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December 2018

Frost Warnings

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Colder climates often have some of the best constant winds needed to spin a turbine. Unfortunately, that frigid air also creates an added challenge for wind-power production: ice buildup on the turbine blades.

According to experts, icing on turbine blades is the No. 1 cause of turbine downtime in cold climates, so it’s really important to develop a strategy to deal with this seasonal hazard.

During a recent webinar conducted by New Energy Update in association with the recent Wind O&M Canada Conference in Toronto, Mark Hachey, site manager with Engie Canada with Caribou Wind Park in eastern Canada, and Charles Godreau, project manager with Nergica Technologies, discussed their experience with turbine icing and some of the best practices to address this before, during, and after an icing event. Godreau’s data was taken from the IEA Wind Test 19, which is an expert group composed of 11 countries. Nergica is the Canadian representative in that group.

“We are kind of in the middle of the Jetstream,” Hachey said. “Fog makes the icing problematic for us.”

Two climates
Two types of climates typically overlap in colder areas, according to Godreau: low-temperature climate and icing climate.

“The low-temperature climate is defined by temperatures below minus-20 degrees Celsius over nine days in a year, or an average air temperature below zero,” he said. “In some cases, that overlaps with icing climate, which is either instrumentalizing for more than 1 percent of the year or meteoroligicalizing during more than 25 percent of the year.”

Most of Canada is considered to be in a low-temperature climate, as well as some of the northern states in the midwestern U.S. As far as icing climate is concerned, eastern Canada is exposed to more icing, according to Godreau.

“As an icing event comes into a wind farm, we have meteoroligicalizing; that would be when we have a meteorological phenomenon — could be fog or precipitation — that is affecting your wind farm,” he said. “And what will happen during that time is there will be a phase of incubation, then accretion will be the moment that ice is building up. And we will distinguish between instrumental icing where your wind sensors and icing detectors will detect icing, and rotor icing, where the wind-turbine blades are covered with ice. Instrumental icing and rotor icing may persist in time. After that meteorological icing — say it lasts a day — you could have icing on the wind farm for several weeks depending on your climate, so the importance of detecting these events and being aware that there is icing on a wind farm is important, especially for health and safety issues.”

Those safety concerns come from the threat of falling ice, according to Hachey.
“Sometimes, the reason we aren’t able to get the turbines running is really a safety issue, meaning it might be a simple problem like you’re not able to get into the turbine because of the risk of falling ice,” he said.

Hachey said that sometimes safety issues, rather than aerodynamic issues, can amount to about 40 to 50 percent of lost production.

Safety hazards are avoided by using a portable ice roof, according to Hachey.

“We’re able to deploy it in order for technicians to get into the turbine safely to do whatever they need to do to get the turbine back in operation,” he said.

Combating ice buildup
There are several families of technologies available in order to combat icing, according to Godreau:
Models or maps: allow a wind farm operator to know in advance about the possibility of an icing event.
Detection: Dedicated sensors on site will alert an operator of icing.
Mitigation: Methods used to remove rotor icing.

Icing forecasts are often available for free from national forecasting agencies, according to Godreau.

Examples of some of those national models are the WRF-ARW, used in the U.S.; the GEM-LAM, used in Canada; and the AROME, available in Europe.

“Since icing is also an issue in aerospace, if you look into airport data or FAA regulations, you’ll have several details on forecasts available and the frequency in which you can look at them,” Godreau said. “I would say if you are looking at operating a wind farm in cold climate, you should look at the proper icing forecasts at least two times a day. It’s just a best practice to be aware of what conditions are coming to your site and if you need to implement some mitigation.”

Godreau said there are also commercial forecast solutions available, so some companies will be able to provide adjusted forecasts at a given site.

Hachey referred to a Canadian government project that was designed to determine icing conditions, until the program was dropped. However, even though the program is no longer active, the data from it is still useful.

“The biggest takeaway for me, however, was when we used this website here and we can predict — looking at the humidity and the precipitation and the temperature — when we’re going to have an icing event,” he said. “So, we can choose to manually pause turbines during the event, or we can keep them running when we think the event is going to be short and ride it through. This has really done a lot for us. It seemed simple, but it was a very useful tool.”

Detecting ice buildup
When it comes to actually detecting the possibility of ice buildup, there are several avenues that wind-farm owners can go down using indirect and direct methods of detection, according to Godreau.

In the indirect arena, operators can use double anemometry, which compares heated and unheated cup anemometer data.

“Based on our experience, you want your heated sensor to be ultrasonic,” Godreau said. “Some of the heated cup anemometers don’t have enough power to melt the ice, so they’ll have faulty readings in icing. And you’ll also need a heated bearing on your unheated cup anemometer because in low temperatures you’ll be getting false alarms. So be aware that non-heated bearings will slow down in low temperatures.”

Power-curve degradation is another indirect detection method.

“Once you have icing on the blade, the turbine will produce less power,” Godreau said.
Another indirect, yet not as reliable, method for detection is by monitoring atmospheric conditions when the temperature is below 2 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity is great than 90 percent.

“Our group does not recommend using this method,” he said. “The reason is that basically in low temperature, the relative humidity sensors are not working properly, and below minus-15, relative humidity on a standard sensor will not even reach 90 percent. So, you should be aware if you are using this, you should look into more precise methods of detection.”

There are a lot of direct methods of detection available on the market that are established in the industry, according to Godreau.

Nacelle-based sensors from companies including Labkotec, MCMS, Goodrich, MPS Icemeter, Leine Linde, New Avionics, and HoloOptics are useful, as well as rotor-based sensors from companies including Eologix, Fos4X, Weidmuller, and Wolfel.

Once ice starts to build up on a blade, the turbine produces less power. (Courtesy: Shutterstock)

“These work either by measuring the load on the blades, so that you know you have an increased load on the blade, which is caused by icing, or by directly detecting icing on the blades,” Godreau said.

Another direction detection method includes nacelle and hub-based cameras.

Ice mitigation
But the point of predicting and detecting the ice buildup is moot if there aren’t ways to get rid of that power-draining ice once it’s there.

Fortunately, most major OEMs offer de-icing systems, according to Godreau. And for newer wind farms where that technology has been available, icing is more of a fact of life in a cold climate. For older farms, however, there might be a need to retrofit existing turbines with some method of de-icing.

“If you’ve done your site assessment properly, and you know that you have some icing issues and you’ve bought an OEM de-icing system, then that’s fine,” Godreau said. “I guess the main trouble is when you’ve built up your wind farm when either this technology was not available or not knowing you were going to get so much icing. So retro-fitting de-icing systems is something operators in icing climates have been looking at for a while. It used to be that it would be some kind of new system that hasn’t been tried before with some reliability issues and some of them have worked around this.”

Hachey has had some experience with experimenting with different de-icing methods on his wind farm.

One such method was surface-mounted tiles electrically heated and stuck to the blade surface and interconnected.

“This system really didn’t work well for us,” he said. “It wasn’t physically reliable. The electrical connections were made too tight, and when the blade flexed, it pulled apart, causing an open circuit, and in some cases, we actually had some sparking and some blackening of the blade. (In other instances), the adhesive wasn’t strong enough, and some of the tiles simply fell off after a while.”

Hachey also said his farm experimented with painting a set of blades black to see if that could deter ice buildup.

“The biggest concern with that was overheating,” he said. “This was a concern with the manufacturer of the turbine: that if the blade got too hot, it could soften some of the glue of the fiberglass components, causing some damage. It’s doubtful how well this worked; it certainly didn’t work in the middle of the winter.”

Icephobic solutions
Icephobic coatings have also been tried with varying degrees of success, according to Hachey.

“We tried a couple different types of coatings,” he said. “An off-the-shelf component was applied uptower. After three to four icing events, the product significantly dropped off in effectiveness. And that’s kind of what we found. The product worked a little bit during the first icing event, and it did nothing after that … The ice and wind and rain and some snow were able to wear the product down, and by the time we hit winter, there really wasn’t much of the product left.”

Hachey also said his team used a new product from Japan, which had to be applied in a complicated process that involved removing the blades.

“Something else we tried was helicopter spray,” he said. “It worked a little bit but was very slow. We could only fly within certain wind speeds. You can’t fly in the snow or rain. And it’s fairly expensive. So, it wasn’t a cost-effective option.”

Calling the coatings “icephobic” is a bit of a misnomer, according to Godreau.

“You might expect that you won’t have ice buildup, but that’s not exactly correct,” he said.  “With these coatings, what they do is reduce the adhesion force between the ice and the coated surface. You basically still need the same things in order to remove the ice: vibrations, gravity, sunshine, which helps melt the ice. Since it reduces the adhesion force, the more ice you have, the better chances of the coating to work. So, when you have a very severe ice buildup, it will fall down from the coated turbine earlier than from an uncoated turbine. There’s some sense of an act of God to it. There could be that there was some kind of gust that helped shed the ice, we can’t really say. But it’s not as effective as an active system. Durability of these coatings is also something that needs to be proven. You may expect a good performance over a couple of winters, but after that you may have to reapply to maintain performance.”

Active systems
A blade-heating system is a prime example of one of these active de-icing systems, according to Godreau and Hachey.

“The next thing we tried was a Vestas blade-heating system,” Hachey said. “It worked in that it eliminated icing that we had seen; however, you’d have to buy 99 blades for the turbines, so there was no economic benefit. Even though the technology was useful, the productive cost was too much to justify.”

Cost is always going to be an added factor when it comes to de-icing, whether that cost comes in the form of forecasts, detection, or the active or passive act of removing the ice buildup. That’s why it’s important to make sure that is considered when building a wind farm in colder climates.

But, luckily, there are plenty of options already on the market with more on the horizon — such as using lasers and microwaves — in the research and development stage, according to Godreau.

And Hachey expects his wind farm to look into more de-icing options in the near future.
“We’re reviewing another surface mounted electric heating system,” he said. “We may try a ground-based ice removal system in the winter of 2019.”

