Science and technology scholarship program looking for applicants

A U.S. based wind-energy company says applications will be open and available online for its 2012 scholarship program. Entering its third full year, First Wind Scholars will award 16 scholarships to qualified high school seniors in communities where the company currently has projects in operation or advanced stages of development.

As part of the 2012 program, as many as 15 one-time awards will be granted to students within host communities in Hawaii, Maine, New York, Utah, Vermont, Washington and the company’s home state, Massachusetts.  Qualified students enrolling in full-time degree programs focused on sciences or technology are invited to apply.  First Wind Scholars recipients will be awarded a one-time $3,000 scholarship for one year.  The company also awards one scholarship of $5,000, renewable for up to four years, to the year’s single most qualified applicant.

“The First Wind Scholars program has become a symbol of our ongoing commitment to the communities that host our project sites across the Northeast, West, and Hawaii,” said Carol Grant, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at First Wind.  “Last year, we received double the applications from the year before, and this year we hope to see even more.”

To be eligible for the scholarship, students need a GPA of at least 2.75 and must plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study with a major in the sciences and/or engineering or technology.  Applications are open and available online with all submissions due by February 15, 2012. Applications are evaluated on a number of factors, including academic performance, work experience, school and community activities and a 300-word essay.  The First Wind Scholars recipients will be announced in May 2012.

High school seniors who attend a public or private high school near the following First Wind projects, whether operational or in an advanced stage of development, are eligible to apply.  (Communities in parentheses are those with high schools where students are eligible for the scholarship.)

 Hawaii

         Kaheawa Wind (Kahului, Lahaina, Kihei and Wailuku, Maui)

         Kahuku Wind (Laie and Kahuku, Oahu)

         Kawailoa Wind (Wahiawa, Waialua, Haleiwa and Sunset, Oahu)

Maine

         Bull Hill Wind (Eastbrook, Ellsworth, Hancock and Sullivan)

         Mars Hill Wind (Mars Hill)

         Oakfield Wind (Dyer Brook and Oakfield)

         Rollins Wind (Burlington, Lincoln, Lee, Mattawamkeag and Winn)

         Stetson Wind I & II (Danforth)

Massachusetts

         First Wind’s Headquarters (John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science in Boston)

New York

         Cohocton Wind (Cohocton)

         Steel Winds (Lackawanna and Hamburg)

Utah

         Milford Wind I & II (the town of Milford, Beaver and Millard Counties)

Vermont

         Sheffield Wind (Sheffield and Barton)

Washington

         Palouse Wind (Garfield, Oakesdale, Rosalia, Saint John, Spangle and Tekoa)

Since 2010, First Wind has issued 24 one-year $3,000 scholarships for college-bound high school students from project communities, who have an expressed interest in science, technology, or the environment. The company has also granted two four-year $5,000 scholarships for select students from the applicant pools. The program and selection of recipients is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a designer and manager of scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs for corporations and other institutions.

First Wind
http://www.firstwind.com/scholars

Wind surpasses aerospace as top user of advanced composites

 

Wind energy, powered by stringent renewable energy standards and larger installations offshore, will overtake aerospace as the largest user of advanced composite materials. The overall market for advanced composites – based on carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene – more than triples to $25.8 billion by 2020, according to a research report.

The use of advanced structural materials by makers of wind turbines will increase from $2.5 billion in 2011 to $15.4 billion in 2020, as growth in aerospace lags, despite the introduction of new aircraft, such as Boeing’s Dreamliner, that use large quantities of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs), according to the report by Lux Research. In 2020, wind energy will account for nearly 60% of the market for composites, up from today’s 35%.

“Despite serving as a flagship for commercial success of CFRPs, the volumes in aerospace are relatively limited. Boeing currently has the capacity to produce only two Dreamliners per month and is striving to raise this figure to 10 by the end of 2013,” said Ross Kozarsky, a Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report. “In wind, 18,405 MW of capacity were added in the first six months of 2011, which translates to over 1,000 turbines per month.”

