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SEPTEMBER 2020
USING
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SEPTEMBER 2020
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & D E V E LO P M E N T / / V O L . 1 2 N O. 3
COVER STORY
power performance testing? use lidar
The wind energy sector is constantly evolving and new techniques and technologies are becoming available to ensure that turbine performance meets expectations and contractual obligations.
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CONTRIBUTORS
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WINDWATCH
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WIND WORK AROUND THE UNITED STATES
FEATURES 08
On- and offshore wind project announcements from across the country.
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See the latest wind power developments and U.S. project news on our website. Also find expert webinars and more from the leading wind power engineering magazine today.
SEPTEMBER 2020
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Underwater cables need adequate protection
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Although most of the industry focuses on what’s happening in the water, offshore wind developers cannot lose sight of the importance of permitting a project’s onshore facilities in the coastal zone.
Some interesting product and policy news from our website.
FIND US ONLINE
Onshore permitting requirements in California
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As the offshore wind power market in the United States continues to mature, developers are having to come to grips with a complex regulatory landscape before pushing projects forward.
Critical to offshore turbines’ successful operation are the subsea power cables that have the essential function of transmitting generated power from the turbines to the substations and then onward to shore.
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Navigating the sea of offshore regulations
The true cost of wind turbine fires and protection
A high-profile fire can not only devastate current projects, but also jeopardize the prospects of future development across the industry – and this risk only grows as turbines get bigger and move into more remote sites.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
RICHARD BEESLEY
MATTHIEU BOQUET
MELISSA FOSTER
FABIO FRACAROLI
CHERISE GAFFNEY
ANGELA KRCMAR
CHAD MARRIOTT
RICHARD BEESLEY is Innovation and Business Development Director at Trelleborg Offshore, in Skelmersdale, England. Richard is responsible for the development and improvement of product technologies and solutions for subsea pipeline and cable protection applications, alongside developing new market applications. After graduating from Loughborough University, Richard joined Trelleborg initially in a design and engineering capacity. Richard has worked within the Trelleborg group for over 20 years, holding senior posts in England, United States, Asia Pacific, Brazil and is the inventor on patent for Trelleborg’s Diverless Bend Stiffener Connectors. MATTHIEU BOQUET is Head of Products & Offering for Leosphere, a Vaisala company. In this role, he drives Leosphere’s WindCube lidar offerings to meet the industry’s high-level expectations while helping customers continually generate value from their lidars. MELISSA FOSTER is a Stoel Rives partner in the Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources group and is located in Stoel Rives’ Sacramento office. She has over 15 years of experience practicing environmental law and focuses her practice on facility siting, environmental compliance and enforcement defense. FABIO FRACAROLI leads business and market development activities for the renewables segment in North America for ABB Power Grids. A sales and market leader with 18+ years of international experience in manufacturing, project management and business development in the power industry, Fabio is passionate about the energy market, and has broad knowledge of industrials markets such as chemicals, oil and gas, transportation, metals and mining, data centers and renewables. CHERISE GAFFNEY is a Stoel Rives partner in the Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources practice group. She advises clients on federal natural resources law in complex permitting and
compliance matters and has extensive experience on issues arising under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Marine Mammal Protection Act, Federal Power Act, Coastal Zone Management Act and Administrative Procedure Act. ANGELA KRCMAR is wind global sales manager for Firetrace International. She has over 10 years of experience in the fire protection industry focusing on the renewable sectors including wind and battery storage. For the past 10 years Angela has led Firetrace efforts in the wind industry, contacting and visiting wind farms, owners and manufacturers in an effort to discuss needs and advantages of fire protection for wind applications. Angela is an active member of the AWEA Wind Environmental, Health, and Safety Standards Committee Meeting, member of the NFPA 855 Committee for Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems and contributing member of the UL 6141 technical standards panel. CHAD MARRIOTT leads Stoel Rives' wind energy subgroup and serves as counsel to sponsors, owners and investors in the development, sale, acquisition and financing of renewable and thermal generation projects throughout the United States. In the past few years, Chad has worked heavily in the wind, solar and battery energy storage spaces, serving as sponsor’s counsel in the negotiation of approximately $3 billion in tax equity and separate cash equity investments in 900 MW of renewable energy projects. TIM TAYLOR is one of Sacramento’s best-known environmental and land use lawyers. At Stoel Rives, he helps residential, commercial and industrial developers achieve compliance with California’s numerous land use and environmental laws, with a focus on the California Environmental Quality Act and related litigation. During his 25-year career, Tim has also dealt extensively with a wide range of federal environmental laws, including the NEPA, the CWA and the ESA.
