|
Latest Issue
 |
Login
- Category: Articles
Investigating the Impacts of Dynamic Mechanical Stresses on Fatigue Life of Dynamic CablesFloating platform wind turbines will require cables to run through the water column from their platform base at the water surface to the touchdown point on the seabed. This trajectory exposes the cable to dynamic environmental forces, such as waves and currents. The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult) and the Industrial Doctoral Centre for Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) have been investigating the impact of this dynamic marine environment on a dynamic cable’s fatigue life, with the aim of reducing uncertainty and improving the reliability of dynamic cables. The aim of this project is to allow more effective planned maintenance offshore through the prediction of a failure of a dynamic cable.
By David Young, IDCORE and ORE Catapult, and Lars Johanning, University of Exeter, UK
- Category: Articles
Variability Analyses and Considerations About Uncertainty for Long-Term Prediction
The evolution of long-term wind resources is a key issue in the wind industry, especially in the context of energy yield assessments. Thus, analysing the evolution of the long-term wind trends in the past should allow a better appreciation of their variability and potentially the risk of experiencing periods with low wind resources in the future.By Marion Jude, Eoltech, France
- Category: Articles
Supply Chain Holistic Approach to Offshore Wind Levelised Cost of Electricity CompetitivenessZero-subsidy offshore wind projects awarded in Germany and the Netherlands in 2018 have raised expectations worldwide. However, although these are significant competitiveness milestones, they are still bound to the particular market characteristics that made them possible.
Javier San Miguel Armendariz, Global Sales Director Wind Energy, Ingeteam, Spain
- Category: Articles
The Optimal Choice Between Continued Operation, Repowering and DecommissioningMore and more players in the German wind energy sector are concerned with the question of how to deal with the ageing German wind fleet, as around 5,200 turbines will simultaneously reach the end of the feed-in-tariff funding period of the Renewable Energy Sources Act for the first time at the end of 2020. Around 8,000 wind turbines will follow by the end of 2025, as shown in Figure 1. Operators of affected wind turbines will then have the choice between (I) continuing to operate the old turbine within the framework of direct marketing on the European Power Exchange, (II) repowering the old turbine by a new and more efficient wind turbine at plant-specific feed-in premium levels tendered in the German renewable energy auctions or (III) decommissioning the respective plant.
By Jan-Hendrik Piel and Martin Westbomke, Germany
- Category: Articles
The Digital Threat to Wind FarmsA number of high-profile hacking cases have hit the headlines in recent years, highlighting the increasing rise in cybercrime and the devastating effects it can have on the targeted organisations. Mohamed Harrou, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) engineer at BayWa r.e., talks to Windtech International about the susceptibility of wind farms to cybercrime and why the time to act is now.
By Mohamed Harrou, SCADA Engineer, BayWa r.e., Germany
- Category: Articles
 |
 |
After remotely monitoring several thousand wind turbines over the past 10 years, most of the wind turbine faults detected and diagnosed by the Brüel & Kjær Vibro Surveillance Centres have been related to the drive train. In this article, two case studies are given where the faults were detected and diagnosed in an entirely different but important component – the yaw bearing system. It is this system that bears the enormous static and dynamic loads of the nacelle and blades, and allows the nacelle to align itself into the wind.
By Mike Hastings, Senior Application Engineer, Brüel & Kjær Vibro, Denmark
- Category: Articles
Premature Failures in Wind Turbine GearboxesPremature failures in rolling bearings do not occur very often. In a wide range of applications including wind turbine gearboxes, however, premature bearing failures due to subsurface cracks have become increasingly reported, leading to high costs due to unscheduled downtime and unplanned maintenance efforts. The phenomenon of subsurface cracks in the microstructure of the bearing steel is often referred to as white etching cracks. ‘White etching’ refers to the white appearance of the altered microstructure when a microsection is polished and etched.
By Balasubramaniam Vengudusamy and Fabio Zanella, Klüber Lubrication München, Germany
Stay informed with Windtech International! Sign up here for our free newsletters
| Turbine Shots
brought to you by
 |
 |
| #18 Nordex wind turbines installed at the Petkus wind farm in Germany (courtesy Tomasz Mokosinski) |
| Every week on our website and in our email newsletter we want to show you that wind energy is more than just technology. We therefore invite you to send stunning pictures of wind turbines inspired by “light” (in the broadest sense of the word). After 52 submissions we will announce the winner of the year’s best picture! Email your photo to Include turbine model, location and name of photographer. (size of the published photo will be 336 px width x 280 px high). |
|
 Check our Instagram to see all published pictures |
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.
