The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) recently announced the release of a report detailing a high-resolution geophysical and oceanographic survey of the entire Maryland Wind Energy Area. The survey was the first by any state to map the seafloor geology of a complete Wind Energy Area. This information is critical to optimizing the siting, design and layout of an offshore wind project.

MEA contracted with Coastal Planning & Engineering to pilot the Scarlett Isabella along lines set 150 feet apart, over 1,500 nautical miles. The team gathered data characterizing the depth, seafloor conditions and seabed geology, as well as looking for submerged cultural resources such as shipwrecks.

This report outlines the physical environment of the Wind Energy Area, including the composition of geological layers, the location and nature of hazards, and distribution of cultural resources.  The project trained students at University of Maryland Eastern Shore to serve as federally certified Protected Species Observers on the mission, ensuring that marine mammals and other protected species were not impacted, while providing students with skills in high demand. Teams of scientists from University of Maryland Baltimore County deployed LIDAR, weather balloons and other tools to gather valuable data for refining power production and climate models of the Wind Energy Area.

Vestas has received an order for 48 V112-3.0 MW turbines for the 148-MW Oakfield project in the state of Maine. The order is a call-off on the master supply agreement announced in December 2013 for multiple U.S. projects—the potential of which totals 718 MW. With today’s order, Vestas has secured 298 MW under this MSA.  

The V112-3.0 MW turbines—for which Vestas has already received almost 6 GW of orders—will be supplied for this project. The project will also include a 10-year Active Output Management 5000 service agreement. AOM 5000 is an energy-based availability guarantee that ensures the turbines are operational when the wind is blowing. This service option includes the VestasOnline® surveillance system that remotely controls and monitors the turbines and minimizes lost production by predicting when maintenance may be required.

"We're pleased to continue the construction of the Oakfield Wind project and look forward to installing Vestas’ V112-3.0 MW turbines there," said First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor. "The Vestas turbines at our Bull Hill project in Maine and the Palouse project in Washington State have performed well and we expect the Oakfield project to enjoy similar success."

“This order underlines the strong partnership between Vestas and First Wind, one of the leading wind developers in the U.S.” said Chris Brown, President of Vestas’ sales and service division in the United States and Canada. “This is the fourth project Vestas and First Wind are carrying out together and the second in Maine. The first project in Maine has achieved 99 per cent availability since it was commissioned in 2012, a testament to the performance of our technology and service capabilities that customers expect from Vestas.”

Deliveries for the Oakfield project will take place in the second quarter of 2015, with commissioning expected by the fourth quarter of 2015. Vestas’ factories in Colorado are expected to be involved in the manufacturing for this project. To meet customer demand, Vestas is adding more workers at three of its Colorado factories—the blade factory in Windsor as well as the blade and nacelle factories in Brighton. Vestas is recruiting now and expects to add hundreds of production workers in the first half of 2014 in Windsor and Brighton, primarily at the two blade factories. Interested candidates can apply at ElwoodWindJobs.com.

Source: Vestas

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) announced that the Distributed Wind Energy Association was awarded a 2-year grant to form a consortium of distributed wind energy equipment manufacturers, suppliers, customers, and university researchers and develop a roadmap to identify common manufacturing gaps, prioritize actions to close these gaps, and foster rapid transfer of solutions.

“Our vision is to leverage industry-academic dialogue to develop strategies to aid distributed wind industry growth and advance innovative manufacturing techniques by increasing production volumes and reducing lifecycle costs while maintaining high quality,”  said Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of DWEA.  “As both developing and industrialized nations seek to address climate and economic challenges, the U.S. distributed wind industry stands poised to provide cost-effective solutions and claim its share of a projected $2 trillion global market.”

“In order for the U.S. distributed wind industry to remain leaders in this important space, it is critical that we increase collaboration and improve product offerings through the advancement of technology while driving down component costs,” said Troy Patton of Northern Power Systems. “This new Consortium will allow us to share ideas and forge ahead as global leaders in the growing market of distributed wind.”