Lux analysts found that the combined market for these materials would rise from $7.0 billion in 2011 to $25.8 billion in 2020, reflecting an average compound annual growth rate of 16%. Among Lux Research’s other key conclusions:

• Aerospace to lose ground but has potential upside. The aerospace market will grow at a healthy 13% annually over the next decade to $6.3 billion, boosted by Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and Airbus’ A350 XWB, both of which are built with 50% advanced composites. Boeing’s year-end decision on whether to use aluminum or carbon-fiber composites for its next-generation 737 aircraft offers a significant upside.
• Auto industry still a sleeping beast. The auto industry will be the second-largest growth sector with a 17% growth, spending $2.1 billion by 2020. Still, the sector will remain far short of its mammoth potential over the next decade.

• Oil and gas remains a laggard. Industry-wide conservatism and persistence with steel will keep oil and gas a laggard in the use of advanced composites. This sector will register the slowest growth – a mere 5%, rising to $427 million in 2020.

The report, titled “Carbon Fiber and Beyond: The $26 Billion World of Advanced Composites,” is part of the Lux Research Advanced Materials Intelligence service.

Lux Research
http://www.luxresearchinc.com/

Wind power less expensive than nat gas in Brazil. How do they do it?

The President and CEO of Brazil’s Energy Research Company (EPE), Mauricio Tolmasquim, says for the first time ever in Brazil, wind power prices are less expensive than natural gas prices. This announcement follows the results of energy auctions held last week by Brazil’s National Electric Power Agency (Aneel).

The auctions resulted in contracts for 78 wind-power projects capable of generating 1,928 MW, and priced at about R$99.5/MWh. This cost/MWh is about 19% lower than the average price for wind power traded in Brazil last year, demonstrating that wind power is becoming a more competitive and viable option in the Brazilian market.

By comparison, the average price for power generated with natural gas is currently R$ 103/MWh in Brazil. In addition to wind power, Aneel auctions last week featured biomass, hydro-electric, and natural gas, for a total of 92 energy projects with investments amounting to R$ 11.2 billion.  These projects include a total of 3,962 MW to be generated beginning in 2014.
These energy auctions were the first in Brazil for 2011. Tolmasquim says they were significant for two key reasons: They reflect a new feasibility of market competition between wind and natural gas sources, something unheard of internationally, and they demonstrate that wind prices continue to fall in Brazil.

“That wind power plants have been contracted at two digit prices, below R$ 100 /MWh, showcases the energy market competition through auctions.  That wind power could reach these lows vs. natural gas was unimaginable until recently,” said Tolmasquim.

Brazil has wind power potential estimated at 143,000 MW, which may rise to 300,000 MW with use of state-of-the-art generators, according to EPE estimates.  Wind power generation increased 50.5% in Brazil from 2009 to 2010, and while growing, represented just 0.4% of the electricity generated domestically as of 2010.

The increasing use of wind power will help Brazil maintain an energy matrix among the cleanest in the industrialized world, with 45.4% of energy coming from renewable sources. Specifically among electricity generation in Brazil, 87.1% is generated from renewable sources.

Aneel
aneel.com

Renewable-energy OEM splits its units

 

As of October 1, 2011, Siemens will realign its renewables business into two independent units, says the Germany-based company. The existing Renewable Energy Division shall be divided into two divisions, Wind Power and Solar & Hydro. The company intends to bundle its solar and hydro power business activities in a new division Solar & Hydro. “We’re separating solar and wind power because these two markets are at different stages of development,” says Siemens Energy Sector CEO Michael Seuss. “In the Solar & Hydro unit, we’ll move forward with research and development. In the established wind power business, we’ll forge ahead with industrialisation and internationalisation. Germany, the rest of Europe and the whole world need power-storage systems to work with renewables. Our Solar & Hydro Division will also be handling the strategic issue of power storage,” Suess added.

