The rise of additive manufacturing could translate into optimizing individual tower blades for their wind and turbulence patterns at each location on a wind farm.
Additive manufacturing (AM) has been around for a little over 30 years. It brought agile development into the manufacturing world because companies could now rapidly prototype. There have been substantial scalability issues leading to no significant changes in traditional industrial manufacturing practices. However, this is rapidly changing. The introduction of new technologies, better simulation, and […]
The results of lifetime extension assessments conducted by TÜV SÜD indicate that most turbines can continue to operate in a safe and economically viable way for several years beyond their defined service lives.
Wind turbines have a planned service life of approximately 20 years. Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that many turbines are able to operate beyond their design lives. In several instances, the lifetime of a wind farm may be extended through minor and low-cost repairs. In order to establish whether a wind turbine can continue to […]
Southern Power, a leading U.S. wholesale energy provider and subsidiary of Southern Company, recently announced the acquisition of its 12th wind project — the 136-MW Skookumchuck Wind Facility — from RES (Renewable Energy Systems). “This project is a great addition to our renewable portfolio,” said Southern Power President Bill Grantham. “We continue to strive to […]
Vestas has secured an order for 359 MW of V120-2.2 MW turbines for a wind project in the U.S. Including previously purchased V112-3.45 MW components, the project has a total nameplate capacity of 400 MW. The mixed platform site configuration demonstrates both the flexibility of Vestas’ 2 and 4 MW platforms and Vestas’ ability to […]
ExxonMobil’s Mobil SHCTM Gear 320 WT advanced turbine gear oil has been approved by GE for use in all of its wind turbines worldwide. This approval applies to all of the more than 50,000 GE wind turbines in operation today. GE’s lubricant approval process is one of the industry’s most demanding and includes more than 300 itemized […]
NextEra Energy Resources is donating a fully-functional decommissioned wind-turbine nacelle to Northeastern Junior College’s Wind Technology program as a learning tool for one of the nation’s top wind technology education programs. A nacelle is the protective shell that houses all of the turbine machinery atop a wind generation tower. The nacelle donated by NextEra Energy […]
Vineyard Wind recently set offshore wind-project proposals called “Park City Wind” to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in response to their 2019 solicitation for offshore wind power. The bids submitted include a required 400 MW plan and options to develop projects that will generate 800 MW, 1,000 MW, and 1,200 MW. […]
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Sen. John Tester recently were a part of the grand opening ceremony of the state’s newest wind power facility — the 79.75 MW Stillwater Wind in Stillwater County, Montana owned by Pattern Energy. “Montana ought to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to realizing renewable energy opportunities — […]