“I’m thrilled to be leading such an important effort to improve competitiveness and drive down costs of wind projects installed behind the meter,” said Heather Rhoads-Weaver of eFormative Options. “This project will bring together all the critical stakeholders in our industry to help U.S. distributed wind turbine and component manufacturers–and members of the entire value chain–maintain their edge in a growing global market.”

NIST has developed in interactive map showing initial SMART Wind project partners, which DWEA will update as the Consortium develops.

Source: Distributed Wind Energy Association

ICUEE—The Demo Expo was recently named the number two spot in the recently-announced Top U.S. Trade Shows list from the Trade Show News Network (TSNN).

TSNN annually ranks shows by exhibit space net square footage. For 2013, ICUEE won for its record-breaking size of more than 1.17 million net square feet, second only to the 2013 CES show. TSNN is a leading online information resource for the exhibitions and events industry.

The next ICUEE, International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition, will be held September 29-October 1, 2015 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

The biennial show features extensive test-drive opportunities where attendees can operate the equipment themselves in job-like conditions.

“Attendees say this is where they prepare for the future and exhibitors cite the high quality of attendees,” stated Sara Truesdale Mooney, ICUEE show director and AEM senior director, exhibitions and strategy.

“We’re planning for more equipment demos and interactive product demonstrations than ever before and targeted industry best-practices education. ICUEE 2015 will provide the products and knowledge attendees need to stay competitive.”

ICUEE perennially ranks among the top five in trade-show-industry exhibition rankings. AEM, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, is show owner and producer and focuses on creating a high-quality show experience. AEM shows are industry-run in which participants have a voice in show planning, industry partnerships enhance value, costs are carefully monitored, and revenues go back into industry services.

ICUEE targets utilities and utility contractors in the following sectors: electric, telecommunications, wastewater, water, natural gas, cable, and rail. For more information on attending or exhibiting, visit www.icuee.com.

TPI Composites has announced that it has acquired the remaining twenty-five percent interest in its joint venture wind blade operation in Izmir, Turkey.

TPI launched the business in 2012 with a local partner ALKE ÎNŞAAT and has grown the operation into the largest wind blade manufacturer in the region.

TPI has invested more than $35M to fully capitalize the Turkey operation, including a complete upgrade to its 355,000 square-foot building.

“We are very pleased to have signed long-term agreements for our initial capacity in Turkey with leading customers in the region,” said Steve Lockard, president & CEO of TPI Composites.  “It is a great thrill to see our world-class operation take shape and ramp to its full capacity.”

Roxtec recently announced the release of its Roxtec Transit Designer 2.0—a free, web-based tool that simplifies both product selection according to needs and requirements and the process of designing, purchasing, and installing cable and pipe transits.

Giuseppe Principato is an instrument designer in Italy  and one of thousands of designers and engineers in more than 80 countries who have already discovered the benefits of the new design software. He works with tasks such as developing material requisitions for bulk materials as well as with preparing cable routing, cable entries, wiring, installation details, and job specifications.

“I use the Roxtec Transit Designer every time a multi-cable transit is accepted or requested by our customer,” he said. “It is easy to use and understand, and it helps me save time. You can customize cable transits and easily change the arrangement of the transit whenever you need.”

Simple enough that designers just enter cable schedule, sealing requirements, and installation preferences—the tool generates documents such as bill of materials and CAD drawings. They can share their work with project teams anywhere in the world. And the chat function offers them instant access to the Roxtec expertise.

To start using the Roxtec Transit Designer, designers and engineers are invited to register at https://transitdesigner.roxtec.com/us/start.

Greensmith, a leader in grid-scale energy storage technologies has announced it is on track to successfully integrate an additional four new battery types in 2014, bringing the company’s total since inception to 12 using its battery-agnostic technology platform, now in its fourth generation. With over 23 MW of energy storage capacity to be deployed in 2014, Greensmith continues its rapid growth by serving an expanding list of strategic customers and channel partners looking to take full advantage of the company’s proven technologies and application expertise, including frequency regulation, grid stability/deferral, renewable integration, and commercial/industrial functionality.