“We’ve got a wind order backlog of almost €11 billion, and we’re world market leader in offshore wind farms, the market sector posting fastest growth. We also want to forge ahead with onshore wind turbines.” To further reduce wind-based power generating costs the company will focus on new products and industrialised manufacturing and logistics. For example, nacelles are now produced in a continuous-flow manufacturing process with the automation of rotor-blade production to follow. The company recently installed a prototype of its new 6 MW direct drive wind turbine and announced investments of €150 million in two new R&D locations in Denmark. In addition, the internationalisation of the manufacturing and marketing & sales network will play a key role in Siemens strategy. Following the opening of two new factories in the US and China in late-2010, the company is planning further production facilities in Canada, the UK, India, and Russia, and now in Brazil.

Siemens wants to expand its market share in emerging countries with local value, and development of wind turbines for China and India. Siemens will bundle its activities in the fields of solar and hydro power in the Solar & Hydro Division. In this field Siemens acts as general contractor for large-area photovoltaic installations in the megawatt-capacity range. The company recently acquired a minority stake in Semprius, a developer of concentrating PV modules. In the field of solar-thermal power, the range of products offered extends from components, such as solar receivers and solar fields, to complete solar thermal power plants. In addition to business with small hydro power plants the new Division will also encompass the Siemens stakes in Voith Hydro (35%), a vendor in the hydro sector, and in Marine Current Turbines (about 10%), a pioneer in tidal current energy turbines. The new unit will also be a centre of competence for the development of power storage technologies.

Siemens
www.siemens.com

IKEA invests in renewables

 

 

IKEA Group has been busy with more than curtains and chairs lately.  Bloomberg reports the giant home-furnishings retailer recently bought a wind farm in Scotland and plans to install 39,000 solar panels on its U.K. stores as part of a goal to get all of its energy from renewable sources.

The company’s 12.3-MW wind farm in Huntly, northeast Scotland,  can cover as much as 30% of Ikea’s U.K. electricity use.  Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S supplied the turbines for the wind farm. Also, 2.1 MW of solar panels will be fitted on 10 stores and cover 5% of each one’s power on average.The solar panels will cost about $6.5 million to fit, and will be manufactured by China’s GS Solar Fujian Co.

 

 

 

 

A pretty cool power plant from GE

GE has developed what it calls a “first-of-its-kind” power plant. By rapidly ramping up and down in response to fluctuations in wind and solar power, the technology will enable the integration of more renewable resources into the power grid. The FlexEfficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant is rated at 510 MW and offers fuel efficiency greater than 61%. The plant is the result of an investment of more than $500 million in research and development by the company.

While most power plants now offer flexibility or high efficiency, GE says this power plant will deliver an unprecedented combination of both. The company calls this combination of flexibility and efficiency ‘FlexEfficiency,’ which is essential if renewable power is going to cost-effectively integrate into power grids around the world on a large scale.

GE drew from the company’s jet engine expertise to engineer a plant that will ramp up at a rate of more than 50 MW per minute, twice the rate of today’s industry benchmarks. Operational flexibility at these levels will enable utilities to deliver power quickly when it is needed and to ramp down when it is not, balancing the grid cost-effectively and helping to deploy additional renewable power resources like wind and solar. A typical plant will deliver enough energy to power more than 600,000 E.U. homes.

Increasing Renewables with Natural Gas

“As we seek to increase use of renewable energy, the challenge of grid stability sharpens,” says Paul Browning, VP of thermal products for GE Power & Waste. “There is added pressure to achieve higher levels of efficiency and lower emissions for natural gas power plants. The FlexEfficiency 50 plant creates growth opportunity in a new segment for our gas turbines.” He says for years GE has been working to develop technology that can deliver breakthrough efficiency and deal with the challenge of grid variability caused by wind and solar. “The need for combined flexibility and efficiency is even more pressing today as countries around the world establish new emissions standards,” he says.

Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power & Water, notes that much of today’s power generation technology is serving yesterday’s power grid. Institutions and individuals everywhere are looking for cost-effective ways to use solar, wind, and gas energy on a large scale. “But they often assume that renewable energy can simply plug-in to the existing power grid,” he says. “We expect the FlexEfficiency to help take advantage of abundant natural gas while we simultaneously carve a fresh path to accelerate wider adoption of renewable energy, all with less impact on natural resources.”