TIM TAYLOR
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
wind windWatch Watch Wood Mackenzie reports estimate billions in revenue from offshore wind The U.S. offshore wind industry could deliver as much as 25 GW of facility development by 2029, potentially generating billions in U.S. Treasury revenue, according to reports released by research firm Wood Mackenzie. The report estimates that by 2022, the treasury could yield approximately $1.7 billion. However, additional lease areas are required to meet the demand of these potential wind projects but could result in job creation in the thousands. Image Credit: NREL
AWEA conferences move online due to COVID The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is taking its Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Conference and Wind Project Siting and Environmental Conference online this September due to COVID-19 concerns. The organization is reworking its event experiences, giving participants the chance to attend live presentations, on-demand sessions and one-on-one networking opportunities from their computers.
SEPTEMBER 2020
AWEA is reassessing its remaining 2020 events and planning them based on local guidelines, travel restrictions and conditions surrounding the pandemic.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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WIND WATCH
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New Jersey is planning offshore wind staging port
New York, New Jersey seek offshore wind project proposals New York and New Jersey both issued public solicitation of offshore wind project proposals in July. New York is seeking between 2.5 and 4 GW worth of proposals, and New Jersey is looking for between 1.2 and 2.4 GW. Both solicitations follow an initial round of proposals received by the states that will result in approximately 2.8 GW of future wind construction.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced in July that the state is developing the New Jersey Wind Port, an operation dedicated to staging, assembly and manufacturing activities related to offshore wind projects on the East Coast. The port is expected to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly and operations jobs and hundreds of construction jobs in New Jersey.
Carbon recycling outfit can recycle 100% of wind turbine blades Carbon Fiber Recycling of Tennessee has developed a recycling process to handle different forms of carbon fiber waste and has successfully tested it on wind turbine blades. The company is currently building a carbon fiber recycling facility in Tazewell, Tennessee, that will be capable of recycling 4 million pounds of waste material a year.
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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National consortium offering $9 million in offshore wind R&D funding The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium has offered $9 million in offshore wind technology research and development projects through its “Innovation in Offshore Wind Solicitation 1.0.” The solicitation is open to companies and academic institutions developing solutions that remove barriers for cost reduction, deployment and industry growth for U.S. offshore wind.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Wind work around the
united states
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Renewable Energy Systems completed construction of Southern Power’s first Kansas wind project, the 200-MW Reading Wind Facility. Southern Power acquired Reading Wind in August 2018, and Renewable Energy Systems acted as developer and constructor of the site, creating 200 jobs in the process. The carbon offsets generated by the wind farm are being sold under a 12-year PPA to Royal Caribbean Cruises.
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i m ag e C r e d i t: Kipp Shore w i t h Wag o n Productions/ Scout Clean Energy
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Apex Clean Energy sells third largest wind project in U.S.
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Apex Clean Energy has arranged the sale of its 500-MW White Mesa Project located in Crockett County, Texas, to an undisclosed buyer. Upon completion, White Mesa is expected to be the third-largest single-phase, single-site wind farm in the United States.
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Avangrid Renewables constructing 200-MW wind farm for Oregon utility Avangrid Renewables secured an agreement with Puget Sound Energy for the proposed 200-MW wind farm project. Named Golden Hills Wind Farm, the facility will be Avangrid’s 13th wind project in the Pacific Northwest. This project will bring Puget Sound’s total contracted wind fleet to over 1,150 MW.
SEPTEMBER 2020
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12-MW offshore wind pilot project completed off Virginia coast
Dominion Energy installed the twoturbine, 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project 27 miles off Virginia Beach as a pilot to its proposed 2,600-MW commercial project. It’s the first offshore wind project approved by the Bureau of Ocean Management in federal waters and the second constructed in the United States.
Scout Clean Energy completes 180-MW Texas Wind Farm
Colorado-based renewable energy developer Scout Clean Energy finished construction of the 180-MW Heart of Texas Wind Farm (HTX) in McCulloch County, Texas. HTX is expected to generate $36 million in tax revenue for McCulloch County over the course of its lifetime. The system has an offtake contract with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty’s Alternative Risk unit.
200-MW EDP Renewables wind farm comes online in illinois
EDP Renewables’ 200-MW Harvest Ridge Wind Farm in Douglas County, Illinois, finished construction and came online in late July. The system has longterm PPAs with utility Wabash Valley Power Alliance, retailer Walmart and a private offtaker. Global Wind Service constructed the 48-turbine wind farm.