Refined over many years of development, innovation, and real-world deployment experience, Greensmith’s software platform enables the rapid economic integration of both current and future battery technologies, always selected and configured according to the objectives and requirements of the target application. Although the company continues to develop and deliver turn-key energy storage systems at scale, a number of customers and partners are choosing to license Greensmith’s software and integration technology a-la-carte.

“From the very start, Greensmith believed that the potential for energy storage lay beyond ‘batteries-in-a-box,’ and that robust layers of software, integration and optimization were critical to capturing its full value”, said John Jung, Greensmith CEO. “It was also clear that a variety of battery alternatives, suitable for different application needs, would be available over time and therefore need to be easily integrated into a single, resilient technology architecture. So we built and advanced our battery-agnostic technology through multiple cycles of product development and delivery. We’re quite pleased to be on pace to successfully integrate our 12th battery type by the end of 2014— and while it’s become fashionable to proclaim battery-agnosticism in the marketplace, it’s quite another thing to have actually executed and delivered the goods.”
 

NEC Corporation has announced the acquisition of the A123 Energy Solutions business unit of A123 Systems, LLC. This acquisition, for approximately $100 million, strengthens the energy storage capability of NEC’s smart energy business, a core segment of its Mid-term Management Plan’s commitment to social infrastructure. A123 Energy Solutions will be integrated into the NEC Group of companies and operated globally as a key element of its business. An agreement on the terms of the deal has been finalized and a new company “NEC Energy Solutions” is slated to begin operation in June under the direction of NEC. A123’s existing cell manufacturing and sales, research and development, and automotive operations will remain the core focus of A123 Systems, LLC.

With this acquisition, NEC will become the world’s leading supplier of lithium-ion grid energy storage systems. A123 Energy Solutions has deployed over 110MW of its Grid Storage Solutions (GSS™) worldwide with the vast majority of these systems already in revenue service. The company will continue to supply systems using A123 Systems’ Nanophosphate® lithium-ion cells and support all existing installations. NEC Energy Solutions, with access to NEC Corporation’s world-class information communications technology (ICT) and A123 Energy Solutions’ system integrations expertise, is now better prepared to address the increasing global need for energy storage. In addition, NEC’s high quality, cost-effective lithium-ion technology adds to the ever-growing portfolio of energy storage technologies available for future use in A123 Energy Solutions’ GSS platform. At the same time, NEC will leverage A123 Energy Solutions’ experience in commercial batteries in order to serve NEC’s telecommunication carrier, enterprise and government customer base, thereby helping to drive the global expansion of NEC’s smart energy business

On the basis of its audited consolidated financial statements, Nordex confirms the preliminary figures for 2013 which it had reported in February. Thus, consolidated sales rose by around 33 percent to EUR 1,429.3 million (previous year: EUR 1,075.3 million), with return on sales widening to 3.1 percent. Consolidated profit after interest and taxes amounted to EUR 10.3 million, compared with a loss of EUR 94.4 million in the previous year, which arose mainly as a result of exceptional expenses in connection with the strategic realignment of the Group.

The gross margin expanded from 21.4 percent to the planned level of 22.6 percent in 2013.  This substantial improvement reflects operating measures such as cuts in the cost of materials of an average of around EUR 100,000 per turbine, more profitable contracts with new products and more professional execution of projects.

This development was particularly encouraging as Nordex’s production and installation output simultaneously reached a new record. Thus, turbine assembly output rose by 48 percent to 1,342 MW, while installations of new wind turbines increased by 36 percent to 1,254 MW.

In this way, Nordex was able to outperform industry trends and double its market share to almost eleven percent in its core EMEA region. In addition, Nordex installed wind power systems in South Africa and Uruguay for the first time. Consequently, Nordex is once again amongst the world’s ten largest producers of onshore wind turbines.

Over 110 wind farm owners including Iberdrola, NextEra, EDPR, E.ON, Google, Infigen, NRG Energy and EDF Renewable Energy will gather at next week’s Wind O&M Summit in Dallas (April 14-16) to devise asset life extension and performance enhancement strategies to meet 2020 renewable energy targets. 

