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IN FOCUS Construction  Transportation CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES: THE KEY TO SUCCESS PROFILE Clobotics

DECEMBER 2018 windsystemsmag.com [email protected]

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IN FOCUS ]]PROFILE Combining computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and CONSTRUCTION data analytics software, Clobotics has MANAGEMENT SERVICES: become a global leader in creating real- time, data-driven insights and analysis for THE KEY TO the wind industry. 26 SUCCESS Beyond safety, each step of the way during the construction of a wind farm, there needs to be checks and balances to ensure the project remains on track.

ADVANCING OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION ]]CONVERSATION The floating wind turbine sector requires Dr. Willett Kempton, Co-director advancement in the development of foundations of Offshore Wind Skills Academy, and mooring systems. 18 University of Delaware. 30

2 DECEMBER 2018 THE COVER: Shutterstock images / Illustration by Rick Frennea HO P oPuYr readerLs fIrDomA HAto YS d Syste inour adverti ms Wand sers!

Abaris Training Aimco American Chemical Technologies, Inc. Amsoil Mankiewicz Coatings AWEA Mersen France Amiens S.A.S Bachmann Electronic Corporation Moog Capps Van & Truck Rental New Energy Update Carr Lane Roemheld Norbar / Standish Associates Castrol NTC Wind Energy ChemTrend -DieMedia Agency Ozzie’s Pipeline Padder Consumer Attorney Marketing Group Petzl - Verde Brand Communications Dyson Corporation Polymer Exploration Group, LLC EDF Renewable Energy Polytech Services Company Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund Shell Oil Company Evonik Siba Fuses FC Business Intelligence Snap-On Tools Fiberglass Recycling Alternative, LLC Sotek/Belrix Frisa Forjados Stahlwille Tools Fusion, Inc. Stahlwille Tools LLC GD Energy Services Team-1 Academy Hamburg Messe Tempest Group Harting, Inc. of North America Timken Company Hydrogenics Tork Worx IMC USA Wanhe Filtration Iowa Lakes Community College Wanzek Construction/ Morris & Associates ITH Engineering Wind Secure Inc. Kalamazoo Valley Community College Worldwide Machinery Pipeline SECTIONS December 2018 VOLUME 10  NUMBER 12

]]THE FUTURE OF WIND TAILWINDS GET CONNECTED THE BUSINESS OF WIND WIndSystemsmag.com is your ]]INNOVATION iSpin tech to monitor Vattenfall online authority for information wind center 32 about the wind energy industry.

DIRECTION 8 You’ll find topical articles, company

Agreement reached on Horse Creek and Electra wind farm profiles and interviews with transaction  Walmart, EDP Renewables announce three PPAs industry insiders, and  China keeps grip on global top 25 timely wind energy news.

]]MAINTENANCE AMSOIL to be main supplier for ZF Wind Power 36

Giving Wind Direction

CROSSWINDS 44

FROST WARNINGS SYSTEMS ]]MANUFACTURING Wind-farm operators often face three issues when it comes to ice BladeFactory project: Quicker buildup on turbine blades: equipment damage, production issues, blade production, higher quality and potential safety hazards. result 39

Wind Systems (ISSN 2327-2422) is published monthly by Media Solutions, Inc., 266D Yeager Parkway Pelham, AL 35124. Phone (205) 380-1573 Fax (205) 380-1580 International subscription rates: $72.00 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Pelham, AL and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wind Systems magazine, P.O. Box 1210 Pelham AL 35124. Publications mail agreement No. 41395015 return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503 RPO West Beaver Creek Richmond Hill, ON L4B4R6. Copyright 2006 by Media Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Get your FREE subscription, plus our online content, at www.windsystemsmag.com 4 DECEMBER 2018 GET CONNECTED WIndSystemsmag.com is your online authority for information about the wind energy industry.

You’ll find topical articles, company profiles and interviews with industry insiders, and timely wind energy news.

Giving Wind Direction

SYSTEMS

Get your FREE subscription, plus our online content, at www.windsystemsmag.com FROM THE EDITOR

David C. Cooper Happy holidays from Wind Systems! Publisher n just a few short weeks, 2018 will be in the books. All in all, it’s been a great EDITORIAL year for the wind industry. Kenneth Carter During the year’s third quarter, there were 612 MW of new wind capac- Editor Iity installed. That brings the U.S. total up to 90,550 MW, according to the Jennifer Jacobson American Wind Energy Association. Associate Editor What does that mean? It means more than 27 million homes are getting their electricity from wind energy. Considering there are a little more than SALES 127 million homes in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census, that’s an astound- David Gomez ing number. That means more than 21 percent of the National Sales Manager country is powered by the wind! Tom McNulty And there’s more on the way. Regional Sales Manager More than 20 GW of new wind capacity is being Jim Faulkner built right now, with another 17 GW in advanced de- Regional Sales Manager velopment, according to AWEA. CIRCULATION Wind-energy construction reached record levels at the end of the third quarter, and those numbers are Teresa Cooper Manager expected to keep growing as we go into 2019. With that in mind, this final issue ofWind Systems Jamie Willett Assistant for 2018 includes some useful information about two essential areas of the industry: construction and transportation. DESIGN Wind farms are an impressive sight, but when you realize all the planning Rick Frennea and development and logistics that go into each and every project, the awe- Creative Director some factor grows exponentially. Michele Hall In this month’s inFocus section, Judah Moseson, director of business de- Graphic Designer velopment at Harvest Energy Services, shares his insights on construction management services and how checks and balances need to be in place at each step of construction to make sure a project stays on schedule. Offshore wind seems to be on everyone’s minds these days, and the rest No part of this publication may be reproduced or of our inFocus articles address what many consider the next big event in transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic U.S. wind. or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage-and-retrieval system An article from contributor Ralitsa Peycheva talks about the need for more without permission in writing from the publisher. advances in foundation and mooring systems for floating wind turbines. The views expressed by those not on the staff of Wind Systems magazine, or who are not And on the topic of transportation, an expert from Chartwell Marine specifically employed by Media Solutions, Inc., are discusses the U.S. offshore wind vessel market and current approaches to purely their own. All “News” material has either been submitted by the subject company or pulled designing vessels to support offshore wind transport. directly from their corporate web site, which is assumed to be cleared for release. Comments and As you can see, it’s still an exciting time for wind, and Wind Systems is submissions are welcome, and can be submitted to excited to share this incredible journey with the industry. Vertical Logo [email protected] Logo So enjoy this information-packed issue as we enter the holiday season and 2019. Happy holidays, and as always, thanks for reading!

Coop wants to use this one for the website Published by Media Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 1987 • Pelham, AL 35124 (800) 366-2185 • (205) 380-1580 fax [email protected] Kenneth Carter, editor David C. Cooper Wind Systems magazine President [email protected] Chad Morrison (800) 366-2185, ext. 204 Vice President Teresa Cooper Operations Director 6 DECEMBER 2018 FYI

Seven states to double wind-power production From AWEA

Seven states, from Nebraska to Massachusetts, will soon build enough wind turbines to more than double their capacity to generate clean and reliable wind energy, according to the recently released American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) U.S. Wind Industry Third Quarter 2018 Market Report. The report also reveals the first firm orders for 4-MW land-based wind turbines, nearly twice as powerful as the average wind turbine installed in 2017. Nationally, the low cost and reliability of wind power continued to drive strong industry growth in the third quarter. Significantly, seven states now have enough wind projects under construction or in advanced stages of development to more than FULL SERVICE double their capacity to generate electricity from WIND TURBINE the wind when they are completed. Those include ELEVATOR COMPANY heartland states with land-based wind under development — Arkansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, South ASSURING SAFETY Dakota, and Wyoming — as well as coastal states Maryland and Massachusetts, where offshore wind USING THE HIGHEST is poised to scale up. QUALITY STANDARDS “The wind is always blowing in the U.S. and the latest wind turbine technology helps affordably and reliably put more of that natural resource to work,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA. “With projects underway in over 30 states, wind is rapidly expanding as a major source of American energy, good jobs and clean air.” As the industry expands, wind turbines are themselves growing much more powerful and efficient at delivering low-cost, clean energy to Ameri- can homes and businesses. Longer blades are helping turbines capture more of the wind resource blowing Tempest Group can service, past. New wind farms also leverage big data and machine learning to improve power output and reduce inspect, repair and install downtime by anticipating maintenance problems wind turbine elevators from before they arise. These advances drive down costs and translate into major efficiency gains. ANY manufacturer.

TEMPEST GROUP, INC. 1700 N. MONROE STREET SUITE 11-294 TALLAHASSEE, FL 32303 P: 800.937.4154 The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is the premier national trade association that represents the www.windelevator.com interests of America’s wind energy industry. For more information, go to www.awea.org

windsystemsmag.com 7 DIRECTION

THE FUTURE OF WIND

Horse Creek and Electra Wind are two 230-MW wind farms under construction in Haskell and Wilbarger counties, Texas. (Courtesy: Starwood Energy Group Global)

8 DECEMBER 2018 Agreement reached on Horse Creek and Electra wind farm transaction Skyline Renewables, an independent sets that are well positioned to take ad- linois and Indiana. Walmart’s cumula- clean energy platform and Starwood vantage of changing dynamics in the tive 233-MW investment includes the Energy Group Global (“Starwood En- renewable energy industry,” said Sky- following: ergy”), a leading private investment line Renewables President and CEO ] 123 MW from the Bright Stalk firm focused on energy infrastruc- Martin Mugica. “We pride ourselves Wind Farm (a 205-MW project in Mc- ture, recently announced they have in our nimbleness and experienced Lean County, Illinois, with start of reached an agreement for Skyline to value driven acquisitions and Star- operations expected in 2019; this PPA purchase Starwood Energy’s 51 per- wood did an excellent job developing is a part of the announcement EDPR cent interest in the Horse Creek and these wind farms. We look forward to issued July 3, 2018) Electra wind farms. maximizing revenues with our man- ] 60 MW from the Headwaters II Horse Creek and Electra, in Has- agement expertise.” Wind Farm (a 200-MW project in Ran- kell and Wilbarger counties, Texas, dolph County, Indiana, with start of are each 230-MW wind projects con- MORE INFO www.starwoodenergygroup.com operations expected in 2020; this PPA structed by Starwood Energy that be- is a part of the announcement EDPR gan operations in late 2016. Each proj- issued July 3, 2018) ect consists of 100 GE 2.3MW turbines Walmart, EDP ] 50 MW from the Harvest Ridge and both include long-term hedges. Renewables announce Wind Farm, formerly Broadlands Skyline will manage the portfolio af- Wind Farm (a 200-MW project in ter the transaction closes. three PPAs Douglas County, Illinois, with start of The transaction follows Starwood’s Walmart and EDP Renewables (EDPR) operations expected in 2019; this PPA sale of a 49 percent interest in the recently announced three power is a part of the announcement EDPR wind farms to MEAG, Munich Re’s purchase agreements (PPA) that will issued May 10, 2018) asset manager, in 2017. Terms of the enable the construction of three new Walmart’s purchase through these transaction were not disclosed. utility-scale wind farms — developed, agreements will produce enough elec- “This transaction is the culmina- owned, and operated by EDPR — in Il- tricity to power more than 60,000 tion of many years of work by the Starwood team to develop these high-quality energy infrastructure assets, and create value for our limited partners,” said Himanshu Saxena, chief executive office of Starwood Energy. “We’re delighted that Sky- line’s reputation for skilled and experienced management will continue to provide these communities with valuable revenue.” With this latest acquisition, Sky- line Renewables will grow its wind portfolio to 686 MW of controlled capacity since forming the company earlier this year as a partnership between Ardian and Transatlantic Power Holdings. Skyline Renewables announced its first acquisition of Whirlwind Energy, a 60-MW project in Northwest Texas, and an additional acquisition of Hackberry Wind Farm, a 166 MW, also in Northwest Texas, in September 2018. “This is a very important step in our goal to become a leading independent “Walmart has a goal to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy and sourcing energy from clean energy platform with great as - wind farms,” said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart. (Courtesy: Walmart)

