The supervisory board of REpower Systems AG has agreed upon the appointment of Andreas Nauen as member and chairman of the executive board as chief executive officer in its meeting in June. Nauen took office on 1 July 2010. His contract provides for an appointment term of three years as from 1 July 2010 and includes an optional extension for another term of two years. As planned, the current chairman of the executive board, Per Hornung Pedersen, has resigned from his office as chairman and will remain on the board as chief market officer.

REpower Systems AG, a Suzlon group company, is one of the leading manufacturers of onshore and offshore wind turbines. The international mechanical engineering company develops, produces, and markets wind turbines with rated outputs of 2.05 MW to 6.15 MW and rotor diameters of 82 meters to 126 meters for almost any location. The company also offers a comprehensive portfolio of service and maintenance packages. The profitable and reliable systems are designed at the REpower TechCenter in Osterrönfeld and manufactured at its plants in Husum (North Friesland), Trampe (Brandenburg) and Bremerhaven, as well as Portugal and China. With about 2,000 employees worldwide, the Hamburg-headquartered company can make use of the experience gained from the manufacture and installation of over 2,000 wind turbines around the world. REpower is represented by distribution partners, subsidiaries, and participations in European markets such as France, Belgium, the UK, Italy, Portugal, and Spain as well as on a global level in the United States, Japan, China, Australia, and Canada. Learn more at www.repower.de.

Austal’s Wind Express series of vessels combine fuel efficiency with advanced sea keeping characteristics to deliver a premier transportation solution for offshore wind farm operators. By utilizing Austal’s world-renowned advanced hull design and engineering capabilities, each vessel is purpose-built to deliver a rugged, reliable, multipurpose workboat platform. Among the many significant features of the Wind Express series is the option to install Austal’s patented Ride Control System (RCS)—a first for offshore wind farm vessels—to ensure a safer, more-productive platform, even in rough seas.

Austal Chief Operating Officer Andrew Bellamy says the vessels would introduce new levels of productivity and safety to the growing offshore wind farm industry. “In this industry reliability is paramount; not only in terms of machinery but also in the ability of the vessels to transfer personnel to and from wind turbines in comfort and safety,” he says. “With our Wind Express series we have introduced platforms that not only deliver reliability, but also have the capacity to operate in rougher waters at higher speeds and greater efficiency. These are important characteristics as wind farms are constructed further offshore.”

Characterized by their optimum passenger comfort and safety, each vessel in the Wind Express series can be further customized to suit specific sea conditions, routes, work space, and payload requirements. The series incorporates four vessels: Wind Express 17, Wind Express 19, Wind Express 28, and Wind Express 28-Tri SWATH. These vessels feature a selection of hull forms ranging from a refined catamaran design for added stability and efficiency to the Austal-developed tri-SWATH hull form delivering unparalleled sea keeping and onboard comfort in up to sea state 6. Like all Austal vessels, the Wind Express series offers the peace-of-mind that comes from dealing with an ISO 9001:2008 quality certified shipbuilder with an established network of vessel support and maintenance centres worldwide.

As the largest aluminium shipbuilder in the world, Austal also has the unrivalled production capacity to facilitate fast, cost-effective delivery of multi-vessel fleets.

Austal has delivered more than 220 vessels to over 36 different countries over two decades. To learn more call 61 8 9410 1111, e-mail sales@austal.com, or go to www.austal.com.

Liebherr is building a new production facility for drive components in Mexican Monterrey, Nuevo León. The company—Liebherr Monterrey, S. de R.L. de C.V., founded in 2009—will produce large diameter bearings at this site in a wide range of diameters starting from mid 2010. These products are used in wind turbines for the pitch and yaw adjustment.

The new plant will supplement the existing production facility in Biberach an der Riss, Germany, where up to now all the components for the wind industry have been manufactured. The high quality level, based upon decades of experience, will be contained in the products manufactured at the newly founded production plant. By providing additional capacities Liebherr is preparing for the forthcoming growth anticipated for the North American wind-power market. With the new location Liebherr is going to strengthen its competitive capacity still further, and bolster its position as a strategic supplier to the wind industry.

