All articles by chris cox
chris cox
Is the UK Government suffering from commitment phobia?
Engineering giants Siemens, Samsung and Mitsubishi have all shown interest in the UK’s offshore wind sector but, due to mixed governmental messages, none have yet made a concrete investment. Elly Earls meets RenewableUK’s Nick Medic to find out what the government can do, and how the move could improve port infrastructure and the UK economy as a whole.
Hope floats: an alternative to fixed turbines
While floating turbines offer massive offshore potential, there are numerous technical hurdles to overcome that do not affect their fixed counterparts. Dr Matthew A Lackner from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Sébastien Gueydon of MARIN tell Mark Brierley about their research into designing and modelling the performance of floating turbines.
A vast array of knowledge: lessons learned from the world’s largest offshore wind farm
The world’s largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, but the London Array’s developers are already looking ahead to newer, bigger projects. Jim Banks speaks to DONG Energy’s Benj Sykes about how the construction team overcame the challenges of building such a significant installation and the important lessons they have taken away from the build.
Steering a course through offshore wind energy regulations
The offshore wind energy sector is developing so fast that regulators can’t keep up. Elly Earls meets Germanischer Lloyd’s Jan Schreiber to find out how shipowners, operators and yards can successfully navigate this complex and contradictory environment.
Making a big splash: offshore-safety training
More than 600 delegates were trained in firefighting and helicopter-ditching survival in a safety programme developed by NASA and Petrofac. Sarah Blackman talks to Cindy Hendershot, program manager at Raytheon Technical Services, about the plans to teach these safety skills to offshore workers to help them prepare for potential life-threatening situations.
US wind goes from strength to strength
The wind energy industry is surpassing US expectations blow by blow, with utility companies throughout the country now vying for a piece of the action. Carl Levesque of AWEA reports on the sector’s affordability, popularity and seemingly unstoppable growth.
Capacity for growth: the wind tower market
The global wind energy market expanded significantly in 2012 and is set to experience steady growth over the next seven years. Here, GlobalData assesses the wind tower market to 2020 in terms of size, segmentation, competitive landscape and key country analysis.
Denmark’s wind industry: a flurry of activity
Denmark’s wind industry has performed well over the past few years, making the country a necessary port of call when working in the offshore wind sector, explains Jan Hylleberg, CEO of the Danish Wind Industry Association.