It could meet Europe’s electricity demand seven times over, and the United States’ electricity demand four times over. In the last decade, offshore wind power has developed from an expensive rookie to a competitive source of energy. As the world’s interest in offshore wind grows, there is a rapidly growing need for cost-effective solutions. But… Read more »
Ports are the arrival, transit and exit point for a large part of the world’s trade and can as such be portrayed as economic growth engines. Port activities come with a cost to the environment and the surrounding cities, where our race towards zero carbon emission also affects the way in which ports will be… Read more »
Utility-scale wind turbine energy technology has developed rapidly over the past 20 years, from a few hundred kilowatts to multi-megawatt installations capable of producing enough electricity to power thousands of households. As windfarms increase both in physical size and generation capacity, with turbines growing from 2-3 megawatt (MW) today to typically 5 MW onshore and… Read more »
For over 30 years MAATS Tech have been recognised for providing quality, considerately designed equipment arrays for a plethora of vessels across a variety of capabilities. Core competencies are centred on dynamically positioned special purpose vessels for diverse operations in subsea construction, diving, cable laying and flexible pipe laying, for both new build and conversion… Read more »
One of the most pressing issues when it comes to making wind energy fit for the future is the aspect of acceptance: acceptance among the broader public, but especially among those directly affected by it, the residents and the environment. Transponder-based aircraft detection lighting systems (ADLS) offer a sustainable solution putting non-stop blinking obstruction lights… Read more »
Innovation, green energy, zero emissions, quality are just some of the things Tom Nevin, CEO at HST Marine, enthused about to PES. This relatively newcomer to offshore wind is a family owned business, focussed on going the extra mile for clients, whilst at the same time, looking after the needs of its personnel. It’s great… Read more »
With the Geislinger Compowind® coupling the Austrian-based company sets new standards for the wind drivetrain technology. Lightweight, fatigue-resistant, and maintenance-free composite membranes virtually absorb all bending moments and allow the gearbox to be rigidly attached to the main frame. Therefore, not only is the gearbox relieved from unnecessary loads, but the dynamic system behaviour of… Read more »
‘Measure twice, cut once’ as the old proverb goes. And it is true. A thorough geological site investigation campaign is one of the most important sources of data when it comes to designing foundations. Especially in the case of high-risk offshore constructions such as wind turbines. However, what should we do if the style changes… Read more »
Nobody expects a wind turbine to catch fire, but it happens. Unfortunately, it is unknown just how much it happens, and this opens the industry up to significant losses due to a lack of best practice when managing fire risk. As found in our recent report, ‘In the Line of Fire’, there is a serious… Read more »
PES spoke with Hans Gatzemeier, CEO of ELA Container Offshore Gmbh, about how to increase flexibility by renting their offshore mobile room solutions. This solution is proving more and more popular, as it means that once finished with, the containers can be collected. The pandemic has meant working in different ways, and Hans admits he… Read more »
Fears that automation will lead to mass unemployment are a recurring social and economic issue. In recent decades, these fears have been fed by the rapid spread of industrial robots, the use of which has become prevalent in the wind industry. While robotization within the industry has many positive aspects, such as carrying out the… Read more »
DHSS has become a well-known, high-level player in the services it provides for the offshore wind industry over the last five years. The company was founded in 1997, as a ships agency for clients mainly working in the seismic industry, searching for oil & gas. Nowadays it is a full service provider to the offshore… Read more »
Wind Energy Asia took place in real and virtual format: a true hybrid unfolded in only months! Another great event in a difficult environment. Robert Campbell, Executive Vice President at Wind Energy Asia, reviews the show for PES. After a great show in March 2020, with the pandemic taking off worldwide, but well under control… Read more »
Thirty years ago, there was not a single megawatt of offshore wind capacity on the planet; now, there are more than 29GW installed globally, and offshore wind is seen as a vital clean energy source with which to tackle climate change and reduce our carbon footprint. The next 30 years will see an even more… Read more »
Decision-makers in the wind-energy industry are faced with a choice of three options when their wind energy converters (WECs) approach the end of their design life: they can either dismantle, repower or continue the operation of their WECs. In many cases, available lifetime reserves allow cost-effective continued operation. TÜV SÜD explains how to prepare the… Read more »
Rapid increase of onshore wind energy requires more and more land. Sometimes the new wind farms are located in bird sensitive areas. This is also true for some projects prepared for repowering. On the other hand, many wind farms face restrictions in operation due to bird mortality e.g. extended turbine shutdowns in migratory periods. Wind… Read more »
Calum Urquhart, Global Business Manager, Energy at Atlas Copco spoke enthusiastically to PES about smart bolting. For sure everyone has been hit by the pandemic but this innovative company, with a strong emphasis on R&D, supporting the customer and sustainability have found new ways of working, which will carry on after the pandemic. PES: Hi… Read more »
Energy generation and storage is rapidly being moved from the centre to the edges of the network, with far-reaching consequences for grid management and oversight. Across the world, the policy direction is increasingly towards distributed generation with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the EU Framework 2030, European Green Deal, and an EU Directive… Read more »