Liebherr is the only manufacturer in the world which, as a systems supplier, can offer bearings and drive units as well as hydraulic cylinders and control technology all from its own development and production resources. In the sector of large diameter bearings for pitch and yaw adjustment in wind-power systems, single-row and double-row four-point bearings are offered that feature particularly high quality and long service life. The product range in drive systems includes multi-stage coaxial planetary gears that can be adapted to suit a customer’s particular needs. Liebherr drive systems are especially famous for their reliability, compact design, and best possible weight-performance ratio. Electric motors for supplementing the gearboxes likewise come from the company’s own development and manufacturing resources.

There are hardly any limits to the size of the drive components the company can provide, with a product range including parts for supply to 750 kW systems as well as large turbines with rated capacities of 7.5 MW for operation both onshore and offshore. To learn more contact Douglas Cross, sales manager, Liebherr Components North America Co., at (734) 944-6334 or douglas.cross@liebherr.com. Visit online at www.liebherr.com.

Gexpro is holding “Energy Summits” across the United States to educate electrical contractors, facility managers, commercial building owners, and government buyers on how best to achieve lower energy costs with green technologies. The sessions focus on the latest advancements in energy efficiencies, new green product solutions and services, and ways to benefit from the government stimulus plan (the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act), utility rebates, and state government programs. The Gexpro summits have been held so far in San Diego, upstate New York, and Atlanta, with plans for additional sessions in Dallas and Chicago.

The one-and-a-half day summits cover a wide range of topics: energy efficient lighting installations and retrofits, solar energy design and applications, ECM motors for commercial refrigeration and HVAC, and specific power quality solutions that can increase the performance, lifespan, and efficiency of all electrical products in a commercial or institutional application. Speakers come from both Gexpro and leading manufacturers, as well as other energy and environmental specialists.

Besides concentrating on product technologies and solutions, each summit includes vital information on maximizing the available benefits of the U.S. stimulus plan, explaining how the stimulus works, its funding requirements, and how Gexpro can act as a resource in helping attendees take advantage of the plan’s rebates and tax incentives.

“The Energy Summit is a natural outgrowth of Gexpro’s resource-rich experience in energy-efficient solutions and our dedication to comprehensive customer service in providing those solutions,” says Jeff Pecoroni, director if energy solutions. “These events are designed to inform participants in practical ways to reduce energy consumption and to educate them on the economic benefits of energy-saving solutions and their relationship to new government funding opportunities. The summits are unique in that they present a forum where contractors, facility managers, and building owners can dialogue with manufacturers and electrical suppliers on the synergies of green technology and economic incentives.” Learn more at www.gexpro.com.

The Texas A&M University System and Gamesa Technology Corp. have announced an agreement with the intention to install a new generation of wind turbine at West Texas A&M University, coordinated jointly by the Energy Engineering Institute and the Alternative Energy Institute of the A&M System. The Gamesa G10X—also known as the G128—would be the largest of its kind in the country, while providing substantial advances in production output, energy efficiency and noise reduction.

A signing ceremony was held at the 2010 American Wind Energy Association WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition, where A&M System and Gamesa officials initiated a long-term agreement in which the system, through its multiple members, will conduct ongoing research and testing for Gamesa’s energy-related projects. System members include the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (Energy Engineering Institute), Texas A&M University, West Texas A&M (Alternative Energy Institute), and the Texas Transportation Institute. The initial collaboration will involve installation of the Gamesa G10X, a 4.5-megawatt turbine that has a higher tower height and a larger rotor diameter (420 feet/128 meters) than existing land based turbines, which allows it to access better wind resources that further increase its production capability.

“Providing the innovations necessary to secure an efficient, high volume energy supply for our future is one of the most critical tasks before the world’s researchers today,” says Theresa Maldonado, Ph.D., P.E., associate vice chancellor for research of the A&M System and director of the E2I. “Great strides are being made in renewable energy resources, but the greatest challenge to their widespread use remains the limited capacity they currently generate. The A&M System is uniquely configured through its long history in energy research and its specialized facilities to address challenges in the wind energy industry. The Energy Engineering Institute is positioned to coordinate these R&D activities.”

According to Dirk Matthys, CEO of Gamesa, “Recognized for its worldwide reputation for conducting research and finding breakthrough technology, we look forward to this collaboration with Texas A&M,” he says. “This key relationship represents another milestone for Gamesa as we continue to grow and enhance our research programs to advance wind turbine technology in the U.S.”

