Windpower Engineering & Development - AUGUST 2017

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HERE’S WHAT I THINK

Senior Editor | Windpower Engineering & Development mfroese@wtwhmedia.com

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Welcome to the 5,000-MW Club, Kansas

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AUGUST 2017

Editorial_8-17_Vs2.indd 1

here’s a new club in town, and another U.S. state has recently joined. The “5,000-Megawatt Club” has an exclusive membership of only five states so far. For entry, each one must officially exceed 5,000 MW of wind-generated capacity.

The most recent honor goes to Kansas, which grabbed fifth spot thanks to adding the 178-MW Bloom Wind Farm to its portfolio in June (ahead of schedule and with construction costs below budget). Otherwise, Texas is in a league of its own with over 21,000 MW of wind. Iowa and Oklahoma each have well over 6,500 MW, and California has over 5,500 MW. Illinois is working hard to take the sixth seat at the 5,000-MW table. Currently, the state has just over 4,000 MW of wind capacity, and will add 278 MW once construction crews finish the Twin Forks Wind Farm this year. Another 175 MW or more will be added with the HillTopper Wind Energy Project in 2018.

So, along with decent winds, what does it take to actually make the 5,000-MW club?

For starters, your state has to want to join the club and policy is one way to prove it. For example, Kansas shows no signs of stopping at the 5,000-MW mark and has set a target of 50% renewables by January 2019, which is one of the most aggressive renewable-energy policies in the country.

In Illinois, state Senator Don Harmon is fighting to remove a wind-energy inhibiting provision in the Future Energy Jobs Bill that he says would initiate $2.2 billion in wind-farm construction. According to Harmon, the provision has put some projects on hold that are already permitted. A change in legislative language just may guarantee the state that sixth seat in the club.

For Texas, success in wind has come from a free electricity market and strong transmission infrastructure that supports it. For example, the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) lines have let the state double its use of wind energy. ERCOT, the main grid operator in Texas, has regularly set wind-generation records on its system because of CREZ.

California also has transmission grids that can support renewables, and a mix of them. In fact, on May 13, 2017, the California Independent System Operator managed to get 67.2% of its energy from renewables. While a good portion of that energy is attributed to a strong solar market, California refuses to shy away from wind. The state even set a new wind-generation record on May 16, 2017 of 4,985 MW. It takes bold moves to make the club. New York’s Governor Cuomo recent proposal for an unprecedented commitment to develop up to 2.4 GW of offshore wind power by 2030 is the largest commitment in U.S. history. New York has yet to make the 5,000-MW club, but with big plans such as the one proposed, NY may soon become a contender. (Gov. Cuomo is initially pushing for a 90-MW offshore wind project 30 miles southeast of Montauk, and then for wind developer Statoil’s 800-MW project south of the Rockaway Peninsula.)

Members of the 5,000-MW club know that it takes policy pushers, determined developers, well-made turbines, reliable transmission grids, and a strong wind industry to succeed. It also takes talent and ingenuity because wind farms could not operate without the people behind these facilities.

On that note, I’d like to propose a little milestone club of our own here at Windpower Engineering & Development.

This is not a megawatt club but still one of honor and distinction. The magazine you are holding is Editorial Director Paul Dvorak’s 50th issue of Windpower Engineering & Development, a publication that he designed from scratch, with heart, and for the wind community. He’d likely attribute its success to his years as a mechanical engineering or twoplus decades of technical writing and editing experience.

This is true, but Paul also brings unmatched character, integrity, dedication, and hard work to the table.

Therefore, let us officially inaugurate Mr. Paul Dvorak to Windpower Engineering & Development’s Club of Honor.

For 50 great issues and years of hard work. Raise your glasses now and let’s set a goal for 50 more great issues — and plenty of new wind projects to discuss in the future. W

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AUGUST 2017 • vol 9 no 4

CONTENTS

D E PA R T M E N T S 01

Editorial: Welcome to the 5,000-MW club,

32 Safety: Can you hear me now? Seven elements of

06

Windwatch: Tower climbing cranes, A second opinion for power forecasts, Dual-rotor turbine heads to prototype, What RE lawyer sees ahead for the wind industry, Big ideas for small wind

36 Fluids and filters: What wind techs should know

20

Kansas

Projects: Hedging bets on wind

development & project returns

25

Reliability: The trouble with turbulence

28

Bolting: Brief guide to selecting concrete

30

a well-devised hearing conservation program

about filter efficiency

38 Condition monitoring: Condition monitoring is

good, but fine tuning the whole wind farm is better

40 Software: Alison online classes show instruction potential for wind advocates

42 Turbine of the month: Vestas 9.5 MW

fasteners

60 Equipment World

Materials: “Smart” materials turn turbine connectors into sensors

64 Downwind: Unusual turbine design boasts of 75% capacity factor in medium winds

F E AT U R E S

44 Energy storage standard is essential for the cost-effective generation of alternative power

The goal of the MESA Standards Alliance is to speed interoperability, scalability, safety, and more in the deployment of energy storage systems.

Sensor tells more about lightning strikes that hit wind turbines

Until recently, lightning-strike monitors provided incomplete information. Recent systems deliver more useful and actionable data such as, exactly which turbine blade has been struck.

52 Mitigating risks from cyber attacks

48 4

To safeguard against cyberattacks, power outages, and unplanned downtime, updated and consistent security measures are a must.

ON THE COVER Recent sensors in blades tell more about the lightning bolts that hit wind turbines.

Researchers who conducted a study on the economics of energy storage found 13 potential services.

istockphoto.com

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57 The many facets of energy storage

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AUGUST 2017

8/16/17 10:41 AM

BOB CARLISLE has been president of Concrete Fastening Systems Inc. for 29 years, and has been involved in the concrete anchor business since 1981. By working on job sites and meeting with engineers and architects, Carlisle has gained a wealth of information in the field of fastening to concrete. The website, www.confast.com, may provide further information through videos that show anchor installation, product information, and technical information related to the every product.

Concrete Fastening Systems sells its own brand of concrete fasteners under the name CONFAST. DANIEL FRIBERG is Division Engineering Manager of Parker Hannifin Global Energy Grid Tie. He has worked in power electronics as an engineering manager and applications engineer in the United States and Sweden.

JIM HARLAN is in charge of Marketing & Content Development with Hy-Pro Filtration. He has spent nine years in the industrial filtration industry with the company as a writer of technical articles, blogger, and marketer. Harlan graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science degree, and now resides in the Indianapolis area.

BENJAMIN MÜLLER is the Head of Business Unit Industrial Antivibration for EFFBE GmbH, a member of the WOCo Group. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, Sales, Marketing & Logistics from Berufsakademie Mannheim, University of cooperative education.

DR. JENNIFER F. NEWMAN is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Her research focuses on the use of remote-sensing devices for wind resource assessment and power performance testing.

DANIEL J. SYLAWA is Senior Business Development Manager – Renewable Energy for Phoenix Contact USA located in Harrisburg, PA. He has over 30 years of experience in project management and business development in the electric power, energy storage, renewable energy, and industrial automation industries.

Sylawa has a BS in Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA and a Master of Engineering in Instrumentation and Process Control from Villanova University in Villanova, PA. He is a member of AWEA, IEEE, DNP Users Group and ISA. DR. LAURIE WELLS is a Doctor of Audiology at 3M. Visit 3m.com/CHC to learn more about hearing conservation.

DR. SONIA WHARTON is an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She specializes in measuring atmospheric flow for a number of applications ranging from wind power to national security.

WELLS

WHARTON

SYLAWA

NEWMAN

MÜLLER

HARLAN

FRIBERG

CARLISLE

CONTRIB U TO R S

AUGUST 2017

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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The WTA 250, secured to the base tower section, prepares to lift and place the second tower section.

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AUGUST 2017

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CLEVER CRANE IDEAS INCHES UP TOWER TO TAKE TIME AND COST OUT OF CONSTRUCTION AND O&M A HEAVY LIFT AND TRANSPORT COMPANY recently introduced designs for two unusual cranes intended for maintenance and construction tasks.

One design is intended to climb the tower it assembles to place the nacelle and rotor, while the other is aimed at lighter duty maintenance tasks. Both cranes use the turbine’s tower as a point of support, so they can lift and lower components to greater heights than equipment in use. In addition, the proposed crane would let wind-turbine manufacturers further increase the capacity of their turbines with greater height and scale. Developer Mammoet says the design is safer and more efficient than conventional equipment.

The wind energy industry has been taking advantage of increased economies of scale to make the wind a more cost-effective alternative to other energy sources. For that, wind turbines are getting bigger and towers are built taller, reaching physical limits that exceed conventional cranes.

A conventional crane with a 100-m reach, for example, transports on about nine trailers and must be assembled onsite. Greater heights also affect wind turbine maintenance activities. Heavy-equipment hauler Mammoet says it recognized the limits set by current cranes on the height and scale of wind turbines and set about to fix the problem with the two new cranes.

The Wind Turbine Assembly (WTA) 250 will have a capacity of 250 metric tons (250,000 kg, or 2,204 lb/metric ton) and will install on a guiderail that runs along the length of the bottom tower section, using it as support, to lift the next section.

Once the next tower section is installed and equipped with a guiderail, the crane can push itself up along the rail and repeat the process for additional tower sections. When construction completes, the guide rail can be removed or left in place to simplify future maintenance operations.

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After assembling the tower, the WTA 250 would lift the nacelle and lastly, the turbine blades.

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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W I N D W A T C H

Because the crane uses the turbine’s tower for support, a maximum lifting height of the crane is almost limitless. Engineering firm MECAL will provide assistance with the design and wind-turbine tower.

For maintenance, the model WTM 100, with a 100-metric ton capacity, works in a similar manner. It would attach to two pre-installed hoisting eyes to pull itself and a load up along the turbine using the tower for support. The WTM 100 will be equipped with clamps that wrap around the tower to keep itself steady. This crane requires minimal tower modification so it can be used on turbines equipped with hoisting eyes.

Mammoet says both cranes are relatively compact. “The maintenance version easily fits into two standard-sized containers while the assembly version needs only two transport trailers to move on site,” said Mammoet’s Innovations Director Wessel Helmens in a press release. “This makes them easy to mobilize and relocate, and more efficient than conventional alternatives. More importantly, both cranes eliminate the height restrictions for turbines and render the assembly and replacement process faster and more cost-effective.”

The tower-based design also puts the crane and the operator closer to the work area, rendering assembly and maintenance safer and easier. What’s more, because the cranes are attached to the tower, they have no footprint, making the need for additional ground reinforcements almost redundant.

Mammoet says it is currently discussing the first applications with customers and exploring additional variations. W

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Going up. For maintenance work, such as replacing a generator or gearbox, the WTM 100 would first ascend to an elevation just below the nacelle.

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W I N D W A T C H

When a lot rides on a forecast-based decision, get a second opinion TO BETTER PLAN SCHEDULES AND MAINTENANCE, most grid operators and

those concerned with power production often depend on a single power forecast.

A variety of companies offer such service.

A bad decision, however, could involve penalties and imbalances or lost trading revenue. So when a power forecast looks suspect or a lot is riding on the decision of the grid manager or energy trader, it’s good to have second opinion to minimize uncertainty.

Meteorologists and engineers with DNV GL have a solution in Forecaster NOW, a recently devised delivery portal of the firm’s wind and solar power forecasting system, that can quickly provide the second opinion.

DNV GL’s Craig Collier, Section Head of Forecasting for the Americas, provided a demo of the system at AWEA’s recent Windpower 2017 trade show.

“The decision maker would go to our site, pick the market they are interested in, which could be a particular wind farm or region, and purchase a forecast for it,”

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said Collier. “They would provide contact information and a credit card, and get the forecast within five minutes. It’s a relatively small price to reduce the uncertainty in important decisions.”

The accompanying image is one way to receive the forecast. “There are others.

We understand there is a lot on the line financially and reliability wise,” said Collier.

When a lot does ride on a decision, the user should have an appetite for more than one opinion. “Forecast NOW is noninvasive.

It’s not trying to go into your system and plant another forecast or mess with your schedule. It’s just a way to give the operator or trader a second opinion, and confidence that the decision made is a good one.”

“Knowing when and how much generation will come from variable sources such as wind and solar with increased flexibility is crucial for operators, utilities, and ISOs in maintaining reliability, enabling increased penetration, and achieving a low-cost system.”

Forecaster NOW is available in the U.S. and Canada, with European and global rollouts to follow. W

www.windpowerengineering.com

A typical Forecaster NOW output provides a percent of capacity versus time. The vertical line marks the time the forecast was issued. Plots to the left show forecast and actual conditions. On the right, the blue band illustrates the uncertainty in the forecast. Forecaster NOW provides users with on-demand forecasts of select power markets with an hourly resolution to seven days.

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W I N D W A T C H

Construction like this at Fire Island, Alaska, may become a rarer sight as the production tax credit phases out.

Life in the wind industry as the PTC phases out and new markets phase in THE PHASE OUT OF THE PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT is supposed

to wean the wind industry off subsidies. After all, the wind industry has been built to a critical mass and can carry on without it, or so the thinking goes. That may not be the case said Edward Einowski, partner with legal consultant Stole Rives Energy Group, in a conversation at the recent AWEA Windpower 2017 conference.

He is the senior partner in the firm’s energy and finance practice. He had more to say on how the PTC ramps down, wind industry construction after the PTC, and what may give a boost to the wind and utility industry.

Phase out and fallout As we write, the PTC is in step-down mode, making its payout a sort of moving target. “To qualify for the credit at its 2016 level, a project must comply with the requirements of the grandfather rules - a series of IRS publications that are generally referred to as the ‘Beginning of Construction Guidance’. The most common route is to satisfy begin-construction rule by spending five percent of the qualified project construction cost on actual energy producing facilities,” said Einowski. “Typically, that is done by buying equipment. So as long as the amount paid by the end of the year in question equals at

AUGUST 2017

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least five percent of the final cost of the project, then the project is deemed to be have begun construction and qualifies for that year’s credit.”