Hachey said he also plans to install fixed ice protection roofs, instead of hauling around protection, since safety hazards are an issue that can often eclipse power production loss.

More infonewenergyupdate.com

Vestas wins 294-MW order in South African auction

Vestas’ global partner Enel Green Power has awarded Vestas a 294-MW order of V136-4.2 MW turbines, delivered in 4.2 MW Power Optimized Mode, for two projects in South Africa. The projects consist of 147 MW each and debut the V136-4.2 MW in the South African market and will feature the largest Vestas rotor diameters in Africa to date.

The two wind parks, Karusa and Soetwater, are both at the South African Western Cape and will feature 35 turbines each with a hub height of 82 meters. Leveraging the 4.2 MW Power Optimized Mode for the sites’ medium-speed wind conditions, the V136-4.2 MW will boost performance and increase annual energy production. To lower turbine downtime and levelized cost of energy, the project will also include a VestasOnline® Business SCADA solution.

The South African projects will use the Vestas V136-4.2 MW turbine. (Courtesy: Vestas)

As part of delivering the projects, Vestas will create local wind-energy jobs, fulfilling the local requirements for local content, skills development, and socio-economic development initiatives.

“We are very dedicated to making a difference in South Africa and contribute to enhancing socio-economic growth and sustainable educational development,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe. “We are doing so by procuring locally produced towers, contracting local transport companies, and supporting community school programs through our own initiative, the Vestas Empowerment Trust.”

Long-term customer Enel Green Power is a global developer and manager of activities for the generation of energy from renewable sources, aiming at supporting the safeguarding of the environment throughout the various phases of development, construction, and management of their plants, reducing impacts and developing the principle of the circular economy.

The contract includes supply, installation, and commissioning of the wind turbines, as well as a 5-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement. Turbine delivery and installation is planned for the second half of 2020.

More infowww.vestas.com

Ingeteam opens high-tech facility for turbine components

Ingeteam, an independent global supplier of electrical conversion and turbine control equipment, recently announced it opened a new facility in the vicinity of Chennai, India, to satisfy the demand for wind-power converters and control cabinets by both local and international OEMs with operations in India.

Located in the Tamil Nadu region, Ingeteam’s new 3,500-square-meter facility is equipped with state-of-the-art production technology. The production plant in India will manufacture electrical components following the same stringent standards and processes as Ingeteam’s other production facilities in Spain, the U.S., and Brazil.

The new facility has been specially developed to meet the needs of a promising and demanding market, such as India. This highly efficient, as well as cost-effective, production center is based on a modular design and can be easily modified. The production lines are extremely agile, so they can quickly be adapted to meet new client requirements. In addition, the floor space availability will enable Ingeteam to expand the facility on demand. Production at the new facility started in August, with first deliveries made in September. Serial production started in October.

The new facility has been specially developed to meet the needs of a promising and demanding market. (Courtesy: Ingeteam)

“With this new plant, we are able to increase our delivery of reliable and quality products to wind-turbine manufacturers in India’s extremely competitive market. The decision to manufacture locally was marked by the potential of the Indian market, by its protectionism and by the high potential of its people,” said Ana Goyen, director of Ingeteam Wind Energy. “We will be there to serve our clients with the same parameters of quality, reliability, and competitiveness that have always been at the core of Ingeteam. This is a further strategic step to positioning ourselves in this rapidly growing but legally secure market as the world’s leading supplier of wind power converters.”

Ingeteam entered the emerging Indian wind-energy sector early on, and now holds a 9 percent market share in the country. In 2017, a staggering 35 percent of the 4,148 MW wind capacity installed in India that year was equipped with Ingeteam’s technology.
“Although the Indian wind market has slowed down due to regulatory and commercial issues, we have no doubt that it will pick up again and continue with the positive overall growth trend it has set over the past few years,” Goyen said. “The fundamentals of growth are there, and this market remains a key area of investment for Ingeteam in the long run.”

India is a developing country with a growing need for energy and with limited fossil resources. For this reason, the Indian government has prioritized the development of renewable energies, particularly wind and solar energy. The drastic reduction in energy prices has demonstrated the success of this policy. The Indian market is expected to resume its fast development, as the government seeks to meet its targets of 175 GW of renewable capacity by 2022, with 60 GW of that coming from wind energy alone.

More infowww.ingeteam.com

BladeFactory project: Quicker production, higher quality result

Together with 14 project partners, Fraunhofer IWES, in the role of coordinator, recently launched the BladeFactory project. The research project, which has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to the tune of 7 million euros, is set to last 3 1/2 years. During this period, IWES researchers will develop and test production methods with the aim of reducing the production time for rotor blades. To this end, the team is working to parallelize production steps. In addition, a 3D laser measurement system, which is suitable for assuring the quality of blade production, will be tested for the first time. Development work will be performed at IWES’ demonstration center for industrialized rotor blade production in Bremerhaven, Germany. This site was established within the framework of the preceding BladeMaker project.

Using the technology presently available, it takes about 24 hours to produce a rotor blade blank. The process is protracted since almost all production steps must be performed one after the other in the main mold tool.

Layup of pre-cut glass fiber fabrics on a positive mold to pre-manufacture the root insert. (Courtesy: Fraunhofer IWES, Jan Meier)

“To shorten the production time, we want to perform various processes simultaneously and move some of the work away from the main mold tool to other devices,” said the project’s manager Roman Braun. This includes procedures such as preforming (placement and draping of the textile and core materials) and prefabbing (preproduction of rotor blade components).

Another goal is quality enhancement: In order to achieve greater, reproducible component quality, the researchers at IWES rely on measuring technologies and mechanical tests during the manufacturing process. In addition, the use of a laser measurement system is planned, which will precisely record the 3D geometry of the finished parts.

“The introduction of robust and parallel production processes offers huge potential cost savings,” Braun said. “The production procedure is rendered more efficient and material surcharges as well as reworking due to quality issues can be reduced.”

A direct production procedure for mold tools was developed in the scope of the preceding project, BladeMaker. This has reduced the production time for molds from six to three months. In the BladeFactory project, researchers now aim to use this production procedure to create mold tools with a cooling function. This will enable the curing process to be optimally controlled and shortened, while also increasing the quality of the components. The more rapid manufacturing of mold tools accelerates the market launch of rotor blades significantly which results in a decisive competitive advantage for manufacturers.

The demonstration center is open to project partners and industry customers. Material manufacturers, machine suppliers, and blade producers use the infrastructure and know-how offered by Fraunhofer IWES to test materials and tools for blade production, perform demonstrations to potential customers, and conduct tests according to accredited methods.

More infowww.iwes.fraunhofer.de

Siemens Gamesa awarded order for Kansas project

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will supply 48 SG 3.4-132 and 14 SWT-2.3-108 wind turbines for Southern Power’s latest wind project — the 198.5-MW Reading wind facility in Lyon and Osage counties in Kansas.

The agreement also features a 20-year service and maintenance program. Known for its world-class maintenance solutions, Siemens Gamesa will offer the company the best in scale and flexibility to maximize energy asset returns. The program includes advanced diagnostics and digital capabilities, tailored to increase performance and operation predictably to achieve low cost of energy for customers.

An SGRE wind farm. Siemens Gamesa will supply a total of 62 turbines for Southern Power’s latest wind project. (Courtesy: Siemens Gamesa)

“We are pleased to partner with Southern Power for the Reading Wind project, and we are committed to upholding the highest standard of safety, availability, and reliability that we are known for providing,” said Darnell Walker, head of Service Americas at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.

In total, Siemens Gamesa has provided turbines for more than 150 project sites with an output capacity of more than 18 GW in the U.S., enough energy to power more than 5 million average homes and has a strong U.S. footprint consisting of manufacturing, service, and offices. In Kansas, Siemens Gamesa has 484 wind turbines installed across nine projects totaling more than 1,000 MW. Southern Power has previously partnered with Siemens Gamesa on four other wind turbine project installations totaling more than 300 turbines, totaling about 720 MW installed and under service.

A total of 2,397 SWT-2.3-108 wind turbines have been installed in the U.S., accounting for 5.5 GW of installed capacity across 31 projects. The first SG 3.4-132 wind turbine for the U.S. was completed in August 2018. This product features an output of 3.465 MW and a rotor diameter of 132 meters. These turbines are optimized for Class II sites to maximize energy production with low noise emission levels.

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Dropped objects remain a neglected hazard in offshore

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Dropsafe, a global provider of dropped objects prevention technology for the energy and resources markets, has reported on the risk posed by dropped objects to the health and safety track record of the renewable energy industry. Collating the latest data on dropped object incidents, Dropsafe’s white paper, The Neglected Hazard: A guide to Dropped Object risks in offshore wind, shows that dropped objects are an ever-present, increasing threat to safe and cost-effective project development and operations in offshore wind.

Furthermore, despite recent efforts to improve reporting procedures and best practice approaches, the industry needs to take further steps to proactively mitigate this risk before a significant dropped-object incident dents the reputation of a major player — or the incident rate increases to the point that costly regulatory action must be taken.

Dropped objects in offshore wind include materials carried by personnel, lifted or carried from support vessels, or smaller items fitted to the wind turbine, such as nuts and bolts, lights, ventilation louvres, or hatches, falling from height. Incidents can occur either on the wind turbines themselves or on vessels being used for turbine installation and maintenance. This definition does not include the heavy lifts performed during construction, main component change-out, or decommissioning.

Although formal recognition was made of the risks from dropped objects in the offshore wind industry in 2014, a centralized approach to incident reporting in offshore wind has yet to be established, with different organizations such as the global offshore wind health and safety organization, G+, and the IMCA reporting separate figures.

At the same time, best practice mitigation guidance for offshore wind firms remains limited. Indeed, in the 2018 G+ Working at Heights guidelines, end operators are encouraged to refer to the global dropped objects organization, DROPS, for further guidance. This DROPS guidance has yet to be officially published and ratified.

