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2 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

INSIDE
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING
& DEVELOPMENT // VOL. 14 NO. 1

20

30 COVER STORY

Innovation in floating wind will be

crucial to the future of offshore
Operational efficiency and technology options will continue
to evolve over time. The challenge is to remain open to

08 24 innovation and look for continued improvement without

impeding progress. Cover image credit: BW Ideol, V. Joncheray

IN EVERY ISSUE FEATURES

04 CONTRIBUTORS

05 WINDWATCH
08 Weather awareness
As the offshore industry moves
Some interesting product and policy into harsher environments
news from our website. with increasingly challenging
extreme weather conditions,
07 WIND WORK AROUND THE UNITED STATES the ability to accurately monitor
On- and offshore wind project announcements the meteorological conditions
from across the country. that impact daily operations is
critical to safety and success.
20 AI and machine learning
Increasing the confidence of
where to site a wind farm,
based on technological
components and
meteorological observations,
will be achieved by relying
on artificial intelligence and
machine learning techniques.

2022 LEADERSHIP 14 Tailored solutions

IN WIND ENERGY
The U.S. wind industry is growing into new
markets. Success would not be possible
without the ingenuity and determination
of these leaders.
PAGE 33
It is imperative that U.S. offshore
projects take into account
every site’s fabrication and port
capabilities, O&M options and
local content requirements
and thoughtfully interweave
sustainable solutions.
24 Fewer parts and pieces
Harnessing innovative and new
design techniques are essential
to reducing construction costs,
shortening project timelines
and moving toward a more
sustainable, lean and profitable
industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 www.windpowerengineering.com WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 3

 F E B RUARY 2 0 2 2
CONTRIBUTORS WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
ALEX BALDASSANO GARY BILLS
MARK GOALEN
ALEX BALDASSANO is the global head of energy
transition for Climavision, responsible for managing
relationships with key clients and developing new
opportunities. Baldassano is an innovative renewable
energy leader with over 15 years of domain
expertise. He brings a mastery of the complex energy
ecosystem and proven business development track
record to the team. Before joining Climavision,
Baldassano was Wood Mackenzie’s head of energy
management for the energy transition practice; a
business he co-founded in 2010. In that capacity
he led the renewables, electricity and natural gas
consulting business. He also formulated restructuring
and integration plans for two internal acquisitions, as
well as creating green energy product offerings for
over 30 North American energy suppliers.
With over 15 years of experience in the renewables
sector, GARY BILLS is the Regional Director for
EMEA at K2 Management. Having worked in a range
of engineering design, business development and
consultancy roles, he is responsible now for the
commercial activities of the business division and
business development activities inside the EMEA
territory.
4 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com
THOMAS DAHLGREN
MIKKO NIKKANEN
THOMAS DAHLGREN is president and CEO of
COWI North America, a leading consulting group
that creates value for customers, people and society
through its unique 360° approach.
MARK GOALEN is a MEng Naval Architect and
Chartered Engineer with 17 years of experience
in project engineering and management, subsea
construction, vessel modification, consultancy work,
design engineering and tendering. He started
his career with a large multi-national installation
contractor, prior to specializing in technical
consultancy. He combines this wide-ranging
experience to understand project risks, restraints and
demands with use of technical knowledge to guide
decision making. Today, Mark Goalen is director of
offshore engineering for Houlder.
MIKKO NIKKANEN is the head of maritime at
Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental and
industrial measurements where he brings more than
20 years of global experience in leadership, business
development and solution creation in various
industries and application areas.
FEBRUARY 2022
 WIND WATCH
W H AT ’ S N E W
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
Ørsted
Biden Administration auctioning 7 GW of
offshore wind leases off New York coast
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is
scheduled to hold an auction in February for more
than 480,000 acres offshore of New York and New
Jersey for wind development. The lease area is split
into six sections that could result in 5.6 to 7 GW
of offshore wind energy. BOEM initially asked for
information and nominations of commercial interest
for 1.7 million acres in the New York Bight but
reduced the acreage by 72% to avoid conflicts with
ocean users and minimize environmental impacts.
FEBRUARY 2022
FEBRUARY 2022
Leasing sections of the Bight will require
developers to engage with Tribal communities,
underserved communities, the regional
commercial fishing industry and other ocean
users throughout project development. There
are also lessee stipulations for developing a U.S.
supply chain for offshore wind, using domestically
manufactured components and hiring union labor
for construction.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 5
 WIND WATCH
W H AT ’ S N E W | C O N T I N U E D
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
BOEM assessing California
coast for offshore wind
development
Expanding potential U.S. offshore wind development
to the West Coast, the BOEM released a draft
Environmental Assessment on impacts development
could have on the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA)
off the coast of California. The Humboldt WEA is
about 206 sq. miles of ocean that could host up to 1.6
GW of offshore wind. BOEM is also preparing a draft
Environmental Assessment for potential impacts of
offshore wind leasing in federal waters in the Gulf of
Mexico.
New York commits $500
million to offshore wind
infrastructure
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in early
January a plan to invest $500 million in offshore
wind and related supply chain infrastructure in
the state. The investment supports state plans to
develop enough offshore wind to power at least 1.5
million homes (about 2 GW) with offshore wind and
create 2,000 new jobs. Construction on the state’s
first offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind Farm, is
supposed to start in early 2022.
WANT MORE NEWS?
VISIT US AT WWW.WINDPOWERENGINEERING.COM/CATEGORY/NEWS
6 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com
FEBRUARY 2022
New Jersey solicits
offshore transmission
line development
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities solicited
project proposals for subsea transmission lines to
prepare the East Coast power grid for potential
buildout of 7.5 GW of offshore wind by 2035.
Companies like Con Edison Transmission and Atlantic
Power Transmission submitted bids for buried electric
transmission lines. Solicitation for the project closed
in September 2021 and will be followed by months of
deliberation, with a final board decision coming in Q3
or Q4 of 2022.
Hyundai floating offshore
wind foundation receives
testing approval
Hyundai Heavy Industries has designed an offshore
floating wind substructure, Hi-FLoat, that is designed
to support a 10-MW turbine with semi-submersible
and mooing technology. Bureau Veritas, a testing,
inspection and certification service, approved HHI
to develop Hi-Float. Bottom-fixed offshore wind
installations are common, however, unlike bottom-fixed,
floating foundations are designed to be deployed in
deep water zones.
FEBRUARY 2022
 WIND WORK AROUND THE
UNITED STATES A selection of recently completed wind projects.
1-GW project portfolio begins
commercial operation
New Mexico
Pattern Energy Group started commercial
operation of Western Spirit Wind, a group
of four wind farms totaling more than
1,050 MW located in Guadalupe, Lincoln
and Torrance counties in New Mexico.
Blattner Energy erected the 377 GE
turbines.
EDP Renewables repowers portion of
423-MW wind farm
Oklahoma
EDP Renewables North America
repowered the second phase of Blue
Canyon Wind Farm in Kiowa and Caddo
counties, Oklahoma, extending the
project’s lifespan by 20 to 30 years.
For this phase, 73 of 84 turbines were
replaced, including each turbine’s nacelle,
blades and top tower sections.
FEBRUARY 2022
Greenback Renewable Energy
Avangrid Renewables develops
80-MW New York project
New York
Avangrid Renewables brought online
a 79.7-MW wind farm in Martinsburg,
New York, in late 2021. Roaring Brook
Wind Farm is composed of 20 wind
turbines spread across approximately
4,700 acres that will power more than
31,000 homes.
Amazon buys power from Southern
Power’s 118-MW wind farm
Oklahoma
Southern Power developed its fifth
wind farm in Oklahoma, a 118-MW facility
in Murray County. Glass Sands Wind
Facility uses 28 Vestas wind turbines.
Power generated by the facility is being
sold to Amazon under a power purchase
agreement.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
Cordelio Power completes 185-MW
Glacier Sands project
Illinois
Cordelio Power constructed a 185-MW
wind project in Mason County, Illinois.
Glacier Sands wind farm sites 43 Vestas
V150.43 wind turbines and has reached
commercial operation. The wind farm is
selling 100% of its power to tech giant
Microsoft.
EDP Renewables powers on 302-MW
wind farm in Indiana
Indiana
EDP Renewables North America
developed the 302-MW Indiana
Crossroads Wind Farm in White County,
Indiana. The 72 4.2-MW Vestas turbines
were installed by White Construction,
an IEA subsidiary. The facility will
service Northern Indiana Public Service
Company customers.
Leeward Renewable Energy repowers
legacy wind farm in Illinois
Illinois
Leeward Renewable Energy repowered
the Crescent Ridge Wind Project in
Tiskilwa, Illinois, bringing the facility to
54.4 MW. Leeward decommissioned
nine turbines, repowered 24 legacy
turbines and constructed four new
Vestas turbines. Global retailer Amazon
is the sole energy offtaker on the
project.
Greenbacker Renewable Energy
finishes modest Maine project
Maine
Greenbacker Renewable Energy
constructed RoxWind, a 15.3-MW wind
farm in Roxbury, Maine. The wind farm
is made of four 3.8-MW GE turbines.
Greenbacker acquired the project from
Palmer Capital in 2020.
7
 How offshore
weather
awareness
enhances safety
and optimizes
operations
By Mikko Nikkanen • Head of Maritime at Vaisala
As wind energy continues to play
an increasingly important role
in future energy systems, developers
are turning to offshore locations with
inherently stronger, more consistent and
more abundant winds to maximize the
value of their projects.
Just last year, investment in offshore
wind surpassed $300 billion, according
to the Global Wind Energy Council, and
the global wind energy industry grew by
more than 53% from 2019 to 2020. With
offshore wind continuing its rapid growth,
turbines are growing taller and offshore
sites are becoming more expansive in
order to generate more energy.
However, as the wind industry
expands farther from coastlines, larger
8 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
turbines and deeper waters make
weather intelligence even more critical for
operational decision-making. The safety
of staff and offshore assets is critical, and
without immediate, accurate data across
a range of crucial weather parameters,
including wind, thunderstorms, lightning
and sea conditions, operational safety is
at risk and costly delays are likely.
New environments
bring new challenges
Offshore environments are challenging to
work in. From their hard-to-access, remote
locations to the demanding environmental
conditions at these locations, the
development of offshore wind farms faces
several operational challenges that can
www.windpowerengineering.com
result in costly delays and safety risk.
In offshore wind farm build-up and
maintenance operations, strong winds are
not only a safety concern for people, but
they are also a major cause of damage
to vessels, equipment and turbine
components that can cost millions in
repairs and downtime. With taller turbines
and larger project sites in deeper waters
come increasing challenges surrounding
the loading, transportation and installation
of offshore turbines. While strong winds
are vital to the success of offshore
operations, they can also significantly
impact the ability for wind turbine
installation vessels (WTIVs) operations
teams to efficiently, cost-effectively and
safely install and maintain wind farms.
FEBRUARY 2022
 O F F S H O R E W E AT H E R A W A R E N E S S

