Power & Energy Solutions

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Foss Maritime, a leading maritime transportation and logistics provider based in Seattle, has selected Sea Machines Robotics’ SM300 autonomous-command and -control system for use aboard its tugboat Rachael Allen, the fourth of several new ASD-90 tugs under construction at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, in Freeland, Wash. Delivering in May 2021, the newly built 90-ton bollard pull Rachael Allen will be the first U.S.-Flag harbor tug to integrate autonomous systems in real-world commercial operations. The project also marks Sea Machines’ first installation of an autonomy system on a vessel over 5,000hp. Once delivered, the tugboat will be deployed to Foss Maritime in California, where it will provide tanker escort and ship assists for Foss Maritime’s customers. Across all industries, autonomous technologies streamline manual, repetitive and tedious tasks, allowing personnel to focus on higher-level operations with reduced risk. Specific SM300 capabilities include transit autonomy, as well as remote access of the tugboat’s on-board machinery – a feature that allows personnel to manage and support operations from anywhere on board the vessel or from shore. Navigation obstacle detection and avoidance capabilities come standard with the SM300, further reducing risk for crew during at-sea operations. While the Rachael Allen will be delivered with the SM300 and supporting

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

RWE Renewables, itap, BioConsult SH as well as the University of Stuttgart and Technische Universität Berlin are to research innovative vibratory pile driving technique at RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind farm Method for installing foundations has the potential for significantly reducing underwater noise emissions and installation times Research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs; results expected by 2023 “VISSKA” is the German acronym for a research project aimed at exploring the use of vibratory pile driving at the Kaskasi II offshore wind farm, in terms of installation, noise emissions and the impact on the behaviour of porpoises. RWE Renewables, itap GmbH, BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG as well as the University of Stuttgart (Institute of Geotechnical Engineering) and Technische Universität Berlin (Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics) signed a corresponding cooperation agreement. The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy is funding the research project, which is being coordinated by RWE. This year, RWE will start constructing the Kaskasi offshore wind farm (342 megawatts) off the German island of Heligoland. It will be the first commercial offshore wind farm in the world to use the improved installation method for driving the wind turbine foundations into the seabed

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Largest preferred supplier agreement for Siemens Gamesa in Taiwan to date: 1,044 MW Hai Long 2B (232 MW) and Hai Long 3 (512 MW) projects added in extension of Hai Long 2A (300 MW) preferred supplier agreement State-of-the-art SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines will be deployed and serviced by Siemens Gamesa for the three projects The strong collaboration between Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and customer Hai Long Offshore Wind Project (Hai Long) has been extended to 1,044 MW. Siemens Gamesa’s largest offshore agreement in Taiwan to date now covers the Hai Long 2B (232 MW) and Hai Long 3 (512 MW) projects. The preferred supplier agreement for Hai Long 2A (300 MW) was announced on November 13, 2019. Flagship SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines and service for the full volume of the project are included in the preferred supplier agreement. The agreement remains subject to contract and final investment decision from Hai Long consortium partners, Canadian independent power producer Northland Power Inc. and Taiwan-based developer Yushan Energy Co., Ltd., jointly owned by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. in Japan and Yushan Energy Pte., Ltd. in Singapore. This is expected in 2022. Siemens Gamesa will deliver SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Deutsche Windtechnik will be retrofitting 16 wind turbines with Aircraft Detection Light Systems (ADLS) at the Wanderup wind field. The wind field includes the Wanderup community wind farm with eight Senvion 3.XM turbines and the Wanderup West wind farm with five Senvion 3.XM and three Enercon E82 wind turbines. A single transponder receiver for all wind turbines spanning multiple wind farms will be centrally installed and operated by Deutsche Windtechnik. While the Senvion turbines will be individually fitted with Deutsche Windtechnik's ADLS BOX for ADLS control, the three Enercon systems will be integrated using the manufacturer's ADLS interface. Deutsche Windtechnik has been providing service for the Senvion turbines as part of full maintenance since 2019. The ADLS retrofit will further increase the cooperation between the two partners. For example, long-term tasks in connection with operating the ADLS system, such as verification and documentation obligations, but also all hardware including the hazard lighting, will be integrated into the full maintenance contract. Sascha Oliver Jacobsen, Managing Director of Bürgerwindpark Wanderup GmbH & Co. KG, said: “We appreciate the friendly, competent communication with Deutsche Windtechnik as well as the smooth maintenance and troubleshooting processes for our eight wind turbines at wind farm Wanderup.

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Leading renewable energy consultancy and service provider, Natural Power, has appointed John Wilson to the newly created role of Director of Consultancy Services. John has been a management consultant for the last 20 years preceded by a spell in high volume manufacturing.  As a trusted advisor, John has helped many organisations implement strategic business growth and change programmes which have delivered tangible operational and financial benefits. He has gained deep, diverse and multi-sector experience leading large and small consulting and client teams in key sectors such as utilities, energy, manufacturing and defence. John has also held senior management positions and worked extensively across Europe and North America. Stephen Trotter, Managing Director at Natural Power, said: “As Director of Consulting Services, John will work closely with myself and the board, and is responsible for driving the strategy and performance for Natural Power’s global consultancy business.  In this capacity he leads our consultancy focussed business units as well as the non-UK country units. We’re delighted to welcome John to the team as we forge ahead with our business growth plans.” John, who will be based at Natural Power’s new Glasgow office, is a graduate of University of Strathclyde with a BSc. Technology & Business Studies. On

