Getting almost every spare part and accessory for wind turbines from a single source to the customer – this is the business model WINDSOURCING.COM launched in 2013. Within three years the Hamburg-based company has developed to become the largest online distribution platform for the wind sector. PES Wind Magazine reports how the company was created… Read more »
Mariecke Siezen, Director at Technoship bv, met up with PES to tell us about the importance of safety on and offshore. We learn about the latest advances in protection systems, the customisation of certain products and the training factor. PES: Welcome to PES magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by… Read more »
Words: Christos Kolliatsas, hydro and renewables director, Mott MacDonald With the potential exception of being a referee or a traffic warden, for the most part, a lender’s engineer or lender’s technical advisor (LTA) may be one of the most polarising professions available. And yet, a professional and competent LTA can bring significant value to a… Read more »
The latest developments in blade pitch technology have opened new opportunities for wind turbine manufacturers. In this white paper, Mita-Teknik, one of the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of pitch systems, shares its view of the five key trends of this rapidly evolving technology. It also offers three important insights to keep in mind to… Read more »
Words: Philip Rood The marine renewables market is ever growing and SEA, a part of Cohort plc, has expanded its engineering capability to provide a variety of support services to the wave and tidal energy sectors. Cohort plc, business SEA, has showcased its credentials, in the growing wave and tidal energy support sector, by installing… Read more »
Words: Stephen Holden, Maintenance Account Director, Global Marine Systems Limited Although there have been power cables in the marine environment for many decades, there have been relatively few in number until fairly recently. Those that exist are predominately national or short haul international cables and in terms of total kilometres are rather limited. Certainly this… Read more »
Up until recently in the wind industry, the aim of many players when affecting the choice of technology seemed to be based on making the wind turbine as cheaply as possible. PES gets a different perspective from Jukka-Pekka Mäkinen, President and CEO of The Switch. “We believe looking only at upfront costs is extremely short-sighted,”… Read more »
What’s in a name? Thorsten Jalk, CEO at Ziton, dropped in to tell us about the name change from DBB Jack-up. It’s an exciting time for the company; they offer more than a jack-up service, in fact they provide the whole operations and maintenance package. Owning the vessels contributes to fulfilling their aim of reducing… Read more »
A global increase of electricity consumption along with the expected exhaustion of fossil fuel sources are ushering in a new era of environmental awareness that is opening up opportunities for the use of renewable energy sources such as wind power. With expertise in both automotive and industrial technology, PES discovers why ZF supports gear-driven wind… Read more »
Paolo Brianzoni, CEO of Visual Working SA, talks to PES about the exciting developments in drone inspection. The company is pushing the boundaries to bring the ultimate in image quality and data richness. This means there is the occasional crash, but they just pick themselves up and improve… PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks… Read more »
Universal Transport is driving energy transition forward. The transport of components for wind turbine plants requires a vast amount of intensive preparation; the 70m long rotor blades, especially, create a real challenge. This kind of job is all in a days’ work at Universal Transport, one of the leading contractors in the area of large… Read more »
Drones are starting to change many industry sectors, especially in maintenance and services. SPECTAIR GROUP is one of Germany’s biggest players in the drone industry. Besides surveying, monitoring and industry inspections the SPECTAIR GROUP serves the wind industry. PES met up with Marius Schroeder, Head of Marketing at SPECTAIR GROUP GmbH in Germany, to find… Read more »
PES caught up with Danny Ellis, CEO and co-Founder of Skyspecs, to hear about the latest drone inspection technology. It’s an exciting time for Skyspecs as they look towards expanding their services in Europe. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by explaining a little about… Read more »
In 2010 researchers of the acoustics & vibrations department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) started working on the topic of FSHM (Foundation Structural Health Monitoring), back when this abbreviation was not very well known in the wind power industry. Going back six years ago, the main research in the field of sensors and monitoring… Read more »
Jan Willem van der Graaf, CEO at Seaway Heavy Lifting, talks to PES about the decrease in oil & gas projects, due to the slump in oil prices and the increase in interest in contracts for renewables. PES: Welcome to PES, thanks for talking to us. You are active in several industries, is wind energy… Read more »
Words: Dipl.-Chem. Joachim Rother, Technical Director, novatic COATINGS Group The novatic® COATINGS Group has an extensive portfolio of high quality coating materials, for industrial corrosion protection, for use in various industries. There is a wide range of corrosion protection systems and applications available ranging from easy to use, for the protection of interior steel constructions,… Read more »
When we last spoke to Henning Weisz, the CEO of Global Tarps (Group MPASIA), it was following a 12 month growth period that had also seen the company maintain its reputation for quality and service. We caught up with Henning once again to find out how the business has been performing recently. “We control the… Read more »
Words: Petri Aho, Senior Vice President, Service Sales EMEA & APAC. This year Moventas launched a new suite of services called Extra Life. Extra Life suites incorporate gearbox services for the most popular, aging fleets, namely GE, Siemens and kilowatt class turbines. By removing known failure modes and replacing them with core Moventas technologies, gearbox… Read more »