After that, the developer has a relatively long period to complete construction. “For example, we have projects that were brought under the five-percent rule in 2016 that won't complete until 2018. But, if they meet the requirements of the grandfather rules, they will still get the benefit of the full 2016 PTC, $24 per megawatt-hour. “For wind projects that ‘begin construction’ in 2017, the credit drops to $19.20/ MWh. For projects that ‘begin construction’ in

attractive to developers and other financing structures, such as traditional project debt financing, may supplant tax-equity financing.

“Wind has become very competitive with natural gas and more competitive than solar, but that's with the 2016 $24 per MWh subsidy. I don't know of any projects under construction that were not grandfathered in 2016 so as to be able to secure the full $24 per MWh credit. The sponsors of all projects our office is currently working on that will be completed in 2017 and 2018 have taken steps to qualify under the begin construction rules in order

Wind has become very competitive with natural gas and more competitive than solar, but that's with the 2016 $24 per MWh subsidy.

2018, the credit will be 60% of the 2016 level and 40% of the 2016 level for projects that begin construction in 2019,” said Einowski.

Eventually the credit disappears. However, the wind industry is showing little interest in a 40% PTC by 2018. Some industry players have opined that when the PTC drops to 40% of its current levels, tax equity transactions that serve to monetize the credit will become less

to get the full 2016 PTC. From what I have heard, that seems to be true in the market as a whole. We see a good slice of the market, but no one sees everything, so it is likely that work is proceeding on a wind project that will not qualify for the full 2016 PTC. Be that as it may, the market hasn’t yet begun to test in any significant way what will happen with the lower subsidies in future years.”

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W I N D W A T C H

Natural gas powered generators such as this one from GE Jenbocker provide fast starts, less than 10 minutes, to minimize spinning reserves and allow cycling up and down more quickly than other generators.

A number of things can serve to keep wind power competitive as the subsidy drops. “For one, the capital costs of a project could decrease. As we have seen in the past, this is possible as turbine manufacturers continue to improve the efficiencies of their operations and take advantage of the economies of scale that come with producing more turbines for the market. But capital costs are only part of the picture, because other factors affect the all-in cost-per-MW-hour of energy produced.

For example, we have seen significant improvement in the efficiency of the equipment, and hence the amount of output generated by the same installed nameplate capacity. Some of the equipment improvements to date have been mechanical — for example, increased hub heights — while others have involved improved software that better optimizes the output generated by the turbine.

To the extent the equipment continues to improve from an efficiency or output standpoint, this will help maintain wind’s competitive posture.”

The capacity factor (the wind resource) of the project is another key factor. “For example, if the

turbine price stays the same but it produces more power or the project is located on a more windy site, the effect is to reduce the cost per unit of energy production,” said Einowski. “Optimizing the project site design to take better advantage of the wind resource can also improve production.”

“The popularity in many sectors of ‘going green’ can also help maintain the construction of new wind projects. At the consumer level, many utilities offer ‘green energy’ programs to customers where the customer pays a premium over the standard rate for

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renewable energy. “These programs have generally been successful, and prove that the consumer sees the greater value of non-emitting resources and is willing to pay a higher price for their output,” he said.

As with consumers, various major industrial and commercial concerns have also taken steps to “green up” their energy supply, which they view as important to being responsible corporate players in the economy. Some may also be seeking to avoid potential liabilities that may come down the road as a result of carbon emissions from their operations. “The last few years have seen a growing number of these “commercial and industrial” off-take arrangements that let business directly contract to get the benefits of clean wind energy. A growing percentage of the projects currently moving forward are supported by such arrangements, and there is every indication that the trend will continue. Thus, even though most states have met their RPS goals and the U.S. has pulled out of the Paris accords, the private sector continues to place great value on these renewable resources and has a growing presence in keeping the wind industry moving forward with new construction,” he said.

Another growth driver for renewable-energy firms and utilities are the big-name companies committing to offtake arrangements. The companies include the likes of Apple and Google and they are shaping a great new market. “There was a time when it was only possible to sell to utilities. Now this new market arises for the renewable-energy industry. It's a driver for a lot of development. In fact, utilities over the last year or two have tended to buy less wind than in prior years, while what we call the commercial-industrials have significantly increased their purchases. The trend has actually helped to move a number of wind projects along that otherwise wouldn't have been built. It's a good market that developers are very excited about,” said Einowski.

“There are also issues when companies don’t buy from conventional utilities. For instance, if a big company switches its power purchase for a 300MW load from a utility to a wind farm, what happens to the 300 MW of resources the utility had been generating to serve them?”

It's one thing for a large company installing a new server facility for the Internet to buy a couple hundred megawatts. “That would be new load and might not create a larger issue. But when talking about a manufacturing company that has been buying power from a utility and suddenly switches the purchase to a wind farm, then you get some displacement at the utility,” he said.

Some in the wind industry are hoping that tax reform might make a wind farm as profitable as did the PTC. But Einowski does not think that likely if the main impact of tax reform is to eliminate deductions, credits, and other “loopholes” while lower marginal rates. “When talking

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W I N D W A T C H

about tax reform that affects marginal rates, you're talking about a return to investors. So if I'm a tax-equity investor in a 35% marginal rate, and I was looking to invest in a production tax credit from a wind farm, then the tax credit is worth more than if I'm in a 20% marginal rate bracket. And that assumes that the PTC will survive tax reform, something which is highly doubtful given that it is already slated to sunset and the oft-stated goal of eliminating deductions and credits. The same thing is true for things like depreciation deductions — they are worth more as a tax shelter at a 35% marginal rate than they are at a 20% marginal rate. So tax reform alone may not offer any direct hope for maintaining wind’s competitiveness. If it truly were to spark an economic boom — something that seems doubtful based on past experience — then, of course, wind would benefit along with the rest of the economy.”

How utilities are changing There are two things a power plant owner can sell: energy and capacity. Energy is the electrons produced, while capacity is a way of looking at the size of the power plant — its maximum possible output. This idea of energy capacity is needed to balance the grid load to resources.

One way this is done is to have more capacity than demand needed most of the time.

“In fact, if a grid does not have more capacity available than demand, this grid will

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New markets Twenty to 30 years ago, power forecasters would always predict a higher power price, because demand would be higher. But the demand for power has slowed over the last eight years. Certainly the recession is part of the reason. The economy is not growing as fast as it once was, so the demand for power is not growing. “Also, we have gotten much more efficient. For instance, modern appliances and LED lights are more efficient than the devices they replace. So things of that sort have tended to moderate demand,” Einowski said.

In addition, utilities across the nation have initiated what they call demandresponse pricing. That means, in California for instance, you pay more for power to run an air conditioner in mid-afternoon than after midnight. So it's better to use power more wisely than to build more power plants.

What will happen to demand in the long term? “A big power demand that no one saw 30 years ago was all the electronic gadgets in use today. The millions of smart phones, for instance, collectively draw a lot of power. While we have seen sudden shifts in the economy, I don't see anything out there that would cause me to think there's going to be an increase in demand for electricity on average greater than we've seen in recent years. Unless we see another real boom economy. But then, who thought that Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radio would be in every school kid’s backpack in the form of a cell phone — with a computer in it to boot! One never knows.”

EVs are one wildcard.

Although they are a small fraction of sales, that could change. Tesla, for example, recently announced more than 500,000 preorders for its Model 3. “As the technology continues to improve, we could easily be in a situation where consumer acceptance turns on a dime. Five years ago, it was difficult to give EVs Lower cost electric cars such as the Tesla Model away but five years from now 3 could be game changers for the utilities in that people might ask others: Why they would create more demand for power and are you buying a gasolinereverse the slow growth of the last nine years. powered car?” W

have reliability problems because sooner or later a generator somewhere will go off line, letting demand exceed supply, and that power shortage leads to black outs. Grid operators plan to have for more resources available on average than demand at any given time because if a power plant goes down, the utility better have some power plants that can respond quickly to keep the lights on,” said Einowski.

To handle the issue of occasional maximum loads, some regional transmission organizations — most notably PJM — have devised a capacity auction approach that lets them bid for a plant’s capacity for a stated term. “Say you have a 300-MW, gas-fired plant and you bid it in and win. Whatever the capacity charge that you won, grid operators pay you for that, 7/24. The grid operator might narrow the bid to peak or off-peak hours. The operator can slice it any number of ways. But basically, the utility pays to have that plant available for possible power shortages. So really it’s a charge for availability,” he said.

“You don't see a wind plant in capacity auctions because wind-farm capacity is not dispatchable. It is possible to dispatch a gas plant as long as there is an available supply of gas, and then run it almost 24/7. But wind cannot be dispatched on a schedule because when the wind's not blowing, a wind farm produces nothing. ” The same thing is true for solar.

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W I N D W A T C H

Big ideas for a small wind turbine SOLAR POWER IS TYPICALLY THE CLEAN-ENERGY CHOICE for most

suburban and rural settings for a number of reasons. A solar system is silent, fairly inconspicuous, and has no moving parts, which means it requires little maintenance, and generally comes with a good warranty (think 25 years). The systems also tend to provide more predictable energy output than wind power, and work in areas with low, unproductive wind speeds.

However, there are regions and conditions where solar energy is less than ideal. So one company is offering an alternative option that takes advantage of the wind, regardless of wind speed (low or high) or storms. Its new turbine can work alone or with a solar-power system.

“Solar energy is great — in fact we are working with solar leasers and installers — but when we first approached the clean-energy

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market, we started looking for alternatives,” says Ignacio Juarez, CEO of small-wind company Semtive. “We wanted to develop an even more efficient way to generate energy that could also work where solar panels may not.”

Juarez points to regions, such as parts of Texas, which are subject to extreme hailstorms that could quickly damage rooftop solar panels. So he and business partner, Semtive CFO Nicolas Canevaro, looked to wind power.

“But our intent was not to reinvent the wheel, so we tried to do what Tesla did with the electric car. It did not invent the technology, but made it useful,” he says. “We tried to do the same with a small wind turbine.

We took previous designs on the market, and decided we could develop a turbine that could work in urban environments that was lightweight yet durable, and that could generate a lot of energy at a very low cost.”

www.windpowerengineering.com

The Nemoi installs in less than an hour with just one tool. Options let buyers customize each application and choose a color that matches their home or business.

Meet the Nemoi, an “environmentally friendly and virtually noiseless” new turbine system from Semtive that can produce renewable energy on or off the grid, from very low to high wind speeds. It has even been tested in extreme conditions, and survived almost unscathed from hurricane winds.

“A lot of companies try to make the most beautiful turbine or the most fancy turbine for home or business use. But we already know that if you want to be part in the energy sector, you have to focus on the generated cost per kilowatt hour,” says Juarez. “That's the name of the game here, so our primary goal was to generate more energy at a more affordable rate.”

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W I N D W A T C H

Nemoi’s blades and vertical-axis design (the rotational axis of the turbine stands vertical to the ground) means the inner side can generate torque at low wind speeds to start the turbine spinning. In this way, the turbine can generate electricity when spinning at less than 10 rpm.

According to Juarez, energy is generated at as low as $.02 per kilowatt-hour. “We are able to deliver this energy price point to customers because we focused on streamlining manufacturing and assembly costs to get a real affordable turbine that also produces.”

We are able to deliver this energy price point to customers because we focused on streamlining manufacturing and assembly costs to get a real affordable turbine that also produces.

More than 95% of the Nemoi turbine is made from aircraft-grade aluminum, a highly resilient and recyclable metal that is resistant to corrosion, so the turbine comes with a lifetime guarantee. “We're not only generating energy we are generating clean energy, so the turbine must be clean as well. The Nemoi is 98% recyclable,” says Juarez.

He says the turbine can be assembled in less than an hour and when operating through an average wind speed of 35 mph, it makes sounds that are less than a whisper, 38 dB. It has only two moving parts so it is nearly maintenance-free.

“We’re trying to simplify here,” explains Juarez. “We want to offer the most affordable and simplest turbine for hassle-free use, installation, and maintenance. The Nemoi is technically designed to be a do-it-yourself product, but that depends on each region’s regulations. Some areas require by law a roofer for installation.”

Once assembled, the medium-sized residential turbine (it is currently available in small and medium, and eventually will come in large and extra-large for commercial and industrial use) is about 120 pounds, and does not require a reinforced structure. Juarez says one medium Nemoi could support the consumption of electricity for a conventional family in an average American home in average wind conditions.

“Depending on wind conditions, the residential turbine can provide up to 100% of a household’s needs, including requirements such as AC, fridge, TV, lights — everything,” he says. “Then we have the turbines we plan to launch early next year that are made for commercial use.”

“Our vision was to create an efficient energy solution that can be used by anyone, anywhere in the world to democratize access to clean, renewable energy, and Nemoi’s unique design is letting us attain this goal,” Juarez says it all began with three ideals that Semtive upholds and that the turbine is based on. “We have three pillars that we live by at Semtive. The first is financial: We generate affordable energy. The second is environmental: To produce clean energy using renewable sources with a recyclable turbine. Lastly, our third pillar is a social one. We manufacture the turbines locally to create local jobs.”

For Juarez and his team at Semtive, this means manufacturing turbines locally, wherever they are sold.

“For the U.S. market, we manufacture in the United States.

For the Latin American market, we manufacture in Latin America,” he says. “We eventually want to generate local jobs in every region where we sell the turbines.”

“However, we will never commit to only one of those pillars just to improve our revenues,” he adds. “Standing behind our Nemoi design and all three values are very important to us.” W

WHAT’S IN A NAME? “Nemoi” is derived from Anemoi, the Greek wind gods associated with different cardinal directions, seasons, and weather conditions. The designers or the Nemoi intend for the vertical-axis wind turbine to stand as strong as its namesakes, and spin no matter how strong or what direction the wind is coming from. The small-wind turbine can capitalize on strong winds or generate energy in the flow of a gentle breeze.

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www.windpowerengineering.com

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W I N D W A T C H

11-MW dual-rotor turbine to begin life as a 5-MW working prototype

The initial 5-MW M2Y6Y 500, designed by Airgenesis, uses two rotors turning in the same direction and mounted on a 78-m tall tower. Planetary gear sets increase the rotor speed while a right-angle drive will send power downtower by a shaft. Generators at the base will come online as wind permits.

