Lift assists improve tech moral, productivity, and safety

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Excerpt: 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 capacit …

Wind energy performance map for Europe

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Excerpt: 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 area …

Towers 101

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Excerpt: 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 …

Site Assessment 101

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Excerpt: A first step in the development of a wind farm is to identify land with sufficient wind to support a commercial project. This calls for a series of studies, one of which is the wind-study assessment that looks at historical wind data. There may be a meteorological or met tower in the area that has a …

Weather operations now include Alberta

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Excerpt: MDA EarthSat Weather says its current wind-generation forecast product has now been expanded to include AESO (Alberta). Already providing accurate and reliable hourly forecasts for ERCOT, MISO, and BPA, PJM, CAISO and IESO, this web-based system uses state-of-the-art forecast methods to produce …

Report: O&M costs headed up

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Excerpt: A trend line suggests O&M costs actually go up over the time period of consideration, especially when considering new data as a result of this survey. This is also supported from anecdotal data suggesting an increasing trend in wind O&M costs. Scatter is also observed with the Lawrence B …

Owners & Developers 101

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Excerpt: Owners and developers of wind projects play a crucial role in the industry, but it’s often unclear who does what. Developers are contracted by the project owner to plan and develop a project, often from the beginning stages of site assessment through the final stage of commissioning. Developers wi …

Tools 101

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Excerpt: One of the great efforts of wind-turbine OEMs is to take cost out their products without lowering quality. One way to do so is in manufacturing with special tools. For instance, a particular profile on a turbine hub often required several tools and machining techniques to impart required features. I …

New access solutions for wind

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Excerpt: Spider, a division of SafeWorks and manufacturer of access solutions, has released the 4th edition of its catalog. The company's in-depth guide of product information includes key features, specifications, drawings, photographs, codes & regulations, and accessory lists. New features in this 3 …

Report: Fighting corrosion, friction, and fouling

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Excerpt: Coatings to combat corrosion, friction, and fouling can offer big efficiency benefits, but need to offer strong balance between performance and cost, says Lux Research. The protective coatings market continues to be driven by extreme cost sensitivities and increasing environmental and regulatory …