Genel
Measuring Rotor Blades with Lasers
By Torsten Wohlert, Deutsche Windtechnik Service, Germany
Deutsche Windtechnik has been measuring wind turbine rotor blades using a laser-based blade angle procedure since 2015. The company has discovered serious shortcomings on some of the 273 Vestas turbines examined to date. Where the relative blade angle deviations were 0.5 of a degree or more, the service technicians corrected the settings. This makes the wind turbines run more quietly, ensures less strain on the material and reduces wear.
Deutsche Windtechnik is to carry out measurements on all the wind turbines it maintains as part of a full maintenance contract that includes large components. This year the service provider will be checking the Vestas, NEG Micon and Siemens wind turbines. Similar examination of offshore wind turbines will follow. Badly adjusted rotor blades can easily lead to undesired vibration of the blades and drive-train, which eventually has an impact on the tower and foundations. This is why Deutsche Windtechnik was the first manufacturer-independent service provider to purchase a laser-based rotor blade measuring device at the beginning of 2014.
Tests and Evaluation Procedure
After extensive tests, which took nine months in all, and adjustments made in collaboration with the manufacturer, Deutsche Windtechnik began using the procedure on the turbines it maintains in March 2015. The company started with the Vestas type V90/V80 wind turbines, because they are particularly susceptible to rotor blade and tower vibration due to their long rotor blades of up to 125 metres. To verify the new measurement method, Deutsche Windtechnik compared the measurements using the new blade angle procedure with the results of the blade template method that it has been using to increase yield since 2007. Various aspects of both methods are compared in Table 1.
Higher Yields with the Blade Template Method
The blade template method involves the service technicians fixing templates to the rotor blades and then turning them to the mechanical limit stop. They then measure the actual deviation to this value and adjust where necessary. Here it is important to always ensure correct calibration of the wind turbine’s pitch sensors regardless of the base settings of the blades. This method is especially used to influence the performance curve of the wind turbine in a controlled manner and to increase the yield, because with the template the blades are optimised to a specific value. Using this approach also allows the aerodynamic imbalance to be reduced, resulting in less blade and tower vibration, and thus protecting the system components. Deutsche Windtechnik has used the blade template method for measuring Nordtank, NEG Micon and Vestas turbines since the company was founded in November 2007. However, the time needed and the downtimes for this measurement method are four times
hose for the laser-based procedure. A further disadvantage is the number of personnel needed: while a person can carry out the laser-based blade measurement procedure on their own, the blade template procedure requires three people.
Less Wear with the Blade Angle Method
The laser-based blade angle method is not so much about the yield; this procedure is aimed more at reducing wear and increasing the availability of the wind turbine. To take the measurements, the Deutsche Windtechnik service technicians direct two laser points at the blades and the tower while the turbine is in operation (Figure 1). They create an individual profile for each rotor blade (Figure 2) and determine the relative deviation of the blade angle by means of profile comparison. Because the service team measures the difference between the three rotor blade angles both at the blade root and at the blade tip, in addition to the relative deviations the method can calculate the twist as the difference between the blade root and the blade tip data. The twist should balance different angles of attack along the length of the rotor blade. If the twist of a blade deviates too much it can be an indication of poor production quality or that the surface has been altered as a result of repair work.
Corrective Action
For the correction of the blade angle, Deutsche Windtechnik factors in the result from the blade root, because this is where most of the measurements are generated. With hub heights of up to 125 metres and rated capacities of up to 2MW, Deutsche Windtechnik recommends correction where there is a blade angle deviation of half a degree or more. For this class of turbine, the company considers that urgent action is needed if the deviation is 1 degree or more. In the case of larger turbines with larger rated capacities, adjustment is in fact needed when the deviations are smaller. The evaluation is quick and straightforward and can be done directly on site. One person can take the measurements within an hour while the turbine is still in operation, thus minimising any downtime. The subsequent adjustment of wind turbines with either pitch or active stall control also takes only a few hours. More time is required for stall-controlled turbines because the pitching of the blades requires greater mechanical effort (see Table 1). As with the blade template procedure, the correct adjustment of the rotor blades reduces the aerodynamic imbalance, thus minimising blade and tower vibration (Figure 3). Because the loads travel from the rotor blades over the drive-train, mainframe and tower down to the foundation, a proper adjustment will protect all the mechanical components. This ensures less wear and high availability.