A large percentage—73 percent—of U.S. wind farms will come to the end of their warranty period in the next three years. Now is the time for wind farm owners to develop a resilient post-warranty strategy and protect against O&M costs that are predicted to rise to $6 billion annually by 2025. Critical topics including cost efficiency to increase ROI, technologies to enhance production, strategies to extend asset lifetime, reducing main component failure, performance enhancing retrofits, data gathering, post warranty management and safety standards will form the basis of the 2014 agenda. 

The 350—plus  summit attendees will discuss the impact of the PTC extension—which in 2013 enabled a record 12GW of wind farms to be installed. The uncertainty for funding of new projects has placed the emphasis on implementing a cost effective O&M strategy across all assets to ensure increased power production.

Business leaders have dubbed the sell-out event an unrivalled opportunity to learn from, do business and network with the industry’s front-runners. David Capparelli, VP of business development at Sulzon stated that “following the excellent experience last time we attended, we feel the Dallas Summit is essential to anyone in the O&M business.” 

Elizabeth Demestiha, director at Wind Energy Update, said they are thrilled to see this many industry experts coming together to resolve challenges that will contribute to improved performance and higher efficiency.  “For the first time we have seen great interest from investment firms including Google, JP Morgan, Bank of America Merril Lynch and Societe Generale demonstrating the need for financial clarity in an industry with vast investor potential,” she said. 

The collected expertise surrounding performance enhancement and post-warranty management is unprecedented – providing the setting needed for owners to engage in timely discussions and share insight. Past attendees acknowledge that the event has fast become a renowned business platform that serves industry leaders with critical intelligence and an extended commercial network. 

Speakers, sponsors and attendees include Iberdrola, NextEra, EDPR, E.ON, Google, Infigen, NRG Energy, EDF Renewable Energy, Acciona Energy, BP Wind Energy, Duke Energy, DTE Energy, AIG, DNV GL, Gamesa, Broadwind Energy, GE, Siemens, Vestas and Romax Technology.

For more information on this event, attendee list, agenda, workshops and to secure a pass visit the website: http://social.windenergyupdate.com/operations-maintenance-usa/ 

Driven mostly by North American demand, OEM’s total workforce addition at four Colorado factories to top 850.

Two blade factories have already filled about 400 positions and Vestas expects to add at least 450 more production workers in 2014.

One of the best years for wind-turbine orders for Vestas has led to significant hiring at its four Colorado factories. The company’s blade factory in Windsor, blade and nacelle factories in Brighton, and tower factory in Pueblo, expect to add more than 850 production workers this year after Vestas secured orders in 2013 for nearly 900 turbines.

Working with Elwood Staffing, Vestas this year already has filled about 400 positions at its Colorado blade and nacelle factories and has received more than 3,200 applications overall. About 450 additional factory positions are expected to be filled this year. Candidates can apply at ElwoodWindJobs.com.

“We are going to be extremely busy making blades, nacelles and towers this year through at least 2015,” said Chris Brown, president of Vestas’ sales and service division in the United States and Canada. “We have excellent turbines like the V110-2.0 MW and V100-2.0 MW that are very competitive in the U.S. market—and they’re made right here in Colorado. Some of the world’s largest utilities and energy developers are buying them because they are confident in the proven technology, quality, and durability of our products.”

The positions are considered temporary with the opportunity to be hired as regular Vestas employees. Since late 2013, Vestas has already converted more than 60 people to regular employees at the Brighton blade factory.

Employees hired directly by Vestas receive a comprehensive benefits plan that includes health care, generous vacation and sick time, as well as a 401(k) with an employer match.

“Our world-class Colorado factories help us compete in the U.S. market,” Brown said. “Since we opened our first factory six years ago, it’s allowed us to conduct business in American dollars, build a domestic supply chain, and reduce transportation costs.”

Based on orders received in 2013, Vestas has the potential for an additional 2.6 GW of turbine sales in the United States and Canada. In addition to fulfilling regional orders, Vestas also is exporting blades, towers and nacelles from Colorado to projects in Mexico, Brazil ,and Uruguay.

