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December 2010
ARTICLES
Augered piles are ideally suited for use in wind tower applications
Used successfully on many types of structures, including high-rise buildings and nuclear power plants, augered piles are ideally suited for use in wind tower applications.
Auger cast piles (augered or displacement)—also known as augered piles, augered cast in place (ACIP) piles, or continuous flight auger (CFA) piles—are a cost-effective deep foundation system that can be tailored to most soil, groundwater, and loading conditions. The piles are normally installed using a crane with free-hanging leads, but can also be installed using […]
Mike Smith, PE
Most large-scale wind farms are remote, making theft and vandalism a concern
By their very nature, most large-scale wind farms are fairly remote, making theft and vandalism a very real concern. Here are some ways to deter the damage.
Security of a wind project is a task that typically goes hand in hand with maintaining the assets and assuring high availability for the project owner. Unfortunately, some aspects of project performance can be cut short by the intentional efforts of others, specifically thieves and vandals. They can directly impact the success of a project […]
Merritt Brown
Wind industry must continue to improve technologies and pave the way for offshore development
As the leader of the clean energy portfolio, wind industry must continue to improve the available technologies and pave the way for markets such as offshore development.
The current growth of wind energy in the U.S. has been enabled by a significant number of viable land-based installations that today represents over 36 GW of installed capacity, translating to approximately 2 percent of our energy consumption. Although developers will continue to pursue economically feasible land-based sites to install projects, concerns or limitations in […]
Jose R. Zayas
Increased turbine production means increased transportation and logistics equipment
Meeting potential wind power goals in the U.S. will not only require increased turbine production, but also transportation and logistics equipment — and the expertise to match.
Industry data shows that the demand for wind-generated power in the United States is growing, driven by a Department of Energy goal to increase domestic electricity production from wind power by 20 percent over the next 20 years. After China, the U.S. is the second-fastest growing wind market, and despite the recession it continued to […]
Hüseyin Kizilagac
NEWS
Vectora Transportation Awarded Major Wind Farm Logistics Projects
Vectora Transportation, LLC, has been selected by Invenergy Wind LLC to provide multi-modal turbine transportation, handling, and related services for various wind farm projects in the United States. Deliveries will involve 134 complete turbines including nacelles, towers, blades, hubs, and ancillary parts, which Vectora will transport from nearly a dozen different origins in eastern Canada. […]
November 29, 2010
Duke Energy Completes Fourth Wyoming Wind Farm
Duke Energy’s Top of the World Windpower Project near Casper, Wyoming, is now online and producing clean, renewable electricity. The 200MW wind farm, located in Converse County, supplies wind energy to PacifiCorp under the terms of a 20-year power purchase agreement. The 110 wind turbines that comprise the project are capable of producing enough electricity […]
November 29, 2010
Gamesa and Northrop Grumman Join Forces in Offshore Wind
Gamesa and the Newport News Shipbuilding operations of Northrop Grumman Corporation have signed an agreement to work together on offshore wind technology. The agreement calls for the companies to cooperate on the launch of Gamesa’s first G11X-5.0 MW offshore prototype in the United States, using Gamesa’s multi-megawatt technology and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s broad experience in […]
November 29, 2010
Nordex Begins Production at New Arkansas Plant
Nordex has begun production at its newly built wind turbine manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The plant’s first production crew recently began assembling a wind turbine nacelle, which houses the engine and other key components and sits high atop the turbine tower. “Two years ago we announced our intention to make Nordex wind turbines in […]
November 29, 2010
Korindo Wind Earns ISO 14001:2004 Certification
Korindo Wind, an ISO 9001:2008 certified wind tower and monopile manufacturer, has earned ISO 14001:2004 certification for its environmental management systems. The certification is the result of an audit completed in September 2010 by Geneva-based SGS, a world leader in inspection, verification, testing and certification for companies in a range of industries. Korindo Wind is […]
November 29, 2010
New High-Torque Brake from Rexnord/Stearns
