This article comes from law firm Jones Day and is authored by Jennifer M. Hayes 2018 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”), which protects migratory birds from “takes.” On the eve of this anniversary, the Trump Administration’s Interior Department issued Opinion M-37050, which decriminalized “incidental takes”—the taking/killing of a migratory…
What researchers have learned from fractured wind turbine blades
Xiao Chen / Researcher / DTU Wind Energy Introduction To make wind energy more competitive with traditional fossil fuels, wind turbines should operate as continuously as possible with minimal unscheduled downtime during their intended design lifetime. One of the main challenges to achieving this goal is component failure, which can lead to considerably long stoppages…
Wago unwraps Lever Nuts for splicing 10 AWG wire
Wago says it is introducing its new 10 AWG 221 LEVER-NUTS. This addition to its splicing connector series increases the application scope significantly. The lever-actuation, clear body, reliable connections and 600 V rating are still an integral part of the new version of the 221 splicing connectors that can now accommodate larger conductors. Potential applications include:…
IEA report finds that charging infrastructure, more battery improvements, and supply of core materials critical to sustaining growth
The number of electric and plug-in hybrid cars on the world’s roads exceeded 3 million in 2017, a 54% increase compared with 2016, according to the latest edition of the International Energy Agency’s Global Electric Vehicles Outlook. China remained by far the largest electric car market in the world, accounting for half sold last year. Nearly…
Multiphysics simulations help NTS engineers understand what happens when lightning strikes a wind turbine.
As the world moves to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, the global market for wind turbines is growing, projected to reach around $70 billion dollars annually in the next few years. While wind power on such a scale is a great achievement, another powerful force of nature is preventing the industry from reaching its…
Onshore O&M Stakeholders: How to seize and adapt in a changing services market landscape
Actually, this “article” is just one big graphic. For the link at the very bottom: www.events.newenergyupdate.com/onshore-wind-operations-maintenance-report/
U.S. offshore wind industry needs improved foundations
Today’s U.S. offshore wind industry has its roots in the oil and gas industry, along with developments from Europe’s offshore wind industry. This combination has produced our first offshore wind farm near Block Island, Rhode Island, but at a staggering cost of $50 million per turbine. Costs must come down for the U.S. offshore industry…
Wind turbine owners share gearbox & drivetrain issues in survey
Editor’s note: This article and survey comes from O2O Wind International, o2owind.com and was written and compiled by Marten Nilsson. Input from 85 wind-turbine owners and employees, working for 47 different energy companies in 27 countries on 6 different continents. Real issues that owners need to solve and with input on how to solve this…
Law firm explores the future of energy storage
This article comes from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and is authored by Robert A. James, Peter A. Baumgaertner, and Alexandra Brandt The excitement around the energy storage space has been growing for a number of years, and some of the first storage-centric financings took place in 2017. As renewable energy provides an increasing share of electrical…
Vehicle simulation tool allows wider array of analyses
Editor’s note: This article, from NREL on May 22, 2018, should be of interest to wind industry advocates because the 21st-century transportation fleet will be powered more by renewable energy derived fuels such as hydrogen and batteries. But before that, the fuel must be electrolyzed and stored, and that will call for wind-generated power. New…
Wind operations survey predicts digital, profit-sharing future
This article and survey come from New Energy Update. Onshore wind participants predict more revenue-sharing, digitalization and multi-project contracts in the operations and maintenance sector while service providers plan to expand spare parts capabilities, a new survey by New Energy Update shows. Ageing wind fleets, falling technology costs, and increasing competition between power generation technologies have…
DES-Case unwraps IsoLogic, the first IIoT connected desiccant breather
Des-Case Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty filtration products such as desiccant breathers that improve process equipment reliability and extend lubricant life for companies around the world, has announced the launch of IsoLogic, the first connected desiccant breather. Patent-pending IsoLogic is Des-Case’s first entrance into the rapidly growing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) space, expanding on…
Satellite tech ready to keep far away wind farms in close touch
Satellite technology has advanced to the point where renewable energy owners and operators can increase their Internet connectivity and data usage while minimizing unplanned outages and lowering maintenance costs – even in the most remote of locations that are often homes to wind farms. Through a partnership with Kymeta Corp., FMC GlobalSat configures, integrates and…
Maryland offshore wind grant programs now available for 2019
This article comes from Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP and is authored by Joseph G. Tirone, Belton T. Zeigler, and Brian D. Meltzer The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) had opened up its Offshore Wind Business and Workforce Development Grant Programs for the 2019 fiscal year. The two offshore wind programs are intended to work in tandem. The business program focuses…
Myth busted: No partisan divide on wind support, young Americans overwhelming in preferences
Greg Alvarez / AWEA A slew of surveys across 2016 and 2017 found Americans across the board supported the growth of wind energy. Now we have our first evidence from 2018 that this support continues to increase, and that we have a true rarity in today’s political environment coming into focus– there is no meaningful…
PM generator manufacturer The Switch becomes Yaskawa Environmental energy Division
As of March 1, 2018, the start of our new fiscal year, we became Yaskawa Environmental Energy Division with global responsibility in our selected areas of wind, marine, and turbo/industry applications. For us, this now provides a good foundation to continue focusing on our mission to electrify the world with ultimate efficiency, using the pioneering…
Report: A customer-focused framework for electric system resilience
The full report, available here, is authored by: Alison Silverstein, Alison Silverstein Consulting – (512) 964-0787, alisonsilverstein@mac.com Rob Gramlich, Grid Strategies LLC — (202) 821-6943, rgramlich@gridstrategiesllc.com Michael Goggin, Grid Strategies LLC — (202) 302-9670, mgoggin@gridstrategiesllc.com Highlights of the report include: Customers pay the ultimate price for power outages, whether through their electric bills or their own personal losses…
What do electric vehicles hold for the resources sector?
This article comes from law firm Gilbert + Tobin and is authored by Michael Blakiston We are truly experiencing a quantum shift in the way we get around. The role of the internal combustion engine (ICE) has served us for over a century, as we have both worked and played. Fuel for the ICE has…
Corporate PPAs from an international perspective
This article comes from law firm Bird & Bird and is authored by Elizabeth Reid, Levent Gurdenli, and Sophie Dingenen. Large corporations are continuing to set the agenda for the growth of renewable energy across the globe. Corporations globally purchased 5.4 gigawatts of clean power directly from generators in 2017 under a Corporate PPA. Corporate PPAs enable corporate consumers to…
Joseph Savino, NASA engineer, scientist, and wind industry innovator
Success has many fathers, goes the old saw. And so it is with the wind industry. There is official history and then there is the sometimes more interesting nonofficial history, you know, real life. First, we present an official version of one genuine pioneer of wind energy and then get to a more interesting anecdote.…