A CANADIAN INVESTMENT FIRM has stepped forward

to fund the building of a 5-MW prototype of the two rotor Airgenesis design (airgenesiswind.com). The design was first covered here (tinyurl.com/airgenesis) in 2013. Briefly, the design uses two rotors on the same shaft rotating in the same direction. A right-angle drive in the nacelle turns a drive shaft to transmit power down tower to 11 MW of generators mounted at the base of the turbine. The arrangement opens up the possibility to create more power, takes weight off the tower, and provides for easier maintenance.

Airgenesis Senior Vice President Clayton Troxell says the 5-MW wind turbine, now the M2Y6Y 500 unit, will begin manufacturing later this year with construction to follow on Prince Edward Island, Canada, 2018, thanks to M2Miling Investments Limited (www.M2Miling.com).

“M2Miling Investments will purchase buildings in October on the island,” said Troxell. “The turbine will include two rotors as in the original design, the center-tower drive shaft, and down-tower generators. The 5-MW design turned out to be a great model for the prototype. Once testing completes, plans are to construct fullsized, 5 to 11-MW units for wind farms around the world.”

M2Miling Investments Limited, Kingston, Ontario, Canada has licensed the technology for 10 years and will assist in building and

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testing of the prototype. “Their plans are to roll out manufacturing quickly after prototype testing. They have wind farms scattered around the world, and they want to implement the Airgenesis technology with others on the wind farms,” added Troxell.

The first order of business, he says, is altering the engineering for the M2Y6Y 500 tower, which involves minimizing the internal parts to handle lower stresses. This includes a clutch system that will engage several generators.

“The company will focus onshore with a 5-MW turbine on a 78-m tower, and eventually blades specific to the design. Their thinking is to develop the 11-MW model M2Y6Y1100 for higher wind onshore areas and offshore by 2020.

The investment company has projects and production facilities for Renewable Energy, research for Bio-Medicine by MariAlgaMed and does Vertical Gardening with IGES Canada.

“Generator sizes are not yet determined but probably start with 500 kW and several others that total 5 MW. They will be in the same pattern but arranged around a flywheel for a clutch system.

That arrangement is still in flux,” said Troxell.

“The operation and maintenance companies of M2Miling will be happy with the safer control of all electrical components at ground level of the soon coming M2Y6Y 500”, said the CFO of M2Miling Investments Limited, Ulrich Lindner. W

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Wind work around North America Strong wind farm developments continue in America, up over 40% compared to last year at this time. The increase is in part, thanks to strong wind growth in the Midwest. Nearly 80% of current wind-turbine construction and advanced development activity is found in the Midwest, Texas, and the Mountain West, according to AWEA’s “U.S. Wind Industry Second Quarter 2017 Market Report.” Kansas also just became the fifth state to surpass 5,000 MW of installed wind capacity, with a new 178-MW wind farm now online. That means Kansas has enough wind capacity to support about 6,000 jobs in the state, while making lease payments of up to $15 million a year to its farmers and ranchers. Nationally, the U.S. has an impressive 84,405 MW of installed wind capacity, and that number is growing.

W I N D W A T C H

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Capital Power’s 178-MW Bloom Wind project in Kansas has begun commercial operation ahead of schedule, with construction costs below budget. Bloom Wind was developed using a unique 10-year proxy revenue swap agreement with Allianz Risk Transfer. The new structure swaps the floating revenues of a wind farm, such as those driven by the hourly wind resource and power prices, for a fixed annual payment.

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New revenue swap agreement brings new wind to Kansas

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Oklahoma soon home of America’s largest wind farm

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Massachusetts’ offshore wind farm gets first approval

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GE Renewable Energy and Invenergy have announced a 2,000-MW wind farm that, once operational, will be the largest in the U.S. and second largest in the world. The Wind Catcher facility is currently under construction in the Oklahoma panhandle and it will generate wind electricity from 800 GE 2.5-MW turbines. The wind facility includes a near 350-mile transmission line.

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Three meteorological buoys are now installed south of Martha’s Vineyard in preparation for the proposed Bay State Wind offshore wind project. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently issued its first approval for the offshore wind’s Site Assessment Plan. Bay State Wind is a joint venture between DONG Energy and Eversource, with the potential to generate at least 2,000 MW of energy.

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New York plans transmission rebuild

Nova Scotia initiates phase two of local wind farm

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Michigan Townships grow wind capacity

1,550-MW wind expansion project coming to Upper Midwest

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Nova Scotia has launched phase two of the community Ellershouse Wind Farm. It is the first wind development in the province funded and built independently of the local power authority or Canadian government incentive program. The second phase adds three Enercon E-92 wind turbines to the original four-turbine project for a total capacity of 16.1 MW.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission officially approved Xcel Energy’s plan for the largest expansion of wind energy in the Upper Midwest. Seven new wind farms are slated for construction in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and will be operational by the end of 2020. The projects are expected to save Xcel Energy customers billions of dollars in fuel and other costs.

windpowerengineering.com

New York’s Governor plans to rebuild 78 miles of power transmission infrastructure in the North Country to strengthen the electric grid and enable more upstate renewables to connect to the system. The newly rebuilt Moses-Adirondack Smart Path Reliability project will also help the state meet its Clean Energy Standard of generating 50% renewables by 2030.

Consumers Energy officially broke ground on Cross Winds Energy Park II, in Tuscola County’s Columbia Township.

White Construction, the project’s contractor, has built access roads and begun constructing concrete foundations for the 19 new wind turbines that will generate up to 44 MW. Phase I included 62 turbines, and both Townships have already approved Phase III plans.

California pushes for 100% renewables

The California Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee approved Senate Bill 100, which sets California on a path toward 100% renewable. SB100 increases California’s current renewable portfolio standard to ensure 60% clean energy by 2030 and 100% by 2045. If SB100 becomes law, California would join Hawaii as the only states with mandates to run on 100% renewable energy.

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P ROJ E CTS Michelle Froese Senior Editor Windpower Engineering & Development

The phase-out of Production Tax Credits (PTC) over the next few years will reshape the geography of wind development. As the PTC winds down and fewer power-purchase agreements take place, developers will have to consider other market factors and new criteria for siting wind farms.

Hedging bets on wind development and project returns

L

ife as a wind developer is far more challenging today than in previous years.

Granted, the work has always been a complex process that involves many steps, including land prospecting, permitting, financing, designing, constructing, and many others. However, the current market landscape is unlike any other the wind industry has seen before, with fewer power-purchase agreements (PPA) and expiring production tax credits (PTC).

The investment risks are greater and a seemingly good, strong-wind location is no guarantee of a profitable return on investment for a wind project. Unlike good real-estate catchphrase, “location, location, location,” nothing similar applies to the current wind industry.

“It used to be that a developer would find where the wind is blowing and, assuming it was blowing consistently well, would build a project there,” explains Erik Olbeter, Managing Director of ICF, a global consulting and technology services provider.

“There was little risk throughout the entire project.

Offtake agreements were standard. It was fairly easy to get a long-term PPA in place. So, it mainly came down to this: if you had good wind at a project site, you knew that you were going to be OK.” An offtake agreement is a contract negotiated between a developer (or seller) and power

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purchaser, typically negotiated prior to a project’s construction. In the case of a wind project, it secures a minimum level of return for the power, lowering the risk of the investment. A PPA is an agreement that outlines the terms of sale for the power between the buyer and seller, such as start of project operation and the length of the contract.

Olbeter says times have changed in the industry. Energy costs are more volatile and less certain, and contracts are more challenging to negotiate. “The current marketplace for wind projects has far fewer PPAs, so there is a lot more risk for the offtaker. That means simply knowing where winds are blowing is no longer enough.”

Part of the reason for this is the expiring PTC. The tax credits, extended through 2019, have begun phasing down by 20% each year beginning in 2017.

This means projects have to get done quickly to qualify and meet the deadline.

“A wind assessment, while still important, is no longer the key to a successful project. It’s not enough to qualify risk,” Olbeter says. “There is now a fairly short window to get things done, so developers need to be savvy about how their wind resource interacts with energy market pricing and congestion.” Power grid congestion occurs when there is insufficient energy to meet the demands of customers.

www.windpowerengineering.com

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PROJECTS

The aging transmission grid is another reason risks are higher than before.

“When negotiating wind development, congestion and curtailment become much more substantial issues than they have ever been in the past,” he says.

Congestion, curtailment & costs In a recent study, the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) found that the U.S. would need to build 33,000 circuit miles of new transmission lines (at a cost of $60 billion) to support the aggressive wind growth strategy of 35% wind penetration by 2050, as set out in the Department of Energy’s 2015 Wind Vision Study.

NREL analysis of the Plains & Eastern transmission project alone found that curtailment of wind-power generation could be reduced by around half to 7.8%, by building four proposed transmission lines of combined capacity 10.5 GW. Curtailment occurs for any number of reasons including local congestion, oversupply, or operational issues. Grid congestion occurs when there is more generation (from wind and others) than there is available transmission or distribution capacity to move the power through the grid to load centers. A good example of this is in Texas, where there are excellent wind resources and more limited transmission capacity.

“In other words, the largest wind resource in a developer’s portfolio may not be the greatest asset,” he says.

“Potential curtailment concerns lead to questions that investors are now asking before considering any contract: how does power generation coincide with energy demand and costs?”

Olbeter explains that the same developer may have in his or her portfolio a much lower wind resource of, say only 30 or 35% generation capacity, but that wind is consistently blowing at a time when people use power the most. “So, for example, a Michigan wind project might fair better than a Panhandle project, even though the Panhandle may have a 50% or higher capacity factor. Why? Because the Panhandle is producing power at times when prices are at their lowest.”

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Wind-energy developers face different challenges depending on how they sell their power. As the graph shows, hedges seek to strike the middle ground in terms of risk between power-purchase agreements (PPAs) and the merchant. A hedge is an investment that reduces the risk of adverse price movements for an asset.

This means the wind is weak or absent during peak demand times. “But in Michigan, the wind might pickup when more people are using more power. So, it’s a far more valuable resource, and puts less stress on transmission systems and grid operators.” He adds that this type of insight is now extremely important to new contracts. “And it can offer some new ideas on where and which wind farms will get built in the future.”

Delving into detail So how do developers navigate today’s wind market and locate the best potential project sites when a strong wind resource fails to guarantee success? “Analytics,” Olbeter says. “Upfront and very responsive analytics can provide direction to wind developers and guide them as to where they can best spend their time.”

Basically, the devil is in the details when it comes to successful wind development in the current market. Case in point: a wind project could be curtailed five percent of the time, but perhaps it is in the middle of the night when power demand is low so it’s worth next to nothing. The scenario can lead to a much different result than when the reverse is true.

“We found that we get better predictions when we consider cost for

power, congestion constraints, and the wind resource simultaneously,” says Olbeter. “This multi-dimensional analysis lets a developer anticipate the margins on a hedge and puts them in an advantageous position.”

Hedge agreements, which are becoming more typical in the wind industry, aim to offset the risk of adverse costs or expected energy changes. Hedges typically rely upon a set cost or “strike price” per kilowatthour of energy produced by a wind farm, which is negotiated between a developer or wind-farm owner and a power purchaser or utility. It is a type of middle-ground agreement that accounts for the variability of power produced and cost certainty. So, should the market cost for energy decrease at the time of sale, the hedge provider pays the difference, and vice versa.

There are two main points of risk for developers related to hedges.

Olbeter explains: “The first is called basis risk, which represents the potential difference in price between the node and hub.” The nod is where a project connects to the gird, and the hub is where power is liquidated and sold.

“The price between the two locations can vary significantly, and is typically

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due to transmission constraints on the system such as congestion.”

The price difference means that if power is sold at the node for $20 but the hub is trading at $30, then the developer somehow needs to make up that difference. “The ability to hit the hub price raises risk levels for wind developers because there is uncertainty between where and when power is placed on the grid, and where and when it is actually getting to that liquid hub,” he adds.

The second point relates to how much wind will be generated. Wind resources are typically evaluated on a probability scale between a P50 and a P95, or P99, which is the probability of hitting a particular power production. “Banks or investors may commit to P90 or P95, but most likely it will be a conservative level of the predicted output. This introduces another form of risk called volume risk. It leaves a developer with a portion of wind uncovered by a contract, which potentially makes financing more challenging.”

ICF has advised clients on hedges and found ways to reduce downside risk by up to 20% and improve expected upside by 5%. “Good analytics can improve expected return, and reduce overall risk by changing even just a few hours of committed power over the course of a year — which can potentially make an uneconomic project viable,” he says.

A successful developer typically includes inputs for congestion and curtailment, and recognizes that neither are a cause for dispositive circumstances.

“So just because a wind farm comes with certain constraints or some curtailment concerns should not necessarily devalue the project. Such events must be understood within their proper context.

And good analytics can assist and ensure wind projects worth building, get built, and generate revenue to full capacity,” says Olbeter. W

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RELIAB IL ITY

Sonia Wharton Atmospheric Scientist Deputy Group Leader Energy Group Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

J e n n i f e r F. N e w m a n Postdoctoral Fellow N a t i o n a l W i n d Te c h n o l o g y C e n t e r National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Why wind-farm developers should care about measuring atmospheric turbulence

T

he role of atmospheric turbulence in influencing wind-turbine power production remains an unsolved mystery despite a growing number of researchers who have attempted to make sense of the issue.

Turbulence, a term for short-term deviations around the average wind speed, can cause fluctuations in turbine power production and structural loads. While research strongly suggests that ignoring atmospheric turbulence can result in significant errors in power-curve measurements and annual energy production, it appears that there may be no universal relationship between turbulence and power production.

Typically when we think of a wind farm operating in a turbulent atmosphere, we picture a waked turbine, battered by vortex eddies (circular wind flow) shed from turbine blades upwind. However, turbulence is present nearly everywhere, and is constantly produced and diminished over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. This article aims to unravel some of the complex factors that remain unsolved regarding turbulence and wind power.

