Alternative Energy Newswire » Wind Power

Lift assists improve tech moral, productivity, and safety

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:49:41 +0000

The 1000P’s portable control box, weighing only 8.5 lbs, is easy to set up – just click, plug, and climb.

Power Climber Wind has completed installation of 66 IBEX 1000P climb assist systems at Erie Shore Wind Farm near Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada. The wind farm is one of the largest wind power facilities in Canada, owned by Capstone Infrastructure, representing about 2.2% of installed wind capacity. Each 1.5 MW wind turbine is 80-m tall.

“After considering the costs associated with finding, training, and retaining a crew of top quality technicians, as well as the physical requirements involved with climbing an 80m turbine on a regular basis, the IBEX 1000P was an obvious choice”, said John Kirby, Plant Manager for Erie Shores Wind Farm. “This system has provided a substantial increase in our productivity and employee morale. The installation was seamless and has proven to be invaluable to operations.”

The recently released IBEX 1000P climb assist system sets new standards for portability and durability and offers the same market leading IBEX performance that owners have come to expect. The 1000P’s portable control box, weighing only 8.5 lbs (4 kgs) is easy to set up – just click, plug, and climb. The durable robust design is thoroughly life-cycle tested and approved by wind-turbine technicians. With the EasyClimb Controller, users customize assistance from 50 to 125 lbs (25 to 55 kgs), and enjoys constant load support regardless of climbing speed in up and down directions. The system installs in any wind turbine tower and significantly improves employee health and safety as well as productivity.

The 1000P system provides a portable control box that eliminates lugging heavier controls from tower to tower thereby improving employee morale. Click here for an IBEX 1000P video
Power Climber Wind
www.powerclimberwind.co

Windpower Engineering & Development

A product catalog for those who work waaay up

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:49:41 +0000

Learn more about platforms such as this one in a recent catalog from SafeWorks LLC.

Spider, a division of SafeWorks, LLC, announced the release of the 4th edition of its Spider Solutions Catalog, a comprehensive product catalog for the suspended-access industry. Celebrating the company’s 65th anniversary this year, the company says it has updated in-depth product information including key features, specifications, drawings, photographs, codes & regulations, and accessory lists. New features in this 320+ page reference guide include new products, such as:

A Wind Turbine Access section highlights new products for wind-turbine maintenance and repair, including blade and tower access platforms and an innovative, reconfigurable 360° blade-access platform
New rigging devices that add capabilities and shorten rigging time
A new application of the LSR1 as a fall arrest anchorage

Also in-depth case studies tell how Spider solves demanding access challenges. Updated bilingual tear-out rental equipment guides help users visually identify items on site. “Now more than ever, contractors and facility owners need safe, reliable solutions that lower the total cost of access in this age of tighter budgets,” says company VP John Sotiroff. “With new products that deliver this efficiency and still more useful tools to wring the most value out of our solutions, Spider is proud to add this new desktop reference guide to our extensive tool box.” Catalogs can be requested or downloaded online at www.spiderstaging.com, or by calling 877-774-3370.

Spider Staging
www.spiderstaging.com/Wind/WindIndex.aspx

Windpower Engineering & Development

Where aesthetics meet engineering

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:49:41 +0000

What do you get when you combine an architect, engineer, biologist, ecologist, and a poet? A winning entry. The Windstalk, conceived by New York collaborative design studio Atelier DNA, placed second in an international competition. Dario Nunez-Ameni of the studio explains that communities often resist large projects as they may clash with the natural landscape. The Land Art Generator Initiative, however, considers large-scale land art installations that also produce clean energy. “While designing the project we were mindful that it had to be in a public space,” he says. “It harvests energy while serving as an inviting place to be.”

The Windstalk is the product of biomimicry, “taking clues” from designs already found in nature, such as the wind swaying a field of wheat or reeds. It consists of 1,203 stalks with concrete bases. The 50-m tall stalks are carbon-fiber reinforced resin poles. The top portion of each pole hosts an LED lamp that glows and dims according to how much the stalks sway.

An LED lamp tops each pole, glowing and dimming according to how much the poles sway in the wind. When there is no wind the poles are still and go dark. Visitors may traverse the site day or night by stepping on each pole base.

The pole bases lie along a site in a logarithmic spiral, “the kind we see in the center of a sunflower,” as the project’s description reads. “The bases all touch each other, forming a kind of carpet, a kind of fabric.” Each base is shaped like vortices, so when it rains, water slides down and collects in the spaces between. This concentrates scarce water and lets plants grow.

In this conceptual design, visitors may traverse the site by stepping on each base. As the narration describes, you can lean on the slopes, lie down, stay awhile and listen to the wind rushing between the poles. Each pole holds a stack of piezoelectric ceramic discs with electrodes between. Every other electrode is connected by a cable that reaches top to bottom of each pole. When the wind sways the poles, the stack of discs is forced into compression, hence generating a current through the electrodes.