The Need for Early Measurement
Because great attention is paid to lightweight construction with modern designs, and with an ever-increasing size of wind turbines, it is all the more important to operate a turbine with the correct mechanical settings in order to reduce undesired loads. So that no components fail in the first place, Deutsche Windtechnik recommends control measurements as early as possible using the laser-based procedure, and ideally soon after commissioning. In most cases it is sufficient to measure each turbine just once. If, however, any adjustable components – such as pitch cylinders – are replaced during the operating period, subsequent measurements may be necessary.
Deviations on 117 Turbines
While measuring 2MW Vestas V90/V80 turbines since 2015, Deutsche Windtechnik has discovered massive problems with some of them. Of the 273 turbines measured, 68 exhibited blade angle deviations of half a degree or more. Another 49 turbines were, found to have deviations of 1 degree and more. Deutsche Windtechnik sees urgent need for action in such cases.
Long Rotor Blades Are Particularly Susceptible
Because Vestas turbines have very long rotor blades and hub heights of up to 125 metres, they are particularly susceptible to strong vibrations in the tower and the rotor blades. Because they are generally smaller, fewer problems are expected with the Siemens turbines measured since the beginning of 2016. Offshore turbines, on the other hand, are subjected to much harsher conditions, which also increases wear. They are to be measured using a similar procedure at a future date.
Even if they do not have a full maintenance contract, operators can order this service from Deutsche Windtechnik. The company offers laser-based blade angle measurement for around € 500 per wind turbine throughout Europe.
Extended Maintenance Concepts
To further reduce wear, Deutsche Windtechnik also ensures that the vibration absorber in the tower is ideally adjusted. To this end the company has expanded the scope of its annual and semi-annual maintenance. This holistic approach further reduces the ageing of the components.
Torsten Wohlert has been at Deutsche Windtechnik Service GmbH & Co. KG in Ostenfeld since 2007. After establishing the service concept for Vestas turbines he headed the E l e c t r i c a l Components and Technical Support departments. The 44-yearold has been head of the Engineering Department at Deutsche Windtechnik Service GmbH since 2012.
All of the electricity consumed by Amazon’s operations, including its data centers, was matched with 100% renewable energy in 2023.
x In 2019, we set a goal to match all of the electricity consumed across Amazon’s global operations—including our data centers, corporate buildings, grocery stores and fulfillment centers—with 100% renewable energy by 2030. Today, we’re proud to share that we’ve met that goal seven years ahead of schedule. To get there, we’ve become the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world for four years running, according to Bloomberg NEF, and have invested billions of dollars in more than 500 solar and wind projects globally, which together are capable of generating enough energy to power the equivalent of 7.6 million U.S. homes.
Achieving this goal is an important milestone in our efforts to meet our Climate Pledge commitment of net-zero carbon by 2040. Looking ahead, we remain as committed as ever to getting there, but the path is changing in ways that no one quite anticipated even just a few years ago – driven largely by the increasing demand for generative AI. This will require different sources of energy than we originally projected, so we’ll need to be nimble and continue evolving our approach as we work toward net-zero carbon.
While we’ll continue investing heavily to add substantial amounts of renewable energy to our portfolio, we’re also exploring new carbon-free energy sources that can complement renewables and balance our needs. We’ve known from the start that our path to net-zero would have many obstacles and need to be adjusted for changes to both our business and the world. Nevertheless, as with all of our long-term goals, we remain optimistic and focused on achieving them.
