Power & Energy Solutions

The premier renewable energy publication

Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

Spares in Motion (SIM) has a solution for wind energy O&M pitfalls. Reducing costs and obtaining spare parts as needed is increasingly important, especially as uptime demands skyrocket and maintenance contracts end. SIM explains to PES how their database is facilitating these goals for owners and operators today. We are a nearly half way through 2020 and thought it would be interesting to ask ourselves, what are some notable themes we are seeing in Renewable Energy? Among others, these interesting trends take center stage on a global scale today: • There is an industry-wide effort to reduce O&M costs • Not only that, but we see an aging installed base - increasing the lifetime of wind assets • Furthermore, high uptime demand has operators looking to reduce down time through proactive maintenance and stock management. By traditional design, these 3 trends are not always complimentary to one another, yet owners and operators are working to find holistic solutions to satisfy each.

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

Here is proof that it’s better to work together than try to reinvent the wheel. PES is thrilled to bring you this perfect example of such a collaboration between two companies. The end result saved time and costs, which are now a big plus for the end users. ‘Working with Scopito has enabled us to offer a seamlessly integrated service which provides our clients with the flexibility they need. This collaboration has provided an efficient and low-cost solution that enables us to provide even greater value to our clients,’ affirmed Pieter D’haen International Director, Natural Power. It’s nearing the end of August twenty-nineteen. The Texas sun is baking outside. Andre’s office is in the shade of a tall Elm tree and so it’s nice and cool. The business cards on his left read ‘Andre Louis Ferdinand, Sr. Engineer, UAS inspection Services, Natural Power’. His task, as head of software development, is making sure that Natural Power’s flight software is robust and user-friendly – that hasn’t been easy lately. For the past year, Andre has been working with different solutions - exploring options, trying to find the best tool for his team and their clients. They all feel clunky to him – slow,

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

Ports display the economic growth engines in the economy of countries. Increased activity requires larger ports, capable of handling a larger volume of traffic representing buoyant import-export balances. However, the epitome of ports also presents the consumables of natural resources, represented by the goods moving over the quay side. It could be argued that ports have an obligation to be the pacesetter for sustainable development, given that they are both instrumental and a longstanding economic driver. Marsh to modern urbanity On the West coast of Denmark lies Port Esbjerg, which was inaugurated in 1868 and therefore is a young generation port compared to other major European ports, which date back to the middle ages. Ports have evolved over centuries and must be considered in the context of the progression of the industries they support, whilst also recognizing that a port, its industry and society are intertwined. Development has been progressive at Port Esbjerg. It has created a resource base and infrastructure, which support change when compared to other ports. The multifaceted types of cargo and operations conducted in here portray a myriad of markets allowing for resilience. Even so the question must be asked: are the vicinity’s actors, stakeholders or implementors facilitating this

Read More
Corporate Focus, Exclusive Articles, Wind

OEG’s Local Equipment Room modules installed on the London Array offshore substation topside structures. Credit London Array © courtesy of London Array OEG Offshore entered the wind power and renewables market in 2010, with a substantial contract award for the landmark London Array Offshore Wind Farm, in the Thames Estuary. A decade on, the company offers a combined portfolio of products and services to the clean energy sector including bespoke module builds, sale and rental of DNV certified containers and offshore aviation services. The £2.2 million order placed by Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd., for the London Array Offshore Wind Farm included the design and custom build of eighteen prefabricated modular Local Equipment Rooms (LER) to house specialist electrical distribution equipment along with workshop and emergency accommodation facilities. Siemens selected a modular approach as it allowed a fast and efficient platform build to meet the tight timescales for the project.

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

In response to the global market requirement for more efficient and targeted O&M strategies for operational wind farms, there is an increasing need for operators to focus on turbine performance and reliability. Having recognised this as a priority to support operational teams and to advise on strategies to optimise sites, our approach has been to research, develop and implement several new methodologies that highlight short and long-term considerations for operations and asset management (O&M) planning across client portfolios, advanced performance engineering (APE). The detailed analysis of wind regimes can pinpoint the optimum time frame for undertaking maintenance activities to ensure revenue losses are minimised; whilst turbine benchmarking assessments can identify trends specific to individual technologies and therefore highlight and inform the future management and maintenance of wind farms. In this article, we will take a look at the role of APE and how it can aid operators in their decision making. We begin with the drivetrain of a wind turbine which is one of the most expensive and important components of its mechanical functionality. As such, it is standard practice for a site to have measures in place to monitor the health of the drivetrain components. These include remote systems such

