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- Category: Product News
Erected in summer 2003 off the Danish port of Frederikshavn in Kattegatt, the first offshore turbine to be built by a German manufacturer has generated roughly 8,000MWh electricity in its second year of operation. When taking the energy content of the wind for the production of the second year into consideration it corresponds to a production of 8,500MWh in a normal wind year, i.e. approximately 9 % larger production than estimated. Since connecting the 2.3MW turbine to the grid in June 2003, Nordex has been testing and continuously optimising all the components used in the turbine as well as its overall response under realistic maritime weather conditions. Thus, in the past few months, the pilot turbine’s pitch and gearbox, among other things, have been modified to steadily increase availability. The availability of the turbine has been continuously above 95 % in the second year.
- Category: Product News
StaClean, a fluorourethane blade coating, was first used on wind turbine blades in New Hampshire, USA, in 1989 as an ice release coating. The coating is low friction (below Teflon), flexible and tough, and can be applied in the field or factory with conventional paint spray equipment. Blades at Tahacipi Pass were coated with StaClean, in the field, after ice formations caused problems. Inspections of the blades in 2004 showed excellent condition after 14 years’ operation, without recoating. Subsequent applications include release of insects in a desert area of Palm Springs, California, since 1992, and ice release in the Yukon, Canada, for arctic ice build-up prevention since 1994. All applications show improved power output and preservation of blades after 11 years.- Category: Product News
Vexcel Corporation, a global company involved in Earth observation technologies and services, has announced development of a software-based solution to support offshore wind farm development across Europe. The project, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, is being conducted by Vexcel’s UK office in cooperation with ARGOSS, a Netherlands company specialising in marine environmental information for offshore industries. The work will result in a commercial information service, based on Earth observation data, tailored to the coastal offshore environment.
- Category: Product News
Second Wind Inc has announced the availability of a Modbus port for its Nomad 2 data logger. Nomad 2 now easily connects to SCADA systems, wireless networks and PC-based weather station/web servers. Modbus is a widely supported industrial serial communications protocol, used by programmable controllers, measurement equipment and data concentrators. Implementing Modbus on Nomad 2 provides a rugged stand-alone data logger that can monitor up to 12 anemometers and 8 other devices, record the data on a compact flash card, transmit e-mail via cellular modem, and respond to data queries from a SCADA or network master. Nomad 2 incorporates the Modbus protocol with no hardware modifications. The device port, a standard feature on the Nomad 2, transmits Modbus when the Nomad has version 3.14 of firmware or higher and is appropriately configured. Any Nomad 2 can be customer-upgraded in the field or even remotely to take advantage of this new capability.
- Category: Product News
iXSea has announced the success of the scale model Ampelmann Project, which they have sponsored. The ‘Ampelmann Project’, a research project to improve the access rate for maintenance of offshore wind turbines, is being led by the Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands, and funded by the Dutch Government through Novem under the DEN framework. To date a scale model has been tested successfully; the next phase will involve building a full size prototype. The purpose of the Ampelmann Project is to develop a vessel-mounted transfer system that can be operated safely for more than 90% of the year. The 100MW Near Shore Wind Park off the Dutch coast has been selected as the reference site.
- Category: Product News
Plans have been lodged for a roof-mounted wind turbine in the heart of one of the industrial estates in Perth (Scotland). Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has applied to Perth and Kinross Council for the small turbine, which will be based at Dunkeld Road, Perth, and measures four square metres. The move is part of SSE’s £293,000 agreement with Edinburgh-based Renewable Devices Swift Turbines Ltd, which is over a 30-month period. As a result, SSE expects to place nearly 2,000 orders, worth up to £9 million, over the next three years. The wind turbine is expected to provide 30% of the electricity needs of an average semi-detached house and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.8 tonnes per year.
