Power & Energy Solutions

The premier renewable energy publication

Exclusive Articles, PES Essential, Wind

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 wind energy industry is a geographical one, based purely on supply and demand. Imagine a business located in the middle of an urban area that wishes to be self-sustaining with its own ‘green’ electricity supply. If the business is located in an area where there is little or no wind and local planning laws preclude them from siting a small turbine on the property, is there not a conversation to be had with Government, which leads to a relaxing of the rules whereby any business can buy and erect a turbine on a ‘wind-friendly’ landscape, in another part of the country and have access to the equivalent amount of generated energy by these turbines from the grid? Is this not a classic case of supply not being efficiently matched to demand? Current legislation prohibits an energy consumer based on the South Coast of England, to purchase a wind turbine

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

PES brings you Offshore Project Support, your complete service provider in the offshore wind industry. Smarter cost reduction and a more efficient offshore wind industry? It’s possible. Offshore Project Support (OPS) from the Netherlands combines the knowledge, experience and equipment of four different offshore companies. Together, they are ‘the toolbox at sea’. A complete service for every stage in wind energy projects. Niels Noordeloos is OPS’s managing director. ‘Titles don’t really mean much to me. I’m a practical kind of guy who just happens to know exactly what’s going on in the offshore industry. I enjoy managing projects and like to come up with safe and well considered solutions. With OPS I can offer my clients the services they need.’ Niels Noordeloos has worked in the offshore industry for 16 years and has been working as a freelance project manager over the last couple of years. ‘First in the gas and oil industry, later on in the offshore wind industry. At one point I was wondering if we could reduce costs by combining different projects. I envisioned a chain of wind parks from the southern part of the North Sea up to northern part of the North Sea. One vessel could sail to

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

As renewable energy adoption grows worldwide, major utilities increasingly rely on wind power to serve homes and businesses with emission-free, clean electricity. Because of this growing interest in cleaner energy sources, the wind industry is experiencing a period of significant growth worldwide, exceeding 500 gigawatts and employing more than 1.2 million people. This growth has increased focus on issues like the equipment’s sensitivity to extreme environmental factors, subsequent power interruptions and revenue loss, increased maintenance, and maintenance-related safety risks. To keep up with this growing demand, operators must continue to stay ahead of potential challenges. Like all power sources, wind turbines are vulnerable to harsh weather conditions and require fail-safe operating systems such as emergency pitch units, commonly referred to as EPUs, which help safely halt turbine operation. As a result, turbine operators and owners are increasingly depending on electrical-based pitch control systems to perform this function. Traditional EPU (emergency power unit) In periods of total power failure, the EPU is equipped with an emergency power supply to return the blades to a safe position and allow the turbine to shut down effectively. These systems have typically relied on batteries to perform this function. Because of batteries’ electrochemical nature, they are prone to

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Exclusive Articles, PES Essential, Wind

As renewable energy adoption grows worldwide, major utilities increasingly rely on wind power to serve homes and businesses with emission-free, clean electricity. Because of this growing interest in cleaner energy sources, the wind industry is experiencing a period of significant growth worldwide, exceeding 500 gigawatts and employing more than 1.2 million people. This growth has increased focus on issues like the equipment’s sensitivity to extreme environmental factors, subsequent power interruptions and revenue loss, increased maintenance, and maintenance-related safety risks. To keep up with this growing demand, operators must continue to stay ahead of potential challenges. Like all power sources, wind turbines are vulnerable to harsh weather conditions and require fail-safe operating systems such as emergency pitch units, commonly referred to as EPUs, which help safely halt turbine operation. As a result, turbine operators and owners are increasingly depending on electrical-based pitch control systems to perform this function. Traditional EPU (emergency power unit) In periods of total power failure, the EPU is equipped with an emergency power supply to return the blades to a safe position and allow the turbine to shut down effectively. These systems have typically relied on batteries to perform this function. Because of batteries’ electrochemical nature, they are prone to

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

I know what you are thinking, right now you may be considering installing an offshore windfarm and here I am telling you about the problems of getting rid of the thing again. But! The topic is relevant whether you are installing a windfarm, nearing an end to the operational life, or actually in the process of preparing the decommissioning of the windfarm. Why, you might ask, is this relevant, the removal of the wind turbines is actually the reverse operation of installing it or not? The answer is that this is actually not the case. And as usual the devil is in the detail. Here are the reasons. In the early years I was frequently asked to give a quote for how much it would cost to remove an offshore turbine, my answer was simple, the same plus inflation as it would cost to install it. This is partly the answer, however a significant number of costs will occur which we did not foresee when we were originally asked. Firstly, the sheer number of turbines, which have to be removed, will make a significant impact to the port where you have to unload them. For the Danish and German North Sea, Esbjerg seems a good bet.