Plus, meteorological and oceanic conditions farm site relies on accurate measurements ACCORDING TO THE
are significantly less forgiving the farther from of the wind, lightning, waves, visibility and GLOBAL OFFSHORE
shore projects are located.
Complicating those challenges even
other weather conditions both between the
port and the wind farm and at each location.
WIND HEALTH AND
more, the immense demand for WTIVs to Offshore wind installations are weather- SAFETY ORGANIZATION,
support this growing market significantly critical, and the installation process can take 2020 WITNESSED
limits the availability of these specialized several days for each individual turbine.
vessels capable of carrying the on-board As a result, if the install phase takes longer NEARLY 750 HEALTH
crane and turbine component parts necessary than initially anticipated, the extra cost of AND SAFETY INCIDENTS
to build 150-m turbines from the port to the
installation site. WTIVs are equipped with
hundreds of thousands of dollars each day
is often unsustainable. Again, maximizing
AT OFFSHORE WIND
legs that reach down to the seafloor to steady safety and minimizing downtime is essential. FARM SITES ACROSS
the ship and lift it up out of the ocean so Harsh and unpredictable environmental THE WORLD, WITH
it can avoid direct wave impacts and serve conditions are common in offshore
as a stable platform during installation. The environments, which is why decision-makers NEARLY 300 OF THOSE
vessel’s crane then lifts the turbine component need localized meteorological and forecast RESULTING IN EMPLOYEE
parts and installs them in the appropriate information to minimize these threats and
position. maximize the value of an offshore project. INJURY AND ALMOST 150
Due to the numerous advantages WTIVs Fortunately, precautions to minimize DAMAGING ASSETS.
bring to offshore wind construction and
maintenance, renting a WTIV can cost $20,000
per half-hour (and up to $300,000 per day) —
and building a new vessel for this application
comes with an enormous $500-million
price tag — so minimizing downtime is vital
because every second counts.
Since strong winds, destabilizing
waves and other inclement meteorological
conditions (lightning, precipitation, freezing
cold temperatures, and rain, fog, snow
or other obscurants) have the potential
to endanger crew safety, seriously delay
installation operations and prolong
construction times, it’s vital to know the wind,
wave and other meteorological conditions
at any given moment to ensure staff and
asset safety.
According to the Global Offshore
Wind Health and Safety Organization, 2020
witnessed nearly 750 health and safety
incidents at offshore wind farm sites across
the world, with nearly 300 of those resulting
in employee injury and almost 150 damaging
assets. Determining whether it’s safe to have
a crane lifting turbine components, crew
members installing blades or a helicopter
transporting maintenance crews and/or
replacement components to the offshore wind

FEBRUARY 2022 9
 O F F S H O R E W E AT H E R A W A R E N E S S
damage, downtime and safety risk of
workers can be taken by utilizing the latest
innovations in advanced weather sensing
technologies.
Leveraging advanced weather insights
to maximize safety and minimize
downtime
Accurate and reliable weather awareness
is key to knowing when the weather is
right for safe and efficient wind farm
installations. Without accurate and reliable
weather information from the latest
wind lidars, helideck monitoring systems
(HMSs), global storm networks and
weather sensors, effectively ameliorating
the impacts of wind, thunderstorms, sea
state and visibility effects to avoid costly
delays and increase safety is incredibly
difficult.
At sea, the wind can be unpredictable
and a lack of local observations creates
challenges. Wind lidar remote sensing
10 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
technology enables the accurate
detection of hazardous wind gusts
that can impact offshore operations by
simultaneously measuring wind speed
and direction at multiple heights. Modern
lidars are reliable and easy to deploy and
position almost anywhere on a vessel,
which makes gaining a comprehensive
view into how winds are developing on
top of the WTIV and at different locations
around the site (up to 300 m in the
atmosphere, covering the full rotor sweep
of even the largest offshore turbines)
easier than ever before. In addition,
wind lidars are commonly used during
craning and mounting operations to
help ensure the proper timing for cranes
to lift turbine components on offshore
location or at loading port. By vertically
measuring wind speed and direction to
inform transportation movements and
ensure employee safety, wind lidars can
simplify offshore operations and maximize
www.windpowerengineering.com
operational continuity while maintaining
overall safety.
When wind lidars combine with the
weather sensor technologies integrated
into HMSs (a barometer, temperature
and humidity probes, a visibility sensor,
a ceilometer and a wave measurement
radar), an even broader range of
meteorological and oceanographic
conditions can be monitored. HMSs are
generally required according to CAP
437: Standards For Offshore Helicopter
Landing Areas to help ensure effective
flight planning and safe landings on
offshore installations. These systems tend
to come equipped with software that
includes a real-time data display, reporting
tools and critical alarms. With these
advanced weather insights, any negative
impacts can be quickly quantified,
enabling project operators to make more
informed decisions during critical weather
situations aimed at optimizing operations,
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 WIND - SOLAR - STORAGE - SUBSTATION

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minimizing downtime at sea and
ensuring the safety of the on-site
crew.
A global lightning detection
sensor network is able to detect
thunderstorms in real time, track
their trajectory and intensity,
and support hazardous weather
warnings — even outside the
range of weather radar — to
help minimize lightning-related
safety concerns, especially during
the transport of helicopters
and operations crews to and
from offshore installation sites.
Helicopters are not allowed to
fly through thunderstorms, thus
it’s better to be fully aware of
the direction of a thunderstorm’s
movement and lightning
forecasts beforehand to avoid
safety risks. Additionally, crane
lifting operations at higher
altitudes attract lightning during
thunderstorms, increasing the
likelihood of a safety hazard, fire
or explosion. Safe and efficient
operations depend on accurate
lightning detection, and early
warnings allow decision-makers to
better anticipate a lightning threat
before it reaches the offshore site,
helping to keep workers safe while
reducing the duration of safety
shutdowns.
Altogether, advanced weather
insights optimize offshore wind
farm construction and operations
by:
• Alerting onboard decision-
makers before sudden winds
or thunderstorms hit, allowing
time to secure cranes and
position vessels for safety.
• Providing helicopter pilot and
traffic control accurate weather
and sea state information on a
24/7 basis.
FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
POWERING...
WIND TURBINES
• Optimizing the maximum
weather window for safe and
efficient accessibility, installations
and longer-term maintenance
operations.
• Increasing crew and asset safety
with early warnings.
• Minimizing downtime and delays.
• Making improvements and
updating protocols at offshore
sites to enhance safety and
decrease damage and downtime
— saving money in the long run.
For years Vaisala has supplied
wind farms and other offshore wind
projects with weather awareness
solutions that meet ever-evolving
industry needs. From the ruggedized
WindCube Offshore wind lidar to
Vaisala’s Thunderstorm Manager,
Global Lightning Detection Network
GLD360 and Helideck Monitoring
System (HMS), new techniques
and technologies are required to
uphold safety and performance while
minimizing damage, downtime and
liability.
Whether the conversation
surrounds worker injury/death, crane
and turbine damages, halted crane
activity, or increased downtime-
related delays, severe weather,
HELUKABEL provides system expertise throughout
strong winds and lightning all pose the wind turbine — rotor tip to tower base. We
serious risks to WTIVs, helicopters focus on control and data cables in the nacelle,
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13
 o ck
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be
do
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14 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

 Why the United States
needs tailored solutions to
realize floating offshore
wind ambitions
By Thomas Dahlgren • President and CEO • COWI North America
Commercial -scale floating
offshore
wind is approaching fast. In the United
States, floating offshore wind is the
only option on the West Coast and off
the coast of Maine where the water
depths preclude using bottom-fixed
foundations. The Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) has announced
plans to hold seven new offshore wind
lease sales by 2025 including offshore
California in second half of 2022 and in
the Gulf of Maine in 2024. The Biden
Administration’s 30 GW by 2030 plan is
swiftly moving from ambitious aspiration
to definitive action and it includes
floating wind. We may also see more
floating offshore wind in the Northeast,
beyond the coast of Maine.
While the West Coast and Gulf of
Maine’s geography has always dictated
the need for floating offshore wind
solutions, once BOEM’s forthcoming
leases have been executed on the
East Coast, almost all feasible plots
below 60-m water depth will have been
committed. To push further offshore in
the Northeast will require developers to
seek floating solutions suitable for the
deeper waters.
FEBRUARY 2022
If we are to fully unlock commercial
viability for every site – be it on the
East or West Coast — it is imperative
that each project is optimized to take
account of the site’s specific conditions,
fabrication and port capabilities,
operations and maintenance options,
local content requirements and
stakeholders; and thoughtfully interweave
sustainable solutions.
Materials and fabrication
Full U.S. fabrication will require a
substantial level of coordination and
investment that will be influenced by
each state’s requirement for local content.
Equally, BOEM may also stipulate U.S.
labor and content restrictions as lease
requirements in the upcoming wind
energy area auctions.
Developers and contractors may find
they need to engage with each other
at an earlier stage so that the eventual
design can be uniquely tailored to
that project and to the local resources
available — be that optimizing the
foundation design for minimum draft to
use a specific port or tailoring the hull
design to a local well-respected steel
fabricator’s automation capability. Or
perhaps the best solution is to divide
the fabrication of the hull with major
components built at a more remote
facility and transported to facilities
more local to the site for assembly and
installation of the turbine.
Sustainability is a core consideration
too, particularly for developers whose
shareholders and stakeholders have a
strong interest in total life cycle emissions
and socioeconomics. Of course, some
solutions will always be more carbon
intensive than others — depending
on their steel and concrete content.
However, procurement can also impact
the project’s carbon footprint. While
shipping steel components from Asia
Pacific to the United States might be
more cost competitive, depending on
location, it can also be more carbon
intensive in comparison to local suppliers
who may only be marginally more
expensive.
Port and marine
Industry is increasingly focused on
floating designs that allow for shoreside
installation of the turbine — such as
semi-submersibles — that can simply be
floated out of port intact and are seen
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 15
 TA I L O R E D F L O AT I N G S O L U T I O N S

