Published

8 months ago

March 3, 2025

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Nordex Optimistic in US, National Grid Sells US Renewable Portfolio

This week on News Flash, Nordex’s determined stance on US growth, the Cenos Floating Wind Farm project, National Grid’s sale of its US renewable assets, and Europe’s wind energy production expansion to meet 2030 climate targets.

Fill out our Uptime listener survey and enter to win an Uptime mug!

Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Welcome to Uptime Newsflash, industry News Lightning fast. Newsflash is brought to you by IntelStor. For market intelligence that generates revenue, visit www.intelstor.com.

Allen Hall: Starting off the week, German wind leader Nordex remains bullish on US growth despite President’s Trump Day one, suspension of offshore wind leasing. CEO, Jose Hlu Blanco confidently told Reuters they’ll hit targets, quote, even in worse case scenarios. North American business surged 3% to 10% of orders in 2024 while Nordex exceeded profit forecast with 296 million euros. The company now aims to recapture its former 15 to 18% of the US market position and projects five to 7% profit margins for 2025. Energy developers, flotation Energy and Vagrønn have filed for approval of their groundbreaking Cenos floating Wind Farm with Scottish authorities.

The 95 turbine project will tower 320 meters above the North Sea, 190 kilometers from Scotland’s coast. The innovative offshore wind development secured through Crown Estate Scotland’s in into program will power both UK homes and North Sea oil platforms.

Public consultation remains open until April 4th, building on momentum from their successful Green Volt project. In a major market move, national Grid is offloading its entire US renewable portfolio to Canadian giant Brookfield for $1.74 billion. The strategic divestment includes 1.8 gigawatts of operational assets and 1.3 gigawatts under development across solar, wind, and battery technologies.

This sale follows similar renewable pullbacks by energy majors Shell, BP and Equinor Amid Profitability Challenges. National Grid will now concentrate investment on its core energy network infrastructure with the transaction expected to complete by early 2026. And finally, European wind energy suppliers are rapidly expanding production capacity with over 30 factories across the continent being expanded or newly built to meet ambitious EU 2030 climate targets. SEF is investing 300 million euros in Rotterdam to produce 200 triple XL offshore wind foundations.

Annually by mid 2025 while Siemens Gamesa announced a 200 million Euro investment to upgrade its facility in France to produce next generation 14 megawatt turbine blades, creating 200 new jobs. The manufacturing expansion spans cable production in nine European countries and turbine component factories in Denmark, France, Poland, Italy, and the uk.

These investments totaling 11 billion euros over two years, strengthens Europe’s energy security and creates thousands of jobs.

https://weatherguardwind.com/nordex-optimistic-national-grid/

Renewable Energy

Trump Welcomes Qatar to Build Air Force Base in Idaho

Published

2 days ago

October 12, 2025

Alice Rush

No one seems to understand Trump’s motivation here. Did it have anything to do with the $400 million gift aircraft?

Does Qatar fear attack from Alberta or Saskatoon?

The Qataris say they need to be prepared to help achieve peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I’m suspicious, though I’m no expert in military logistics. We’re talking about a 6000-mile plane ride.

Trump Welcomes Qatar to Build Air Force Base in Idaho

Renewable Energy

Trump’s Avalanche of Lies

Published

2 days ago

October 12, 2025

Alice Rush

What? I’m confused. “Trump’s Statement” of a few months was that “Gas prices are (present tense) under $2.”

It would have been interesting if one of the gaggle of reporters surrounding him could have asked the obvious question: “That’s great, sir, but can you name a single state in the union whose gas prices are under $2?

It would have been a tense moment, for sure, but don’t we have any self-respect?

Trump’s Avalanche of Lies

Renewable Energy

Where Does Domestic Violence Come From?

Published

2 days ago

October 12, 2025

Alice Rush

Over the past few months, and especially since the murder of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing news sources are telling us that most of the politically related violence is coming from the left, in particular from the left-wing “terrorist associations,” e.g., Antifa.

If you look at some coverage on the subject, however, you’ll learn that this is simple false. Here’s a bit from a PBS piece:

PBS: Policymakers and the public need reliable evidence and actual data to understand the reality of politically motivated violence.

Craig: No, they don’t. Are you serious? Are we to believe that Donald Trump is sending federal troops to democratically-led cities based on “reliable evidence and actual data?” This is a sick joke.

PBS: From our research on extremism, it’s clear that the president’s and Miller’s assertions about political violence from the left are not based on actual facts.

Here’s more from the PBS article:

After the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump claimed that radical leftist groups foment political violence in the U.S., and “they should be put in jail.”

“The radical left causes tremendous violence,” he said, asserting that “they seem to do it in a bigger way” than groups on the right.

WATCH: Extremism scholar analyzes influence of rhetoric on political violence

Top presidential adviser Stephen Miller also weighed in after Kirk’s killing, saying that left-wing political organizations constitute “a vast domestic terror movement.”

“We are going to use every resource we have … throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again,” Miller said.

Political violence rising

The understanding of political violence is complicated by differences in definitions and the recent Department of Justice removal of an important government-sponsored study of domestic terrorists.

Political violence in the U.S. has risen in recent months and takes forms that go unrecognized. During the 2024 election cycle, nearly half of all states reported threats against election workers, including social media death threats, intimidation and doxing.

WATCH: Trump conspiracies inspire threats against judges, jurors and election workers

Kirk’s assassination illustrates the growing threat. The man charged with the murder, Tyler Robinson, allegedly planned the attack in writing and online.

This follows other politically motivated killings, including the June assassination of Democratic Minnesota state Rep. and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

These incidents reflect a normalization of political violence. Threats and violence are increasingly treated as acceptable for achieving political goals, posing serious risks to democracy and society.