The 4.5-megawatt platform G10X is Gamesa’s most ambitious program and is the industry’s most powerful onshore product to date. It has a tower height more than 30 percent taller than the Statue of Liberty. With its state of the art proprietary control technology and blade design, the G10X will be able to produce a 50 percent greater generating capacity than the current technology, with both greater efficiency and at a reduced noise level. Each G10X, when connected to the grid, will add power output equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 3,000 homes. Construction will take place at the Alternative Energy Institute Regional Wind Test Center at Nance Ranch, a West Texas A&M research facility. Learn more at www.gamesacorp.com.

DMI Industries, a recognized leader in wind tower manufacturing, has expanded its offerings to the wind energy industry with the addition of transport services for large-scale components. The announcement was made during the American Wind Energy Association annual conference. The new service is now available from DMI through a partnership with E.W. Wylie Corporation, a fellow Otter Tail Corporation company and experienced heavy haul provider to the industry.

“Providing greater value for our customers continues to drive our business strategy,” says Stefan Nilsson, president of DMI. “Hauling large-scale components to project sites safely, timely, and cost-effectively remains a challenge for our customers. We believe this new service from DMI addresses these challenges.”

In the partnership DMI takes the lead on all aspects of sales and account management for wind-related hauling of components such as tower sections, blades, nacelles, transformers, and other large-scale components. Deliveries are executed by E.W. Wylie and their modern tractor-trailer fleet capable of loads up to 120 tons and 185 feet long. The fleet includes specialized equipment like schnables and blade trailers.

“It is a relationship that makes sense for our customers and for the industry,” says Brian Gast, president of E.W. Wylie. “Both of our companies are well respected in the wind business and are supporting the efforts of the same organizations to get project sites up and running. By joining forces we are offering a single point of contact to ease the effort of getting components to the site, and giving confidence in safe and timely deliveries.”

DMI is a heavy steel wind tower manufacturer with facilities located in North Dakota and Oklahoma in the United States and Ontario, Canada (see profile in the January 2010 issue of Wind Systems magazine, www.windsystemsmag.com). DMI offers transport services for large-scale wind energy components such as tower sections, blades, nacelles, transformers, and other components. The company also has capabilities to produce equipment for a wide variety of industries including agricultural processing, ethanol production, oil and gas extraction and processing, and water and wastewater processing. For more information, visit www.dmiindustries.com.

The new SKINTOP® CLICK represents the most innovative cable entry system in today’s market. With its unique latching design, cable mounting can now be accomplished up to 70 percent faster. With no threads to cut or locknuts to screw in place, installation time is greatly reduced and is possible without ever opening an enclosure. Simply click the gland in and it is fixed, centered, strain relieved to EN 50262, and sealed to the protection class IP68.

The SKINTOP CLICK offers the same proven reliability, performance, and anti-vibration protection of the original SKINTOP cable gland, with the added benefit of the quick-click design for quick and easy mounting of the gland in any position. No special mounting tools, additional clamping rings, or locknuts are needed, resulting in greatly simplified installation. This fast and flexible cable entry system can save valuable installation time on a wide range of applications, including switch cabinets, automation systems, and plant construction. It provides the perfect solution for hard to reach dual wall enclosures and limited space applications where locknut installation is difficult. In addition, large panel jobs that previously required two installers can now be completed with just one person.

The new cable gland range also includes the SKINTOP CLICK-R with a reducing seal insert for tightening of smaller clamping ranges, as well as the flexing, SKINTOP CLICK FLEX version for additional safety against overstress and conductor breakage in applications such as hand held equipment, moving machinery, and robotics. For more information call (800) 774-3539 or visit www.lappusa.com.

Cree, Inc., a market leader in silicon carbide power devices, announces the industry’s first commercially available Z-Rectm 1700-V Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diode products. Leveraging silicon carbide’s unique advantages over silicon to virtually eliminate diode switching losses, these diodes are targeted at high-voltage power conversion applications in motor drive, wind energy, and traction systems. Initial products in the 1700-V series include 10-A and 25-A JBS diodes in die form, ready for integration into 1700-V power modules ranging from 50 to 600-A. The new 1700-V JBS series can increase the efficiency, reliability and longevity of power systems while also reducing the overall system size, weight and cost.