windsystemsmag.com 9 DIRECTION THE FUTURE OF WIND

average homes in Illinois and 15,000 average homes in Indiana with renewable energy each year. Additionally, these wind farms will bring economic benefits to their respective regions and states in the form of jobs, land- owner and tax payments, and money spent in local communities. “Walmart has a goal to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy and sourcing energy from wind farms developed by partners like EDP Renew- ables is a core component in the mix,” said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart. “Wind energy is an important part of our energy portfolio, and Walmart plans to continue our efforts to pursue renewable energy projects that are right for our customers, our business, and the environment.” “The declining cost of renewable power has led to an increase in Chinese asset owners, long confined to their domestic market, are now looking to build and buy clean-energy procurement from com- wind assets abroad. (Courtesy: Wood MacKenzie) panies like Walmart in recent years,” said Miguel Prado, EDP Renewables Farm and the 200-MW Riverstart Solar North America Wind. North America CEO. “The continued Park that are expected to be operation- “Many turbines installed during re- commitment from corporate entities al in 2020 and 2022 respectively. cent years of breakneck growth in Chi- in procuring renewable energy speaks na’s wind sector, are reaching the end volumes about the importance and MORE INFO www.edpr.com of their turbine OEM (manufacturer) value of securing fixed, competitive warranty period,” said Xiaoyang Li, an pricing over the long-term. EDP Re- analyst with Wood Mackenzie Power newables appreciates its partnership China continues & Renewables’ Asia Pacific team. “This with Walmart and commends the coming transition, coupled with the company in its efforts to source all to dominate global low prices seen at new wind energy of its energy from renewable sources.” wind sector tenders, is forcing large asset owners EDP Renewables is a wind-industry to prioritize availability and annual en- leader in the states of Illinois and In- Chinese operators remain the leaders ergy production, driving a significant diana. To date, EDPR operates 797 MW of the global wind asset market, ac- focus on operations and maintenance.” of wind-energy projects in Illinois cording to new research from Wood “Chinese asset owners, long con- and, with the addition of the Bright Mackenzie Power & Renewables. fined to their domestic market, are Stalk Wind Farm and the Harvest The report, Global Wind Power now looking to build and buy wind Ridge Wind Farm, EDPR will further Asset Ownership 2018, notes Chinese assets abroad,” she said. “Australia has increase its footprint in Illinois, sur- asset owners continue to dominate been a particularly attractive overseas passing 1,200 MW, or 1.2 GW, of opera- the global wind power sector follow- market, thanks to its open market and tional capacity by the end of next year. ing the merger of former top-ranked high project profits.” EDPR also operates 801 MW of power producer Guodian Group and In offshore wind, four large util- wind-energy projects in Indiana. With seventh-ranked mining and energy ities dominate the capital-intensive the completion of the construction of company Shenhua into industrial ti- market, typically developing and sell- the 200-MW Meadow Lake VI Wind tan CHN Energy. ing off about 50 percent of their proj- Farm, EDPR will exceed 1,000 MW, or 1 “Despite the conglomerate’s heavy ects to a more fragmented pool of insti- GW of operational capacity by the end focus on coal extraction and coal pow- tutional investors. The growth of the of 2018. The company will continue to er generation, its wind fleet is more offshore wind sector will affect asset add to its renewable energy portfolio than twice as large as second-ranked ownership in Asia Pacific from 2022 in the state in the coming years with utility Iberdrola’s,” said lead author onwards, boosting the utility market the addition of the Headwaters II Wind Anthony Logan, research analyst, share in Japan and South Korea.

10 DECEMBER 2018 “In the U.S., 2017 saw domestic 2020s, which will significantly desta- amendments introduced to the renew- owners NextEra, BHE, Invenergy, and bilize the traditional model of inde- able energy act in July 2018, which Duke complete just 20 percent of their pendent power producers. Utilities will allow the previously permitted, collective average 2015-2016 installa- with ambitious rate-basing plans and but halted, wind projects to partic- tion volume as they and several other institutional investors will gain mar- ipate in auctions,” Malik said. “This domestic asset owners used the year ket share in their place. In Europe and development gives a major boost to to allow their development arms to the Middle East, competitive auctions the Polish onshore wind market.” rebuild exhausted project pipelines,” will see large IPPs and utilities own A maturing wind project pipeline Logan said. “Canadian and European more capacity, as they are better able in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan firms, on the other hand, developed to leverage cost over smaller players. will support the medium-term mar- significant new capacity in the coun- China will see an increase in own- ket outlook. Russia will experience try. So far this year, the U.S. has seen ership share by the turbine OEM seg- immense growth between 2021 and institutional investors move to buy ment due to the gradual erosion of the 2024 as developers are required to con- portfolios as independent power pro- IPP segment. Most Tier I and II turbine nect most of the 3.2 GW of awarded ducers (IPPs) scramble for capital in OEMs have already reserved wind sites capacity during this period. Ukraine, time to use the Renewable Electricity to develop internal wind projects and on the other hand, will have transi- Production Tax Credit (PTC) before it are looking for development opportu- tioned from the feed-in tariff (FIT) runs out in 2020.” nities in the distributed wind power regime to auctions by the end of 2019, In Latin America, competitive market. which will create more competition auction dynamics in 2017 and 2018 between developers to help reduce the indicate that global IPPs with utility MORE INFO www.woodmac.com cost of wind power. subsidiaries will increasingly build “We expect significant coal decom- ownership share in the region. Enel missioning in Hungary, Poland, and divested a majority stake in most of Years of growth ahead Romania after 2020 due mainly to an its Mexican renewable power assets ageing fleet and stricter emissions reg- to CDPQ and CKD IM via a newly de- for Eastern European ulations,” Malik said. “As wind pow- ployed “build, sell, operate” strategy onshore wind er becomes more competitive due to which improves its ability to bid com- reductions in technology costs and petitively at long-term auctions. Onshore wind energy in Eastern Eu- environmental benefits, it will be in The expiry of subsidies in North- rope, Russia, and the Caspian will ex- a strong position to displace this coal ern and Western Europe drove a re- perience a compound annual growth power capacity in EU member states cord year in the region and affected rate of 9 percent from 2018 to 2027, across the region.” asset owner segmentation; utilities according to new research by Wood In the future, an interplay of con- dominated asset ownership in the Mackenzie Power & Renewables. The tinued growth in those leading re- U.K., while community ownership in latest Eastern Europe Onshore Wind gional markets, as well as the emer- Germany peaked. Across Europe in the Market Outlook 2018 reports 16 GW of gence of small, new wind markets first half of 2018, utilities and large new onshore wind capacity that will such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, IPPs drove consolidation to secure a be added in the region over the next and Slovakia, will ensure long-term project pipeline that will ensure their 10 years. growth prospects. positioning in an increasingly compet- “The development will be largely “Traditionally, a rather small region itive market. driven by the implementation of auc- where developers added 142 MW of In Asia Pacific excluding China, tion schemes in Russia and Kazakh- new wind capacity in 2017 in three wind asset owners remain tied to stan and proposed auctions in Poland markets, Eastern Europe will grow their domestic markets with no activ- and Ukraine,” said lead author Sohaib by more than twofold over the next ity in other key markets of the region, Malik, market analyst. 10 years,” Malik said. with the exception of Eurus Energy. Wind-power auctions have fast be- Only regulatory uncertainty poses Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy come a favored policy tool of Eastern a risk to this positive forecast, which consolidated its market-leading posi- European countries as they follow a can be mitigated by proactive mea- tion in India, supplying turbines to global trend of moving away from sures by the relevant governments. asset owners around Asia Pacific as feed-in tariff (FIT). In other markets To ensure that awarded wind power well. Due to increasing competition, globally, such auctions have led rapid capacity is ultimately commissioned, leading asset owners in Australia did growth, with Brazil and Saudi Arabia governments in Eastern Europe will not add new capacity in 2017. being only two examples. have to streamline permitting and Looking ahead, the phasing out of “Poland will be picking back up grid integration regulations. subsidies in the U.S. and Canada will as a dominant market in the region force a market decline in the early soon after the enactment of favorable MORE INFO www.woodmac.com

windsystemsmag.com 11 IN FOCUS

CONSTRUCTION  TRANSPORTATION

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES: THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Wind turbine spread foot foundation. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

12 DECEMBER 2018 Beyond safety, each step of the way during the construction of a wind farm, there needs to be checks and balances to ensure the project remains on track.

By JUDAH MOSESON

ach year in the U.S., new wind-farm developments get built and are placed into production. This process does not happen by accident and includes years of hard work to get to that end. These wind farms have budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. The risks are high, but then the benefits and rewards can often be even higher. EThe greatest risk for any project, including a wind farm, is safety. There is no greater risk and impact to life than the occurrence of a safety incident, and prevention must always remain the highest priority. There is no financial, scheduling, or quality issue that takes precedence over safety. This is the first and highest priority of the construction management team.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE Beyond safety, each step of the way, there needs to be checks and balances to ensure the project is on track. This is most important during the construction phase. The construction phase does not necessarily start with the physical activity of turning a shovel of dirt. The process starts in parallel with the middle of the development stages. When a project has progressed to having secured a site and has selected a turbine model, the next big step is to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) to solicit bids for the construction of the facility. The RFP needs to be inclusive of checks and balances. Typically, these checks and balances take the form of required schedule updates and quality check points. The team must be ready to provide verification of progress to validate invoices and ensure compliance with design. This is vital to the success of the construction phase. These efforts prior to construction are called the pre-construction services. These services beyond the issue of an RFP

windsystemsmag.com 13 IN FOCUS CONSTRUCTION

continue with the review of the bids resulting from the RFP. eventual internal completion of the wind turbine. This review includes not only an economic evaluation but The erection process is critical, paying close attention also an in-depth evaluation and recommendation concern- to initial bolted connections and their eventual torque and ing the responding contractors. In addition, the pre-con- tensioning specifications. The myriad of mechanical construction activities also include efforts to ensure that all nections within the unit requires detailed work instruc- permitting required for the project is compliant. These tions and procedures to ensure the wind turbine is fully permits cover such issues as special-use land permits, as assembled in accordance with the manufacturer. Finally, well as power-line and pipeline crossings. There are also the walkdowns done by the mechanical specialist will en- environmental permits and studies required, including sure that the tower, blades, pitch, yaw, and brake systems wetlands, archeological, and avian and bat studies, just to are installed and functioning correctly. mention a few. After the award of the construction contract, which nor- ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION mally includes engineering, procurement and construction, The electrical construction covers areas outside as well as (EPC), there are equally important tasks. The team must inside the wind turbine. The collection system includes the manage the deliverables from the engineering and pro- connecting cabling between each turbine and a longer final curement stages of the contract. These deliverables include run from the end of a string of turbines to the substation or drawings and specifications of equipment and their intend- switchyard. The collection systems can be installed either ed installation. The procurement delivery information is above ground or underground. In either case, the electrical vital to the overall project schedule. All of this transpires specialist will ensure that the collection system is construct- prior to that first shovel of dirt being moved. ed, installed, and terminated in accordance with the draw- When it is finally time to move that dirt, wind-farm own- ings and industry standards. Many wind turbines require ers have deployed internal resources for the management a small step-up transformer near the base of the turbine. of the construction. In other cases, owners have deployed These transformers also must be installed and terminat- independent services providers to perform the same role. ed in accordance with drawings and standards. Finally, What makes up a comprehensive construction management the electrical specialist will ensure that the wiring to be team is a team that covers overall project management and installed and connected within the turbine is compliant. also specific disciplines. These specific disciplines require The project can also include substations and switchyards. specialists that cover the areas of civil, mechanical, and The team applies the same principles to the construction of electrical construction. these facilities as they applied to the wind farm. There are many high voltage industry standards that must be met, and CIVIL CONSTRUCTION this is the direct responsibility of the electrical specialist. The civil construction starts with that first shovel of dirt but The specialist will verify that all relay testing is complet- includes much more. The roads are mostly soil and aggre- ed and that the results support the design for isolation of gate and are laid down with the use of water and binders. events and protection of equipment. The electrical specialist The civil specialist will use a testing service to verify soil is also focused on the DC battery system installed in the con- compaction of the roads. It is vital that the roads are able trol house and will verify it is tested and compliant. The elec- to support the heavy erection crane used later in the proj- trical specialist is usually aided by the civil and mechanical ect. Next, there is a concrete source, usually a batch plant specialist to cover foundations and building inspections. located temporarily on the job site. Then the foundations Some projects also include high voltage transmission are begun, which start as a giant hole in the ground and line construction to connect the new wind farm to the ac- include large amounts of steel reinforcing rebar and a lot of tual point of interconnect with the transmission grid. This concrete. The civil specialist is responsible for tracking all is again a responsibility of the electrical specialist to provide slump tests, concrete, and grout-break test results to ensure inspection and verification services. The transmission line compliance with specifications. After the foundations are structures need to be inspected as they are received and completed, the remainder of the project requires ongoing then installed. The cabling is measured and documented road and drainage improvements and dust control as the in its stringing sag report and would be verified as compli- roads get used. ant by the electrical specialist. In this area, there may be concrete used to support the structures, and if so, the civil MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION specialist would support this effort as well. The mechanical construction mostly relates to the wind turbine itself. This can start with the review of the delivered O&M BUILDINGS components. This is an important first step in identifying any The O&M buildings are often not given the attention they issues from manufacturing and/or shipping. The mechanical deserve, as everyone is so focused on the wind farm power specialist will document any issues found and work with the generation and distribution equipment. The O&M building manufacturer to resolve those issues. The main emphasis usually houses the technicians, spare parts, and the main of the mechanical scope is the erection of the unit and the computer control system for the wind farm. All of these