Enel Green Power to expand Kansas wind farm by 199 MW
Enel Green Power is adding 74 turbines to its existing 400-MW Cimarron Bend wind farm in Clark County, Kansas. Upon completion, the wind facility will raise its capacity to 599 MW. This is the third phase of construction on Cimarron Bend, the first in 2016 and second in 2017.
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Southern Power completes 200-MW Reading Wind Facility
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AEP developing 1,485 MW of Oklahoma wind projects
American Electric Power is investing approximately $2 billion in 1,485 MW of planned wind projects in Oklahoma. These power plants will serve customers in the Southwestern Electric Power Company and Public Service Company of Oklahoma territories.
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242-MW Clear Creek Energy Center comes online
Tenaska’s 111-turbine, 242-MW wind farm Clear Creek Energy Center powered on this May in Northwest Missouri. The system started construction in Spring 2019 and was built on approximately 31,000 acres in Nodaway County. Clear Creek has a 25-year PPA with Associated Electric Cooperative of Springfield.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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So you want to build a wind project off the coast of California:
HERE ARE THE
ONSHORE PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS FOR
OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS By Melissa Foster, Tim Taylor, Cherise Gaffney, Chad Marriott • Stoel Rives LLP
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
Like
their terrestrial counterparts, wind turbines floating miles offshore trigger the need for various federal, state and local approvals. While most of the industry’s focus is on securing a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lease, locating the turbines and subsea transmission cables, and addressing impacts to wildlife, offshore wind developers cannot lose sight of the importance of permitting a project’s onshore facilities in the coastal zone. This article focuses on the critical state and local approvals required for a wind project specifically off the California coast.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Ad ob e St oc k
State and local development approvals in the coastal zone Various federal, state and – depending on the project – local approvals are likely to be required for the onshore components of any offshore wind project in California. Onshore project components include the onshore export cable route and the burying of the cable beneath the beach and any nearby roads, parks along the route to the substation, as well as interconnection hardware (e.g., transformers, switchgear), housing and additional components. BOEM has jurisdiction over offshore wind projects on the Outer Continental Shelf and must evaluate them through the lens of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) prior to granting leases, easements and rights-of-way. Importantly, the scope of BOEM’s environmental review will almost certainly include onshore components that are also subject to the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission (or Coastal Commissionapproved Local Coastal Programs) and the California State Lands Commission. Any actions by a California state or local agency will require environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Thus, the onshore components of California offshore wind projects will need to comply with the requirements of both NEPA and CEQA, though if the involved state and federal agencies can agree, these processes can be coordinated and, to a certain degree, streamlined. The Coastal Commission generally has jurisdiction over development within California’s coastal zone pursuant to the California Coastal Act. The
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS
exception is San Francisco Bay, where development is regulated by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. In California, the coastal zone varies in width from several hundred feet up to five miles inland and extends three miles offshore. The Coastal Commission also implements the federal Coastal Zone Management Act as it applies to federal activities, including development projects, permits and licenses. Local governments can obtain permitting authority within the coastal zone if the Coastal Commission approves a Local Coastal Program (LCP). Under an approved LCP, the local government can make decisions regarding conservation and use of resources along that coastal segment. According to Coastal Commission data, as of 2016, approximately 73% of the 126 LCP segments have been certified by the Coastal Commission. Thus, as of 2016, local governments are issuing coastal development permits within approximately 87% of the geographic area of the coastal zone. But even in areas that have an approved LCP, for development proposed on or under tidelands, submerged lands or public trust lands, the California State Lands Commission has jurisdiction. The State Lands Commission manages tide, submerged and coastal public trust lands in California. Typically, State Lands Commission jurisdiction extends to in-water projects, such as docks and marinas, but its approval is also required for cables that breach the shoreline to connect offshore wind turbines to onshore facilities. These facilities, in turn, need discretionary approvals from the local government (if it has an approved LCP) or the Coastal Commission, and those approvals will contain conditions to protect public coastal access and the environment.
