年5月に完成しました。今回竣工した発電所 (10.3MW-dc※5)は、2012年3月に竣工した発電所 (73.2MW-dc※5)に隣接し、両サイトを合わせ出力規模は約84MW-dc※5となります。
事業運営は、三菱商事株式会社の子会社であるDGA社※3を通じて出資しているタイ王国の独立発電事業者(IPP※6)NED社※3が実施します。
当社は、同国最大手の建設会社であるITD社/ITE社※4とともにNED※3社から本案件を受注し、発電所の設計、モジュール・周辺システムの調達および発電所の建設を進めてまいりました。
高温時において結晶太陽電池より温度特性に優れる薄膜太陽電池モジュールを採用し、約2.16km2の広大な敷地に約64万枚の薄膜太陽電池モジュールと周辺システムを設置しました。また、保守・メンテナンスは、2011年3月に設立したSSMA※7 (Sharp Solar Maintenance Asia Co.,Ltd.)が担当。特別な教育や訓練を受けた専任者がシステム全体の点検・保守など、発電事業の運営をサポートしてまいります。
当社は今後も拡大が続く日本や新興国市場などで、発電所の設計やモジュール・周辺システムの調達から発電所の建設ならびに保守・メンテナンスまで一貫して行うビジネスモデルを展開してまいります。
-----image(”タイ王国 太陽光発電所の関係事業者”) : 同リリースより
※1 2013年5月29日現在。(当社調べ)
※2 PC(Engineering Procurement and Construction)：太陽光発電所の設計、機器調達および発電所の建設を一括して行う事業者。
※3 NED社(Natural Energy Development Co.,Ltd.)：DGA社(Diamond Generating Asia,Limited：東南アジアおよび台湾のIPP事業を統括する三菱商事株式会社の100％子会社)、CLP社(CLP Holdings Limited：在香港のアジア最大の民間電力会社)、EGCO社(ELECTRICITY GENERATING PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED：タイ王国大手IPP)の3社による合弁会社。発電事業の企画、投資、運営を行う。
※4 同国最大手の建設会社であるITD社/ITE社と共同で建設。
ITD社(ITALIAN-THAI DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED)：タイ王国最大手の建設会社。国際空港や水力発電所などの公共事業から、民間のビル建設まで国内外の案件を手掛けている。
ITE社(ITALTHAI ENGINEERING CO.,LTD.)：ITD社の関係会社。電気設備供給、ビル・工場の設計など幅広いサービスを提供している。
※5 dc(direct current)、直流電流を指します。
※6 IPP(Independent Power Producer)：発電施設を設置し、発電した電気を販売する事業者。
伊藤忠商事が37.5%を出資するノルウェーのスカテック・ソーラー Scatec Solar は、南アフリカ共和国でアフリカ最大級の太陽光発電設備建設に着工しました。今回着工したのは、2012年5月の入札で南アフリカ共和国政府より優先契約交渉権を獲得した第2期太陽光発電事業の合計115MWp分です。
これは、南アフリカ共和国政府が将来的に電力需要の約2割を太陽光をはじめとする再生可能エネルギーにより賄うという目標を達成するために推進されている、South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Program（REIPPP、南アフリカ再生可能エネルギーエネルギー独立プログラム）に基づき実施されるものです。スカテック・ソーラー Scatec Solar は、昨年末よりは、南アフリカの北西州（North-West Province）のKaklbultにおいて、すでに75MWpのメガソーラーの建設を開始し、太陽電池の設置はほぼ完了し、稼動に向けて最後の調整が行われています。この75MWpと今回の115MWpを合計し、2014年末ごろに190MWpのアフリカ最大どころか、世界最大規模の巨大太陽光発電所が完成する見込みです。
また、スカテック・ソーラーは太陽光発電設備を世界中に普及させるため、電力需要が急速に高まっている新興国において、他アフリカ各国での開発、中近東における現地有力パートナーとの事業展開を進めるなど様々な取組を展開しています。日本においても伊藤忠商事との戦略的な取り組みの一環として、メガソーラー事業を協働展開していきます。ドイツ、イタリア、フランス、チェコ等の欧州諸国や南アフリカ等で培ってきた大型メガソーラー案件組成の経験・ネットワークを活用し、目下の目標として100MW相当の太陽光発電所の開発・建設を進めて参ります。
（*）REIPPP制度；南アフリカ政府が同国内での再生可能エネルギー導入を推進する為、政府保証の元、国営電力会社ESKOMを通じて再生可能エネルギーにて発電された電力を買い取る制度。Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurementプログラムの略称。
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参考
-----image(”Annual sum of global horizontal irradiation, average 1994-2011 GHI index”) : PV-Insider.com、「PV Plants Map 2012
South AfricA - PV Project Development Summit South Africa 5-6 September 2012, Johannesburg」よ[ (No.16が、Kalkbult Scatec Solar 72.5(MWp) Kaklbult, North-West Province ]
-----image(上-”Lobster”、下-”Windpark Riffgat”) : 同リリースより[上-”Mature lobster (Homarus gammarus) in defense position in front of a sandstone wall of the rocky island of Heligoland. Photo: Udo Schilling, Alfred Wegener Institute”、下-”Construction work in the "Riffgat" offshore windpark. Photo: M. Iberler, EWE”]-----
"The Land of Lower Saxony is promoting a pilot project on the settlement of the European lobster in the “Riffgat“ offshore windpark with just under EUR 700,000. Researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, are now starting on the rearing of 3,000 lobsters which they will be releasing in 2014. They wish to investigate whether lobsters successfully settle between the wind turbines.
New structures are created on the bottom of the North Sea with the construction of the windpark. Sand and silt soils dominate the bed in the German Bight; wind turbines are offering other ecosystems a new settlement area in the form of so-called hard substrate. One example of a rocky bed dweller is the European lobster which hides in crevices during the day and becomes active at night. Researchers at the Biological Institute Heligoland, which belongs to the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, wish to place lobsters in this newly created habitat.
The Land of Lower Saxony, represented by the NLWKN (Lower Saxony Institute for Water Management, Coastal Protection and Nature Conservation), is funding the three-year pilot project ”Lobster settlement in the Riffgat windpark“ with just under EUR 700,000. The money comes from the compensation payments under nature conservation law for the „Riffgat“ windpark. An agreement has been concluded between the NLWKN and the AWI to use this funding. The project is intended to investigate the basic possibility of and the conditions for and ecological consequences of a lobster settlement of this kind.
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"Marubeni and INCJ established Seajacks Japan Ltd, a 100% group company of Seajacks International Limited (UK; acquired jointly by Marubeni and INCJ in May 2012).
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Since 2009, Seajacks vessels have installed more than 230 wind turbine generator. Seajacks is currently acting as Main Installation Contractor for WindMW’s Meerwind Offshore Wind Park in Germany.
In addition to installing all 80 monopiles, transition pieces and WTGs at the site, Seajacks has also partnered with other industry leaders to provide a range of end-to-end services to its client, including the installation of scour protection and noise mitigation measures.
Seajacks is dedicated to becoming a world leading service provider for the installation, maintenance, repair, hook-up and commissioning of offshore wind farms."
