All articles by Blatha
Blatha
Power to the people
The US wind sector is performing well, despite President Trump’s low regard for renewables, but its existing transmission system isn’t fit for purpose. Abi Millar talks to Sarah Bray from Clean Line Energy Partners – one of the companies attempting to distribute energy from windy regions to areas of high demand.
Home advantage
The Hywind project located 25km off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland is the world’s first full-scale floating wind farm. Constructed by Norwegian multinational Statoil, the 30MW facility will provide electricity for 20,000 homes and could be a game-changer for the floating wind power industry. Rumayna Vakarelska reports.
Boom time in the Baltic
Europe continues to blow away the competition when it comes to offshore wind development, with the Baltic region in particular enjoying a mini-boom, spurred on by WindEurope’s Baltic Sea Task Force. However, challenges remain in terms of regulation, adoption and grid investment. James Lawson reports.
Raising the standards
Andrew Tunnicliffe speaks with Kate Harvey, general manager of the G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation, about the company’s work to improve safety in the offshore wind farm environment, how the challenges have evolved and how they are being met.
Storage wars
Renewables have less inertia than the large turbines used by coal, gas and nuclear, meaning grid frequency changes faster when demand and supply are out of balance. Advancements in battery storage technology and increased competition could be the answer to the UK’s increasingly inflexible and intermittent electricity supply, as James Lawson reports.
Another windy city
New York is positioning itself to be the US capital of wind power. Andrew Tunnicliffe examines its difficult history, and looks forward to what might lie ahead.
Powering up
The wind power market witnessed significant growth from 2006 to 2016. Global installed capacity reached 496.7GW in 2016 and is expected to hit 1,024.1GW by 2025. GlobalData reports.
Reach new heights
In May 2018, wind industry professionals from across the globe will gather in Chicago, US, for AWEA WINDPOWER – the largest wind energy conference and exhibition in the Western Hemisphere.