Northumbrian Water has invested £1.3 million in installing a hydro-electric generation unit as its Mosswood Water Treatment Works in County Durham. Capable of generating 185kw of energy, the unit will provide enough power to meet a third of the plant’s annual electricity needs, equivalent to 300 homes.

The hydro power unit will save Northumbrian Water around £200,000 a year on its electricity bills, as well as helping the firm meet its commitment to reducing its carbon emissions by 35% by 2020. - Read more »

European wind farm operators are attracting criticism for awarding their key contracts to firms outside the UK. The British media has accused the owners of projects such as Walney Offshore in Cumbria and London Array in Kent of using British contractors for just 10 to 20% of the major works. - Read more »

In a new development for offshore wind, the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has announced plans to test the first ever floating wind farm off the Cornish coast. If the trial goes ahead, a £25 million project would see a floating wind turbine designed, built and installed at Wave Hub, the world’s largest wave energy testing centre, by 2016. - Read more »

Walney Offshore, currently the largest wind farm in the world, was officially inaugurated on 9 February 2012 by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey. The £1.2 billion wind farm consists of Walney 1 and Walney 2, located around 15km off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. - Read more »

A European Commission report, published on 13 February 2012, has revealed that more than 1 million people across the EU were employed in the renewable energy industry in 2010 – a 25% increase on the 2009 figure. In total, 1,144,000 people across 27 countries worked in the sector in 2010, compared to 912,220 in 2009. The solid biomass sector is the largest overall employer with more than 273,000 jobs. - Read more »

The UK’s renewable energy industry has got off to a flying start in 2012 with the announcement of several exciting initiatives to develop new and existing technologies. Offshore energy sources are the focus of two new research centres located at opposite ends of the UK – the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, which will be based at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and the South West Marine Energy Park, which will cover a large area of coastline from Avonmouth to the Isles of Scilly. - Read more »

Wilding client Morrisons Utility Services has confirmed the extension of their contract with the Electricity Alliance South West – to the tune of £150 million. The contract will run until 2017, allowing Morrisons to continue their work on the National Grid’s transmission network upgrade project for the next five years. Working alongside the other Alliance partners, Mitsubishi, Jacobs and National Grid, Morrisons will provide a range of turnkey services to upgrade and extend existing substations and construct new ones across the south west of England and Wales. - Read more »

Wilding supplier Morrisons Utility Services was delighted to receive a nomination at 2011’s prestigious Utility Industry Achievement Awards in the hotly contested Staff Development Award category. - Read more »

Energy Secretary Change Chris Huhne has announced that renewable energy is set to boost the UK economy to the tune of almost £2.5 billion. Research by the Department of Energy and Climate Changes indicates that investments in renewable energy projects could create up to 12,000 jobs across the UK and, as Mr Huhne commented, breathe life back into our ‘traditional industrial heartlands’. - Read more »

Construction of the National Grid’s onshore substation for the London Array, the world’s largest wind farm, has now been completed at Cleve Hill in Kent. The substation has been connected to the 400kV Canterbury-Kelmsley overhead power line, which will flow the power generated by the wind turbines into the national transmission system once offshore commissioning activities are underway. - Read more »