14 DECEMBER 2018 Wind turbine rotor installation. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

windsystemsmag.com 15 IN FOCUS CONSTRUCTION

Wind farm substation construction. (Courtesy: Harvest Energy Services)

items are equally important to inspect and verify. The O&M planners for alternatives when things do not go according building also would receive the same three-disciplined ap- to plan. Late delivery of major components can be the most proach to management: The civil specialist will oversee the common delay for a wind farm. It is the responsibility of excavation and foundations; the mechanical specialist will the construction management team to develop workaround monitor the HVAC systems and associated equipment. Last- plans to keep the project on schedule. ly, the electrical specialist will watch over the rest from an An owner must watch over the construction of the wind electrical perspective. farm to protect their interests and the interests of the inves- The meteorological mast, also known as the met mast, tors. As stated prior, some owners have the sophistication is usually the most forgotten equipment on a wind farm. to manage the construction and others use a third-party The met mast also has requirements for proper installation. independent service provider. Either way, it is recommended All three disciplines will be involved, civil for the founda- that the construction phase from pre-construction to the tion, mechanical for the erection, and electrical to get it first day of operations needs to be managed by a professional all connected. This can be more critical than one might team and not left to self-management by the EPC contrac- think. If the data stops flowing from the met mast during tors. Either way, the cost for a construction management production, the wind farm can suffer a curtailment until team equates to less than 1 percent of the overall project such time that the data flow is reinstated. cost. This is money well spent. All of this pre-construction and construction manage- Some people don’t supervise contractors working on ment is quite an undertaking. All of the work must be in ac- their home, please don’t let that happen on a wind farm. cordance with engineering design, manufacturers’ instruc- Remember, there is no greater issue to be concerned with tions, and industry standards. This is not to be taken lightly. than safety; everything else is secondary.

ALTERNATIVE PLANNING ABOUT THE AUTHOR The members of the construction management team not Judah Moseson is the director of Business Development at Har- only ensure quality of the construction, but they also are the vest Energy Services.

16 DECEMBER 2018 YOUR SOURCE FOR WIND ENERGY NEWS

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JULY 2018 IN FOCUS CONSTRUCTION

ADVANCING OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION

Floatgen is the first French floating offshore wind turbine system for power generation in Atlantic waters. (Courtesy: Farinia Group)

18 DECEMBER 2018 The floating wind turbine sector requires advancement in the development of foundations and mooring systems.

By RALITSA PEYCHEVA

lowly but surely, the floating offshore wind-energy sector is becoming more important, particularly because of the fact that the number of locations with shallow waters suitable for fixed-bottom foundations Sis limited. Floating wind is turning into a highly scalable future energy source because the wind resource in deep waters is extensive and offers a significant potential for marine renewable energy development and growth to many countries. Europe remains the world leader in floating wind-energy installations with the North Sea being the main region for deployment, accounting for 78 percent of the European total, followed by the Baltic Sea, with 14.1 percent. Based on the number of offshore wind projects under construction, Wind- Europe estimates total European offshore wind capacity will be 24.6 GW by 2020. Furthermore, Europe is continuously investing in innovative projects and designs aimed at improving the performance, maintenance, and installation of offshore floating wind turbines. There is Hywind and the simulations models developed by Nielson [1] for integrated dynamic analysis and the role of the effect of pitch-angle control of blades. There is other research done as well into the pontoon-type floating wind turbine [2], aimed at characterizing the dynamic response and at identifying potential loads and instabilities, resulting in significant design modifications. It is important to mention that, besides leading European industries, there are a couple of serious emerging markets interested in the development and deployment of offshore floating wind power. Between 2017 and 2026, China is expected to install 13 GW (a big part of it in floating solutions), according to the MAKE magazine. The Global Offshore Wind Market Report (Norwegian Energy Partners) points out the capacity of China, Japan, and Taiwan to become global market leaders after 2020.

windsystemsmag.com 19 IN FOCUS CONSTRUCTION

Latest researches from Equinor emphasize the fact that in the U.S. and Japan, there are only a few sites suitable for bottom-fixed installations since fixed-based wind is not viable in water depths of 60 meters or more. Therefore, floating turbines could be a game changer in these areas by overcoming the engineering challenges of deep-water installations and yield that untapped potential.

THE SECTOR’S BIGGEST CHALLENGES Even though progress is clear, all professionals know the industry is still facing significant challenges with the need for appropriate vessels for installation and maintenance, innovative design solutions, and the lack of industry standard- ization. Weather fluctuations are another significant hurdle, and to fight these, offshore wind installations still need im- provement in installation vessels — better navigation, higher crane capacity, and more space. Since the floating offshore wind turbine is a relatively recent invention, there is still a lot of room for new ideas concerning the way the turbine can be held in place and the entire design of the configuration. Mooring architecture, which has been successful in the oil and gas industry, includes the catenary mooring or the taunt leg. For the platform, the assessment is the same with the development of semi-submersible or spar platforms, which are well known in the offshore industries. These solutions aren’t perfect, and their choice strictly depends on the project’s priorities, including environmental conditions and operating parameters. Another problem originates from the power grid connec- tion. Integrating large amounts of offshore wind generation to the power system requires solid knowledge and better infrastructure.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS Areas where the most progress was achieved include larger, more effective turbines and improved foundations. Here are some examples: ] Equinor (Ex Statoil) deployed the first full scale spar buoy off Karmoy Island in 2009. The 5,300 metric ton spar buoy was equipped with a 2.3 MW wind turbine. In 2017, Equinor deployed Hywind Scotland, the first floating pilot wind farm. This project features an important scaling with an 11,200 metric ton spar buoy and five 6-MW wind turbines. ] Ideol deployed earlier this year a prototype based on its damping pool platform, a platform different from all known oil and gas standards such as spar, semi sub, or TLP. Moreover, its mooring system is equipped with innovative synthetic fiber mooring lines, an innovative choice of material for a permanent mooring system. ] At an earlier stage of deployment, Sway has chosen the horizontal axis for its wind turbine. This technological choice, according to Sway, lowers the center of gravity, eases the maintenance, and reduces the spacing between wind turbines. ] Still in a concept phase, Hexicon expects to reduce Floatgen is kept in place by a mooring design using clump weights CAPEX and installation costs by developing floating multi-tur- designed and manufactured by FMGC. (Courtesy: Farinia Group)

20 DECEMBER 2018 bine platforms allowing the increase of ] The “distributed” configuration is power generated per platform. a set of medium-sized clump weights, There are, of course, some hybrid distributed over a segment of the an- types comprising two or three of the chor line. This configuration optimiz- mentioned turbines — for example, es the effectiveness and the cost of the the spar floater and tension leg moor- solution. ing system mix. However, much more ] The “mutualized” configuration advancement is expected in this area. consists of one clump weight, attached Despite the different types and con- to one specific point of the anchor line. figurations, there are, in general, three This configuration neutralizes the im- basic floater types of floating offshore pact of wind and wave on the anchor- wind turbines: ing line. ] The semi-submersible type, However, in the case of Floatgen, the moored by catenary lines. foundry has provided a customized ] The TLP (Tension Leg Platform) solution, based on the target weight type, moored by vertical tendons, using Clump weights are designed to offset the and the available installation means. buoyancy. vertical forces against the anchor and The mutualized clump weights, ] The spar type, formed as a single restrict the movement of the floating made with EN GJL 200 cast iron, have structure. (Courtesy: Farinia Group) deep-draft cylindrical and vertical col- been connected to the mooring lines umn. with a forged steel insert designed for The biggest challenge concerning the foundation type this purpose. To reach the targeted weight and ensure an is cost can quickly increase, and therefore the demand easier installation, the clump weights were composed of an for innovative, cost-efficient, and high-quality solutions is assembly of several smaller pieces positioned on the steel in- needed. Mooring methods feature a close relationship with serts. Connected with shackle, the clump weights are hang- the construction performance, and for a successful turbine, ing to the mooring lines and contribute to the limitation performance should be carefully studied. Many tests and ob- of the tensions on the lines. With this dynamic effect, the servations have confirmed that the mooring method using FMGC solutions contribute to a reliable and cost-effective weights is highly effective in reducing cost. station-keeping system. In general, a floating platform can achieve stability In Europe — and around the world — all professionals are through ballast, mooring lines, and buoyancy. It is import- trying to invest knowledge and resources into technological ant to mention the performance of the turbine is affected by developments in order to cut costs and make offshore float- the choice of platform, and every existing concept uses one ing wind power function better, faster, and easier. As tech- or a combination of these three primary stability methods. nology is continuously advancing, costs are dropping, and this trend will hopefully continue, pushing the expansion CLUMP WEIGHTS of future projects. Floatgen is the first French floating offshore wind turbine sys- Europe is, for now, the world leader in the investment and tem for power generation in Atlantic waters. The three main development of offshore floating wind power with greater objectives of this project are to prove the technical, economic, transparency and understanding of the key factors. Other and environmental feasibility of an EU technology floating regions in Asia and North America are expected to follow system in deep waters, bringing wind-energy applications this trend and take an active stance to shift to renewable and closer to market in diverse European deep offshore areas, and clean energy sources as well. assessing the expected global generation cost per MWh in a 15-year perspective. REFERENCES The turbine was submerged in September 22 kilometers [ 1 ] (2006, 25th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and off Le Croisic (Loire-Atlantique) and is expected to provide Arctic Engineering, Volume 1: Offshore Technology; Offshore Wind electricity to the 5,000 residents of the city. Energy; Ocean Research Technology; LNG Specialty Symposium, Hamburg, Germany, June 4–9, 2006) Floatgen is kept in place by a mooring design using clump weights designed and manufactured by the European leader [ 2 ] (Jonkman and Buhl, 2007, Jonkman, J.M. and Buhl, M.L. Jr, (2007) in ballast solutions, the French company FMGC. These are Loads analysis of a floating offshore wind turbine using fully coupled simulation. Proc. of Wind Power 2007 Conference and Exhibition, the first clump weights in France that have been used in the Los Angeles, California. installation of a floating offshore wind turbine. The solution contributes to the optimization and cost effectiveness of the ABOUT THE AUTHOR entire mooring system. Ralitsa Peycheva is a technical content manager at Farinia The clump weights are designed to offset the vertical Group (www.farinia.com), interested in forging and casting forces against the anchor and restrict the movement of the techniques; latest machinery and tools; curious about new floating structure. They are available in two models: manufacturing methods; respecting high-quality engineering.

windsystemsmag.com 21 IN FOCUS TRANSPORTATION

THE PATH TO AMERICAN OFFSHORE WIND

The Block Island wind farm under construction. The Atlantic Pioneer was the first U.S. purpose-built crew transfer vessel (CTV) to service Deepwater Wind’s Block Island. (Courtesy: Deepwater Wind)

22 DECEMBER 2018 Proven vessel concepts adapted based on operator preferences are critical to taking the risk out of U.S. offshore wind.