Measuring turbulence Many wind farms still rely on tall meteorological towers to measure the local wind resource. These towers are typically equipped with cup anemometers that provide the mean wind speed over a 10 or 15-minute averaging window.

However, wind is actually comprised of three components: • Mean wind, which is measured easily with a cup anemometer • Waves, which result from wind shear, wind flowing over obstacles, or the boundaries between layers of air with different densities (waves will not be discussed here)

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Article co-author Sonia Wharton sets up Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Wind Cube v2 lidar at California’s Altamont Wind Farm. The lidar was used to measure turbulence and wind shear across wind-turbine blades.

• Turbulence, which is typically quantified with a parameter known as turbulence intensity (TI). TI is calculated as the horizontal wind-speed standard deviation divided by the mean wind speed over the same time period. Loosely translated, TI gives the percentage of the horizontal flow that is turbulent, and values of TI are used in turbine design standards and sometimes to stratify power curves. Values of TI measured by a cup anemometer fail to reflect turbulent motions in the vertical direction, which can be significant under daytime, convective conditions, or to indicate which scales of turbulent motion are prevalent in the atmosphere.

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RELIABILITY

Power generation is not a simple function of hub-height wind speed as this plot of 10-minute data shows from a California wind farm. Much of the variability may be due to the variation in turbulence intensity at any one time period. Low turbulence intensities are most often indicative of stable, nighttime air, and high turbulence intensity is typically present during convective, daytime atmospheres.

A more complete depiction of turbulence requires instruments with higher precision and faster sampling rates than provided by a cup anemometer. While sonic anemometry fulfills these requirements, high maintenance costs make it impractical to operate long-term at wind farms.

Instead, remote-sensing instrumentation has provided a more practical solution given its mobility and reliability.

Remote sensing Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites, but also from ground-based sensors. Sound Detection and Ranging (sodar) and, more recently, Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) instruments are increasingly deployed by wind-farm operators and are no longer seen as “neat tools” that only scientific researchers have access to.

Sodar and lidar are used as wind profilers. While sodar derives the wind speed and direction by measuring the scattering of sound waves, lidar uses the Doppler shift in back-scattered laser energy to estimate the wind flow. Companies such

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as Natural Power, Leosphere, and Avent offer industry-friendly lidars that can be deployed on the ground looking upward, or on a nacelle hub facing upwind.

Recently, ground-based profiling lidars, such as the ZephIR 300 and WindCube v2, were given an official “thumbs up” by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for use in a standard that describes wind-power performance testing and wind-resource assessments. This new standard, IEC 61400-12-1:2017, is a major milestone for the lidar industry. Vertically profiling lidars can now replace traditional mast-mounted cup anemometers in simple, flat terrain.

Remote-sensing instruments come with their own set of challenges with measuring turbulence because they measure wind speeds averaged across probe volumes that are typically tens of meters in length.

Also, they must collect data across a large scanning circle to deduce the threedimensional components of the wind, which assumes homogeneity in the flow.

Such measurement techniques are in stark contrast to the “point” measurements offered by a cup anemometer on a tower, and often result in different estimates of TI. Power production Regardless of the challenges inherent in measuring turbulence, researchers and wind developers are increasingly recognizing that turbulence estimates are vital to understanding the intricacies of turbine power production. Recent studies have used met towers, remote-sensing devices, atmospheric and turbine models, and machine learning tools to help understand the complex effects of turbulence on power production. Interestingly, an examination of the studies’ results offers no clear answer.

For example, some studies show that higher levels of turbulence lead to higher power generation. Other research shows this is only true during low wind-speed events. Still, other studies have found that turbulence hinders power generation.

Here, the thought is that increased loads add fatigue to turbine components thereby reducing power output.

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RELIABILITY

Schematic of a Doppler, vertical-profiling lidar. The instrument derives wind speed and direction by emitting beams of light forming a volumetric cone above the device.

Some of the studies use TI to estimate the amount of turbulence in the air.

Alternatively, turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), which employs all three components of variability in the wind rather than just the horizontal variability, is used as a metric in some studies. TKE is the mean kinetic energy per unit mass associated with eddies in turbulent flow. Nevertheless, even the use of TKE provides no clear universal relationship between turbulence and power production.

The future of turbulence measurements So where do we go from here? One suggestion is to avoid thinking of turbulence as a “blanket” sum, such as in the calculation of TKE, or as a “blanket” ratio, such as in the calculation of TI. Atmospheric turbulence consists of a wide range of overlapping scales, unique to every point in space and time.

By using parameters such as TKE or TI, calculations over-simplify the chaotic nature of the atmosphere. Researchers need better ways to characterize turbulence and relate turbulent motion to turbine power production.

One method for obtaining additional information is analysis of the spectral content of turbulence (i.e. the distribution of turbulence across different temporal and spatial scales).

Although this approach is currently AUGUST 2017

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applied to design load calculations, it is not directly incorporated into power estimates. Several recent studies have suggested that turbine power production is only sensitive to particular scales of turbulence, so the spectral content of turbulence is clearly important for power production. While a parameter such as TI cannot give an indication of the scales of turbulence present in the flow, variables such as a characteristic length scale can be derived from turbulence spectra and used to classify turbine performance.

In addition, data from remotesensing devices can be used for more than just mean wind speed and TI calculations. Much work has been dedicated to adjusting TI measurements from remote-sensing devices to bring the values closer to what would be measured by a cup anemometer. In several ways, the remote-sensing device is providing more information than we give it credit for. By collecting measurements at several points around a horizontal scanning circle, vertically profiling remote-sensing devices are gaining information about the spatial variability of the wind. This variability is directly related to the spatial distribution of turbulence in the atmosphere.

In summary, too much information is lost when turbulence is considered as a “blanket” sum or ratio of the standard deviation to the mean wind. The wind industry could obtain more detailed results if the full turbulence spectrum is accounted for when quantifying the influence of turbulence on power performance. While a couple methods for obtaining spatial information on turbulence from measurement

devices were proposed here, many additional methods likely exist. With the advancement of remote-sensing devices and the vast amount of field projects being conducted on operational wind farms, it will be worth the effort to unravel more of the mysteries of turbulence over the coming years. W The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s ZephIR300 lidar took its turn during a summertime deployment at the Altamont Wind Farm in California providing remote wind profiling.

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B O LT I NG Robert Carlisle President Concrete Fastening Systems

A brief guide to selecting concrete fasteners

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t is often necessary to fasten cables, wires, junction boxes, and monitoring instruments to the inside and outside of concrete walls. The fasteners used for holding these categories of static loads come in a variety of types and sizes. To select the most effective fastener for securing windturbine equipment to concrete, it is important to consider these several conditions.

Rust resistance An important question to answer before selecting a fastener relates to exposure: Will the fastener be exposed to rain and moisture or will it be protected from the elements inside a wind tower? The answer matters because of a fastener’s material composition.

For indoor or dry applications, standard zinc-plated carbon steel is sufficient. However, for outdoor, wet applications, stainless steel makes a better choice for durability. Most concrete fasteners are not manufactured in stainless steel, so its selection narrows to a few fastener models.

Load requirements When considering load requirements for concrete fasteners, account for the weight of each item and how many fasteners the load requires. A table of loads is available for every concrete fastener, which describes the average values of pull out and shear for each diameter at the minimum embedment depth.

Load tables provide general guidance and are not a guarantee of accuracy. However, taking the same diameter of all the concrete fasteners and embedding each into the same concrete at the same depth will produce similar holding values.

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TOP: The Confast 316 stainless steel wedge anchor comes in sizes from 1/4-in. to 1-1/4 in. diameters.

BOTTOM: The Confast drop-in anchor is made of 316 stainless steel.

Embedment depth To install a concrete fastener, each must be placed and expanded in concrete to a certain depth to obtain minimum holding values. When concrete is used in tower construction, it is important to consider the placement of rebar and particularly in precast panels.

• If rebar is too close to the surface, it may affect the placement or size of the selected concrete fastener.

• Also, as selection diameter increases, so must the minimum embedment depth. For example, a 1/4-in. concrete fastener’s minimum embedment is 1 to 1-1/8 in. while a 3/4-in. anchor can have a minimum embedment of be 3-1/4 in.

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B O LT I N G

Spacing There are two spacing requirements to consider when selecting concrete fasteners: spacing between anchors, and spacing from an unsupported edge of the concrete.

• Expansion concrete anchors exert an outward or radial force. When this force overlaps with another anchor, it decreases the holding values of both fasteners.

• If installed too close to an unsupported concrete edge, concrete anchors may depreciate the force and lower the holding values. This means holding forces could approach zero or blow-out the concrete when the anchor is expanded.

A rule-of-thumb in the concrete-fastener industry is that the minimum spacing should be 10 diameters from each anchor, and measured center to center.

The spacing from an unsupported edge should be at least five-anchor diameters.

Here is a summary of concrete fasteners useful for wind turbines • Wedge anchors provide the widest range of concrete fasteners, from 1/4 to 1-1/4-in. and are manufactured in zincplated, 304 stainless steel, and 316 stainless steel.

• Wedge anchors are packaged complete with nuts and washers ready to install. Hole size is equal to the anchor size.

• Drop-in anchors are internally threaded concrete anchors and manufactured from carbon steel and zinc-plated. Versions in 304 and 316 stainless steel are also available.

• Tapcon screws are concrete fasteners that must be inserted into a pilot or predrilled. The hole tolerance is critical, 3/16-in. screw requires a 5/32-in. hole and the ¼-in. screw requires a 3/16-in. hole. W

Tapcon screws are another type of concrete fastener.

The pull-out and shear values shown, for a Confast Wedge Anchor are average ultimate values and provide a guide, not a guarantee. A safety factor of 4:1 or 25% is generally accepted as a safe working load. Reference should be made to applicable codes for the specific working ratio. Psi values refer to a compressive strength of concrete using standard test cylinders of six-in. dia. and 12-in. height. For each fastener design, the company provides a table of related dimensions and load values.

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M AT E R I AL S Benjamin Müller H e a d o f I n d u s t r i a l A n t i - v i b r a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y EFFBE GmbH

“Smart” materials turn turbine connectors into sensors This model of a torque-arm support component is for a three-point gearbox mounting. The elastomer mounting is made of EFFBE Urelast UN 90, which satisfies all requirements for load-bearing capacity and durability for each axis. Its is lightweight, long lasting, and requires little operating space or maintenance.

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t is no secret wind turbines must withstand harsh conditions, including fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and vibrations from changes in wind and rotor speeds. For the components that make up a turbine, such as the bearings, gearbox, brakes, and blades, durability and reliability are essential to a developer’s bottom line. The same holds true for the smallest components, such as seals, bonds, and connectors, which have an important job of keeping the larger components in place.

A couple loose connectors, such as those that support gearbox mountings or a turbine’s driveshaft system, could lead to a serious problem. Now imagine a lightweight connector that can “sense” its condition and provide that data to a wind operator.

A recent innovation of this sort in elastomers and small turbine components with integrated sensors may help reduce wind-turbine maintenance costs.

Support components The small devices that connect and support the components of a wind turbine are sometimes overlooked when assessing the overall cost and production of a wind farm. However, their ability to endure a turbine’s internal conditions, including changes in pressure and temperature while minimizing wear and maintenance needs, impacts a project’s ROI. Seals and connectors are used with a number of components in a wind turbine. To list just a few:

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torque arms for gearboxes and drive shafts for generators, gearbox mountings, rotor bearings, rotor hubs, ventilation systems, azimuth (yaw) brakes and drive systems, and others. Reliability is key to ensure the safe operation of all turbine components and as a means of reducing overall maintenance.

A smaller footprint in terms of size and weight also may impact a turbine’s overall lifetime costs. In fact, recent tests compared high-performance elastomer components to ordinary rubber-metal bonds, which are frequently used in wind turbines for gearbox mountings. The results found that the elastomer connectors (and specifically, EFFBE’s Urelast) withstood four times higher loads at comparable dimensions.

One benefit: the size of components made of Urelast elastomer can be reduced by 30 to 40%.

Additionally, a reduction in component weight of more than 80% is possible because of the elimination of the otherwise necessary metal inserts for conventional laminated rubber-metal parts.

Material choices It is common practice to connect the support areas of elastomer elements to sufficiently rigid materials (typically metal) to influence its spring characteristic.

However, Urelast is composed of elastomer with carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) material, instead of metal, to further reduce component weight. Such material makeup provides an alternative

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MATERIALS EFFBE Urelast UN90 components are used in the brakes of windturbine azimuth system and as an alternative to spring disks.

LEFT: EFFBE Urelast components are optimized using FEM calculation to reduce tension peaks to a minimum. The example determined the torque-arm bearing for a three-point gearbox mounting. This type of design needs no additional metal inserts in the elastomer and, therefore, drastically reduces the component weight.

to metal disk spring connectors. The primary advantage: improved reliability.

Typically damage to a single conventional disk spring results in the immediate loss of the entire connector, which is not the case with Urelast components because of the material’s “emergency operation-like” properties. This means that even if the elastomer body of a Urelast spring is damaged, a sudden drop in force will not occur or cause damage that could stop it useful operation.

For example, damage to wind turbine, torque-arm support components and gearbox mounts are typically attributed to excessive load peaks, which result from excessive spring stiffness in conventional laminated rubber-metal springs. A retrofit Urelast spring can reduce vibration effects and spring stiffness 1.5 to twice the spring deflection, which results in a longer life.

The visco-elastic properties of Urelast’s material composition, such as its ability to minimize the effects of stress and strain over time, increases the operational reliability (of it and the turbine), and reduces unplanned maintenance work and related costs.

Maintenance work is particularly significant and cost-intensive in critical turbine areas, such as azimuth drive systems and brakes — and gearbox mountings.

Sensor communication Integrated sensors provide another unique feature of Urelast-made components. It has typically been challenging to obtain accurate wear and tear data on a turbine and its components from direct exposure to dynamic and static loads — until now.

These extremely small, yet sensitive devices are built right into the elastomer and monitor the their loads.

