All articles by Blatha
Blatha
Upskill and away
As the pace of renewable energy application hastens, so too does the drive to attract a skilled workforce, resulting in a global push to skill and upskill. Andrew Tunnicliffe speaks with Carmen Maria Alfonso Sanchez, senior manager, global training & development, at LM Wind Power.
The evolution of data management
Digital transformation is big news at Engie, the French energy giant of which the interests run from natural gas and wind to solar and nuclear. Between 2016 and 2019, it will spend €1.5 billion on more than 30 digital projects, but it is renewables where previous investments are already bearing fruit, as Damien Terrié, head of Engie’s Darwin project, tells James Lawson.
Gearing up
Gearbox failures and repairs can strike hard at a wind turbine project, leading to high replacement costs and unscheduled stops. Dr John Coultate from Romax Insight, Paul Baker from AeroTorque and Stefan Bill from REWITEC explain how new technology can help wind turbine operators to address the problem.
Pushing the limits
Test facilities are key to maintaining a strong wind industry, and Denmark has a unique set-up that allows the industry to set new international standards and push the limits for the modern wind turbine. Jan Hylleberg, CEO of the Danish Wind Industry Association, explains how Denmark achieved this wealth of knowledge and how its research is helping drive the industry.
Top priority
Safety at UK wind farms is under the spotlight after two workers were killed on the job. To learn what can be done, Julian Turner talks to Kate Harvey of the Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation, and David Flynn, an engineer working on a human-robotics hybrid solution for offshore farms.
Reliable and resilient
Renewable energy now makes up an increasing proportion of national electricity grids across the world. But many people might still have questions about how renewables, and wind energy in particular, fit into overall energy and power systems. Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association, explains how wind power plays its part.
The floating world
Planning permission has been granted for arrays of floating wind turbines off the Scottish coast with more projects in the works elsewhere. We examine how offshore floating wind projects could play an important role in the future of energy production.
Risk management
The offshore wind industry faces many challenges when it comes to health and safety, such as high-risk environments and remote locations. Jacques de Parscau, project engineer at DNV GL Energy, explains how the industry is changing to meet safety standards and how rigorous measures can be implemented at every stage to keep workers safe.
Sailing close to the wind
When Siemens began planning for the future of the offshore wind market, it needed options to move its enormous yet delicate turbine components. Richard Thomsen from Deugro Danmark and Bernd Eilitz from Siemens explain that the solution was to build two unusual bespoke wind cargo carrier ships.
Global growth
The global wind-power market is growing rapidly and creating opportunities in related fields such as operations and maintenance. We look at trends in the wind market using research insights from GlobalData.