“Reaching our renewable energy goal is an incredible achievement, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done to get here, seven years early. We also know that this is just a moment in time, and our work to decarbonize our operations will not always be the same each year—we’ll continue to make progress, while also constantly evolving on our path to 2040,” said Amazon Chief Sustainability Officer Kara Hurst. “Our teams will remain ambitious, and continue to do what is right for our business, our customers, and the planet. That’s why we’ll continue investing in solar and wind projects, while also supporting other forms of carbon-free energy, like nuclear, battery storage, and emerging technologies that can help power our operations for decades to come.”
“By achieving its 100% renewable energy goal, Amazon has made it possible for hundreds of new solar and wind projects to be constructed, bringing new sources of clean energy to grids and communities around the world,” said Kyle Harrison, head of sustainability research at BloombergNEF. “Addressing climate change while balancing society’s skyrocketing energy demands is a massive challenge, and Amazon’s commitment to clean power demonstrates how a single company can help accelerate the transition to the low-carbon economy on a global scale.”
Amazon renewable energy
Here’s a look at just a few of our newest renewable energy projects around the world.
Amazon’s renewable energy highlight
Since 2019, we’ve enabled renewable energy projects in 27 countries. In fact, we were the first corporation to enable utility-scale renewable energy projects in India, Greece, South Africa, Japan, and Indonesia, among other countries. To accomplish this, Amazon worked with policymakers to enable first-of-their-kind policies to help corporations support the construction of new solar and wind projects in these countries. The use of renewable energy has also been incorporated across Amazon’s broader corporate footprint. Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters in Virginia was designed to run with zero operational carbon emissions, and its electricity consumption is matched by a local solar farm. In addition to utility-scale projects, we’ve also enabled almost 300 on-site solar projects on the rooftops and properties of Amazon fulfillment centers, Whole Foods Market stores, and other corporate buildings around the world. In total, Amazon’s renewable energy portfolio will help avoid an estimated 27.8 million tons of carbon per year once all projects are operational.
Launching Mississippi’s first wind farm, supporting local residents while helping power Amazon data centers
Operations recently began at Delta Wind, the first utility-scale wind farm in Mississippi, which is generating carbon-free energy to help power Amazon’s nearby operations, including future data centers. The project includes some of the tallest land-based wind turbines in the U.S., allowing the project to optimize energy production. The project is hosted on 14,000 acres of farmland owned by Abbot Myers, a third generation farmer who receives revenue from the project’s developer, AES. This has helped Myers purchase new farm equipment and expand his rice and soybean crops. Amazon also recently announced a first-of-its-kind deal with local Mississippi utility company Entergy to enable 650 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy projects in the state over the next three years, and provides funding for future upgrades to local grid and energy infrastructure over the next two decades. Amazon is now poised to enable a total of 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy projects through a combination of new solar and wind farms being built across the state.
Enabling nearly 1.7 GW of offshore wind—more than any company in the World
Enabling nearly 1.7 GW of offshore wind—more than any company in the World
Amazon is supporting nearly 1.7 GW of capacity across six offshore wind farms in Europe that, once fully operational, are expected to produce enough energy to power 1.8 million average European homes. These projects make Amazon the top corporate purchaser of offshore wind globally. Offshore wind is able to generate significant amounts of energy due to the consistent flow of ocean breezes, and has the potential to meet more than one-third of global power needs, according to the United Nations. Amazon is also working with developers focused on optimizing wind turbine technology, which helps maximize the amount of electricity produced. Last year, the Amazon-Shell HKN Offshore Wind Project, or HKN, became the first offshore wind farm enabled by Amazon to begin operations. The project spans two locations off the coast of the Netherlands, and boasts more than 750 MW of renewable energy capacity.
Growing renewable energy opportunities in the Asia Pacific region
Amazon has enabled more than 80 renewable energy projects across the Asia Pacific region to date, including 50 projects across India, and projects in countries including Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea. In Japan specifically, Amazon is announcing our first onshore wind farm and standalone utility-scale solar project—a 33 MW wind project located in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, as well as a 9.5 MW solar farm located in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture.Amazon is the largest corporate purchaser in Japan, with a total of 20 projects enabled to date. The projects include 14 onsite solar installations on rooftops of local Amazon buildings, and six offsite wind and solar projects.
