Welcome to the July issue of Wind Systems magazine! This month we’re exploring the electrical side of the industry in terms of wind turbine components and getting wind-generated electricity to the grid. We’re also focusing on the importance of safe workplace practices and thorough, high-quality training for existing wind energy professionals and those breaking into the industry.
For this issue’s focus on electrical operations within the turbine, we spoke with Bill Rose and Dennis McKinley at ABB Inc., a key enabler in the wind energy industry as one of the largest independent suppliers of electrical components and as a technology leader in connecting wind farms to the grid, for the company profile. You’ll also find that this issue features a conversation with Louis Dorworth from Abaris Training Resources Inc. where we discuss the role Abaris plays in producing the highly trained and qualified workforce the wind energy needs and what can be expected from the company moving forward as the industry continues to grow following the five-year production tax credit (PTC) extension.
In this month’s inFOCUS section, you’ll find a column by Jack Wallace at Frontier Pro Services on the key role well-trained personnel play when it comes to safety on a wind farm, as well as an article by Matt Erickson, a mechanical engineer and product manager at Amsoil Inc., on the critical role antifreeze and cooling system maintenance practices play when it comes to the life of wind turbine electrical components. This issue also features an article by Tiffany Sanders from JHT Incorporated, the creator of proxSIMity simulation training software, on how the wind energy industry can benefit from this out-of-the-box training method, as well as a column by Travis Dees from World Wind & Solar on ways wind industry professionals can benefit from erosion control on their wind sites.
I also invite you to flip to the Crosswinds section of this issue to check out the winners of our Snap-on toolbox giveaway from Windpower 2016 New Orleans. This year’s winners include Jim Mason, the director of economic development for the City of Elk City, Oklahoma; Jeremy Greene, the lead software developer for JHT Incorporated based out of Orlando, Florida; and Steve Black, the senior business development manager for Moog Components Group based out of Blacksburg, Virginia. Make sure to stop by the Wind Systems booth at Windpower 2017 in Anaheim, California, to enter next year’s raffle.
As always, thanks for reading!
The newly renovated Huron Renewable Energy Center includes new offices, garage facilities, warehousing, and a maintenance shop area. The facility also has an unfinished 3,000-square-foot space that DTE plans to develop into a community space to serve as an area for renewable energy education and hosting wind park tours, meetings, and other community activities. Plans are expected to be finalized this year with completion of the space in 2017.
Fugro GeoSurveys has been contracted to provide bathymetric/geologic compilation, hydrographic data reprocessing, assessment of stability and seismicity, GIS analyses of seabed morphology, and routing options. Fugro GeoSurveys is a division of Fugro Canada Corp. with offices in St John’s, NL, Canada. Fugro GeoSurveys is a professional service company that specializes in seafloor mapping, geotechnical, geological/seismic surveys, integrated navigation/positioning, and industrial surveys on land, in the air, or in the oceans.
The task force, a non-decisional entity, will facilitate coordination and communication in a partnership between BOEM and state, local, and tribal governments and federal agencies concerning potential renewable energy leasing for research activities and commercial development on federal submerged lands on the outer continental shelf (OCS) offshore of California.
In 1989, ABB acquired the transmission and distribution business of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the founder of which developed the transformer as a means to transmit massive amounts of power from his hydroelectric plant in Niagara Falls to Buffalo, New York, 20 miles away. This acquisition gave ABB a foot in the door to the North American utilities market, leading it to support 20,000 employees and approximately 80 manufacturing facilities. Its U.S. corporate headquarters are based in Cary, North Carolina, while its Power Grids headquarters are located in nearby Raleigh on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University and its world-class school of engineering. While ABB focuses on a wide range of industries, including oil and gas, pulp and paper, food and beverage, microgrids, utilities, and solar power, it has made a name for itself as a worldwide leader in wind energy technology and connecting wind farms to the grid.
“We’re like the Intel inside of your computer when it comes to the wind power industry because we’ve got all of the electrical components covered,” McKinley said. “We are engineering-focused with an eye toward long-term quality and energy efficiency. Once the customer selects the electrical drivetrain concept, our expert engineers can work with the manufacturer to discuss and integrate ABB products into the turbine engineering drawings, specifications, and plans. Turbine manufacturers benefit from ABB’s experience, resulting in design cost savings and increased efficiencies. When you look at the breadth of ABB, from the consulting team to the service capabilities we have after the project has been installed and commissioned, we have a soup to nuts approach to supporting the industry. It’s all an electrical drivetrain from the time the wind comes in to the time it hits the grid.”
ABB is also a leader in the industry through its power consulting services. According to McKinley, wind farm developers depend on ABB to provide reliable, high-performance wind power generation solutions. Factors such as components needed to collect wind power, boundary conditions, and grid-connection strategy can significantly impact the success of a wind farm, and ABB’s wind and utility expertise helps improve efficiency and maximize generation capabilities.
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“Companies are beginning to use our 80-meter XHD TallTower tilt-ups instead of the typical higher lattice towers for power curve verification purposes due to its advantageous price and functionality,” said Greg Erdmann, vice president of global sales at RNRG. “This was unheard of in the wind industry only a year ago. Unlike higher lattice towers, they can be redeployed to other sites after the IEC test is completed. What’s more, site assessment costs and decommissioning costs are significantly lower. They are faster to set up and easier to decommission. Once developers grasped the extent of the opportunity offered by tilt-ups, opportunities naturally began to present themselves.”
Having worked on the project since 2014, DNV GL was initially appointed by E.ON for the full design assessment of the wind farm’s turbines and the offshore substations. During the design assessment, DNV GL ensured timely delivery of the conformity statements for the basic design of the wind turbines and support structure. DNV GL and E.ON are collaborating to finalize the detailed design of both the offshore transformer station and turbine as well as the support structures. Building on the successful partnership, DNV GL is continuing its work with E.ON into the operational phase of the wind farm.
To prevent the material from damages caused by these influences, the coatings division of BASF has developed a solution for long-lasting protection. The system consists of a gel coat, a filler, an edge protection, and a topcoat. It is based entirely on solvent-free, two-component polyurethane compounds, thus complying with present VOC directives. Within BASF’s coatings portfolio for the wind energy sector, Relest Wind LEP S stands for excellent sustainable and efficient leading-edge protection.
That’s why the research that Boal and his colleagues are performing is so important. Boal, a member of the United States Geological Survey’s Cooperative Research Unit at Texas Tech, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Region 2 office and its Western Golden Eagle Team, are in the process of studying golden eagle movements and potential interactions with wind turbines by capturing golden eagle chicks before they can fly and affixing lightweight GPS transmitters on their backs. The chicks are returned to the nest, and their movements can then be tracked over the next several years.
Energy forecasting was recently deployed for testing at four new wind projects in the U.S., and Exelon expects the software will deliver 1 to 3 percent of additional revenue per site.
The CR300 datalogger was developed based on customer feedback, especially from customers who embed Campbell Scientific dataloggers in their own products. It is a step up from Campbell’s earlier low-cost, compact dataloggers because of its much richer CRBasic command set and serial communication capabilities, and its capacity for larger, more complex programs. The CR300 also has its own onboard compiler that can handle large, complex programs.
The new company, which will be consolidated in Siemens’ financial statements, is expected to have a 69-GW installed base worldwide, an order backlog of around €20 billion, revenue of €9.3 billion, and an adjusted EBIT of €839 million. The combined company will have its global headquarters in Spain and will remain listed in Spain. The onshore headquarters will be located in Spain, while the offshore headquarters will reside in Hamburg, Germany, and Vejle, Denmark.
