Category: Exclusive Articles

Smart solutions in the offshore wind industry picked up by the oil and gas sector

After many years of renewables being somewhat the ‘Cinderella’ of the energy industry, it is fascinating to see that it is now offshore wind power driving innovation and its smart solutions are being taken up by the well-established oil and gas sector. A good example was highlighted recently when Damen’s first Service Operations Vessel (SOV),… Read more »

Manage corrosion or fight it?

Is there anything that can be done to prevent or protect against corrosion? This is a question which preoccupies many in our industry. There are many types of corrosion, which in fact is a natural process, so it seems it’s like trying to hold back the tide. Is there anything that we mere humans can… Read more »

Wind blows strong in the USA

WINDPOWER is being held in Chicago this year. Wind energy is gathering more and more momentum in the US. Every year AWEA strives attract new and diverse groups to the conference, with the aim of sparking new conversations, new connections and new ideas and 2018 is no exception. PES brings you the show preview of… Read more »

Flexibly scaling wind turbine drive trains

Words: K. Adriaenssen, W. Smook, J. Peeters A revolution is happening in the world of renewable energy. All key markets have adopted auction-based approaches to subsidising renewables. New wind market dynamics In theory, the idea is rather simple. Set a target level of investment in renewable energy capacity, and then allocate contracts to the lowest… Read more »

Opening new operational windows

A new company with a pioneering concept – the Zbridge. PES is always on the look out for new and innovative ideas and we are sure this will not disappoint you. Read on to find out more… September 2017 marked the start of the Zbridge BV, supplier of Zbridge walk to work system (W2W). The… Read more »

Customer care, supply partners and training – a recipe for success

Seher Kaygusuz, Head of Business Development, Marketing and Sales, WINDSOURCING.COM, talks to PES about the ever growing number of products in their portfolio, the importance of supply partners and training. This is an expanding company in our industry. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by… Read more »

Innovative blade inspection and cleaning services

Words: Leonardo Gómez, Engineering Manager at TSR Wind PES is excited to introduce TSR, a small Spanish engineering company that has developed technology through R&D, to provide affordable services that can compete in price, with traditional methods in the wind energy sector, solving problems that historically, would have involved risks, non-competitive stopping times and an… Read more »

Peak inspection records

SkySpecs CTO, Tom Brady, dropped in to catch us up with the latest developments in the use of drones for inspections. It has been quite a year for them, with record breaking numbers of inspections in the fastest time. This company is wowing the industry. PES: Welcome back to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking… Read more »

Safety at a height

While performing service and maintenance on wind energy plants, employees routinely work at great heights. Fall protection is therefore a requirement for them. They use climbing protection equipment when climbing the towers. When it comes to work safety, leading manufacturers are increasingly involving users in the development of new solutions. Collaboration between Siemens Gamesa, the… Read more »

Heavy lifting at great heights

We have said this before but how much lighter and more efficient can these heavy lift jack-up vessels get? PES brings you SOUL, the 4th generation of wind turbine installation vessels. After successfully launching their revolutionary heavy lift jack-up vessel design, SOUL-partners, SeaOwls and Ulstein, continued their mission to develop the optimal range of heavy… Read more »

A welcome shift in wind energy north of the border

Words: Jenny Hogan, Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables The UK has more offshore wind turbines than any other country in the world. But while Scotland has 25% of the whole European wind resource, only around 5% of the UK’s offshore wind fleet is currently north of the border. Finally, however, that is starting to change…. Read more »

Ten tactics for renewable projects that will help earn approval

PES is pleased to share this practical advice on saving time and money, in getting approval for wind farm projects, from Al Maiorino, the President of Public Strategy Group, Inc.,. This is based on his years of experience in successful and varied campaigns throughout the USA and abroad. Renewable project companies have moved light years… Read more »

Transforming North Sea energy supply by gas-wind collaboration

In case you missed out on this excellent event PES brings you your exclusive post show report from last month’s, 10th Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference, which took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands under the theme Transformation through collaboration. During the Offshore WIND Conference, part of Offshore Energy, as well as on a discussion square… Read more »

A solid foundation is a must

With the interest in wind energy on the rise, foundation suppliers are hard pressed to meet the developers’ demands in terms of design, delivery and installation. PES brings you the PEIKKO view from the North, where investment in new turbines is paying off and energy from wind is ever increasing. Wind the most profitable way… Read more »

Geography should not be a barrier to harnessing green electricity from your own small turbine

Gerry Lalonde, CEO, Orenda Energy Solutions, tells PES how he feels wind energy could be exchanged from one location to another. This is certainly food for thought and could make a big difference to small turbine owners, or perspective owners with no space near their current location. One of the chief concerns facing the small/medium… Read more »

Risk policy comparative review of offshore renewables and oil & gas installations

Words: Sasaenia P. Oluwabunmi, Kayode E. Oluwabunmi & Athanasios J. Kolios Abstract: The development of adequate energy sources to satisfy the ever increasing energy demand in the world has led to the deployment of several offshore energy installations. Offshore Oil & Gas and renewable energy installations have had a lot of growth in recent years;… Read more »

The correlation between lubrication and safety is closer than you think

Safety is of paramount importance when working at the dizzy height of a wind turbine. Brad Prickett, the senior lubrication engineer at ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants, located in Houston, gives PES his insight on how this can be improved. This is his area of expertise as he has worked with wind turbine operators since the… Read more »

