- Category: Articles

‘What is their problem, really?’ This question has been voiced by developers and operators of wind power, as it relates to citizens who complain of annoyance from wind turbines. ‘After all, most people are not annoyed, and they recognise how important development of wind resources is to combat climate change,’ we hear. Sometimes, the statement is more forceful: ‘most normal people are not annoyed,’ implying somewhat harshly that there may be something abnormal with those annoyed. When one makes a conscientious effort to communicate with people expressing annoyance, one finds they are neither malcontents nor oblivious to climate change concerns. Yet, one hears them express words such as, ‘I just haven’t been able to stand it in my home since the wind turbines were installed.’ For those impacted, annoyance is not merely a temporary unpleasant phenomenon but a condition that adversely impacts their life and health.
By William K.G. Palmer, Independent Researcher, Canada
- Category: Articles

Exploring the various methods to reduce wind turbine sound emissions, this article delves into directional noise-reduced operations (NROs). Drawing from real-world project measurements, it examines the adaptability and efficiency of NROs, especially in challenging siting situations.
By Isaac Old, Senior Consultant, RSG, and Timothy Carson, Acoustic Engineer, RWE, USA
- Category: Articles

Wind energy is a major renewable source, but its anticipated threefold increase by 2050 will pose severe environmental and economic challenges for wind energy companies regarding the lack of feasible recyclability of wind blade advanced composite materials. The circular economy approach aims to create value from wind turbine waste by transforming it into new products, but it requires cost-effective and efficient technologies. Although several recycling strategies have been proposed, they have drawbacks in terms of energy, quality or secondary markets. The microwave-assisted technology under development by the CIRCE Technology Centre proposes an electromagnetic-induced selective heating of complex wind blade waste to recover glass/carbon fibres and produce further added-value chemical building blocks from resins that aim to suit petrochemical industry production loops. Microwave degradation shows lower energy input and higher yield than conventional methods. Moreover, it can enable the self-consumption of energy from the wind turbine in its own recycling process, enhancing the sustainability and profitability of the system.
By Alejandro Fresneda and Ignacio Julián, CIRCE, Spain
- Category: Articles

In the ever-evolving landscape of renewable energy, wind power stands as a cornerstone of sustainable solutions to our energy needs. The installation of wind turbine components, particularly blades, has been a persistent challenge due to the delicate nature of these components and the unpredictability of wind conditions. Recognising these challenges, Huisman has developed two solutions: the Wind Gust Buster and the Travelling Load Stabilising System. These innovations offer a comprehensive approach to ensuring safer, more precise, and efficient wind turbine component installations.
By Annet Stuurman, Manager PR & Communications, Huisman, the Netherlands
- Category: Articles

Power performance testing (PPT), also known as ‘power curve verification’ or ‘power curve testing’, is an on-site field test of operating wind turbines to verify the OEM’s provided power curve(s) defined in the project’s turbine supply agreement (TSA). The testing is prescribed under industry standards, namely the IEC 61400-12 series of standards, and further defined by the OEM in the TSA. Typically, it is the owner/operator who is responsible for PPT implementation, but the main driver for the test is financial investors seeking assurance that their investment will perform as expected. The traditional and typical method of PPT requires installing a meteorological (met) tower in a location that is not affected by the wakes of the operating wind turbines. The wind data collected from this free-stream, unwaked met tower is understood to be representative of the wind characteristics of its associated wind turbine. The measured power curve is determined by concurrent measurements of hub height, wind speed and turbine power output.
By Daniel W. Bernadett, Global Director of Engineering, ArcVera Renewables, USA
- Category: Articles

Floating offshore wind has become a hot topic in the last few years. The technology promises access to ideal wind conditions previously out of reach, higher acceptance by society and less environmental impact compared with bottom-fixed wind foundations. Despite numerous advantages, no project has reached industrial scale yet. The main reason is the relative degree of technical immaturity and the total costs. Factors such as increased complexity resulting from the additional motion of floating platforms, added material demand for moorings and substructure, a lack of adequate port infrastructure and a lack of consensus on substructure design and mooring configuration, which prevent the benefit from production scaling effects, are some of the main reasons for this reality. The need for innovation is a strong driver within the research community to reduce these costs.
By Robert Behrens de Luna, Project Manager, FLOATECH Project, Germany
- Category: Articles

Air density is critical for wind turbine energy predictions and power performance measurements. Typically, pressure, temperature and relative humidity sensors installed on a hub-height meteorological mast are used to calculate the air density.
By Ellie Weyer and Linda Sloka, UL Solutions, USA
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