Dropsafe’s white paper shows that dropped objects are an ever-present, increasing threat to safe and cost-effective project development and operations in offshore wind. (Courtesy: Dropsafe)

While the data isn’t, therefore, always clear cut, in its 2017 figures, the IMCA has reported a downward trend in lost time injuries (LTIs) from dropped objects — but this must also be factored against an overall decline in working hours across the industry.

Figures from the G+, conversely, show an increase in the total rate of recorded dropped object incidents that is 3.5 times that from the IMCA, and an overall uptick in incidents from 2015 to 2017.

“In offshore wind, a tough and unforgiving environment, reputation is key,” said Mike Rice, commercial director of Dropsafe. “And in order to maintain current growth and industry momentum, it is the responsibility of businesses throughout the supply chain to consistently demonstrate that an offshore wind farm is not just a clean, reliable source of power, but also remains a safe place to work, all the way through its lifecycle.”

“The industry is under pressure to keep a lid on costs, but this approach in pushing toward a lower levelized cost of energy cannot come at the expense of health and safety best practice,” he said.

“Our experience from the offshore oil and gas markets shows that dropped objects present a fourfold threat to the safety of personnel, the integrity of equipment, financial performance, and ultimately the reputation of offshore wind firms and their high-profile stakeholders,” Rice said. “Yet, despite this ever-present threat, the offshore wind industry has yet to follow the lead of other marine industries, both in reporting incidents, and in adopting robust mitigation measures across turbine and vessel fleets. This ultimately puts the sector at risk of having uniform regulations and standards imposed upon it that jeopardize its ability to manage long-term costs in a sustainable manner.”

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Altitec: South Africa needs to invest in blade repair capacity

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Altitec, a leading turbine rotor blade inspection and repair specialist, recently highlighted the need for South Africa to expand its pool of blade repair technicians to support operations and maintenance in the sector.

As shown by Altitec’s 2018 Blade Repair Atlas, published in October, newer wind farms, those under 5 years old, typically require more active monitoring and maintenance. Nearly all of South Africa’s installed wind energy capacity is under 5 years old.

The development of wind energy in South Africa has gathered momentum in 2018 since Energy Minister Jeff Radebe signed 27 agreements with independent power producers on behalf of Eskom in April, which included 12 wind energy projects with a capacity of more than 1.3 GW. Looking to the future, the government expects South Africa’s total installed capacity to reach 11.5 GW by 2030.

Three-quarters of Altitec’s inspections and repairs around the world were carried out on wind farms younger than 5 years old. (Courtesy: Altitec)

New wind-energy capacity will drive employment in the country, not only during construction, but also over the longer term throughout the operational life of the assets. Altitec’s Blade Atlas, which breaks down the activity of their rotor blade technicians on wind farms worldwide, younger wind farms require an average seven repairs per turbine, compared with only 2.2 repairs per turbine for farms older than 5 years.

Three-quarters of Altitec’s inspections and repairs around the world were carried out on wind farms younger than 5 years old, while 15 percent of operations were undertaken on wind farms in South Africa. Altitec segments its repairs in to three distinct types. The report shows that internal works made up 12 percent of all repairs by type in 2018, external repairs were 31 percent, with replacement of aerodynamic add-ons making up the 47 percent of all repairs Altitec carried out in the year.

“With the planned growth in wind farms over the next decade, South Africa will need a local cohort of highly-skilled rotor blade repair technicians to ensure the wind turbine fleet remains in optimal operation,” said Riccardo Buehler, director of Altitec South Africa. “The Altitec Academy in Cape Town provides local training built on global experience to guarantee technicians have the skills to inspect and record damage to blades, and identify and conduct the necessary repairs.”

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Seacat sees demand for CTV services for offshore

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The fourth quarter of 2018, has, atypically, seen surging demand for offshore wind crew transfer, according to offshore energy support vessel (OESV) operator, Seacat Services, as it reported its latest operational figures. In the month of October, transfers and charter days exceeded the sum total for 2017, closely following third quarter figures that surpassed company records to date.

The figures come at a time when the industry is traditionally looking at a period of downtime as winter approaches, but demand for larger, more capable, workboats continues to rise.

Overall, while the results are a clear positive for individual operators, Seacat Services warns that it is an early indicator of an overheated market, as offshore wind-farm developers and operators, and turbine OEMs chase a limited number of high-quality offshore energy support vessels.

The Seacat Intrepid is a CTV used in offshore wind projects. (Courtesy: Seacat Services)

The shortage in vessels follows a period of low demand for CTVs, while offshore wind projects were in the planning phase, exacerbated by the unattractive commercial terms offered by developers during the lull. This saw some CTV firms exit the market or deploy vessels elsewhere, as the oil and gas sector begins to recover.

Furthermore, as standards continue to increase throughout the offshore wind market, the workboat industry now consists of an overall net lower number of vessels than before the lull — as a large number now no longer meet the high technical requirements from the industry and are subsequently repurposed, such as for near shore survey.

With the race to build-out offshore wind projects, however, CTVs are again in high demand, causing a shortage in vessel availability.

“While record figures may sound wholly beneficial for Seacat Services and other market providers, it’s also indicative of a wider vessel supply shortage that is already starting to cause a few challenges in build schedules and vessel pricing,” said Ian Baylis, managing director of Seacat Services. “This doesn’t just mean that shipyards need to build more boats, it means that until the industry can meet the demand, there is limited redundancy. With little room for mistakes, should a vessel fail or require removing from operations for scheduled maintenance, it’s something that should be of concern to project developers.
“At Seacat we’re currently in collaboration with a number of our industry colleagues to ensure that we meet the demands of the offshore wind sector,” he said. “This has seen us provide our vessels for charter on other projects, or take other firms’ vessels where required.”

“But, with timelines for project development incredibly important in the industry, as we drive to a lower levelized cost of energy, it’s imperative that offshore developers start to provide the energy support vessel firms with longer term certainty to avoid similar scenarios in future,” Baylis said. “We’ve seen what boom and bust looks like in offshore oil and gas — there’s a real opportunity to ensure we don’t follow the same path in offshore wind.”

More infowww.seacatservices.co.uk

AMSOIL to be main supplier for ZF Wind Power

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Following years of committed partnership, field testing, and data-backed results with worldwide customers, AMSOIL has been selected by ZF Wind Power for gearbox lubrication during end-of-line testing at all of its manufacturing locations.

Those locations include Lommel, Belgium; Witten, Germany; Tianjin, China; Coimbatore, India; and its service facility in Vernon Hills, U.S.

The agreement solidifies AMSOIL as the global leader in wind gearbox oil reliability and performance. The company’s global presence and unparalleled customer service have not gone unnoticed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

AMSOIL PTN 320 Synthetic Gear Oil offers advanced gear protection in the crucial run-in period. (Courtesy: ZF Wind Power)

“We are proud to partner with ZF Wind Power, a company known for its strong technological leadership, strategic partnerships, and strong focus on R&D,” said Dave Meyer, AMSOIL VP, Wind & Industrial. “That reputation makes the decision to partner with AMSOIL a significant validation of our products and service. The agreement is consistent with ZF’s vision to provide the highest quality products on the market.”

AMSOIL PTN 320 Synthetic Gear Oil offers advanced gear protection in the crucial run-in period and is engineered to last. After more than nine years in use, it still passes rigorous OEM test requirements designed for new oil, proving its durability. The premium industrial lubricant’s superior performance and long drain interval saves money and protects the environment.

ZF Wind Power is a globally established designer, manufacturer, and supplier of advanced gearbox solutions for wind turbines, currently operating four state-of-the-art manufacturing plants with an annual output capacity of approximately 18,000 MW. In addition to its manufacturing presence in Europe, India, China, and the U.S., ZF maintains worldwide sales and service operations.

More infoamsoilwind.com

Vaisala acquires Lidar manufacturer Leosphere

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Vaisala, a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement, recently announced the acquisition of Leosphere SAS, a world leader in ground-based and nacelle-mounted Lidar equipment for the wind-energy industry. As project developers and operators worldwide turn to remote sensing to capture wind data at today’s increasing hub-heights, the acquisition will see Leosphere’s Windcube and Wind Iris Lidars join Vaisala’s Triton Wind Profiler as part of the market’s most comprehensive range of measurement equipment.

The Windcube Vertical Profiler is the wind industry’s leading Lidar system. (Courtesy: Vaisala)

“The advantages and opportunities remote sensing units bring throughout the lifecycle of a modern wind farm are now well-understood. It is common practice for wind-energy firms to deploy Lidar and Sodar to inform crucial decisions relating to site prospecting, resource assessment, and turbine performance testing,” said Jarkko Sairanen, executive vice president of Weather and Environment for Vaisala. “Adoption of these more versatile measurement technologies to augment conventional met towers is a key factor in enabling the wind industry to increase the scale of project development, not only through larger, more advanced turbines, but also in new, remote markets worldwide.”

Vaisala’s customers can now benefit from a comprehensive product range that encompasses the Triton Wind Profiler — a robust and cost-effective Sodar unit that has been deployed on nearly 5,000 measurement campaigns worldwide — and the Windcube Vertical Profiler, the wind industry’s leading Lidar system. The product range also includes the nacelle-mounted Wind Iris Power Optimization and Turbine Control units, specifically designed to help turbine owners increase efficiency in long-term wind energy production.
“The respective qualities of Sodar and Lidar are often weighed up against each other, but the fact is that both technologies have their place in a cost-effective, bankable wind measurement campaign,” Sairanen said. “We have often spoken of the remote sensing ‘revolution’ that is underway in the wind sector — and with this complementary product offering, we’re giving the industry the tools it needs to carry this out.”

The Windcube Vertical Profiler, Scanning Windcube, Wind Iris Power Optimization, and Wind Iris Turbine Control units, along with the Triton Wind Profiler, are immediately available from Vaisala. Leosphere customers will see no change to the service they currently receive.