In 2011 and 2012, a downturn in the U.S. wind industry proved challenging for Vestas and other renewable-energy companies. Today, Vestas is completely debt-free, earned a profit in 2013 and expects strong earnings in 2014.

Vestas employs more than 1,450 people in Colorado with the large majority working at the manufacturing facilities. In 2013, Vestas hired more than 300 people at its tower factory in Pueblo to meet customer demand.

The tower factory plans to hire 80 more people in the next few months and is expected to reach full capacity utilization in 2014. Vestas also employs people in service and maintenance at two wind farms, as well as at a tools warehouse in Denver. By the end of 2014, Vestas expects to have more than 2,000 workers in the state.

Across the United States, the wind industry has more than 550 factories in 44 states. Turbine components produced domestically and installed in the U.S. have grown from about 25 percent in 2005 to more than 70 percent in 2013, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Senvion SE, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Suzlon Group, installed more than 1.4 GW of capacity in 2013 followed by a strong installation start in 2014–thereby breaking the mark of 10 GW of capacity worldwide. This capacity is enough to supply 20 million people–or the entire population of Australia– with electricity for one year.

Senvion installed the largest share of this total volume in Europe, where a total of 7.5 GW is installed here alone—on land and in the water. In its domestic market of Germany, the wind turbine manufacturer installed a total capacity of 2.8 GW by the end of 2013. The subsidiaries in France (1.5 GW) and Great Britain (1.1 GW) likewise make a major contribution to breaking the 10 GW mark. In North America, Senvion is active with a total of 1.8 GW of installed capacity. Asian countries contribute 375 MW to the group’s capacity while the subsidiary in Australia contributes 196 MW.

 A total of 10 gigawatts of installed capacity on four continents in more than 10 countries documents impressively that we have the right products for the global market—from our tallest turbine measuring 200 meters in height for low-wind locations in inland areas to powerful offshore machines,” said Andreas Nauen, CEO of Senvion SE. “It was only recently that we founded a subsidiary in Austria. Turkey, India and Japan are other interesting markets we have our sights on.”

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems has regained its position as the world-leading turbine installer, reaching first place in the top five companies in terms of total capacity installed, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData’s unique wind turbine installation figures for 2013.

The company’s latest research shows that Vestas has knocked GE Power & Water out of this position from 2012. This comes following Vestas’ high number of wind turbine installations in the US, which is a major market for the company.

Both GE Power & Water and Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica slipped completely from the top five original equipment manufacturers in 2013, falling from first and fifth position, respectively. In 2013, GE Power & Water installed 980.2 MW of wind turbines, a drop of more than 80 percent compared to its 2012 installed capacity.

German turbine manufacturer Enercon has made the top five list as the second largest turbine supplier in 2013, climbing up from its fourth position in 2012. Germany, Canada, and Turkey proved major markets for Enercon in 2013, where the company installed total capacities of 1,484.8 MW, 582.5 MW, and 237.1 MW, respectively.

While Chinese OEMs were absent from the top five in 2012, Chinese wind turbine supplier Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology (Goldwind) has blown its way into third place in 2013, advancing from its seventh position in 2012. GlobalData states that this is due to the company’s increasing domestic installations in China.

Meanwhile, German OEM Siemens slipped to fourth position in the rankings, as Goldwind overtook the company to claim its position from 2012. Siemens’ drop follows its decline in U.S., UK,  and Romanian wind turbine installations.

Like Goldwind, Suzlon Group was another new entrant in the top five and ranked as the fifth largest OEM for 2013, advancing from its sixth position in 2012. This is attributed to the company’s large-scale installations in Canada, Germany, and Poland during 2013, according to GlobalData.

2.75-120 features flexible storage, delivers 5 percent more AEP than its predecessor

GE recently announced its 2.75-120 wind turbine—a smarter, more powerful turbine—at the European Wind Energy Association’s annual event. Part of GE’s brilliant wind platform, the 2.75-120 provides 5 percent more annual energy production than GE’s 2.5-120 model and is available with various tower technologies, ranging between 85-139 meters, and optional energy storage.

