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 »
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 »
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 »
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 the turbine, cutting maintenance costs dramatically. Usually, sensor data are… Read more »
Our industry is ever changing and the increase in size, height, length and weight of the new foundations and turbines have created a need for new lifting equipment able to handle these loads. PES is pleased to bring you an innovative solution from GustoMSC, who will be able to assure deliveries and installations to the… Read more »
The development of appropriate logistic concepts is a key factor for an economically successful offshore wind park. In the past the analysis and optimisation of these concepts have mostly focused on either the logistics for transport & installation (T&I) or operation and maintenance (O&M). Less attention has been paid to the important phase of commissioning…. Read more »
Testing has been the name of the game for a while now. In the long run research design and testing helps save time and keep costs down. PES finds out first-hand how this worked for Damen, who turned to Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) to test its pioneering Service Operations Vessel (SOV), together with the… Read more »
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 »
We are hearing more and more about solutions for making electricity available in remote locations. PES finds out about the latest revolutionary modular energy system, which might overcome the challenges of delivering electricity to rural areas. Power-Blox is the first scalable energy product that uses ‘Swarm Power’ and is capable of both storing and distributing… Read more »
Ferroamp, a Swedish company founded in 2010, has developed a unique system that takes the integration of PV power and energy storage in facilities, to a new level. The product concept is based on a unique approach for managing phase unbalance in three phase systems. PES went to find out more about this latest technology…. Read more »
In the PV industry the demand for solar modules used to be much higher than the production capacity. Nowadays companies are fighting for every part of the market share and obtainable margins are minuscule. And laser processes play a major role in this competition. The end customers have become picky about quality issues to do… Read more »
Driving the development of high performance heterojunction solar cells from R&D up to industrial mass production. PES asks Meyer Burger to bring us up to date on the continuous improvement which is enabling high efficiencies and reduced costs. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015, a climate agreement was signed by… Read more »
PES brings you WInspector, an advanced and innovative approach for on-site inspection of wind turbine blades. A research and innovation project which is part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. A consortium, composed of five members, TWI, WRS, Innora, Gamesa and London South Bank University has come together to find a solution for wind… Read more »
Words: Shelley Regan Across the renewables industry, UAV technology is now an established and essential part of maintenance inspections and surveys. The accessibility and capability of the mission-critical data gathered for asset integrity inspections has been a ‘game changer’. It is not just the savings in terms of time- and cost-efficiency that are decisive, but… Read more »
PES went to Belgium to investigate the latest development in extreme climate testing. The OWI-lab is using field experience to provide a purpose built testing facility in the heart Europe. Alternative energy sources are a key part in achieving the goals set at the Paris climate conference in December 2015. Non-polluting energy sources are seen… Read more »
What makes a good Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV)? SeaRenergy carried out an extensive study and shares the results with PES, highlighting ideas and suggestions based on design and offshore site challenges. With the first offshore wind projects evolving in the Baltic Sea, SeaRenergy was recently asked for advice on suitable crew transfer vessels for these… Read more »
Abstract: Larger wind turbines and increasing water depths are presenting industry with new challenges for the realisation of economical foundation systems. The issues confronting industry here are manifold and include not only the optimisation and validation of structures or soil-structure interaction models, but also the development of economical installation methods with mitigated noise levels. Experimental… Read more »
As the PV market is growing, so also is the need for more reliable measurements. Because the output power of every module should be measured in production and as the resulting power class affects the selling price, inaccurate measurements lead to money loss. Other tests on the quality of PV modules are also performed based… Read more »
PES hears from Stephen L. Prince, President & CEO at Younicos, about the adaptability and different complexities associated with the use of batteries by commercial and industrial energy users. Despite being a relatively new technology, energy storage has already traveled a long and impressive path on the road to full-scale commercialization. It started with niche… Read more »
In general mounting components play a minor role across the PV sector as a whole. Most of the focus is on PV modules, electricity and annual yield. Compared to the key role of these components, this is somehow astonishing. Additionally, there are daring improvements, for flat-roofs for example, where there has been far reaching development… Read more »
The ongoing trend to push high-efficiency PV cell devices to higher efficiency levels is more and more accompanied by the adaption of semiconductor device fabrication standards. One of the reasons is the rising sensitivity of p-i-n PV cell structures of thin film layer stacks to the impact of impurities, which may be increasingly harmful with… Read more »
All power storage systems allow you to store energy for later use as needed, regardless of when the power was generated. However, differences in functionality and technology have considerable impacts on the actual use and economic efficiency of such systems. PES brings you the latest up to date information to help you make your choice…. Read more »
Proper and effective operation and maintenance (O&M) management of wind energy is crucial to the energy yield of the wind farm. Lowering the cost of O&M is becoming more of a challenge and at the same time, a necessity for the modern and competitive wind energy market. Daniel Perkowski, CEO at Wind Audit sp. z… Read more »
Synergies are better than my way or your way. It is an efficient combination and results in our way. The last years in the offshore wind industry, which is similar to oil and gas, have shown that each project and/or location has its own, individual logistic concept and needs an exclusively chartered vessel or even… Read more »
While German wind turbine manufacturers have become active in nearly all markets in the world, in Germany it is facing a profound upheaval. Now that renewable, decentralised energy transition technology has become a major pillar for power generation in this industrial nation. Matthias Zelinger, Managing Director of the Power Systems trade association and VDMA (German… Read more »
Words: Geoffrey Taunton-Collins, Weather Risk Analyst, GCube Underwriting Ltd. As with any asset type, consistently ensuring reliable returns from renewable energy assets requires charting a course through a series of financial risks. For the wind industry in particular, given the fickle nature of the elemental force underpinning it, resource underperformance is becoming the principal concern… Read more »
Words: Paul Goodwin, Global Maritime, Pablo Ruiz-Minguela, TECNALIA, José Luis Aguiriano, OCEANTEC For all the growth in solar and wind energy over the past few years, one often over-looked and untested renewable source is that of wave energy. Yet, wave energy is generally considered to be one of the most concentrated renewable energy sources today… 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Words: Min Qin, FAE, MORNSUN The Paris 2015 Global Climate conference achieved a carbon emission reduction agreement that is legally binding and practical to all parties, which further propel the development and popularity of the new green energy technology, e.g. photovoltaic industry, wind power. In 2015, China passed the Economic and Social Development 13th Five-Year… Read more »
Words: André Richter, Business Developer Technology, Meyer Burger Technology Ltd High efficiency, high performance – achieving these levels requires expenditure and commitment. This report investigates the measurement technology required. In recent decades, the use of photovoltaics (PV) has become increasingly widespread. In 2016 more than 200 GW of solar modules have already been installed worldwide…. Read more »
Frank Juergens, Director Sales & Marketing at INDEOtec SA, tells us more about the innovative top and bottom side deposition concept of the OCTOPUS system… Motivation High-efficiency solar cells of the heterojunction or IBC type, which are composed of bulk crystalline silicon and thin film layers, have the potential to gain a substantial share in… Read more »
Words: Bernd Hinzer, Principal Engineer and Head of Section Grid Code Compliance and Tobias Gehlhaar Principal Engineer, DNV GL Utility grid interconnection requirements for distributed generation, including solar, have been evolving to support higher levels of penetration. The new requirement that Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) have to meet according to IEEE 1547 requires verification that… Read more »