“The 1700-V diodes extend our leadership in energy-efficient power systems for data center and solar power markets to new markets such as wind energy, train, tram, and electric vehicle power converters,” says Cengiz Balkas, vice president and general manager, power and RF. “Cree has the diodes of choice when high-efficiency power systems are a must. The advantages of silicon carbide are clear, and for high-voltage, high-frequency systems you can’t afford not to use SiC.”

“ABB has been closely involved with the development of SiC technology for many years,” according to Francisco Canales, senior principal scientist, ABB Corporate Research. “SiC diodes and switches provide an important step forward in technology that allows the increase of operation frequency, reduced size and weight while providing state of the art efficiency in applications such as motor drives and solar inverters. The 1700-V devices now being launched by Cree are an important step in the development of this technology.” For more information go to www.cree.com/power.

Intertek—a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services—has announced the opening of an open-air test site for small wind turbines. The test site in Otisco, New York, together with the company’s nearby Cortland lab, is the only wind testing facility in North America that is operated by an OSHA-acknowledged NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) capable of providing small wind turbine system and electrical component certifications. Third party certification—including Intertek’s ETL Mark for the U.S., Canada, and Europe—demonstrates the compliance to national and international safety standards.

Government incentive programs for clean and renewable energy are a key driver in the rapidly growing international wind power market. Intertek tests wind turbines and provides data for program managers to determine product eligibility for incentive programs. As a recognized third party testing company Intertek increases sales opportunities for manufacturers by providing verification of compliance with national and international wind turbine efficiency, performance, and safety requirements.

“Intertek’s new small wind test center is significant to both buyers and sellers of small wind turbines,” says Brian Kramak, director of energy services. “Buyers of wind turbines have reliable third-party verification of important safety, acoustic, and performance data. Sellers of wind turbines are able to demonstrate compliance to regulatory requirements and incentive program requirements.”

Intertek will test and certify small wind turbines for durability and performance according to the new AWEA 9.1 Small Wind Turbine Safety and Performance standard, and also the newly released Canadian standards such as CAN/CSA C61400-2, creating a one-stop shop for complete U.S. and Canadian wind turbine testing and certification requirements. Intertek will also test for manufacturers that wish to use other certification bodies, such as the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC).

The facility will support testing of several small wind turbines at the same time, from the smaller micro-turbines of a few hundred watts up to the “largest” small wind turbine of 200m2 swept blade area—about 50-60kw. Using remote access monitoring, Intertek will generate 24/7 data to evaluate a range of real world environmental conditions, as required by the AWEA, Canadian, and international wind turbine standards. The test center complements Intertek’s existing market-leading capabilities for testing and certification of electrical components and systems including generators, inverters and controls among others. Learn more at www.intertek.com/wind.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced a partnership between GE and the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation to harness the wind power of Lake Erie and develop the first freshwater offshore wind farm in North America. Strickland made the announcement at the American Wind Energy Association’s annual WINDPOWER Conference in Dallas.

“Ohio’s greatest potential for creating wind energy is offshore in Lake Erie, and this partnership marks a significant step forward,” Strickland said. “In Ohio we have all the right assets to make offshore wind energy successful, including an innovative workforce and the manufacturing strengths that would allow us to build all the component parts for wind turbines. This partnership will not only advance offshore wind technologies, it will also advance Ohio’s economy. We are eager to continue the state’s strong collaboration with GE and LEEDCo as we pursue this exciting, first of its kind initiative for Lake Erie.”

The partnership and project is a significant step towards accelerating the deployment of offshore wind in the Great Lakes. GE has committed to providing offshore wind turbines and maintenance services for an initial 20-megawatt wind farm. Upon its completion, targeted for late 2012, this project would be located off the shores of Lake Erie near Cleveland. This would be followed by subsequent projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie by 2020. These activities will support a shared vision of making the Great Lakes a major economic engine for Northern Ohio, capitalizing on the region’s skilled workforce and expertise in advanced manufacturing. The LEEDCo-GE partnership builds on the momentum of a four-year effort by The Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force and other Ohio partners to establish an offshore wind industry on Lake Erie, leveraging the region’s strong manufacturing base.

In addition to collaborating on the initial 20-megawatt project, GE and LEEDCo will create a strategic plan to identify opportunities to make offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes economically viable, and also work jointly on advocacy and public policy issues to increase support for offshore wind energy. For more information go to www.ge.com/energy or www.leedco.org.