This means data from a Urelast springloaded connector (transmitted by built-in AUGUST 2017

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BOTTOM: The elasticity of EFFBE Urelast U90 is evident, even under high loads. For a spring deflection of 15%, Urelast U90 components can be subjected to a 5 N/mm² load, whereas rubber parts of 70 Sh A hardness grade can only withstand a load of 1.3 N/mm². As a result, Urelast components can be sized smaller to reduce their footprint.

sensors) provides a unique “hands-on” type of insight about the load, its effect (such as a component’s position change), and the wear behavior of adjacent machine parts in the wind turbine. This is invaluable insight for planning more cost-effective maintenance visits.

Information gained from long-term field trials involving gearbox support elements for wind turbines with sensors has led to important analysis and insight that may affect turbine O&M decisions.

Basically, these mini sensors provide another form of automated machine control and condition monitoring for more proactive O&M. However, the sensor data may also prove significant for wind research. The devices provide a better understanding of the impact wind turbines and components face over time, and offer a database from which to draw ideas for new product innovations that may advance the wind industry. W

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S AF ETY

D r. L a u r i e W e l l s Doctor of Audiology 3M w w w. 3 M . c o m / C H C

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are tens of thousands of work-related cases of noise-induced hearing loss reported each year, many of which are preventable with proper training and protective gear. By OSHA standards, employers are required to provide an effective hearing conservation program for workers exposed to hazardous noise.

Seven elements of a well-devised hearing conservation program

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anufacturing and construction sites are typically noisy places. Prolonged exposure to loud, aggravating, and excessive sounds can have harmful effects on worker health. However, symptoms are not always immediate or obvious because noise-induced hearing loss typically happens gradually. Over time, excessive noise exposure may damage the tiny hair cells in the inner ear and lead to tinnitus (ringing of the ears), or partial or permanent hearing loss.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers are required to provide a “continuing, effective hearing conservation program” for employees who are exposed to potentially hazardous noise.

To protect workers from hearing loss, “hearing

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conservation programs” (HCP) that aim to reduce noise, and check and promote hearing protection, are an important part of a workplace safety plan.

Here are seven elements to a comprehensive HCP. 1. Measure Noise measurement forms the foundation of a good HCP. Only by monitoring noise in different areas of a manufacturing facility or construction site, and conducting noise surveys on different processes, tasks, and tools, can an employer collect the data necessary to identify hazardous sounds and determine control measures.

Noise surveys can be simple or complex, conducted by in-house safety teams or consultants, and ideally should include devices that accurately

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measure occupational and environmental safety hazards for tracking and evaluation over time. At the very least, a generalpurpose meter (Type 2 microphone) and specific instrument settings are needed for occupational sound surveys. Sound level meters measure sound pressure levels in real time and dosimeters integrate noise levels over time to calculate a worker’s noise exposure.

In the U.S., OSHA requires employers to maintain an active hearing conservation program whenever employees have an eight-hour, time-weighted average to noise of 85 dBA or more. Personal monitoring of noise exposure of an individual worker is needed when workers are highly mobile and noise levels vary considerably.

A few indications that noise may be a problem in your workplace include: • Employees hear ringing or humming in their ears after exposure to loud sounds • Some workers notice temporary loss of hearing ability when leaving work • It is often necessary to shout to be heard by a coworker only an arm’s length away 2. Control Certain operations and machinery create high noise levels. But do they have to?

“Buy Quiet” is a type of prevention-bydesign approach that reduces workplace noise hazards by specifying machinery, tools, or processes that create less noise. This is best accomplished when implementing a new production process or replacing older equipment.

Buy Quiet is one approach to controlling workplace noise when feasible. Applying “engineering controls” is another approach that aims to

modify a facility’s current equipment or workplace environment in some way so that less sound energy is created or transmitted to workers. It falls in line with the concept of Hierarchy of Controls, which is well established in occupational health and safety. Simply put, Hierarchy of Controls states that it is more effective to eliminate or decrease the severity of the hazard than to change the way people work or require employees to wear protective equipment.

One tip to bear in mind when engineering controls is to prioritize what noise-control projects will be most effective.

While it may seem logical to focus attention on the highest noise source in a facility, it is often possible to achieve a more significant decrease in noise exposure by first controlling sounds in the areas closest to where employees spend most of their time.

“Administrative controls” are another approach to noise control and aim to limit the time workers spend in high-noise areas. These policies are often necessary when engineering controls are not feasible or cost effective.

3. Protect In an occupational hearing conservation program, it is preferable to eliminate or

Don’t take chances with the hearing health of contractors or employees. Make sure your company follows a comprehensive hearing conservation program.

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Noise-induced hearing loss typically happens gradually, so it is important to educate workers on the effects of loud noises over time. When employers are committed to safety, employees are more likely to share that dedication and regularly don protective devices on the job. (Photo: 3M Personal Safety Division)

decrease the severity of a hazard rather than change the way people work.

However, when controlling hazardous noise is not possible or feasible, hearing protectors are essential.

To work effectively, hearing protectors must be comfortable, compatible with other personal protection equipment, fit properly, and provide adequate protection for the environment. A job may require several types of hearing protectors to balance the need for noise reduction with those needs of a worker and work environment. For example, hearing protection should not impede a worker’s ability to communicate or hear important sounds and safety instructions at a job site.

Conducting individual fit testing of earplugs and earmuffs can help ensure worker compliance and proper use. Also keep in mind that people like options.

When personal preferences and worker choices are permitted during PPE selection, employees are typically more satisfied and invested in the outcome — meaning they’re more likely to want to wear the safety gear.

4. Check An audiometric testing program checks the hearing thresholds of workers and tracks them over time. The objective is to detect changes or shifts in hearing that may signal the beginning stages of noise-induced

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hearing loss. Ideally, a baseline hearing check (audiogram) is done prior to a worker’s first exposure to hazardous noise, and then compared to future, routine hearing checks — typically, once a year.

Early identification of a worker’s hearing loss lets employers intervene before symptoms get worse. Plus, the testing process provides an opportunity to remind and teach workers about the importance of their own hearing health and status.

An audiometric database can also offer a snapshot of the hearing health of the noiseexposed workforce and be used to identify trends and develop intervention plans.

5. Train Noise-induced hearing loss typically happens gradually, so it is important to educate workers on the effects of exposure to loud noise and on proper use of hearing protection. One of the keys to successful training is to incorporate active learning. People typically retain more information when they are actively involved in the learning process.

Employers may also improve the success of their hearing loss prevention efforts by continually updating and evaluating the training programs.

For example, it is good practice to schedule employee training at times and locations that will accommodate work and production schedules, and when employees are most likely to be attentive, alert, and focused. People who are tired, distracted, or overwhelmed are less likely to learn new ideas or behaviors.

A few reasons to train include: • Consistent and proper use of hearing protectors is likely to increase among employees who become personally committed to protecting themselves from noise at work and elsewhere.

• Employee satisfaction may improve when they understand how noise exposures are measured and the steps being taken by the employer to control noise.

• Better recognition of situations when hearing protectors or noise controls 34

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are inadequate may be possible once employees learn to identify the warning signs of hearing loss and damage.

• Documenting the results of training helps employers demonstrate compliance with regulations that require employers to provide employee training as part of an occupational HCP. 6. Records Accurate and complete record keeping is often more than a legal requirement; it’s good business. Good records may provide evidence to help an employer accurately track employees’ hearing over time and, if necessary, record cases of work-related noise-induced hearing loss on the OSHA log of illness and injury, and respond to worker compensation claims.

For general industry, OSHA (Regulation 29 CFR 1910.95: Occupational Noise Exposure) requires employers to keep an accurate record of noise exposure measurements for two years, and audiometric test records for the duration of employment of the employees who are in a hearing conservation program. Because records in hearing conservation programs may include confidential health information, strong data protection is recommended to ensure the privacy of individual workers and assure that only those who have the proper credentials have access to sensitive information.

7. Evaluate The goal of a hearing conservation program is to protect workers from developing hearing loss or problems caused by work-related hazardous noise, so it is important to plan for adequate checks and balances and ask: Is the program actually preventing noise-induced hearing loss? How can it be improved? Is the HCP efficient and cost effective?

Regular program evaluation can identify trends, detect gaps, and drive improvements. Routine evaluations of the program are critical, and there are several ways to measure effectiveness. One way is to evaluate changes that occur as a AUGUST 2017

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result of the program, such as the number of hearing loss cases or a reduction in the occurrence of noise sources or exposures (because of implementation of quieter equipment, for example). Another approach considers the costs of delivering the program and comparing those to the costs of implementing noise controls.

It can also be helpful to audit the HCP for compliance (of what occurs and what’s only on paper). A recent hearing conservation program checklist to assess effectiveness is at https://tinyurl.com/ protect-hearing It is also important to evaluate a program through the people it intends to keep safe and healthy. It is a good practice to ensure that assessments include employee reviews. W

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FLU I D S & F I LTE R S

Jim Harlan Instructor Hy-Pro Filtration

What wind techs should know about oil filter efficiency Filters can be evaluated by their ability to capture debris and then hold it. Dynamic Filter Efficiency is a way to measure those capabilities.

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he Dynamic Filtration Efficiency (DFE) Test is a test our company developed for evaluating filter elements that goes beyond industry standards. This article describes the test, why it matters, and why elements engineered with this test in mind outperform others in real-life applications. But first, a few basics: How are filters rated?

All hydraulic and lube systems have a critical contamination tolerance level that is often defined by, but not limited to, the most sensitive system component such as servo valves or high-speed journal bearings. Defining the upper limit of the ISO fluid cleanliness code is a function of component sensitivity, safety, system criticality, and ultimately getting the most out of hydraulic and lube assets.

Filters, of course, remove the particulate contamination that enters a system or is generated by the system as it operates. All filters are subjected to some form of system dynamics: hydraulic filters encounter frequent and rapid changes in flow rate such as when valves shift. Lubrication filters,

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the focus of this article for the wind industry, experience dynamic conditions during start up and shut down. Filters validated only to current ISO testing standards do not perform as expected when subjected to the demands of real world dynamic operating systems.

Capture efficiency Capture efficiency is a measure of how effectively a filter captures particles. It is defined in terms of Filtration Ratio (Beta) per ISO16889. The ratio is recorded during the ISO16889 multi-pass test used by most filter manufacturers and defined by this simple equation:

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F LU I D S & F I LT E R S

In the equation: ßx[c] = the ratio, Np = number of particles, Xµ[c] = a particle size in microns. The [c] is referred to as “sub c” and differentiates between multipass tests described by the current ISO16889 multi-pass test with new particle counter calibration per ISO11171 from ISO4572. Filtration ratios written without the “sub c” refers to the antiquated ISO4572 multi-pass test that has been superseded by ISO16889.

Here’s an example of how to use the equation: if 600 particles greater than or equal to 7μ[c] (7 microns) were counted upstream of the filter and 4 were counted downstream, the equation would set up this way:

Scientific Services Inc and Hy-Pro Filtration.

DFE is the evolution of standard hydraulic and lube filter performance testing. DFE goes further than current industry standards to quantify capture and retention efficiency in real time by inducing dynamic duty cycles, measuring real-time performance during dynamic changes, and the filters ability to retain particles. DFE testing is the method for predicting worst case fluid cleanliness along with average fluid cleanliness. W

ßx[c] = 600/4 = 150 Hence, the filter that produced the particle reduction in the example has a filtration ratio or ß7[c] of 150.

The efficiency may also be expressed as a percentage by converting the Filtration Ratio this way:

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Using the Beta ratio from in the first example, we can calculate the filter efficiency this way: Efficiency of ß7[c] = (150 -1)/150 x 100

= 99.33% efficient at capturing

particles 7μ[c] and larger.

Retention efficiency Retention efficiency is a measure of how effectively a filter retains the particles it has captured. It can be determined by comparing a filter’s Filtration (Beta) Ratio during constant flow rate, increases in flow rate and decreases in flow rate. It is not recorded during the ISO16889 multi-pass test used by most filter manufacturers.

A filter is not a black hole so its performance must not be based solely on how efficiently it captures particles. If not properly designed and applied, a filter can become one of the most damaging sources of contamination because it will release previously captured particles when challenged with dynamic conditions.

The lack of a method to test filters under varied flow rates lead to the development of The Dynamic Filter Efficiency Test (DFE) in 1998 as a joint effort between AUGUST 2017

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CO ND I TION MONITORING

Paul Dvorak Editorial Directior Windpower Engineering & Development

Recent CMS steps beyond alerts to boost production and extend component life

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n ideal condition monitoring package keeps an eye on how each turbine is performing so maintenance crews can plan their work. A next development step would be to run the machines to minimize maintenance and then run the whole wind farm for maximum annual energy production.

A Boston based IoT startup says its aiming for that and more. Mohit Dua, Founder and CEO of WindESCo, says the company offers to combine sensing and analytics along with a subscriptionbased model that together increases wind farm output and improves major component reliability.

“While actions by the industry have led to a reduction in component failure rates, owners are looking for a step change,” says Dua. He founded WindESCo in 2014 based on eight years of experience working at an

independent power producer. “I could not find a solution, independent of OEMs, that offered a comprehensive performance optimization platform. A few small, European vendors offered services only to address one aspects of optimization.”

None, however, offered both increased energy output and improved reliability for major components. “My goal was to bring the two together.

The company was born out of a vision to offer wind-farm owners a solution that would decrease the monetary loss suffered during operation and increase revenues. Our focus has been on a scalable, integrated, comprehensive and cost-effective solution that can work with U.S. power prices,” he adds.

Dua says WindESCo works to improve wind farms by:

WindESCo’s concept provides several focused packages. WeSense include proprietary sensors and instruments to measure high frequency loads. Its hardware is sourced from Phoenix Contact. WeEdge, an edge computing system at the wind farm, combines and analyzes multiple data streams to optimize performance in real time. And WeCloud provides a cloud-based analytics platform to make recommendations for further turbine and wind farm optimization.