as inherently advantageous. However, most NREL

offshore projects, both fixed and floating, are
limited in some way by regional port conditions
and marine capabilities.
The West Coast has a history of
constructing offshore structures for oil and
gas as well as ships and has a skilled marine
workforce to call upon. However, on both the
West and East Coasts there are few ports that
are deep enough, have adequate area and
are not behind bridges that are ready to use,
and there are none that can accommodate
the assembly of the most affordable floating
substructure — the spar — which requires very
deep water. As a result, there are several studies
underway to understand what port upgrades
might be possible, spanning everything
from pier strength-bearing to opportunities
for improved port utilization. Additionally,
fabrication can be divided among multiple
facilities including partial assembly in the Gulf
of Mexico for West Coast installations, however,
it comes with the coordination of navigating
large components through the Panama Canal.
Module fabrication in the Gulf of Mexico for use
in the Northeast has less challenging logistics.
If the industry is to reach deployment,
cost and local content goals, the logistics of
assembly will be a key consideration and one
that will require a certain level of flexibility that
a traditional type of solution may not be able
to accommodate. A tailored approach can flex
to, or even innovate around, limitations and,
conversely, take advantage of new capabilities
and resources as they evolve. These tailored
solutions must also be de-risked to achieve
the technical and commercial certainty that
developers and suppliers alike require to make
necessary commitments.

ESG and local benefits

While the industry is very attuned to developing
projects that are sympathetic to their immediate
environmental surroundings, developers often
find it more of a challenge to identify and
quantify what further sustainability or social
benefits a project might be able to achieve
more broadly. Political support will be important

16 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

 TA I L O R E D F L O AT I N G S O L U T I O N S

for driving this agenda forward. New York City’s

recently announced “offshore wind vision” is
an excellent example of this in practice, where
Wield Absolute Power 40% of job and investment benefits are to
be directed toward women, minorities and
on the Job Site environmental justice communities. In practice
this will mean that developers will need to
reinvigorate some of their established supply
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adapting designs to the limitations and
opportunities present in the supply chain has
been crucial to promote serial production and
to bring down costs.
Finally, this is not just a consideration for
the U.S. market; emerging markets around the
world stand to benefit greatly from taking an
approach that will always get the most out of
the project — be it cost, community or carbon
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 Energy transitions have been
occurring globally
since the 1800s. As demand patterns
shifted and production technologies
matured, the world witnessed an industrial
revolution-fueled need for coal. This
supply cornerstone gradually gave way
to crude oil-based energy production
in the early 1900s. Succumbing to the
global oil crisis of the 1970s, the 1980s
ushered in a transition toward natural
gas. And now the term has again been
dusted off and pushed into the popular
vernacular by political heavyweights
such as President Joe Biden and financial
wizards like Blackrock’s Larry Fink. 2021’s
COP26 created a worldwide platform
20 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
linking climate change to a green-energy
transition; a transition away from the
fossil-based fuels that still account for over
80% of global use and toward renewable
energy sources, like wind.
Wind is a critical component of the
green energy transition solution set, but
by no means a new one. Denmark’s 2-MW
Tvindkraft wind turbine began producing
power in 1978. Similarly, California’s
Altamont Pass wind farm, composed
of over 4,900 individual wind turbines,
became operational in the early 1980s.
However, wind development in 2022
is faced with a new set of challenges
reflecting a complicated global patchwork
of advanced technologies, governmental
www.windpowerengineering.com
subsidies, commodity market dynamics
and, perhaps ironically, weather patterns
that are bucking historical trends.
Stakeholders participating at different
phases of the wind lifecycle are left asking
where is the optimal place to locate a
wind farm? Will there be enough wind (or
too much wind) to produce an optimal
power output? How can we maximize our
financial return? How do we maintain the
physical components of the wind farm to
increase longevity and decrease outages?
Now all these critical questions
can be answered by relying on math-
based solutions. Specifically, the wind
industry is relying on machine learning
(ML) in all facets of wind development
FEBRUARY 2022
 AI AND MACHINE LEARNING:

Bridging the
divide between
a development
pipeline,
operations
and ROI
BY A L E X B A L DAS SA N O • G LO B A L H E A D O F E N E RGY T RA N S I T I O N • C L I M AV I S I O N

and operations. The effectiveness and
accuracy of these adapting algorithms
is underpinned by quality data. As the
old saying goes, “garbage in, garbage
out,” and this is especially true in the
wind business. Site-specific historical data
such as hourly maximum and mininum
wind speed, wind gusts, wind direction,
average wind speed, wind gradient/
sheer, all at different heights is critical
in assessing the ideal location of a wind
turbine. Naturally, this site-specific data
does not exist over every inch of the
globe, including oceanic bodies. Instead,
wind developers rely on data cultivated
from nearby proxy sites, or weather
stations such as government controlled
automated weather observing systems
(AWOS) typically located at airports. This
data is aggregated and made available
to the public, including wind developers,
by government agencies such as the
U.S. National Weather Service. Private
weather radar, such as Climavision’s North
American network, augments publicly
available data sets.
At this point, increasing the
confidence of where to site a wind farm,
based on resulting power output as a
biproduct of technological components
and meteorological observations, will
be achieved by relying on artificial
intelligence (AI) machine learning
techniques. The proxy data that is being
ingested into the ML platform is growing
every day, and coupled with recent climate
change phenomena, ML becomes the
only modern viable method to confidently
identify where a wind farm should be sited
today, next year and 10 years from now.
The importance of constantly refreshed
siting models cannot be understated as
utility-scale wind farm development is
complex and can take years from land/
water acquisition, permitting, offtake
negotiation, procurement and construction.
A prime example is Deepwater Wind’s
Block Island wind project, where
conception commenced in 2008 and
the project was finally operational and
producing power in 2016.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 21

 AI A N D M AC H I N E L E AR N I N G
ML techniques are not only crucial
MACHINE in completing pre-COD activities like
LEARNING
project siting, but also in securing bank
financing. There is no shortage of global
TECHNIQUES publicly traded banks that offer long-
term debt solutions to wind developers.
ARE NOT ONLY In fact, the supply of debt products
has grown in recent years to include
CRUCIAL IN hedge funds, regional banks like Fifth
Third Bank, and green banks like the
COMPLETING PRE- NY Green Bank backed by local and
federal governments. A key ingredient
COD ACTIVITIES for a private wind developer (and any
LIKE PROJECT
renewable energy developer, for that
matter) to secure funds is a long-term
SITING, BUT ALSO power price curve. In other words, over
the next 20 years, how much money
IN SECURING BANK will each wind-generated megawatt-
hour command in the open market?
FINANCING. This theoretical offtake energy price
(which might include both electricity
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and renewable energy credits), multiplied by
the forecasted generation quantity, will form the
revenue foundation of any basic financial model.
Banks typically require an independent third-
party like Wood Mackenzie or DNV to provide
a long-term power price curve. In recent years,
some more risk-averse banks have even started
requiring multiple independent long-term power
price curves, which is a reflection of operational
wind farm investments not performing according to
initially modeled power and price production (think
the ERCOT wind generation failure of February
2021 and the UK/Ireland wind generation failure
of Summer 2021). The independent consultant
groups that have become synonymous with creating
long-term power price curves traditionally relied on
10- to 20-year historical power price data, coupled
with liquid electricity and gas-forward curves
to fuel their forward-looking models. Now the
paradigm is shifting toward models incorporating
nearer-term historical price data, highly localized
weather forecasts from firms like Climavision, and
the assimilation and cleansing of this data through
machine learning tools.
If today’s wind project does indeed proceed
through the siting, permitting, financing and
construction development process, once it hits the
commercial operation date (COD), machine learning
takes on a new relevance for the entire lifecycle of
the farm. At the point of COD, profit maximization
will now be tethered to the physical ability of the
wind farm components to harness the power from
the wind and generate electricity. Independent
power producers and utilities that own these farms
need to ensure the equipment is in good working
order, downtime is limited and maintenance
occurs at the right intervals for the appropriate
parts. Rotors, gearboxes, yaw drives, shafts and
blades are in constant motion. Like a car’s engine,
these moving parts require regular preventative
maintenance to ensure the wind farm’s useful life
meets and then exceeds the industry standard 25
years. Combining real-time, onsite SCADA systems
from the likes of a GE, ABB or Schneider Electric
with machine learning equates to a physical O&M
plan enriched by a massive quantity of data points,
high-integrity cleansed data, processed at incredibly
fast speeds. Operational longevity beyond 25 years
is now within a realistic reach.
22 FEBRUARY 2022