Also, a torque generator in each base converts the kinetic energy of the swaying poles into electrical energy. The flow of generated electricity depends on the wind, so to compensate the site uses a capacitor. The designers estimate that the overall output of the project is comparable to that of a conventional turbine array. While a single 55-m turbine may produce more energy than one Windstalk, the latter can be packed in denser arrays. “Spacing and turbulence are concerns of most wind farms,” Nunez-Ameni says, “But our project thrives on chaos.”

Below the field of poles are two chambers as large as the whole site. When the wind blows, part of the generated electricity powers a set of pumps that move water from the lower chamber to the upper one. Likewise, when there is no wind energy the water from the upper chamber flows down again turning the pumps into generators.

The Windstalks’ shape should be optimized to behave as chaotically as possible, according to the design team. Simulations can help improve the profile for maximum movement and variation. The contest intends to help participants ultimately attract investment to con-struct power-generating plants that are functional and aesthetically pleasing to the landscape. Nunez-Ameni says the project was intended for a site in Dubai and hopes to see it built someday. WPE

Windpower Engineering & Development

Department of Interior Crosses Offshore Wind Milestone

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:49:41 +0000

U.S. Department of Interior announced its "Smart from the Start" offshore wind energy initiative has cleared an environmental review and is moving forward.

Superconducting cables closer to commercialization

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:49:40 +0000

A developer of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies says General Cable Superconductors Ltd. (GCS) has completed testing of STI’s second generation (2G) HTS wire. General Cable Superconductors, a HTS continuously transposed cable provider in New Zealand, developes HTS cable using advanced designs with multiple successful projects presently in operation. GCS tested the wire, from Superconductor Technologies Inc., and confirmed that it met their critical current power objective.

How to make superconducting wire

“The validation of General Cable Superconductors shows that the Conductus 2G HTS wire development is progressing to meet the demand of innovative power applications such as Roebel cable, which offers high current carrying capacity for future superconducting applications such as motors, generators and transformers,” says Jeff Quiram, STI’s president and chief executive officer.

Superconducting motors, generators, transformers and other rotating machines are expected to generate the large future demand for HTS wire. Manufacturing process cuts and cables 2G HTS wire to long lengths and flexible current rating from 200A to 2kA. Coils using HTS wire will let a range of devices operate at higher power densities. When compared to a copper wire based electric machine with equivalent output power, future superconducting motors and generators will enable significant size and weight reductions for the motors with higher efficiency.

Superconductor Technologies Inc.
http://www.suptech.com

Superconductor Technologies Inc.

http://www.suptech.com.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Department of Interior Crosses Offshore Wind Milestone

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

U.S. Department of Interior announced its "Smart from the Start" offshore wind energy initiative has cleared an environmental review and is moving forward.

Towers 101

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:04:18 +0000

Turbines erected in the 1970s and 1980s may have been perched on lattice towers, a design that can scale to 200 ft and more. However, for the protection of the techs who must climb the towers, it make more sense to build them from rolled steel. These protect the technician in long climbs, and better yet, provide a structure that allows installing a service lift. What’s more, the quest for stronger wind will put more recent turbines on taller towers, 100 m and more, and that will require rethinking the design.

-Tindall

Taller towers for wind turbines make sense. For instance, an 80-m tower can let 2 to 3-MW wind turbines produce more power, and enough to justify the additional cost of 20-m more, than if installed at 60 m. Taller towers will also let larger turbines enter the market. Taller towers allow putting turbines in less turbulent winds, thereby decreasing wear and fatigue.

As OEM designers configure taller conventional towers, their limitations become obvious. Tower designers are increasingly interested in:

• Reducing their cost because the tower cost portion of the overall wind turbine is increasing from 10% to 20% of system cost.
• Cutting tower transportation costs.
• The interaction between tower and turbine
• Focused on reducing weight

Several tower designs have been proposed for 100m and more. One uses prestressed, reinforced concrete in pyramidal sections cast. Conventional 80 to 100m towers could be placed atop the 31m tall concrete foundation for hub heights 111 to 131m. The wider than conventional base also allows using less concrete and rebar in the foundation. Hence, lower costs there too.

Another developer has shown detailed plans for tapered modular towers. The company says a continuous taper, or an increasing taper, is the most efficient way to handle wind-turbine loads. One design, for example, uses field-assembled steel panels to eliminate transportation restrictions. Shipping tower panels instead of assembled towers allows lower loads and lower load heights, which lead to shorter less restrictive routes, and hence, lower transport costs. Adding tower panels allows increasing tower diameters and heights.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Wind energy performance map for Europe

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:04:18 +0000

A recent map illustrates that for 2011, wind speeds were 5-10% above normal in northern Europe and up to 10% below normal in southern Europe.

