Modern gears are performing heavier work and carrying greater loads than ever before. Gear manufacturers are redesigning, modernising and using finer steels to produce precision gears that will give better performance. This has never been truer than in the wind industry and the gears designed specifically for use in wind turbines. Furthermore, there is an… Read more »
NRG Systems, leading U.S. manufacturer of wind measurement equipment, and Leosphere, leading specialist in lidar (laser radar) for atmospheric observations, have announced the formation of a global partnership to expand the use of remote sensing with lidar in the wind energy industry. The first product of the partnership is the WINDCUBE lidar wind measurement system,… Read more »
Sicme Motori and EEI are planning to present their revolutionary Twind solution at Windpower 2009. The application is the result of extensive engineering and marketing cooperation between two of the leaders in the global energy market and is designed specifically to provide a single-source electrical conversion solution for energy production from renewable sources. {pagebreak} At… Read more »
Japanese consumer electronics giants Toshiba and Sharp are in talks on a possible tie-up in the solar power generation field, the companies admitted last week. “It is true that we are holding talks on the solar cell business with other companies, including Toshiba,” Sharp Corp. spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said, declining to give further details. {pagebreak}… Read more »
A bi-partisan gathering of legislators, business people, and environmental advocates were at the Texas State Capitol in Austin last week as State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. and State Representative Pete Gallego introduced legislation to allow the further development of the emerging renewable technologies market. {pagebreak} During this session, Texas legislators are looking at close to… Read more »
The European Commission last week sent a reasoned opinion to Italy for failure to recognise certain guarantees of origin from other EU Member States. Under an EU Directive on electricity production from renewable energy sources, {pagebreak} Member States are required to establish a system of guarantees of origin and, as a general rule, to recognise… Read more »
In the city of Moers near Duisburg, 120 project partners, customers and suppliers have inaugurated Germany ‘s largest photovoltaic plant using thin-film technology on a pitched roof. 24 March 2009. The system provider Solaxis GmbH and Solardach GmbH have jointly developed a solar power plant on the roof of Riedel Recycling. {pagebreak} The solar modules… Read more »
The wind energy sector is attracting new sources of capital that compensate for banks’ general reluctance to provide debt finance for projects, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) announced last week. A growing number of power companies with strong balance sheets are investing in wind energy and there is increasing interest from institutional investors, despite… Read more »
Tactile pressure indicating film provides a simple cost-effective method for process control and monitoring of solar module production equipment Sensor Products Inc. introduces Pressurex®, a surface pressure indicating film that reveals pressure magnitude and distribution between any two contacting or mating surfaces. In the Photovoltaics industry, {pagebreak} the need to reduce peripheral cracks on solar… Read more »
Tentec Appoints McCann Equipment in Canada as Agents for Aero Wind Turbine Tools Continuing the expansion of its global network for the sales, distribution and service of the recently launched Aero range of hydraulic bolt tensioners for wind turbines, {pagebreak} Tentec is pleased to announce the appointment of McCann Equipment as its agent in Canada…. Read more »
Delegates left the European Wind Energy Conference 2009 (EWEC) last week with the reminder that wind energy is Europe’s number one in terms of new power capacity ringing in their ears. {pagebreak} “In 2008, we installed 8,454 MW of wind capacity, making up 36% of power installations”, stressed Arthouros Zervos, President of the European Wind… Read more »
Solar energy capacity in the United States grew by 17 percent in 2008, according to a preliminary report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association. But Rhone Resch, the president of the solar group, warned that the financial crisis has hit the industry hard, since financing for projects has largely dried up. {pagebreak} “We’re not… Read more »
High-speed, reliable, and affordable metrology solutions for every class of thin-film photovoltaic material used in today’s industry San Diego CA, March 2009. Filmetrics announces the launch of its thin-film photovoltaic (TFPV) dedicated measurement systems. {pagebreak} With the release of the F10-PV and the F37-PV Filmetrics now offers commercially available tabletop and in-line metrology solutions for… Read more »
If domestic solar panels become as common on the plains and rooftops of the United States as they are abroad, it may be because the financing technique that gave Europe an early lead in renewable energy is starting to cross the Atlantic. {pagebreak} The idea is to pay homeowners and businesses cash for producing green… Read more »
Italy plans to boost capacity of its photovoltaic installations turning sunlight into power- to 16,000 megawatts (MW) in 2020 from about 280 MW now, on the back of generous government incentives. {pagebreak} And industry body GIFI, together with Italy’s state power management agency GSE, have recently released the following key facts about the sector: *… Read more »
Last week, two major but very different players in the world of aerodynamics – the American airplane builder Boeing and the giant Danish wind-turbine maker Vestas – announced they would seek ways to work together on various projects. {pagebreak} And while it is still early days, the recently announced partnership is an interesting sign of… Read more »
Are the current targets for cutting carbon emissions realistic or setting us up for a fall? Dr Thomas R. Schneider, member of the IEEE, a professional association for the advancement of technology, investigates. {pagebreak} Carbon targets While the European Commission has been working to allocate member countries with their own specific targets by 2012, the… Read more »
In the race to produce the cleanest and most efficient forms of renewable energy, a vital point is often overlooked – that the renewables themselves need to become a lot more renewable. This theme emerged at a recent Energy Conference in London, with delegates hearing that the most advanced “renewable” technologies are too often based… Read more »