Our current energy transition
is not only witnessing a move from
fossil-fired electricity generation to
renewable resources like wind, but
there is now a sub-transition occurring
whereby intermittent renewable
generation resources are being paired
with nascent storage technologies.
The implications of a modernized
generation fleet comprised of wind
farms paired with batteries is profound
from a grid resilience and optimization
standpoint. A wind farm can now
be transformed from an intermittent
to a baseload generation resource.
Utilities, independent system operators
and balancing authorities can more
effectively match load with generation,
strengthening grid performance and
subsequently supporting low prices.
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AI A N D M AC H I N E L E AR N I N G
The independent power producer
can now generate, store and release
electricity onto the grid when wholesale
power markets provide real-time and
short-term pricing signals. Reaping
the rewards of a successful financial
optimization strategy is incumbent
upon an energy manager like Wood
Mackenzie using machine learning
to synthesize everchanging regional
generation, load, transmission, weather
and price data inputs. Machine learning
effectively becomes a key ingredient
in determining the most profitable
quantity, location and time interval
to store or release wind-generated
electricity.
It is truly amazing that since
the recent maturation of artificial
intelligence and machine learning
techniques, many of the critical wind
development processes — including
siting, bank financing, physical
operations and financial optimization
— now rely exclusively on highly
sophisticated ML outputs. Machine
learning is not only driving the
successful development of wind farms,
but also providing a critical foundation
to the global energy transition. WPE
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24 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

 FEWER PARTS AND PIECES:
RETHINKING WIND
TURBINE CONSTRUCTION BY G A R Y B I L L S • R E G I O N A L D I R E C T O R E M E A • K 2 M A N A G E M E N T
As the world edges toward a
recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic, its demand and appetite
remain unabated and continues to grow.
The IEA projected that in 2022,
there will be a 4% increase in global
electricity demand. With gas prices at
an all-time high and net-zero targets set
to drive down a reliance on fossil-fuels
generally, it is more essential than ever
that renewable energy is delivered with
maximum efficiency.
To do this, we need to increase the
pipeline of projects under construction
— and fast.
The offshore wind industry will be
critical to this. As part of answering the
call to meet demand, the industry is on
a continual march to get projects built
quickly, while ensuring the levelized cost
of energy continues to fall.
Harnessing innovative and new
technologies and new design techniques
are essential to reducing construction
costs, shortening project timelines and
moving toward a more sustainable, lean
and profitable industry.
It is through innovation, new
technologies and fresh thinking that we
will ultimately deliver renewable energy
projects with greater efficiency.
New construction methods and the
potential they offer
Foundation technologies are a key area
where improvements in construction
processes are possible and represent a
FEBRUARY 2022
notable opportunity for building more
projects quickly and efficiently.
The foundation is a substantial
part of any project’s development
costs, representing around 15 to 20%
of total capex. This means scrutinizing
the technical and cost implications of
planned structures, especially since the
industry is becoming more ambitious in
terms of the geographical conditions for
which projects are being proposed.
Developing in these more
challenging conditions, where the water
is deeper, the seas stormier and where
soil type is more diverse, coupled with
larger turbines, means that dynamic
thinking is required about the options
available when it comes to creating
sound, cost efficient foundations for
towers and turbines.
Larger components
Just a few years ago, a large blade
would be 45-m long. Now, they span
more than twice that, and the forward
trajectory is expected to be larger
again. But, as a natural consequence,
it isn’t just wind turbine blades that are
increasing in size.
Offshore wind monopiles are getting
larger, reaching into deeper waters
and emerging as the most common
type of foundation. We are now seeing
monopiles with diameters of more than
8.5 m being installed.
As they continue to increase in size,
the technology behind installing them
into the ground, and then connecting
them to the rest of the turbine, is
improving. New techniques are allowing
the monopile foundation to be used in
waters now reaching 55 m.
Alternative foundation possibilities
Gravity-based structures were among
the first of the foundations used
for offshore wind, owing to their
comparatively well understood function
arriving from their use in onshore wind.
Although they traditionally have been
used in shallower waters, they are
expected to also be used in deeper
ones in the coming years, due to their
low production costs.
There are naturally many other
structures available, such as jackets
and tripods. As the industry develops,
a combination of concrete and steel
is becoming more common for these
structures, broadening the cost-saving
benefit of the raw materials involved and
making them another notable choice for
foundations.
And then there is floating wind. With
its growing share in offshore wind energy
production, this technology is making
the marked shift from experimental
to industry-scale commercial fleets.
Over half of the awarded lease
areas in Scotwind were for floating
projects, showing how the industry can
expect notable advancements in the
commercial-scale rollout of floating
projects in the coming years.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 25

Gemini Wind Park, Netherlands
Eliminating transition pieces
Novel offshore wind designs have created
the possibility of constructing a turbine
without a transition piece. This steel
component linking the monopile to
the rest of the wind turbine used to be
essential, ensuring that the turbine was
fully aligned. However, this component is
no longer a necessity.
Technological advances mean that
drilling piles is more accurate than ever,
allowing developers to avoid relying
on correcting misalignment by adding
a transition piece to the top of the
monopile.
The transition piece also serves
as a construction from which essential
secondary steel elements for operations
and maintenance can be attached, such
26 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
TURBINE CONSTRUCTION
as ladders and boat landings. But again,
these can now be attached directly onto
the turbine tower, avoiding the need
for this extra step in construction and
streamlining the process.
Building turbines without a transition
piece can bring even more advantages
when it comes to speed of construction,
cost and environmental friendliness.
Firstly, the transportation of
equipment and turbine parts — an
offshore turbine tower built without a
transition piece can reduce the number
of journeys a vessel has to take, because
there are fewer parts. The vessel that was
previously needed to transport this part of
the turbine will no longer be necessary.
While a larger vessel may be needed
to transport a larger monopile, economies
www.windpowerengineering.com
of scale mean that this could reduce the
number of trips a vessel has to make
between ports and offshore wind farms,
cutting fuel costs, time and carbons
emissions.
Furthermore, the large-diameter
flanges used to secure the monopile to
the transition piece and then the transition
piece to the turbine have substantial
manufacturing lead times, sometimes
among the longest of turbine parts. By
taking away the transition piece, there is
no need for these additional parts, which
theoretically can be an effective way to
make efficiencies in build-time.
Building without a transition piece
can also provide lifetime operations and
maintenance savings. Removing an entire
section of the turbine eliminates the time
FEBRUARY 2022
 Accelerate
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 TURBINE CONSTRUCTION

spent doing maintenance checks and
repairs on the said section. Although
naturally the weight of the turbine
would be transferred to other parts,
there will be one connection that needs
to be regulated and maintained which
improves safety and, when multiplied
across an entire wind farm, could save
a notable amount of time.
Though these are small-scale
changes, every gain will be valuable
as margins are squeezed to maximize
development.
Time and cost advantages for
adopting new technologies
It is worth noting the manifold effect
that increases in scale, which then filter
down to the monopile. As the industry’s
ambitions continue to grow, bigger
foundations are needed for deeper
waters and larger turbine capacity.
But while this requires more in the
way of raw materials, it does translate
into more power per the amount of
steel and raw materials used – as bigger
is also important. Offshore floating wind is a
key example of a technology that presents
a massive opportunity for the industry. With
over 80% of all potential offshore wind
energy resource being in waters deeper than
60 m – which is deeper than current fixed-
bottom designs can manage – floating wind
will be essential in pushing industry growth.
We must also acknowledge the
benefit of structures, such as gravity-based
foundations, that can be made of concrete
rather than steel. As steel prices continue
to be volatile, substructure construction
techniques that can limit its use, such as
building without a transition piece, or not
using steel as the main component, such as
concrete gravity-based structures, are likely
to increase in popularity.
Looking ahead with ambition
Seeking to move faster and cheaper isn’t
necessarily a recipe for success though.
This approach needs
to be considered
carefully, since
cutting costs can
blighted with shows the financial and
reputational burden that can arise from
projects focussing too much on cutting
cost.
With the offshore wind market so
liquid and the pressure now to get more
renewable energy projects online, we
need to be nimble when it comes to
the engineering of turbine towers and
foundations — particularly as developers
turn to deeper waters to access the best
resource.
Continuing to innovate, explore
new and improve upon existing ways
of development by looking at elements
such as monopiles, other foundations and
transition pieces means the industry can
move faster, reduce its costs and LCOE
while making project processes more
sustainable. WPE
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IRONCLAD SUPER DUTY

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29 800.359.0372 • NTCWIND.COM
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT .14
DETAIL E APPROVED
BW Ideol V. Joncheray

Innovation in
floating wind
will be crucial
to the future
of offshore
energy BY MARK GOALEN • DIRECTOR OF OFFSHORE ENGINEERING • HOULDER

