- Category: Articles

Floating wind farms will be an important contributor to the growth of renewable energy production, giving access to new areas in deep water with high mean wind speeds. To date, floating offshore wind farms have progressed from individual test turbines to small groups of individual turbines near to shore. The next significant advance in floating wind will be pilot projects, expected to be of around 250MW. These will be in deeper water located further from land and will therefore require a substation to step up the voltage for transmission to shore. The challenges of designing a structurally efficient low-motion vessel are greater for the small topside weight and footprint of the electrical equipment for 250MW than they are for a commercial-scale floating substation of 1GW. Different options for the floater design are discussed and compared. A minimum structure tension leg platform was found to provide low motion combined with minimum structural weight.
By Justin Jones, Civil and Structural Group Manager, Petrofac, UK
- Category: Articles

Wind turbines are subject to high mechanical and environmental loads, including extreme winds, storms, rain, gravitational load on rotating blades, and temperature and humidity variations. These loads lead to the degradation of wind turbine parts, in particular wind turbine blades. Repair of wind turbine blades can cost many thousands of dollars. Such high costs can influence the wind energy costs in general. Thus, efficient repair of wind turbines is an important element of the renewable energy transition, making wind energy more competitive. In this article, mechanisms of wind turbine blade degradation, repair technologies and possibilities to reduce the repair costs are reviewed.
By Leon Mishnaevsky Jr, Senior Scientist, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
- Category: Articles
A Remote Condition Monitoring Strategy Can Avoid Uneconomical Operations
![]() |
![]() |
By Mike Hastings, Senior Application Engineer, Brüel & Kjær Vibro, Denmark
- Category: Articles

Sixteen offshore wind energy lease areas are currently under active development along the US east coast and six more in the New York Bight were recently auctioned for bids of nearly $ 4.4 billion. Observational data is sparse in this region so analyses of numerical simulations pertinent to operating conditions, power and wake production are summarised and used to highlight processes that are worthy of further investigation.
By Rebecca J. Barthelmie, Jeanie A. Aird, Frederick Letson and Sara C. Pryor, Cornell University, USA
- Category: Articles

This article details the current state of O&M in floating wind with a particular focus on major component replacement strategies. It summarises year-long discussions held by the expert members of the World Forum Offshore Wind.
By Ilmas Bayati, Peak Wind, Denmark
- Category: Articles

In recent years, operators of wind farms have become aware of an annoying effect reducing the performance of their turbines – the impact of weather-induced erosion at the rotor blade surface, mainly at the leading edge (Figure 1). Offshore wind parks in particular are impacted, driven by droplets of water hitting the blades with high velocity.
By Jan Liersch and Bastian Sundermann, Key Wind Energy, Germany
- Category: Articles

A new invention for repairing yaw rings in situ is expected to make a contribution to extending the lifespan of wind turbines. Developed by Danish machining expert CNC Onsite, the patented system means the yaw ring does not need to be replaced, eliminating the expensive, time-consuming and potentially detrimental disassembly of the rotor and nacelle.
By Søren Kellenberger, Sales Director, CNC Onsite, Denmark
Use of cookies
Windtech International wants to make your visit to our website as pleasant as possible. That is why we place cookies on your computer that remember your preferences. With anonymous information about your site use you also help us to improve the website. Of course we will ask for your permission first. Click Accept to use all functions of the Windtech International website.