Condition-based maintenance is perfect for renewable energy

Words: Kristian Holm, VP Renewables & Utilities at Kongsberg Digital A typical wind turbine is equipped with a huge number of sensors, signal processors, and other types of monitoring equipment to ensure that it maintains its autonomous operations. These data points provide a myriad of data which can be used to optimise the operation of… Read more »

Islet of the Grindstones

PES brings you Jan De Nul’s experience of constructing the Tahkoluoto wind farm. The geographical location, the elements and the difficult terrain all posed different types of challenges. Previous knowledge gained on other ventures, suitable equipment and engineering skills were crucial to the success of this project. Possible ice and rocky soil: these were the… Read more »

Accept the competitive challenge and keep the wind blowing

Auctions are becoming the standard instrument for granting state support in almost all European markets. In economic terms, this is the right step to take as it subjects renewables to market forces and rewards the most efficient projects. This was evident in the latest UK Government Contract for Difference (CfD) auction round, designed to support… Read more »

Wind installation – the future unfolding with the foldable offshore crane

Words: Wouter Slob, Tender & Concepts Engineer, Huisman, the Netherlands The development of current and future offshore wind farms is picking up with wind installation contractors further optimising their toolboxes for efficient installation of offshore wind turbines. Up to now the jack-up vessel has been the platform of choice for installation of wind turbines; providing… Read more »

Transformed into the largest substation provider in just 15 years

In 2002 the first ever offshore high voltage substation was delivered by HSM Offshore. This was under an EPCI contract from Eltra/Energinet, for the Horns Rev A project, off the Danish West coast. Things have gone from strength to strength since then, as this report to PES shows. Earlier this year the company signed the… Read more »

A 100% renewable energy future

A PES exclusive from Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General. This is his perspective on the options for a world using 100% renewable energy, based on research and years of experience in our industry. Ever since the oil shocks of the 1970s, and the early emergence of commercial wind turbines, solar hot water heaters, and the… Read more »

Marine operations standards in offshore wind

Words: Steven Foong, Global Maritime This article will look at the marine operations standards and guidelines that are emerging; areas that need to be considered in putting in place such standards; and how it is also incumbent on the marine providers themselves to put the necessary mechanisms in place internally. There’s no doubt that offshore… Read more »

Safety first

Words: Scott Starr, Firetrace International, Marketing Director Wind turbine fire protection: investing to protect the bottom line. Fire is the second leading cause of accidents in wind turbines after blade failure1, with the average overall cost of a wind turbine fire being around $4.5m2. Given that $112.5bn was ploughed in to wind power globally in… Read more »

International service for wind turbines is in a transformational phase

Words: Matthias Brandt, Board Director, Deutsche Windtechnik The global wind energy market has always been subject to constant change, but it has rarely changed as rapidly as it is right now. Political realities are evolving, and they are forcing the market to produce results based on one clear objective: absolute cost reduction. Increasing cost pressure… Read more »

The safety of knowledge

Words: Ignacio Serrada and Alfonso Hernández, members of Offshore and Modular Department By the end of October, the first shipment of transition pieces (TP) for the MERKUR offshore wind project had been completed. The brief was to take full responsibility for organising the transportation and associated engineering, to ship these components from the manufacturer’s premises… Read more »

It’s show time!

As the wind industry continues its unprecedented growth, over 8,000 participants are expected to gather this November for the WindEurope Conference & Exhibition 2017 in the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, November 28th to 30th 2017. PES brings you a taster of the exciting things on offer. Have you got your tickets? We’ll see… Read more »

Is long-term corrosion protection of offshore wind structures just a dream?

Bjond’s key word is innovation and their engineers are experts with a passion for complexity. Jo van Montfort, Sr Consultant, Director at Bjond tells PES about the short comings in the offshore wind industry, with regards to corrosion and how they want to change this. He says key factors include collaboration across the industry to… Read more »

Bright science taking solar to new heights

The power of the sun is immense. But capturing this power efficiently and turning it into sustainable energy is no easy task. Solar module manufacturers and project developers are therefore always on the lookout for new technologies and materials that amplify the power generated by solar systems. As a renowned materials supplier with a long… Read more »

Powering up digitalization of wind power transmission

Innovative sensor technologies, advanced modelling and new business models are all corner stones in how ZF Wind Power is digitalizing the manufacturing business. For ZF Wind Power digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT) is an integrated part of this transformation. For a long time, the wind power industry has been among the front-runners when… Read more »

Environmental impact

Does a bottlenose dolphin change its ranging movement because of a wind turbine? Or a razorbill change its migration route? How do human beings change behaviours with an offshore wind farm nearby? PES brings you a pioneering scientific research programme from Vattenfall, which aims to answer these questions and more. Four projects have initially been… Read more »

… don’t worry, be heavy!

PES met up with Holger Dechant, CSO at Universal Transport, to learn about their new slogan and the risks involved in oversized component transportation. It’s really not as simple as it looks. PES: Welcome back to PES. Thanks for talking with us. We know the wind industry is an expanding sector, how is this impacting… Read more »

Offshore gateway

It’s an exciting time at the Port of Rotterdam. It already has a flourishing business network and is set to get even bigger with the development of the Offshore Center Maasvlakte 2. Joost Eenhuizen, Business Manager, Port of Rotterdam Authority, provides PES with a look in to the future at this unique project in Europe…. Read more »