30 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

With offshore floating wind
as a proven commercial
reality, the challenges associated with the
industry are now focused on delivering
at scale, but there are still key innovation
issues to be resolved across the industry.
Meeting targets
The global floating offshore wind industry
was expected to reach 126 MW by the
end of 2021 and grow to 70 GW by
2040. As well as powering electricity
grids around the world, floating wind will
help decarbonize offshore oil and gas
production and play a critical role in green
hydrogen production.
Developers, insurers, financers and
all stakeholders serious about making the
significant advances needed to upscale
floating offshore wind capacity to meet
these expectations will be interested
in reducing project risk, improving
installation time and building robust
supply chains that will function throughout
their asset’s lifecycle.
Operational efficiency and technology
options will continue to evolve over time.
The challenge for developers is to remain
open to innovation and look for continued
improvement without impeding progress.
Foundation pros and cons
Choosing the best foundation technology
is critical to delivering the best levelized
cost of energy (LCOE) for floating offshore
wind projects. The decision should be
based on assessment of available port
infrastructure and supply chains as
much as water depth and environmental
conditions.
As much as economies of scale based
on consistency and repeatability are
appealing, the choice of foundation type
should not be made before site analysis.
The physical attributes of foundations will
influence where they can be fabricated
and the ease with which they can be
towed and moored, and detailed motion
response should be compared on a case-
by-case basis for any specific location.
A foundation perfectly suited to the
FEBRUARY 2022
Mediterranean may not be viable in the
Pacific.
There are currently four main types
to choose from, with multiple options for
each type and still several more innovative
concepts under development. Firstly, spar
buoys are cylindrical in shape and very
stable given their deep draft with ballast
creating a low center of gravity. They
require a deep-water area for fabrication
and also for maintenance if towed to
shore. They can be made from steel or
concrete, and are conventionally catenary
moored.
The other option is semi-submersible
platforms which consist of typically three
connected vertical columns. Considered
suitable for most locations given that
relatively shallow water required at
fabrication site, stable for tow during
installation and O&M, their biggest
disadvantage is being prone to heave
motion which is difficult to prevent
without increased fabrication complexity.
Semi-submersibles are generally
fabricated from steel and conventionally
catenary moored.
Tension leg platforms typically have
a central column and arms connected
to tensioned tendons. They can be
assembled onshore or in a dry dock, but
they can be harder to keep stable during
transport and installation than other
concepts. Their biggest advantage is that
the taut mooring lines significantly reduce
the length of mooring lines for deep water
locations in comparison to a catenary
moored structure.
Damping pool structures have a
square barge structure which contains
a damping pool that has been tuned
to reduce the foundation motion. They
can be made from concrete or steel — a
factor that can increase flexibility of the
fabrication location.
Project planning
Understanding the installation
methodology and defining the
developments and operations and
maintenance strategy up front is also
critical to determining which solutions
are feasible and where the challenges
lie. Initial findings from U.K. Offshore
Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE) for a
select set of scenarios suggest that it is
cheaper to tow turbines to shore where
crane operations are simpler and there
is ready access to onshore services and
personnel.
However, offshore wind developments
can be remote from good port facilities,
and there are risks associated with
disconnecting and reconnecting the
units and towing them to shore. As the
Floating Wind Joint Industry Project
recently concluded in its Phase III report,
one of the main challenges for the tow-
to-port option is the safe detachment
and wet storage of cables and mooring
connections. Conversely, for in-situ
maintenance, there are challenges with
the limitations of heavy lift vessels: many
of the existing heavy lift vessels are unable
to lift to the required hub height with the
required reach for larger turbines.
Planning and logistics are clearly
important and should be modelled in
more depth than is possible in just a
project schedule. A dynamic model
that compares options and provides
results based on what is important to the
developer (cost, risk, carbon emission
or schedule) would be a useful tool. The
same model could include contingency
factors such as installation weather
limitations, unexpected schedule delays
and their knock-on consequences. The
output from the model will not only
provide what is the best option for a
site-specific development but will also
establish the available budget to develop
the O&M vessels that would be required
to conduct repairs on location, and the
bespoke tooling that will need to be
designed to make that happen.
Dynamic development
Several types of floating foundations have
now been proven in full-scale trials, and
installation at commercial scale has been
achieved, as evidenced by the completion
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 31

ORE Catapult
of the world’s largest floating offshore
wind farm to date, the 48-MW Kincardine
Offshore Wind in Scotland.
Experience so far has demonstrated
that some of the most developed
technologies have encountered issues
or have features that increase fabrication
complexity. These will likely be phased
out as the designs evolve, and it’s
important that developers recognize this
in their financial models. The floating
industry can’t simply expect to capitalize
on the experience of the much more
mature fixed wind industry.
Foundation designs continue to
evolve as new innovations resolve
earlier technical difficulties, and
new technologies continue to open
possibilities for reducing commercial and
technical risk. The ORE Catapult report
“Floating Offshore Wind: Cost Reduction
Pathways to Subsidy Free” released this
year notes that advances in fabrication,
such as robotic welding complete with
machine learning, will have a significant
impact on project cost due to increased
production efficiency.
A more integrated design interface
between anchors, mooring system and
substructure could speed up installation
and major repair operations.
32 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
SCALING OFFSHORE WIND
Additionally, autonomous robots
could be employed to de-risk inspection
and maintenance tasks. Indeed, last
year, a six-legged robot successfully
scaled a vertical blade on an offshore
demonstration turbine.
Other exciting technology
developments such as self-erecting
nacelles and less conventional floating
structure designs will continue to increase
what is possible, while minimizing the
cost of the vessels and tools required to
handle the equipment.
The project developer’s “toolbox”
continues to expand, but making the
right decisions requires in-depth analysis
of a multitude of influencing factors — a
serious undertaking in terms of research
but one that has the potential to pay
dividends.
An industry-wide challenge
Development and design cycles naturally
overlap. As warned in the ORE Catapult
cost reduction report, turbine technology
development could outpace the
supporting technology required to install
it. The need for new larger cranes and
vessels could hinder project timelines,
and ultimately the cost of fabricating and
installing these larger components may
www.windpowerengineering.com
outweigh the economic benefits of larger
turbines.
Perhaps an even more fundamental,
industry-wide issue than the already
visible and articulated challenges is what
remains unknown as a consequence of
the risk profile of such complex projects.
There are many interfaces and interactions
required, that must work in harmony,
not isolation, and some developers are
opting for EPIC contracts to avoid fronting
and managing the risks associated with
multi-contract management. This is
stifling opportunities for SME growth
and development and therefore stifling
innovation.
The EPIC approach reduces
developers’ flexibility and potential to
deliver cost reductions through innovative
processes, new logistics chains, and
dynamic contractual relationships.
Restricting these opportunities to reduce
costs and mitigate risks will hinder on-
going decision making and could seriously
slow growth potential across the industry.
Innovation is crucial
Innovation can take the industry from
proven commercial-scale to full utility-
scale developments capable of achieving
the required LCOE at the volume of units
required to hit or better the installed
power targets. There is no shortage of
companies prepared to invest in the
development required. One barrier to
this could be the investment required
to develop the port infrastructure to
fabricate the foundations is vast, and
there needs to be confidence there will be
sufficient volume of foundations to cover
that investment. That approach lends
itself to consistency and repeatability in
fabrication which is difficult to achieve
with so many drastically different options
in existence and still under development.
Regardless in every aspect of this
embryonic industry, innovation will be
crucial if offshore floating wind is to
play a full part in future offshore energy
provision. WPE
FEBRUARY 2022
 2022
LEADERSHIP IN
WIND ENERGY
Celebrating the companies and individuals leading the wind power industry.

The U.S. wind industry is growing into new markets, namely offshore
development. Success would not be possible without the ingenuity and
determination of our leaders. These individuals and companies are working
for the growth of the entire wind industry.

The future of the industry will build on the foundation of today’s efforts.
Windpower Engineering & Development would like to acknowledge
such achievements on the following pages. These accomplishments
in engineering and product advancements are what drive us into new
markets and create jobs.

We think they deserve recognition from you, too. Vote online through
October for one or more of the companies listed in this special section.

VOTE ONLINE
www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Select the company you think has provided leadership in the wind industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 33

ADVERTISEMENT

Abaris Training Resources, Inc. is

recognized as the leading provider of
advanced composite training for wind
blade manufacturers, repair technicians,
and engineers worldwide. Abaris has
nearly 40 years of experience teaching
composite structural repair techniques
and methodologies to the aerospace
industry and over the past decade,
transferred that knowledge to those now
serving the wind energy industry. Abaris
now offers two windblade repair courses;
R-5 “Basic” and R-15 “Advanced”
courses, building skills for skin, core,
tip, trailing edge, carbon spar repairs,
and more. Abaris is soon to be GWO
certified!
Abaris Training is the world leader in advanced
composite training. We have trained more
than 29,000 students since our inception in
1983, across a number of industries ranging
from aerospace to automotive to marine to
wind energy and more. Our goal is to teach the
latest technology to our students in a friendly yet
professional atmosphere. Currently we offer over
23 different courses covering many disciplines
surrounding engineering, manufacturing, repair,
Abaris Training Resources, Inc. and NDI of advanced composite structures. Classes are available in two different
5401 Longley Ln, Ste 49 facilities: Reno, Nevada and São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil. All courses are taught
Reno, NV 89511 by highly motivated instructors, all of which have vast experience and knowledge
of composites and are acknowledged for being the top in their respective fields. In
775.827.6568
addition to training at Abaris facilities, Abaris can host entire groups at our facility
Training@abaris.com or bring the training to you. Our Direct Services division specializes in organizing
www.abaris.com either off-the-shelf, or custom courses for our customers, worldwide.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

34 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

ADVERTISEMENT

ALA Industries Limited was founded in

1993 as a Manufacturer’s Representative.
They are a top-tier hydraulic equipment
supplier. ALA’s primary focus was the Latin
American market. ALA was Manufacturer’s
Representative for international companies
such as US Tsubaki, one of the largest
manufacturers in the world of industrial,
automotive, roller, and specialty chains, as
well as Asahi Seiko, the largest manufacturer
of mounted ball bearings. ALA is currently
responsible for the sales of Yuken, GRH,
Vivoil, and Fluid Press. ALA services over
100 value-added distributors across the
USA, Canada, and Central America with
a complete line of industrial and mobile
hydraulics. Our distributors are independent
contractors engaged in “value-added
engineering.” ALA Industries Limited is
based out of Portage, Indiana, USA.
ALA Industries Limited is a leader in
engineering. Leadership in engineering can
be seen through teamwork not only within
ALA Industries but with our manufacturing
companies that we represent. We aim to
create a seamless flow from our manufacturers
to our distributors. The combined effort of Limited is to focus our time and energy not
all affiliated companies help ALA to better only on the success of our products, but
ourselves and provide excellent service also to be able to acknowledge areas of
and products. We focus on delivering improvement and fix them within a timely
outstanding communication, accountability, manner. ALA Industries also seeks to expand
ALA Industries Limited
and transparency with all companies that their product market to help sustainability
3410 Delta Dr,
we work along. ALA Industries is a leader in efforts, such as pitch control valves for
Portage, IN 46368
engineering due to the goal and ability to wind turbines. Within ALA Industries, our
(219) 762-2059 create and maintain long-term relationships employees are dedicated, dependable,
alaindustrieslimited.com with our distributors and the manufacturers and respectful to their fellow employees
that we represent. ALA provides a prestigious and clients. They have a focus on servant
product line throughout the Americas that aids leadership. Overall, ALA Industries Limited
the maximization of the end users hydraulic has positioned themself as a leader in
systems. The overall goal of ALA Industries engineering due to their ability to have
open communication with clients alongside
providing premier products.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 35

