Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2025

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Ørsted Pays $1.7B For Sunrise Delays, Aviva Invests in CIC

In this News Flash, Ørsted pays $1.7B for delays and increased costs at their Sunrise Wind project, Aviva Investors invests €40 million in CIC, and Vibra acquires Comer Energia.

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Welcome to Uptime News Flash. Industry news, lightning fast. Your hosts, Allen Hall, Joel Saxum, and Phil Totaro, discuss the latest deals, mergers, and alliances that will shape the future of wind power. News Flash is brought to you by IntelStor. For market intelligence that generates revenue, visit www.intelstor.com.

Allen Hall: Well, starting off the week, Orsted has announced a significant setback, posting a 1. 7 billion dollar impairment charge for the fourth quarter of 2024 due to delays and increased costs at a Sunrise Wind Project near New York. The 924 megawatt project, located about 30 miles east of Montauk, around Long Island, faces construction challenges, particularly with monopile foundations.

Despite these difficulties, Orsted’s CEO, Mad Snipper, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the U. S. market, though project completion has been pushed towards the second half of 2027, Phil. This is a big deal for Orsted. Orsted has been really profitable and a strong company for a long time, but these American projects are a real drag on their bottom line.

Phil Totaro: Absolutely. And I think they’re, they’re keen to get through all these things as quickly as they possibly can and, and also get to a point where they can, you know, have the project mature enough, either in construction or operation, where they can actually get an investor in. Which is what their original plan was with a lot of the utility companies in you know, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York, I suppose with some of the proposed projects.

And, and a lot of those utilities decided, you know what, not for us, taking too long, costing too much, and just not our cup of tea. So the quicker they can get this sunrise project done and move on to potentially others because they still have revolution that they’re trying to build as well. So

Joel Saxum: you

Phil Totaro: know, the quicker the better.

Joel Saxum: Frustrating thing here, I think on this project from someone who’s been watching these in my seat for a long time and knowing what the soil characteristics are out there. These things, these studies have been going on since 2016, 2017 on what the soil conditions are that these monopiles are gonna be driven into.

This should not be a problem they’re running into now. Now we know that there’s been a, it’s a weird. It’s like this quick, sandy, odd soil. We know that, but we’ve known it for like eight years. So, they should have come up with a solution for this beforehand. This shouldn’t be an impairment that they’re taking right now.

But, they are, and it’s reality. So, they’ll have to push through it

Allen Hall: to get this thing built in 2027. UK based Aviva Investors has made a 40 million euro investment in CIC, a German renewable energy developer focusing on northern and central Europe. Now, CIC specializes in onshore wind and solar projects, particularly in Poland and Sweden, and currently manages about one gigawatt’s worth of projects in various development stages.

Now, Phil, I know Northern Europe is making a big push at the minute to get invested into renewables altogether to get away from some of the natural gas problems that they have. This is another move by a strong player.

Phil Totaro: Well, and it’s a move by another UK investor into continental Europe. So this is follows on from, you know, moves by Brookfield that’s, you know, acquired some UK and, and European based companies and assets.

Octopus has made similar moves. Aviva being another, you know, UK investment management company is You know, they already own a small portfolio of, of projects and assets in the UK and Northern Ireland, and this is giving them the opportunity to branch out into continental Europe where, you know, as you said, the, the demand is really driving some of the growth.

And the good news, I guess, in Germany is that there’s been a significant amount of permitting through the end of 2024 that should give them a pretty decent build out pipeline for 2025 and, and beyond. So good timing and good move by Aviva.

Joel Saxum: Yeah, Aviva looking into, or helping out CIC here and looking into Poland and Sweden.

So Poland is, you know, an emerging market that has seen a lot of movement. Sweden is a market that’s growing fast, right? So one of the, some of the largest wind farms in Northern Europe all being built in Sweden. So there’s, this is a, it’s a play from Aviva. And most of the time when we talk on Newsflash about money going into things, it’s money for a big investment, for a pipeline, for development or something.