By ANDY PAGE

he U.S. offshore wind market is finally heating up. This hand-in-hand with class certification, the most significant- de is evidenced by the likes of Deepwater Wind being velopment in availability has arguably been the mainstream acquired by Ørsted — bringing opportunities for the adoption of round-the-clock shift-based operation. Platform market to scale up — as well as Siemens Gamesa adapt- and vessel-based accommodation has improved to support Ting its turbines to U.S. standards and predicting higher reve- 24-hour rotations, and the capacity to refuel at sea can keep nues for 2019 as it moves into this emerging offshore market. a CTV operational on site for prolonged periods. These moves from offshore wind’s heavy hitters not only Vessel designers are now aiming to hit the “sweet spot” signal that it’s time to take the U.S. market seriously, but also with CTV size, and data and evidence collected from the that European industry leaders are keen to apply their knowl- field suggests that 24-meter boats are best placed to meet edge and experience in the U.S. the diverse demands of offshore wind support. Vessels of this It is important for the success of the market that the likes size can effectively fulfil both crew transfer and logistical of Ørsted and Siemens, who are accustomed to established requirements in offshore energy operations — they are large working practices in Europe, have confidence in the ability of enough to carry enough industrial personnel and crew, plus the domestic supply chain to support their investment deci- a significant amount of cargo and equipment, while also re- sions throughout development, construction, and operations. maining nimble enough to provide fuel-efficient access to One critical requirement is the availability of proven vessel offshore turbines. concepts. Furthermore, CTVs need the capacity to work with other vessels on site, for example with offshore refueling. This FIRST STEPS need for CTVs to be able to efficiently work with other vessels The journey of the U.S. offshore energy support vessel mar- on site is a particularly important factor for the U.S. market ket started with the launch of Atlantic Pioneer, the first U.S. where you often have European built jack-ups and larger ves- purpose-built crew transfer vessel (CTV) to service the first sels moored some way offshore to avoid restriction from Jones offshore wind farm in the U.S., Deepwater Wind’s Block Is- Act requirements. Vessel operators therefore need boats that land. This was a huge milestone for the U.S. maritime sector, can stay out in the field for long periods, even supporting the and, furthermore, demonstrated its capacity to work with overnight accommodation of turbine technicians. firms “across the pond” to deliver a vessel built to a proven With this extensive experience and knowledge, European European specification. offshore wind farm developers and operators know what they However, with more and more wind farms to be developed want from their vessel support suppliers and are looking to off the coast of the U.S., the challenge is now to quickly build apply the same principles to their operations in the U.S. out a domestic fleet of vessels which meet this same standard, are Jones Act compliant, and build upon lessons that continue ADAPTING TO U.S. OFFSHORE ENVIRONMENT to be learned from the European market. There is a lot to gain from taking lessons learned from the mature European offshore wind industry, but substantial LESSONS LEARNED opportunities exist for those who can refine and optimize Technical and operational evolution in the CTV market in Eu- vessels for US market conditions. rope has been swift, driven by the increasing demands of the In particular, crucial advantages will derive from meeting industry when it comes to the core attributes of availability, EPA Tier 4 air quality requirements with bespoke propulsion versatility and safety. options, hull and deck designs that stand up to larger Atlan- In all wind-energy operations, safety comes first. In light tic swells, and the ability to respond to unique development of the reputational impact of a number of documented in- approaches with enhanced logistical support capacity. cidents in the early days of large-scale offshore wind devel- The U.S. market has particular interest in the hybridiza- opment in Europe, alongside systems such as ISM-approved tion of offshore wind transportation to reduce the overall safety management, building vessels to the stringent require- carbon footprint of the maritime sector. A repeat build of ments of a classification society like DNV-GL, BV, LR, or ABS the Atlantic Pioneer would in fact not be compliant due to ev- is one of the most effective safety approaches. This not only er-increasing EPA air quality standards. An effective approach ensures that the vessel build is of the highest quality, but also for meeting this market need is not to drastically redesign involves rigorous ongoing checks throughout operations to the whole vessel or simply replace diesel engines with hybrid confirm that each individual component is performing as it ones, but instead to make small, necessary changes to reduce was from the start. the time spent burning up fuels by making the whole vessel One of the core attributes of the technical and operational more efficient. evolution of the offshore energy support vessel is technical Vessels have typically been built with two 1,400 horse - availability. In conjunction with the reliability gains that go power engines whereas vessel now can be built with four

windsystemsmag.com 23 IN FOCUS TRANSPORTATION

Vessels have typically been built with two 1,400 horsepower engines whereas vessel now can be built with four 700 horsepower engines, achieving the same level of power but better meeting air quality requirements. (Courtesy: Chartwell Marine)

700 horsepower engines, achieving the same level of pow- construction or repair jobs, they need to feel safe and com- er but better meeting air quality requirements. With four fortable when travelling to and from site. engines of lower power, a vessel is able to operate at lower The way in which vessel designers and manufacturers will speeds, turning off two of the engines, leading to lower need to ensure this safety and comfort is to look carefully at carbon emissions while either idle or at low speeds. This is the seating and space on board. Larger vessels typically bene- particularly beneficial for wind-farm support vessel oper- fit from lower acceleration and less aggressive journeys; how- ators as when the vessel is on the wind farm, rather than ever, on smaller boats, the journey can be somewhat rough, traveling between the site and the port, high power oper- and the overall design should accommodate for passengers ation isn’t necessary. who may not be experienced at sea. Additionally, as owners and operators are moving into With the exception of mandatory class/flag sill heights, the U.S. market from Europe, they have worked with vessels a boat designed with safety at the forefront would have no with different sized engines, and they know which engine steps or trip hazards, with designated walkways, handrails, OEM models they prefer. The important thing is to be able to and safety sliding rails for the purpose of safe, repeatable, have a vessel design which can be adapted based on operator effective crew transfer. After all, if wind-turbine technicians preferences. feel comfortable and aren’t suffering from fatigue or seasick- A key difference between U.S. and European waters is the ness as a result of their journey to site, they’re more likely to vastly different “sea state.” For example, the East Coast sees do a good job. longer wave lengths and greater swells than are experienced Turbine technicians are essential to the effective running in the U.K., and vessel hull designs need to take this into ac- of an offshore wind project — so it is equally essential that the count. One way this can be done is with a larger freeboard, vessel market meets their needs. meaning the ship deck that is closest to the water is positioned higher, reducing the risk of waves crashing onto the CONCLUSION deck in rough seas. This also improves the overall stability The U.S. is primed to develop its capacity for generating wind and safety of offshore vessels. power offshore, with U.S. ship yards of the highest quality ready to respond with a supply of safe, reliable and versatile MEETING TECHNICIANS’ NEEDS vessels. Naval architects from Europe and around the world Not only do vessels need to respond to operators’ require- are excited to work with the U.S. on developing vessels that ments, they also need to respond to the needs of crews and best meet the needs of seasoned offshore wind players, having passengers on board. learned best practice and design from operating in maturing As the industry grows, there will be an increased need for and thriving offshore markets. highly skilled turbine technicians in the construction stage, By taking — and refining — proven vessel concepts, U.S. but also then into the long-term O&M phases. The challenge maritime firms and service providers can de-risk complex the market will face here is that, while the U.S. onshore wind projects for international wind-energy investors, developers market is mature and strong, turbine technicians operating and operators, ensuring the ongoing success of American in this market will likely not have offshore experience — and offshore wind. may not have any experience at sea at all. At the end of the day, turbine technicians aren’t seafar- ABOUT THE AUTHOR ers, and in order for them to work effectively and efficiently Andy Page is managing director of Chartwell Marine.

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CLOBOTICS

MAKING WIND ENERGY SMARTER

CLOBOTICS FOUNDED 2016 HEADQUARTERS Shanghai, China and Seattle, Washington WEBSITE www.clobotics.com

Clobotics was created with the goal of using autonomous drones and other advanced technologies to automate the inspection of wind turbines and minimize the high-risk nature of the task. (Courtesy: Clobotics)

26 DECEMBER 2018 Combining computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and data analytics software, Clobotics has become a global leader in creating real-time, data-driven insights and analysis for the wind industry.

By KENNETH CARTER  Wind Systems editor

efore Clobotics President George Yan began his com- by-3mm can be easily identified. This level of sophistication pany, he recalls visiting a wind farm and being sur- requires expertise in both hardware and software. prised at what he saw. “Finally, as all the data gathered from the visual inspec- “I saw this fellow in his late 50s,” Yan said. “And tions is stored and analyzed in the cloud, you need people Bhe essentially had a couple of straps on his waist, and he who understand deep learning and cloud computing, and was climbing up the wind turbine. We watched him climb who are able to bring all these technologies together,” he up about 60 meters high, and he was using binoculars and a said. “When you consider all these factors, it takes a pret- mobile phone to find cracks in the turbine blade. That was a ty special group of people to solve this challenge. From an pretty mind-boggling experience for me, thinking that with industry insider perspective, one might think that visual all the advanced technology we have, a person is still doing inspections would be a pretty simple problem to solve, but this crazy dangerous job of climbing up this height to do the technology behind it is actually very complicated, espe- visual inspections.” cially because we make sure our services can scale to meet From that epiphany — along with the combined brain the needs of some of the largest wind-power operators in power and inspiration from Yan’s engineering associates — the world.” Clobotics was created with the goal of using autonomous drones and other advanced technologies to automate the CONSTANTLY LEARNING inspection of wind turbines and minimize the high-risk Because Clobotics has customers in Asia and Europe and is nature of the task. now expanding into North America, Yan said the company’s “The entire wind power industry is going through a dig- drones are making many flights and are learning a lot about ital transformation, especially in the operations and main- how cracks form in turbine blades. tenance (O&M) market, and that’s an area that we focus on,” “As we gather data about how the cracks progress, and Yan said. “Today, the O&M market is a $25 billion market. But then overlay that with information such as climate data, there is still very little technology, very little data provided terrain information, and the amount of rain and lightning for its decision making. For us, inspecting the wind-turbine hitting that area, we begin to get a very interesting time blades to identify where the cracks are and how we can fix lapse of how these cracks evolve and how that compares to them is really the first step in helping the entire industry the output of electricity each turbine is producing,” he said. to transform.” “This is where I believe, with the vast amounts of data we gather, we can provide very precise predictive maintenance BEYOND DRONES capabilities to the industry, helping wind farms achieve Clobotics’ Smart Wind solution goes beyond just drones, al- greater efficiencies and better maintain their turbines. I though drone technology is a big part of it, according to Yan. believe that green energy is going to grow, and by helping “A lot of technologies must come together nicely to solve digitize the industry, we are not only helping wind-farm op- the specific challenges around wind-turbine inspections” he erators, but also helping the population in general.” said. “For example, to do what we do, one must have a team Clobotics partners with DJI and uses that company’s hard- of people who really understand hardware. Clobotics’ team ware frame for the drones, according to Yan, but Clobotics of engineers also has very deep automation expertise. That’s customizes everything that the drone carries in order to important because we don’t want wind-farm operators to inspect a turbine. have to rely on a highly-trained pilot to fly the drones for “Everything from the gimbal to the firmware of the cam- each inspection — we want to make everything autonomous era, to the solid-state Lidar that we put on the drone itself, and easy for them. Additionally, you need people who un- everything has been customized, and we write the firmware derstand computer vision, because, in order to make sure to make sure everything comes together,” he said. “The goal we don’t prepopulate the flight routes, while at the same is to be able to hand off the entire product to the operator.” time still capturing very precise images, it requires very so- phisticated, real-time computer vision tracking technology.” TOTALLY AUTONOMOUS INSPECTION Clobotics gave “brains” and “eyes” to its drones, so the Indeed, Yan said all an operator needs is a relatively simple drones can see where the blades are as they fly and deter- training session. After that, the operator can bring the drone mine how to keep the blade within the center of the onboard under the wind turbine, and with one push of a button, the camera and capture high-resolution photos in the air. Only drone is able to track the wind tower up its center axis. then, the cracks and damages in the blades as small as 1mm- “It doesn’t matter what the position of the blade is; it’s

windsystemsmag.com 27 PROFILE CLOBOTICS

able to find its center axis and follow the first blade,” he OFFSHORE CHALLENGES said. “It does the entire inspection autonomously without As more offshore wind takes off, Yan said the inspection any interference from that person at the tower and is able of those turbines is going to be a challenge, but he expects to complete the entire flight in under 25 minutes.” Clobotics to meet that challenge head on. Once the drone returns, the data is automatically upload- “Offshore turbines are actually a different level of chal- ed to the cloud, according to Yan. That data includes a range lenge,” he said. of 300 to 400 photographs, which are automatically stitched By not having a person available to climb up a tower as together using machine learning. Once the data is uploaded in onshore, inspection becomes more difficult. Also, with to the cloud, a wind-farm operator can log-in to their cus- offshore turbines being much larger than their onshore tomer portal to see that specific turbine and inspection data counterparts, the timing of inspections also becomes more indicating cracks or other damage in the blades. challenging, according to Yan. In order to overcome that “Each of the pictures has been analyzed and labeled by challenge, Yan said Clobotics has been tweaking its algo- our machine learning algorithms to help the operator quick- rithms to allow for multiple flights during inspections. ly identify exactly where the cracks are located so a technician can more easily fix them,” Yan said. “We also create an end report to help with the repair.”