Blessed with massive budgets, the military is often an ‘early adopter’ when it comes to technology. Recent reports suggest that US is putting up massive funding for three ground-breaking projects – all of them centred on solar power. {pagebreak} Portable power packs During a battle, the ability to redeploy troops swiftly and without detection can… Read more »
In this enlightening interview, Joachim Melis, Vice President Worldwide Sales for Adept Technology GmbH, puts forward his personal take on the current state of the industry and looks to the future… PES: How did you come to be involved in the renewables industry? {pagebreak} Joachim Melis: Adept Technology has been active in the solar industry… Read more »
At a time of worldwide recession, increasing scarcity of basic commodities and with an untried president in the White House, 2009 will be a year of profound change and turbulence. Old economic rules will be obsolete, the international banking system re-engineered and all the old certainties called into question. {pagebreak} Against this formidable backdrop of… Read more »
In this exclusive column, written especially for PES, Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UK Trade & Investment, argues that Great Britain serves as an excellent springboard for renewables growth across the world. {pagebreak} The global energy sector currently represents one of the most exciting export opportunities for UK companies. UK energy companies already generate revenues… Read more »
Our aim is to be the number one wind project logistics provider in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries Silvasti is a freight forwarder that specialises in oversized, heavy and project cargo. The company provides total logistics solutions for the most challenging transports and installations – especially for the wind industry. {pagebreak} Here, Director Matias Setälä… Read more »
Renewable energy will grow despite the global financial crisis Xxx, xxx for Intellifast discusses his company’s bolt tightening systems and takes a look at the wind industry from a wider perspective. {pagebreak} PES: Welcome back to the magazine. For the benefit of our new readers, can you describe what Intellifast does, and how its products… Read more »
Wind energy will be one of our core businesses in the future As one of the industry’s biggest players, with a formidable record for investment in research and development, Emerson Network Power has just enjoyed a record trading year. {pagebreak} Jeky Li Gang, International Sales, Department Of Wind Power Product, talks to PES about the… Read more »
PRZ Peters Personal GmbH is a recruitment and staffing company with its headquarters in Schenefeld, near Hamburg, and branches in Borken, Dortmund, Hanover, Glauchau, Lübeck, Rostock and Siegen. PRZ Peters Personal GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of PRZ Zeitarbeit GmbH, founded in 1999 by Ralf Peters, is an expanding company with its main focus on aviation,… Read more »
Gerhard Janssen, General Manager Marketing & Sales for global shipping group, Rickmers-Linie, talks to PES about his company’s proud heritage and its turbine carriage solutions. PES: Welcome to PES. Firstly, can you tell us a little about the history of your company? {pagebreak} Gerhard Janssen: Rickmers-Linie’s roots date back to the year 1834, when Rickmer… Read more »
Jens Meilvang of BBC Chartering tells PES how his firm has managed to carve a niche as one of the world’s leading wind turbine shipping providers. Almost since its launch, BBC Chartering has made a name for itself as a global leader in providing bespoke shipping solutions for equipment required in the generation of energy… Read more »
Danvest Wind Diesel Systems for off-Grid power supply Words: Soren Qvist Vestesen, DANVEST Energy A/S With reference to my earlier PES articles from last year, I would like to follow up by discussing a long-term remote adjustment and operation at a commercial wind diesel plant. {pagebreak} Wind power is the cleanest and cheapest energy to… Read more »
In this enlightening interview, Jens Meilvang, Executive Officer Wind Power Division for BBC Chartering, puts forward his personal take on the current state of the industry and looks to the future… PES: How did you come to be involved in the transportation of renewable industry products? {pagebreak} Jens Meilvang: It all started with a management… Read more »
Energy Watch Group – an international network of scientists and parliamentarians – has produced a study on the growth, past forecasts and future prospects of wind energy. In this exclusive extract, Dr Rechsteiner focuses on the sector’s cumulative capacity forecasts for Europe… {pagebreak} Cumulative capacity forecasts and reality: Europe [INSERT FIGURE ONE – GRAPH, PAGE… Read more »
Carbon-to-ServeTM methodology has been developed to generate an end to end supply chain view of the carbon intensity and cost of products of products as they move from source to production. Professor Alan Braithwaite recently presented a paper on the subject to The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s Logistic Research Network Conference. This is… Read more »
More energy from optimised Permanent Magnet Generator and full-power converter drive train package The Switch, a Finland-based technology company, has been raising the standard for increased energy production from wind with its special drive train that utilises an optimised Permanent Magnet Generator (PMG) and full-power converter package. {pagebreak} By selecting this technology as its chosen… Read more »
It seems you can hardly open a newspaper or turn on the television these days without hearing about the latest disaster linked to the economic crisis. Everywhere jobs are being shed, money lost, sectors that once boomed shrivelling up. {pagebreak} Yet amidst the doom and gloom the latest report from the European Wind Energy Association… Read more »
Wind has a future. Not simply as an energy source, but also a career target. Wind power companies are searching high and low for qualified personnel capable of maintaining, repairing, monitoring and installing their highly-modern wind turbines. {pagebreak} The requirements include having completed occupational training in the fields of mechanical engineering or electrotechnology, expertise in… Read more »
All of Europe’s energy needs could be supplied by building an array of solar panels in the Sahara, the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen has been told. Technological advances coupled with falling costs have finally made it realistic to consider North Africa as Europe’s main source of imported energy. {pagebreak} And by harnessing the… Read more »