MidAmerican Energy Company has selected Mortenson Construction to build the 443.9MW Rolling Hills Wind Project in southwestern Iowa, one of the largest wind projects in the nation. MidAmerican Energy—which is number-one in the U.S. in ownership of wind-powered electric generation among rate-regulated utilities—selected Mortenson, North America’s leading wind power contractor, to build the project.

MidAmerican Energy also selected Mortenson to build the 119.6MW Laurel and 29.9MW Pomeroy IV wind projects. The construction of Rolling Hills marks the 100th wind project built by Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Group in North America.

“The Rolling Hills Wind Project is truly a landmark project for Mortenson and the wind industry,” according to Tim Maag, a vice president and general manager of Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Groups. “Having entered the renewables industry in its infancy, Mortenson is proud to achieve such a significant milestone. This is our largest wind power project to date, and it is a testimony to the strength of our industry partnerships and the depth of experience our team members bring to wind power construction.”

Together the Rolling Hills, Laurel, and Pomeroy IV wind projects span more than 150 square miles over six Iowa counties: Adair, Adams, Calhoun, Cass, Marshall, and Pocahontas. MidAmerican Energy has 1,393MW of owned and contracted wind generation facilities in Iowa. According to the American Wind Energy Association, Iowa ranks second in the nation for total number of installed megawatts of wind power and first in the nation for the percentage of electricity generated by wind power. The Rolling Hills Wind Project is the 13th wind power facility built by Mortenson in Iowa, and the sixth wind project built by Mortenson for MidAmerican Energy. During construction of the Rolling Hills Wind Project, Mortenson will erect 193 2.3MW Siemens wind turbines. This is enough electricity to power approximately 190,000 average American homes. Mortenson also will install access roads, underground collection, and tower wiring. The project will become operational by late 2011.

Founded in 1954, Mortenson Construction is a U.S.-based family owned construction company (see profile in April 2010 issue of Wind Systems at www.windsystemsmag.com). Ranked as the 24th largest contractor in America according to Engineering News-Record, Mortenson provides a complete range of services including planning, program management, preconstruction, general contracting, construction management, design-build, and turnkey development. Mortenson has offices in Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Seattle, with international operations in Canada and China. More information is available at www.mortenson.com/wind. Also visit www.midamericanenergy.com.

MYR Group, Inc. (MYR), has executed a contract with Cross Texas Transmission, an affiliate of LS Power, to construct approximately 235 miles of 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line in Texas. The contract is valued in excess of $160 million and is part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) initiative, which is being developed to integrate additional renewable energy and increase system reliability throughout the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Under the contract, MYR Transmission Services, Inc. (MYRT), an MYR subsidiary, will provide construction management, material procurement, and construction services including right-of-way clearing, environmental controls, foundation installation, structure installation, and conductor stringing. Construction planning has begun, and construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 with an expected completion date of spring of 2013.

“We are proud to be playing a significant role on this important project and look forward to working with Cross Texas Transmission in building its part of the transmission system for the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zones,” says William A. Koertner, chairman and CEO of MYR. “This project will help move electricity generated by renewable energy resources in the Panhandle of Texas to millions of customers throughout the state, and at the same time provide transmission infrastructure to serve the long-term needs of Texas.”

MYR is a holding company of specialty construction service providers. Through subsidiaries dating back to 1891, MYR is one of the largest national contractors servicing the transmission and distribution sector of the United States electric utility industry. Transmission and distribution customers include electric utilities, private developers, cooperatives, and municipalities. MYR also provides commercial and industrial electrical contracting services to facility owners and general contractors in the Western United States. MYR’s comprehensive services include turnkey construction and maintenance services for the nation’s electrical infrastructure. Learn more at www.myrgroup.com.

The successful O-INSPECT multisensor measuring machine from Carl Zeiss allows the very easy, very accurate, and thus very efficient inspection of complex parts. It can be used in the electronics and plastics industries, for medical and automotive technology, and precision engineering. A chromatic white light sensor is now available for O-INSPECT.

