Author: Francesco Miceli
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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…
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A mind map for BoP
Yesterday while I was traveling to meet my family in Italy I started thinking at how a mind map for the BoP would look like. Luckily the train had a free internet connection and I have found a bunch of website helping you to create a mind map online (for this particular exercise I have…
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Vortex bladeless wind turbines
I have always seen the wind induced vortexes as a problem – they create vibrations in the tower, that in some cases can start to resonate with the eigenfrequencies (the natural frequencies of the structure) and in the most extreme cases even collapse. The existence of such vibrations is one of the reasons why it looks…
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How many of us are there? Wind energy sector employees
It is no secret that the wind business is going through a turbulent period, with several players in the sectors experiencing a tough time. I was wondering how many people are currently employed in Wind and I have found this interesting report from IRENA (the International Renewable Energy Agency). I have discovered several interesting things:…