More infowww.vaisala.com/leosphere

DNV GL certifies Ingeteam’s 2MW DFIG converter

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Ingeteam, the world-leading supplier of electrical conversion equipment, recently announced it received DNV GL’s certification for its Ingecon®Wind stator-equipped 2MW DFIG converter.

With this latest achievement, Ingeteam completes the range of its products covered under DNV GL certification, such as the medium voltage full power converters and the statorless DFIG converters; and demonstrates its ability to consistently meet DNV GL’s quality and safety requirements across multiple drive-train topologies.

Ingeteam’s low voltage DFIG power converters have been developed with a modular FRT solution to optimize cost-effectiveness and fulfil the strictest international grid codes. It is a mature technology used by many of the main turbine manufacturers, offering key advantages with regards to costs and sizes savings.

Ingeteam’s low voltage DFIG power converters have been developed with a modular FRT solution to optimize cost-effectiveness and fulfil the strictest international grid codes. (Courtesy: Ingeteam)

The DNV GL Component Certificate confirms that Ingeteam’s converter is designed, documented and manufactured in accordance to design assumptions, specific standards and technical requirements, globally. It also makes the process of new turbine development easier, speeding up the integration of components to wind turbine platforms.

“To this day, DFIG converters remain the most proven, efficient and cost competitive drive train topology,” said Ion Etxarri Sangüesa, R&D Quality Team Leader of Ingeteam Wind Energy. “Our DFIG converter series offer cost-optimized products for each market and application. Those converters present a very grid-friendly behavior, including FRT, SCR, and SSR, which explains why they are used all over the world, and, in particular, why they do very well in emerging markets such as India or Brazil. Our 2MW DFIG converters can be modulated to bring customized solutions that will effectively minimize wind turbine LCOE.”

“We are very pleased to continue our partnership with Ingeteam and support the company in their efforts to demonstrate the quality standards of their products,” said Kim Mørk, executive vice president of Renewables Certification at DNV GL. “This new certification is another step forward in the excellent working relationship we have developed with Ingeteam over the years. The certificate emphasizes the quality requirements of Ingeteam in safety and reliability of their products.”

More infowww.ingeteam.com

WindGuard wind tunnel celebrates 10 years

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This year, Deutsche WindGuard’s large scale aero-acoustic wind tunnel in Bremerhaven celebrates its 10th anniversary.

“When the wind industry became established in the early 2000s, it became apparent that noise emission was an issue with rotor blades at the time,” said Dr.-Ing. Knud Rehfeldt, managing director of Deutsche WindGuard Engineering GmbH. “The existing wind tunnels, with their high background noises, could not provide the testing conditions for the new industry requirements. So, when some of our customers approached us about a wind tunnel for rotor-blade aerodynamics, we thought that was a great idea and immediately got to work”

Deutsche WindGuard Engineering has operated WindGuard’s aero-acoustic large scale wind tunnel in Bremerhaven since 2008. (Courtesy: Deutsche WindGuard Engineering)

In 2006, WindGuard’s Knud Rehfeldt and his team set out to develop a wind tunnel specifically for the wind industry. It would have to have an excellent flow quality, a low background noise, achieve high wind speeds and Reynolds numbers. To reduce the sound level of the wind tunnel itself, the tunnel is built with acoustically-decoupled sections, and incorporates about 2,000 square meters of special noise absorbing elements. The tunnel was built in 2007 and inaugurated in 2008.

Today, after 10 years of operation, more than 100 different airfoils tested, and several thousand measurements, the wind tunnel is running and constantly adding new capabilities. Development has never stopped.

“Today, the maximum flow speed of the wind tunnel reaches 360 kmh with Reynolds numbers of 6 million, and the background noise level has been reduced by more than 10 dB,” said Nicholas Balaresque, head of acoustic wind tunnel testing at Deutsche WindGuard. “The collaboration between colleagues from many WindGuard departments has been crucial for the successful outcome of many campaigns. Especially the synergy that has developed between all seven WindGuard wind tunnels has helped improve the measurement quality and extend the range of offered wind tunnel related services.”

More infowww.windguard.com

iSpin technology to monitor Vattenfall wind center

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Since commissioning the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) earlier this year, the Swedish energy group Vattenfall has been measuring important wind parameters with Romo iSpin technology to monitor the performance of each of the 11 enhanced MHI Vestas V164 8MW class wind turbines. The iSpin equipment was installed as part of the turbine supply contract.

“With iSpin technology, Vattenfall will be able to detect deviations in the power curve, allowing them to remedy the problem and minimize energy losses,” said Brian Sørensen, CEO of Romo Wind.

The iSpin equipment is an enabler for load calculations and assessments as well as the optimization of the turbines in terms of wake effects. (Source: Romo)

With its advanced wind measurement capabilities, including turbulence intensity, yaw misalignment, and inflow angle measurements, in addition to wind speed and direction, the iSpin equipment is an enabler for load calculations and assessments as well as the optimization of the turbines in terms of wake effects.

“The ability to capture value-adding data plays a significant role in the operational phase of a windfarm,” said Kevin Jones, Head of Aberdeen Bay, Vattenfall. “The iSpin technology contributes to Vattenfall’s ability to actively control operational risks.”

Vattenfall has been developing and operating wind power in the U.K. for the past 10 years and is taking the lead in offshore wind innovation. It recently started operations at the EOWDC, in Aberdeen Bay. The cutting-edge wind farm will be a test bed for offshore wind innovation. The innovation deployed at the EOWDC will help increase productivity and reduce the cost of energy produced at the 11-turbine scheme.

More infocorporate.vattenfall.co.uk/projects/

Conversation with Dr. Willett Kempton

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Intending to fill a gap in the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry, the University of Delaware and the Danish Energy and Climate Academy have joined together to create the Offshore Wind Skills Academy with the first classes beginning in January 2019. Future courses will be offered in May and November. The Academy is designed for professionals from traditional energy industries, supply chain companies, regulators, investors, consultants, and any others who may be new to the offshore wind industry. Wind Systems talked with Academy Co-director Dr. Willett Kempton about the Academy and what it means for offshore wind.

What is your background in wind, and how did that bring you to the University of Delaware and the Offshore Wind Skills Academy?
I have been working in renewable energy and clean energy and energy efficiency for about 30 years. I started to focus on offshore wind around 2005 and did a bunch of studies. I’m a professor and a researcher at the University of Delaware. We’re studying the resource and how you integrate all that wind and how much power potential there is.

And now recently, we have contributed some studies on how some state governments on the East Coast can reduce the cost of offshore wind, both through policy and how they structure purchasing it. At the same time, there’s been substantial technology development mostly coming from Europe to reduce the costs. So those two things together—technology and smart U.S. state policies — have gotten us to this Vineyard wind bid that was just unsealed in August, which is 6.5 cents a kilowatt/hour. And now, the government of Massachusetts is not tabulating the subsidies for this bid. They’re talking about how much the ratepayers are saving by signing that contract.

Through the efforts of many people, including the University of Delaware, the states of Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, and potentially Virginia, are all looking at multi-gigawatt builds. So, when we add it up, our tabulation is that we’ve got about a 10-GW commitment to build over the next 10 years. That’s about a gigawatt a year. And what does that mean? It’s the equivalent of building a full-size nuclear power plant every year for the next 10 years in terms of construction projects.

And if you go to the U.S. offshore wind conference, there are maybe a thousand people. And it’s like, “Wow, great — we started with a couple of hundred, and now we’re up to a thousand.” But a thousand people cannot build a full-size nuclear power plant every year for 10 years. The skilled-person power is not nearly up to the build commitment.

That’s why we need the Offshore Wind Skills Academy (OWSA). We need to train a bunch more people who currently don’t know the difference between capacity and capacity factor. They might know offshore oil and gas, or power plant permitting and construction, or many valuable related fields — but they don’t have any idea in practical terms how you bring an offshore wind project to fruition.

So that’s the summary of what I was doing previously in wind power and how I got to the point of saying we in the U.S. need an offshore wind skills academy.

What is your role at the Academy?
Two of us are co-directors of the Academy — me and Dr. John Madsen. We both have been doing offshore wind research for years. He’s a geologist and researches how you anchor subsea foundations to the ocean floor in order to locate the best places and what kind of subsea mountings you should use.

All the instructors are people who have industrial experience. I communicate extensively with the industry, and I’ve done some research projects that the industry has been very interested in and used in their decisions, but I haven’t built a project. The people teaching in the Academy so far have all done some part of the project-development process in Europe or the U.S. They may have or may have had a joint appointment at a university at some time, but they all have industrial experience. As we proceed and get feedback from attendees, we’ll evaluate the best topics and best mix of instructors.

What does the Offshore Wind Skills Academy bring to the table that’s been missing in wind education and training?
We’ve been teaching offshore wind for a decade at the University of Delaware, and a few other U.S. universities teach courses in wind power, but those are college courses for graduate students or advanced undergraduates. Students are in a classroom for a semester for a course. It’s part of their degree program, and at U.D., they learn quite a bit about offshore wind. But it’s really an academic approach. We also have a certificate in wind power, which is a series of courses about wind power from different departments. As a student at the university, or someone who wants to sign up for a couple of classes, you can take those courses.

The OWSA is completely different. This is intended for somebody who may be in a related industry. Or, maybe it’s somebody who’s already in the offshore wind industry, but they want to get more advanced training in something they haven’t done. Maybe they’ve prepared a proposal and done planning and wanting to negotiate a contract, but have never actually supervised boatloads of people going out and putting things together up a hundred meters over the ocean surface.

We’re not trying to train the people in the boat or doing the precision welding; they will go to new programs being formed at community colleges. What we’re going to do with OWSA is train the people who will be planning and managing and supervising all of those processes. There’s nothing like that now.