Romax Technology is opening a new technical center in Colorado in response to the growing demand for their technical consultancy services from the U.S. wind energy industry. Located in Boulder—a nationally recognized hub for wind energy technical excellence and innovation—the facility will provide a center for Romax’s wind engineering excellence, enabling the delivery of key projects with local wind energy clients and partners. Adding to the company’s 10 worldwide offices, and complimenting an established technical and sales team in Troy, Michigan, the facility will focus solely on the delivery of products and services for wind energy.

Recent growth in the U.S. wind industry has created strong demand for Romax’s wind energy products and services, which include component and system level drivetrain design and simulation as well as manufacturing, testing, and certification support. “Over the past four years, the U.S. wind energy market has earned its position as one of the largest in the world,” according to Dr. Ashley Crowther, U.S. engineering director for wind energy at Romax, “with domestic and foreign manufacturers all aspiring to meet the needs of this fast growing market.”

The technical center will initially provide support to important American wind initiatives such as NREL’s Gearbox Reliability Collaborative as well as assisting wind turbine and component manufacturers to supply exceptional products to the U.S. market. The first long-term technical partner to be supported by the new center is Boulder Wind Power (BWP). Identifying Romax as a key technical partner, BWP intend to design, develop, and eventually manufacture large multi-megawatt, direct drive wind turbines. Romax will lend their expertise to achieve a reduction in development time, providing BWP with design, analysis, dynamics, and instrumentation experience for the whole direct drive turbine drivetrain.

“This new facility strengthens Romax’s ability to deliver local development programs and provide mission-critical technical support on drivetrain issues to the wider U.S. wind industry,” says Andy Poon, director of wind energy at Romax. “In addition it will enable Romax to work more closely with research partners to advance wind turbine technology, ensuring we play a dedicated and active role within the U.S. wind industry.” Visit www.romaxtech.com for more information.

NRG Systems, manufacturer of wind measurement equipment, and Leosphere, a specialist in lidar for atmospheric observations, announces the introduction of the WINDCUBE® v2, the lightest, most compact lidar remote sensor available. Used in site assessment and wind farm performance monitoring, it collects actual measurements at heights up to 200 meters, mapping the vertical wind component, wind speed, and direction, turbulence, and wind shear.

“Lidar has quickly become the must-have tool in resource assessment,” says Alex Sauvage, president and CEO of Leosphere. “Over the past year our two companies have worked tirelessly to enhance the portability and durability of our lidar remote sensor, making it ideal for complex terrain, remote locations, and offshore.”

Weighing 45 kg and measuring approximately 55 cm square, the WINDCUBE v2 features no internal moving parts, multiple communications options (including satellite), low power requirements (45 watts), and an all-weather enclosure. The quiet, ultra portable 200m wind profiler includes 10 programmable measurement heights, providing ready to use data.

“By collecting actual measurements of the entire swept area of the wind turbine, the WINDCUBE v2 improves data accuracy and reduces overall uncertainty of the wind farm design,” says John Norton, COO for NRG Systems. “Improved certainty can make the difference between project success or failure.”

The WINDCUBE v2 is an active remote sensor that operates by emitting a laser pulse through the atmosphere. Along its path the laser light is backscattered by aerosols in the air and received by an optical sensor in the lidar unit. These signals capture the shift in atmospheric particles, or the absolute wind speed in the lidar line of sight. For more information visit www.lidarwindtechnologies.com. Also go to www.leosphere.com or www.nrgsystems.com.

Confirming that wind power companies are using its Triton Wind Profiler systems widely and relying on them heavily, Second Wind announces that Triton has amassed more than 900,000 hours of global wind data and will hit the one-million-hour mark soon. “At the rate Triton units all over the world are now collecting data, we easily surpassed the one million hour mark in June,” says CEO Larry Letteney. “Seeing such a large data set accumulate after just two years in the field tells us that customers are using their Tritons aggressively to gather diverse data sets to make the best decisions for locating wind turbines.”

Triton is a ground-based profiling unit that employs SODAR—SOund Detection and Ranging, a variation on radar but with sound instead of radio waves—to measure wind speed, direction, and other data. Reports issued by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory and ECN Wind Energy Research Center of the Netherlands in 2010 and 2009, respectively, credit Triton with accuracy comparable to that of meteorological towers, which are the current standard for wind data collection.