ADVERTISEMENT
AZTEC BOLTING SERVICES, INC. has been
a leading provider of bolting tools to the
wind energy industry for over 30 years. Aztec
Bolting utilizes the latest products from
Enerpac to Skidmore for all your torque and
tension requirements. We offer the finest tools
available for sale or rent, including hydraulic
tools that can yield up to 80,000 ft./lbs. Aztec
Bolting also provides calibration services and
repairs through our ISO 17025 accredited
mobile fleet and calibration facility at the
company headquarters in League City, TX.
Working alone, or on site with your labor
force, Aztec is committed to delivering the
right solution, to meet your timing and
budgetary requirements. Aztec Bolting
Services, based in League City, TX, continues
to provide a state-of-the-art mobile fleet
division with office locations in Midland,
Corpus Christi, Sweetwater and Nederland,
TX, and Oklahoma City, OK.
Aztec Bolting Services
520 Dallas Street
League City, TX 77573
1308 South Midkiff Road, #303
Midland, TX 79701
802 Navigation Boulevard #106
Corpus Christi, TX 78408
1113 Lamar Street
Sweetwater, TX 79556
3620 HWY 69N
Nederland, TX 77627
800.233.8675
www.aztecbolting.com
www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Voting for this company will identify it as a leader
in the wind power industry.
36 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
Since 1987, Aztec Bolting Services has been providing innovative equipment and superior
technology. As a distributor of Enerpac Bolting and Tensioning Products, Skidmore-Wilhelm,
Stahlwille, and Norbar hand torque wrenches, electronics and torque multipliers, we are prepared to
assist our customers in achieving their Wind Power Construction and Maintenance goals.
Aztec Bolting Services is proud to enter into this new year introducing a new selection of Enerpac
tooling. And because Aztec is an authorized service center and a national distributor of Enerpac
products, you can count on a lifetime warranty!
The new standard in torque wrenches.
Enerpac DSX Torque Wrench
The new Enerpac DSX Square Drive Aluminum Torque Wrench
delivers strength, safety, superior performance and ergonomic
design. The DSX makes the ideal choice when you need a
simple, lightweight, strong and safe torque wrench. Critical
safety features are designed to prevent dropping of on-site
components. The DSX also features a compact high-strength
unibody design, which provides a small operating radius without
sacrificing endurance.
Enerpac HMT
The new HMT1500 Modular Torque Wrench is a versatile and
durable hydraulic torque wrench. It has a powerful, lightweight
design allowing it to perform 25% faster and is twice as durable
as other tools in the same class. Interchange cassettes easily for
on-site, on-the-fly adjustments across applications, and count on
a safety driven performance through standard safety features.
Enerpac E-Pulse Pump
The new lightweight, portable solution that is powerful enough
to get the job done quickly and safely. The Enerpac E-Pulse
Electric pump features a brushless DC motor and speed
variable controls to provide typical power from larger pumps in
a durable, portable package.
The Norbar Evotorque Battery Tool
The Norbar Evotorque Battery Tool boasts high accuracy through
features including a built-in torque transducer, a brushless motor,
and is fully programmable with safety, smart technology, and
comfort at the forefront of design.
Our professionals can be on-site
anytime, anywhere with our
ISO 17025 Accredited Mobile
Calibration Fleet. Our Mobile
Units can provide more versatile
services than ever before from
Controlled Bolting Training to on-
site calibrations of your products.
www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022
ADVERTISEMENT

Boker’s, Inc., is a woman-owned, AS

9100:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 certified
manufacturer of precision stampings,
washers, spacers and shims.

To request a complimentary copy of

the company’s 2022 Stampings
& Washers Catalog and a 2022
Scheduling Calendar with Metric
Conversion Chart, contact Boker’s at:
bokers.com

With over 100 years of experience, Boker’s has earned the reputation
as a stamping leader. They deliver precision stampings in a complete
range of sizes: flat blanking and piercings up to 12” x 12” (flat) with
thicknesses from .005” to .190” (varies by material) and draws up to
3” deep and 8” in diameter.

With numerous inside diameters, thicknesses and over 2,000

Boker’s, Inc.
3104 Snelling Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55406-1937
Phone: 612-729-9365
TOLL-FREE: 800-927-4377
(in the US & Canada)
bokers.com
commonly specified and hard-to-find material options— including
various types of steel, aluminum, brass, copper, nickel silver, plus non-
metallic materials such as PTFE, polyester, fiber and nylon—whatever
your requirements, if it can be stamped, Boker’s can turn it into the
part you need.
Boker’s also delivers a wide selection of standard and non-standard
washers, spacers and shims. With over 32,000 stock tools, and outside
diameters of .080” to 5.140” along with a variety of inside diameters,
you have millions of flat washer possibilities.

All stampings, washers, spacers and shims are available in short,

medium and long runs with a 100-piece minimum.

Boker’s also offers 3D printing for prototyping, complete Statistical

Process Control (S.P.C.) capability, in-house tooling, and “Dock-to-
Stock” and “Just-in-Time” programs.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 37

ADVERTISEMENT
PPG Engineered Materials (formerly
Dexmet Corporation) manufactures
precision expanded metal foils and
polymers for applications in aerospace,
power generation, filtration and automotive
industries. Dexmet was founded in 1948
and is based in Wallingford, Connecticut
and was acquired in 2019 by PPG. For over
60 years Dexmet has been at the forefront
of expanding technology and has redefined
the standards for micro mesh materials
providing the greatest range of products
and capabilities for foil gauge metals and
thin polymer films. Dexmet manufactures
thin, light-weight precision expanded
Copper and Aluminum from .001” thick
and widths reaching over 48” that can meet
specific weight, conductivity and open area
requirements required by aerospace or wind
generation applications.
Precision MicroGrid® materials from PPG
Engineered Materials are the industry
standard for expanded materials used in
lightning strike protection, on carbon fiber
structures with OEM aircraft manufacturers
as well as EMI/RFI, and ESD protection for
sensitive internal instrumentation.
The Dexmet Quality System is ISO
AS9100:D and ISO 9001:2015 certified.
Engineered Materials
Wallingford, CT
+1 (203) 294-4440
www.dexmet.com
www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Voting for this company will identify it as a leader
in the wind power industry.
38 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
As the power output requirements
increase for wind turbines, wind generator
manufacturers are moving towards larger
blades to rotate these larger turbines at lower
wind speeds. As the wind blades increase to
over 45 meters in length, blade construction
is moving away from the more traditional all
fiberglass construction to utilize more carbon
fiber. The carbon fiber provides a substantial
weight savings and increased strength to
combat the extreme stress loads exerted on
the blades during operation. Carbon fiber,
however, is conductive and more prone to be
struck by lightning. Without proper protection,
they are susceptible to severe damage and
catastrophic failure.
For two decades Dexmet has been working
with aircraft designers developing precision
expanded MicroGrid® foils for lightning strike
protection on carbon fiber composite aircraft
and its components. Benefiting from the
development work done in the aircraft industry,
Wind Blade Manufacturers are now realizing
the importance of having the proper lightning
strike protection for larger carbon fiber blades.
As with aerospace applications, weight is
always critical so PPG Engineered Materials
provides different conductive materials to
minimize the weight based on the different
strike zones. As with all rotary blades, lighting
is more prone to hit the leading edge and the
outer blade surfaces towards the tips where the
highest amount of static energy is generated.
For these locations, the heavier, more
conductive materials are utilized. As you move
towards the root of the blade, a lighter weight
material can be incorporated to reduce weight
and cost. The variability with our expanding
process provides the capability of producing
a custom material based on desired weight,
conductivity, or open area to meet exact
application requirements.
www.windpowerengineering.com
PPG MicroGrid® Proven Lightning Strike
Protection
• Proven Technology for Lightning Strike
Protection
• Highly Conductive Patterns Matched to
Specific Requirements
• Open Area Design for Easy Dry or Wet
Layup without Delaminating
• Easily Repairable for Low Maintenance
Costs and Minimal Downtime
MicroGrid® Materials for Hybrid-Carbon
Fiber Wind Turbine Blades
PPG MicroGrid® materials are thin, open area
products applied to a layer on the top of
the structural carbon fiber spar/web or other
systems that utilize carbon such as de-icing
solutions that consume carbon heating mats
on the leading edge. PPG MicroGrid® materials
can achieve the critical conductivity, sometimes
in conjunction with the carbon components, to
dissipate 20-25 years’ worth of lightning strikes.
Expanded copper and aluminum MicroGrid®
meshes are essential at extending the life of
hybrid carbon fiber composite blades.
PPG engineered materials are used in
conjunction with the other parts of the entire
lightning strike protection system for a
wind turbine blade. Our mesh can provide
connections between receptor(s) and anchor
blocks/root through which high voltage current
pass to ground connections.
To learn more about the benefits of PPG
Engineered Materials, witness its lightning
protection performance or understand how
it can reduce your maintenance costs and
down time, contact PPG at sales@dexmet.
com or visit our web site and let us show you
how to incorporate the innovative MicroGrid®
materials into your composite designs and start
recognizing the benefits today.
FEBRUARY 2022
ADVERTISEMENT

We’re committed to providing

future generations with
the means to power their
lives in the most economic,
environmental and socially
responsible ways possible.

