The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Sage Oil Vac, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas the 2014 President’s “E” Award in recognition for the company’s achievements in making significant contributions to the increase of U.S. exports.

Sage Oil Vac has demonstrated a sustained commitment to U.S. export expansion. The “E” Award Committee has recognized Sage’s innovation in the development of services for the wind turbine industry, as well as the company’s customization of products for export markets. Companies receiving this award have contributed to national export expansions efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs.

 The President’s “E” Award was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and more than 2,500 firms have been recognized through the “E” Awards since the program’s inception. The “E” Award program is managed by the U.S. Commercial Service, which nominates the recipients. Through 108 domestic offices and locations in more than 70 countries, ITA offers programs and services focused on export promotion.

 The primary criterion for the President’s “E” Award for Exports is four years of successive export growth, usually accompanied by a rising percentage of export sales within total sales. The application should demonstrate export expansion that is measurable, innovative, sustainable, and has broad impact.

Kansans are a step closer to benefitting from a more robust electric transmission system with a portion of the Prairie Wind Transmission line now in service. About 78 miles of the 108-mile, double circuit 345 kV transmission line is complete and moving electricity between Wichita and Medicine Lodge. The line was energized Wednesday. The remainder of the Prairie Wind project, which will take the line from Medicine Lodge south to the Kansas/Oklahoma border, is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2014.

The Prairie Wind line is part of a broader project commonly referred to as the Y-Plan. The Y-Plan will alleviate congestion in the region’s transmission grid.

“Construction of the line has brought good paying jobs to the communities near the line, giving local economies a boost,” said Kelly Harrison, president of Prairie Wind Transmission and vice president, transmission of Westar Energy. “This line is like an electricity super highway Portion of Prairie Wind Transmission line energized that will strengthen the state’s transmission system for decades, providing Kansas communities with more reliable electricity, enabling development of wind energy and giving Kansans access to lower cost electricity.”

Under this plan, OG&E will continue the Prairie Wind line from the Kansas/Oklahoma border to Woodward, Okla. ITC Great Plains is constructing a line from Medicine Lodge to a Clark County, Kan. substation and then to Spearville, Kan. All of the transmission line projects under the Y-Plan are scheduled to be complete by the end of this year.

Through careful project planning and management, the estimated cost of the Prairie Wind line was lowered last fall to $170 million, about 25 percent less than original estimates of $225 million. Prairie Wind is a joint venture formed by Westar Energy and Electric Transmission America — a joint venture of an American Electric Power subsidiary and MidAmerican Transmission — to build and own new electric

The global wind operation and maintenance market is set to expand with stable demand potential in the near future. The wind operation service market accounted for more than 20 percent and the wind maintenance service market accounted for more than 75 percent of the global wind operation and maintenance marketing 2012. The three main components of wind turbines, gearbox, generator, and wind blades account for more than 50 percent of repair and replacement servicing needs. According to market forecasts, the global wind operation and maintenance market is expected to reach $14,014 million by 2018.

Lucintel, a leading global management consulting and market research firm, has conducted a competitive analysis on this market and presents its findings in "Growth Opportunities in Global Wind Operation and Maintenance Market 2013-2018: Trend, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis.” This study provides a concise overview of the global wind operation and maintenance market in terms of value and projected annual growth.

Lucintel discusses the various challenges and opportunities faced by the wind O&M market. Efficient and timely operation and maintenance servicing has a positive impact — both on reducing repair costs and improved performance output of large machines. In this market, it is very critical to have ready inventory of spare parts or a strong supply chain that can respond to the repair needs when they occur.

Lucintel's study encompasses the major drivers. Mostly, aging wind turbines cause unexpected failure of components, such as gearboxes, generators, and rotor blades, which is a major driver for wind operation and maintenance costs. So, improving turbine reliability is a priority for the manufacturers.

This report highlights different aspects of the wind operation and maintenance market. Due diligence has been given to the current market scenario. Europe is the leader in this market with the highest market share, followed by APAC.

The global wind operation and maintenance market is expected to grow significantly in near future. The top players need to formulate effective marketing strategies to take advantage of the opportunities, resulting in improved revenue and profitability.

Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Tom Cole (OK-04) introduced the Rural Wind Energy Development Act to provide an investment tax credit to ranchers, farmers, and small businesses to offset the up-front costs of owning a distributed wind turbine.  This modest expansion of current law will keep small business energy jobs growing across the United States.

Distributed wind projects are present in all 50 states, providing clean, homegrown, affordable power and economic development across the United States.  These systems are commonly, but not always, installed on residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and community sites and can range in size from a few-hundred-watt, off-grid turbine at a remote cabin or a 5-kW turbine at a home to a multi-MW turbine at a manufacturing facility.

“I applaud Representatives Blumenauer and Cole for their leadership at this critical time for our industry,” said Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of the Distributed Wind Energy Association. “This industry is bigger than just one job or one type of turbine. We have an entire supply chain here in the U.S. providing parts for a wide range of distributed wind systems, while employing Americans and providing American-produced electricity. This legislation will provide stability and certainty for the entire distributed wind market and allow this American success story to go on.”

