Case study by Eaton Gear-driven wind turbines are the heart and soul of sustainable, green energy generation from wind. With the urge of maximizing efficiency and reducing costs, engineers strive to build bigger, safer and more powerful turbines. Eaton’s customized TWF Twinfil filter systems enable designers to reduce weight of the gearboxes significantly while maintaining…
GE unveils 3-MW onshore turbine built for North American market
GE Renewable Energy has developed Sierra, an onshore wind turbine platform designed specifically for the North American region. The 3.0-3.4 MW turbine features a 140-m rotor and at a range of hub heights, including a 500 ft option and includes GE’s two-piece blade GE has today manufactured, installed and commissioned its first site of Sierra…
TotalEnergies developing 1-GW offshore wind farm off Carolina coast
International energy developer TotalEnergies has been named a winner by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the development of an offshore wind farm off the coast of North Carolina. Located 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) from the coast, the lease covers a 120 square nautical miles area (222 square kilometers) that when built out…
NRG Systems adopts ZX Lidars’ latest wind profile measurement tool
NRG Systems, a designer and manufacturer of smart technologies for the wind, solar and meteorological industries, has added ZX Lidars’ ZX TM Lidar to its remote sensing portfolio. ZX TM is a nacelle-mounted Lidar that uses continuous wave technology to measure the full shear and veer wind profile across a turbine. The remote sensing device…
Acciona celebrates 10 years of operation at Oklahoma’s Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm
Acciona is celebrating 10 years of operations at the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm in Roger Mills and Beckham Counties, Oklahoma. The wind farm generates 132 MWh per year, enough to power 46,000 Oklahoma households. “Since May 2012, Dempsey Ridge has provided Oklahoma with safe, sustainable and cost-effective power,” said Joaquin Castillo, CEO of Acciona Energía…
Keystone Tower Systems begins production on first spiral-welded wind towers in Texas
Keystone Tower Systems has begun commercial production of the first utility-scale spiral-welded towers at its new factory in Pampa, Texas. The factory currently has 40 employees with plans for further hiring. The first tower will be delivered this summer to a project in Texas. Keystone Tower Systems has invested more than 10 years into developing tapered…
Meta commissions 112-MW Michigan wind project
Algonquin Power & Utilities‘ subsidiary Liberty is developing a 112-MW wind project in Michigan to support Facebook’s parent company, Meta, in reaching its renewable energy goals. The new Deerfield II wind project is expected to reach commercial operations in 2023. Deerfield II is located in Huron County, Michigan, adjacent to Liberty’s Deerfield I wind facility.…
200-MW El Algodon Alto wind farm commences operation in Texas
RWE Renewables‘ El Algodon Alto, a 200-MW onshore wind farm, located in San Patricio County, Texas, is in operation. “We’re excited to announce another one of the projects in our development pipeline is operational,” said Silvia Ortin, CEO of onshore wind and solar PV Americas, RWE Renewables. “El Algodon Alto continues our momentum to providing…
UK company releases wind turbine blade inspection robot
An advanced robot from BladeBUG can inspect wind turbine blades in half the time it would take a human rope access technician, the company says. BladeBug can complete the tasks in 35 minutes. The BladeBUG provides a fast, safe and cost-effective alternative to rope access technicians inspecting blades. For onshore turbines, a ground-up approach for…
200-MW Golden Hills wind farm powering Oregon utility
Avangrid Renewables has achieved commercial operation at its 200-MW Golden Hills wind farm in Sherman County, Oregon. The facility, which provides enough renewable electricity to Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to power over 60,000 homes annually, began operations on April 29, 2022. The project supports PSE’s carbon dioxide emission reduction goals while providing additional capacity to…
Resilience and integrity – hurricane readiness for offshore wind assets
By Jeffrey Lewis, technical advisor, BMT Extreme weather is no new threat for offshore operators, but it is growing. The number of tropical storms and hurricanes is steadily increasing year on year, with 13 severe storms reported in 2020, and weather events like these threaten devastation and pose challenges to companies with assets that sit…
RWE Renewables assisting development of offshore wind supply chain for Gulf of Mexico
Global offshore wind company RWE Renewables will collaborate with Greater New Orleans (GNO) and GNOwind Alliance to build a program to accelerate Louisiana’s supply chain engagement with the emerging offshore wind industry. Over the next six months, GNO will host a series of informational workshops and company-specific interviews with the aim of identifying existing Louisiana…
BOEM readies Oregon and Central Atlantic waters for offshore wind leases
The Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish two separate Calls for Information and Nominations for possible leasing in areas that are determined to be suitable off the coast of Oregon and in the Central Atlantic. BOEM Director Amanda Lefton made the announcement at the International…
Renewables covered 96% of new electrical capacity in opening months of 2022
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower) provided 96.3% of the domestic electrical generating capacity added in January and February 2022, according to a review by the SUN DAY Campaign. According to the latest issue of FERC’s” Energy…
HVDC transmission comes to U.S. offshore wind
By Kevin Pearce, grid access business development manager, Siemens Energy A planned offshore wind project in New York is gaining attention for its novel design that will, for the first time, leverage high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology to support offshore wind in the United States. In a consortium with Aker Solutions, Siemens Energy is supplying…
Ampelmann introduces Walk to Work platform to U.S. offshore wind market
Ampelmann, the Dutch offshore access provider, has signed its first contract in the U.S. offshore wind market. An E1000 motion compensated system will be supplied to the marine transportation and towing company Otto Candies to facilitate operations during the construction of the Southfork, Revolution and Sunrise wind farms in the Northeast. This marks an important…
The opportunity for digitalization to build the wind sector and accelerate the energy transition
By Jamie Stapleton, global digital portfolio leader, Hitachi Energy Digitalization has transformed the power sector over the past two decades. From lower monthly utility bills to reduced outages and faster response times, it has enabled greater transparency into operations and increased efficiency and reliability while decreasing costs. However, in order to meet sustainability goals, this…
Submarine cable manufacturing facility planned for New Jersey port
Rise Light & Power and Delaware River Partners (DRP) today announced a plan to invest millions to develop a site for a submarine cable manufacturing facility to support the New Jersey offshore wind industry. The facility will be at the DRP-owned Repauno Port & Rail Terminal in Greenwich Township. The proposed submarine cable manufacturing facility…
Navigating early wind’s midlife crisis through data
By Staffan Lindahl, Co-founder at Bitbloom Wind energy is no longer new, and a growing cohort of generation assets have been operational for well over a decade. With the first flush of youth (turbocharged by subsidies) behind them but many years ahead before mandatory retirement, these early-mover assets can pose challenges for owners and operators.…
Future of airborne wind energy systems depends on safety and efficiency
By Jaap Bosch, head of business development, Ampyx Power Over the past decade, airborne wind energy systems (AWES) have made significant research and development advancements. Using tethered flying devices, including kites and planes, AWES convert wind energy into electricity and will soon be part of wind energy’s promise to be a dominant energy source. While…