Words: Wolfgang Beez, Sr. Marketing and Business Development Manager – Wind Systems, Maxwell Technologies Wolfgang Beez is senior business portfolio manager wind for the group and works closely with wind operators to integrate ultracapacitor wind pitch control retrofit systems in wind farms across the globe. Ultracapacitors – the fast-responding, power-packed energy storage devices that have… Read more »
PES discovers the Limpet height safety system, with its Intelligent Climb Assist feature, which includes rescue, evacuation and fall arrest. It provides assisted climbs, no matter your weight, saves maintenance time, down times and in the case of an accident – critical time. “At the top of a wind turbine in France, Gregory, a senior… Read more »
Words: Thomas Arnold, Team Leader Measurements and Technical Testing for Wind Energy Turbines, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH Treading a path to and from the filing cabinet is all part of the daily routine of many wind farm owners and operators. Many details of the condition of their wind farm can only be found there…. Read more »
PES brings you the latest on JAN DE NUL’S INSTALLATION SHIP, THE VOLE AU VENT. A jack-up vessel specifically built for work on wind farms. Read on to find out more. On Tuesday September 15th 2016, JAN DE NUL and NOBELWIND will sign the first offshore wind contract for JAN DE NUL’s installation ship, VOLE… Read more »
PES caught up with Michael Halberg Sørensen, CEO of HeliPPE, to find out how the company started. He talks about the benefits, in terms of cost savings and safety, of hiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for helicopter transport. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by… Read more »
Words: Kim Mørk, Executive Vice President of Renewables Certification, DNV GL Energy The wind power industry has changed massively over the last 10-15 years. New concepts, technologies and devices have arisen and certification has played an essential role in bringing these developments to market. But today the wind industry is much more mature, and the… Read more »
DONG Energy awarded DEME’s subsidiary Tideway cable installation contract for the Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm. PES investigates to find out why and introduces readers to the ‘Living Stone’. Early June this year, Tideway BV, Breda, the Netherlands, a subsidiary of the Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group DEME, was awarded a cable… Read more »
PES brings you a preview from the leading international wind energy expo, which expects more than 1,200 exhibitors. It is the largest international business platform onshore and offshore and reflects the global market and the whole of the value chain. It is the meeting point for decision makers from all parts of the world. Hopefully… Read more »
Offshore terminals are the most important interfaces during the construction of wind farms off the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas. Many wind farms have been created in recent years and more are already in the planning stages. The Hamburg-based company Buss Port Logistics (Buss) recognised the opportunities early on, and with their own… Read more »
PES caught up with Ryan Lauridsen, CEO at Bladena to find out about the latest developments in blade technology. An important issue in our industry.. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by explaining a little about the background of your organisation and how you currently… Read more »
In the late 1990s, Hermann Albers, president of the German Wind Energy Association, was already pointing out that existing networks would not manage to accommodate the growing supply of green power. “Instead of taking action, grid operators began new planning, much too late because they didn’t believe in the success of renewables”, he frequently complained…. Read more »
Ken Søerensen, CEO at ALL NRG, dropped in to tell us about the developments at the company. More companies are likely to join ALL NRG in the future, providing easier contacts for the customer. He is looking forward to a boom over the next two years. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking… Read more »
Words: Jayesh Goyal, Chief Commercial Officer, Younicos With both PV and battery costs in equally steady and spectacular decline, solar photovoltaics (PV) plus storage is generating a lot of attention. Indeed, with PV bids coming in at record lows in both sunny ($0.03/kWh in Morocco and Dubai) and not-so-sunny regions (¤0.08 in Germany), storing the… Read more »
Words: Steven Hughes, Global Asset Management Director for RES Standardisation is needed in our industry to keep costs down and avoid discrepancies. Asset management and O&M can help save costs and counteract inefficiencies. April 2016 was a momentous month for solar energy in the UK. For the first time ever, more power was generated by… Read more »
Micro grids are having a big impact on remote areas of the world. Romina Arcamone Garcia, Market Manager, Renewable Energy & Backup Power at Trojan Battery Co., LLC explains to PES how 24/7 energy is now possible in these areas. The establishment of off-grid networks, also known as mini grids or micro grids, around the… Read more »
PES caught up with Simon Schandert, Director of Production, Technology Development and Technical Support, at the industrial storage manufacturer TESVOLT, to find out about storage for businesses. There is optimism in the air for the future of our industry and a change in philosophy… PES: Welcome back to PES Solar/PV magazine. Thanks for talking with… Read more »
There is a dark cloud hanging over solar energy. Despite frequent government pushes for wider adoption of renewable power sources, progress in recent years has been relatively slow. Here, Steve Hughes, managing director of power quality expert REO UK, explains there may be a way to part the clouds in solar energy. Since the mid-1990s,… Read more »
Monitoring is omitted in so many PV plants and yet it is an easy, affordable way to detect errors quickly and avoid yield losses. PES hears from Dr. Frank Schlichting, CEO of Solare Datensysteme GmbH, about how Solar-Log™ can save the PV plant operators energy losses, time and money. PES: The concept of monitoring is… Read more »