Triton remote sensing systems give wind power companies a mobile, ground-based complement to tower-based data collection. It broadens the range of data wind companies have for siting turbines in the most productive locations possible, profiling winds as high as 200 meters off the ground. There are 125 Triton units deployed in 15 countries across the globe.

“I think there is a great future for remote sensing,” according to Andrew Garrad, president of GL Garrad Hassan, one of the world’s top renewable energy consultancies. “The combination of SODAR devices and traditional anemometry is a very good one, and GL Garrad Hassan is already using remote sensing data in combination with conventional methods and data.”

Triton’s data collection landmark is among several important milestones Second Wind has passed recently. The company is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. It recently sold its 10,000th Nomad wind resource data logger, which is destined for a prospective wind farm site in Texas, the nation’s largest wind power producer. Nomad units are deployed on seven continents, from the Arctic to Antarctica, with each unit compiling data from as many as 20 weather sensors. Second Wind ranked on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing privately held companies for the past three years, and was named a finalist in the “Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards” competition for Triton, which was commercially introduced in 2008.

“The real satisfaction in being around a long time, as we have, is getting to see what you’ve worked for pay off in a big way,” says Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder Walter Sass. “The company has learned a lot and done a lot over the last 30 years as wind power technology has developed. Now that wind power is a serious item on the national agenda, we’re in a great position to take those 30 years of experience and turn them into 30 more years of success.” Learn more at www.secondwind.com.

MR200W series yaw position transducers monitor yaw position, direction, speed, and cable twist while providing proper feedback to the wind turbine’s yaw directional motor drive and brake control systems. A unit can be multifunctional and integrate any combination of electromechanical limit switches, rotary encoder, resolver, or potentiometer. Anti-backlash POM (polymer) pinion gear optimizes coupling to the turbine’s large yaw bull gear for long term reliability, accuracy, and repeatability.

Specially engineered for wind turbine applications, MR200W series yaw position transducers monitor position, direction, speed, and cable twist while providing the necessary feedback to the yaw directional motor drive and brake control system. These products are based on Micronor’s proven modular sensor and control technology developed and refined over 40-plus years of industrial product experience. An MR200W series position transducer can be multifunctional and integrate any combination of geared limit switches, rotary encoders, resolvers, or potentiometers. For increased accuracy and repeatability the unit can be supplied with an external anti-backlash POM (polymer) pinion gear that optimizes coupling to the wind turbine’s large yaw bull gear.

Micronor is a leading supplier of rugged and reliable components for industrial automation and process control industries.  Motion control products include encoders, resolvers, fiber optic position sensors, rotary limit switches, geared feedback transducers, cam timers, motorized potentiometers, manual pulse generators and handheld teach pendants. Micronor was founded in 1968 and has regional headquarters in both the United States and Europe. Contact Dennis Horwitz, VP of sales and marketing, at (805) 499-0114, sales@micronor.com, or www.micronor.com.

One of the leading developers of renewable energy, Mainstream Renewable Power, has completed the first extensive wind assessment campaign in Latin America using Natural Power’s ZephIR lidar which, based at ground level, provides remote wind measurements from 10-200 meters to aid in the development of new wind farm sites.

The deployment was in the challenging terrain of the Atacama Desert, II Region, a virtually rainless plateau covering a 600 mile strip of land on the Pacific Coast of South America. Temperatures can rise to an extreme of over 40 °C during the day and drop to -10 °C after sunset. It is these thermal effects that are of interest to Mainstream due to the effect on wind shear in the area, provoked through Katabatic winds at night, while the hot desert ground during the day leads to convectional forced vertical wind components and turbulence. Traditional anemometry such as tall masts and cup anemometers, providing wind data up to 80m above ground, were not appropriate as the sole measurements in this case due to their limited height. Mainstream looked at a range of remote sensing technologies before selecting Natural Power’s ZephIR lidar.

“We were very interested in exploring the impact of these thermal effects on wind shear but were unable to use tall met masts to see the effects above hub height,” according to Shane Martin, senior wind analyst at Mainstream. “Natural Power’s team in Valparaiso were able to assist us in providing a ZephIR lidar for the campaign and the system was on site within a matter of days, measuring wind characteristics from ground level through to turbine tip height, and above. The campaign was completed successfully and the ZephIR lidar allowed Mainstream to gather all quantitative data necessary for the evaluation of the project.”