This is to train people who are actually going to be planning and supervising these projects. Instead of a semester, it’s a one-, two-, or three-day course. It’s all day. It’s more costly per day than it would be for a college student to take some courses. And it’s very practical. That’s not to mean we don’t cover some theory — how you calculate this or that. But it’s focused on practical knowledge.

So Offshore Wind Skills Academy? “Skills” sometimes has one association in American English as kind of learning trades, but we’re using the word more in the sense of competencies, the way it would be used in Europe. In other words, you have capability of the whole area. To understand the whole area, you have competency in offshore wind planning or meteorological measurements for planning an offshore wind farm. We’re trying to develop competencies rather than giving somebody academic training.

What has been the response to the Academy so far?
It’s been pretty enthusiastic. I’ve communicated with people over the phone, and we also had a booth at the American Wind Energy Association’s offshore conference in Washington. People are saying this fills a gap, because otherwise, in one case, they’d have to send someone to Denmark for a month. So, paying $800 a day to get two days of training, that’s a great bargain for them. This gives them a lot of information in a short period of time from someone who really knows it themselves and ask questions. That’s one kind of reaction.

Another example from a company was they had a couple of guys that have been doing land-based turbines, and they know that pretty well, but they don’t know anything about offshore. So they’re going to send them to one of the more advanced OWSA courses, and that will get them understanding why offshore is different from what they’ve been doing on land-based developments.

And in a third case, a very large developer who has more experience in other kinds of energy, but very few of their employees have done offshore wind, said they didn’t have any other practical way to do what we’re doing. What they do now is send someone to several conferences, and there they get little snippets of this and that or what they might do in the future. There’s no way to send their employees somewhere where they get soup to nuts of how you do offshore wind. So they said OWSA really fills a void for them in their own internal personnel training.

How do you see the Academy helping the wind industry advance in the future?
It will reduce the time and cost of training new employees. It will make sure employees have a broad knowledge of the area. So, you don’t send someone for mechanical training on the turbine only, you also have the option to of getting an overview of the offshore wind development process from us. So, we’re reducing the cost; we’re reducing the time and increasing the breadth of training for new employees or existing employees in only one segment of the company to get more knowledge or broader knowledge of offshore wind. And that means it’s easier to bring in more people, get up to speed, and have fewer miscommunications across fields and across departments because you don’t understand what the other departments are doing, and hopefully fewer mistakes in the development process. I think generally it’s what could be called capacity building.

To register:pcs.udel.edu/wind
More info email: rlcox@udel.edu

Clobotics

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Before Clobotics President George Yan began his company, he recalls visiting a wind farm and being surprised at what he saw.

“I saw this fellow in his late 50s,” Yan said. “And he essentially had a couple of straps on his waist, and he was climbing up the wind turbine. We watched him climb up about 60 meters high, and he was using binoculars and a mobile phone to find cracks in the turbine blade. That was a pretty mind-boggling experience for me, thinking that with all the advanced technology we have, a person is still doing this crazy dangerous job of climbing up this height to do visual inspections.”

From that epiphany — along with the combined brain power and inspiration from Yan’s engineering associates — Clobotics was created with the goal of using autonomous drones and other advanced technologies to automate the inspection of wind turbines and minimize the high-risk nature of the task.

“The entire wind power industry is going through a digital transformation, especially in the operations and maintenance (O&M) market, and that’s an area that we focus on,” Yan said. “Today, the O&M market is a $25 billion market. But there is still very little technology, very little data provided for its decision making. For us, inspecting the wind-turbine blades to identify where the cracks are and how we can fix them is really the first step in helping the entire industry to transform.”

Beyond drones

Clobotics’ Smart Wind solution goes beyond just drones, although drone technology is a big part of it, according to Yan.

“A lot of technologies must come together nicely to solve the specific challenges around wind-turbine inspections” he said. “For example, to do what we do, one must have a team of people who really understand hardware. Clobotics’ team of engineers also has very deep automation expertise. That’s important because we don’t want wind-farm operators to have to rely on a highly-trained pilot to fly the drones for each inspection — we want to make everything autonomous and easy for them. Additionally, you need people who understand computer vision, because, in order to make sure we don’t prepopulate the flight routes, while at the same time still capturing very precise images, it requires very sophisticated, real-time computer vision tracking technology.”

Clobotics gave “brains” and “eyes” to its drones, so the drones can see where the blades are as they fly and determine how to keep the blade within the center of the onboard camera and capture high-resolution photos in the air. Only then, the cracks and damages in the blades as small as 1mm-by-3mm can be easily identified. This level of sophistication requires expertise in both hardware and software.

“Finally, as all the data gathered from the visual inspections is stored and analyzed in the cloud, you need people who understand deep learning and cloud computing, and who are able to bring all these technologies together,” he said. “When you consider all these factors, it takes a pretty special group of people to solve this challenge. From an industry insider perspective, one might think that visual inspections would be a pretty simple problem to solve, but the technology behind it is actually very complicated, especially because we make sure our services can scale to meet the needs of some of the largest wind-power operators in the world.”

Clobotics was created with the goal of using autonomous drones and other advanced technologies to automate the inspection of wind turbines and minimize the high-risk nature of the task. (Courtesy: Clobotics)

Constantly learning

Because Clobotics has customers in Asia and Europe and is now expanding into North America, Yan said the company’s drones are making many flights and are learning a lot about how cracks form in turbine blades.

“As we gather data about how the cracks progress, and then overlay that with information such as climate data, terrain information, and the amount of rain and lightning hitting that area, we begin to get a very interesting time lapse of how these cracks evolve and how that compares to the output of electricity each turbine is producing,” he said. “This is where I believe, with the vast amounts of data we gather, we can provide very precise predictive maintenance capabilities to the industry, helping wind farms achieve greater efficiencies and better maintain their turbines. I believe that green energy is going to grow, and by helping digitize the industry, we are not only helping wind-farm operators, but also helping the population in general.”

Clobotics partners with DJI and uses that company’s hardware frame for the drones, according to Yan, but Clobotics customizes everything that the drone carries in order to inspect a turbine.

“Everything from the gimbal to the firmware of the camera, to the solid-state Lidar that we put on the drone itself, everything has been customized, and we write the firmware to make sure everything comes together,” he said. “The goal is to be able to hand off the entire product to the operator.”

Totally autonomous inspection

Indeed, Yan said all an operator needs is a relatively simple training session. After that, the operator can bring the drone under the wind turbine, and with one push of a button, the drone is able to track the wind tower up its center axis.

“It doesn’t matter what the position of the blade is; it’s able to find its center axis and follow the first blade,” he said. “It does the entire inspection autonomously without any interference from that person at the tower and is able to complete the entire flight in under 25 minutes.”

Once the drone returns, the data is automatically uploaded to the cloud, according to Yan. That data includes a range of 300 to 400 photographs, which are automatically stitched together using machine learning. Once the data is uploaded to the cloud, a wind-farm operator can log-in to their customer portal to see that specific turbine and inspection data indicating cracks or other damage in the blades.

“Each of the pictures has been analyzed and labeled by our machine learning algorithms to help the operator quickly identify exactly where the cracks are located so a technician can more easily fix them,” Yan said. “We also create an end report to help with the repair.”

Multiple-location advantage

Clobotics has an advantage in the industry since it has teams to serve multiple countries around the world, according to Yan.

“We started these services in China,” he said. “We work with the biggest wind-turbine operator in the world, China Longyuan Power Group. They have more than 25,000 turbines under their care. From a data perspective, no one has more wind-turbine data than we do. With our expansion into Europe and the U.S., we now have another large set of data that we are able to cross match and identify what patterns are happening in each of the continents. With that type of geo-global data, we are able to see trends and can help the industry be more precise.”

Real customers, big customers

Having China’s vast number of turbines to work with has helped Clobotics establish itself in the short time it has been in business, according to Yan.

“Having real customers under our belt is something that we’re super proud of,” he said. “Our biggest customer is the biggest wind operator in the world, China Longyuan Power Group. We work very closely with them. We also work with Shanghai Electric, the biggest offshore wind-turbine OEM and operator in China. Although as a company we were established only two years ago, because of the depth of expertise and technology that we provide to the market, we’ve been able to dance with the biggest players. Our customers not only use our services but are also very good about giving us feedback and pushing us to the technology limit. I believe this is where our engineering team is being acknowledged by the biggest players in the market.”

Offshore challenges

As more offshore wind takes off, Yan said the inspection of those turbines is going to be a challenge, but he expects Clobotics to meet that challenge head on.

“Offshore turbines are actually a different level of challenge,” he said.

By not having a person available to climb up a tower as in onshore, inspection becomes more difficult. Also, with offshore turbines being much larger than their onshore counterparts, the timing of inspections also becomes more challenging, according to Yan.  In order to overcome that challenge, Yan said Clobotics has been tweaking its algorithms to allow for multiple flights during inspections.

“Today, the time we spend on turbines is around 25 minutes, and that’s gated by the battery power limit of the drone from DJI,” he said. “When the turbine gets too big, there’s no way you can do the full inspection in one 25-minute flight.”

When it comes to large, offshore turbines, the Clobotics Smart Wind drone inspects two blades, then returns for a battery swap. Leveraging built-in artificial intelligence (AI), the drone is able to automatically return to its previous position to finish the rest of the turbine, according to Yan.

“These are the very important and very detailed technology challenges that we face and that we are overcoming,” he said. “And that’s what’s needed to provide a production-level service for the offshore wind power companies. We are doing this not only in China today, but also with an offshore operator in Copenhagen, Denmark. More recently, we also have opportunities to do this in Taiwan and other places. The offshore industry is an area we will definitely be focused on, helping them increase productivity just as we have done for the onshore providers.”

Clobotics gave “brains” and “eyes” to its drones, so the drones can see where the blades are as they fly and determine how to keep the blade within the center of the onboard camera and capture high-resolution photos in the air. (Courtesy: Clobotics)

‘A melting pot’

Clobotics prides itself in being a multicultural company, according to Yan.