While there has been a surge in solar projects in Japan, with solar accounting for nearly 10% of Japan’s energy mix in 2022, the mountainous terrain in the country covering over 70% of land has led to limited space to build large utility-scale energy projects. This is why aggregated solar projects—where many smaller, distributed projects are bundled into one larger power purchase agreement (PPA)—have worked well in Japan. In 2021, Amazon enabled the country’s first utility-scale aggregated solar project to be backed by a corporate PPA. Since then, we’ve engaged with Japanese industry groups and policy stakeholders to help expand corporate renewable energy procurement options in the country.
Modernizing the grid to deliver new carbon-free energy
An important part of Amazon’s renewable energy investments includes work to improve the grid, which needs to be modernized in order to deliver energy from new solar, wind and other carbon-free energy projects to users. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world must add or replace 80 million kilometers of grids by 2040 to meet climate targets, and more than 1,500 GW of renewables projects are waiting in the queue globally. To help address this, teams across Amazon are engaging with energy regulators to find new ways to support grid modernization, remove permitting obstacles, and deploy grid enhancing technologies. We also co-founded the Emissions First Partnership, a coalition of energy purchasers focused on encouraging renewable energy investments in regions with grids that are primarily fueled by fossil fuel energy sources.
There are teams of Amazonians around the world working on projects like these every day because, with operations as broad and complex as ours, there’s no easy way or single path to get to net zero carbon. But we love taking on big challenges and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made so far.
New report outlines route for global supply chain resilience and growth, based on industry and government cooperation
Bottlenecks in the global wind industry supply chain could leave the world with only three-quarters of the wind energy installations needed for a 1.5°C pathway by 2030, i.e. a 650 GW gap to meet climate targets. The supply chains in the wind sector for minerals, components and key enabling infrastructure like ports and platforms are not fit-for-purpose for a net zero world, where today’s global installed wind fleet must scale up by roughly three times by the end of the decade.
Solutions exist, but require stronger collaboration between government and industry, as well as among supply chain actors themselves, according to a new report “Mission Critical: Building the global wind energy supply chain for a 1.5°C world” from the Global Wind Energy Council, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group. The report assesses the implications for energy transition policy across four future macroeconomic scenarios by 2030, and how broader global developments like rising inflation and open-door trade versus increased trade barriers will impact the wind supply chain landscape, market size and sustainability of industry returns.
The first-of-its-kind comprehensive analysis across key components and materials in the sector finds that the wind supply chain is highly globalised, with a strong focus in China for rare earth element refining and component manufacturing in particular. A resetting of political priorities towards industrial resilience and security in many areas of the world, including Europe and the US, in addition to increasing market volatility, poses risks for creating a competitive and sufficiently scaledup global supply chain. Policy and regulatory issues around permitting, grids, investment certainty and localisation are also holding back volume in the wind pipeline, which could otherwise send positive demand signals for supply chains to scale.
“This is a watershed moment for getting trade and industrial policy in shape for a 1.5°C world. Wind energy will form the backbone of the future energy system based on renewables, but in order to enable a tripling of the world’s wind installations by 2030 we require a globalised, secure and competitive supply chain.Governments must work with the industry and the industry must work together to ensure the sector meets the enormous demand for clean and secure energy within this decade. Investment in supply chains has seen setbacks in many regions of the world, largely caused by challenges in policy, regulation and market design while industry itself needs to step up to the climate emergency by embracing standardisation with more global and modular technology design. Everyone has a role to play in this mission to create stronger and more resilient supply chains for the energy transition.”
Ben Backwell, Global Wind Energy Council CEO
“The wind industry manufacturing footprint must be able to do two very different things at the same time, deliver on the projected industry output (ramping up to 190 GW in 2030) and prepare to support the 1.5° transition which would require 70% more capacity (320 GW in 2030).”