The Congressmen issued the following statements earlier today:

“Community wind energy not only creates American-produced electricity, but American jobs as well,” said Blumenauer. “Approximately 90% of distributed wind turbines sold in the U.S. are made here, according to domestic manufacturing content, creating non-exportable, family wage jobs.”

“I am pleased to once again work with my friend and colleague in furthering the success of the same credit we worked to create in 2008,” said Cole. “Not only does the credit play an important role in encouraging and developing an all-of-the-above energy approach for our nation, but it also ensures that America continues to be a leader in innovation. By modestly increasing this credit, we can continue to encourage economic development, especially in our rural communities.”

The existing investment credits, which may be taken in lieu of the federal Production Tax Credit for large-scale wind projects, have worked very well, but are too limiting. This bill strikes the existing 100 kilowatt nameplate limitation for small wind systems, and expands the maximum wind turbine size to 20 megawatts, in line with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission definition of distributed wind power.

This will provide stability and certainty for the distributed wind market and unlock the necessary investment to grow our global leadership role in distributed wind power, while helping Americans take advantage of clean, renewable, affordable power.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its Clean Power Plan proposal, which for the first time cuts carbon pollution from existing power plants, the single largest source of carbon pollution in the United States. The proposal will protect public health, move the United States toward a cleaner environment and fight climate change while supplying Americans with reliable and affordable power.

Power plants account for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. While there are limits in place for the level of arsenic, mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particle pollution that power plants can emit, there are currently no national limits on carbon pollution levels.

With the Clean Power Plan, EPA is proposing guidelines that build on trends already underway in states and the power sector to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants, making them more efficient and less polluting.

By 2030, steps EPA is taking will:

· Cut carbon emission from the power sector by 30 percent nationwide below 2005 levels, which is equal to the emissions from powering more than half the homes in the United States for one year;

· Cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide by more than 25 percent as a co-benefit;

· Avoid up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school days—providing up to $93 billion in climate and public health benefits; and

· Shrink electricity bills roughly 8 percent by increasing energy efficiency and reducing demand in the electricity system.

The Clean Power Plan will be implemented through a state-federal partnership under which states identify a path forward using either current or new electricity production and pollution control policies to meet the goals of the proposed program. The proposal provides guidelines for states to develop plans to meet state-specific goals to reduce carbon pollution and gives them the flexibility to design a program that makes the most sense for their unique situation. States can choose the right mix of generation using diverse fuels, energy efficiency and demand-side management to meet the goals and their own needs. It allows them to work alone to develop individual plans or to work together with other states to develop multi-state plans.

Also included in the proposal is a flexible timeline for states to follow for submitting plans to the agency—with plans due in June 2016, with the option to use a two-step process for submitting final plans if more time is needed. States that have already invested in energy efficiency programs will be able to build on these programs during the compliance period to help make progress toward meeting their goal.

Meeting the world's growing need for energy will require more than $48 trillion in investment over the period to 2035, according to a special report on investment released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as part of the World Energy Outlook series. Current annual investment in energy supply of $1.6 trillion needs to rise steadily over the coming decades towards $2 trillion. Annual spending on energy efficiency, measured against a 2012 baseline, needs to rise from $130 billion today to more than $550 billion by 2035.

"The reliability and sustainability of our future energy system depends on investment," said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. "But this won't materialize unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance. Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted. There is a real risk of shortfalls, with knock-on effects on regional or global energy security, as well as the risk that investments are misdirected because environmental impacts are not properly reflected in prices."

Newly compiled data show how annual investment in new fuel and electricity supply has more than doubled in real terms since 2000, with investment in renewable source of energy quadrupling over the same period, thanks to supportive government policies. Investment in renewables in the European Union has been higher than investment in natural gas production in the United States. Renewables, together with biofuels and nuclear power, now account for around 15 percent of annual investment flows, with a similar share also going to the power transmission and distribution network. But a large majority of today's investment spending, well over $1 trillion, is related to fossil fuels, whether extracting them, transporting them to consumers, refining crude oil into oil products, or building coal and gas-fired power plants.

Investment decisions are increasingly being shaped by government policy measures and incentives. While many governments have retained direct influence over energy sector investment, some stepped away from this role when opening energy markets to competition:  many of these have now stepped back in, typically to promote the deployment of low-carbon sources of electricity. In the electricity sector, administrative signals or regulated rates of return have become, by far, the most important drivers for investment: the share of investment in competitive parts of electricity markets has fallen from about one-third of the global total ten years ago to around 10 percent today.

Of the cumulative global investment bill to 2035 of $48 trillion in the report's main scenario, around $40 trillion is in energy supply and the remainder in energy efficiency. Of the investment in energy supply, $23 trillion is in fossil fuel extraction, transport and oil refining; almost $10 trillion is in power generation, of which low-carbon technologies – renewables ($6 trillion) and nuclear ($1 trillion) – make up the lion's share; and a further $7 trillion in transmission and distribution. More than half of the energy-supply investment is needed just to keep production at today's levels, that is, to compensate for declining oil and gas fields and to replace power plants and other equipment that reach the end of their productive life. The $8 trillion of investment in energy efficiency is concentrated in the main consuming markets, the European Union, North America and China: 90 percent is spent in the transport and buildings sectors.

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.