What’s not to love? I got to spend time with family. I was surrounded by wonderful food and treats. And the gifts… who could forget the presents?!
But there was always one aspect of the holidays that I dreaded —when they were over and you had to go back to school.
I wanted to stay at home, stuff my face with cookies, and play with other kids and all the cool new stuff we got.
But alas, January always follows December, no matter how sad of a proposition that is.
We try to pass the coming of a new year off as a time of renewal and growth. We half-heartedly commit to goals when we have no intention of following through. Truth be told, we’d all just rather be on holiday vacation playing with our presents — until they broke or we got tired of them.
Presents are a big deal when you’re a kid. Well, the ones you like anyway.
There are always exceptions. As a child who is overflowing with anticipation, there’s nothing more disappointing than tearing through a neatly wrapped present only to find something lame like winter socks or a label maker.
Still, your folks always taught you to smile and express gratitude, because… “It’s the thought that counts.”
If that sounds trite, it’s because it is. It’s one of those things we’re taught as kids that just doesn’t stick.
I can think of no better example than what happened to the wind energy industry last month in the halls of the U.S. Congress.
Despite the aggressive, empassioned advocacy campaign by the wind energy industry and the fact that Americans (contituents, voters, etc.) overwhelmingly side in favor of alternative and renewable energy policies, Congress voted passed a one-year extension of the production tax credit.
In reality, that amounted to roughly two weeks … after taxes. The wind industry’s official stance was one of gratitude, while remaining firm to it’s position that long-term support is crucial for the advancement of the industry.
It’s a good thing I don’t speak for the industry as a whole, because I’m pretty sure my toothy, fake smile couldn’t cover the utter dejection that accompanied unwrapping an electric blanket.
I’m probably being too harsh. After all, Congress did allow us to re-create the holidays swof our youth — sort of. They provided us two weeks at the end of the year to play with the lousiest gift we got.
Thanks for reading,
“Tucannon River Wind Farm is a key infrastructure investment that will serve our customers with clean, renewable energy for decades to come,” said Jim Piro, PGE president and CEO. “Tucannon River supports a balanced, diverse energy portfolio for reliable, reasonably priced power. The new wind farm will also help PGE meet Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires us to supply 15 percent of the electricity our customers use from qualified renewable resources by 2015 and 25 percent by 2025.”
Traditionally, condition monitoring looks for early signs of failure by measuring levels of vibration. Vibration signals are normally produced when the first small fragments of steel begin to spall from the raceway surface of the rings or the rolling elements. By the time this damage reaches the stage where it can be detected using conventional sensors it is already too late, as the bearing has already suffered damage that affects its operating performance and life.
The TÜV SÜD Design Evaluation of nED100 is, therefore, a key quality-assurance milestone for the turbine, which is the product of a five-year research and development program that commenced in 2008, and has been in operation since 2011.
Blade Dynamics have created a new and highly innovative ‘Advanced Blade Tip’, which improves the critical outer third of a wind turbine blade. This high performance tip is designed to integrate into standard wind turbine blades, creating a ‘hybrid blade’ that upgrades performance whilst using existing manufacturing infrastructure. It features built-in leading edge erosion protection, has a highly accurate aerodynamic profile to enhance energy generation, is lightweight to reduce turbine loads and to allow blades to be extended in length and has an innovative lightning protection system. The Advanced Blade Tip both enhances the performance of offshore wind turbines, increasing Annual Energy Production (AEP), and reduces costs incurred through expensive downtime due to blade deterioration and the current need for frequent maintenance.
Botha went on to explain that “The outer portion of a blade produces most of the energy and the technology allows these high value blade tips to be exported from the UK and deployed on offshore wind turbines globally as well as in the domestic market.”
EMMA was created in 2003 focused on the needs of the upcoming 787 program to prepare composite surfaces prior to the application of final paint. A major driving force behind the development of EMMA was the poor ergonomics of manual sanding. Humans are simply not built to wield a heavy vibrating tool for an eight-hour shift, particularly out in front of the worker or over their head. With EMMA, workers stand comfortably and wield a joystick, and the EMMA Arm applies a consistent force against the surface to be sanded while the End Effector — deploying virtually any desired sanding or grinding tool — keeps the abrasive disc flat on the surface minimizing dust exposure and maximizing finish quality. Particulates are routed into a disposable 3M Clean Sanding Filter Bag, keeping the workplace clean.
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Galicja is GE’s first wind farm in the southern Polish region of Podkarpackie and will be one of the country’s largest wind farms.
While the crane was on its way from Zweibrücken to the Rhineland, 31 heavy haulage vehicles were also traveling from Berlin to the work site, carrying all the components that would be required for the project. A series of challenges awaited the team at the site: The space available there was extremely limited because the wind turbine was being erected right in the middle of a forest and the path that had been cleared for the vehicles was relatively narrow. In addition the crane’s boom, which had a total length of 492 feet, had to be assembled on sloping terrain. This also proved to be challenging for the assist crane required for the assembly operation, as it could not be placed just anywhere on the steep terrain. “On top of that, we had to use the suspended superlift tray with a weight of 358 tons when erecting the boom,” says Frank Strempel when describing an additional challenge that the team faced at the tight work site. Despite all this, the team was able to set up the crane with six assembly technicians and have it ready to go in only two days. The crane’s ease of assembly made it possible to quickly set up the machine despite the series of adverse circumstances. 
Moreover, the Mobi-Hub team was assisted by Terex service technicians while setting up the crane, as it was the first time the company was using the crane model.
This required the crane to move towards the wind turbine, with the load already rigged, on an extra gravel path that had already been laid earlier. “The CC 2800-1 did an extraordinary job all throughout and proved that we could not have made a better decision. Not only because of the crane itself, but also because our experience with Terex has shown that we can always count on them for fast and reliable service,” Frank Strempel happily summarizes.
This tool developed jointly by Gamesa and Iberdrola has become an indispensable tool for supervising, in real time and from a single control center, the multiple variables which can affect a wind farm’s operations, from wind speed at each turbine to their temperature, intensity, and production. Analysis of these variables feeds the development of predictive models which in turn facilitate operations and maintenance work.
Fred Olsen Renewables purchased a combination of IBEX 1000s and IBEX 1000Ps to install on turbines at three of its Scotland wind plants — Rothes I, Cristal Rig I, and Paul’s Hill.
Founding partner and CEO Bruce Neumiller, CEO, cites lack of capacity to support the company’s growth as the major reason. “When we started operations in 2012, we had a vision on how to help wind farm owners protect and manage their assets,” said Neumiller. “Our growth has exceeded expectations to the point of needing to double our facility space. Owners are embracing the value we bring in keeping their investments running and we need a facility that helps us fulfill our promise to deliver efficient and high-quality customer service from a company bringing dedicated gearing, bearing and gearbox expertise.”