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
In an effort to improve collaboration and increase coordination, the Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on September 19, 2019. Although not legally enforceable, the MOU provides a roadmap for coordinating lease and coastal development permit applications between the agencies and establishes a pecking order of sorts – i.e., the State Lands Commission must render a jurisdictional determination before the Coastal Commission can deem a permit application complete. Additional state and local approvals for onshore activities In addition to Coastal Commission (or LCP) and State Lands Commission approvals, various other state and local approvals will be required for the onshore components of offshore wind projects. For example, CEQA is a broad-reaching statute designed to inform agencies and the public about the potential environmental effects of proposed discretionary projects. CEQA requires the evaluation of a project’s physical impacts on the environment, project alternatives, and proposed mitigation or avoidance measures if potentially significant impacts are identified. With the exception of the Coastal Commission, which has been certified by the California Secretary for Resources as a Certified Regulatory Program under CEQA, each state and local agency evaluating the onshore components of an offshore wind project must comply with CEQA before taking action on such project, though a single lead agency will be responsible for the preparation and approval of an environmental analysis upon which other CEQA agencies typically will rely. Once onshore, the export cable will likely follow an underground route
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(whether measured in yards or miles) to the substation interconnection point. Ultimately, the route length may impact the number of jurisdictions traversed, as well as the amount of public opposition that may be encountered. Onshore development activity of any kind can draw opposition from nearby landowners concerned with construction traffic, safety, visual, economic or environmental impacts, just to name a few. Onshore development will also require compliance with various water quality, species protection, air quality and other laws. While it is clear that burying export cables as they come onshore will require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit and a Section 401 Water Quality Certification, the project may also require a Rivers and Harbors Act permit. Among these, it is important to know that the Section 401 Water Quality Certification is a gating item in development — no license or permit may be issued by a federal agency until the relevant California Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued its 401 certification. Next, depending on the scope of the proposed onshore activities, an incidental take permit from or agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife may be required. Various stormwater approvals may also be necessary, depending on the size and scope of onshore activities, including coverage under California’s Construction General Stormwater NPDES Permit and compliance with local agency stormwater requirements. Finally, rounding out the picture of state and local permits, we expect that offshore wind projects will require approvals from the local air district as well as other local ministerial approvals, such as building, grading, electrical, sewer, waste and/or encroachment permits.
SEPTEMBER 2020
PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS
Other onshore considerations – port availability and access Numerous offshore developers on the East Coast have begun investing in and working with port facilities to secure preferred locations for staging, installation, fabrication and operation and maintenance of offshore wind projects. Other ports have been identified as preferable locations for upgrades and makeovers to better facilitate uses by offshore wind developers in the future. In California, some initial port evaluations have occurred, including initial evaluations of the port’s role and necessary port characteristics. A port can be classified in one or more roles, including assembly, installation, fabrication and quick response. For example, a quick response port is used for crew transfer and pre-installation activities so it will not require the same amenities as a viable fabrication, construction or final assembly port. Depending on the need, valuable port characteristics may include proximity to rail, navigation channel width and depth, dry dock or shipyard facilities, crane capacity, skilled
workforce, availability of long-term staging and laydown areas, and, perhaps most important, proximity to a project lease area. Until definitive offshore locations for projects are identified, determining preferential ports and port locations remains premature. Completing the permitting puzzle Early involvement with onshore approval agencies and stakeholders will be critical to ensuring that an offshore wind project will be successful. Until now, the focus in California has been on identifying the eligible offshore locations for turbine and cable placement, but developers also should give early consideration to the necessary onshore approvals and the many hurdles that typically arise. Be sure to carve out a significant amount of time in the development schedule for onshore permitting, as public scrutiny, agency review, and inevitable delay are all but guaranteed. WPE
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Floating wind turbine with Trelleborg’s Njord BS (bend stiffeners) and Trelleborg’s Njord DBM (distributed buoyancy modules)
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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SEPTEMBER 2020
Take it seriously:
Underwater cables
need adequate protection
on offshore projects By Richard Beesley • Innovation & Business Development Director • Trelleborg Applied Technologies
With
the increasing pace of change toward renewable energy sources, offshore wind technology plays a key role globally in supporting this transition to cleaner energy sources. The richest wind energy resources are found offshore, with development of shallow water locations escalating with increasing volume and pace, and the industry moving forward with firm plans to tap into the even greater opportunities in deeper waters through the application and development of floating platform technologies. By 2025, it is anticipated that close to 20,000 turbines with 250+ offshore substations will have been installed offshore. Even with the development of larger turbines, these quantities are expected to increase by a factor of three by 2050. Critical to their successful operation are the subsea power cables that have the essential function of transmitting generated power from the turbines to the substations and then onward to shore. Protecting these critical power cables from excessive movement or bending is of utmost importance. Highvoltage power cables are both expensive to install and replace, with replacement costs in the region of millions of dollars, even before factoring in wind turbine down-time and the huge loss of revenue from reduced output. Experience gathered from fixed wind technologies, along with the drive of floating wind into increasingly dynamic environments, has increased focus and highlighted the importance of cable protection. Careful consideration is essential in order to maintain the integrity of the power cables for the life of the field.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Why is cable bend protection needed? While numerous kilometers of power cables are installed on every windfarm, they are vulnerable to damage at a number of critical locations. With fixed wind turbine structures, the cable is typically protected through trenching and burial for the majority of its length. In some cases, the burial point can typically be as far as 30 m from its connection point and can be even longer if there has been significant seabed scour around the foundation of the structure. In this exposed area, the cable becomes subject to loads and motion from the surrounding sea conditions. With floating wind platforms, the cable is exposed over longer lengths in the water column between the seabed and the floating foundation of the turbine and will potentially experience even greater levels of dynamic load and motion. In the exposed areas described, the dynamic forces on the cable produces cyclical motions relative to the foundation. These motions and loads concentrate toward the rigid connection point where the cable experiences a sharp transition in stiffness. As the cables have relatively low stiffness, they are highly susceptible to both over-bending and fatigue damage at this point. To mitigate this, bend protection is needed.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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UNDERWATER CABLES
Cable bend protection, key applications Figures 1 - 5 illustrate the critical locations where dynamic bend protection should be applied to power cables. Fixed offshore wind: • Monopile with scour protection: inside and outside monopile (Fig.1) • Monopile with scour pit: inside and outside monopile (Fig.2) • J tube with scour protection (Fig.3) • J tube with scour pit (Fig.4)
FIGURE 1.
