Author: Francesco Miceli
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Blades repair – how to fix it
I have discussed in other posts why wind turbines blades are prone to different type of damages and how to detect them. But what happen when a problem is identified? Changing the blade is usually the “last recourse” option: in addition to the cost of the blade itself there are the transportation costs plus the…
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Where have all the wind turbine gone? Foldable towers
In previous post some years ago I have described two alternative solution for the wind turbine tower that should help solving the problem of the huge cranes that are currently needed for the erection of the wind turbines components. One is the self-lifting precast tower developed by Esteyco, a Spanish engineering company that developed several…
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Wind turbine blade damage detection systems
Wind turbine blades are rarely subject to catastrophic failures, although you can find a bunch of videos on YouTube with blades flying away or falling into pieces. They are however subject to several problems, such as cracks, debonding of the various layers, internal delamination, etc. As an order of magnitude blade failures are accountable for…
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Taking over – it really matters
One of most the relevant milestones in the life of a wind farm is the taking over. It happens when the contractual requirements for the wind farm are considered fulfilled by the subcontractor, except for smaller items that are noted in a “punch list” and have to be fixed as soon as possible. The requirements…
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How good is the wind farm you are working at? Some indicators
So, how good is the wind farm you are working at? There are several parameters that can be used to assess a renewable energy project and to compare different projects. Among the most used, it is worth mentioning the Capacity Factor, NPV, IRR and LCOE. Capacity Factor is the ratio between the actual energy production…
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What do you call it? Basic terminology in wind farm construction
Lately I have found several high quality videos on YouTube with time lapses of wind farms constructions. I have decided to take some screenshots and use them to create a very basic BoP visual dictionary. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger. Enjoy! Crane and auxiliary crane lifting a steel tower section: A…
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Slingers & trenching machines in wind farms: a guest post by Christopher James
After posting this article on Slingers I have been contacted by Christopher James, an expert on the topic with an exceptional amount of real world experience. He has been so kind to share is knowledge on the theme and I am thankful for that. I am sharing it with you in the very comprehensive post below…
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Can a rotor be smart? Passive optimization systems
The spectacular growth of the dimension of the wind turbine has led to the introduction of several interesting technical solutions. Different type of towers (concrete, hybrid, lattice, self-erecting, etc.) and new technical solutions for the foundations appeared in the last decade, trying to have the lowest possible cost of energy. The rotor of the turbine…
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Second life: the destiny of turbine foundations after decommissioning
I have discussed in another article the challenges associated with the disposal of the blades when a wind farm is decommissioned or repowered. But what happen to the foundations? The destiny of a foundation will depends on local regulations, on the environmental requirements that are normally given with building permits and on the wish of…
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Good vibrations: wind induced resonance and turbines oscillations
Have you ever wondered why sometimes the wind turbines (and other similar tall structure) sometime vibrate? Under some conditions the wind blowing on the tower create vortices. These vortices appears regularly on both sides of the tower, creating low pressure zones first on one side and then in the other. For these reason the tower…