But when you look at 40 million euros, that’s not for a project. That’s to bolster the team. That’s to get the company healthy and support them in growth. And I’d like to see

Allen Hall: that. Down in beautiful Brazil, Brazil’s largest fuel and lubricant distributor, Vibra, has completed a strategic acquisition of Comer Energia, adding 2.

1 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity to its portfolio. The deal positions Vibra as Brazil’s largest multi energy platform and includes eight large scale solar parks, totaling 1. 5 gigawatts. Three wind farms with 280 megawatts of capacity and over 95 distributed solar plants. Phil, Lula in Brazil is a big proponent of renewable energy and is putting some limitations on the petroleum business.

It makes sense for Vibra, which has been in the petroleum business for a while, to take Get into renewables also.

Phil Totaro: And, and at this point, since they’re not doing a ton of new build on wind and even though they just approved offshore build out down there, that’s still a decade away from actually happening.

So the reality is there’s an opportunity for a lot of consolidation in the market, and this is, you know, one of the, the first deals you know, that Utility and an oil and gas, you know, focused company is, is making and I think there’s, there’s more that of that that can happen. Thankfully, because of the high capacity factors down in Brazil, you’ve got assets, which are, you know, Normally profitable more profitable than others because you, even though you might have a low PPA, you also have, you know, a capacity factor that might be like 60 percent or higher which is kind of obnoxious But it’s, you know, just the, the site conditions you’ve got down there.

So at the end of the day, I think it’s a, it’s a good move specifically for for Vibra to be able to do that. And in general, it’s. Kind of a wait and see measure for how the market’s going to evolve. You know, I guess it, it’s behooves a company like Vuber to have a pipeline and a portfolio of projects to be able to build out or repower, I suppose then, then just sit there waiting on the sidelines.

Joel Saxum: This is an interesting acquisition for me personally, and anybody that likes business to see someone that’s coming from a space that tru Traditionally competes with each other. Traditionally, you don’t see the, you know, lubricants fuels type company grabbing renewables and then joining up together. And when you see businesses do this, they can do it right or they can do it wrong.

So they do it right. They unlock all kinds of great synergies. They, they can mix cult, the, the company cultures together and create products. A very, very profitable organization. They can do it incorrectly and have inter fighting in competing because you have different, different thoughts and viewpoints and how the energy economy should look.

So I will watch this one personally, just because I like to see what’s going to happen internally in these companies and rooting for them for it to go well. Because I think there’s a lot of synergy that can be unlocked here.

https://weatherguardwind.com/orsted-sunrise-aviva-cic/

Renewable Energy

As Europe Shuns Chinese Turbines and Components, Who Will Fill the Gap?

Published

15 hours ago

November 9, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

As Europe Shuns Chinese Turbines and Components, Who Will Fill the Gap?

While most of Europe has spent most of this year itemizing reasons it cannot, should not, and will not use Chinese wind turbines or components, accusations and arm-twisting tactics have garnered most of the attention.

But we invite you to consider a future – maybe just five, or ten years from now?- in which those same countries and companies are eagerly awaiting orders from wind turbine manufacturing facilities in… India.
What?!
You know that the country has a lot of installed wind.

You may think – and many in the industry would agree – that India’s blade manufacturers are a few revs behind blade-makers elsewhere in the world. But the country is newly committed to manufacturing and it’s busy installing more – provided that it’s made in India, with Indian technology, by Indian workers.
Of course, similar domestic-focused policy currents are running through European countries – where wind OEMs are almost inarguably a decade ahead of Indian manufacturers. But there’s an important reason why we say, “watch India” in wind turbine manufacturing.

It’s because you might learn something.

If you follow The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, you probably heard this discussion a few weeks ago. It wasn’t the headline story – we try to highlight as many major news items and trends that we can, and follow up as credible information becomes available. India’s quiet moves to strengthen its own renewable energy industries didn’t grab the headlines. But it comprised a good bit of our panelists’ discussion.