The white light sensor enables the measurement of parts that cannot be captured with a contact sensor or a camera. This includes very small and sensitive workpieces that feature a transparent, glossy, or low-contrast surface. Reflections or lack of contrast, which can impede the correct focusing of a camera, will no longer be a relevant factor. With the addition of a chromatic white light sensor to O-INSPECT, even workpieces such as these can be measured with maximum precision. “Carl Zeiss thus closes the final gap in the O-INSPECT measuring range,” says Dr. Dietrich Imkamp, who is in charge of visual systems at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen.

The workpiece is illuminated with bundled white light. Special optics with chromatic aberrations in the probe split the light into its spectral colors. A spectrometer analyzes the reflected light and determines which color has the highest intensity. The measuring machine can determine the distance from the sensor to the surface using the spectral color, and it derives the exact topography of the part from this information.

The results are displayed using CAD-based CALYPSO measuring software. It enables extensive size, form, and position measurements with systematic user guidance and makes deviations visible and quantifiable. Furthermore, O-INSPECT features an additional light source on the contact-scanning sensor that can be turned on to illuminate the measuring field when the machine is reprogrammed. With this enhancement to O-INSPECT, not only its range of use improves, but also its user friendliness. Obtain more information at www.zeiss.com.

Power Climber Wind—a division of SafeWorks, LLC—has signed a contract with one of the largest wind turbine generator (WTG) OEMs to supply and install the IBEX® climb assist systems for its Dashuiboluo wind farm located in Linxi, Inner Mongolia. The IBEX climb assist systems will be installed in 25 of the company’s 2.0MW turbines, which generate up to 50MW of wind power in the region.

The market leading IBEX climb assist is designed to retrofit and sets the standard for performance, safety, and ease of installation in any new or existing WTG. It puts complete control over the climbing effort and experience into the hands of the climber, delivering personalized performance, increased safety, and better productivity in any tower. “We work in wind turbines globally and are honored to perform in China for the world’s largest WTG OEM,” says Ruben Bake, vice president and general manager. “Our product provides a perfectly scaled solution for them, by retrofitting the wind turbines and improving the site technician’s safety and productivity, and ultimately the turbine performance.” To learn more call (206) 394-5306 in the Americas, or go to www.safeworks.com.

Sensor Products, Inc., a leader in the field of tactile pressure and force measurement, is pleased to announce it is offering Fuji Prescale pressure film. The film is a mylar tactile pressure indicating sensor film that instantly reveals surface pressure magnitude and distribution between contacting or impacting surfaces.

When placed between the surfaces it permanently turns different shades of red, with the color intensity being directly proportional to the amount of pressure applied. Prescale pressure indicating film shows precisely how bolted joints engage and deform under stress. Pressure variations are shown by the color changes left on the film. These colors can be compared to a color calibration chart to determine the exact pressure distribution.

While no instrumentation is required, the film impression can also be digitalized through imaging. Topaq, an imaging analysis program, assigns colors to pressure values. This graphic reveals pressure variations in a bolted joint interface. The non-uniform pressure distribution may be caused by a variety of factors including dimensional irregularities, surface roughness, and uneven bolt torque.

Since it is difficult to measure the force exerted by the bolts directly, torque values are often assigned for assembly based on trial and error. Prescale speeds assembly by quickly validating and confirming sufficient bolt torque to assure uniform interfacial pressure. To adjust torque values, the film is placed at the bolted joint interface and the bolts are tightened to apply pressure. The film is then removed and reviewed to see if the pressure is uniform. Common applications include measuring the interface pressure of bolted joints, gaskets, clamps, fasteners, connectors, flanges, valves, o-rings, and welding heads, among others. Wind applications include testing the bolted joints used in turbines.

Prescale is thin and flexible, allowing it to conform to both curved and straight surfaces. It may be hand or laser cut to fit unusual shapes and dimensions. It is ideal for invasive and intolerant environments not accessible to conventional transducers. The film confirms FEA predictions and has widespread applicability in research, design and test; assembly and production, quality control, and maintenance. Contact Sensor Products at (973) 884-1755, info@sensorprod.com, or www.sensorprod.com.