“One of our strengths is that we are located in both Shanghai as well as Seattle,” he said. “We are excited about solving long-standing challenges in a global industry, and we love applying our technology solutions across the world. That’s where we stand out. We started that from the very first day of building the company, having folks in multiple locations, with much of our engineering talent and computer vision machining engineers in Seattle while some of our application engineers and our sales and marketing guys are in China. Our company is truly a melting pot, which enables us to solve problems faster for our global customers.”

Clobotics is comprised of passionate and experienced engineers who brought a wealth of expertise to the two-year-old company. For example, Yan spent 16 years with Microsoft before joining Ehang, a drone startup company, which is where he first experienced using drones in commercial fields.

Quick expansion

Clobotics’ relationship with Chinese companies has enabled the company to expand quickly, according to Yan.

“We tailor our services to our customers in different areas,” he said. “For example, the wind-power providers in China are a little bit more adventurous. They’re open to trying new technologies and techniques.”

Because Chinese companies are open to exploring more leading-edge technologies, Clobotics gets invited to test new solutions on their wind farms, according to Yan.

“We’ve found the China market to be a very nice sandbox for us with some of the local wind farms,” he said. “That’s very helpful, because wind-farm operators are not often able to allocate turbine downtime for tests. In contrast, when we work with European companies, we make sure our solutions are ‘squeaky clean’ and without any bugs because expectations there are higher for service solutions like ours.”

That bug-free approach for European and U.S. companies is often more lucrative for Clobotics, as well, according to Yan.

“We have experienced a lot of success by taking a multi-stepped approach where we use the Chinese market to test and really polish our solutions, then applying our thoroughly tested solutions in Europe and North America,” he said. “This approach works well because the scenarios we encounter with our large customers in China are extremely complicated. If we are able to fix any problems in those scenarios, then we are certainly able to serve customers anywhere around the globe, no matter what their unique needs are.”

The path to American offshore wind

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The U.S. offshore wind market is finally heating up. This is evidenced by the likes of Deepwater Wind being acquired by Ørsted — bringing opportunities for the market to scale up — as well as Siemens Gamesa adapting its turbines to U.S. standards and predicting higher revenues for 2019 as it moves into this emerging offshore market.

These moves from offshore wind’s heavy hitters not only signal that it’s time to take the U.S. market seriously, but also that European industry leaders are keen to apply their knowledge and experience in the U.S.

It is important for the success of the market that the likes of Ørsted and Siemens, who are accustomed to established working practices in Europe, have confidence in the ability of the domestic supply chain to support their investment decisions throughout development, construction, and operations. One critical requirement is the availability of proven vessel concepts.

First steps
The journey of the U.S. offshore energy support vessel market started with the launch of Atlantic Pioneer, the first U.S. purpose-built crew transfer vessel (CTV) to service the first offshore wind farm in the U.S., Deepwater Wind’s Block Island. This was a huge milestone for the U.S. maritime sector, and, furthermore, demonstrated its capacity to work with firms “across the pond” to deliver a vessel built to a proven European specification.

However, with more and more wind farms to be developed off the coast of the U.S., the challenge is now to quickly build out a domestic fleet of vessels which meet this same standard, are Jones Act compliant, and build upon lessons that continue to be learned from the European market.

Lessons learned
Technical and operational evolution in the CTV market in Europe has been swift, driven by the increasing demands of the industry when it comes to the core attributes of availability, versatility and safety.

The Block Island wind farm under construction. The Atlantic Pioneer was the first U.S. purpose-built crew transfer vessel (CTV) to service Deepwater Wind’s Block Island. (Courtesy: Deepwater Wind)

In all wind-energy operations, safety comes first. In light of the reputational impact of a number of documented incidents in the early days of large-scale offshore wind development in Europe, alongside systems such as ISM-approved safety management, building vessels to the stringent requirements of a classification society like DNV-GL, BV, LR, or ABS is one of the most effective safety approaches. This not only ensures that the vessel build is of the highest quality, but also involves rigorous ongoing checks throughout operations to confirm that each individual component is performing as it was from the start.

One of the core attributes of the technical and operational evolution of the offshore energy support vessel is technical availability. In conjunction with the reliability gains that go hand-in-hand with class certification, the most significant development in availability has arguably been the mainstream adoption of round-the-clock shift-based operation. Platform and vessel-based accommodation has improved to support 24-hour rotations, and the capacity to refuel at sea can keep a CTV operational on site for prolonged periods.

Vessel designers are now aiming to hit the “sweet spot” with CTV size, and data and evidence collected from the field suggests that 24-meter boats are best placed to meet the diverse demands of offshore wind support. Vessels of this size can effectively fulfil both crew transfer and logistical requirements in offshore energy operations — they are large enough to carry enough industrial personnel and crew, plus a significant amount of cargo and equipment, while also remaining nimble enough to provide fuel-efficient access to offshore turbines.

Furthermore, CTVs need the capacity to work with other vessels on site, for example with offshore refueling. This need for CTVs to be able to efficiently work with other vessels on site is a particularly important factor for the U.S. market where you often have European built jack-ups and larger vessels moored some way offshore to avoid restriction from Jones Act requirements. Vessel operators therefore need boats that can stay out in the field for long periods, even supporting the overnight accommodation of turbine technicians.

With this extensive experience and knowledge, European offshore wind farm developers and operators know what they want from their vessel support suppliers and are looking to apply the same principles to their operations in the U.S.

Adapting to U.S. offshore environment
There is a lot to gain from taking lessons learned from the mature European offshore wind industry, but substantial opportunities exist for those who can refine and optimize vessels for US market conditions.

In particular, crucial advantages will derive from meeting EPA Tier 4 air quality requirements with bespoke propulsion options, hull and deck designs that stand up to larger Atlantic swells, and the ability to respond to unique development approaches with enhanced logistical support capacity.

The U.S. market has particular interest in the hybridization of offshore wind transportation to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the maritime sector. A repeat build of the Atlantic Pioneer would in fact not be compliant due to ever-increasing EPA air quality standards. An effective approach for meeting this market need is not to drastically redesign the whole vessel or simply replace diesel engines with hybrid ones, but instead to make small, necessary changes to reduce the time spent burning up fuels by making the whole vessel more efficient.

Vessels have typically been built with two 1,400 horsepower engines whereas vessel now can be built with four 700 horsepower engines, achieving the same level of power but better meeting air quality requirements. With four engines of lower power, a vessel is able to operate at lower speeds, turning off two of the engines, leading to lower carbon emissions while either idle or at low speeds. This is particularly beneficial for wind-farm support vessel operators as when the vessel is on the wind farm, rather than traveling between the site and the port, high power operation isn’t necessary.

Additionally, as owners and operators are moving into the U.S. market from Europe, they have worked with vessels with different sized engines, and they know which engine OEM models they prefer. The important thing is to be able to have a vessel design which can be adapted based on operator preferences.

Vessels have typically been built with two 1,400 horsepower engines whereas vessel now can be built with four 700 horsepower engines, achieving the same level of power but better meeting air quality requirements. (Courtesy: Chartwell Marine)

A key difference between U.S. and European waters is the vastly different “sea state.” For example, the East Coast sees longer wave lengths and greater swells than are experienced in the U.K., and vessel hull designs need to take this into account. One way this can be done is with a larger freeboard, meaning the ship deck that is closest to the water is positioned higher, reducing the risk of waves crashing onto the deck in rough seas. This also improves the overall stability and safety of offshore vessels.

Meeting technicians’ needs
Not only do vessels need to respond to operators’ requirements, they also need to respond to the needs of crews and passengers on board.

As the industry grows, there will be an increased need for highly skilled turbine technicians in the construction stage, but also then into the long-term O&M phases. The challenge the market will face here is that, while the U.S. onshore wind market is mature and strong, turbine technicians operating in this market will likely not have offshore experience — and may not have any experience at sea at all.

At the end of the day, turbine technicians aren’t seafarers, and in order for them to work effectively and efficiently construction or repair jobs, they need to feel safe and comfortable when travelling to and from site.

The way in which vessel designers and manufacturers will need to ensure this safety and comfort is to look carefully at the seating and space on board. Larger vessels typically benefit from lower acceleration and less aggressive journeys; however, on smaller boats, the journey can be somewhat rough, and the overall design should accommodate for passengers who may not be experienced at sea.

With the exception of mandatory class/flag sill heights, a boat designed with safety at the forefront would have no steps or trip hazards, with designated walkways, handrails, and safety sliding rails for the purpose of safe, repeatable, effective crew transfer. After all, if wind-turbine technicians feel comfortable and aren’t suffering from fatigue or seasickness as a result of their journey to site, they’re more likely to do a good job.

Turbine technicians are essential to the effective running of an offshore wind project — so it is equally essential that the vessel market meets their needs.

Conclusion
The U.S. is primed to develop its capacity for generating wind power offshore, with U.S. ship yards of the highest quality ready to respond with a supply of safe, reliable and versatile vessels. Naval architects from Europe and around the world are excited to work with the U.S. on developing vessels that best meet the needs of seasoned offshore wind players, having learned best practice and design from operating in maturing and thriving offshore markets.

By taking — and refining — proven vessel concepts, U.S. maritime firms and service providers can de-risk complex projects for international wind-energy investors, developers and operators, ensuring the ongoing success of American offshore wind.

Advancing offshore construction

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Slowly but surely, the floating offshore wind-energy sector is becoming more important, particularly because of the fact that the number of locations with shallow waters suitable for fixed-bottom foundations is limited. Floating wind is turning into a highly scalable future energy source because the wind resource in deep waters is extensive and offers a significant potential for marine renewable energy development and growth to many countries.

Europe remains the world leader in floating wind-energy installations with the North Sea being the main region for deployment, accounting for 78 percent of the European total, followed by the Baltic Sea, with 14.1 percent. Based on the number of offshore wind projects under construction, WindEurope estimates total European offshore wind capacity will be 24.6 GW by 2020.