Floating offshore wind: • Topside floating foundation connection (Fig.5) • Tether clamp transitions (dependent on the level of motion at the tether clamp location) (Fig.5) Cable bend protection analysis and design A cable’s bend protection requirements can be unique to each application. In order to analyze the application and develop a bend protection device that is fit for purpose, the following parameters are critical design considerations: • Met ocean data: Detailed information is required in order to determine the design envelope of conditions the cable will be subjected to across all sea states and temperatures. Data analysis will determine the requirements in terms of load ranges, motions, curvatures and corresponding number of cycles acting on the cable, within the vicinity of the connection point. • Temperature: The mechanical performance characteristics of polymer materials used in cable and bend protection device construction can vary with temperature. Therefore, it is important to ascertain the minimum and maximum temperature ranges of the surrounding environment along with the cable operating temperatures, to ensure the mechanical performance variation can be accommodated within the analysis and design. • Cable dimensions and weight: These cable parameters determine the nature of reaction against the wave and current dynamic forces and therefore influence the level of loads and motion on the cable. Outer diameter is also a key consideration in the dimensional fit of any bend protection device. • Cable mechanical parameters: The cable’s bend stiffness and minimum bend radius (MBR) characteristics are essential for accurate modelling of cable dynamic motions and assessment of the suitability of any proposed bend protection device. Typically, the cable manufacturer will determine and advise a storage MBR for short term or static load applications and a larger service MBR, required to be adhered to, to avoid damage under longer term dynamic loads. • Cable thermal characteristics: As the bend protection surrounds the cable it can insulate the cable and increase the cable temperature. Thermal analysis is therefore necessary to check that the cable does not exceed its allowable temperature limits. Understanding the cables’ thermal characteristics and temperatures during operation are necessary, along with surrounding environmental information, to perform this analysis.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 4.
FIGURE 5.
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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SEPTEMBER 2020
When the storm hits, many pitch control proportional valves will fail. Yuken started installing special ruggedized pitch control valves in US wind turbines in October 2014. Since that first valve was installed, we’ve installed nearly 4,000 more in US wind farms. More than 99% are still operating. You think your proportional valve application can beat Mother Nature the way our valves have?