On March 31, 2011, the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and Sandia National Laboratories signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which both parties agree on future collaboration in the field of wind energy. Sandia Laboratories focuses on applied scientific research for national security in the U.S., with sustainable energy being one of their key research areas. In the field of wind energy Sandia works on many aspects of wind turbine design, but it has a longstanding history in rotor design with a focus on higher efficiency, reliability, and monitoring technique for optimizing operational management and maintenance to wind turbines.

The joint Sandia-ECN research will focus mainly on scaling up (offshore) wind turbines and developing so-called intelligent blades to further increase the yield of wind turbines, while reducing the mechanical loads. This enables lighter wind turbine designs, longer operating lives, and lower electricity production costs per kWh. Various wind turbine manufacturers have already shown interest in this development. Tests with this type of dynamic blades, which can be adjusted with respect to shape and/or aerodynamic characteristics depending on the operating conditions, can be conducted at the ECN test site in Wieringermeer or at the test site of Sandia in the U.S. Additionally, both Sandia and ECN are already involved in collaborations with Delft University of Technology in this research area. Further collaboration will also be started in the field of aerodynamic wind farm modelling and maintenance and operational management of offshore wind farms. The first concrete projects are expected to start this summer.

The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) is the largest research institute in the Netherlands in the field of energy and holds a strong international position. Go to www.ecn.nl. Sandia National Laboratories is managed by Sandia Corporation—a full subsidiary of the Lockheed Martin Corporation—and constitute the most important national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy. Next to research on reliable and safe nuclear technology, Sandia’s mission is to secure the future energy system and to make it more sustainable. Visit online at www.sandia.gov.

CommScope, Inc., a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, will supply two wind farm projects with its GroundSmart™ copper clad steel solution, an alternative to solid and stranded copper that is increasingly in demand by utilities for its cost-efficiency and anti-theft characteristics. The first project is the Breckenridge Wind Farm, located outside Breckenridge, Michigan, in Gratiot County. The 30,000-acre wind farm will use stranded copper clad steel in the ground grid collector system. It is estimated to produce 200 megawatts of wind energy, which has the capacity to power nearly 54,000 homes. The second project is the Rolling Hills Wind Farm near Massena, Iowa. It is estimated to be one of the largest wind farms under construction in the state.

“As renewable energy continues to increase in popularity, developers are racing to keep up with the demand by constructing new wind farms throughout the country,” according to Ric Johnsen, senior vice president of broadband, CommScope. “These two projects are vital to the areas they serve and developers see GroundSmart as a simple solution to reducing projects costs without compromising the system’s integrity. These contracts also demonstrate that GroundSmart continues to gain acceptance in grounding applications.”

Copper clad steel provides a safe, highly reliable alternative to the use of solid and stranded copper for grounding applications. It is specifically designed to disperse fault currents and lightning strikes at a lower total cost of ownership compared to pure copper. It’s an electrical conductor that has an outer sleeve of copper metallurgically bonded to a solid steel core. GroundSmart copper clad steel benefits from a specialized CommScope BiMetals technology and manufacturing process. The products are created by bonding two different metals into a single conductor, resulting in a low-cost and lightweight alternative to using solid copper. This unique solution for the utility market is produced at the CommScope facility in Statesville, North Carolina, that is ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 registered. Learn more at www.commscope.com.

Capital Safety, home of the DBI-SALA™ and PROTECTA® brands of fall protection equipment, announces the launch of the i-Safe™ 3.0 Intelligent Safety System. The system is a significant upgrade to the existing i-Safe™ 2.0 system, which was launched in 2006. Capital Safety’s i-Safe became the first radio frequency identification (RFID) system dedicated to fall protection equipment and inspection tracking. Since the initial launch Capital Safety has continued to make substantial investments in support of i-Safe’s commitment to improve safety compliance and reduce risk. Today Capital Safety is proud to announce the launch of i-Safe 3.0, a significant upgrade that makes managing a safety program easier and more cost-effective.

“With the expanded features now inherent in the i-Safe 3.0 system, it has become an even more advantageous product for our customers,” says Tim Maroushek, global product director. “Our aim was to enhance the widely accepted i-Safe 2.0 system and build on its value to save time, improve safety compliance, reduce risk, and enhance user safety through consistent inspection and asset management. With i-Safe 3.0 we’ve made another significant leap towards achieving that goal.”