MULTIPLE-LOCATION ADVANTAGE Clobotics has an advantage in the industry since it has teams to serve multiple countries around the world, according to Yan. “We started these services in Chi- na,” he said. “We work with the biggest wind-turbine operator in the world, China Longyuan Power Group. They have more than 25,000 turbines under their care. From a data perspective, no one has more wind-turbine data than we do. With our expansion into Europe and the U.S., we now have Clobotics gave “brains” and “eyes” to its drones, so the drones can see where the blades are another large set of data that we are as they fly and determine how to keep the blade within the center of the onboard camera and able to cross match and identify what capture high-resolution photos in the air. (Courtesy: Clobotics) patterns are happening in each of the continents. With that type of geo-global data, we are able to “Today, the time we spend on turbines is around 25 see trends and can help the industry be more precise.” minutes, and that’s gated by the battery power limit of the drone from DJI,” he said. “When the turbine gets too REAL CUSTOMERS, BIG CUSTOMERS big, there’s no way you can do the full inspection in one Having China’s vast number of turbines to work with has 25-minute flight.” helped Clobotics establish itself in the short time it has been When it comes to large, offshore turbines, the Clobotics in business, according to Yan. Smart Wind drone inspects two blades, then returns for a “Having real customers under our belt is something that battery swap. Leveraging built-in artificial intelligence (AI), we’re super proud of,” he said. “Our biggest customer is the the drone is able to automatically return to its previous posi- biggest wind operator in the world, China Longyuan Power tion to finish the rest of the turbine, according to Yan. Group. We work very closely with them. We also work with “These are the very important and very detailed technol- Shanghai Electric, the biggest offshore wind-turbine OEM ogy challenges that we face and that we are overcoming,” he and operator in China. Although as a company we were estab- said. “And that’s what’s needed to provide a production-level lished only two years ago, because of the depth of expertise service for the offshore wind power companies. We are do- and technology that we provide to the market, we’ve been ing this not only in China today, but also with an offshore able to dance with the biggest players. Our customers not operator in Copenhagen, Denmark. More recently, we also only use our services but are also very good about giving us have opportunities to do this in Taiwan and other places. The feedback and pushing us to the technology limit. I believe offshore industry is an area we will definitely be focused on, this is where our engineering team is being acknowledged helping them increase productivity just as we have done for by the biggest players in the market.” the onshore providers.”

28 DECEMBER 2018 ‘A MELTING POT’ eas,” he said. “For example, the wind-power providers in Chi- Clobotics prides itself in being a multicultural company, na are a little bit more adventurous. They’re open to trying according to Yan. new technologies and techniques.” “One of our strengths is that we are located in both Because Chinese companies are open to exploring more Shanghai as well as Seattle,” he said. “We are excited about leading-edge technologies, Clobotics gets invited to test new solving long-standing challenges in a global industry, and solutions on their wind farms, according to Yan. we love applying our technology solutions across the world. “We’ve found the China market to be a very nice sandbox That’s where we stand out. We started that from the very for us with some of the local wind farms,” he said. “That’s first day of building the company, having folks in multiple very helpful, because wind-farm operators are not often able locations, with much of our engineering talent and comput- to allocate turbine downtime for tests. In contrast, when we er vision machining engineers in Seattle while some of our work with European companies, we make sure our solutions application engineers and our sales and marketing guys are are ‘squeaky clean’ and without any bugs because expecta- in China. Our company is truly a melting pot, which enables tions there are higher for service solutions like ours.” us to solve problems faster for our global customers.” That bug-free approach for European and U.S. companies Clobotics is comprised of passionate and experienced en- is often more lucrative for Clobotics, as well, according to gineers who brought a wealth of expertise to the two-year- Yan. old company. For example, Yan spent 16 years with Micro- “We have experienced a lot of success by taking a multi- soft before joining Ehang, a drone startup company, which stepped approach where we use the Chinese market to test is where he first experienced using drones in commercial and really polish our solutions, then applying our thoroughly fields. tested solutions in Europe and North America,” he said. “This approach works well because the scenarios we encounter QUICK EXPANSION with our large customers in China are extremely complicat- Clobotics’ relationship with Chinese companies has enabled ed. If we are able to fix any problems in those scenarios, then the company to expand quickly, according to Yan. we are certainly able to serve customers anywhere around “We tailor our services to our customers in different ar- the globe, no matter what their unique needs are.”

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windsystemsmag.com 29 CONVERSATION

Dr. Willett Kempton Co-director  Offshore Wind Skills Academy, University of Delaware “It will reduce the time and cost of training new employees.”

Intending to fill a gap in the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind of construction projects. industry, the University of Delaware and the Danish Energy And if you go to the U.S. offshore wind conference, there and Climate Academy have joined together to create the are maybe a thousand people. And it’s like, “Wow, great — Offshore Wind Skills Academy with the first classes begin- we started with a couple of hundred, and now we’re up to ning in January 2019. Future courses will be offered in May a thousand.” But a thousand people cannot build a full-size and November. The Academy is designed for professionals nuclear power plant every year for 10 years. The skilled-per- from traditional energy industries, supply chain companies, son power is not nearly up to the build commitment. regulators, investors, consultants, and any others who may That’s why we need the Offshore Wind Skills Academy be new to the offshore wind industry. Wind Systems talked (OWSA). We need to train a bunch more people who current- with Academy Co-director Dr. Willett Kempton about the ly don’t know the difference between capacity and capacity Academy and what it means for offshore wind. factor. They might know offshore oil and gas, or power plant permitting and construction, or many valuable related ] What is your background in wind, and how did that fields — but they don’t have any idea in practical terms how bring you to the University of Delaware and the Offshore you bring an offshore wind project to fruition. Wind Skills Academy? So that’s the summary of what I was doing previously in I have been working in renewable energy and clean energy wind power and how I got to the point of saying we in the and energy efficiency for about 30 years. I started to focus on U.S. need an offshore wind skills academy. offshore wind around 2005 and did a bunch of studies. I’m a professor and a researcher at the University of Delaware. ] What is your role at the Academy? We’re studying the resource and how you integrate all that Two of us are co-directors of the Academy — me and Dr. John wind and how much power potential there is. Madsen. We both have been doing offshore wind research And now recently, we have contributed some studies on for years. He’s a geologist and researches how you anchor how some state governments on the East Coast can reduce subsea foundations to the ocean floor in order to locate the the cost of offshore wind, both through policy and how best places and what kind of subsea mountings you should they structure purchasing it. At the same time, there’s been use. substantial technology development mostly coming from All the instructors are people who have industrial expe- Europe to reduce the costs. So those two things together— rience. I communicate extensively with the industry, and technology and smart U.S. state policies — have gotten us I’ve done some research projects that the industry has been to this Vineyard wind bid that was just unsealed in August, very interested in and used in their decisions, but I haven’t which is 6.5 cents a kilowatt/hour. And now, the government built a project. The people teaching in the Academy so far of Massachusetts is not tabulating the subsidies for this bid. have all done some part of the project-development process They’re talking about how much the ratepayers are saving in Europe or the U.S. They may have or may have had a joint by signing that contract. appointment at a university at some time, but they all have Through the efforts of many people, including the Uni- industrial experience. As we proceed and get feedback from versity of Delaware, the states of Massachusetts, New York attendees, we’ll evaluate the best topics and best mix of in- and New Jersey, and potentially Virginia, are all looking at structors. multi-gigawatt builds. So, when we add it up, our tabulation is that we’ve got about a 10-GW commitment to build over ] What does the Offshore Wind Skills Academy bring the next 10 years. That’s about a gigawatt a year. And what to the table that’s been missing in wind education and does that mean? It’s the equivalent of building a full-size training? nuclear power plant every year for the next 10 years in terms We’ve been teaching offshore wind for a decade at the Uni-

30 DECEMBER 2018 has one association in American English as kind of learning trades, but we’re using the word more in the sense of competencies, the way it would be used in Europe. In other words, you have capability of the whole area. To understand the whole area, you have competency in offshore wind planning or meteorological measurements for planning an offshore wind farm. We’re trying to develop competencies rather than giving somebody academic training.

] What has been the response to the Academy so far? It’s been pretty enthusiastic. I’ve communicated with people over the phone, and we also had a booth at the American Wind Energy Association’s offshore conference in Washing- ton. People are saying this fills a gap, because otherwise, in one case, they’d have to send someone to Denmark for a month. So, paying $800 a day to get two days of training, that’s a great bargain for them. This gives them a lot of information in a short period of time from someone who really knows it themselves and ask questions. That’s one kind of reaction. Another example from a company was they had a couple of guys that have been doing land-based turbines, and they know that pretty well, but they don’t know anything about offshore. So they’re going to send them to one of the more advanced OWSA courses, and that will get them understanding why offshore is different from what they’ve versity of Delaware, and a few other U.S. universities teach been doing on land-based developments. courses in wind power, but those are college courses for And in a third case, a very large developer who has more graduate students or advanced undergraduates. Students experience in other kinds of energy, but very few of their are in a classroom for a semester for a course. It’s part of employees have done offshore wind, said they didn’t have their degree program, and at U.D., they learn quite a bit any other practical way to do what we’re doing. What they about offshore wind. But it’s really an academic approach. do now is send someone to several conferences, and there We also have a certificate in wind power, which is a series of they get little snippets of this and that or what they might courses about wind power from different departments. As a do in the future. There’s no way to send their employees student at the university, or someone who wants to sign up somewhere where they get soup to nuts of how you do off- for a couple of classes, you can take those courses. shore wind. So they said OWSA really fills a void for them The OWSA is completely different. This is intended for in their own internal personnel training. somebody who may be in a related industry. Or, maybe it’s somebody who’s already in the offshore wind industry, but ] How do you see the Academy helping the wind they want to get more advanced training in something they industry advance in the future? haven’t done. Maybe they’ve prepared a proposal and done It will reduce the time and cost of training new employees. planning and wanting to negotiate a contract, but have It will make sure employees have a broad knowledge of the never actually supervised boatloads of people going out area. So, you don’t send someone for mechanical training and putting things together up a hundred meters over the on the turbine only, you also have the option to of getting ocean surface. an overview of the offshore wind development process from We’re not trying to train the people in the boat or doing us. So, we’re reducing the cost; we’re reducing the time and the precision welding; they will go to new programs being increasing the breadth of training for new employees or formed at community colleges. What we’re going to do with existing employees in only one segment of the company to OWSA is train the people who will be planning and manag- get more knowledge or broader knowledge of offshore wind. ing and supervising all of those processes. There’s nothing And that means it’s easier to bring in more people, get up to like that now. speed, and have fewer miscommunications across fields and This is to train people who are actually going to be plan- across departments because you don’t understand what the ning and supervising these projects. Instead of a semester, other departments are doing, and hopefully fewer mistakes it’s a one-, two-, or three-day course. It’s all day. It’s more in the development process. I think generally it’s what could costly per day than it would be for a college student to take be called capacity building. some courses. And it’s very practical. That’s not to mean we don’t cover some theory — how you calculate this or that. TO REGISTER  pcs.udel.edu/wind But it’s focused on practical knowledge. So Offshore Wind Skills Academy? “Skills” sometimes MORE INFO  email: [email protected]

windsystemsmag.com 31 NEWS ABOUT INNOVATION, MAINTENANCE, TAILWINDS CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURING

The iSpin equipment is an enabler for load calculations and assessments as well as the optimization of the turbines in terms of wake effects. (Source: Romo)

]]INNOVATION energy group Vattenfall has been mea- power curve, allowing them to reme- suring important wind parameters dy the problem and minimize energy iSpin technology with Romo iSpin technology to mon- losses,” said Brian Sørensen, CEO of itor the performance of each of the 11 Romo Wind. to monitor Vattenfall enhanced MHI Vestas V164 8MW class With its advanced wind measure- wind center wind turbines. The iSpin equipment ment capabilities, including turbu- was installed as part of the turbine lence intensity, yaw misalignment, Since commissioning the European supply contract. and inflow angle measurements, in Offshore Wind Deployment Centre “With iSpin technology, Vattenfall addition to wind speed and direction, (EOWDC) earlier this year, the Swedish will be able to detect deviations in the the iSpin equipment is an enabler for

32 DECEMBER 2018 load calculations and assessments as came apparent that noise emission of our customers approached us about well as the optimization of the tur- was an issue with rotor blades at the a wind tunnel for rotor-blade aerody- bines in terms of wake effects. time,” said Dr.-Ing. Knud Rehfeldt, namics, we thought that was a great “The ability to capture value-adding managing director of Deutsche Wind- idea and immediately got to work” data plays a significant role in the op- Guard Engineering GmbH. “The ex- In 2006, WindGuard’s Knud Reh- erational phase of a windfarm,” said isting wind tunnels, with their high feldt and his team set out to develop a Kevin Jones, Head of Aberdeen Bay, Vat- background noises, could not provide wind tunnel specifically for the wind tenfall. “The iSpin technology contrib- the testing conditions for the new in- industry. It would have to have an ex- utes to Vattenfall’s ability to actively dustry requirements. So, when some cellent flow quality, a low background control operational risks.” Vattenfall has been developing and operating wind power in the U.K. for the past 10 years and is taking the lead in offshore wind innovation. It recently started operations at the EOWDC, in Aberdeen Bay. The cutting-edge wind farm will be a test bed for offshore wind innovation. The innovation deployed at the EOWDC will help increase productivity and reduce the cost of energy produced at the 11-tur - bine scheme.