With India’s expanding manufacturing capacity, and Suzlon’s strategic offerings for the European market (Blue Sky), there are reasons for European developers to take a closer look at Indian manufacturers.

If Europe continues to squelch deals with Chinese manufacturers due to data security issues, India is a relatively obvious candidate to fill the void, for several reasons:

The country has depth and breadth in R&D: India (Suzlon, specifically) has a track record of involvement and relationships across the continent, as it operates research and development centers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
Indian service providers have reach: Inox and Adoni Wind operate multiple wind turbine manufacturing plants and wind farms throughout several Indian states, and Apraava Energy has been commissioning wind projects, working with multiple OEMs, for more than 16 years.
The country’s energy sector has size: Tata Power is estimated to be worth about US$16 billion and employs 22,000 people.

And major manufacturers from other countries have had a strong presence in the country for years:

GE Vernova has turbine blade and nacelle manufacturing operations and multiple tech/R&D centers in India;
Vestas has a R&D technology center in Chennai; and
China’s SANY Wind has had assembly facilities in India since 2017, and in 2024, it signed a licensing agreement with JSW allowing SANY to manufacture blades and generators for JSW – enabling JSW Neo Energy to produce wind turbine generators and major components in-country.

So while there is hard data suggesting that India is already a global hub for wind turbines, sometimes the real strength comes from soft skills. Like sharing information.

We’ve noticed that Indian manufactures aren’t stingy with information. They share what they learn in the field and on the shop floor, so that the whole industry can move faster to solve problems. That bodes well for the industry overall, and particularly well for companies who figure out how to solve problems that some manufacturers aren’t even ready to admit to having.

We’ll be watching India with a great deal of interest in the coming months. Subscribe to The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast and follow along with us.

We’re not financial analysts. We’re engineers who watch the wind industry very closely. This is what we’ve noticed, and we thought it was worth sharing.

Where do you think you’ll be looking for solutions, components, and service providers in the next few years or the next decade? Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

As Europe Shuns Chinese Turbines and Components, Who Will Fill the Gap?

Renewable Energy

When You Write for Idiots, You Can Get Away with Anything

Published

18 hours ago

November 9, 2026

Alice Rush

To the author of the meme here:

“Either” refers to two choices; “any” refers to three or more.

More importantly, it’s amazing how shamelessly the ultra-right wing exaggerates. The left side of the Democratic party would like to see the United States look like social democracies in places like Scandinavia. Having government programs that benefit the common person, e.g., Social Security, public schools, emergency relief, libraries, environmental responsibility, etc., does not equate to Stalinism.

When You Write for Idiots, You Can Get Away with Anything

Renewable Energy

Are Muslims “Dangerous?”

Published

20 hours ago

November 9, 2026

Alice Rush

Some of my old prep school chums from the Class of 1973 convene via Zoom approximately every six weeks for a 90-minute discussion of current events, science, and anything else that sounds interesting.

Our professions range from medicine, law, finance, and business management. All from highly ranked colleges. Over 50% hold doctorate degrees.

Here’s something I find fascinating about the group: it includes one right-wing conservative. I don’t mean a Reaganite; I mean a Trump supporter. This guy is incapable of any thought that doesn’t come directly from Nexsmax.

It’s almost eerie how closely he toes the line of the far-right. Yesterday he echoed the Newsmax talking point and told the group that all Muslims holding public office are “very dangerous” and should be removed.

Now, the rest of us are sitting there, dumbfounded at this idea, unwilling waste our breath on this racist and utterly preposterous concept.

All this raises the question: How are our political viewpoints formed? How much of this is genetics? Epigenetics? Early childhood experiences? How do take a boy from among the best environments and turn him into someone who struggles to understand the most basic principles on which our country was founded?

https://www.2greenenergy.com/2026/11/09/principles-country-was-founded/