Floatgen is the first French floating offshore wind turbine system for power generation in Atlantic waters. (Courtesy: Farinia Group)

Furthermore, Europe is continuously investing in innovative projects and designs aimed at improving the performance, maintenance, and installation of offshore floating wind turbines.

There is Hywind and the simulations models developed by Nielson [1] for integrated dynamic analysis and the role of the effect of pitch-angle control of blades. There is other research done as well into the pontoon-type floating wind turbine [2], aimed at characterizing the dynamic response and at identifying potential loads and instabilities, resulting in significant design modifications.

It is important to mention that, besides leading European industries, there are a couple of serious emerging markets interested in the development and deployment of offshore floating wind power. Between 2017 and 2026, China is expected to install 13 GW (a big part of it in floating solutions), according to the MAKE magazine. The Global Offshore Wind Market Report (Norwegian Energy Partners) points out the capacity of China, Japan, and Taiwan to become global market leaders after 2020.

Latest researches from Equinor emphasize the fact that in the U.S. and Japan, there are only a few sites suitable for bottom-fixed installations since fixed-based wind is not viable in water depths of 60 meters or more. Therefore, floating turbines could be a game changer in these areas by overcoming the engineering challenges of deep-water installations and yield that untapped potential.

The Sector’s Biggest Challenges
Even though progress is clear, all professionals know the industry is still facing significant challenges with the need for appropriate vessels for installation and maintenance, innovative design solutions, and the lack of industry standardization. Weather fluctuations are another significant hurdle, and to fight these, offshore wind installations still need improvement in installation vessels — better navigation, higher crane capacity, and more space.

Since the floating offshore wind turbine is a relatively recent invention, there is still a lot of room for new ideas concerning the way the turbine can be held in place and the entire design of the configuration. Mooring architecture, which has been successful in the oil and gas industry, includes the catenary mooring or the taunt leg. For the platform, the assessment is the same with the development of semi-submersible or spar platforms, which are well known in the offshore industries. These solutions aren’t perfect, and their choice strictly depends on the project’s priorities, including environmental conditions and operating parameters.

Floatgen is kept in place by a mooring design using clump weights designed and manufactured by FMGC. (Courtesy: Farinia Group)

Another problem originates from the power grid connection. Integrating large amounts of offshore wind generation to the power system requires solid knowledge and better infrastructure.

Technical advancements
Areas where the most progress was achieved include larger, more effective turbines and improved foundations.

Here are some examples:
Equinor (Ex Statoil) deployed the first full scale spar buoy off Karmoy Island in 2009. The 5,300 metric ton spar buoy was equipped with a 2.3 MW wind turbine. In 2017, Equinor deployed Hywind Scotland, the first floating pilot wind farm. This project features an important scaling with an 11,200 metric ton spar buoy and five 6-MW wind turbines.
Ideol deployed earlier this year a prototype based on its damping pool platform, a platform different from all known oil and gas standards such as spar, semi sub, or TLP. Moreover, its mooring system is equipped with innovative synthetic fiber mooring lines, an innovative choice of material for a permanent mooring system.
• At an earlier stage of deployment, Sway has chosen the horizontal axis for its wind turbine. This technological choice, according to Sway, lowers the center of gravity, eases the maintenance, and reduces the spacing between wind turbines.
• Still in a concept phase, Hexicon expects to reduce CAPEX and installation costs by developing floating multi-turbine platforms allowing the increase of power generated per platform.

There are, of course, some hybrid types comprising two or three of the mentioned turbines — for example, the spar floater and tension leg mooring system mix. However, much more advancement is expected in this area.

Despite the different types and configurations, there are, in general, three basic floater types of floating offshore wind turbines:
• The semi-submersible type, moored by catenary lines.
• The TLP (Tension Leg Platform) type, moored by vertical tendons, using buoyancy.
• The spar type, formed as a single deep-draft cylindrical and vertical column.

The biggest challenge concerning the foundation type is cost can quickly increase, and therefore the demand for innovative, cost-efficient, and high-quality solutions is needed. Mooring methods feature a close relationship with the construction performance, and for a successful turbine, performance should be carefully studied. Many tests and observations have confirmed that the mooring method using weights is highly effective in reducing cost.
In general, a floating platform can achieve stability through ballast, mooring lines, and buoyancy. It is important to mention the performance of the turbine is affected by the choice of platform, and every existing concept uses one or a combination of these three primary stability methods.

Clump Weights
Floatgen is the first French floating offshore wind turbine system for power generation in Atlantic waters. The three main objectives of this project are to prove the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of an EU technology floating system in deep waters, bringing wind-energy applications closer to market in diverse European deep offshore areas, and assessing the expected global generation cost per MWh in a 15-year perspective.

The turbine was submerged in September 22 kilometers off Le Croisic (Loire-Atlantique) and is expected to provide electricity to the 5,000 residents of the city.

Clump weights are designed to offset the vertical forces against the anchor and restrict the movement of the floating structure. (Courtesy: Farinia Group)

Floatgen is kept in place by a mooring design using clump weights designed and manufactured by the European leader in ballast solutions, the French company FMGC. These are the first clump weights in France that have been used in the installation of a floating offshore wind turbine. The solution contributes to the optimization and cost effectiveness of the entire mooring system.

The clump weights are designed to offset the vertical forces against the anchor and restrict the movement of the floating structure. They are available in two models:
• The “distributed” configuration is a set of medium-sized clump weights, distributed over a segment of the anchor line. This configuration optimizes the effectiveness and the cost of the solution.
• The “mutualized” configuration consists of one clump weight, attached to one specific point of the anchor line. This configuration neutralizes the impact of wind and wave on the anchoring line.

However, in the case of Floatgen, the foundry has provided a customized solution, based on the target weight and the available installation means.

The mutualized clump weights, made with EN GJL 200 cast iron, have been connected to the mooring lines with a forged steel insert designed for this purpose. To reach the targeted weight and ensure an easier installation, the clump weights were composed of an assembly of several smaller pieces positioned on the steel inserts. Connected with shackle, the clump weights are hanging to the mooring lines and contribute to the limitation of the tensions on the lines. With this dynamic effect, the FMGC solutions contribute to a reliable and cost-effective station-keeping system.

In Europe — and around the world — all professionals are trying to invest knowledge and resources into technological developments in order to cut costs and make offshore floating wind power function better, faster, and easier. As technology is continuously advancing, costs are dropping, and this trend will hopefully continue, pushing the expansion of future projects.

Europe is, for now, the world leader in the investment and development of offshore floating wind power with greater transparency and understanding of the key factors. Other regions in Asia and North America are expected to follow this trend and take an active stance to shift to renewable and clean energy sources as well.

References
1. (2006, 25th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Volume 1: Offshore Technology; Offshore Wind Energy; Ocean Research Technology; LNG Specialty Symposium, Hamburg, Germany, June 4–9, 2006)
2. (Jonkman and Buhl, 2007, Jonkman, J.M. and Buhl, M.L. Jr, (2007) Loads analysis of a floating offshore wind turbine using fully coupled simulation. Proc. of Wind Power 2007 Conference and Exhibition, Los Angeles, California.

Construction management services: The key to success

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Each year in the U.S., new wind-farm developments get built and are placed into production. This process does not happen by accident and includes years of hard work to get to that end. These wind farms have budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. The risks are high, but then the benefits and rewards can often be even higher.

The greatest risk for any project, including a wind farm, is safety. There is no greater risk and impact to life than the occurrence of a safety incident, and prevention must always remain the highest priority. There is no financial, scheduling, or quality issue that takes precedence over safety. This is the first and highest priority of the construction management team.

Construction phase
Beyond safety, each step of the way, there needs to be checks and balances to ensure the project is on track. This is most important during the construction phase. The construction phase does not necessarily start with the physical activity of turning a shovel of dirt. The process starts in parallel with the middle of the development stages.

Wind turbine spread foot foundation. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

When a project has progressed to having secured a site and has selected a turbine model, the next big step is to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) to solicit bids for the construction of the facility. The RFP needs to be inclusive of checks and balances. Typically, these checks and balances take the form of required schedule updates and quality check points. The team must be ready to provide verification of progress to validate invoices and ensure compliance with design. This is vital to the success of the construction phase.

These efforts prior to construction are called the pre-construction services. These services beyond the issue of an RFP continue with the review of the bids resulting from the RFP. This review includes not only an economic evaluation but also an in-depth evaluation and recommendation concerning the responding contractors. In addition, the pre-construction activities also include efforts to ensure that all permitting required for the project is compliant. These permits cover such issues as special-use land permits, as well as power-line and pipeline crossings. There are also environmental permits and studies required, including wetlands, archeological, and avian and bat studies, just to mention a few.

After the award of the construction contract, which normally includes engineering, procurement and construction, (EPC), there are equally important tasks. The team must manage the deliverables from the engineering and procurement stages of the contract. These deliverables include drawings and specifications of equipment and their intended installation. The procurement delivery information is vital to the overall project schedule. All of this transpires prior to that first shovel of dirt being moved.

When it is finally time to move that dirt, wind-farm owners have deployed internal resources for the management of the construction. In other cases, owners have deployed independent services providers to perform the same role. What makes up a comprehensive construction management team is a team that covers overall project management and also specific disciplines. These specific disciplines require specialists that cover the areas of civil, mechanical, and electrical construction.

Civil construction
The civil construction starts with that first shovel of dirt but includes much more. The roads are mostly soil and aggregate and are laid down with the use of water and binders. The civil specialist will use a testing service to verify soil compaction of the roads. It is vital that the roads are able to support the heavy erection crane used later in the project. Next, there is a concrete source, usually a batch plant located temporarily on the job site. Then the foundations are begun, which start as a giant hole in the ground and include large amounts of steel reinforcing rebar and a lot of concrete. The civil specialist is responsible for tracking all slump tests, concrete, and grout-break test results to ensure compliance with specifications. After the foundations are completed, the remainder of the project requires ongoing road and drainage improvements and dust control as the roads get used.