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8/3/20 3:33 PM
UNDERWATER CABLES
In order to evaluate the cable’s bend protection requirements unique to the application, a global finite element analysis (FEA) using Orcaflex modelling software or similar is performed utilizing the various data sets collected. This enables the design engineer to set up a boundary constrained model, evaluate the loads and motions of the cable toward the connection point and determine the impact of introducing a bend protection system. This can be an iterative design process that continues until the bend protection device can maintain the cable’s motions and curvatures within allowable design limits for all load cases. The model will analyze the cable with the bend protection device typically under the following main dynamic conditions: ultimate limit state (maximum load, low number of cycles) and fatigue limit state (normal load, high number of cycles). Once a bend protection system is identified that satisfies dynamic performance requirements, the output from the model can be used to proceed to local mechanical design of the bend protection system and its components, and thermal analysis including the cable to verify allowable temperature limits are maintained. Dynamic cable bend stiffeners For dynamic bend protection applications where the cable is exposed to frequent motion, then a bend stiffener solution is recommended to maintain cable integrity. A bend stiffener comprises of a homogeneous elastomeric cone with a geometry and material properties designed to provide a gradual and tailored transition in stiffness from its tip to its base. This is a crucial feature as this removes the previous sharp change in stiffness at the connection point and protects the cable from over-bending and excessive fatigue. The bend stiffener provides continuous support to the cable at the connection point, ensuring the overall curvatures of the cable inside
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
and adjacent to the bend stiffener are significantly reduced when under load. Therefore, for any given load cycle there is significant reduction in the stress range acting on the cable and associated fatigue. This is a key difference in comparison to bend protection devices for static applications such as bend restrictors (vertebrae) and bellmouths. These static devices are designed to protect the cable from over-bending through, in the case of bend restrictors, interlocking vertebrae or, in relation to bellmouths, a radiused flare profile equal or greater than the MBR of the cable. While these bend restrictors and bellmouths prevent infringement of the cable MBR, they do not provide the gradual stiffness transition or continued cable support throughout the full range of cable motions. Therefore, in comparison to a bend stiffener solution, the cable remains exposed to higher stress ranges under dynamic loads, which can result in premature fatigue issues. Trelleborg utilizes dynamic bend stiffeners in the fixed wind applications as part of its NjordGuard Cable Protection System and on floating wind applications, often mated to a Diverless Bend Stiffener Connector for quick installation. As a bend stiffener needs to provide dynamic cable protection for the life of the field, it is important that the product itself is designed to survive the rigors of both installation and service. Careful consideration needs to be particularly paid to: • Elastomeric materials selection and qualification: The elastomeric materials selected for the flexible cone naturally are a core part of the bend stiffener functionality. In order to use them effectively it is important that their mechanical, fatigue and aging performance characteristics are mapped and qualified over a range of temperatures before applying them into the design of the bend stiffener product. Trelleborg
www.windpowerengineering.com
•
•
typically recommends working to the established oil and gas industry standard, API 17L. Insert design: The insert at the base of the stiffener plays the crucial role of effectively transferring the loads from the cable and conical bend stiffener section into the adjacent structure. A combination of 3D FEA modelling of the steel insert and elastomer interface and classical calculations is used to determine a suitable design to withstand maximum design and fatigue loads. Verification testing: It is important that the design is verified through theoretical FEA models and full-scale dynamic and static load testing.
Utilizing a bend stiffener over other bend protection solutions, provides the most appropriate design solution for cable connection points on fixed and floating offshore wind structures where the cable is exposed to dynamic environmental conditions, ensuring continuous protection of the cable from over-bending and fatigue. As applications are often unique in their requirements, careful analysis of the parameters is necessary in order to identify the most appropriate bend protection solution. Selecting the right bend protection solution for both the specific wind turbine and the environment will prevent cable damage and subsequently reduce operations and maintenance costs by maximizing the life of the cable, removing the need to prematurely replace or repair cables in service. By protecting the wind turbine dynamic power cable at its most vulnerable points, the integrity can be maintained for the entire design life expectancy of the field and beyond, supporting the renewables industry with wind turbine expansion into deeper water environments in the pursuit for cleaner energy sources and reducing the effect of climate change. WPE
SEPTEMBER 2020
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SEPTEMBER 2020
NAVIGATING THE SEA OF
REGULATIONS IN
OFFSHORE WIND POWER
BY FABIO FRACAROLI • SENIOR DIRECTOR • RENEWABLE SEGMENT NORTH AMERICA • ABB POWER GRIDS
AS
the offshore wind power market in the United States continues to mature, developers are having to come to grips with a complex regulatory landscape before pushing projects forward. The primary driver behind those regulations is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) which oversees development of renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf and grants associated leases. BOEM’s offshore wind energy program includes four phases: planning and analysis, leasing, site assessment, as well as construction and operations — each of which brings its own regulatory requirements. Environmental impact The first phase of the BOEM process involves conducting studies of potential impacts on wildlife as well as other environmental considerations. Major environmental concerns related to offshore wind developments include increased noise levels, risk of collisions, changes to oceanic wildlife habitats, alterations to food webs and pollution from increased vessel traffic or release of contaminants from seabed sediments. The Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), part of the Department of Energy, is tasked with assessing and mitigating environmental impacts of wind energy projects and has conducted extensive research to help ensure they provide a net environmental benefit. As the accumulated knowledge around the environmental impact of offshore
SEPTEMBER 2020
wind projects grows, developers need to consider all of this information during the planning phase. It takes a wealth of knowledge and experience to efficiently navigate this process and ensure that developers are initiating projects in locations where the likelihood of approval is high. Grid compliance Another critical component of the planning and analysis phase is ensuring proper interconnection and grid compliance. Shoring up interconnection plans is necessary for local regional transmission organization/ independent system operator (RTO/ISO) feasibility and impact assessments that will follow. Accounting for the right technologies during the RTO/ISO process is crucial because solutions proposed during this first phase of development are what must be implemented if the plan is approved. That planning process can take a year or longer, making it potentially disastrous if developers are required to start over due to an oversight in their applications. Ensuring grid compliance in the early phases of development can also include fatal flaw studies, conceptual design of transmission systems, and cost and risk assessment. Later, a specialized interconnection study can be conducted during the site assessment phase to evaluate primary systems and optimal components to help a developer understand economic and reliability options for landfall interconnection.