Sustainability by Design

GE engineers were able to avoid the typical tradeoffs between flexibility and efficiency by approaching the plant design from a total equipment and control systems perspective. The company says the FlexEfficiency 50 plant is designed for flexible operation by integrating a next-generation 9FB Gas Turbine that operates at 50 Hz, which is the power frequency that is most used in countries around the world; a 109D-14 Steam Turbine, which runs on the waste heat produced by the gas turbine; GE’s advanced W28 Generator; a Mark VIe integrated control system that links all of the technologies; and a heat recovery steam generator.

“With global energy demand expected to double by 2030 and electricity generation accounting for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, utilities and government bodies are taking a hard look at how to produce power more efficiently,” says Ricardo Cordoba, president of GE Energy for Western Europe and North Africa. “This innovation can have a dramatic effect on CO₂ emissions and offers a nimble, efficient and cost-effective way for us to help E.U. countries in their pursuit of 20-20-20 energy goals.”

The International Energy Agency concluded in a report that large shares of variable renewable energy are feasible as long as power systems and markets are properly configured so they can get the best use of their flexible resources.

GE www.ge-energy.com

 

What is the first step for installing a wind turbine?

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 accumulated sufficient information. Study teams might also look at weather archives and model-out on that data to find what a potential wind farm could produce.

A wind assessment along with transmission and environmental studies, can also tell if it is feasible to put together several land owners to commercially produce power. Landowners can try to put together a wind project on their own but it’s a complex process that often benefits greatly from the expertise of a community developer. There are several business structures that guide development of community wind.

Site assessments are actually not required by law, but certainly before permitting a wind farm, authorities ask for a lot detail about the wind regime that an assessment provides. Also, banks providing the financing will require not just one assessment, but more likely two or three. Different firms use different techniques. With such a big price tag on theses projects, its common sense to get several assessments. If all two or three are within reason, the banks feel better.

The assessment comes in different phases. The first is more prospecting. It answers the questions: What is the potential of this area? What are the prospective wind speeds in the area, and what do state resource maps say about the wind in a certain local?

While the meteorological tower is collecting data, for example, other companies are planning tasks such as pinpointing the best wind resources in an area, looking for residences, roads, and set backs needed for historical sites, and microwave beams paths.

A site assessment ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 not including met towers. Those might add another $15,000 each. Software used in the assessment also helps establish a setback from homes for the wind farm. This is to make sure residents endure only minimal noise and shadow flicker. Such an event occurs on sunny days when the rotor’s shadow passes over a building. Flashing or flickering bothers some people. Simulation software now predicts the effect and helps avoid it. Software also calculates the cumulative flickering during the year. There is no universal standard for the number of hours a person might tolerate, but a German standard has set a period of not more then 30 hours per year as a maximum exposure. This is a commonly accepted standard and all assessment groups try to mitigate shadow flicker exposure as much as possible.

Two additional studies (ecological and historical) are done by biologists and anthropologists that will walk the proposed site. Biologists look for evidence of wild life that might be harmed by construction activities while archeologists might dig a few holes and look for evidence of previous habitation and burial sites. In most cases, when sensitive archeological evidence turns up and its location coincides with a proposed turbine foundation or road, planners simply move the structure’s location 50 m one way or another.

Large facilities draw a lot of power from a grid so grid owners want to know how much and when they will need the power. A similar question is asked on the opposite side of the coin when a wind farm wants to inject power into the grid. Its owners want to know: How much and when? Of all things encountered in the world of power generation, regardless of source, permission to inject power is hardest to get, at least in the Midwest. If you want to inject 100 MW might require waiting three to seven years for transmission and demand to catch up with the growing supply.