“As we accelerate our platform’s growth in Europe, we will continue to invest in technology such as the 2.75-120’s flexible tower and other energy storage options, making GE’s wind turbines more customizable for developers and operators,” said Cliff Harris, general manager of GE’s renewable energy business in Europe.

The 2.75-120 is available on a steel, hybrid or space frame tower, helping to tailor the turbine for unique site conditions and bring wind power to new places across the continent. The range of tower height spans 85-139 meters tall.

Short-term or long-term energy storage is available with the 2.75-120, making wind power more predictable, flexible and fast responding through battery software applications. Short-term storage is integrated at the turbine level and long-term storage is centralized for the wind farm. These options further customize GE’s offering based on-site or operator needs.

The 2.75-120 follows the success of its predecessor, the 2.5-120, announced in February 2013. Forty-four are being supplied to eight new German wind farms. The 2.75-120 is part of GE’s brilliant wind turbine platform and utilizes the power of the Industrial Internet to analyze tens of thousands of data points every second, driving higher output, improving services productivity and creating new revenue streams for customers.

The 2.75-120 wind turbine is part of the company’s commitment to technology solutions that save money and reduce environmental impact for customers. In February, GE renewed that commitment in announcing it would invest $10 billion additional in research and development by 2020. Part of that investment will go toward reducing the cost and increasing the output of its turbines to lower wind power generation costs.

GE’s renewable energy business announced the introduction of its new space frame tower for multi-megawatt wind turbines at the European Wind Energy Association’s annual conference in Barcelona, Spain.

The five-legged enclosed lattice tower enables towers up to 139 meters to be built more cost-effectively in never before accessible locations, using a logistics-friendly model of standard shipping methods and on-site assembly.

“The space frame tower helps our customers go taller in new locations, further enabling the growth of wind energy,” said Cliff Harris, general manager of GE’s renewable energy business in Europe. “This next innovation in wind turbine technology is a stepping stone towards towers taller than 150 meters in Europe. GE will continue to drive innovation and advanced technology for the wind industry in the coming years.”

The space frame tower is being introduced with GE’s new 2.75-120 wind turbine and was demonstrated in a full-scale turbine at GE’s prototype site in Tehachapi, Calif.

The lattice tower is assembled at wind farm locations and then wrapped in an architectural fabric to provide familiar solid structural aesthetics. The tower improves serviceability with increased space down-tower, maintenance-free bolting system, and efficient installation and dismantling.

The space frame tower features a wide base supported by five legs that provide more room at the base of the tower than a traditional tubular tower. The additional down-tower space allows for storage within the turbine for ease in maintenance, site organization and balance of plant.

Parts manufacturing can be automated with the space frame tower to optimize quality control of the structure. The fabric casing is durable, weather resistant, and does not need to be replaced during turbine life.

Participants tackle strategies toward reaching 2030 renewable energy goals.

New markets, technological breakthroughs and an end to political uncertainty—that’s just three of the advances the wind energy sector is expecting in the coming years, revealed industry leaders at the EWEA 2014 Annual Event in Barcelona.

“We will see advanced technology that is subsidy free,” said Anne McEntee, Vice President of Renewables at GE.

With high attendance levels and a buzzing exhibition hall, the overall vibe at EWEA 2014 was certainly positive. However, speakers did note that important challenges remain: securing 2030 renewable energy targets, cutting costs – in particular offshore, and building better electricity grids.
Andrew Garrard, EWEA President, warned that the current crisis in Crimea shows how dependent Europe is on fossil fuel imports. “The situation in Crimea is a wake-up call for all of us…it demonstrates the vulnerability of our fossil fuel supply”, he said. An ambitious 2030 renewable energy target would boost Europe’s renewables fleet and, in turn, energy security since President Putin cannot turn off the wind. Every EU citizen pays €2 a day for fossil fuel imports – or a total of €1 billion every day, he told the audience at EWEA 2014.