MORE INFO corporate.vattenfall.co.uk/projects/

]]INNOVATION WindGuard wind tunnel celebrates 10 years

This year, Deutsche WindGuard’s large scale aero-acoustic wind tunnel in Bremerhaven celebrates its 10th an- niversary. “When the wind industry became established in the early 2000s, it be-

Deutsche WindGuard Engineering has operated WindGuard’s aero-acoustic large scale wind tunnel in Bremerhaven since 2008. (Courtesy: Deutsche WindGuard Engineering)

windsystemsmag.com 33 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND

noise, achieve high wind speeds and across multiple drive-train topologies. Ion Etxarri Sangüesa, R&D Quality Reynolds numbers. To reduce the Ingeteam’s low voltage DFIG power Team Leader of Ingeteam Wind Energy. sound level of the wind tunnel itself, converters have been developed with “Our DFIG converter series offer cost-op- the tunnel is built with acoustical- a modular FRT solution to optimize timized products for each market and ly-decoupled sections, and incorpo- cost-effectiveness and fulfil the strict- application. Those converters present a rates about 2,000 square meters of est international grid codes. It is a ma- very grid-friendly behavior, including special noise absorbing elements. The ture technology used by many of the FRT, SCR, and SSR, which explains why tunnel was built in 2007 and inaugu- main turbine manufacturers, offering they are used all over the world, and, rated in 2008. key advantages with regards to costs in particular, why they do very well in Today, after 10 years of operation, and sizes savings. emerging markets such as India or Bra- more than 100 different airfoils tested, The DNV GL Component Certificate zil. Our 2MW DFIG converters can be and several thousand measurements, confirms that Ingeteam’s converter is modulated to bring customized solu- the wind tunnel is running and con- designed, documented and manufac- tions that will effectively minimize stantly adding new capabilities. Devel- tured in accordance to design assump- wind turbine LCOE.” opment has never stopped. tions, specific standards and technical “We are very pleased to continue “Today, the maximum flow speed requirements, globally. It also makes our partnership with Ingeteam and of the wind tunnel reaches 360 kmh the process of new turbine develop- support the company in their efforts with Reynolds numbers of 6 million, ment easier, speeding up the integra- to demonstrate the quality standards and the background noise level has tion of components to wind turbine of their products,” said Kim Mørk, ex- been reduced by more than 10 dB,” platforms. ecutive vice president of Renewables said Nicholas Balaresque, head of “To this day, DFIG converters remain Certification at DNV GL. “This new acoustic wind tunnel testing at Deut- the most proven, efficient and cost certification is another step forward sche WindGuard. “The collaboration competitive drive train topology,” said in the excellent working relationship between colleagues from many Wind- Guard departments has been crucial for the successful outcome of many campaigns. Especially the synergy that has developed between all seven WindGuard wind tunnels has helped improve the measurement quality and extend the range of offered wind tunnel related services.”

MORE INFO www.windguard.com

]]INNOVATION DNV GL certifies Ingeteam’s 2MW DFIG converter

Ingeteam, the world-leading supplier of electrical conversion equipment, recently announced it received DNV GL’s certification for its Ingecon®Wind stator-equipped 2MW DFIG converter. With this latest achievement, Inge- team completes the range of its products covered under DNV GL certification, such as the medium voltage full power converters and the statorless DFIG converters; and demonstrates Ingeteam’s low voltage DFIG power converters have been developed with a modular FRT its ability to consistently meet DNV solution to optimize cost-effectiveness and fulfil the strictest international grid codes. GL’s quality and safety requirements (Courtesy: Ingeteam)

34 DECEMBER 2018 we have developed with Ingeteam over the years. The certificate emphasizes the quality requirements of Ingeteam in safety and reliability of their products.”

MORE INFO www.ingeteam.com

]]INNOVATION Vaisala acquires Lidar manufacturer Leosphere

Vaisala, a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement, recently announced the acquisition of Leosphere SAS, a world leader in ground-based and nacelle-mounted Lidar equipment for the wind-energy industry. As project developers and operators worldwide turn to remote sensing to capture wind data at today’s increasing hub-heights, the acquisition The Windcube Vertical Profiler is the wind industry’s leading Lidar system. (Courtesy: Vaisala)

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USA_advert_1_4 regular_3375x4875_rz.indd 1 31.03.17 14:36 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND

will see Leosphere’s Windcube and able from Vaisala. Leosphere custom- “We are proud to partner with ZF Wind Iris Lidars join Vaisala’s Triton ers will see no change to the service Wind Power, a company known for its Wind Profiler as part of the market’s they currently receive. strong technological leadership, stra- most comprehensive range of mea- tegic partnerships, and strong focus surement equipment. MORE INFO www.vaisala.com/leosphere on R&D,” said Dave Meyer, AMSOIL VP, “The advantages and opportunities Wind & Industrial. “That reputation remote sensing units bring through- makes the decision to partner with out the lifecycle of a modern wind ]]MAINTENANCE AMSOIL a significant validation of our farm are now well-understood. It is products and service. The agreement common practice for wind-energy AMSOIL to be main is consistent with ZF’s vision to pro- firms to deploy Lidar and Sodar to in- vide the highest quality products on form crucial decisions relating to site supplier for ZF Wind the market.” prospecting, resource assessment, and Power AMSOIL PTN 320 Synthetic Gear turbine performance testing,” said Oil offers advanced gear protection Jarkko Sairanen, executive vice pres- Following years of committed part- in the crucial run-in period and is ident of Weather and Environment nership, field testing, and data-backed engineered to last. After more than for Vaisala. “Adoption of these more results with worldwide customers, nine years in use, it still passes rigor- versatile measurement technologies AMSOIL has been selected by ZF Wind ous OEM test requirements designed to augment conventional met towers Power for gearbox lubrication during for new oil, proving its durability. The is a key factor in enabling the wind in- end-of-line testing at all of its manu- premium industrial lubricant’s supe- dustry to increase the scale of project facturing locations. rior performance and long drain in- development, not only through larger, Those locations include Lommel, terval saves money and protects the more advanced turbines, but also in Belgium; Witten, Germany; Tianjin, environment. new, remote markets worldwide.” China; Coimbatore, India; and its ser- ZF Wind Power is a globally estab- Vaisala’s customers can now ben- vice facility in Vernon Hills, U.S. lished designer, manufacturer, and efit from a comprehensive product The agreement solidifies AMSOIL supplier of advanced gearbox solutions range that encompasses the Triton as the global leader in wind gearbox for wind turbines, currently operating Wind Profiler — a robust and cost-ef- oil reliability and performance. The four state-of-the-art manufacturing fective Sodar unit that has been de- company’s global presence and un- plants with an annual output capacity ployed on nearly 5,000 measurement paralleled customer service have not of approximately 18,000 MW. In addi- campaigns worldwide — and the gone unnoticed by original equipment tion to its manufacturing presence in Windcube Vertical Profiler, the wind manufacturers (OEMs). Europe, India, China, and the U.S., ZF industry’s leading Lidar system. The product range also includes the nacelle-mounted Wind Iris Power Opti- mization and Turbine Control units, specifically designed to help turbine owners increase efficiency in long- term wind energy production. “The respective qualities of So - dar and Lidar are often weighed up against each other, but the fact is that both technologies have their place in a cost-effective, bankable wind measurement campaign,” Sairanen said. “We have often spoken of the remote sensing ‘revolution’ that is underway in the wind sector — and with this com- plementary product offering, we’re giving the industry the tools it needs to carry this out.” The Windcube Vertical Profiler, Scanning Windcube, Wind Iris Power Optimization, and Wind Iris Turbine Control units, along with the Triton AMSOIL PTN 320 Synthetic Gear Oil offers advanced gear protection in the crucial run-in Wind Profiler, are immediately avail- period. (Courtesy: ZF Wind Power)

36 DECEMBER 2018 The Seacat Intrepid is a CTV used in offshore wind projects. (Courtesy: Seacat Services) maintains worldwide sales and service proaches, but demand for larger, more ly repurposed, such as for near shore operations. capable, workboats continues to rise. survey. Overall, while the results are a With the race to build-out offshore MORE INFO amsoilwind.com clear positive for individual operators, wind projects, however, CTVs are again Seacat Services warns that it is an early in high demand, causing a shortage in indicator of an overheated market, as vessel availability. ]]MAINTENANCE offshore wind-farm developers and op- “While record figures may sound erators, and turbine OEMs chase a lim- wholly beneficial for Seacat Services Seacat sees demand ited number of high-quality offshore and other market providers, it’s also energy support vessels. indicative of a wider vessel supply for CTV services The shortage in vessels follows a shortage that is already starting to for offshore period of low demand for CTVs, while cause a few challenges in build sched- offshore wind projects were in the ules and vessel pricing,” said Ian Baylis, The fourth quarter of 2018, has, atyp- planning phase, exacerbated by the managing director of Seacat Services. ically, seen surging demand for off- unattractive commercial terms of- “This doesn’t just mean that shipyards shore wind crew transfer, according fered by developers during the lull. need to build more boats, it means to offshore energy support vessel This saw some CTV firms exit the mar- that until the industry can meet the (OESV) operator, Seacat Services, as it ket or deploy vessels elsewhere, as the demand, there is limited redundancy. reported its latest operational figures. oil and gas sector begins to recover. With little room for mistakes, should In the month of October, transfers and Furthermore, as standards contin- a vessel fail or require removing from charter days exceeded the sum total ue to increase throughout the offshore operations for scheduled maintenance, for 2017, closely following third quar- wind market, the workboat industry it’s something that should be of con- ter figures that surpassed company now consists of an overall net lower cern to project developers. records to date. number of vessels than before the lull “At Seacat we’re currently in collab- The figures come at a time when — as a large number now no longer oration with a number of our industry the industry is traditionally looking meet the high technical requirements colleagues to ensure that we meet the at a period of downtime as winter ap- from the industry and are subsequent- demands of the offshore wind sector,”