Wind turbine rotor installation. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

Mechanical construction
The mechanical construction mostly relates to the wind turbine itself. This can start with the review of the delivered components. This is an important first step in identifying any issues from manufacturing and/or shipping. The mechanical specialist will document any issues found and work with the manufacturer to resolve those issues. The main emphasis of the mechanical scope is the erection of the unit and the eventual internal completion of the wind turbine.

The erection process is critical, paying close attention to initial bolted connections and their eventual torque and tensioning specifications. The myriad of mechanical connections within the unit requires detailed work instructions and procedures to ensure the wind turbine is fully assembled in accordance with the manufacturer. Finally, the walkdowns done by the mechanical specialist will ensure that the tower, blades, pitch, yaw, and brake systems are installed and functioning correctly.

Electrical construction
The electrical construction covers areas outside as well as inside the wind turbine. The collection system includes the connecting cabling between each turbine and a longer final run from the end of a string of turbines to the substation or switchyard. The collection systems can be installed either above ground or underground. In either case, the electrical specialist will ensure that the collection system is constructed, installed, and terminated in accordance with the drawings and industry standards. Many wind turbines require a small step-up transformer near the base of the turbine. These transformers also must be installed and terminated in accordance with drawings and standards. Finally, the electrical specialist will ensure that the wiring to be installed and connected within the turbine is compliant.

The project can also include substations and switchyards. The team applies the same principles to the construction of these facilities as they applied to the wind farm. There are many high voltage industry standards that must be met, and this is the direct responsibility of the electrical specialist. The specialist will verify that all relay testing is completed and that the results support the design for isolation of events and protection of equipment. The electrical specialist is also focused on the DC battery system installed in the control house and will verify it is tested and compliant. The electrical specialist is usually aided by the civil and mechanical specialist to cover foundations and building inspections.

Some projects also include high voltage transmission line construction to connect the new wind farm to the actual point of interconnect with the transmission grid. This is again a responsibility of the electrical specialist to provide inspection and verification services. The transmission line structures need to be inspected as they are received and then installed. The cabling is measured and documented in its stringing sag report and would be verified as compliant by the electrical specialist. In this area, there may be concrete used to support the structures, and if so, the civil specialist would support this effort as well.

O&M buildings
The O&M buildings are often not given the attention they deserve, as everyone is so focused on the wind farm power generation and distribution equipment. The O&M building usually houses the technicians, spare parts, and the main computer control system for the wind farm. All of these items are equally important to inspect and verify. The O&M building also would receive the same three-disciplined approach to management: The civil specialist will oversee the excavation and foundations; the mechanical specialist will monitor the HVAC systems and associated equipment. Lastly, the electrical specialist will watch over the rest from an electrical perspective.

Wind farm substation construction. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

The meteorological mast, also known as the met mast, is usually the most forgotten equipment on a wind farm. The met mast also has requirements for proper installation. All three disciplines will be involved, civil for the foundation, mechanical for the erection, and electrical to get it all connected. This can be more critical than one might think. If the data stops flowing from the met mast during production, the wind farm can suffer a curtailment until such time that the data flow is reinstated.

All of this pre-construction and construction management is quite an undertaking. All of the work must be in accordance with engineering design, manufacturers’ instructions, and industry standards. This is not to be taken lightly.

Alternative planning
The members of the construction management team not only ensure quality of the construction, but they also are the planners for alternatives when things do not go according to plan. Late delivery of major components can be the most common delay for a wind farm. It is the responsibility of the construction management team to develop workaround plans to keep the project on schedule.

An owner must watch over the construction of the wind farm to protect their interests and the interests of the investors. As stated prior, some owners have the sophistication to manage the construction and others use a third-party independent service provider. Either way, it is recommended that the construction phase from pre-construction to the first day of operations needs to be managed by a professional team and not left to self-management by the EPC contractors. Either way, the cost for a construction management team equates to less than 1 percent of the overall project cost. This is money well spent.

Some people don’t supervise contractors working on their home, please don’t let that happen on a wind farm. Remember, there is no greater issue to be concerned with than safety; everything else is secondary.

Years of growth ahead for Eastern European onshore wind

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Onshore wind energy in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Caspian will experience a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent from 2018 to 2027, according to new research by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. The latest Eastern Europe Onshore Wind Market Outlook 2018 reports 16 GW of new onshore wind capacity that will be added in the region over the next 10 years.

“The development will be largely driven by the implementation of auction schemes in Russia and Kazakhstan and proposed auctions in Poland and Ukraine,” said lead author Sohaib Malik, market analyst.

Wind-power auctions have fast become a favored policy tool of Eastern European countries as they follow a global trend of moving away from feed-in tariff (FIT). In other markets globally, such auctions have led rapid growth, with Brazil and Saudi Arabia being only two examples.

“Poland will be picking back up as a dominant market in the region soon after the enactment of favorable amendments introduced to the renewable energy act in July 2018, which will allow the previously permitted, but halted, wind projects to participate in auctions,” Malik said. “This development gives a major boost to the Polish onshore wind market.”

A maturing wind project pipeline in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan will support the medium-term market outlook. Russia will experience immense growth between 2021 and 2024 as developers are required to connect most of the 3.2 GW of awarded capacity during this period. Ukraine, on the other hand, will have transitioned from the feed-in tariff (FIT) regime to auctions by the end of 2019, which will create more competition between developers to help reduce the cost of wind power.

“We expect significant coal decommissioning in Hungary, Poland, and Romania after 2020 due mainly to an ageing fleet and stricter emissions regulations,” Malik said. “As wind power becomes more competitive due to reductions in technology costs and environmental benefits, it will be in a strong position to displace this coal power capacity in EU member states across the region.”

In the future, an interplay of continued growth in those leading regional markets, as well as the emergence of small, new wind markets such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Slovakia, will ensure long-term growth prospects.

“Traditionally, a rather small region where developers added 142 MW of new wind capacity in 2017 in three markets, Eastern Europe will grow by more than twofold over the next 10 years,” Malik said.

Only regulatory uncertainty poses a risk to this positive forecast, which can be mitigated by proactive measures by the relevant governments. To ensure that awarded wind power capacity is ultimately commissioned, governments in Eastern Europe will have to streamline permitting and grid integration regulations.

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China continues to dominate global wind sector

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Chinese operators remain the leaders of the global wind asset market, according to new research from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.

The report, Global Wind Power Asset Ownership 2018, notes Chinese asset owners continue to dominate the global wind power sector following the merger of former top-ranked power producer Guodian Group and seventh-ranked mining and energy company Shenhua into industrial titan CHN Energy.

“Despite the conglomerate’s heavy focus on coal extraction and coal power generation, its wind fleet is more than twice as large as second-ranked utility Iberdrola’s,” said lead author Anthony Logan, research analyst, North America Wind.

“Many turbines installed during recent years of breakneck growth in China’s wind sector, are reaching the end of their turbine OEM (manufacturer) warranty period,” said Xiaoyang Li, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables’ Asia Pacific team. “This coming transition, coupled with the low prices seen at new wind energy tenders, is forcing large asset owners to prioritize availability and annual energy production, driving a significant focus on operations and maintenance.”

“Chinese asset owners, long confined to their domestic market, are now looking to build and buy wind assets abroad,” she said. “Australia has been a particularly attractive overseas market, thanks to its open market and high project profits.”

In offshore wind, four large utilities dominate the capital-intensive market, typically developing and selling off about 50 percent of their projects to a more fragmented pool of institutional investors. The growth of the offshore wind sector will affect asset ownership in Asia Pacific from 2022 onwards, boosting the utility market share in Japan and South Korea.

Chinese asset owners, long confined to their domestic market, are now looking to build and buy wind assets abroad. (Courtesy: Wood MacKenzie)

“In the U.S., 2017 saw domestic owners NextEra, BHE, Invenergy, and Duke complete just 20 percent of their collective average 2015-2016 installation volume as they and several other domestic asset owners used the year to allow their development arms to rebuild exhausted project pipelines,” Logan said. “Canadian and European firms, on the other hand, developed significant new capacity in the country. So far this year, the U.S. has seen institutional investors move to buy portfolios as independent power producers (IPPs) scramble for capital in time to use the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit (PTC) before it runs out in 2020.”

In Latin America, competitive auction dynamics in 2017 and 2018 indicate that global IPPs with utility subsidiaries will increasingly build ownership share in the region. Enel divested a majority stake in most of its Mexican renewable power assets to CDPQ and CKD IM via a newly deployed “build, sell, operate” strategy which improves its ability to bid competitively at long-term auctions.

The expiry of subsidies in Northern and Western Europe drove a record year in the region and affected asset owner segmentation; utilities dominated asset ownership in the U.K., while community ownership in Germany peaked. Across Europe in the first half of 2018, utilities and large IPPs drove consolidation to secure a project pipeline that will ensure their positioning in an increasingly competitive market.

In Asia Pacific excluding China, wind asset owners remain tied to their domestic markets with no activity in other key markets of the region, with the exception of Eurus Energy. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy consolidated its market-leading position in India, supplying turbines to asset owners around Asia Pacific as well. Due to increasing competition, leading asset owners in Australia did not add new capacity in 2017.

Looking ahead, the phasing out of subsidies in the U.S. and Canada will force a market decline in the early 2020s, which will significantly destabilize the traditional model of independent power producers. Utilities with ambitious rate-basing plans and institutional investors will gain market share in their place. In Europe and the Middle East, competitive auctions will see large IPPs and utilities own more capacity, as they are better able to leverage cost over smaller players.

China will see an increase in ownership share by the turbine OEM segment due to the gradual erosion of the IPP segment. Most Tier I and II turbine OEMs have already reserved wind sites to develop internal wind projects and are looking for development opportunities in the distributed wind power market.

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