With over 150 companies and associations signing the “2030 declaration”—which calls on EU leaders to agree to ambitious and binding renewable energy targets at national level—the industry united at EWEA 2014 to ask EU leaders to make the decisions that will bring supply security to Europe.

“An ambitious target, binding on Member States, is the most cost efficient way to realise our goal of 100 percent renewables in the long term. Not to mention boosting a sector which provides 250,000 people with work in Europe,” said EWEA 2014 conference chair and managing director of ENERCON, Hans-Dieter Kettwig.

For those seeking inspiration, the conference did not disappoint. Brazil, Mexico and South Africa triumphed as new markets brimming with wind energy opportunity. Ten leading CEOs revealed their company’s strategies for survival, attendees heard that Google is looking to make more investments in wind, and Maria van der Hoeven, chief executive of the International Energy Agency, talked on the IEA’s support for 2030 renewable energy targets.

Meanwhile, EWEA released new material detailing the costs of fossil fuel imports to Europe, the IEA got frank about the effects of fossil fuel subsidies, and a separate EWEA report delved into a less publicised field – the massive consumption of water in the fossil-fueled power sector.

The event in Barcelona has now drawn to a close, but attendees full of new information, contacts and partnerships will certainly be looking forward to EWEA 2015 in Paris 17 – 20 November.  

For the second year, wind industry professionals gathered to participate in WIND EXPO, a conference and exhibition focusing on the growing wind energy market in Japan.

The event, held February 26-28 at Toyko Big Sight, in Tokyo, Japan, was one of eight concurrently running exhibitions that were part of World Smart Energy Week.

With major floating offshore projects currently taking place in the Japan, offshore related exhibits was one of the highlights of the show and actual project members took part in the show as exhibitors as well as conference speakers to share the latest information and to find business partners.

WIND EXPO saw modest growth in only its second year of inclusion as part of the larger event. Total exhibition floor space for WIND EXPO expanded by nearly 10 percent over 2013, showcasing both Japanese and international exhibitors and reflecting the increase in wind investment in the Japanese market.

The percentage of international exhibitors saw a significant jump of 70 percent, with some exhibitors participating as a pavilion.

Among the keynote presenters was Anne McEntee, GE’s Renewable Energy CEO, who, during her address, announced GE’s return to the Japanese market.

“The energy industry is going through major changes,” McEntee said. “Particularly, wind power generation is going to play an important role thanks to its ever improving high-efficiency and reliability, and GE is committed to continue to support its evolutions.

I also would like to express special thanks to the government and policy makers for its various supports such as FIT and government supported projects. With those supports, I am confident Wind industry will continue to show significant growth in the future.”

WIND EXPO is expected to expand even further in its third year, with the new feed-In-tariff coming into effect soon. The majority of the exhibition space for WIND EXPO 2015 was reserved during this year’s event.

As a whole, more than 67,000 attendees attended the World Smart Energy Week 2014. Seminar session participation for the events jumped nearly 30 percent over 2013. More than 14,000 participated in seminar sessions.

World Smart Energy Week drew nearly 1,600 exhibitors across all of the events, 178 of which exhibited at the WIND EXPO event. That number was up slightly over the inaugural event in 2013 (167 exhibitors). 

GE recently announced the opening of its Global Wind Turbine Drivetrain Repair Innovation Lab at the site of GE’s Power Generation Repair Technology Center in Albany, N.Y.

The facility is equipped with advanced technologies to support fast development and innovation for repairs to the wind turbine’s gearbox and rotor, creating a lab environment to simulate and solve problems that previously had to be worked on more than 100 meters in the air and at remote sites.

Technical capabilities of the Innovation Lab include:

• Rapid prototyping tools such as 3D printers and computer numerical control machines.
• Robotic welding and advanced machining tools.
• Repair of various gearbox models.
• Turbine generator repair.

Andy Holt, general manager of global wind projects and services, said: “This is the first facility of its kind dedicated to developing repair technologies and capabilities that reduce the life cycle cost of wind turbines. Albany was an ideal location for the facility with its close proximity to GE’s renewable energy headquarters, the GE Energy Learning Center as well as the existing Repair Technologies Center. It is uniquely positioned for collaboration with the field, design engineering, training and product service teams.”