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
19
REGULATIONS IN OFFSHORE WIND POWER
Cybersecurity Throughout the planning process, developers must also take into consideration the North American Electric Reliability Corporation critical infrastructure protection plan (NERC-CIP), which consists of nine standards and 45 requirements covering the security of electronic perimeters and the protection of critical cyber assets, as well as personnel and training, security management and disaster recovery planning. Cybersecurity is a key component of NERC-CIP compliance, especially when leveraging digitalized assets that can be especially vulnerable without proper protection. As such, developers need to plan for multiple layers of defense embedded in substation automation and control system architecture. Those systems can be leveraged to save millions of dollars through remote access and management as opposed to transfer of personnel to and from offshore installations, but they require additional expertise to execute effectively. It is also best to ensure that grid automation systems follow industrial best practice guidelines
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
outlined in such standards as IEC 62443, IEC 62351, IEEE 1686, as well as the BDEW. To achieve this, developers can leverage several key technologies and strategies that can play a meaningful role in helping address cybersecurity concerns. Firewalls (including next-generation firewalls), patch management, access control and detailed audit trails of all security-relevant user activities are prime examples. Grid interconnection Another concern with offshore projects, especially in the United States, is the reality that existing transmission systems, which are typically developed to support large, centralized fossil-fuel and nuclear-based power stations are generally located away from the coast. The loads near the coastline are often at the very end of that transmission grid and there are few existing substations capable of receiving and transmitting power from major new generation facilities located offshore. Hence, interconnection and integration of such facilities into the existing grid is arguably one of the most critical dependencies for the future success of offshore wind.
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
REGULATIONS IN OFFSHORE WIND POWER
For developers, it can also be one of the most difficult ones to manage without in-depth knowledge of the U.S. grid infrastructure and the utility companies that support it. As it relates to regulatory requirements, it is important to address the various interconnection issues driven by grid code, NERC and ISO requirements. A few of the primary concerns include: • Addressing the reactive power and blackstart capability needs of the grid as fossilfuel and nuclear based generation units retire and are replaced by intermittent wind resources. • Defining performance during normal and contingency conditions. • Considering the effect of cable system energization generator synchronization on system voltage and any alternatives for meeting reactive power capabilities. To help address some of these concerns, flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) devices such as energy storage systems, synchronous condensers and HVDC VSC can provide voltage regulation and reactive power support to the grid at the interconnection point. Battery energy storage systems and synchronous condensers can also provide synthetic inertia to improve performance and frequency response of a grid that relies on a high percentage of wind-generated and relatively low levels of traditional fossilfuel based or hydro-based generation. This is most effective in scenarios where wind energy becomes a significant part of the overall power generation capacity in the grid, and other resources must therefore be able to quickly offset the fluctuations in wind power generation to balance the real and reactive power requirements of the loads. Additionally, shunt reactors can be used to increase the energy efficiency of long AC cable systems by absorbing the reactive power (charging current) generated within the cable. A shunt reactor can be directly connected to the power circuit or to a tertiary winding of a three-winding transformer. It can then be permanently connected or switched via a circuit breaker. To improve the adjustment of the consumed reactive power the reactor can also have a variable rating. If the load variation is slow, which it normally is (seasonal, daily or hourly), a variable shunt reactor could be an economical solution for some applications.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Conclusion As one can imagine, this only scratches the surface of the complex regulatory environment facing offshore wind developers and represents just one piece of the puzzle that must come together to successfully execute a project. Developers also face an array of technical, physical and budgetary challenges along the way. Taken as a whole, such ventures can certainly seem daunting. However, when backed by the proper knowledge, experience and resources, wind energy projects in the United States can be a major force in pushing clean energy forward at a time when the planet needs it most. WPE
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
21
POWER PERFORMANCE TEST ING?
