NEWS ABOUT INNOVATION, MAINTENANCE, TAILWINDS CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURING Kawailoa Wind is installing NRG Systems’ Bat Deterrent System on its 30 turbines. (Courtesy: NRG Systems) mitigate the impacts of renewable en- bat conservation can co-exist.” INNOVATION ergy development,” said Bryan Martin, Kawailoa Wind is curtailing, or chief executive officer of D. E. Shaw Re- turning off turbines in low wind NRG Systems sells newable Investments (DESRI), which speeds at night, when bats are most ac- owns and operates Kawailoa Wind. tive, to minimize Hawaiian hoary bat Bat Deterrent System “We are excited to partner with NRG fatalities. NRG’s Bat Deterrent Systems to Hawaii wind farm Systems at Kawailoa Wind as part of are expected to be used in addition to those efforts.” curtailment. NRG Systems, Inc. has announced Bat fatalities have been document- the first commercial sale of its Bat ed in association with wind-farm oper- MORE INFO nrgsystems.com Deterrent System to Kawailoa Wind, ations in Hawaii — an occurrence that Hawaii’s largest wind farm. Located has been seen at wind farms across the on the island of Oahu, Kawailoa Wind globe. Because of this, conservation of INNOVATION will outfit each of its 30 turbines with these animals has become one of the a Bat Deterrent System. The adoption most pressing issues facing the renew- Vaisala expands of NRG’s pioneering technology is part able energy industry today. of Kawailoa Wind’s ongoing efforts to “Wind energy is crucial to providing weather radar offering help conserve the Hawaiian hoary bat, renewable energy in Hawaii,” said Bri- which has been on the United States’ ta Woeck, environmental compliance to include X-band list of endangered species since 1970. officer for Kawailoa Wind. “Kawailoa Vaisala, a global leader in weather, en- “DESRI has a history of adopting Wind is invested in finding solutions vironmental, and industrial measure- innovative technologies and ideas to so that clean energy generation and ment, recently announced the develop- 30 JULY 2019 ment of an advanced X-band Weather INNOVATION 9.36 kilowatts peak (kWp), are of He- Radar. The smaller size and lower cost liatek technology (HeliaSol 308-5986 of an X-band radar will make it an ide- Acciona installs model). They are only 1 millimeter al instrument to enhance the weather thick, and each one has a surface area detection capabilities of a specific lo- photovoltaic modules of 5,986 x 308 mm. cation. In difficult terrain, it fills the on turbine tower In contrast to the conventional gaps to reliably detect snow, rain, and technology used in the manufacture other weather activity. Adding X-band The Energy Division of Acciona has de- of photovoltaic models based on sili- radars to an existing network will also veloped a pioneering solution in the con, these organic panels use carbon improve the accuracy of precipitation field of hybridization between wind as raw material and are characterized measurement, providing better data and photovoltaic power. It consists of by their structural flexibility, which for flood warnings or hydro-electric covering a wind-turbine tower with makes them adaptable to different power plants, for example. In airport flexible organic panels to produce en- surfaces. Other key features are lower environments, the radar allows for ergy for the internal electricity con- maintenance costs, less energy con- detection of wind shear, wake vortices, sumption of the turbine. sumption during manufacture, easier convective weather, even birds. The innovative project will allow logistics, and the complete recycling The new X-band Weather Radar the study of the performance of the of the materials used, although their provides accurate measurements for organic panels — an emerging pho- efficiency is still below that of silicon a limited area, filling in a gap in a tovoltaic technology — and their ap- modules. national radar network or delivering plication to improve wind-turbine “The hybridization project in Breña precise information for an airport. efficiency. means the optimization of the use of Severe weather in mountainous areas The system has been installed in space for renewable energy produc- and gaps under sparse weather radar one of the turbines of the Breña Wind tion, and it will enable us to test the networks will be visible when X-band Farm in Albacete, Spain, which Accio- efficiency of organic photovoltaics, a radars are added to the radar networks. na owns and operates. The turbine technology that we believe has one of Airport safety and efficiency will be is an AW77/1500 of Nordex-Acciona the best improvement curves in terms improved with accurate detection and Windpower technology, mounted on of technological efficiency,” said Belén nowcasting of hazardous conditions. an 80-meter-high steel tower (hub Linares, energy innovation director at “X-band radar will enhance a weath- height). Acciona. “That is why we have decided er detection arsenal, making it even Installed