Key system upgrades include:

• Multiple software offerings: Four software options now allow a company to decide if they want Capital Safety to host their data or if they want to manage the data themselves utilizing their own corporate computers or network server.
• Customizable: Offers the speed and benefits of pre-packaged solutions along with the advantages of tailoring features to their specific needs so they can efficiently manage their safety inspection program and assets.
• Consistent inspection tracking: Extensive list of standard and customized end-user prompted inspection checklists to ensure more consistent inspections with detailed notations, photos, and inspection status.
• Effective asset management: The dynamic filtering mechanism allows a company to easily identify, track and reassign the location, status and history of their valuable safety assets.
• Versatile management reports: Generates a wide range of operations and management reports including inspection reports, summary of hazards, top 10 hazards, inspector statistics, and more.
• Inspection scheduling and trigger alerts: Proactively shares information throughout the organization by advising site managers of upcoming or overdue inspections.
• Flexibility: Provides for the flexibility to use high-frequency RFID tags and readers or barcode information capture.

Capital Safety—one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fall protection, confined space, and rescue equipment, with 20 operating sites worldwide—is home of the DBI-SALA™ and PROTECTA® brands. Call (800) 328-6146 or (651) 388-8282, or visit www.capitalsafety.com.

Availon, Inc., a premier provider of services and parts to the wind power industry in North America, is proud to announce the launch of its new, informative, easy-to-navigate, customer-focused Web site. The site’s introduction follows the November 2010 name change of SSB Service, an international independent full-service provider of parts, upgrades, services, inspections, maintenance, and monitoring for the wind energy sector. Availon North America began operations from its Grimes, Iowa, headquarters in 2009.

The new Web site features contemporary design, improved navigation, and well-structured sections offering a wealth of information on every aspect of Availon North America services like operations and maintenance, end of warranty inspections, spare part management, and the profit-enhancing engineering upgrades. Availon’s over 30 years of experience in wind energy, and specifically, in the megawatt class wind turbines, is documented in numerous case studies and the online publication, OnService Journal, that can be easily downloaded by the site’s visitors.

Steve Thompson, Availon North America president, says that “Our energetic and knowledgeable team of engineers and technicians strives to provide the best ever services to the customers, so the main goal of this new website is to allow the visitors to assess our expertise and make educated decisions on the type of services they may need.”

Availon specializes in parts and services for GE, Vestas, and Siemens turbines, and is expanding to other turbine types. In addition to being a primary supplier for SSB and Duradrive parts, Availon is also an exclusive vendor for Bachmann, Leonard+Bauer, and Convertec parts. Availon, Inc., is a part of the Availon GmbH family, with more than 170 employees worldwide and business units in the United States, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Availon is the first independent wind turbine service provider to be both ISO 9001 certified and fully certified by Germanischer Lloyd in staff training, troubleshooting, and repair processes. Learn more at www.availon.com.

The end of 2010 marked the release of the ISO 29990 standard, a quality management and service standard dedicated to the quality of learning services. Education and training centers now have a means of having their core business approved and certified according to internationally recognized standards. The new standard is designed to allow objective comparisons of the numerous quality systems and models that characterize the education and further education market. ISO 2990 demands a mastery of core processes to enable an evaluation of course offers and the professional competency of the learning service provider. The BZEE Training Centre for Renewable Energy in Husum, Germany, is the first operation in the energy sector worldwide to be awarded the new ISO certificate. Certification was provided by DNV DetNorskeVeritas.

Over the past 11 years BZEE has pioneered the development of a customized qualification program for wind turbine service technicians and delivers this service through a network of national and international cooperation partners. The program has contributed highly to closing the skills gap in the expanding wind energy sector and has opened up new career paths in renewable energy for unemployed skilled workers. DNV has now certified BZEE’s learning services and its management system.

DNV Business Assurance, responsible for the certification process, is one of the leading global certification bodies and belongs to the independent DetNorskeVeritas foundation founded in 1864 in Norway. Today DNV boasts 300 locations worldwide and a network of 8600 professionals. “We’ve benefited immensely from the ISO process and the support offered by DNV and we’re proud to be the industry’s first education services provider to meet the new standard” says BZEE General Manager Nils Peters.