The Stearns® Division of Rexnord Industries, LLC, has launched a new high torque brake designed to easily fit into the drive system of any type of heavy industry equipment. The Series 7EC Electric Caliper brake is spring-set/electrically-released and is used for dynamic stopping, E-stop, and/or holding-only applications. The floating caliper design compliments a variety of […]
November 29, 2010
Lufft Adds MODBUS to its Communication Standards
Lufft USA has announced the addition of MODBUS to its list of communication standards, making it one of the most flexible wind and weather assessment products on the market today. Lufft USA announced that its complete “WS” line of weather stations are now available with MODBUS data protocol in addition to SDI12, ASCII, UMB, NMEA, […]
November 29, 2010
Vestas Towers America Celebrates Grand Opening of New Facility
Vestas Towers America, Inc., announces the grand opening of the world’s largest wind tower manufacturing plant. The new Pueblo, Colorado, facility features nearly 13 million square feet of space and eight miles of on-site railway tracks for the transport of materials and finished tower components. The opening of Vestas Towers gives Vestas, a global leader […]
November 29, 2010
3TIER Ranks Among Fastest Growing Companies
3TIER®, a global leader in renewable energy information services, announces its recognition by both Deloitte and the Puget Sound Business Journal in two separate lists that rank companies based on fiscal year revenue growth. This is the third consecutive year that the company has earned this distinction from the Puget Sound Business Journal, receiving a […]
November 29, 2010
FARO and Carl Zeiss Form Innovative Solutions Network
FARO Technologies, Inc., (see profile in this issue) and Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology have launched the Innovative Solutions Network, a marketing, sales, and support collaboration in North America. Through the network these two leaders in metrology will provide a broader product solutions offering, including both traditional and portable CMMs. From the simplest to the most […]
November 29, 2010
GL Garrad Hassan Helps U.S. Wind Energy Project Net Billions
The Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC) is located in the heart of one of the most proven wind resources in the United States—the Tehachapi-Mojave Wind Resource Area, in Kern County, California. To provide technical due diligence in support for the $1.2 billion financing of four wind energy projects, Terra-Gen Power, LLC turns to local experts […]
November 29, 2010
IBM Collaborates on New Wind Energy Technologies
IBM announces that energy system supplier Alstom and Ikerlan-IK4, an energy technology research and development organization, are using IBM software to develop wind turbine control systems that significantly improve the performance of sustainable power systems based on wind-generated energy. The new wind turbines leverage a sophisticated system of electronic sensors combined with software from IBM […]
November 29, 2010
Drexel University Commits to 100 Percent Wind Energy
In a new agreement between Drexel University and Community Energy, Inc., Drexel will purchase Renewable Energy Certificates equal to 100 percent of its energy use, making Drexel one of the top 50 purchasers of wind energy in the nation. This Renewable Energy Certificate purchase will ensure that 84,268 megawatt hours of electricity will be matched […]
November 29, 2010
WES Consolidates Operations in Texas
Wind Energy Services Company (WES) announces that the company’s base of operations has been relocated to Gainesville, Texas. Staff and equipment from the satellite operations in Sweetwater, Texas; Independence, Kansas; and Worthington, Minnesota moved to the new location.WES is taking these necessary steps to position the company for long-term profitability in the current challenging economic […]
November 29, 2010
Motion Solutions for Clean Energy Applications from Thomson
Thomson introduces the 2010 Guide to Motion Solutions for Clean Energy Applications. The guide reviews some of the most significant considerations that design engineers should take into account to maximize the reliability, accuracy and efficiency of their solar panel and wind energy machines, with specific information on the benefits that linear actuators, precision linear actuators, […]
November 29, 2010
Shaft Grounding Ring from Electro Static Technology
By safely channeling harmful shaft currents away from bearings to ground, Electro Static Technology’s new AEGIS™ WTG wind turbine grounding ring prevents bearing damage that could otherwise cause generator failure, unplanned downtime, costly repairs, and lost revenues. Maintenance-free, effective at any RPM, and available for any size wind turbine generator, the ring is designed for […]
November 29, 2010