Natural Power established its Chile office based in Valparaíso during 2009, serving the South American market. Projects to date have ranged from advanced resource analysis to construction services for a range of international clients, including this latest lidar campaign for Mainstream. “It was a very positive experience to work closely with the Mainstream team on this project,” says Alexander von Pescatore, head of development in Chile. “Our ZephIR lidar system operated with 100-percent system availability and 100-percent data availability in some challenging terrain and environmental conditions. There are many more sites in South America which will benefit from the use of ZephIR over more traditional anemometry due to site conditions and thermal effects.”

Natural Power is a leading renewable energy consultancy that specializes in progressing sites onshore and offshore for clients, from proof of concept through project development, construction, asset management, and onward to repowering or decommissioning. Natural Power have worked on more than 15,000 MW of wind, wave, and tidal sites across Europe, the U.S., and Canada, while also providing 360° due diligence on a range of portfolios and projects. The company delivers both technical and management services, as well as industry-leading products from offices across the UK, France, Chile, Canada, and the U.S. Send e-mail to sayhello@naturalpower.com or visit online at www.naturalpower.com/zephir.

Klüber Lubrication, a worldwide manufacturer of specialty lubricants, recently showcased two specialty lubricants for the wind power industry at WINDPOWER 2010 in Dallas. The lubricants are Klüberplex® BEM 41-141 and Klüberplex® AG 11-462.

Klüberplex BEM 41-141 is high-performance grease with a special blend of base oil and additives to cover the different lubrication requirements of the individual bearing applications within wind power stations. The beige grease is ideal for pitch and yaw bearings (high stresses, oscillations, vibrations), main bearings (low rpm, high stresses, vibrations), and generator bearings (high rpm and temperatures). A simple switch to one lubricant for all bearings will reduce maintenance costs and simplify lubrication routines.

The second outstanding product is a priming and operational lubricant for open gears. Klüberplex AG 11-462 is white gear grease that provides excellent adhesion as well as superior protection against high loads and corrosion. The adhesive grease effectively lubricates the control gears for pitch and yaw systems while reducing the risk of migration inside the nacelle and onto the tower.

Klüber Lubrication, a worldwide manufacturer of specialty lubricants, has long been on the cutting edge of lubricant technology. For more than 75 years it has been committed to providing tribological solutions for its customers by manufacturing and supplying specialty lubricants for extreme applications. Its lubricants succeed where conventional lubricants fail. With representation around the globe, and a product portfolio of more than 2,000 standard lubricants, Klüber’s products and services are available wherever and whenever they are needed. Learn more at www.klubersolutions.com/wind.

MAG Industrial Automation Systems is powering up on green energy, announcing the formation of a new Renewable Energy Business unit to design/build automated manufacturing systems for solar panels and wind turbine components. The new business’s operations are based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and Hebron, Kentucky, and are headed by Dr. Siegfried Schmalzried in Europe/Asia and Joe Jones in the Americas. According to Jones, the renewable energy business is off to a strong start. “In recent months we have secured $30 million in contracts,” he says, “representing an approximate 30 percent share of our targeted market, putting us on track for our goal to produce 10 percent of MAG’s annual revenue,” he says.

MAG is currently sharing in a $7 million grant from the state of Michigan to develop a revolutionary wind hub machining cell for high-volume manufacturing and pursue development of carbon-fiber turbine blades. MAG is also focused on expansion to serve customers in emerging sectors in key markets. “We opened a new Composites Technical Center in Göppingen, Germany, in 2009, and a new plant in Changchun, China, earlier this year,” Jones says, “so now have 24 worldwide facilities, 15 of them in Europe and Asia.” To learn more call Mark Logan at (859) 534-4600, e-mail info-us@mag-ias.com, or go to www.mag-ias.com.

Dakota Wind Energy, along with its managing member, National Wind, announces the acceptance by the Midwest ISO (MISO) of its 300 MW interconnection request into the Big Stone II Transmission backfill study group. Regional electrical transmission operator MISO identified wind projects that can utilize, or “backfill,” the electrical capacity once reserved for the Big Stone II coal plant. As a result, Dakota Wind Energy’s interconnection request will move into a more advanced MISO study phase, in which additional required system upgrades will be identified. Once all of the upgrades are studied and established Dakota Wind Energy can enter into a generator interconnection agreement, allowing us to interconnect the initial 300 MW portion of the Dakota Wind Energy project to the transmission grid.