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Fourth annual China Wind Technology and Investment Summit

China’s wind power is increasing at a fast pace. In the next 20 years China will add an average of about 25 million kilowatts of wind power installed capacity, and make a yearly investment of more than 25 billion Euros in the wind power market. The land-based wind energy resource in Xinjiang accounts for 37% of the national total. By the end of 2015, Xinjiang’s wind power installed capacity will reach 60 million kW.

After the success of previous summits, Chinese conference producer Noppen hosted its fourth annual China Advanced Wind Technology and Investment Summit in Urumqi, co-organized with Urumqi Municipal People’s Government and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Department of Commerce. At the summit over 140 senior government officials, directors, and technicians from China’s wind energy, wind turbine production bases, and power groups came together to discuss the country’s newest industrial policies, advanced technology solutions for their plants growth, grid integration, and the most up-to-date progress reports on major projects across China.

The conference began with an opening speech from Mr. LI Guanghui, the Vice Mayor of Urumqi People’s Municipal Government and later in the day he gave a welcome toast to all the attending delegates at an dinner hosted by the government. During the course of the summit key speeches were given by industry experts. The Vice President of Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Yang Hua spoke on the opportunities and risks facing China’s wind-power industry. He gave good insight into wind farm operation and maintenance, as well as the obstacles they face in terms of development in the field of technology and across the market.

Another key speaker at the event was Dr. Tong Tong, Marketing Director of Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd. His spoke on the rapid development of Sinovel China within the wind-power market. He stated that their company started at a “high point” and has now reached a “commanding height” and are not only successful within China’s market but also North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific markets. After his presentation, some delegates discussed with Dr. Tong about Sinovel’s strategy for being a global supplier. Furthermore, he engaged in a discussion with Xu Kan, Vice President of Vestas China, about the advantages, disadvantages, and competitiveness of foreign and domestic wind turbine manufacturers in the Chinese market.

Dong Luying, Researcher for the NDRC gave a particularly relevant speech that addressed China’s wind-power industrial policies, a concern for a number of delegates. They listened intently as she talked about the developing trends within in the global wind power industry and gave a detailed analysis of China’s market. Another enlightening speech was delivered by Wu Ping, Director of Technology Department, Product Development Center of Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. He talked about the most up-to-date design and technology for permanent magnet direct drive wind turbines.

Another topic addressed at the event were the difficulties in maintenance and operation failures, discussed by Wang Shiwei, Deputy General Manager of Xinjiang Wind Energy Liability Co., Ltd., and Zhang Tao, Technology Director of CSIC (Chongqing) Haizhuang Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd. Both discussed the troubles they have come across and gave suggestions on how to overcome this. Mr. Wang’s speech was from a wind farm operator’s view. Their wind farm is one of the oldest in Xinjiang and has been generating power for 20 years. Mr. Zhang discussed how offshore wind is the future development trend for wind power and mentioned the difficulties met, especially with offshore wind turbines and their solutions.

On May 14 a site tour was held with 30 delegates in attendance. During the first half of the day they were shown around the manufacturing base of Goldwind. They were introduced to the daily operations of the company by Mr. Dou, Sales Director of Goldwind. The second part of the day involved going to Dabancheng to visit the Guodian United Power Longyuan Xinjiang Tianfeng wind farm. The GM of Tianfeng showed the delegates around the wind farm and spoke to them about the operation situation.

Noppen (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. www.noppen.com.cn

 

 

Prepping your wind farm for condition monitoring

 

 

David Clark
Wind Consultant
El Dorado Hills, Calif.

Here’s a little secret: You can probably use anyone’s condition monitoring on a single turbine and get data good enough to predict basic failures. But expand the monitoring scope to several turbines or multiple sites and everything changes.

To cost justify outfitting a 100-turbine farm with condition monitoring equipment, an O&M crew needs a heads-up on only two to three gearbox failures over the next 18 years. A design life of 20 years means 18 of those will be spent out of warranty. And no turbine runs better with age. Regardless of supplier, you will have to get vibration data from nacelles into a server, and then analyze all the data. These few key considerations can assist with the integration of condition monitoring into your wind farm and organization.