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Dr. Markus Krebber now Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Müller becomes Chief Financial Officer Zvezdana Seeger Chief Human Resources Officer and Labour Director The new three-person Executive Board team of RWE AG will take office on 1 May. Dr. Markus Krebber (48) will succeed Dr. Rolf Martin Schmitz as CEO. Krebber has been with RWE since 2012, initially at RWE Supply & Trading and since 2016 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of RWE AG. “I’m looking forward to working with Zvezdana Seeger and Michael Müller to forge ahead with RWE’s transformation, to make it a leading global player in renewable energies and to grow RWE further into its new future”, says Krebber. Dr. Michael Müller (50), who has been a member of the Executive Board of RWE AG since 1 November 2020, will take over as CFO of RWE AG. Müller studied mechanical engineering and business administration. After a period working in business consulting, he began his career with RWE in 2005, where he held positions at RWE Power, RWE Generation and RWE AG. He had been CFO of trading subsidiary RWE Supply & Trading since 2016. The Executive Board team will be completed by Zvezdana Seeger (56), who has been Chief Human

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Fire safety standards in wind industry would reduce fire events, wind farm losses and insurance premiums New report reveals 800% increase in cost of a fire event in last 10 years with losses up to $8 million Scottsdale, 28 APRIL– Leading fire suppression system manufacturer, Firetrace International, advises in a new report that the wind industry is losing money by not acting to mitigate the risk of fire events. This lack of action is increasing downtime, resulting in ever-costlier losses, and preventing insurers from accurately assessing the risk of fire, which could result in a reduction in premiums across the industry. In “Reducing Fire Risk: How to make wind farms even safer”, Firetrace explores the lack of comprehensive data related to wind farm fire events and the serious problem this poses to the industry. It also looks at the changing financial risk, with the average cost of a wind turbine fire rocketing from approximately $1 million 10 years ago to $7-8 million today. Chris Streatfeild, an independent health & safety consultant at Renewable Safety and former Director of H&S at RenewableUK, said, “When a turbine catches fire, the downtime can be significant and there are substantial direct and indirect costs associated with replacing critical

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Applies to all module types as of 1 May 2021 Creglingen, 29.04.2021 – For more than 10 years now, WINAICO Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese solar module manufacturer Win Win Precision Technology Co, Ltd, has been offering insurance cover that is highly appreciated by its customers. The insurance package optimally protects the entire photovoltaic system including electricity storage from day one against all property damage, business interruption damage and possible reduced yields. The first year of insurance is still free for customers who choose solar modules from WINAICO. The insured system size has been increased to up to 15 kW; previously this was limited to systems up to 10 kW in Europe. In addition, WINAICO customers benefit from a one-time extension option with which the all-round carefree protection can be easily extended to a total of 10 years. "We are very pleased to be able to offer our customers free insurance cover in the first year for systems up to 15 kW. This innovation applies to all WINAICO module types and will come into effect on 1 May 2021," says Marc Ortmanns, Head of European Sales & Marketing.

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Fronius GEN24 Plus is among the world’s most sustainable inverters Fronius has spent one year analysing the life cycle of the GEN24 Plus inverter together with an external sustainability expert. Top marks were awarded to all phases of the product life cycle, from procurement and production through to usage and even disposal once the inverter’s useful life has come to an end. The life cycle analysis was reviewed and certified by the renowned Fraunhofer Institute, meaning that the Fronius GEN24 Plus has the first life cycle assessment in the world to be confirmed by an independent institute. The Fronius Research & Development department and sustainability analyst Harald Pilz of together for tomorrow scientifically developed and tested different scenarios1 over the course of a year. The results speak for themselves: contrary to popular opinion, the climate change payback time ranges from less than one year to 3.7 years, depending on the scenario. This is equivalent to a carbon footprint² of 117,000 kilometres driven in a car. “At Fronius, sustainability is not just a cliché, but rather deeply rooted in our conduct and thinking. We invest in years of research to ensure that our products and solutions are future-proof and sustainable,” says Martin Hackl, Global

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Wind energy technology innovator SENSEWind has successfully completed a demonstration of their SENSE Up-Tower system. The Self Erecting Nacelle and Service System radically transforms how next-generation turbines are installed and serviced making wind energy projects cheaper, quicker and safer. A video of the demonstrator site tests is available on the SENSEWind website (https://sensewind.com/sense-up-tower-demonstration-success-video/). The predicted growth in demand for wind energy requires the use of super-sized wind turbines and deployment on more challenging sites. Next-generation turbines and more difficult sites make current installation methods uneconomic or impractical. By simplifying operations, the SENSE system reduces costs during development; construction; operations; and increases project revenue through higher availability throughout the life of a project. Independent analysis has shown that the SENSEWind system can cut LCOE by as much as 12%. The SENSEWind system transforms the installation of wind turbines for both onshore and offshore projects by eliminating the need for large expensive cranes and crane vessels. SENSEWind equipment is modular and only requires standard, readily available cranes and vessels. By automating the heavy lifting and positioning at height, it also improves safety, whilst reducing technical and programme risks. The system has the added benefit that during operation, it can be used in reverse to allow

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