BZEE’s track record shows over 1,400 successfully qualified service technicians in Germany alone, and a growing output of wind energy technicians at the partner locations in France, the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the Unites States. Throughout this expansion BZEE has remained true to its roots as an industry-driven skills initiative with its 80 company members interacting with BZEE staff to continually update curricula to meet the demands of emerging technology and enhanced operational routines. Manufacturers, investors, and insurers profit from the guarantee that BZEE qualifications meet the wind industry’s needs. More information is available at www.bzee.de and www.dnv.de.

ExxonMobil Lubricants & Petroleum Specialties has globally introduced Looble, a user friendly, online industrial lubricant selector designed to help maintenance professionals make informed lubricant decisions for optimizing equipment performance and minimizing unplanned downtime. Looble simplifies the lubricant selection process by providing targeted Mobil-branded product recommendations with performance ratings based upon users’ specific industries, applications, and equipment. With just a click of the computer mouse or a touch on most Internet-capable smartphones, Looble enables users to access:

• Lubricant recommendations and application guidance based on their specific applications and operating conditions for a wide range of industries;
• Original Equipment Manufacturers’ recommended lubricants and schematics for numerous types of equipment makes and models;
• Detailed descriptions and five-star performance ratings for each recommended lubricant, and;
• Printable recommendation reports.

“With the introduction of Looble, maintenance and production professionals now have a readily accessible resource for lubricant and maintenance best practices that can help them optimize equipment performance and ultimately, enhance their companies’ bottom line and gain a global competitive advantage,” says Ian Davidson, global industrial marketing manager. “Looble is powered by our valuable application-specific expertise and unique insights that we have gained during more than a century of working with customers and the world’s leading industrial equipment manufacturers.”

ExxonMobil’s broad portfolio of Mobil-branded mineral oils and high-performance synthetic based lubricants are relied upon by successful companies around the globe. As a company that helped pioneer synthetic lubrication technology, ExxonMobil’s popular Mobil SHC-branded synthetic industrial lubricants are approved for use in more than 10,000 applications and have exclusive/preferential endorsements from leading original equipment manufacturers for more than 2,200 applications. For more information about Mobil SHC branded synthetic lubricants, or any other Mobil-branded products and services, visit www.mobilindustrial.com. 

As proof that it can use machine tools as well as build them, MAG has developed a process that used a horizontal boring mill (HBM) and specially designed tools to cut 588 teeth in a 19-meter (62.5 ft) diameter gear assembly weighing 60 tons (54,836 kg).

The two-piece gear assembly, made of ASTM A290 steel, consists of a 24-section track that serves as the base and a 12-section upper gear rack. The MAG team designed dedicated fixtures for each operation and special tooling for cutting and finishing the gear teeth on an HBM. “We cut the gear teeth on an unconventional machine,” according to Mark Huhn, project manager at MAG Fond du Lac. “In most cases the tooth involute would be generated by the machine itself, but we used a tool with the involute built into the cutter, which was accomplished by grinding the tooth form into the cutter first.”

The gear teeth were manufactured to American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) Gear Quality No. 6, and the gear was assembled to a pitch diameter concentricity of .8 mm (.031 in). The track, comprised of A148M Grade 620-415 castings, required a special cutter to produce a 2.127-degree surface angle. “The angle was circular interpolated onto the track surface and we designed a special cutter to cut the angle on one of our gantry-type machining centers,” says Huhn.

MAG is a leading machine tool and systems company serving the durable goods industry worldwide with complete manufacturing solutions for metal cutting and composites applications. With a strong foundation based upon renowned brands such as Boehringer, Cincinnati, Cross Hüller, Ex-Cell-O, Fadal, Giddings & Lewis, Hessapp, Honsberg, Hüller Hille and Witzig & Frank, MAG is recognized as the preeminent provider of tailored production solutions based on state of the art technology. Key industrial markets served include aerospace, automotive and truck, heavy equipment, oil and gas, rail, solar energy, wind turbine production, and general machining. With manufacturing and support operations strategically located worldwide, MAG offers comprehensive lines of equipment and technologies including turning, milling, hobbing, grinding, honing, systems integration, composites processing, maintenance, automation and software, tooling and fluids, and core components. For more information please visit www.mag-ias.com.