Energy Innovation for the

Next Generation
EDF Renewables North America is
a market leading independent power
producer and service provider with 35
years of expertise in renewable energy.
The Company delivers grid-scale
power: wind (onshore and offshore),
solar photovoltaic, and storage developed projects and 13 GW under
projects; distribution-scale power: solar service contracts. EDF Renewables
and storage; and asset optimization: North America is a subsidiary of EDF
technical, operational, and commercial Renewables, the dedicated renewable
expertise to maximize performance of energy affiliate of the EDF Group.
generating projects. The Company’s
PowerFlex subsidiary offers a full suite of Our purpose is to build a net zero energy
onsite energy solutions: solar, storage, EV future with electricity and innovative
EDF Renewables North America charging, energy management systems, solutions and services, to help save the
and microgrids. EDF Renewables’ North planet and drive wellbeing and economic
Headquarters
American portfolio consists of 20 GW of development.
North American Headquarters
15445 Innovation Drive
San Diego, CA 92128
888-903-6926
info@edf-re.com

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 39

ADVERTISEMENT

HELUKABEL: The Worry-Free

Cable Experience

HELUKABEL USA, based near Chicago IL,

is a global manufacturer and supplier of
cables, wires and cable accessories. Our
extensive product line includes flexible
and continuous-flex control cables, data/
network/bus cables, VFD/servo cables,
torsion cables for wind turbines, single-
conductors, and multi-norm cables with
domestic and international electrical
approvals.
Wind power continues to play a major
role in the generation of renewable
electricity. From installing new wind farms
to retrofitting existing ones, wind turbines
are being designed to be more efficient
and used in locations that were previously
thought to be unsuitable for wind energy
production. The technology found in
these power sources allows them to
operate safely for long periods of time on
every continent and in any climate zone.

HELUKABEL offers you optimal solutions

HELUKABEL combines excellent cable
quality, innovation and technical expertise
with a vast product portfolio and smooth
logistics operations. We call that the worry-
free cable experience!
for onshore and offshore wind turbines
from rotor tip to tower base, as well as for
the infrastructure cabling of wind farms.
Our full product range includes low-voltage
and medium-voltage cables with copper or
aluminum conductors, twistable cables, data
and network technology, pre-assembled fiber
optic cables as well as individual connection
and interconnection technology and other
accessories for fastening and bundling cables
in the tower.
Our cables are rigorously tested to UL, CSA,
and many other international standards to
ensure their durability to withstand a variety
of harsh environmental factors, including
humidity, vibration, extreme temperatures,
oil exposure, electromagnetic interference
and more.
With a 70,000 sq. ft. warehouse near
Chicago, IL and backed by a fully automated
logistics center in Germany, we are able to
serve the North American market on a just-
in-time basis, which truly makes HELUKABEL
your one-stop shop cabling solution provider.

HELUKABEL, USA, Inc.

T: (847) 930-5118
sales@helukabel.com
www.helukabel.com

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

40 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

ADVERTISEMENT

From tip to hub, Megger gives you

high performance

For over 130

years, Megger has
pioneered new
technologies to
deliver genuine
benefits for its
customers. The
company is rigorous
in its evaluation of
these technologies
to ensure that the high standards of safety,
reliability and durability for which its products
are renowned are always maintained.

We have a strong focus on research and

development, and look to reinvest a high
proportion of our income in these activities.
This investment has attracted some of the
worlds most talented and creative test-
equipment design engineers. To ensure that
our products reflect real world needs, we
have collaborative arrangements with major
manufacturers of equipment used in all areas
of the electrical energy supply industry.
Megger
2621 Van Buren Avenue
Norristown, PA 19403
866-254-0962
www.us.megger.com
Megger test equipment offers versatile,
power validation and the ability to
offer turnkey testing solutions. Megger
equipment’s testing performance can
handle ground bond testing, routing
maintenance and corroboration of
protection systems. From tip to hub,
Megger is your partner for reliable
electrical test and measurement
equipment. We offer an industry leading
IP rating, noise rejection, impact resistance
and temperature specifications, all of which
allow operation in the widest range of
environments.
Our products are designed with unique
capabilities based on our application
experience to ensure world’s best
operating performance. Intuitive product
interfaces often reduce training time and
ease product use.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 41

ADVERTISEMENT
Norbar Torque Tools introduces
EvoTorque2, where we have brought
together durability, low cost-of-ownership,
Norbar quality and accuracy, and all the
features you need, and rolled them into one,
price-competitive tool.
EvoTorque2 is
easy to program,
presents a small and
lightweight package, stores
thousands of readings, and
can be serviced in the field.
There are too many features
and advantages to list in a
few short lines of text, so the best way
to measure the advantages and value of
EvoTorque2 is to try it yourself. Stack us up
against the competition – you’re going to
be amazed!
Norbar Torque Tools, Inc.
36400 Biltmore Place
Willoughby, OH 44094
Phone: 866.667.2272
Fax: 440.953.9336
Email: info@norbar.us
www.norbar.us
www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Voting for this company will identify it as a leader
in the wind power industry.
42 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
Norbar EBT EvoTorque Battery Tool – Another radical change comes to
battery powered torque multipliers!
Norbar Torque Tools has jumped into the
battery tool market, and made a big splash!
Meet EBT – EvoTorque Battery Tool, with
everything our EvoTorque2 electric brought
you, but along the way we lost the power
cord, and picked up an 18V battery.
Operating the same EvoLog software
as EvoTorque2, EBT is the perfect
complimentary tool, because it is set-up,
programmed, and operated exactly the
same as its corded big brother. With a brushless motor, a durable and accurate Norbar
gearbox, and a built-in transducer, Norbar has set the bar high in the world of battery tools.
With an accuracy of +/-3% OF READING, EBT hits the target every time, across the full
range of the tool. If accuracy matters to you, if durability matters to you, and if unparalleled
service and support matter to you, the only name you need to remember is NORBAR.
Norbar Calibration Fixtures – Accuracy and
durability brought to the field!
Norbar Torque Tools knows how critical it is to have and
prove the calibration and accuracy of your torque tools. We
have been providing calibration equipment to the Wind
industry around the world. We can package and configure
equipment to suit all your needs, and our modular design
allows your equipment to grow and change as your needs
grow and change.
Whether you need fixtures to calibrate hydraulic wrenches,
or joint-simulators to calibrate your non-impacting torque
tools, or just a way to calibrate or verify torque wrenches,
Norbar has the equipment and expertise to cover all your
needs!
Norbar HandTorque Multipliers – Big range and a
small size, with a Certificate of Calibration!
Norbar Torque Tools Compact Series Torque Multipliers are
designed to deliver high torque ranges, in user-friendly gear
ratios, packaged in a small and lightweight package. Because
size and weight considerations are critical to your business,
Norbar has developed a line of torque multipliers that make
life in the tower easier by providing a powerful 27:1 gear
ratio – an operator input of 100 lb-ft generates 2700 lb-ft of
torqueing power!
When it comes to real convenience, Norbar has designed the Compact Series Torque
Multipliers to accept the same torque reactions as you will use on your EvoTorque2 tool,
saving you even more time and money down the road.
All Compact Series Torque Multipliers include a Certificate of Calibration, and are delivered
in a high density plastic carrying case.
www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
NTC Wind Energy provides utility scale wind
turbine foundation solutions, products and
services. Our patented Ironclad™ bolt caps
are the premier bolt cap of the industry and
are specified by nearly all foundation design
engineers. In addition to cap installation
and service, NTC Wind Energy provides
IronClad grout sleeves, rock anchor bolt
caps, foundation anchor bolt tensioning
services, corrosion inhibiting grease, grease
application tools and foundation anchor bolt
restoration services.
NTC Wind Energy also specializes in solving
unique problems associated with foundation
construction. We’ve designed, fabricated
and patented specialty tensioning tools
to address problems associated with short
bolts and tight tower wall clearances. We’ve
also developed templates for bolt cage
construction, cutting manpower by as much
as 75% and greatly enhancing safety.
NTC Wind Energy
P.O. Box 2280
Boerne, TX 78006
Toll Free: 1-800-359-0372
www.NTCwind.com
www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Voting for this company will identify it as a leader
in the wind power industry.
FEBRUARY 2022
NTC Wind Energy developed and
patented the first bolt caps in the
wind industry over 20 years ago. In
those days, lattice towers were just
giving way to monopole towers and
the industry was very small and tight.
Since that time, the industry has
grown exponentially and NTC Wind
Energy has grown with it.
NTC Wind Energy prides itself
in finding innovative solutions to
common problems in design and
construction of onshore wind turbine
foundations. Rock anchor bolt caps,
grout sleeves, specialty anti-corrosion
grease and grease applicators are just
some of the products that NTC Wind
Energy provides. Low clearance,
precision bolt tensioning and
bolt restoration services are also
provided.
Over the years, NTC Wind
Energy has developed five
generations of bolt caps, each
one an improvement over the
last. Most recently, NTC Wind
Energy developed a heavy-walled
injection molded polypropylene
copolymer bolt cap that is UV
resistant and stands up to almost anything nature can throw at it, the IronClad
Super Duty bolt cap. This cap can be installed and removed by hand and
features the only integrated o-ring in the industry.
One of the innovative solutions
that NTC Wind Energy has
developed is a water-proof air
relief port built into the Super
Duty bolt cap. This prevents
a common issue with moisture
being drawn into the cap as
it expands from exposure to
sunlight when water is pooled
on the base flange. The
IronClad Super Duty bolt cap
is the only cap available with
this important feature.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 43
ADVERTISEMENT

Advanced Bolting Technology for Wind

More than 20 years of gearbox design and
engineering.

RAD Torque Systems is a leading Canadian

manufacturer of pneumatic, battery powered
and electronic pistol grip torque wrenches.
We’ve pioneered and patented the first
programmable digital torque technology
enabling effortless data collection and highly
precise Bluetooth calibration. RAD is best
known for its innovation and high quality tools.