There is a lot going on in the offshore wind market and not only in specific regions; companies around the world are increasingly moving towards generating and harvesting renewable energy. From 2023 onwards, the majority of new offshore wind turbines will be installed outside of Europe. After Europe, Taiwan has become the new hotspot for… Read more »
As the UK accelerates its journey towards net zero, the offshore wind industry has emerged as a key driver of the green industrial revolution. Associated British Ports (ABP) is investing to meet the industry’s requirements by providing state-of-the-art port infrastructure and creating favourable conditions for energy clusters, which will benefit the wider economy. Why is… Read more »
Climate change and accompanying environmental degradations have had tremendous impact on our natural systems and led to new and fatal diseases, as well as decimating our global economy. But as we begin to overcome one of our generation’s greatest challenges, the coronavirus, Earth Day and this year’s theme of Restore our Earth reminds us of… Read more »
Using drones for solar plant inspections has started to become the norm amongst plant owners and O&M companies because it is quicker, more accurate, more economical and safer. However, plants aren’t being inspected nearly enough to ensure their functionality. PES caught up with Mauro Migliazzi, the CEO of Wesii, to find out how their new… Read more »
Press release: 7 December 2020, London Gallagher has added a further market-leading name to its portfolio, signing a multi-year appointment as broker for the Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG). The firm is one of the UK’s largestowners and operators of biomass and waste to energy solutions with over 100 megawatt of operational and late-stage construction assets…. Read more »
How innovation has driven the next performance/cost breakthrough How can the solar industry continue on its cost-down roadmap of lowering the LCOE of solar energy, without sacrificing quality and performance? It’s a challenge that applies to many aspects of solar technology, not least to backsheets. Over the past few years, DSM has developed a new… Read more »
A wind Lidar is quite simply a remarkable piece of technology recently described by Avangrid as having ‘advanced the wind industry globally’. Generic Lidar benefits are summarised by Renewable Energy Systems (RES) as being ‘safer, cheaper, better, faster’ than traditional meteorological masts. An invisible, eye-safe beam of light interrogates the sky above at user defined… Read more »
With the launch of the SHIFT platform four years ago, ZF Wind Power changed the wind gearbox market in terms of flexibility, product lifetime and competition. Thanks to a design based on standardized building blocks, the platform offers high flexibility in gearbox development for next-generation turbine concepts. Currently, the platform has been extended with two… Read more »
Online trade is the big winner of the Corona crisis. This also applies to the spare parts and repair market for wind turbines. A Hamburg company, a pioneer in this niche in 2013, is now gaining momentum despite, or because of Corona. Stefan Weber, Founder and Managing Director of Windsourcing.com GmbH, shares his thoughts with… Read more »
The anti-icing blade heating technology is the enabler for windfarm power production in extreme icy conditions in Quebec, Canada. The efficient use of heat keeps the turbines operating up in the mountains, in the most demanding, freezing conditions, such as Lac Alfred wind farm. It consists of 150 wind turbines, with total capacity of 300MW… Read more »
PES was delighted to speak with Valentin Hartmann, a partner in Waterworks Offshore CONCEPTS. He was enthusiastic about their new venture, as they branch out into the ship finance market. A bold new chapter is beginning in this young dynamic company, encompassed in a slight change of name. They have already established links with investors,… Read more »
TSR Wind is a lively, go-ahead company in our industry, Juan Rivas, Commercial Director, was excited to share some of their solutions with PES. There’s no doubt that robotics is making a big difference to the cost, efficiency, safety and downtimes of inspections for the asset owners, and to cap it all off the analysis… Read more »
The 2nd offshore wind boom is upon us and this time it is going global. During 2021 project installation will be underway in UK, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Norway, Spain, Portugal along with US, Vietnam, Taiwan and China. By 2025 many more countries will join this rush to install the cheapest form of largescale… Read more »
Following on from our interview with Wim Keen in the last edition, PES had some questions for Maik Rienecker, founder of Steel Inspect and father of the unique Q7 concept for optimal quality management of offshore windfarm EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation) projects. He was happy to explain the Q7 concept in more detail and… Read more »
As we move towards net zero carbon emissions targets, significant efforts to connect more clean energy resources to the grid are being made. Globally, the energy industry is welcoming innovations in renewable energy and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) assets. As a result, correctly managing and distributing the energy from these DER assets to enable the… Read more »
Wind industry business models are shifting their focus. They used to be mainly driven by financial aspects of the business plan and the debt used to finance it, while technical operations, often subcontracted, came in second place. The priority of the wind industry was to ensure robust turbines with a high degree of availability, with… Read more »
PES Wind caught up with Ed Hall, President of Oxifree, to discover the latest corrosion solutions. Our readers have always been interested in this sector, as it has a real impact on maintenance and life span of the wind turbines. Research and development are at the forefront. The core product encapsulates the part, rather than… Read more »
Before considering the impact that condition monitoring systems (CMS) have on our industry, it is important to first establish what CMS entails and how it came to be such an established piece of hardware in the renewable energy sector. A condition monitoring system would normally comprise of a series of sensors strategically placed on fundamental… Read more »