The renewable energy market is undoubtedly on the rise, particularly in Europe, where wind power is now the second largest source of electricity behind gas-fired power plants. According to a recent report from Wind Europe, the number of onshore and offshore wind turbines added a record 15.6GW of new energy capacity last year and the… Read more »
Archives: Exclusive Articles
Innovative fall protection systems
In Europe alone, tens of thousands of wind turbines produce energy for countless households. Turbine maintenance or servicing is fundamental to ensure it stays this way. Because employees regularly work at great heights they cannot manage without fall protection systems – for example, when climbing a tower by means of a fall arrest system. PES… Read more »
Subsoil load monitoring on monopiles of offshore wind turbines using optical strain gauges.
24SEA has been involved in various projects over the last years all focussing on foundation monitoring. Typically, up to 10% of the foundations within offshore wind farms are equipped with a Foundation Structural Health Monitoring (FSHM) system, consisting mainly of installing accelerometers and strain gauges in the transition piece. In the recent projects, for both… Read more »
5 Innovative ways to ensure wind farm projects gain approval
Global wind capacity is set to double by 2027, and the United States is in the midst of the most lucrative time to increase production of wind energy. Renewable companies are fueled by an urgency to capture tax subsidies and currently in many parts of the country; wind is the cheapest source of new electric… Read more »
A view from the top
André Moura, Founder and CEO of Pro-Drone, Integrated Solutions for the Inspection of Energy Infrastructure, sat down with PES to tell us his perspective on drone inspections and how his company differs from other players in the market. Their experience and strategy means this company is here to stay and remain one step ahead of… Read more »
Turbines put to the ultimate test
Wind power technology is advancing at a fast pace. The demand for full scale test systems is on the rise. All investors and manufacturers in the wind power industry want to make sure that turbines function flawlessly. A malfunctioning turbine is a nightmare, especially on offshore wind farms. PES brings you the latest from the… Read more »
Floating wind power
Over the past couple of years we have heard more and more about successful floating wind turbine projects. It seems there is huge potential for these floating wind farms. These structures bring with them numerous different security issues. PES brings you an update on the partnership between Orga and Sabik Offshore. It lights up the… Read more »
The field pledge opportunity
Gerry Lalonde, CEO, Orenda Energy Solutions explains to PES that Farmers have a great opportunity to ‘pledge a field’ and reap a financial windfall through small wind renewables. Farmers are having a bad time of it. Many have witnessed a fall in income due to the recent spate of bad weather. There is the worry,… Read more »
Growing focus on sustainability in the offshore industry
The global power cable provider NKT believes an even stronger focus on sustainability is emerging in the offshore industry to meet the global demand for renewable energy. The company is continuously investing in projects ensuring sustainability in all areas of its offshore operations and has already seen its energy efficient cable-laying vessel play an important… Read more »
A positive political message to renewables’ developers
Pant y Maen is a recently consented seven turbine wind farm site in Denbighshire, North Wales. To say the site had a history in relation to wind farm planning would be an understatement. In 2005 the Welsh Assembly Government issued spatial planning policy for large scale onshore wind in Wales (TAN8) which identified seven strategic… Read more »
Wind turbine condition management
In this day and age when downtime prevention, maintenance and cost reductions are key, remote surveillance must be one of the top ways to improve all three. PES went to find out the latest developments from Moventas who have remote surveillance centres in Finland, Italy, UK and the US to monitor over 2,500 wind turbines… Read more »
Change ahead in the wind energy market – PPAs are on the rise
With increasing competitiveness of renewable energy compared to traditional forms of power production, Power Purchase Agreements are becoming attractive for both off-takers as well as power producers. However, PPAs bring along a new risk dimension requiring profound expertise in the wind energy business. Theresia Langosz-Römbell, Organisation Development, CSR & Communications Manager at Luxcara, provides PES… Read more »
Leading the way in wind
The UK’s offshore wind sector is racing ahead. With the offshore wind market rapidly expanding, the demand for equipment and services to support its growth is sure to rise with it. The UK is the leader in offshore wind production as well as having an established track record in exporting physical manufactured products. Is there… Read more »
Gigantic masterpieces in the Baltic Sea
The Jan De Nul Group has installed two gravity-based foundations in the Danish waters of the Baltic Sea. Built in Ostend, the foundations were designed entirely by Jan De Nul, based on their client’s basic design. PES wanted to learn more about this ground breaking wind farm. By 2021, the 600MW Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind… Read more »
Safety: top priority
Rick van der Lelij, Operations Manager at Height Specialists, dropped in to PES to talk about the importance of safety and training beyond the legal requirements. It makes for interesting reading and it’s reassuring to know companies are more and more determined to keep their employees safe by doing more than the necessary minimum. PES:… Read more »
A look at the statistics
The Global Wind Energy Council released its annual market statistics on 14 February from Brussels. The 2017 market remained above 50 GW, with Europe, India and the offshore sector having record years. Chinese installations were down slightly – ‘only’ 19.5 GW – but the rest of the world made up for most of that. Total… Read more »
Installation hurdles for the US in offshore wind
Since the beginning of this year, US states together have committed to approximately 8,200 MW of offshore wind by 2030. This is a substantial amount of work and provides a visible pipeline of work justifying investments in dedicated and efficient installation solutions. Are these the right conditions to invest in a new build installation jack-up?… Read more »
Seeds of optimism
The state of flux in the UK’s onshore wind sector has never been more apparent than at present. On the one hand, wind energy and other renewable energy sources are currently generating over a quarter of power consumption across the UK annually, at a price cheaper than gas and nuclear, all while enjoying the highest… Read more »
Maintenance on the way to the future
Digitisation and Industry 4.0 are causing the wind industry to rethink how it does business. Sustainable growth is a constant entrepreneurial challenge. The market is characterised by continuous evolution that never takes a break. However, unlike biological evolution, companies can decide for themselves to a large extent how they want to develop. The automation and… Read more »
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 »
Experts in offshore wind logistics
Buss Offshore Solutions GmbH & Co. KG is a member of the Buss Group in Hamburg. It was founded in 1920 as a stevedoring company. Today, it is made up of several units, which are active in different areas of maritime logistics. One of them is the Buss Offshore Solutions GmbH. Right from the start… 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 »
Wind technology knowledge and expertise is a must
PES met up with Marten Seifert, MD of RECASE Regenerative Energien GmbH, Germany. He is very excited about the growth in projects and puts this down to the expertise and knowledge of his team of engineers. PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by explaining a… 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 »