on the tower are 120 so- to pilot it.” more reliable and accurate,” said Pek- lar panels facing southeast-southwest The immediate application of the ka Utela, director of Weather Radars to capture the maximum of the sun’s Breña project is to produce part of the for Vaisala. “By developing a smaller rays throughout the day. They are energy that the internal systems of the system allowing simple site selection, distributed at eight different heights, wind turbine need. When the turbine as well as providing maximum weath- occupying around 50 meters of the is running, some of the energy gen- er detection sensitivity with automatic tower’s surface area. The photovoltaic erated is used to power the auxiliary and continuous calibration, the new modules, with an overall capacity of systems. In shutdown mode, certain X-band radar will answer the chal- lenges decision-makers face in severe weather situations.” The intelligence the X-band radar collects will provide significantly im- proved situational awareness. When integrated with other measurement systems, such as Vaisala C-band Weath- er Radar or wind Lidar, users will get the most comprehensive, real-time data available. At airports, accurate wind shear detection, complemented by Lidars, helps optimize take-off and landing sequences, as well as enhanc- ing the safety of flight operations. MORE INFO vaisala.com/weather-radars An X-band Weather Radar antenna. (Courtesy: Vaisala) windsystemsmag.com 31 TAILWINDS THE BUSINESS OF WIND es Siemens Gamesa’s solid position in one of the largest wind power markets in the world. The contract also includes a ser- vice and maintenance agreement for Siemens Gamesa’s premium mainte- nance program, offering the best in scale and flexibility to maximize en- ergy asset returns. Project completion is expected for the end of 2020. “EDF Renewables is a very strong partner for us, and we are glad to be working with them on a number of projects like Milligan and the recent- ly announced Coyote and Oso Grande wind projects,” said José Antonio Mi- The system has been installed in one of the turbines of the Breña Wind Farm in Albacete, randa, CEO of Onshore Americas at Spain. (Courtesy: Acciona) Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. “This order again is evidence of our cus- systems need to continue functioning tive and aviation safety systems, the tomer’s confidence in Siemens Gamesa so they are fed from the grid, which technology is low cost and highly reli- and our leading technology.” means that the wind turbine is reg- able. MEMS equipped CMS have trans- The SG 4.5-145 offers a flexible istering a net consumption of energy. formed the return on investment for power rating from 4.2 MW to 4.8 MW turbine monitoring, particularly for depending on site conditions and has MORE INFO www.acciona.com owners of smaller or older models. a rotor diameter of 145 meters. It is Lowering the cost of CMS hardware optimized for medium wind onshore has allowed owners to refine repair locations to maximize energy produc- INNOVATION and maintenance strategies to real- tion with low noise emission levels. ize greater OPEX savings. The latest Operators need to CMS hardware collects a wide range MORE INFO www.siemensgamesa.com of wind-turbine performance metrics, invest in disruptive allowing wind-farm operators to iden- tech, says Onyx Insight tify and confirm faults much earlier MANUFACTURING and to act preventatively to save mon- Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems ey on repairs and site visits. The low- Vestas introduces (MEMS) have radically changed the re- cost technology can benefit older and turn on investment model for turbine smaller turbine models significantly. the V138-3.0 MW condition monitoring in the United to reduce LCOE States, helping wind-farm owners MORE INFO www.onyxinsight.com make significant OPEX savings. By Following the launch of the EnVentus cutting the cost of condition moni- platform in January, including the toring systems (CMS), low-cost MEMS MANUFACTURING V162-5.6 MW and V150-5.6 MW tur- sensors have helped wind-farm own- bines, Vestas recently introduced the ers to improve operational planning, Siemens Gamesa V138-3.0 MW turbine at AWEA WIND- cut unscheduled maintenance, and POWER in Houston, Texas. Based on make OPEX savings of up to 8 percent reaches 1 GW for EDF the scalable EnVentus platform archi- each year, according to ONYX InSight. Renewables in the U.S. tecture, the V138-3.0 MW’s 138-meter First introduced by ONYX InSight rotor provides a large rotor-size-to-gen- in the wind-energy industry, MEMS Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy erator-rating ratio, strengthening sensors are used in CMS hardware has been awarded another order by Vestas’ portfolio of turbines through to measure and report on vibration, EDF Renewables to supply 30 SG 4.5- superior park level energy production, temperature, and oil condition in the 145 and 36 SG 2.7-129 wind turbines higher certainty in performance, and drive train.