Read More
Comment, Exclusive Articles, Wind

Energy grids have undergone immense change in recent years with the introduction of smart devices, new hardware, and software solutions that enable communication and data exchange. While these shifts signal a positive trend toward widespread renewables adoption, utility companies struggle to analyze and improve the power grid’s efficiency. Even with more connected devices and new methods to generate energy, outdated processes continue to force operators to create nonstandard solutions to solve challenges. Standards implementation usually vary between vendors’ control systems and devices, and accessing grid data requires several different devices, each of which may involve different processes. In addition, we’ve historically delivered electricity in one direction, preventing operators from controlling loads on a small scale. This leads to losses in efficiency when supply and demand aren’t properly matched. With more devices such as batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and non-wired solutions at the edge, supply and demand are more unpredictable. The current infrastructure limits communication of information about energy and the creation of automated multidirectional intelligence across grids. This complexity will only increase, and we’ll need to use AI and automation to facilitate transactions at microsecond intervals to remain safe and balanced.

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

DFIG topology wind turbines have been widely used in the wind energy market during the last years to cover the medium and lower power ranges, between 2 and 4 MW. Nowadays, this fact has changed and the OEMs are developing DFIG wind turbines that could go above power rates of 6 MW. The wind sector is globally focusing its efforts on reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) of the technology in order to prove itself as a profitable option in the energy mix regarding electrical generation. In response to this market outlook, OEMs are working hard to develop wind turbines with a power range exceeding 6 MW, which potentially enables the reduction of the LCoE of the wind farm. In addition, the increasing penetration of wind power capacity into the grid creates new challenges for the Transmission System Operators (TSO) in order to keep the stability of the transmission system. As a consequence, grid codes around the world are strengthening their requirements to meet more demanding conditions such as FRT (Fault Ride-Through) behavior or harmonic distortion compliance.

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Think Tank, Wind

Abstract: full-scale mechanical testing of blades is an integral part of the certification of wind turbines. With ever-larger rotor diameters, the importance of testing and validation is growing with the aim of minimizing operational risks. Dual axis testing can lead to a more realistic loading scenario compared to traditional single axis testing. A recent demonstration at Fraunhofer IWES revealed that spring elements and decoupled masses can be used to tune the system frequencies, resulting in a representative dual-axis test. Full-scale mechanical testing In the race to maximize annual energy production (AEP), rotor diameters are continuing to grow. The increasing size of the turbine blades means that fewer test facilities are able to accommodate mechanical testing of the latest blade models. Limiting factors for the capacity to test turbine blades are the length of the test hall and the hall height, which is required to accommodate the large deformations during both static and dynamic testing. However, the most crucial factor is the ability of the test rig to bear both static and fatigue bending moments.

Read More
Exclusive Articles, Talking Point, Wind

There is a green revolution in ship technology going on these days. We are currently witnessing a wave of zero emission propulsion ideas entering the market like battery powered car ferries for short routes, power shaving batteries onboard offshore hybrid service vessels and cruise liners that can enter protected fjords purely on batteries. Such efforts are fine for the local environment, but will hardly contribute significantly to bring down the CO2 emission of the global shipping fleet by 50% within 2050 as is the goal of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). There is a strong push from the public as well as governments, industries and NGOs in support of the UN’s sustainable goals to counter the threats to our planet caused by the global warming. This development is just in the beginning and is strongly supported by class societies and maritime administrations such as DNV GL, Lloyds Register, Bureau Veritas, Korean Register, Royal Society etc. Serious discussions and development work are taking place pointing to the opportunity of changing the future fuel from fossil fuels, typically characterized as hydrocarbon chemical compounds of CyHx, to hydrogen rich compounds without carbon.

Read More
Ask the Experts, Exclusive Articles, Wind

PES went to talk with Dylan Jones, at Mareel, about the first anniversary of the company, the business and the future. It has been a great year, being a member of the Northern Offshore Group has been a rewarding positive experience, both for the company and employees. These cultures were already very much aligned and the safety and happiness of the employees are of utmost importance. There is optimism in the air. PES: Hi Dylan, a big welcome to PES, it’s great to have you with us. Please can you begin by telling us about Mareel Ltd., its origins and the place it now has in the Northern Offshore Group. Dylan Jones: As you mentioned we are part of the Northern Offshore Group. We manage and support all our operations from Mareel HQ, in beautiful North Wales in the UK. During May Mareel will have been officially operating for one year! The first year of business has passed in an instant and as well as our day-to-day operations, has been a time to establish Mareel. N-O-G have welcomed us into the family and have supported us by recognising the goals and ambitions for the company. Our company culture is very much aligned

Read More
© 2012+ P&G Media. CR. 5706994. Registered in England and Wales | Power and Energy Solutions is published by P&G Media