GE Power Conversion has successfully completed manufacturing the first serial permanent-magnet generator (PMG) in GE Renewable’s offshore wind factory in Saint-Nazaire, France, which was inaugurated in late 2014. The factory is set up to have a capacity of manufacturing 100 generators per year. As part of the first series, 300 generators are to be manufactured on…
Wärtsilä power plant to reduce carbon emissions at Minnesota utility site by half
Wärtsilä will supply a 47 MW Smart Power Generation power plant to Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) in Minnesota. The order includes five Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas. The equipment will be delivered in the autumn of 2017, and the plant is expected to be fully operational in May 2018.
ABB introduces powerful 4‑pole generators for turbines
ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has introduced a new 1400 frame size synchronous generator to expand its proven AMS platform. Covering the power range from 60 to 85 MVA at voltages from 3 to 15 kV, the new 4-pole generators enable higher unit powers and more economical genset designs. Advances in manufacturing technology…
Suspendem brings UpWind’s vortex generator technology to the Canadian wind market
UpWind Solutions, a North American full-service provider for the wind industry, and Suspendem Inc., a Canadian turbine O&M provider, have recently teamed up to form a strategic relationship. As part of the partnership, Suspendem will offer UpWind’s Vortex Generator (VG) Solution to the Canadian wind market for the first time. UpWind has already partnered with…
Recent Brazilian certification marks GE as the only supplier of generators at 3.15 MW compliant with Finame requirements
GE has announced the completion of the nationalization of its 3.15 MW Double Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) which integrates with onshore wind turbines of 3 MW power range.
Evaluating wind-turbine generators through electrical signature analysis
By Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP President | MotorDoc LLC Properly assessing an operating turbine’s electrical and mechanical systems is no easy task. An electrical signature analysis or ESA is independent of load or speed, so the test is often applied to analyze generators and electric equipment. Still, a challenge is to ensure loading stays constant…
DNV GL awards component certification to ABB for offshore wind converter
DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has awarded ABB Switzerland with component certification for its latest generation main-frequency converter. The PCS6000 medium-voltage wind converter has been developed specifically for use in offshore wind turbines and is available for capacities up to 12-MW. The certificate was presented by Mike…
Keeping wind-turbine controls working during power disruptions
Michael A. Stout | Vice President of Engineering | Falcon Electric The aim of wind-farm operators is to ensure optimal performance and consistent power generation, and maintain the safety and reliability of each turbine. With these goals in mind, there are a myriad of electrical and electronic components to consider for safe turbine operations. Such…
ABB paper: making power distribution networks smarter
ABB has recently released a journal titled “Switching gears: Moving to smart switchgear for primary and secondary substations.” The article is written by Vincenzo Balzano and Martin Celko. The five-page paper discusses ABB’s development of “smart” medium-voltage distribution systems to address the demand for switchgears that can handle a more complex flow of energy sources. The UniGear Digital concept for primary…
How are manufacturers working to reduce cost of electrical components on wind farms?
Wind energy plant developers, owners and operators all face uncertainty about how undefined tax laws and structures—the U.S. wind production tax credits in particular—may impact a plant’s financial picture. There is increased focus on finding ways to make projects financially viable without tax incentives like the PTCs, particularly from a cost standpoint. This focus has…
Morgan Advanced’s carbon brushes lower maintenance costs and improve reliability
Morgan Advanced Materials’ range of carbon brushes are ideal for wind turbine applications, with new designs and materials that are resulting in longer brush life and increased generator uptime. Morgan’s globally available brush grades are created to be environment-specific, offering maximized performance in low or high-load conditions. Leading-edge laboratory equipment, coupled with years of experience…
Morgan Advanced offers new carbon brush grade for improved turbine performance
Morgan’s Electrical Carbon business has developed a new carbon brush grade suitable for wind turbine applications that drastically improves up-time in some of the most demanding conditions. The LL587 carbon brush grade maximizes performance through extended brush life combined with minimal wear to slip rings. Extensive field testing by Morgan Advanced Materials and several wind…
Industry veteran launches APQ, a one-stop shop for power quality solutions
Industry veteran Gary Anderson, former President of Arteche PQ, has launched APQ, LLC to provide a range of electrical power products and services that save users money. APQ’s power quality products will mitigate harmonics and improve the quality and efficiency of power operations. The company will serve North America, building on the quality line of…
Offshore wind farm gets boost with ZephIR Lidar
ZephIR Lidar has installed a turbine-mounted ZephIR DM wind lidar on the 270-MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm. Located five miles off the Skegness coast, Lincs Wind Farm is a joint venture between Centrica Energy, Siemens Project Ventures, and DONG Energy. It is anticipated that the installation of the lidar unit will help to identify opportunities…
Molycorp chosen to supply rare earths for use in high-efficiency Siemens wind turbine generators
Siemens AG has selected Molycorp, Inc. to supply rare earth materials over the next 10 years from its Mountain Pass, California facility for incorporation into Siemens’ high-efficiency, direct-drive wind turbine generators. Molycorp will supply rare earth materials to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., which will produce the rare earth magnets Siemens intends to utilize in its wind…
Software provides better help designing electric machines
Engineers and designers of electric machines have a revamped and more intuitive modeling environment to use when performing motor simulations and analysis with the release of MotorSolve V5. Major additions to the software enhance the charts and field data available to users. A few highlights: MotorSolve is among the most easy to use design software…
Wärtsilä supplies flexible capacity to work with Oklahoma wind and solar
Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply a 56 MW Smart Power Generation power plant to the Stillwater Utilities Authority (SUA) in Oklahoma. The contract was signed in September 2014 and the equipment delivery will begin in November 2015. The power station will balance wind and solar generation in Oklahoma. “When the wind stops blowing and…
New motor under development at UW-Madison startup
A tabletop motor using an entirely new driving principle is under development at the headquarters of C-Motive Technologies, a startup business that is commercializing technology from the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. “We have proven the concept of a new motor that uses electric fields rather than magnetic fields to transform electricity into a rotary…
Northern Power Systems launches new distributed wind turbines
Northern Power Systems has launched the next generation of their industry leading permanent magnet/direct drive distributed wind turbines. The 100 kilowatt (kW) NPS 100C and the 60 kW NPS 60C are commercially available for delivery to markets around the world starting in the fourth quarter of 2014. A new 24.4 meter rotor features state-of-the-art hub…
The Switch wins large repeat orders from major wind customers
The Switch, a supplier of megawatt-class permanent magnet generator and full-power converter packages for wind power and other renewable energy applications, has received repeat orders worth several millions of euros from major customers in the company’s core business area of wind. These repeat orders signal a strong belief in the company and provide a solid…