Dakota Wind Energy was formed by National Wind in partnership with local landowners in January 2008. The project’s goal is to develop up to 750 megawatts of community-owned wind energy in Day, Roberts, and Marshall counties in northeastern South Dakota. Currently, Dakota Wind Energy has leased approximately 60,000 acres and recorded over two years of on-site meteorological tower data, which has indicated an excellent wind regime. The project has also completed its initial environmental assessments and filed a draft site permit with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. For more information go to www.dakotawindenergy.com or www.nationalwind.com.

Kenersys, a Kalyani Group Company and wind turbine manufacturer, has appointed Paulo Fernando Soares as the Group CEO. Prior to joining Kenersys he worked as the CEO of Suzlon China in Beijing for a period of five years. Under his leadership Suzlon has successfully negotiated significant amount of contracts in the Chinese market, which have allowed the company to secure a place as one of the leaders among the international players in the industry in China. As the CEO of Suzlon China he was responsible for developing its business from a start-up phase to a completely established plant with a capacity to manufacture 600 MW per year.

Fernando has over 15 years of experience in the hydropower business in Brazil and China. He has worked with Siemens Hydro in Brazil, followed by Voith Siemens Hydro joint venture in Shanghai, China. During his tenure with Siemens he acquired in-depth knowledge across functions such as market development, manufacturing, project management, engineering, and controlling. His last position was vice president of project management at Voith Siemens Shanghai in China from 2000 to 2005. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an executive MBA in general management.

Kenersys presently has two operating entities in Germany and India (Kenersys Europe GmbH and Kenersys India Private Limited respectively) for manufacturing, assembling, marketing, and servicing wind turbines. Kenersys is co-funded by First Reserve Corporation, a leading U.S.-based private equity firm.

“We are happy to have Paulo as a part of our team and the new Kenersys Group CEO,” says Baba Kalyani, chairman of the Kalyani Group. “Paulo brings with him rich and unique experience in the area of renewable energy. This will help us create opportunities and take Kenersys to the next stage, both in Europe as well as in India.”

“I’m delighted to have been given this opportunity,” Fernando says. “Together with the team at Kenersys it will be my endeavour to take this company to greater heights in the wind energy business.” For more information visit www.kenersys.com.

American Superconductor Corporation, a global power technologies company, announces that Vestas Australian Wind Technology Pty Ltd has placed an order for a large D-VAR-based grid interconnection system. Utilizing 24 D-VAR modules integrated with external smart-switched capacitor banks and proprietary controls that are optimized for wind farm applications, this is AMSC’s largest order for a grid interconnection system to date. The solution will be utilized to meet local grid interconnection requirements for the 206 MW Collgar Wind Farm under construction in Western Australia. AMSC expects to deliver the D-VAR equipment to Vestas within approximately 12 months. AMSC’s grid interconnection solutions are already connecting more than one-third of Australia’s wind power to the power grid.

Based in the city of Melbourne, Vestas Australian Wind Technology Pty is a wholly owned subsidiary of Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S. With more than 40,000 wind turbines operating worldwide, Vestas is the world’s leading supplier of wind power solutions. The company has more than 20,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of approximately $9 billion.

“Australia was among the first countries to adopt dynamic voltage control requirements for wind farms connecting to the utility grid,” says Timothy Poor, senior vice president of global sales and business development at AMSC. “We expect that additional countries around the world will adopt similar strict dynamic voltage control requirements to more effectively control power flows stemming from the utility-scale wind farms and solar power plants that are being installed around the world. This, in turn, will help expand our addressable market.”

Customers utilize AMSC’s D-VAR solutions to provide dynamic voltage control, power factor correction, and post-contingency reactive compensation to stabilize the power grid and prevent undesirable events such as voltage collapse. These solutions also augment the overall performance of wind farms and enable developers to meet grid interconnection requirements adopted in countries such as Australia. D-VAR reactive compensation systems are classified as Static Compensators, or “STATCOMs,” a member of the FACTS (Flexible AC-Transmission System) family of power electronic solutions for alternating current (AC) power grids. These smart grid solutions are able to detect and instantaneously compensate for voltage disturbances by dynamically injecting leading or lagging reactive power into the power grid. Learn more by calling (978) 842-3000 or going to www.amsc.com.