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• Increasing the annual energy production (AEP). “We provide this through a package called WeBoost. On previous projects we have shown AEP increases from 2 to 4%. With additional features, we expect to take this up to 6%.”

• Reducing major component failures.

“We are particularly focused on gearboxes, main bearings, and blades. They are monitored through a package called WeProtect.”

• Increasing component lifetime, and • Providing real time feedback for an end-to-end improvements.

Conventional condition monitoring systems (CMS) mostly look at drivetrain vibration data and flag trends which could indicate an impending component failure.

But Dua says this doesn’t really address the cause leading to failure.

While there are many causes for major component failures, one of the most overlooked aspects are the wind conditions themselves. “We have measured low frequency, high-impact loads on all projects where our system has been deployed. During these events, loading on the turbine exceeded its design limit by many times and these loads have the potential to initiate cracks. We monitor loads using a proprietary system, WeSense, co-developed with Phoenix Contact over the last two years.” says Dua. He adds that the company recently released another module, WeEdge, an edge computing system which functions securely within the wind farm firewall.

Due to network latency and bandwidth issues added to cybersecurity concerns, the company decided to move its computation engine to the client wind farm. Its decentralized architecture allows for independence from the cloud for real-time operation.

Installed at the wind farm, the edge computing system combines data from the load monitoring sensors, SCADA system, and CMS. “We are also integrated with the wind park controller to provide real time feedback to mitigate the effects of damaging winds. The edge-computing system lets us react instantaneously using a patent-pending AUGUST 2017

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method and facilitate turbine-to-turbine communication, a service that will be a game changer for the industry,” he says.

“Whenever bandwidth frees up on the wind farm, WeEdge compresses the data gathered and sends it to the Cloud.

A cloud-based analytics platform makes further recommendations for turbine and wind-farm optimization.” Dua says this collective system protects equipment rather than predicts events, a step up from traditional CMS. He says the company is getting interest from a variety of owners despite his team’s the limited outreach. “The best candidates are projects that are seeing high component failure rates.

These are often located in complex topography such as on mesa tops, steep mountains, and forested areas with tall trees. Some projects have high failure

The company was born out of a vision to offer wind-farm owners a solution that would decrease the monetary loss suffered during operation and increase revenues.

Our focus has been on a scalable, integrated, comprehensive and cost-effective solution that can work with U.S. power prices. due to atmospheric effects that lead to complex wind conditions. Our system is configurable and has the ability to address a variety of scenarios that can lead to component failure.”

In addition, the company’s datadriven approach to optimization, says Dua, can deliver immediate value through AEP improvement. Systems are now on seven projects and the company is on course to add five more in North America by the year’s end. W

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S O F T WA R E Paul Dvorak Editorial Directior Windpower Engineering & Development

Online classes for wind advocates?

Sort of

O

nline classes are something of a rage.

TV viewers are frequently hit with ads for one online college after another. Here in the Midwest, we often see news reports of free classes available from kindergarten through 12th grade. Most colleges provide online lessons to augment classroom instructions.

It should be no surprise that developers at the online, course-presentation company Alison have

about wind power or the wind industry. It takes about an hour to read all the text. Students finish with a test and you must score 80% to pass. (Yes, I did.)

The promotional material says participants will “learn all about wind energy, from the different types of modern wind turbines and their use around the world, to the integration of wind-generated electricity into the main electrical grid system.” Well, not exactly.

The material in the first section is so basic that

Basic material on the wind industry is presented this way.

apparently picked up the online-classes ball and are running with it. A recent press release from the company tells of more than 800 classes available, and all of them are free. Just register.

While most of Alison’s lessons seem devoted to business, only one so far relates to wind power.

It’s called “Wind Energy – From Wind Turbines to Grid Integration”. Actually, rather than conveying useful information, this class demonstrates the potential of online learning.

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someone even casually interested in the wind industry will already be familiar with what’s said about different wind turbines and their related technology. The basic presentation is also just a little out of date. For instance, the Type of Turbines section says a 3.6-MW model is the largest in Europe and mentions a source from 2013. MHI Vestas, however, has announced a 9.5-MW turbine, the largest output we know of. Much of the quoted or source material is from 2012. One table of wind farm construction costs came from a German wind farm built in 2001.

Some material is just absurd. Consider this gibberish explanation of the Betz Law: “…if a turbine

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SOFTWARE

Material presented after the basic introduction gets more serious and useful, such as this lesson that introduces grid integration.

were to capture 100% of the wind’s energy, the blade would rotate too quickly for the wind to pass between the blades and thus the airflow that was propelling the blades in the first place would pass over or under the blades instead of through.”

This material needs an update and a rewrite if it is to be taken seriously. But better and more up-to-date sections follow on grid integration, the future of wind energy, and R&D needs.

Rather than sound like Mr. Knowit-all, let me say the real value in online platforms is to provide employees access to company-specific information, such as a company best practices for safely troubleshooting electrical equipment or something you’d like presented in a precise and particular manner. This online tool might work well for firms with employees who work far from the home offices.

Alison, based in Ireland, says all

classes are free because advertisers are paying for them. But if the ads become too intrusive, students can upgrade to an ad-free account for €50 (about $59) per year. Also, students may have to purchase a certificate to verify a successful class completion. Lastly, before posting course material, Alison requires a publisher application – permission to post a class – to verify a professional level of an instructor’s expertise. W

VISIT THE NEW

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T UR BI NE OF T HE M O NTH

Paul Dvorak Editorial Director Windpower Engineering & Development

Inching toward 10

MHI Vestas unwraps a 9.5-MW design The 9 and 9.5-MW wind turbines are part of the product portfolio intended to deliver affordable offshore wind power. Both turbines are based on the V164-8.0 MW, a machine already installed at the 258-MW Burbo Bank Extension. The company says the turbine has a firm order book of over 1.6 GW.

O

Company CTO Torben Larsen added that “With only minimal design changes, including a redesigned gearbox and cooling system upgrades, this turbine continues the legacy of the proven V164 platform and is available now to all MHI Vestas customers.”

The company has release a few additional details on the V1649.5 MW turbine. For instance:

h, so close. The 10-MW turbine has been an understandable challenge for the wind industry. Several years ago, we knew of at least three 10-MW designs that were on the drawing boards. But none materialized. Why? Stretching conventional technology to 10-MW sizes generates high stresses and handling that involves larger, heavier parts or more expensive materials, which all drive up costs.

But MHI Vestas (Vestas is the parent company) is getting close to the 10-MW mark. The company recently announced the V164-9.5 MW based on, as you would expect, the V164-9.0 design. The company calls the 9.5 unit the most powerful serially produced wind turbine in the world. One V164-9.0 unit with massive 80-meter blades, (35 tons each) is working off the UK coast, providing company engineers with realtime data and insight to adding the next 0.5 MW. Spokesman for MHI Vestas Michael Morris tells that the 9.5-MW turbine is already up and generating power, and available for sale now. “After design modifications to the prototype at Østerild, the turbine has been running at 9.5-MW output for several months already. The company expects to receive Type Certificate by Fall 2018,” he reports.

Jens Tommerup, MHI Vestas CEO, said in a press release, “We are committed to lowering the cost of energy through innovative turbine technology. The V164-9.5 MW is built on the industry-leading V164 platform, the most powerful platform in operation.”

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• Redesigned gearbox and cooling system are upgrades from the V164-9.0 MW • 80-m long (87.5 yards) blades are the better part of a real football field • Each blade weighs 35 metric tons (1,000 kg/ metric ton) • Swept area of 21,124 m2, larger than the 120-m diameter London Eye • The nacelle measures 20-m long, 8-m wide, and 8-m high, and weighs about 390 metric tons • Rotor and nacelle will require the tower to carry 495 metric tons • Reduces operational and maintenance costs by letting owners run fewer, larger turbines • MHI Vestas Offshore Wind uprated its 8-MW wind turbine to hit 9 MW during specific site conditions.

The company’s prototype at Østerild broke the energy generation record for a commercially available offshore wind turbine on December 1, 2016 by producing 216,000 kWh (actual figure: 215,999.1 kWh) over a 24-hour period.

• Hub height ~105 m (Østerild prototype, 140 m) • Max tip height, ~187 m (Østerild prototype, ~220 m) So when’s the 10? Morris says the company does not discuss future turbine development and innovation plans. “But I can say that our innovation teams are working on concepts that will make the company competitive in the future. We’re in offshore wind for the long haul,” he reports. W

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A Radical Change in Bolting is Coming Your Way Norbar Torque Tools Introduces a New Generation in AC Powered Torque Multipliers

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The Snohomish County PUD’s Hardeson substation includes the MESA 1A and 1B pilot projects (upper center of photo).

An energy storage standard

Daniel Friberg, Division Engineering Manager

is essential for

Developing international standards is vitally important to the growth of grid-scale energy storage systems. These systems make it possible to feed power to the grid so that production need not be scaled up and down repeatedly to adjust to changing demand levels. They also absorb the over-generation from wind and solar power facilities and release that power when needed. The MESA (Modular Energy Storage Architecture) Standards Alliance is an industry group of dozens of equipment vendors and utilities working together to grow the energy storage industry by developing an open, non-proprietary set of specifications and standards. Our goal is to accelerate interoperability, scalability, safety, quality, availability, and affordability in energy storage components and systems.

This standardization effort has two main aspects. The first is a software control platform that allows all equipment from different vendors to talk the same “language,” so that when one piece of equipment sends a command or transmits data, it is received and interpreted correctly by the intended recipient.

The second aspect is ensuring that the hardware that makes up an energy storage system (ESS)—the batteries, power converters, metering system, and the energy management system (EMS) − can be intelligently “plugged into” each other and the electrical system.

In turn, the ESS must be intelligently plugged into the utility’s existing information and operations technology. Without established standards, components and systems will come with proprietary connectors, and the process of plugging them together becomes a

the cost-effective generation of alternative power The MESA Standards Alliance currently provides two specifications.

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Parker Hannifin, Global Energy Grid Tie Division V i c e C h a i r, B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s , M E S A S t a n d a r d s A l l i a n c e

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An energy storage standard is essential for the cost-effective generation of alternative power

laborous task repeated for each new project, which will add to project cost and lead time.

The MESA Standards Alliance is currently providing two specifications:

A Parker Hannifin 890GT-B 2 MW outdoor bidirectional power conversion system (PCS) converts ac grid power to dc to charge the batteries, and when necessary, inverts the battery power to ac to feed the grid.

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• MESA-ESS is designed to let electric utilities or grid operators scale deployment of energy storage and manage energy storage assets and fleets of multi-vendor assets to meet specific needs and use cases with minimal custom engineering • MESA-Device Specifications and SunSpec Energy Storage Model address how energy storage components within an energy-storage system communicate with each other and its operational components.

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In 2013, the companies and organizations that would go on to become founding members of the MESA Standards Alliance began work on a series of pilot projects intended to demonstrate how the plug-and-play approach being developed would allow quickly commissioning new energy storage systems. Their first energy storage project, MESA 1A, was a 1 MW, 500-kWh lithium-ion battery system installed at the Snohomish County Public Utility District’s Hardeson substation in Everett, Washington. Mitsubishi International supplied the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery modules to Parker Hannifin's Energy Grid Tie division, which supplied the power inverter and battery system housing. The battery modules contain 2,880 battery cells manufactured by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture between GS Yuasa International Ltd and Mitsubishi. 1Energy Systems LLC (now part of Doosan GridTech) developed the system control software and supplied systems integration services.

The 1 MW, 500-kWh MESA 1B project, installed immediately next to the 1A system also involved Parker Hannifin, which provided a MESA-compliant 890GT-B power conversion system; LG Chem Ltd. provided the Li-ion battery, and Alstom Grid made its e-Terra control center software platforms MESAcompatible. Faculty from the University of Washington provided research expertise in electric power systems and computer science.

Based on the experience from these two projects, our company has implemented a MESA-Device compliant communications interface that is now standard in the 890 GT-B Power Conversion System (PCS) product line.

The MESA interface has successfully been used in Parker-supplied PCSs with over 100 MW currently operating around the world.

The organizations that make up the MESA Standards Alliance share these objectives:

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• Standardize communication and connections, which will accelerate interoperability and scalability of energy storage systems.

• Give electric utilities more choices by enabling multi-vendor, componentbased energy storage systems.

• Reduce project-specific engineering costs, enabling a more robust energy storage market.

system suppliers, power-conversion system suppliers, along with utilities and IPPs. Through standardization, MESA let’s industry vendors focus on proprietary innovation and enable that innovation to come together at lower costs by reducing project-specific engineering. Parker Hannifin has a history working with energy storage systems. As a Founding Member of

We are excited that MESA’s mission, to develop open, non-proprietary communication standards for gridscale energy storage is gaining momentum... Through standardization, MESA let’s industry vendors focus on proprietary innovation and enable that innovation to come together at lower costs by reducing project-specific engineering.

• Enable technology suppliers (from software developers to battery suppliers) to focus on their core competencies in producing quality, safe and cost-effective components.

• Reduce training costs and improve safety for field staff through standardization procedures for safety and efficiency.

• Expedite the development and industry deployment of storage-specific communication specifications, before submitting them to appropriate Standards Development Organizations (SDO).

MESA, Parker was an early advocate for the importance of standards to accelerate the growth of the energy storage industry and has been instrumental in driving the efforts to the point where we are today.”

For more on the MESA Standards Alliance or to participate in the technical working groups that are developing these industry standards, visit www. mesastandards.org W

Interest and acceptance of the MESA standards are expanding within the industry. “We are excited that MESA’s mission, to develop open, nonproprietary communication standards for gridscale energy storage is gaining momentum,” says Margot Malarkey, program manager, MESA Standards Alliance. “The organization has tripled in membership since its founding in 2014, and currently has over 30 members with representation from all stakeholders in the energy storage industry including battery suppliers, energy-management AUGUST 2017

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INTELLIGENT LIGHTNING A TOOL FOR BLADE-ASSET MANAGEMENT 4 8 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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MONITORING: www.windpowerengineering.com

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Daniel J. Sylawa

Until recently, lightning-strike monitors provided incomplete information.

