Month: November 2020

‘I3PV – Integrated, Innovative, Intelligent’ – Annual ETIP PV Conference with up to 200 Participants per Session

How to restrengthen PV manufacturing in Europe PV to contribute significantly to achieving the climate goals ETIP PV’s forecast: Solar PV will supply 70% of the world’s electricity generation The European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) has successfully finished its first virtual annual conference. The Conference ‘I3PV – Integrated, Innovative, Intelligent’ has… Read more »

Empowering sustainable energy with decentralisation

The energy system is undergoing unprecedented transformation, fuelled by factors such as technological developments, geopolitical shifts and environmental concerns. According to the World Economic Forum, decentralisation is one of the key trends that will accelerate the transition to sustainable energy supply. Decentralisation is often referred to as ‘energy democracy’, as it aims to increase popular… Read more »

Industry Partners Collaborate to Donate Solar Project for the Flemington Area Food Pantry

Partnership Shines Light on the Power of Community During Dark Times FLEMINGTON, N.J., November 16, 2020 – The Flemington Area Food Pantry, serving Hunterdon County, N.J., celebrated and unveiled their brand new solar array installation with a ribbon cutting today at 10:00am at the Flemington Area Food Pantry, 151 Route 31 North, Flemington, New Jersey…. Read more »

Green electricity from Amrumbank wind farm to power trains of Deutsche Bahn

·         Deutsche Bahn and RWE Supply & Trading conclude 15-year power purchase agreement ·         Electricity to be supplied from Amrumbank West offshore wind farm, located off Heligoland, from 2024 onwards Essen/Frankfurt, 19 November 2020 Starting in 2024, Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) will be powered by electricity from RWE Renewable’s Amrumbank West offshore wind farm. The… Read more »

Framo Morat extends technology spectrum by adding Radial Gear Chamfering and deburring

What are the characteristics of the Radial Gear Chamfering process? Defined and reproducible chamfering at the front edges of the teeth increases the economic efficiency of production. At the same time, the quality of the components is improved In the field of metal-cutting gearing, increasingly complex and demanding component geometries require burr-free edges and precise… Read more »

Time is running out

Siemens publishes advice for businesses on steps to decarbonise Decarbonisation is a clear global target and there is a growing urgency for businesses to act. If they don’t, they risk exposing themselves to potential risks from policy-driven increased operating costs, increased energy costs or increased compliance costs. In addition, decarbonisation is not just an objective… Read more »

Continuous wave wind Lidars: all heights, all terrains, always available and for all turbine rotors

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 »

Competitive gearboxes: electrification at high speed

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 »

Boost for online trade in wind energy

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 »

Ensuring wintertime profits with blade heating

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 »

Expanding horizons

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 »

Robotics: the next era

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 »

Global growth for offshore wind must lead to zero emissions goal

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 »

Integrated quality control in offshore wind: part 2

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 »

How can we make the most out of wind energy with smarter grid and market integration?

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 »

Digital automated independent solutions: a necessity for asset managers and an opportunity for O&Ms

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 »

Combatting corrosion with traditional and new methods

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 »

The real value of condition monitoring

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 »

How independent real-time ocean insights support offshore wind insurance

Miros is a technology company that specialises in measuring the ocean surface. With over 35 years of experience engineering dry-mounted, radar-based sensors robust enough to weather the harsh and unpredictable conditions of the North Sea, the company develops innovative solutions for real-time, local environmental monitoring for the global offshore and maritime industry. By making essential… Read more »

Riding a wave of green innovation

MHO-Co is on a mission towards a greener and more economically viable service to the offshore industry. And the future is already here. Right now, the Danish shipping company is building the world’s first hybrid CTVs which are to be introduced in 2021. And they hope to take the technology even further with support from… Read more »

CTV access to wind turbines: improving efficiency and reducing costs

Mainprize Offshore has operated in the North Sea for over thirty years, and the family behind the company has a fishing heritage that dates back generations. This team has extensive experience in the offshore oil and gas industries, and has been going from strength to strength since entering the offshore renewables sector in 2012. Mainprize… Read more »

A real unique selling point!