The data, collected by renewable energy assessment and forecasting company 3TIER, shows departures from long-term mean wind speed with above normal areas in red and below normal areas in blue and provides an indication of how wind projects should have performed relative to their long-term production average based on their location. This type of analysis enables financiers and operators to perform portfolio analysis across regions and quickly view the effects of weather anomalies on both existing and proposed investments.

In 2011 wind speeds across Europe varied considerably from region to region. In the UK, Scandinavia, and around the Baltic Sea wind speeds trended roughly 5-10% above normal. Meanwhile southern Europe experienced wind speeds up to 10% below normal except for a few isolated areas along the Mediterranean coast. The 2011 annual map is based on total variance from average for the full year and does not depict the significant wind speed variability that occurred from month to month and quarter to quarter. This is shown in the 2011 quarterly maps, which illustrate departures from average ranging from -20% to +20%.

2011 began with substantially below normal wind speeds across a majority of Europe due to a high-pressure ridge known as a Greenland High. This structure was hovering over the western Atlantic Ocean late in 2010 and began to shift eastward toward the northern Atlantic in early 2011. This created a blocking effect above the UK, causing severe deformation to the storm track as well as warm temperatures and substantially low wind speeds in the UK, France, and Germany in the second half of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, this ridge started to break down resulting in numerous storms and anomalously high wind speeds over a broad swath of northern Europe. During this period, below normal wind speeds were primarily constrained to Spain, France, northern Italy, and areas of Ukraine and Russia. The third quarter featured milder anomalies, though an area from the UK to the Baltic Sea remained above normal. Finally, the fourth quarter enhanced this pattern, with substantial positive deviations across northern Europe, and negative deviations highlighted in Spain and a broad land area between the Adriatic and Black Seas.

The wind performance maps were created by comparing hourly data for 2011 with hourly wind conditions averaged over the period 1981-2010 from 3TIER’s continually updated European meteorological dataset. When comparing 2011 with over 30 years of hourly wind speed data, the most similar year to 2011 in its anomaly pattern is perhaps 1990. That year, however, saw much more dramatic departures from normal than this past year. Final wind speed values for the 2011 analysis were computed using a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model run at a 15 km resolution and adjusted using available observations. The underlying datasets for 3TIER’s wind performance maps provide clients with operational intelligence for every location within a region and are available in nearly all regions worldwide.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Turbine Manufacturers 101

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:04:18 +0000

Original equipment manufacturers are the brand-name turbine producers. They do most of the turbine research although often with the assistance of government labs such as Risø in Denmark and the NREL in the U.S. These companies are responsible for most of what goes into the nacelle. Although they may not manufacturer it, they specify most every performance characteristic, down to the high-flex bend life of cable for cold weather operations and torque in foundation bolts.

Nordex USA Incorporated Production Facility, Jonesboro, Ark.

Items such as gearboxes and generator, and large bearings often come from other companies, so the OEMs work with those firms when they specify such complex components.

Component manufacturers also provide considerable research, in particular for bearings, gearboxes, and blades. These items soak up lots of R&D dollars because of their complexity but the payoff has been increased reliability and greater power outputs. Once all components are specified, the OEM orders them, assembles them, and writes their maintenance requirements.

The trend in turbine design is toward larger units, mostly because of the economy of scale. For instance, a 3-MW turbine costs less to install and operate than two 1.5 MW units. Other design trends include direct drives – turbines without gearboxes – and taller towers so larger units can work in stronger and steadier wind.

The world economy is also influencing the way OEMs operate. In the economic downturn, most countries are demanding their populations are put to work in exchange for the privilege of bidding on wind farm developments. Hence, many OEMs have set up shop in countries with promising wind programs. In the U.S., for example, the Midwest is dotted with production facilities and tower fabrication plants to serve particular OEMs.

OEMs range from manufact-urers of house-mounted units that turn out 200 W to 6.5 MW monsters. Worldwide, there are manufacturers for just about any power output, starting at 600 kW and up, and in reasonable increments. More OEMs means more design variations, a necessary factor considering the wide range of weather condition available around the globe. Many OEMs also mean more competition, a factor that works to keep costs relatively low. If the wind industry is to survive it must produce power at or below what it costs for natural gas generated electricity, the lowest cost power. OEM turbines are expected to last at least 20 years by today’s standards, and 25 years will probably be the goal of most purchasers by the end of the decade.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Atlantic Power Corp. Adds More Wind Energy

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:04:18 +0000

Boston-based Atlantic Power Corporation (NYSE: AT) has acquired a 51% stake in a wind power project in Oklahoma.