Recent systems deliver more useful and actionable data such as which turbine blade has been struck and the power in the strike.

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Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com

Business Development Manager – Renewable Energy Phoenix Contact USA, Inc.

IT IS WELL UNDERSTOOD that wind turbines are at high risk for damage from lightning.

Lightning receptors and grounding systems, which provide external lightning protection, have partially addressed the problem. Surge suppression systems also assist with electrical and control system protection. However, even with these countermeasures, the fiberglass materials and coatings of a wind-turbine blade remain vulnerable to lightning damage.

It is difficult to determine the operational condition of wind-turbine blades without direct inspection. Failure to inspect blades regularly for lightning strikes may result in costly repairs because a slow accumulation of material damage could lead to component failure. On the other hand, inspections that are too frequent may result in unnecessary and high maintenance costs. Weighing blade inspections (which require turbine downtime) against continued operation of a turbine is one risk associated with lightning and wind-farm asset management.

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INTELLIGENT LIGHTNING

MONITORING:

A TOOL FOR BLADE-ASSET MANAGEMENT

The small number of components required to install the Phoenix Contact LM-S makes installation suitable for new and existing wind turbines.

Lightning risks to wind turbines vary by geographic area, time of year, and turbine location. In fact, there is a risk of lightning at every wind farm. To mitigate threats to wind turbines, the technology used to directly measure lightning include geolocation and direct-measurement systems. Examples of geolocation lightningdetection systems include weather-databased lightning measurements and lightning detection sensors.

Weather-measurement systems use metrological data to predict the probability of a lightning strike in a given wind-turbine area. Lightning sensors perform the same function but use local measurements to determine the location of a lightning strike.

These types of systems can provide the time of strike, location, amplitude (intensity),

and sometimes polarity information. Another plus: The information is available remotely.

However, weathermeasurement systems cannot tell which turbine or blade was impacted by the lightning.

Direct-measurement systems that use the lightning down conductors on a wind turbine can provide information about its blades. Examples of this include event counters and card-measurement systems. Event counters record information on the time and number of lightning strikes. This information is available remotely. Card-measurement systems provide information only on the highest amplitude lightning current that has passed through the down conductor. This system cannot be monitored remotely, and must be read by a technician during a service call to the wind turbine.

All these lightning-measurement systems have been used effectively in turbine applications. However, there is a trend in the wind-power industry to use effective asset management techniques to reduce operating costs. Ideally, wind operators would look to increase the

intelligence of wind-turbine systems to reduce maintenance costs. One way to do so is by employing targeted inspections to the most suspect turbines. That would reduce the need for truck rolls due to lightning events.

THE FARADAY EFFECT Recent lightning measurement systems, such as the Phoenix Contact Lightning Monitoring System (LM-S), use sensors based on the Faraday Effect to provide a more comprehensive range of lightning data to manage assets. These sensors operate by transmitting a polarized light beam through a transparent dielectric material.

When mounted on a turbine blade’s down conductor, per the Faraday Effect, an external magnetic field is generated by the lightning current, which travels down the conductor and rotates a light beam proportional to the current amplitude. A polarized output filter converts this into a measurable light signal.

This system operates at the speed of light so additional information, such as a measured area under the curve is available to more effectively characterize the impact of the lightning strike. In addition to information such as the time stamp, peak current, and number of impulses, the system also records additional parameters such as specific energy, charge, duration and slope of the lightning current and lightning direction.

Operating principles of a lightning detection sensor are based on the Faraday Effect. The sensors operate by transmitting a polarized light beam through a transparent dielectric material.

The schematic shows the general arrangement of sensors, control box, power supply, and signal outputs for the LM-S installed in a wind turbine.

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The table provides an example of the output data from the lightning monitoring system.

For an installation on a wind turbine, lightning sensors are mounted within individual turbine blades and attached to lightning down conductors. Because blade designs differ with respect to installation of the down conductors, recommended mounting methods are available to handle differing blades designs of various manufacturers. Blade-mounted sensors allow measuring lightning impacts on individual blades. Fiber-optic communication between the sensors and the hub-mounted evaluation unit provides a high degree electrical and noise immunity from the high-energy environment of a lightning strike.

The hub-mounted evaluation unit acts as a data logger and data server.

Direct visualization of the lightning data is then possible using a standard web browser. An FTP server allows pulling data from a higher level SCADA system for asset management. A “settable” trigger is available for immediate notification of high-impact events. The small number of components required to install the lightning measurement systems like the Phoenix Contact LM-S make installation suitable for new and retrofit wind-turbine applications.

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MANAGING BLADES The LM-S has been installed on wind turbines globally for managing blade assets. Data beyond the standard time stamp, peak current, and impulse count can be more effectively used to gauge blade damage. Additional parameters measured, such as charge and specific energy, are of particular value because they are associated with some mechanisms of lightning-induced blade failures. Beyond blade impacts, the full range of lightning parameters measured by the LM-S can be used to gauge lightning effects on other windturbine systems, including bearings and SCADA components. Detailed lightning analysis can be an effective input to asset-management systems to optimize the inspection intervals for wind-turbine blades and appraise damage requiring immediate attention. This can result in performance improvements by reducing turbine downtime and increasing availability. These are important implications as wind turbines are built larger and located in more remote areas, such as offshore. What’s more, the system

has been used to monitor lightning effects on building and structure applications throughout the world, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai UAE, the world’s tallest building. W

The LM-S system has been installed in a wind-turbine blade.

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Digital software such as GE’s Predixbased software, which collects and analyzes data from wind turbines, can increase the annual energy production of a wind turbine by up to 10%.

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Mitigating risks from

CYBER ATTACKS

BEST PRACTICES FOR CYBER SECURITY These few best practices recommended

by GE Power are for maintaining a continuously protected environment, which most importantly includes a transition from a reactive to a predictive security program.

• Keep software and firmware up-todate with timely patch updates.

• Hire an external cyber-security company to perform site evaluations, threat modeling, and penetration testing to evaluate systems.

• Engage an automate patch system for critical ICS — so that manual update schedules aren’t a barrier.

• Participate in security communities focused on business environments to stay current on trending attacks and best practices.

• Monitor critical systems for security related events and anomalies.

• Educate operations and IT personnel on a regular basis on new attack mechanisms so that they can act as watchful eyes across physical and system landscapes.

The last tip means that every employee needs to be armed with the tools and proper protocol for maintaining the company’s security profile.

Scott Bolick, head of software strategy & product management at GE Power & Water, understands the significance of cyber planning and security for important infrastructures.

“It’s really about mitigating risks,” he shares. “When I think about cyber security and protecting valuable assets, I liken it to buying insurance. I buy home insurance because it is important to me to protect my family. I want assurance that if anything happens, my son and wife are taken care of. But why does one ‘buy’ cyber security?” he asks.

For a wind farm or power plant owner, the answer includes safeguarding networks and control systems to eliminate unexpected outages and unplanned downtime.

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network software, deleting its traces after attack, and preventing effective forensics. It is a big threat.

In the Department of Energy’s second installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review (January 2017), it warned that a widespread power outage caused by a cyber attack could undermine critical infrastructure: "Cyber threats to the electricity system are increasing in sophistication, magnitude, and frequency."

“Cybersecurity is a concern because the digital revolution is so relevant, driving productivity and reliability for many industries,” says Bolick. “But this new digital world is something special, and something that cannot or should not be dismissed because it is pushing industry, and specifically the power industry, forward.”

Bolick points to how digital software can increase the annual energy production of a wind turbine by up to 10%. In this example, he is referring to GE’s Predix-based software, which collects data from turbines, analyzes it, and provides recommendations for increased efficiency.

“But whether you talk wind, solar or more conventional power plants, digital solutions are enabling these facilities to do things they could have never done before

productivity — which means ensuring a utility or plant owner can fully live up to the obligations of what they’ve bid for electricity,” he says. “But when we look at power and utility customers, over 60% of the leaders tell us that their security strategy is not aligned to today's When I think about cyber security environment risk.”

Perhaps this and protecting valuable assets, is of little surprise.

I liken it to buying insurance. I One recent example of malware, called buy home insurance because it is “CrashOverride” or important to me to protect my family.

“Win32/Industroyer,” is seemingly designed and deployed by a nation-state to target that allow for more strategic planning and and shut down electric grids. Analysis productivity. It’s quite impressive and the shows that it is likely the same type of digital proliferation is only going to increase.” malware that shut down portions of the As it develops, however, it is important Ukraine electric grid in December 2016. to keep digitalization from inadvertently Such malware is also reportedly capable introducing risks to equipment or of delaying restoration actions, erasing infrastructure. “Unfortunately, what we see

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Better safe than sorry. It is essential for wind-power project owners and operators to safeguard wind-farm networks and control systems to eliminate unexpected outages and unplanned downtime. Keep software and firmware up to date and monitored regularly for security breaches.

is that many utilities are struggling with their IT environment.”

According to a report from GE Power, one reason for this is “a cyber-security ownership issue.” But defining who is accountable for security measures lands in a nebulous area between the IT and the operations’ organizations. While IT teams are typically focused on protecting data and systems, now their role is expanding to work with operations’ technologists, who must protect critical assets and controls. An attack on IT could lead to data theft, while an attack on operations could affect the physical world, such as people, environment, and assets.

“People want a magic box that solves everything. But ultimately, cyber security is about people and processes. The reality is that you can and should have great technologies around cyber, but also the people to uphold and maintain it. A big portion of what we do in the Baseline Security Center is making sure of that, so we may deploy a product, but we're also out there training and working with customers to fully benefit from it.”

BASELINE SECURITY MEASURES GE’s Baseline Security Center is a riskmanagement platform that provides security tools, configurations and practices to reduce exposure to cyber risk. Unlike typical vendor products, the Center is platform agnostic.

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“When we were considering a framework and deciding on how to best think about security for power customers, we stepped back and relied on the Center for Internet Security,” he says. “It provides a critical security framework that has 20 different control points or critical factors.”

The Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) is a non-profit organization that works to safeguard private and public organizations against cyber threats. CIS Controls are a prioritized set of actions that can protect critical systems and data from the most pervasive cyber attacks. Organizations that implement just the first five of 20 CIS Controls can reduce their risk of cyber attack by around 85%.

“What we've done is work with these control points to create the tools, configurations and services, so now we can go out and effectively enable a customer to meet cyber threats. The Baseline Security Center essentially lets customers quickly and securely manage controls. These may include patches and patch management, version management, access controls, and rights and the basics of network and asset security.”

An understanding of asset protection is only the first step. Bolick says constant vigilance and updated policies and procedures are the best long-term security action against cyber disruption.

Proper threat mitigation involves working together to identify a road map that provides greater security. “A lot of

cyber-security measures are really about developing a process that works,” he says.

Part of that process is the surveillance equipment and potential event response, but a large portion should also include audits and ongoing checks to ensure employees or workers are taking security seriously. This includes asking important questions, such as: What is in place for training, what are the data-sharing requirements between departments, or is remote-user access acceptable at our facility?

“A large part of security is in the process and that may develop slightly differently at different organizations or enterprises,” he adds, “But the end goal is always the same, and cyber security comes down to insurance and managing risk.” W

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The CIS Controls are a prioritized set of actions to defend against the vast majority of cyber attacks. Organizations that implement just the first five of 20 CIS Controls can reduce their risk of cyber attack by around 85%.

Download the five controls at https:// tinyurl.com/cybersecuritycontrols

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Cross-sectoral thinking

Our solutions for wind energy ■■

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obile service app and back- M office solution – to support service processes Predictive analytics / preventive maintenance of wind turbines R FID for optimizing maintenance cycles Intelligent IT solutions for technical documentations Augmented reality systems and voice control make work easier

The experience we have gained in mapping maintenance processes for Lufthansa are being applied to the wind energy industry.

Learn more: Phone: +1 786 614 9031 Email: marketing.sales@lhind.dlh.de www.lufthansa-industry-solutions.com

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Stem’s UL-certified PowerStore is a fastconverting energy storage system. PowerStore draws energy when costs are low and automatically deploys when costs are high — saving users the most on electric bills.

Michelle Froese • Senior Editor • Windpower Engineering & Development

The many facets of

Researchers found that energy storage is capable of providing a suite of 13 general services to the electricity system.

For the renewable-energy industry, energy storage has typically served as a means to an end: maximize the energy used by the transmission grid to boost a project’s production value and bottom line. A good storage system can help do that by regulating the use of variable resources, such as wind or solar power, ensuring such projects meet grid interconnection requirements. For a windfarm owner, this means storage can fully capitalize on the wind power generated at a farm, and supply it to the grid as needed to provide a better return on investment. It’s a win-win for the facility owner and a utility.

However, energy regulation is only one small service provided by a storage system. In fact, in a Rocky Mountain Institute study on the economics of energy storage, researchers compiled 13 fundamental services. According to the study, most systems are deployed for one of three single applications: demand charge reduction, backup power, or increasing self-consumption of renewables.

“As this study points out, storage can do so many different things,” says Ted Ko, Director of Policy at Stem, Inc., a company that develops, finances, and maintains energy storage systems, backed by its proprietary software and predictive analytics to AUGUST 2017

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optimize the value of customer’s power assets and facilitate their participation in energy markets. Stem’s mission is to build and operate the largest digitally connected energy storage network for its customers.

“But it’s not just about grid regulation or generation. A storage system can help absorb and store solar or wind power, it can help with voltage on the grid, it can help with frequency regulation or transmission congestion, and more,” he adds. “The idea that storage can do these multiple different things with the same asset is quite interesting, but it’s an often under-used resource.”

Given a reliable battery or storage device, Ko says the next key to maximizing an energystorage system is software. “Storage is really about the software in terms of how, when, and where it’s applied — in other words, it has to ‘know’ when to use and absorb power, and then when to discharge, or charge and discharge it. Take demand charges, for example. The only way it works is with software that can correctly anticipate when a certain customer’s demand is going to peak.”

Demand charges are based on the peak electricity usage of a customer during a set billing period. These charges cover a utility’s fixed costs of providing a certain level of energy to customers. The

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE performed a study that determined energy storage is capable of providing a suite of 13 general services to the electricity system.