Liftket‘s CEO Jürgen Dlugi, tells PES about the company’s expansion in the wind industry. In 1953 they started off by supplying electric chain hoists and are now able to offer a complete service crane globally, suitable for on and offshore work. Well aware of safety needs, they provide full training and tailor made packages to… Read more »

Extended validation and certification of new generation power converters reduce the cost of energy

As market demand for wind turbines has grown, so too have the demands for quality and performance, in order to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) and demonstrate that the technology is not just a clean solution for electric power generation, it is also a profitable addition to the energy mix. This is especially… Read more »

Making a difference in windfarm transformers

The electric energy industry has long been a conservative business taking very deliberate and measured steps in adopting new technologies. The renewable energy markets have forced companies to adapt to a fast-paced and rapid technology development cycle. The exponential growth and the demand for more power in a smaller envelope continue to drive rapid development…. Read more »

Sector coupling could aid energy transition

Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, there has been a global consensus that the transition to a CO2-neutral energy supply needs to be achieved worldwide within the next few decades. At the same time, considerable technological progress has been made with both onshore and offshore wind energy, for example, and, as a result, the energy generated… Read more »

Wind turbine energy generation: reliability problems and solutions

While wind is enjoying significant growth, studies confirm that wind turbines suffer from reliability issues: The EU’s RELIAWIND study found that electrical systems accounted for the highest failure rate, but gearbox failures accounted for the highest amount of downtime (14 days)1. The National Renewable Energy laboratory found that the majority of wind turbine gearbox failures… Read more »

Wind energy’s most important event goes digital

WindEnergy Hamburg, the world’s leading wind energy event, is taking place in 2020 despite the crisis. However, organizer Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH is not inviting visitors to its local exhibition campus this time but to the World Wide Web. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, WindEnergy Hamburg 2020 will be a fully digital event held… Read more »

The next energy frontier: floating wind farms

The global energy transition is underway. The uptake of renewables is accelerating, as the technology undercuts fossil fuel based energy generation and governments seek to achieve international climate targets. Renewable energy is now also accepted as an opportunity to drive green economic growth and job creation to help support the recovery from the impacts of… Read more »

Optimizing blade O&M: allying technology with blade expertise

Blade O&M has become a focus for BladeInsight, formerly Prodrone. André Croft de Moura, CEO and founder, spoke enthusiastically to PES, about his vison for the future of drone inspections, with added value. This blade centric company has already embraced the idea of predictive maintenance and is continuing to provide quality, agility and a focus… Read more »

Uncertainty and certainty

All over the world, people are asking two questions: How will COVID-19 have a continued effect, and what will the next American President do? The pandemic has caused manufacturing plant closures resulting in predictable havoc, but we have also seen COVID-19 disrupt supply chains that were once rock-solid, in ways nobody could have anticipated. It’s… Read more »

Smart connected bolting: taking the smart factory to the field

The smart factory is a term we all know well and is used in reference to the implementation of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing environment. Significant benefits such as improved quality, higher productivity and cost reductions have transformed industries such as automotive and electronics in recent years through implementation of smart connected assembly solutions. Wind… Read more »

State-of-the-art inspections

At PES we were curious about Aero Enterprise, so we decided to call Robert Hörmann, CEO/CTO and Peter Kurt Fromme-Knoch, CEO/CFO to find out more about this fast developing, innovative company. They are very happy to be part of the BUSS Energy Group, finding much mutual benefit and profiting from the global reach. However, they… Read more »

JA Solar, Jinko and LONGi Expect Production Capacity of 182mm Modules to Reach 54GW in 2021

On November 12, a customer value focused conference entitled “Advanced PV Technology for Better LCOE – 182mm Module and System Technology”, co-sponsored by JA Solar, Jinko Solar and LONGi Green Energy, was held in Shanghai. During the conference, solar inverter and tracker manufacturers, power design institutes, EPC companies and third-party certification institutions issued a comprehensive… Read more »

Solstis SA & International Olympic Committee win Swiss Solar Prize – for project powered with SolarEdge Technology

Leading PV installer Solstis SA, together with Olympic House, headquarters to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), have been announced as the winners of the prestigious Swiss Solar Prize 2020 award in the “Individuals and Institutions” category. The prize was awarded for the installation of a 179.10 kWp SolarEdge solar system on its roof. Taking place… Read more »

Alfa Laval PureCool further expands Alfa Laval’s leadership in marine environmental solutions

A new system for reducing marine emissions has entered Alfa Laval’s Pure Thinking portfolio. Targeting methane slip from LNG engines, the Alfa Laval PureCool system continues a leadership journey of nearly two decades. At the same time, it points the way forward into a new era of customer-focused environmental work. A unified push for green… Read more »

The the Prime Minister has set out his Ten Point Plan, covering clean energy, transport, nature and innovative technologies.

Responding, Morag Watson, Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables, said:  “The Prime Minister’s recognition that renewable energy is at the heart of a green industrial revolution is to be welcomed. It remains vital, however, that the infrastructure and regulation changes required to underpin the required shift are prioritised, with proposals to alter to the way the electricity… Read more »