With industry-leading environmentally friendly vacuum and solid insulation technology, Eaton’s new 38 kV VCP-Wind medium voltage circuit breaker is designed to help customers manage power reliably, efficiently, and safely. They are engineered for wind farm collector substations and feature a reduced footprint. Maintenance requirements are minimized with the use of enclosed long-life vacuum interrupters, and the component arrangements allow for easy access. VCP-Wind’s direct roll-in configuration simplifies handling and relocation of the breaker. Eaton’s VCP-Wind medium voltage vacuum circuit breaker is rated up to 38 kV, 2000A (without fan cooling) and 31.5 kA.

Eaton’s vacuum and solid insulation technology is free of SF6-gas that contributes significantly to the greenhouse effect and associated climate change. Through more than 80 years of innovation and experience, Eaton has developed environmentally friendly vacuum interrupters capable of reliably switching both normal load currents and high stress fault currents. In an effort to increase the dielectric strength of the circuit breaker, Eaton has also designed vacuum interrupters that are encapsulated in epoxy resin material. The VCP-Wind circuit breaker family utilizes this solid insulation technology that has been catering to a wide range of applications for years.

The VCP-Wind circuit breaker offers numerous safety features for maximum protection. Eaton’s extensive innovation and experience in the electrical industry deliver world-class product reliability and quality. Go online to www.eaton.com.

Nordex USA, Inc., has entered into a joint venture with Beebe Community Wind Farm LLC, a Michigan project developer, for the co-development and construction of a wind farm in Gratiot County, Michigan. The project was initiated in 2007 by local resident Mark Hull, principal of Beebe Community Wind Farm LLC. Hull brought on Nordex last year to support project development as well as to supply 125 of Nordex’ new N117-2.4 MW turbines, which are designed specifically for low wind sites and are derived from the established Nordex 2.5 MW class. The N117 boasts the longest rotor blade in its category, resulting in an average 15 percent yield increase over previous products. The turbines will be manufactured at Nordex’ recently constructed plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

“We were initially interested in Nordex’ turbine technology for our class-three wind site,” says Hull, “but including them in the project team has considerably accelerated our development efforts. Wind projects require specialized expertise in several complex areas, so having Nordex on our side has been a true asset.”

The partnership expands Nordex’ track record for robust customer support offerings to the United States. “As a turbine manufacturer, we consider it important not only to provide reliable and efficient turbines, but also to support our customers in the course of project development,” says Ralf Sigrist, president and CEO of Nordex USA. “Nordex has added value to developers in Europe through such partnerships for almost 10 years, and we are happy to bring this service now to our U.S. customers.”

The Beebe Community Wind Farm takes a community-based approach that spreads economic benefit among local landowners through land leasing arrangements and to the greater community through tax revenue. More than 20,000 acres of land have been leased. The project has interconnection positions on a 345 kV line, and has been granted its “special use permit” from the county. Wind has been measured on the site for more than two years with met towers and SODARs, and continued environmental studies support the project’s feasibility. Power sale discussions are ongoing with several potential off-takers. The start of phase one construction is targeted for 2012, with further phases slated for 2013 and 2014. Nordex has both completed and planned installations in several states, including Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maryland, Iowa, Idaho, and Colorado. The Arkansas facility will fill all future orders, shipping turbines to wind farms around the country. More information is available at www.nordex-online.com.

New Hampshire-based SustainX has received $14.4 million from GE Energy Financial Services and other investors to continue developing its technology for energy storage using compressed air. Through the GE Ecomagination Challenge’s “Powering the Grid” program, in which SustainX is a partner, GE Energy Financial Services joins Cadent Energy Partners and prior investors Polaris Ventures and Rockport Capital in the new round of venture financing. The GE Ecomagination Challenge demonstrates GE’s global commitment to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative power-grid technologies through open collaboration, while providing financial support to develop and commercialize innovative technologies.