These services and the value they create generally flow to one of three stakeholder groups: customers, utilities, or independent system operators or regional transmission organizations.

Currently, most energy storage systems are deployed for one of three single applications: demand charge reduction,

backup power, or increasing solar selfconsumption. This results in batteries sitting unused or under-used for well over half of a system’s lifetime.

For example, an energy storage system dispatched solely for demand charge reduction is used for only 5 to 50% of its useful life. Dispatching batteries for a primary application and then re-dispatching them to provide multiple, stacked services creates additional value for all electricity system stakeholders.

challenge is that utilities have to maintain enough capacity — which, Ko points out, requires them to keep a vast array of expensive equipment on constant standby, including transformers, wires, substations, and generating stations — to satisfy all their customers’ energy needs at once (say, to cover a hot day in August when every customer runs their AC).

“So let’s say you’re a commercial or industrial customer, and you have your monthly energy bill, which has two components to it. One component is the kilowatt-hours consumed every month and the second are the demand charges.

Demand charges are based on your peak usage kilowatt — not kilowatt-hour, but 58

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your peak usage during the month. The initial reason we started the company was based on helping customers with those demand charges,” he shares.

In the U.S., demand charges are increasing, even while energy prices are going down. There are several reasons for this including an aging grid that requires more maintenance and updated infrastructure — costs that are passed onto ratepayers. Other factors that may affect utility rates include the growth of wind and solar energy. Yes, even renewables can be to blame mainly because they cause greater sensitivity to peak loads because of their inherent variability.

For some customers, demand

charges are 30 to 70% of their energy bill. “Instead of taking energy from the grid during those peak times, an energy storage service takes the power from the battery, so to the grid it looks like peak usage went down. This is known as peak shaving, and it reduces demand charges.”

According to Ko, peak shaving can be much more lucrative than trying to do what’s called energy arbitrage, which is charging the battery when it is low and discharging when prices are high.

“This is where software comes in and, to do a good job, it must determine the load, figure out where the peaks are going to be, and then proactively shave off those peaks. Essentially, it’s predictive analytics,” he says. “So, we look at your history of what a building has done over the last year, predict what it’s going to do in the next 24 hours, and even over next couple of days or further out. Then, it must work to shave off those peaks appropriately to save the most money based on whatever particular rates a customer is at the time.”

Virtual power plants Demand charges are only one example of an important software feature for a storage system. As the Rocky Mountain study found, there are multiple facets of a good system.

“On a larger scale, software must have the capacity to understand a site’s optimal behavior. It must ask and answer numerous questions at once: Could I be helping my customer with his demand charges, or could I be doing some voltage support for the grid at this particular moment, or do I have time to charge my battery now? The software has to understand all that on a site-by-site basis and each and every day.”

Ko continues: “Remember storage can provide more than one service, so it can also help with the grid and potential energy needs or congestion. And this is where Stem has grown from using individual battery systems, which certainly can provide some services to the grid by itself. But now just imagine those 18, 36, or even 1000-kW systems as a fleet.”

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The many facets of

TOP: Stem’s data analytics software incorporates weather forecasts and historical and real-time usage data to predict when electric use will peak at a given site. The system rapidly and automatically responds to spikes in electricity use, drawing on stored power to reduce costs for customers, without requiring operational changes.

BOTTOM: Stem has pioneered a subscription-based, “storage-as-aservice model” to enable commercial, industrial, and institutional customers to reduce energy bills and boost sustainability with no upfront costs.

Stem was one of the first companies to get involved with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) for a pilot program in 2015 that used a fleet of storage systems with predictive software for real-time use in the marketplace. The project came under Pacific Gas and Electric’s Supply-Side Pilot, which enabled customer-sited, demand-side resources to participate in the CAISO wholesale markets as a form of demand response.

“We deployed a fleet of these systems and used the data to bid into the CAISO market, much like a generator or a power plant would,” explains Ko. It marked the first time that an energy storage provider

has participated in real-time energy markets, benefitting the electricity grid while earning revenue in California.

Stem collected extensive data during day-ahead bidding at six customer sites for more than a year to enhance forecasting and refine automation, although its California networks have now grown to over 500 sites operating or under contract. Accurately forecasting customer energy use is critical to ensure systems can be used for decreasing energy costs at the customer and participating in energy markets.

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“This is one of the best uses for energy storage, in my opinion,” he shares. “With the right software, it is possible to create variable locationspecific, ‘dispatchable’ networkedenabled virtual power plants. This means a storage system can respond in very precise small locational algorithms to do whatever that neighborhood congestion needs but using it as an entire fleet.”

Where ‘demand response’ signals a utility to provide extra power, a virtual power plant is a ‘grid response’ that acts like a fast-responding generator. So far, Stem has shown it is possible to capture data on a one-second or less basis. “We did a case study for the Energy Storage Association showing that we’ve got less than five-minute response times down to one minute response times.”

To turn the discussion back to renewables, energy storage is typically considered a solution to a lack of generation. So it can store power for those times when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing. But under-generation is only one side of the only problem.

“Take California, for example. A lack of renewable-energy generation is not an issue as much as a loss of energy is at certain times because of overgeneration. The grid can’t keep up,” says Ko. “This is a concern with both solar and wind power. There are times when winds are being curtailed simply because there’s too much of it.”

He says that if California were to create the market for a virtual power plant, Stem could easily step in and use its energy storage systems to store that over-generation. “If the state allowed us to bid in, we could suck up that extra wind and solar power, rather than waste it. But the market doesn’t exist yet.

Nevertheless, the possibility is there, thanks to the benefits and many facets of energy storage,” he says. W

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E Q UIPMEN T Comfort-friendly fall-protection harness FallTech falltech.com The Advanced ComforTech Gel fall-protection harness provides an endoskeleton frame with a proprietary polymer gel for added support. The gel padding provides cushioning and energy absorption in critical pinch points, such as the shoulders and waist, to reduce fatigue and prevent injury. A CamLock torso adjuster allows for quick and easy one-handed adjustments that lock in place throughout the day. Plus, a hassle-free attachment point connects most singe or twin selfretracting device connectors to minimize back D-ring and shoulder pad downward slippage. The harness is rated to a 425-lb capacity, and meets OSHA 1910.269 & 1926 and ANSI Z359.1.-2014.

Portable filtration system

Multi-strand, down-tower cable Southwire southwire.com

Parker Hannifin http://solutions. parker.com/ AWEA2017

Southwire’s new multi-strand, high-quality aluminum cable is ideal for down-tower turbine applications. The cable is composed of a two-layer composite wall insulation, with an

Parker's portable

EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) inner layer and

AFS filtration

a CPE (Chlorinated Polyethylene) outer layer. Together, the

system is capable of handling onsite pre-filtration, polishing, and transfer of either hydraulic or gear fluid. AFS is equipped with an integrated particle count detector, and uses a highcapacity ModuFlow Plus filter for long element life and optimum filtration. Its compact design lets service personnel access critical hydraulic systems through passageways as small as 12 x 16", making it ideal for

layers contribute to the cable’s durability and flexibility. For example, the cable’s outer layer allows clamps to grip on securely for easy install. Its flexibility means the cable can connect to the electrical access boxes inside a tower without having an extra splice and connector, which eliminates excess cutting. The cable is also oil resistant, and made of 8000 Series Aluminum conductor per ASTM B800.

use in the cramped interior of a turbine nacelle. At only 85 lbs, AFS can be transported by two workers or lifted via a convenient eye hoist.

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E Q U I PME N T Safer aerial access

Turbine-blade ice detection

Bronto Skylift brontoskylift.com Bronto Skylift offers one of the largest machines available

Phoenix Contact phoenixcontact.com http://eologix.com/en

for tackling high-level access

Phoenix Contact intros Eologix’s

work on America’s wind

retrofit ice-detection sensor system

farms: the S 295 HLA (high-

that works on all types of wind-

level articulated) aerial crane.

turbine blades. The wireless system

Bronto’s S 295 HLA features

consists of a single receiving

a 295-ft. working height with

unit per turbine, and a number

a 104 ft. horizontal outreach.

of sensor devices that easily

When elevated, the S 295 can

mount on a blade’s surface. Extra

withstand winds speeds up

wires or drilling into a blade is

to 28 mph (12.5 m/s) and can

unnecessary. The system provides

lift up to 1,543 lbs of workers

surface temperature and early icing

and materials in an extendable

detection, even in a locked-rotor

12 x 3-ft. enclosed platform. With an overall weight of 110,300 pounds, the crane is

state. Sensors

made for quick and safe aerial access, and can be driven almost anywhere.

can also mount over heaters and control them for minimum

Reliable grid interconnection

downtime. A flexible, mini solar cell on each device ensures

ABB http://new.abb.com/ windpower

unlimited energy supply from ambient light.

Static Synhronous Compensator (STATCOM) technology helps wind farms adhere to the new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 827 passed in 2016. The FERC Order requires all newly interconnected non-synchronous generators, such as wind farms, to provide dynamic reactive power compensation at the high side of the generator substation as a condition of interconnection. A STATCOM installed at one or more suitable points in a grid will increase power-transfer capability by making grid interconnection smoother and more reliable. ABB offers a low and mediumvoltage modular VArPro STATCOM to fit wind farms of all sizes.

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E Q UIPMEN T High-vis glow gear Ergodyne ergodyne.com Visibility is important at wind sites. So is staying warm and dry when winds pick up or weather worsens. To keep workers seen and safe from the elements, Ergodyne adds to its GloWear Foul Weather Gear Series with two new hi-vis thermal jackets.

The GloWear 8381 Type R Class 3 Performance 3-in-1 Bomber Jacket prevents struck-by accidents with ANSI-compliant high visibility. Made of durable rip-stop fabric, this jacket provides options and can change with the temperature. Workers can choose to wear the complete jacket or zip out the liner for a weatherproof shell. For very cold days, Ergodyne’s new fleece-lined GloWear 8384 Type R Class 3 Thermal Parka has insulated, quilted sleeves that refuse to bunch or ride up. A dual-mic tab is included for clipping radios.

A battery-powered lift for tools & equipment Altitec altitec.co.uk/actsafe ActSafe ACX is a portable, battery-powered ascender, capable of lifting 100kg for more than 200 m of continuous ascension on a single charge. It provides safe rope access to wind techs who can use the lightweight, ACXpowered ascender for lifting tools and equipment during turbine install or

Deluxe borescope kit Gradient Lens gradientlens.com

maintenance. ActSafe ACX can reduce worker fatigue, physical strain, and injury. It features a closed self-locking rope grab, a remote control (with a range of up to 150 m), and a range of set-up options. For example, the ascender can work anchored,

The new Deluxe Kit for Hawkeye’s V2 Video Borescope includes a 4-way articulating V2 Videoscope, all standard V2 accessories, and the optional V2 Stand, V2 Rigidizer, 90º

free running, or in combination with a pulley system.

Prism Tip, and Close-Focus Tip. The Kits are available in 4 or 6mm, and lengths of 1.5, 3.0, or 6.0 m. The Deluxe Kits also come in a new Hawkeye V2 carrying case, which is injectionmolded with high-strength polypropylene copolymer resin. This means it is waterproof, and resistant to corrosion and impact damage.

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Unusual turbine design boasts of 75% capacity factor in medium winds MANY FACTORS WILL INFLUENCE THE SELECTION of a small wind system for a home or business. For example: How much noise does the system make? Are there safety concerns with moving turbine blades? Will it blend into the surrounding architecture?

And, perhaps most importantly, will the system perform well enough to sufficiently reduce energy costs?

Florida-based HEWS Technologies believes it can provide favorable answers based on its uniquely engineered wind-powered generator, the HEWS (or High-efficiency Wind System). HEWS is unlike conventional turbines in that it has no tower or exposed moving parts. In fact, its fan-like turbine is encased in an insulated and soundproof housing that can be custom-designed to blend in with rural or urban landscapes.

HEWS says it uses a free-stream airflow actuator that delivers uniform torque to the turbine, while simultaneously discharging airflow from the turbine space. The controlled and streamlined flow field reduces turbulence and induces a uniform wind stream to the turbine.

So how does it work? HEWS says the design produces a pressure differential between the front and back end of the turbine, inside a controlled and streamlined Venturi flow field. (The Venturi effect is the increase in air speed with a reduction in pressure that results when a fluid, in this case an airstream, flows through a constricted section). The induced pressure differential yields an accelerated, laminar higher power density airflow through the Venturi section of the flow field where the turbine is positioned.

An industrial turbine (or fan) with a high moment of inertia

extracts and converts the high-speed airflow into mechanical energy.

The turbine is coupled directly to a permanent-magnet generator.

Additionally, a high-frequency inverter is connected with the generator to produce stable usable (or sellable) electricity for the end user.

Essentially, HEWS says it activates and converts three energy sources: kinetic open flow (active intake) wind, potential energy open flow (passive intake), and potential energy ambient (passive airfoil) wind. And it’s been tested.

The HEWS A1, a 1-MW capacity prototype tested positively within the margin of error against all baselines (adjusted for turbulence factors), including pressure differential, mechanical power performance, and electrical energy output. The company reports that the system yielded a 75% (capacity factor) wind-to-mechanical power extraction at the rated wind speed of 10 m/s with a turbulence factor of 40%, and a 51.2% (512 W) wind-to-electrical energy output at an effective wind speed of 6 m/s at a turbulence factor of 40%.

According to its designers: “HEWS effectively places wind energy in the hands of the consumer and reduces reliance on utility electricity.

Its ergonomic design and demonstrated performance in turbulent wind environments means more wind power is converted to effective energy throughout the system’s 25 to 30-year operating lifetime.”

It also means, says the company, a sustainable reduction in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for the end user. The turbine’s designers add that the reduction in LCOE lets HEWS-generated electricity compete with horizontal and vertical-axis small wind turbines, and with utility electricity rates. W

HEWS says it is designed for optimal operating efficiency for distributed small and mediumscale plants and rooftop installations, below its 1-MW rated capacity.

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