Sending data from the nacelle
First, know what is available in the turbine for transmitting data. Condition monitoring equipment will need a network connection to communicate with data storage on the ground. If it is not possible to run wire, then wireless is an option, with the right radio. More owners specify installing additiona runs of fiber at the time of commissioning. Other turbine models will have an Ethernet provision available in the nacelle or at the tower base. Connecting point A to point B seems basic. Nonetheless, consult with someone who knows from experience what works. There is a long list of what might work or should work. The list of what actually works is quite short.

Powering the system
Know what’s available and what’s required for your system. It will usually require a 100, 110, or 120 Vac, or 24 Vdc connection up-tower. Both are common. An existing power supply may also suffice. As with communications, power available in the varies greatly from site to site and manufacturer to manufacturer. A turbine a few years old will need assessments as to what’s available up-tower and whether or not it will work with your system. If you are specifying a new turbine’s requirements, foresight allows anticipating power requirements.

Managing the data
Depending on the number of turbines, wind-farm sites, and analysis location, determine a data-storage requirement for the condition-monitoring system. Consider these points to size the server:

• 8 measurement locations on a turbine x 3 vibration measurements each, plus one tachometer reading = 25 measurements per turbine.
• Each of the 25 measurements averages 2 kB in size or 50 kB of data per turbine each time readings are captured.
• 50 kB x 100 turbines x 2 daily recordings = 5,000 vibration measurements, or 10 MBs daily.
• This equates to 1,625,000 readings and 3.65 GB annually.

An actual site similar to the example size produced just over 10.5 GB in a year. This was after a year that included measurement interruptions due to lack of wind, service outages, and other events. This amount of data was accumulated with just two series of measurements a day. Increase this frequency to 12 times a day and you will quickly consume a terabyte of server space. If you have purchased a well-thought out system, it will have data thinning features to eliminate unneeded data over the course of time.

Data frequency
Most people want to know why you cannot take more data more often. This perspective may stem from examining SCADA data which is so dynamic and ever changing, therefore, you need lots of it. Vibration condition monitoring must be the same, right? Wrong. Vibration is not ever changing. Either you have a bad bearing or you don’t. A failing main bearing it will take several months to fail. Taking readings every 6 sec on something that will take months to fail is quantity monitoring not quality monitoring. In addition, physical limitations choke the number of potential readings. There are two reasons for limitations:

One limitation to a high frequency of measurements is the time it takes to gather the readings. On a typical 18 rpm main bearing, readings taken in a common velocity vibration measurement might take up to three minutes for a single reading. There are 24 more measurements after the first three minutes so the average turbine will take upwards of 30 to 45 minutes for accurate and meaningful measurements, for each turbine on the site, and each time data is taken.

The second limitation comes from the available bandwidth. Some controllers take 90% and more of the available bandwidth, leaving only a small portion for condition monitoring. So even if you wanted to take more data, there is no way to transmit it.

Is there really a problem with fewer readings? Reading twice a day for a year equates to just over 18,000 vibration measurements per turbine, over 2,100 per point. If you can’t detect a bad generator bearing with 2,100 measurements, change analysts or condition monitoring systems.  Reach David Clark at (530) 677-9785.

Analyzing the data
Suppose you take 1.65 million quality measurements annually for the 100-turbine example. Who will make sense of the measurements? It’s not as daunting a task as it sounds, but it could be worse if the measurements are not qualified. So who will monitor the fleet? What seems to work is a blend of temporary outsourced expertise and internal resources. This is highly dependent upon the number of turbines and internal capabilities. Usually the wind farm is set-up with the software and monitored for several months until the wind-farm owner gets someone trained as a vibration analyst at using the software and performing analysis. Most software platforms have features to streamline the analysis so it focuses only on areas that need attention.

This grossly over simplifies what is required for expertise. But suffice it to say, you will have to dedicate personnel on the task while partnering with a reputable vendor that has wind-specific vibration experience. Most farms and fleets are internally managed, assuming you can guarantee stability in the position and dedicate the time required today and a year from now.

WPE

Smart wind measurements