windsystemsmag.com 37 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND

he said. “This has seen us provide our vessels for charter on other projects, ]]MAINTENANCE or take other firms’ vessels where required.” Dropped objects “But, with timelines for project development incredibly important in remain a neglected the industry, as we drive to a lower hazard in offshore levelized cost of energy, it’s imper - ative that offshore developers start Dropsafe, a global provider of to provide the energy support vessel dropped objects prevention technol- firms with longer term certainty to ogy for the energy and resources mar- avoid similar scenarios in future,” Bay- kets, has reported on the risk posed lis said. “We’ve seen what boom and by dropped objects to the health and bust looks like in offshore oil and gas safety track record of the renewable Three-quarters of Altitec’s inspections and — there’s a real opportunity to ensure repairs around the world were carried out energy industry. Collating the latest we don’t follow the same path in off- on wind farms younger than 5 years old. data on dropped object incidents, shore wind.” (Courtesy: Altitec) Dropsafe’s white paper, The Neglected Hazard: A guide to Dropped Object risks MORE INFO www.seacatservices.co.uk operational life of the assets. Altitec’s in offshore wind, shows that dropped Blade Atlas, which breaks down the ac- objects are an ever-present, increas- tivity of their rotor blade technicians ing threat to safe and cost-effective ]]MAINTENANCE on wind farms worldwide, younger project development and operations wind farms require an average seven in offshore wind. Altitec: South Africa repairs per turbine, compared with Furthermore, despite recent ef- only 2.2 repairs per turbine for farms forts to improve reporting proce - needs to invest in older than 5 years. dures and best practice approaches, blade repair capacity Three-quarters of Altitec’s inspec- the industry needs to take further tions and repairs around the world steps to proactively mitigate this Altitec, a leading turbine rotor blade were carried out on wind farms risk before a significant dropped-ob- inspection and repair specialist, re- younger than 5 years old, while 15 ject incident dents the reputation of cently highlighted the need for South percent of operations were undertak- a major player — or the incident rate Africa to expand its pool of blade re- en on wind farms in South Africa. Al- increases to the point that costly reg- pair technicians to support operations titec segments its repairs in to three ulatory action must be taken. and maintenance in the sector. distinct types. The report shows that Dropped objects in offshore wind As shown by Altitec’s 2018 Blade Re- internal works made up 12 percent of include materials carried by personnel, pair Atlas, published in October, new- all repairs by type in 2018, external lifted or carried from support vessels, er wind farms, those under 5 years old, repairs were 31 percent, with replace- or smaller items fitted to the wind typically require more active moni- ment of aerodynamic add-ons making turbine, such as nuts and bolts, lights, toring and maintenance. Nearly all of up the 47 percent of all repairs Altitec ventilation louvres, or hatches, falling South Africa’s installed wind energy carried out in the year. from height. Incidents can occur ei- capacity is under 5 years old. “With the planned growth in wind ther on the wind turbines themselves The development of wind energy farms over the next decade, South Af- or on vessels being used for turbine in South Africa has gathered momen- rica will need a local cohort of high- installation and maintenance. This tum in 2018 since Energy Minister Jeff ly-skilled rotor blade repair techni- definition does not include the heavy Radebe signed 27 agreements with in- cians to ensure the wind turbine fleet lifts performed during construction, dependent power producers on behalf remains in optimal operation,” said main component change-out, or de- of Eskom in April, which included 12 Riccardo Buehler, director of Altitec commissioning. wind energy projects with a capaci- South Africa. “The Altitec Academy Although formal recognition was ty of more than 1.3 GW. Looking to in Cape Town provides local training made of the risks from dropped ob- the future, the government expects built on global experience to guar- jects in the offshore wind industry South Africa’s total installed capacity antee technicians have the skills to in 2014, a centralized approach to to reach 11.5 GW by 2030. inspect and record damage to blades, incident reporting in offshore wind New wind-energy capacity will and identify and conduct the neces- has yet to be established, with differ- drive employment in the country, sary repairs.” ent organizations such as the global not only during construction, but also offshore wind health and safety orga- over the longer term throughout the MORE INFO www.altitec.co.za nization, G+, and the IMCA reporting

38 DECEMBER 2018 forgiving environment, reputation is key,” said Mike Rice, commercial director of Dropsafe. “And in order to maintain current growth and industry momentum, it is the responsibility of businesses throughout the supply chain to consistently demonstrate that an offshore wind farm is not just a clean, reliable source of power, but also remains a safe place to work, all the way through its lifecycle.” “The industry is under pressure to keep a lid on costs, but this approach in pushing toward a lower levelized cost of energy cannot come at the ex - pense of health and safety best practice,” he said. “Our experience from the off - shore oil and gas markets shows that dropped objects present a fourfold threat to the safety of personnel, the integrity of equipment, financial performance, and ultimately the reputation of offshore wind firms and their high-profile stakeholders,” Rice said. “Yet, despite this ever-present threat, the offshore wind industry has yet to follow the lead of other marine industries, both in reporting incidents, and in adopting robust mitigation mea- sures across turbine and vessel fleets. This ultimately puts the sector at risk of having uniform regulations and standards imposed upon it that jeop- ardize its ability to manage long-term costs in a sustainable manner.”

MORE INFO www.dropsafe.com

Dropsafe’s white paper shows that dropped objects are an ever-present, increasing threat ]]MANUFACTURING to safe and cost-effective project development and operations in offshore wind. (Courtesy: Dropsafe) Siemens Gamesa separate figures. the IMCA has reported a downward awarded order for At the same time, best practice trend in lost time injuries (LTIs) from Kansas project mitigation guidance for offshore wind dropped objects — but this must also firms remains limited. Indeed, in the be factored against an overall decline Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy 2018 G+ Working at Heights guidelines, in working hours across the industry. will supply 48 SG 3.4-132 and 14 SWT- end operators are encouraged to refer Figures from the G+, conversely, 2.3-108 wind turbines for Southern to the global dropped objects organi- show an increase in the total rate of Power’s latest wind project — the zation, DROPS, for further guidance. recorded dropped object incidents that 198.5-MW Reading wind facility in This DROPS guidance has yet to be of- is 3.5 times that from the IMCA, and Lyon and Osage counties in Kansas. ficially published and ratified. an overall uptick in incidents from The agreement also features a While the data isn’t, therefore, 2015 to 2017. 20-year service and maintenance always clear cut, in its 2017 figures, “In offshore wind, a tough and un- program. Known for its world-class

windsystemsmag.com 39 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND

maintenance solutions, Siemens enough energy to power more than timized for Class II sites to maximize Gamesa will offer the company the 5 million average homes and has a energy production with low noise best in scale and flexibility to max- strong U.S. footprint consisting of emission levels. imize energy asset returns. The pro- manufacturing, service, and offices. gram includes advanced diagnostics In Kansas, Siemens Gamesa has 484 MORE INFO www.siemensgamesa.com and digital capabilities, tailored to wind turbines installed across nine increase performance and operation projects totaling more than 1,000 predictably to achieve low cost of en- MW. Southern Power has previous- ]]MANUFACTURING ergy for customers. ly partnered with Siemens Gamesa “We are pleased to partner with on four other wind turbine project BladeFactory project: Southern Power for the Reading installations totaling more than 300 Wind project, and we are committed turbines, totaling about 720 MW in- Quicker production, to upholding the highest standard stalled and under service. higher quality result of safety, availability, and reliability A total of 2,397 SWT-2.3-108 wind that we are known for providing,” turbines have been installed in the Together with 14 project partners, said Darnell Walker, head of Service U.S., accounting for 5.5 GW of in - Fraunhofer IWES, in the role of co - Americas at Siemens Gamesa Renew- stalled capacity across 31 projects. ordinator, recently launched the Blade- able Energy. The first SG 3.4-132 wind turbine for Factory project. The research project, In total, Siemens Gamesa has the U.S. was completed in August which has been funded by the German provided turbines for more than 2018. This product features an out- Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs 150 project sites with an output ca- put of 3.465 MW and a rotor diameter and Energy (BMWi) to the tune of 7 pacity of more than 18 GW in the U.S., of 132 meters. These turbines are op- million euros, is set to last 3 1/2 years.

An SGRE wind farm. Siemens Gamesa will supply a total of 62 turbines for Southern Power’s latest wind project. (Courtesy: Siemens Gamesa)

40 DECEMBER 2018 During this period, IWES research- procedure to create mold tools with to project partners and industry cus- ers will develop and test production a cooling function. This will enable tomers. Material manufacturers, ma- methods with the aim of reducing the curing process to be optimally chine suppliers, and blade producers the production time for rotor blades. controlled and shortened, while also use the infrastructure and know-how To this end, the team is working to par- increasing the quality of the compo- offered by Fraunhofer IWES to test ma- allelize production steps. In addition, a nents. The more rapid manufacturing terials and tools for blade production, 3D laser measurement system, which of mold tools accelerates the market perform demonstrations to potential is suitable for assuring the quality of launch of rotor blades significantly customers, and conduct tests accord- blade production, will be tested for the which results in a decisive competitive ing to accredited methods. first time. Development work will be advantage for manufacturers. performed at IWES’ demonstration The demonstration center is open MORE INFO www.iwes.fraunhofer.de center for industrialized rotor blade production in Bremerhaven, Germa- ny. This site was established within the 27,000 Trained Craftspersons framework of the preceding BladeMak- using more than 119 er project. Don’t Be Using the technology presently Training Centers! available, it takes about 24 hours to produce a rotor blade blank. The pro- Let Down cess is protracted since almost all production steps must be performed one after the other in the main mold tool. By An Elevator “To shorten the production time, we want to perform various processes si- Installation and multaneously and move some of the work away from the main mold tool preventative maintenance to other devices,” said the project’s by IUEC elevator mechanics manager Roman Braun. This includes procedures such as preforming (place- will keep your elevators ment and draping of the textile and core materials) and prefabbing (pre- moving SAFELY production of rotor blade components). and more efficiently! Another goal is quality enhance- ment: In order to achieve greater, re- producible component quality, the researchers at IWES rely on measuring technologies and mechanical tests during the manufacturing process. In addition, the use of a laser measurement system is planned, which will precisely record the 3D geometry of the finished parts. “The introduction of robust and parallel production processes offers huge potential cost savings,” Braun said. “The production procedure is rendered more efficient and material surcharges as well as reworking due to quality issues can be reduced.” A direct production procedure for mold tools was developed in the scope Contact Carisa Barrett at [email protected] or (253) 561-4902 of the preceding project, BladeMaker. This has reduced the production time We represent more than 450 elevator companies for molds from six to three months. In the BladeFactory project, research- ready to serve your Elevator Lift needs ers now aim to use this production

windsystemsmag.com 41 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND

Layup of pre-cut glass fiber fabrics on a positive mold to pre-manufacture the root insert. (Courtesy: Fraunhofer IWES, Jan Meier)

promising and demanding market, to positioning ourselves in this rap- ]]MANUFACTURING such as India. This highly efficient, idly growing but legally secure mar- as well as cost-effective, production ket as the world’s leading supplier of Ingeteam opens center is based on a modular design wind power converters.” and can be easily modified. The pro- Ingeteam entered the emerging high-tech facility for duction lines are extremely agile, so Indian wind-energy sector early on, turbine components they can quickly be adapted to meet and now holds a 9 percent market new client requirements. In addition, share in the country. In 2017, a stag- Ingeteam, an independent global the floor space availability will en- gering 35 percent of the 4,148 MW supplier of electrical conversion and able Ingeteam to expand the facility wind capacity installed in India that turbine control equipment, recently on demand. Production at the new year was equipped with Ingeteam’s announced it opened a new facility facility started in August, with first technology. in the vicinity of Chennai, India, to deliveries made in September. Serial “Although the Indian wind market satisfy the demand for wind-power production started in October. has slowed down due to regulatory converters and control cabinets by “With this new plant, we are able and commercial issues, we have no both local and international OEMs to increase our delivery of reliable doubt that it will pick up again and with operations in India. and quality products to wind-turbine continue with the positive overall Located in the Tamil Nadu region, manufacturers in India’s extremely growth trend it has set over the past Ingeteam’s new 3,500-square-meter competitive market. The decision to few years,” Goyen said. “The funda- facility is equipped with state-of- manufacture locally was marked by mentals of growth are there, and this the-art production technology. The the potential of the Indian market, by market remains a key area of invest- production plant in India will manu- its protectionism and by the high po- ment for Ingeteam in the long run.” facture electrical components follow- tential of its people,” said Ana Goyen, India is a developing country with ing the same stringent standards and director of Ingeteam Wind Energy. a growing need for energy and with processes as Ingeteam’s other produc- “We will be there to serve our clients limited fossil resources. For this rea- tion facilities in Spain, the U.S., and with the same parameters of quality, son, the Indian government has prior- Brazil. reliability, and competitiveness that itized the development of renewable The new facility has been special- have always been at the core of Inge- energies, particularly wind and solar ly developed to meet the needs of a team. This is a further strategic step energy. The drastic reduction in ener-