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

Ideol has been in the news these last few weeks because Floatgen, France’s first offshore wind turbine, has successfully reached two key milestones Bruno G. Geschier, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, at Ideol, came in to PES to talk us through this ground breaking project. Beyond the completion of the floater construction and the September fitting of the transition piece and the wind turbine at quayside, there were two decisive and delicate operations scheduled this summer: the pre-lay of the mooring lines as well as the float-off, or separation, of the concrete structure from the floating barges on which it was built. With cost competitiveness being a key driver in this emblematic project, we set out to design an innovative mooring system using nylon ropes several years ago. This being a first-of-a-kind we also had to develop and optimize specific offshore installation methods to ensure smooth, safe and rapid offshore operations. Having a fully integrated team of engineers covering all phases of the project, from conception to completion, helped us to integrate such offshore installation constraints and specificities very early on in the design and engineering phase, limiting many unforeseen and often costly surprises down the line. It also helped us collaborate efficiently with

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Exclusive Articles, Press Releases, Wind

Once again PES has all the inside information from the upcoming wind fairs. This time it’s HUSUM Wind and the Offshore WIND Conference, Amsterdam. This is a great opportunity to meet the new comers to our industry, see all the latest developments, catch up with regular contacts and make new ones. So reserve the dates and book your tickets – maybe we’ll see you at one of them. A fresh breeze in the German market HUSUM Wind Trade Fair and Congress 2017 takes place from September 12th to 15th 2017, in the heart of Schleswig-Holstein, the wind state. This is where the who’s who of the wind industry comes together to compare notes about important industry issues and the latest developments and product innovations in the German and world markets. It has been the industry’s most important trade fair for the German market for over 25 years. This year it will be particularly interesting. Around 18,000 trade visitors and 650 exhibitors are expected from Germany and the neighbouring countries. They will be showing their products and services along the entire value chain. This established meeting place attracts trade visitors and experts from all sectors of the industry. Part of the discussions this year will

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Corporate Focus, Exclusive Articles, Wind

Construction of offshore wind farms has advanced rapidly over the last few years and is maturing into a market where subsidy funding is diminishing. Numerous companies joined in to develop the offshore wind market and are further developing their assets to provide services to this market. PES shares this insight in to one company’s continued search to improve tools and equipment. At Huisman we see this development of assets through the contracts we have received for the construction of several cranes, intended for the construction of wind farms. Part of the development of this maturing market has been the growth of the wind turbine’s output, through increasing the size of turbines and blades, resulting in higher turbine towers. This upscaling of size of the different components of an offshore wind turbine, results in the need for larger installation tools: i.e. larger cranes. Due to the larger components, installation procedures and the tools to perform these procedures are becoming more important in ensuring handling ease and safety during installation processes of offshore wind turbines. Part of our contribution to the wind installation market is our range of cranes, which are adaptable with a variety of components of various sizes. Some tools are foldable

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Corporate Focus, Exclusive Articles, Wind

Height Specialists was established in 1995. It is a specialist company that provides rope access inspection, maintenance and modifications for on and offshore inspection, maintenance services to clients, operating in various industrial sectors, as well as at promotions and public events. The business started as a one-man venture but today operates as fully a qualified IRATA, ISO 9001 and VCA-P company with over 75 employees working worldwide. ‘Height Specialists is an innovative and dynamic organisation that offers a quick and professional response to its clients’ questions,’ comments general manager, Henri Hoogenes. ‘Safety is always our first priority and as such, each project will endure a risk analysis and methodical planning before execution. Height Specialists only works with fully certified technicians, tools and materials.’ Indeed throughout its history the company has managed to adapt itself quickly, notably by providing abseiling and zip wire services at Rotterdam’s Euromast and later by supporting various Dutch television productions. During the early years it also turned its hand to work at height, using rope access and industrial climbing. Rope access is a method for working at heights utilising ropes, climbing harnesses and other materials to enable access to working locations in difficult and inaccessible situations. It is a method of

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Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

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 new mega sites. Introduction Offshore wind turbines are predominantly installed in five steps: Tower in one single lift, nacelle in a single lift and then the three blades separately. Most modern, purpose built wind turbine installation vessels are capable of lifting the current 6-8 MW turbines, reaching the necessary height and have sufficient variable load and deck space to carry an economically efficient number of turbines for each round trip. However, over the last few years, the turbine installation market for the 6-8 MW range has been characterised by low installation volumes and vessel overcapacity. Adding the introduction of the new generation turbines with the challenge of installing higher and heavier wind turbine components, these are challenging times for installation contractors. GustoMSC has been cooperating closely with the offshore wind installation contractors and has provided integrated and efficient installation technology to face these challenges. Both floating and Jack-up technologies are

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