Power & Energy Solutions

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

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 new Peikko and R&D Test Systems partnership, which combines expertise and know-how, giving added value to the customer. ‘Repairing a turbine in offshore conditions is both difficult and costly. That is why the turbines are put through a series of vigorous tests in a controlled environment,’ says Lasse M. Stephansen, Senior Project Manager at R&D Test Systems. R&D Test Systems is an international engineering company with a strong track record within turnkey test bench solutions for manufacturers and test facilities. End-Of-Line Test is a procedure which every single turbine has to pass. However, it is the Highly Accelerated Life-cycle Test that makes the engineers’ pulses quicken. ‘During HALT, the machinery is subjected to strain equivalent to an entire 25-year life cycle. This puts the equipment under an enormous amount of stress and loads the test bench more than you can imagine,’ Lasse M. Stephansen explains. Foundation first With the increase

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Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

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 whole perimeter of the ‘Hywind’ wind farm and makes it visible to both marine vessels and aircraft alike. A unique wind project off the coast of Scotland Our oceans, with their vast uninhabited surfaces, have a great potential for creating wind energy. One of the challenges with offshore wind has been that turbines always had to be built on the ocean floor, in relatively shallow waters. This meant that close to 80% of the oceans wind power potential could not be used. In 2017 the offshore wind farm ‘Hywind’, off the coast of Scotland was opened. The Hywind farm – built by Statoil and Masdar - is the first commercially operational, floating wind farm. It brings us a step closer to unlocking the enormous potential of floating offshore wind parks across our oceans. A buoy as a source of inspiration The idea of floating wind turbines, came from a simple

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Exclusive Articles, PES Essential, Wind

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, too, about how a ‘bad’ Brexit might unfold, with fruit farmers across the country particularly concerned about future harvests and how their reliance on migrant workers might impact on their industry. I’d like to think, however, that small wind renewable energy might help farmers add a few thousand pounds a year to their incomes and they need do nothing more than offer a field or small piece of land to see that come a reality. The UK has remained an attractive proposition for inward investment in the country’s small wind energy industry and there are farming communities across the country already bringing in extra income from this enterprising initiative, with farmers looking beyond their traditional arable, livestock and dairy revenue streams, but much needs to be done now to get more farmers to realise this huge investment potential. Farmers need to maximise land use and with a ‘per-turbine’ windfall

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Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

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 part for customers and partners in the offshore industry. In a globalised and interconnected world, the need for power is constantly growing with a global focus on meeting the demand in a sustainable and efficient way. The transformation towards more sustainable energy production has a great impact on the offshore energy sector, with a growing focus on ensuring even more sustainable operations. As a turnkey provider of high-voltage cables systems to renewable energy projects in the offshore industry, NKT is now experiencing an increased interest in sustainability from partners operating in the industry. ‘We have seen a growing interest for sustainability in the entire supply chain from cable system design to production, installation and service from our partners in the offshore industry,’ says Andreas Berthou, Executive Vice President and Head of High-voltage Solutions in NKT. ’It is only natural with an increased focus on energy efficiency and sustainability and

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

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 search areas (SSA), deemed suitable for such developments and with the optimistic target that 800MW would be consented and built within five years. This site lies within the northernmost SSA and is a commercial conifer plantation. In 2007 another developer submitted a planning application for a wind farm called Gorsedd Brân, consisting of 13 turbines up to 125m tip height. The application was refused by Denbighshire County Council (DCC) in February 2008. The decision was appealed by the developer with a slightly amended layout and the appeal dismissed in November 2009. The initial refusal by DCC was on the basis of landscape and visual effects, noise, flooding and ecology. Flooding and ecology issues were resolved with DCC prior to appeal. The appeal was dismissed on the grounds of ‘visual effects of the proposal both within the locality and from more distant views, such as from the Clwydian Range

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Corporate Focus, Exclusive Articles, Wind

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 globally. The Moventas Condition Management System (CMaS) gathers critical data on turbines in operation, which is analysed by a team of experts to help ward off unexpected failures. CMaS operates on all gearbox types. Thus Moventas provides surveillance for turbines deploying a range of different gearbox brands. A broader view of the whole drivetrain with CMaS and its intelligent sensors CMaS was developed to monitor how the gearbox and other drivetrain components in a wind turbine perform. It anticipates possible upcoming failures and it guarantees the continuity of their energy yield. Traditional condition monitoring products focused mainly on measuring vibrations from rotating components. CMaS, on the other hand, is based on a profound understanding of the various failure modes of the drivetrain as whole. For example, it is possible for early changes in oil lubrication properties to be visible, long before they can be measured in vibration. CMaS technologies

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Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

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 with a glimpse into the new, wind energy world. It is no new story that wind conditions are even more difficult to predict than sun-shine. So far, under the feed-in tariff (FiT) or similar subsidised schemes, no target amount of produced energy was agreed. Strong wind leading to a peak in production did not cause any substantial problems in terms of remuneration. Since the FiT was guaranteed by national governments, the additional power was taken off with the same conditions as the average amount. And even short-term underperformance was no real cause for worry, as nobody relied on this specific amount of renewable energy. That is until now. We are leaving the FiT times behind. European countries are substantially reducing subsidisation. Leaving aside auctions ending at a price of zero, Spain is in the process of abolishing all kinds of subsidies of renewable energy. We are entering the age

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Exclusive Articles, PES Essential, 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 a golden opportunity to be the world’s supplier of choice? This will depend on its ability to invest in its workforce and innovation, and on the extent to which the industry can pursue a culture of collaboration. These factors will be vital if UK firms are to support and make the best of local workforces and their supply chains around the world. A strong position Thanks to its North Sea heritage, the UK already has a globally-renowned manufacturing and knowledge base for the offshore energy industry. The oil and gas sector has long had a wealth of exceptional engineering talent, with extensive experience in and understanding of offshore projects. Alongside this comes a manufacturing capability and infrastructure, geared towards the offshore sector. This was useful when manufacturing new technology, and many technologies were actually translatable into the new sector. For example, at JDR we first entered the offshore

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Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

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 Farm in the Danish waters of the Baltic Sea, will generate enough electricity to power up to 600,000 homes. Transmission grid operators, Danish Energinet and German 50 Hertz, will connect the Kriegers Flak OWF with the German Baltic 2 OWF, thereby creating the first offshore power grid in the world to combine two offshore wind power installations with the possibility of supplying electricity to either or both, Denmark and Germany. The power grid part of the project is co-financed by the EU. The Kriegers Flak wind farm consists of two sites, each with its own high voltage substation. The Jan De Nul Group, together with its consortium partner Iemants, were responsible for the foundations supporting both these substations. The contract to design, build and install these two Gravity Based Substructures (GBSs) was awarded to the consortium during late 2016. Jan De Nul was in charge of the design,

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Ask the Experts, Exclusive Articles, Wind

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: Welcome back to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. For the benefit of our new readers would you like to begin by explaining a little about the background of Height Specialists and the importance of the wind industry to you? Rick van der Lelij: Height Specialists was founded 24 years ago and since then has grown to be one of the biggest IRATA companies in the Benelux region. With a staff of over 40 people employed full time, Height Specialists is a leading company in the use of rope access techniques, combined with industrial services. We are also a fully certified IRATA training company. We work throughout the Benelux region, both onshore and offshore. During the last couple of years Height Specialists has started to shift its focus a bit more from oil and gas towards the wind industry. As a growing market the wind industry

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