RAD Torque Systems is owned and operated

by New World Technologies Inc., a company
that continues to invest in and employ the
latest technology to achieve the highest kevel
of innovation, quality and performance.
RAD Torque is Reliable
At RAD Torque Systems we understand that heavy-duty industries like the wind
industry need a powerful tool they can trust won’t break down. That’s why we’ve
dedicated more than 20 years to designing torque wrenches that have been proven to
be reliable job after job.

RAD Torque is Compact

RAD specializes in gearbox design, which means we’ve developed very compact
gearboxes in comparison to our competitors. This allows for our tools to fit into hard-
to-reach spots. From a safety aspect, RAD tools have one of the best power-to-weight
ratios on the market, which makes them more ergonomic and less “bulky” than other
torque wrenches.
RAD Torque Systems
30580 Progressive Way
RAD Torque is Flexible
Abbotsford, British Columbia V2T 6Z2
Have an awkward spot you need to bolt? No problem! The RAD team of engineers
Canada have the flexibility to custom design any tool to suit any application. Plus, we have a
http://radtorque.com fast turnaround time compared to other companies because we have nearly a dozen
engineers on staff and every tool is machined and manufactured in-house.

The System of Choice for Wind Industry: E-RAD BLU

The E-RAD BLU precision torque wrench tools are designed to provide a high degree
of accuracy. Using a patented gearbox design and the precision of an electric AC
Servo motor, these tools deliver smooth continuous torque. Best of all, it’s the most
affordable system on the market.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

44 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

ADVERTISEMENT

SparkCognition award-winning AI
solutions, allow organizations to predict
future outcomes, optimize processes,
and prevent cyber-attacks. We partner
with the world’s industry leaders to
analyze, optimize, and learn from
data, augment human intelligence,
drive profitable growth, and achieve
operational excellence.

Our patented AI, machine learning, and

natural language technologies lead the
industry in innovation and accelerate
digital transformation. Our solutions
allow organizations to solve critical
challenges like reducing customer
churn, detecting fraud, preventing
unexpected downtime, and optimizing
asset performance, while avoiding zero-
day cyber-attacks on essential IT and OT
SparkCognition: AI Perfected for Business
infrastructure.

SparkCognition’s product portfolio

enables organizations to quickly
capitalize on their data, providing
actionable insights based on real-
time analysis, amplifying their return
on investment, and redefining best AI Solutions for Renewable Asset Management
practices. Since 2013, we have worked to
perfect AI, accelerate market adoption, The SparkCognition Renewable Suite is an advanced Asset Performance
and enhance, advance, and safeguard Management system currently deployed on over 8.5 GW of renewable
organizations, fostering a smarter, safer, energy assets around the world. The Renewable Suite is a single tool for
and more sustainable future.
managing wind, solar, and energy storage assets.

Capabilities of the Renewable Suite include monitoring, dashboards

and KPIs, failure prediction and anomaly detection, prescriptive
recommendations, automated reporting, energy production forecasting,
customer deployed models, self-serve analytics, and much more.

SparkCognition The SparkCognition Renewable Suite is developed and maintained by

www.sparkcognition.com experts in software engineering and data science, as well as engineers from
renewable energy OEMs and operators.

Dedicated Customer Success Managers with

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership
Voting for this company will identify it as a leader
in the wind power industry.
Renewable Energy operating experience
provide hands on support users of the
Renewable Suite and ensure that each user is
getting the maximum amount of value from
the tool. Benefits of the Renewable Suite
include increased energy production (a 2%
increase is typical), decreased maintenance
costs, and improved operational efficiency.
To learn more about the SparkCognition
Renewable Suite, please visit our website.

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 45

ADVERTISEMENT

Industry-standard lidars for

accurate wind data

Leosphere, a Vaisala company, is the global

leader in lidar remote sensing solutions for
wind energy measurement, assessment,
development and operations – both onshore
and offshore. The WindCube lidar suite
is the most accepted and trusted in the
market, providing the bankable data and
business outcomes that wind developers,
operators, and turbine manufacturers need
to thrive.

WindCube lidars are operating at thousands
of sites across the globe, providing
outstanding data accuracy and efficiency
across all phases of a wind project.
The Vaisala suite of weather sensors and
data solutions provide complementary key
measurement technologies for accurate,
reliable data for wind and solar energy.
Leosphere, a Vaisala company, has earned its leadership position in wind energy largely
because our scientific and R&D contributions are aggressive, strategic, and unmatched.
WindCube is the industry’s reference lidar, a status earned over more than 15 years of
scientific innovation and approximately 5,000 deployments around the globe.
WE PROVIDE:
Trustworthy, superior metrology: WindCube solutions are
backed by the best science and metrology, and validated
by the most demanding testing and certifications in the
industry. Our contributions make wind energy smarter.

Unrivaled thought leadership: Our years of experience,

impressive global client roster, and plethora of industry
breakthroughs demonstrate that we are the iconic gold
standard in wind energy.

Innovative lidars from a one-stop shop: Customers know

Leosphere, a Vaisala company
194 South Taylor Street
Louisville, Colorado 80027
windcubelidar.com
we have the right suite of solutions for their needs in wind
energy — taking them ever higher by adding value at each
step of the project lifecycle.
Easy, reliable global solutions: We make our clients’ lives
easier. Our easy to use, turnkey WindCube product suite
enables customers to harness the power of wind energy
efficiently and affordably.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader

in the wind power industry.

46 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

ADVERTISEMENT

WECS Renewables

A primary supplier for utility scale wind

farms, WECS provides electrical material
for the balance of Plant and systems for
power production equipment including
MV and HV components for Substation
/ Collections / and PMT / Tower system.
WECS is a primary source for OEM
products at all voltages. WECS has also
developed numerous proprietary products
and continues to innovate in the industry.
WECS also offers project review and
suggested spare parts list

WECS Renewables Capabilities

WECS Renewables
19392 Ruppert Street, N.
Palm Springs, CA 92258
760.251.0040
info@wecsrenewables.com
• Team: Technical experts with engineering capabilities for identifying best solutions
• Inventory: Vast Inventory covering from panel to Substation connections
• Same Day Shipments: Our West Coast warehouse can provide same-day shipments
across North America
• Experience: Over 35 years of experience in planning & supplying renewable projects
• OEMs Prefer WECS: Deep relationships with best manufacturers - best pricing-
across globe
• Additional WECS Differentiators:
- Custom tailored kitting
- Engineered solutions customized for specific application
- Comprehensive sourcing - including alternate solutions
- Project support and material management

WECS’s technical knowledge of operating systems and components

allows us to understand and plan for both the product need and the
product application.

www.windpowerengineering.com/leadership Example Solar Products

Voting for this company will identify it as a leader (LV/MV Gear, PV connections, DC Feeder, Cable Management, Collector
in the wind power industry. Materials, Substation Equipment and connections, Wire & Cable, Fuses)

FEBRUARY 2022 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT 47

 AD INDEX
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

LEADERSHIP TEAM
Abaris ........................................................................................................... 23
VP of Sales
AZTEC Bolting Services Inc. .............................................................COVER, 18
Mike Emich
508.446.1823 Boker’s, Inc. .................................................................................................. 22
memich@wtwhmedia.com Dexmet Corporation ....................................................................................... 9
Managing Director
EDF .............................................................................................................. 27
Scott McCafferty HELUKABEL USA ........................................................................................... 13
310.279.3844
Megger ...................................................................................................... IBC
smccafferty@wtwhmedia.com
Norbar Torque Tools ....................................................................................... 1
EVP NTC Wind ..................................................................................................... 29
Marshall Matheson
805.895.3609
RAD Torque .................................................................................................. 11
mmatheson@wtwhmedia.com SparkCognition ............................................................................................. 17
Vaisala ........................................................................................................ IFC
Publisher
Courtney Nagle WECS ............................................................................................................ 12
cseel@wtwhmedia.com Yuken ........................................................................................................... BC
440.523.1685

SALES

Jami Brownlee
LEADERSHIP 2022
224.760.1055 Abaris ........................................................................................................... 34
jbrownlee@wtwhmedia.com
ALA Industries .............................................................................................. 35
Ashley Burk AZTEC Bolting .............................................................................................. 36
737.615.8452 Boker’s .......................................................................................................... 37
aburk@wtwhmedia.com
Dexmet Corporation ..................................................................................... 38
Jim Powers EDF .............................................................................................................. 39
312.925.7793
HELUKABEL USA .......................................................................................... 40
jpowers@wtwhmedia.com
Megger ........................................................................................................ 41
Norbar Torque Tools ..................................................................................... 42
NTC .............................................................................................................. 43
RAD Torque .................................................................................................. 44
SparkCognition ............................................................................................. 45
Vaisala .......................................................................................................... 46
WECS ........................................................................................................... 47

CONNECT WITH US
Follow the whole team on twitter @Windpower_Eng
Looking for more
ways to connect?

48 WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT www.windpowerengineering.com FEBRUARY 2022

Testing lightning protection
on wind turbines?

Megger has the right tools for you!

The DLRO2 handheld 2 Amp low resistance ohmmeter, coupled
with the new KC-C series test leads, is perfect for testing
wind turbines. The DLRO2 measures the resistance between the
turbine’s blade tip to the ground connection using the KC-C
long test leads.

With a combined weight of less than 20 pounds, the DLRO2

and KC-C leads are the perfect tools when testing at heights.
Lightweight tools are a necessity for the safety and comfort of
wind technicians.

What better way to test resistance than with Megger’s

quality instruments? We make testing safe, accurate,
and easy.
KC-C long test leads

For a FREE VoltclawTM non-conductive tool

visit us.megger.com/getbook
Reference Code: DLRO2_WP_FEB
Visit our website: US.MEGGER.COM
 Yuken is the most
trusted name in the
US Wind industry for
pitch control valves.
Since 2014:
• Over 4,000 valves installed
• No warranty claims
or returns since 2014
• 3 year warranty guarantee

ALA Industries Limited

3410 Delta Dr • Portage, IN 46368
Tel: 877-419-8536 Fax: 219-762-2066
www.alaindustrieslimited.com