Details of the financing were not disclosed. A total of $5.4 million in earlier financing for SustainX came from the Small Business Innovation Research program of the National Science Foundation and from the Energy Storage Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. AES Energy Storage, LLC, is working with SustainX to demonstrate a full-size system in the field, capable of storing enough energy to power 1,000 typical U.S. homes. “GE’s backing, alongside that of other investors and the federal government, validates our efforts to develop and commercialize a cost-effective, grid-scale energy storage solution,” says Thomas Zarrella, CEO of SustainX. “We are on schedule to develop a grid-scale prototype to be demonstrated at an affiliated AES site where we can showcase our transformative energy storage technology.”

The present round of funding for SustainX represents the first time that both GE and Cadent Energy Partners have invested in the growing company. “We are pleased to be an investor in SustainX as we believe this company’s energy storage solution has a global market with enormous potential,” says Paul McDermott, managing partner of Cadent Energy Partners. “SustainX has set a remarkable pace in developing its product and establishing joint ventures to aid in the commercial production of its energy storage units. We look forward to participating in its continued success.”

To store energy, SustainX compresses air by using electricity to drive pistons inside cylinders. The resulting high-pressure air is stored in above-ground vessels. To release energy later, the system uses stored air to drive the same pistons, which in turn drive an electric generator. SustainX technology keeps air at a nearly constant temperature during compression and expansion; this significantly improves efficiency and reduces the cost of compressed-air energy storage below that of other above-ground energy-storage options.

Independent experts estimate that the market for grid-scale energy storage will be $18 billion by 2015. Storage can improve the economics of wind and solar power, improve grid stability, store off-peak energy to be used during on-peak periods, improve the feasibility of microgrids in rural areas, and reduce emissions from the gas-turbine peaker plants presently used to keep electric supply precisely matched with demand. To learn more go to www.sustainx.com or www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.

BASF Corporation announces the opening of their new epoxy composite laboratory at its technical center in Tarrytown, New York. The new laboratory brings together BASF’s comprehensive technical capabilities for epoxy systems, under its Baxxodur® brand, to support the development of new epoxy composite applications. It offers a wide range of facilities for simulating customers’ production processes with Baxxodur resin systems and the ability to develop tailored solutions for customer’s specific process conditions. In addition, BASF has increased its technical support team with experts who provide on-site customer support. “This investment reinforces BASF’s commitment to the wind energy market and will help us serve our customers better by providing fast and reliable technical support tailored to their needs,” says Teressa Szelest, senior vice president of BASF’s Chemical Intermediates Division.

Composites based on thermosetting epoxy resin systems have become an established material for the production of modern wind turbine rotor blades. Baxxodur epoxy systems can be processed significantly faster, over a wider temperature range than conventional systems, thereby increasing flexibility in production and allowing blade manufacturers to produce parts of higher quality in significantly reduced cycle times, offering up to 30 percent improvement in production efficiency.

The new laboratory provides excellent synergy with cluster of analytical services and application development resources of multiple BASF business units. This investment in North America is part of BASF’s overall strategy to provide customers with a global network of technical support. BASF also has epoxy composite technical centers in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Shanghai, China. To learn more about BASF’s products for the wind energy market please visit www.windenergy.basf.com.

NRG Systems, manufacturer of wind measurement equipment for the global wind energy industry, has introduced the Symphonie iPackGPS, an upgraded communications module used to transmit wind resource data from the field to end users. Compatible with GSM, CDMA, or satellite networks, the iPackGPS provides several technological improvements over the previous generation of iPack. These include automated GPS coordinate reporting, ability to update Symphonie iPackGPS firmware and configuration settings remotely, variable call interval range, and an upgraded data logger display to support users in troubleshooting directly from the field. NRG Systems will continue to offer existing Symphonie iPacks while supplies last. The iPackGPS will be available for the same price as the previous generation of iPack.

NRG Systems is an independently owned company that has served the global wind energy industry for 28 years. Its wind measurement systems and turbine control sensors can be found on every continent in more than 140 countries, serving electric utilities, wind farm developers, turbine manufacturers, research institutes, government agencies, and universities. For more information go to www.nrgsystems.com.

NAES Corporation, a broad-based provider of services to the energy industry, announces the addition of two vice presidents to its Engineering & Construction Group. Butch Kimbrell has joined the company as vice president of construction, and Bob DeNeve has joined as vice president of business development.