42 DECEMBER 2018 “We are very dedicated to making a difference in South Africa and contribute to enhancing socio-economic growth and sustainable educational development,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Eu- rope. “We are doing so by procuring locally produced towers, contracting local transport companies, and supporting community school programs through our own initiative, the Vestas Empowerment Trust.” Long-term customer Enel Green Power is a global developer and manager of activities for the generation of energy from renewable sources, aiming at supporting the safeguarding of the environment throughout the var- The new facility has been specially developed to meet the needs of a promising and demanding ious phases of development, construc- market. (Courtesy: Ingeteam) tion, and management of their plants, reducing impacts and developing the gy prices has demonstrated the suc- increase annual energy production. principle of the circular economy. cess of this policy. The Indian market To lower turbine downtime and lev- The contract includes supply, instal- is expected to resume its fast devel- elized cost of energy, the project will lation, and commissioning of the wind opment, as the government seeks to also include a VestasOnline® Business turbines, as well as a 5-year Active Out- meet its targets of 175 GW of renew- SCADA solution. put Management 5000 (AOM 5000) ser- able capacity by 2022, with 60 GW of As part of delivering the projects, vice agreement. Turbine delivery and that coming from wind energy alone. Vestas will create local wind-energy installation is planned for the second jobs, fulfilling the local requirements half of 2020. MORE INFO www.ingeteam.com for local content, skills development, and socio-economic development ini- MORE INFO www.vestas.com tiatives. ]]MANUFACTURING Vestas wins 294-MW order in South African auction

Vestas’ global partner Enel Green Pow- er has awarded Vestas a 294-MW order of V136-4.2 MW turbines, delivered in 4.2 MW Power Optimized Mode, for two projects in South Africa. The projects consist of 147 MW each and debut the V136-4.2 MW in the South African market and will feature the largest Vestas rotor diameters in Africa to date. The two wind parks, Karusa and Soetwater, are both at the South Afri- can Western Cape and will feature 35 turbines each with a hub height of 82 meters. Leveraging the 4.2 MW Power Optimized Mode for the sites’ medium-speed wind conditions, the V136- 4.2 MW will boost performance and The South African projects will use the Vestas V136-4.2 MW turbine. (Courtesy: Vestas)

windsystemsmag.com 43 CROSSWINDS

THE FUTURE OF WIND

FROST WARNINGS

Once ice starts to build up on a blade, the turbine produces less power. (Courtesy: Shutterstock)

44 DECEMBER 2018 Wind-farm operators often face three issues when it comes to ice buildup on turbine blades: equipment damage, production issues,and potential safety hazards.

By KENNETH CARTER  Wind Systems editor

older climates often have some of the best constant winds needed to spin a turbine. Unfortunately, that frigid air also creates an added challenge for wind-power production: ice buildup on the turbine blades. CAccording to experts, icing on turbine blades is the No. 1 cause of turbine downtime in cold climates, so it’s really important to develop a strategy to deal with this seasonal hazard. During a recent webinar conducted by New Energy Up- date in association with the recent Wind O&M Canada Con- ference in Toronto, Mark Hachey, site manager with Engie Canada with Caribou Wind Park in eastern Canada, and Charles Godreau, project manager with Nergica Technolo- gies, discussed their experience with turbine icing and some of the best practices to address this before, during, and after an icing event. Godreau’s data was taken from the IEA Wind Test 19, which is an expert group composed of 11 countries. Nergica is the Canadian representative in that group. “We are kind of in the middle of the Jetstream,” Hachey said. “Fog makes the icing problematic for us.”

TWO CLIMATES Two types of climates typically overlap in colder areas, according to Godreau: low-temperature climate and icing climate. “The low-temperature climate is defined by temperatures below minus-20 degrees Celsius over nine days in a year, or an average air temperature below zero,” he said. “In some cases, that overlaps with icing climate, which is either in - strumentalizing for more than 1 percent of the year or me- teoroligicalizing during more than 25 percent of the year.” Most of Canada is considered to be in a low-temperature climate, as well as some of the northern states in the mid- western U.S. As far as icing climate is concerned, eastern Canada is exposed to more icing, according to Godreau. “As an icing event comes into a wind farm, we have mete- oroligicalizing; that would be when we have a meteorological phenomenon — could be fog or precipitation — that is affecting your wind farm,” he said. “And what will happen during that time is there will be a phase of incubation, then accretion will be the moment that ice is building up. And we will distinguish between instrumental icing where your wind sensors and icing detectors will detect icing, and rotor icing, where the wind-turbine blades are covered with ice. Instrumental icing and rotor icing may persist in time. After that meteorological icing — say it lasts a day — you could have icing on the wind farm for several weeks depending on your climate, so the importance of detecting these events and

windsystemsmag.com 45 CROSSWINDS THE FUTURE OF WIND

being aware that there is icing on a wind farm is important, especially for health and safety issues.”  You might expect that you won’t have Those safety concerns come from the threat of falling ice, according to Hachey. ice buildup (with icephobic coatings), but “Sometimes, the reason we aren’t able to get the turbines running is really a safety issue, meaning it might be a simple that’s not exactly correct. With these problem like you’re not able to get into the turbine because coatings, what they do is reduce the of the risk of falling ice,” he said. Hachey said that sometimes safety issues, rather than adhesion force between the ice and the aerodynamic issues, can amount to about 40 to 50 percent of lost production. coated surface. You basically still need Safety hazards are avoided by using a portable ice roof, according to Hachey. the same things in order to remove the “We’re able to deploy it in order for technicians to get into the turbine safely to do whatever they need to do to get the ice: vibrations, gravity, sunshine, which turbine back in operation,” he said. helps melt the ice.  COMBATING ICE BUILDUP There are several families of technologies available in order buildup, there are several avenues that wind-farm owners to combat icing, according to Godreau: can go down using indirect and direct methods of detection, ] Models or maps: allow a wind farm operator to know according to Godreau. in advance about the possibility of an icing event. In the indirect arena, operators can use double anemom- ] Detection: Dedicated sensors on site will alert an oper- etry, which compares heated and unheated cup anemometer ator of icing. data. ] Mitigation: Methods used to remove rotor icing. “Based on our experience, you want your heated sensor to Icing forecasts are often available for free from national be ultrasonic,” Godreau said. “Some of the heated cup ane- forecasting agencies, according to Godreau. mometers don’t have enough power to melt the ice, so they’ll Examples of some of those national models are the WRF- have faulty readings in icing. And you’ll also need a heated ARW, used in the U.S.; the GEM-LAM, used in Canada; and bearing on your unheated cup anemometer because in low the AROME, available in Europe. temperatures you’ll be getting false alarms. So be aware that “Since icing is also an issue in aerospace, if you look into non-heated bearings will slow down in low temperatures.” airport data or FAA regulations, you’ll have several details Power-curve degradation is another indirect detection on forecasts available and the frequency in which you can method. look at them,” Godreau said. “I would say if you are looking “Once you have icing on the blade, the turbine will pro- at operating a wind farm in cold climate, you should look duce less power,” Godreau said. at the proper icing forecasts at least two times a day. It’s just Another indirect, yet not as reliable, method for detection a best practice to be aware of what conditions are coming is by monitoring atmospheric conditions when the tempera- to your site and if you need to implement some mitigation.” ture is below 2 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity is Godreau said there are also commercial forecast solu- great than 90 percent. tions available, so some companies will be able to provide “Our group does not recommend using this method,” he adjusted forecasts at a given site. said. “The reason is that basically in low temperature, the Hachey referred to a Canadian government project that relative humidity sensors are not working properly, and be- was designed to determine icing conditions, until the pro- low minus-15, relative humidity on a standard sensor will gram was dropped. However, even though the program is no not even reach 90 percent. So, you should be aware if you longer active, the data from it is still useful. are using this, you should look into more precise methods “The biggest takeaway for me, however, was when we used of detection.” this website here and we can predict — looking at the humid- There are a lot of direct methods of detection available on ity and the precipitation and the temperature — when we’re the market that are established in the industry, according going to have an icing event,” he said. “So, we can choose to Godreau. to manually pause turbines during the event, or we can Nacelle-based sensors from companies including Labko- keep them running when we think the event is going to be tec, MCMS, Goodrich, MPS Icemeter, Leine Linde, New Avion- short and ride it through. This has really done a lot for us. It ics, and HoloOptics are useful, as well as rotor-based sensors seemed simple, but it was a very useful tool.” from companies including Eologix, Fos4X, Weidmuller, and Wolfel. DETECTING ICE BUILDUP “These work either by measuring the load on the blades, When it comes to actually detecting the possibility of ice so that you know you have an increased load on the blade,

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windsystemsmag.com 47 CROSSWINDS THE FUTURE OF WIND

which is caused by icing, or by directly detecting icing on we hit winter, there really wasn’t much of the product left.” the blades,” Godreau said. Hachey also said his team used a new product from Ja- Another direction detection method includes nacelle and pan, which had to be applied in a complicated process that hub-based cameras. involved removing the blades. “Something else we tried was helicopter spray,” he said. ICE MITIGATION “It worked a little bit but was very slow. We could only fly But the point of predicting and detecting the ice buildup is within certain wind speeds. You can’t fly in the snow or rain. moot if there aren’t ways to get rid of that power-draining And it’s fairly expensive. So, it wasn’t a cost-effective option.” ice once it’s there. Calling the coatings “icephobic” is a bit of a misnomer, Fortunately, most major OEMs offer de-icing systems, ac- according to Godreau. cording to Godreau. And for newer wind farms where that “You might expect that you won’t have ice buildup, but technology has been available, icing is more of a fact of life that’s not exactly correct,” he said. “With these coatings, in a cold climate. For older farms, however, there might be what they do is reduce the adhesion force between the ice a need to retrofit existing turbines with some method of and the coated surface. You basically still need the same de-icing. things in order to remove the ice: vibrations, gravity, sun- “If you’ve done your site assessment properly, and you shine, which helps melt the ice. Since it reduces the adhesion know that you have some icing issues and you’ve bought force, the more ice you have, the better chances of the coat- an OEM de-icing system, then that’s fine,” Godreau said. “I ing to work. So, when you have a very severe ice buildup, it guess the main trouble is when you’ve built up your wind will fall down from the coated turbine earlier than from an farm when either this technology was not available or not uncoated turbine. There’s some sense of an act of God to it. knowing you were going to get so much icing. So retro-fitting There could be that there was some kind of gust that helped de-icing systems is something operators in icing climates shed the ice, we can’t really say. But it’s not as effective as an have been looking at for a while. It used to be that it would active system. Durability of these coatings is also something be some kind of new system that hasn’t been tried before that needs to be proven. You may expect a good performance with some reliability issues and some of them have worked over a couple of winters, but after that you may have to reap- around this.” ply to maintain performance.” Hachey has had some experience with experimenting with different de-icing methods on his wind farm. ACTIVE SYSTEMS One such method was surface-mounted tiles electrically A blade-heating system is a prime example of one of these heated and stuck to the blade surface and interconnected. active de-icing systems, according to Godreau and Hachey. “This system really didn’t work well for us,” he said. “It “The next thing we tried was a Vestas blade-heating sys- wasn’t physically reliable. The electrical connections were tem,” Hachey said. “It worked in that it eliminated icing that made too tight, and when the blade flexed, it pulled apart, we had seen; however, you’d have to buy 99 blades for the causing an open circuit, and in some cases, we actually had turbines, so there was no economic benefit. Even though the some sparking and some blackening of the blade. (In other technology was useful, the productive cost was too much instances), the adhesive wasn’t strong enough, and some of to justify.” the tiles simply fell off after a while.” Cost is always going to be an added factor when it comes Hachey also said his farm experimented with painting to de-icing, whether that cost comes in the form of forecasts, a set of blades black to see if that could deter ice buildup. detection, or the active or passive act of removing the ice “The biggest concern with that was overheating,” he said. buildup. That’s why it’s important to make sure that is con- “This was a concern with the manufacturer of the turbine: sidered when building a wind farm in colder climates. that if the blade got too hot, it could soften some of the glue But, luckily, there are plenty of options already on the of the fiberglass components, causing some damage. It’s market with more on the horizon — such as using lasers doubtful how well this worked; it certainly didn’t work in and microwaves — in the research and development stage, the middle of the winter.” according to Godreau. And Hachey expects his wind farm to look into more ICEPHOBIC SOLUTIONS de-icing options in the near future. Icephobic coatings have also been tried with varying degrees “We’re reviewing another surface mounted electric heat- of success, according to Hachey. ing system,” he said. “We may try a ground-based ice removal “We tried a couple different types of coatings,” he said. “An system in the winter of 2019.” off-the-shelf component was applied uptower. After three to Hachey said he also plans to install fixed ice protection four icing events, the product significantly dropped off in roofs, instead of hauling around protection, since safety haz- effectiveness. And that’s kind of what we found. The product ards are an issue that can often eclipse power production worked a little bit during the first icing event, and it did loss. nothing after that … The ice and wind and rain and some snow were able to wear the product down, and by the time MORE INFO  newenergyupdate.com

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