Wind Brochure from Electrical Component Manufacturer

The 16-page brochure from Thomas & Betts says the company understands the challenges faced by wind power electricians. For instance, products available for work in the nacelle include Color-Keyed Power Connectors that feature superior compression connections, a broad range of tooling and dies, with hydraulic, pneumatic and manual tools, along with hydraulic tools to produce the preferred hex-shaped circumferential crimp. Blackburn Grounding Products feature easy to install compression, mechanical, exothermic devices made of corrosion-resistant alloys that  provide a low-resistance path. And T&B Liquidtight has a complete line of Cord and Rigid Fittings for every application. To tolerate demanding, wet or corrosive environments. The Safe Edge ground cone accepts variations in raceway convolutions.

Thomas & Betts
tnb-canada.com

CanWEA attracts top OEMs

Officials for the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Toronto say they sold out all 350-booth spaces to 235 exhibitors at the September event. The attendee count topped 2,000. What’s more, the conference drew ten utility and commercial wind turbine OEMs, a list that includes Acciona, Enercon, GE, Mitsubishi, Northern Power, and Siemens.

In conferences, several executives expressed a need for the loosening of credit to grow the market, which remains slower, they say, than most expected this late in the year. There was talk of supply-chain expansion as OEMs work to domesticate their version while other firms look to get started in North America.

There was good news for Ontario. The parliament for Canada’s largest province passed legislation for a Feed-in-Tariff ($0.19/kWh by one account) that will encourage new wind installations by providing fixed prices for onshore and offshore wind parks for the next 20 years. The law also calls for 25% domestic content for Ontario projects. That provision got high scores from local manufacturers.

In addition to OEMs, a range of support companies displayed equipment such as:

• NRG Systems (nrgsystems.com), a manufacturer of met masts and related equipment, showed devices such as 95-in. mounting booms for sensors, and sensors that assess wind shear and turbulence, and help calculate a total wind volume and density.
• Kluber Lubricants (kluber.com) had information on its oils and greases. Among its recent products were three synthetic lubricants for wind turbines.
• Thomas & Betts (meyersteelstructures.com) showed the Quickpin, one way to get away from slow-to-apply nuts and bolts that often attach line-support arms to power transmission towers. It is a long unthreaded pin placed in the same connection holes drilled for bolts, but secured without the precise torque required by conventional fasteners.
• Tyco Electronics (http://energy.tycoelectronics.com/elbow) introduced the 35 kV 600 Amp T-body elbow arrester. The device is intended to protect underground cables and high voltage apparatus from lightening and switching-transient surges.
• Carbone of America (carbonebrush.com) displayed several new slip-ring designs.
  

  Among the many new devices on display at CanWEA 2009 was the Tyco T-body elbow arrester. The devices are shielded and submersible, and meet performance requirements of IEEE C62.11.