Kimbrell brings over 30 years experience in project management, strategic planning, operations, and business development. Prior to joining NAES he worked in the construction industry for companies such as Stone & Webster, Halliburton, and Brown & Root. His project experience includes oil and gas facilities, power plants, petroleum and chemical complexes, paper mills, and federal government logistics and infrastructure support missions. He will be based in the Issaquah office.

DeNeve comes to NAES from SNC Lavalin Engineers & Constructors, where he was director of business development. At SNC Lavalin he was responsible for account development and management of clients within the downstream refining, petrochemical, and chemical markets throughout various regions of North America. Prior to that he was involved in business development for companies such as Foster Wheeler USA, TIC, and Olin Corporation/Chemicals Group. He will be based in the Houston office.

Headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, NAES is a leading provider of comprehensive construction services. For over 30 years it has specialized in providing services centered on safe, reliable, and cost-effective construction, retrofit, and maintenance services; on-site turbine inspection/overhaul services; staffing solutions; plant operations; and customized services designed to improve plant and personnel effectiveness. NAES is owned by ITOCHU International, Inc., the U.S. affiliate of ITOCHU Corporation.  With operations in over 80 countries covering a broad range of industries, ITOCHU is among the world’s largest corporations. Learn more at www.naes.com.

Rexnord Industries has opened a fully renovated 29,000 square-foot gearbox repair and remanufacturing facility in Salt Lake City. The facility is part of Rexnord’s Falk™ RENEW® Prager® product services, which repairs or rebuilds gearboxes of all makes, brands, and sizes. “Rexnord’s gearbox repair services offer our customers cost-effective solutions when downtime is critical and long-term reliability and peace of mind are a must,” says Mike Stofferahn, vice president, Rexnord product services–sales and marketing. “Our services not only extend drive life, but also enhance operating performance and lower the total cost of ownership for our customers.”

The new facility will operate with fully authorized and trained Rexnord technicians and field support personnel who have a combined experience of more than 75 years. “Our customers expect Rexnord to deliver top-of-the-line performance, day after day,” Stofferahn says. “With over 100 years of gearbox manufacturing, repair, and service experience, we deliver. As an OEM Rexnord utilizes OEM-quality components, and the same testing methods for repaired or rebuilt gearboxes as we do for newly manufactured drives. Our expansion to Salt Lake City enables us to provide exemplary service to our customers in thriving industries in the area such as mining, coal, and power generation.”

The Salt Lake City facility will join additional RENEW locations near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Rexnord’s gear business serves a variety of industrial customers worldwide, including mining, aggregate/cement, wood/paper, construction, energy, food and grain, and chemicals. Rexnord LLC is the parent company of Rexnord Industries. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rexnord’s Power Transmission Platform is a manufacturer and supplier of highly engineered products including industrial bearings, couplings, gears, modular conveyor belting, and industrial chain, primarily serving a broad range of process and industrial customers worldwide. Learn more at www.rexnord.com.

Dow Wire & Cable announces the appointment of Brad Miller as global marketing director. In this role he will drive strategic growth initiatives utilizing Dow Wire & Cable’s portfolio of products, technologies, and power industry expertise. This will include executing global product launches for solutions in the traditional power and alternative energy industries as well as market segments like personal electronics, building and construction, and transportation wires, cables, and accessories.

“As we continue to grow in the global power industry and its ancillary markets, it is more important than ever to complement our product and technology offering with strategic marketing and branding programs,” says Tim Laughlin, general manager. “We look forward to having Brad on our team to continue and enhance the excellent progress we’ve made in this important facet of our business.”

Miller has been with Dow for over 20 years and previously served as global business director for Dow Fiber Solutions. He also has held a number of commercial roles in Dow’s chemical and plastics businesses. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Indiana University. He will be located at Dow Wire & Cable headquarters in Houston.

Dow Wire & Cable, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, is a leading global provider of products, technology, solutions, and expertise that sets standards the power industry can count on for reliability, longevity, efficiency, ease of installation, and protection in the transmission, distribution, and consumption of power, voice, and data. For more information visit www.dowwireandcable.com.