The Innovation Lab aligns GE with customer needs by helping reduce maintenance and operating costs. GE engineers will have the space and resources to rapidly prototype and develop new technologies to apply to field service repairs. The team will focus on innovative approaches while fully vetting tooling and processes, keeping in mind safety, cost and the ability to address multi-unit configurations. With proximity to GE’s renewable energy headquarters in Schenectady, the team at the Innovation Lab also will work closely with product engineering to improve serviceability.

H.B. White Canada Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of White Construction Inc., has been selected as the EPC contractor to build four wind energy projects in Nova Scotia.

The wind energy projects, have been developed by juwi Wind Services Canada, on behalf of the project’s community and institutional owners. The selection was made after a competitive process managed by juwi Wind Services Canada.

“White is a top tier North American wind energy construction company and we saw real value in White’s competitive pricing, capacity, and previous Nova Scotia experience,” said juwi Director of Operations Jed van Sciver.

The 24-MW portfolio of community projects consists of:

• Pockwock Community Wind Project (10 MW)
• Millbrook Community Wind Project (6 MW)
• Truro-Heights Community Wind Project (4 MW)
• Whynotts Community Wind project (4 MW)

“The White organization and their affiliated companies have built over 10,500 MW of wind power projects throughout North America and traditionally builds much larger projects. However, the close proximity of these projects and our past experience working with First Nations made the juwi wind portfolio an attractive opportunity for our company,” said Chris Hanson of White Construction Inc.

Mike Kosiancic of Firelight Infrastructure Partners, the common equity owner across all four projects said of White’s selection, “It is really unique to have such a large and capable contractor building community wind projects this size.”

The projects were developed as a portfolio under the Nova Scotia Community Feed-In-Tariff program, where each project is partially owned by the local community.

“Using the White organization gives our local investors greater certainty that our project will be completed on-time and on-budget,” said Terry Norman, President of Chebucto Pockwock Lake Wind Field Limited.

Additionally, three of the four projects in the portfolio also have significant ownership positions held by Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq Bands.

Chief Bob Gloade of Millbrook First Nation said, “As Chief of the majority owner in one of the projects and as Chairman of the Mi’kmaq Rights Benefits Committee, it was important to see that White had experience with First Nation’s labor and contractors and that they will continue that commitment as they build these projects.”

The four projects entered into turbine supply agreements with Vestas in late 2013 to supply a total of 12 V100-2.0 MW turbines.

Representatives from Vestas, White, juwi, owners, and the initial project developer, hosted public open houses in February to share information with stakeholders about the upcoming builds.

Morgan Advanced Materials Electrical Carbon business announces that its range of carbon brushes are ideal for wind turbine applications, with new designs and materials that are resulting in longer brush life and increased generator uptime.

Morgan’s globally available brush grades are created to be environment-specific, offering maximized performance in low or high load conditions. Leading-edge laboratory equipment, coupled with years of experience in carbon brush technology, has led Morgan to develop advanced materials to address the environmental extremes experienced by wind turbines, including scorching heat or corrosive sea salt. The brushes are also engineered to deliver high performance in low-humidity atmospheres, a common environmental factor affecting many wind farms.

The field-tested carbon brushes are backed by unmatched application engineering, customer service, and global reach to support demanding environments. They offer exceptional performance, and feature low friction due to their superior film formation. In addition to being able to endure extreme atmospheric conditions, Morgan’s range of carbon brushes are tolerant to contamination and provide an excellent lifespan with minimal slip ring wear and a low brush-to-brush wear differential.

Despite their relatively small size, carbon brushes and related assemblies are a critical component in a generator’s overall efficiency and output. Morgan’s carbon brushes are ideal for wind turbine generators that are subjected to extremely harsh environments, along with other challenges, including sudden changes in wind speed, very low humidity, and the on/off cycling of the generator unit. Their superior design also results in lower maintenance costs and significantly improved generator reliability.

For more information, visit www.morganadvancedmaterials.com.