Lars Holm, Partner and Director at BCG’s Centre for Energy Impact
The report explores the impact of four different macroeconomic scenarios, and how the wind industry can best navigate uncertainty and change in the global market. An ‘Open Door’ approach would yield the highest net positive impact in wind growth to reach climate goals, but the report anticipates the ‘Increased Barriers’ scenario as the most likely to materialise in this decade.
1)An Open Door scenario with growing regional collaboration on both supply and demand.
2)An Increased Barriers scenario where mar- kets increase trade barriers and turn attention towards domestic investment.
3)Economic Downturn where investments dry up and attention focuses towards low- cost rather than low-emission technology.
4)Global Escalation where increasing cross-border conflict reduces trade and shifts energy focus from decarbonisation towards availability.
The report outlines six key action areas that would set the conditions for large-scale wind supply chain growth and security:
- Address basic barriers to wind industry growth in land, grids and permitting to increase volume and predictability
- The wind industry must standardise and industrialise
- Regionalisation will be needed to support growth and resilience, while maintaining a globalised supply chain
- The market must provide clear and bankable demand signals
- Trade policy should aim to build competitive industries, not push higher costs onto end users
- Fundamental reform of the power market reform underpins further wind growth
Through a coordinated global effort from industry and policymakers, challenges in the global wind supply chain can be resolved over the course of this decade. Actions taken now in these six areas will help to foster a highly resilient and cost-efficient wind industry to decarbonise the world.
About GWEC
GWEC is a member-based organisation that represents the entire wind energy sector. The members of GWEC represent over 1,500 companies, organisations and institutions in more than 80 countries, including manufacturers, developers, component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies.
Find us at: https://gwec.net/
Genel
TotalEnergies Awarded a 20-year Contract to Supply 1.3 GW+ of Renewable Electricity to New Jersey
TotalEnergies and its partner Corio Generation (Corio) announce that the State of New Jersey selected their Attentive Energy Two offshore wind project for a 20-year contract to supply 1.34 GW of renewable electricity to the state. The project will deliver renewable power to over 650,000 homes.
Attentive Energy Two, a joint venture between TotalEnergies (70%) and Corio (30%), received the award in the State’s third competitive OREC (Offshore Renewable Energy Credits) solicitation, organized by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The development of the project is expected to provide up to $105 million in community investments across the state, and the partners are aiming for commissioning in 2031.
The profitability of the project is ensured by the guaranteed level of OREC revenue, with a first year set price of $131 per MWh after the start of commercial operations, inflated yearly by 3%, and the benefit of a 30% IRA tax credit. The contract awarded by the NJBPU also includes a one-time inflation adjustment mechanism to compensate for changes in construction costs environment until the final investment decision.
“We are honored that the State of New Jersey chose Attentive Energy Two to deliver reliable green electricity to New Jersey residents while contributing to the local economy and offshore wind supply chain. This is another success for us in the US electricity business, following the provisional award in October 2023 of a 25-year supply contract by the State of New York to our Attentive Energy One project,” said Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President Renewables at TotalEnergies. “Both Attentive Energy One and Two will support our operations in the attractive US power market, where we are developing a portfolio of more than 25 GW of flexible and renewable projects. They will also help us achieve our profitability target for this business segment of 12% ROACE by 2028, as well as our ambition of delivering more than 100 TWh of power generation by 2030.”
“The award of this long-term contract is a great achievement for Attentive Energy and great news for the people of New Jersey,” said Jonathan Cole, CEO of Corio Generation. “The Attentive Energy Two project will deliver clean, green energy to hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents and stimulate billions of dollars of regional investment.”
In February 2022, TotalEnergies secured maritime lease OCS-A 0538 at the New York Bight auction. It then partnered with New York-based electricity producer Rise and global offshore wind developer Corio to join forces in the development of the Attentive Energy offshore wind projects. In addition to the Attentive Energy Two project in New Jersey, the lease’s 3 GW capacity will serve the Attentive Energy One project in New York, which was provisionally awarded a 25-year contract to supply 1.4 GW of renewable electricity to New York in October 2023. These two projects aim to provide green electricity to more than a million homes across both states.
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