Utilize the ease and efficiency of lidar By Matthieu Boquet • Head of Products & Offering • Leosphere, a Vaisala company
HARNESSING the wind is not exactly a perfect science. From taller and more efficient wind turbines to the development of wind farms in increasingly complex onshore and offshore environments, the wind energy sector is constantly evolving, and new techniques and technologies are becoming available to ensure that turbine and wind farm performance meets
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
expectations and contractual obligations. One such technology is the use of lidar sensors in power performance testing (PPT) to easily and efficiently adhere to industry standards and best practices. Power Performance Testing Wind energy industry best practices include comparing actual turbine performance on a site with the contracted
www.windpowerengineering.com
performance often used as the basis for energy and revenue estimation. A key parameter of the economic value of a wind project, the power curve is determined through PPT. The power curve shows the relationship between turbine power and hub height wind speed, essentially capturing turbine performance. By plotting the power versus wind speed,
SEPTEMBER 2020
the power curve compares on-site results to that of the warranted power curve. During the commissioning phase of a project, PPT data helps verify the configuration and installation of turbines to ensure the wind turbine is set to deliver the expected power output. Beyond turbine performance verification, PPT is also conducted for regulatory compliance and warranty verification. To verify turbine performance, PPT often happens once they are operational on a wind farm. A detailed, IEC-compliant test and analysis can ensure that projects are performing as they should, maximizing the annual energy production (AEP) and potential revenue of a wind farm. Given the increasing size of turbines (both on- and offshore), even if there’s a slight difference in the realworld production compared to a turbine's expected power production, that can mean a significant — and costly — change in the project’s economy. In fact, data from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) reveals that just a 1% decrease in annual production can reduce the revenue of a wind farm with 100 2-MW turbines by up to $500,000 per year. While developers and operators expect to get the energy output promised, without accurate PPT data, it’s impossible for them to determine whether each turbine is performing as it should. Meteorological evaluation towers — commonly called met towers or met masts — and calibrated turbine-mounted cup anemometers have traditionally been the primary options for conducting the wind measurements required to verify power performance. However, turbine anemometers are highly uncertain because of their location behind the turbine rotor, and as turbine rotor sweeps grow beyond 200-m in height, met towers are not able to deliver PPT data with the vertical measurement and accuracy required. Plus, installing a met tower onshore for PPT is expensive and needs time, while using met towers for offshore wind farm environments is impractical due to the requirement of a multimillion-dollar foundation being constructed out in the ocean. Because met towers have been the only option for some time, there are very few PPT campaigns performed in the field. With turbines continuing to grow larger, performance testing and verification is becoming increasingly important as underperformance equates to reduced power output and significant lost revenue. That’s where lidar comes in.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Lidar for Power Performance Verification Whether developing or operating a wind project, lidar sensors help decision-makers understand what the wind is actually doing at a given site. Ground-based vertical profiler lidars are already regularly used for PPT after the release of IEC 61400-12-1 Ed. 2 Standard. Alternatively, by accurately measuring the full wind regime and characteristics of the wind flow, including wind speed, wind direction and turbulence all the way up to 700 m in distance, the most advanced nacelle-mounted lidars allow for data that is easily attainable, accurate and in line with industry PPT best practices. Adhering to wind industry best practices and an upcoming IEC standard, advanced lidar sensors are able to mount temporarily on or fully integrate into the nacelle, enabling operators and wind turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to efficiently and accurately assess turbine performance. PPT can also be performed using a ground-based vertical profiling lidar, and the choice of which one to use is specific to each use case. In addition, some out-of-thebox software platforms streamline the delivery of power performance data in a simplified fashion, making it accessible to wind industry companies of all types and sizes. By combining both lidar data and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) turbine performance intelligence, these data analytics software tools simplify lidar data and rapidly deliver quick, easy and transparent IEC-compliant PPT calculations, empowering customers with the ability to focus on the most essential performance analysis work. Today, nacelle-mounted lidars are increasingly mentioned or included in manufacturer turbine supply
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
23
EFFICIENCY OF LIDAR
agreements (TSAs) as the means to verify offshore turbine performance. Both wind farm developers and wind turbine manufacturers have identified nacellemounted lidar as a unique alternative for the commissioning of wind turbines offshore. And the development of IEC standards that enable use of nacellemounted lidar in offshore environments will also advance the practice for onshore wind farms. IEC standards are always evolving, and a new standard formalizing the use of nacelle-mounted lidar to conduct PPT is set to be released in 2021. The UniTTe project saw developers, wind turbine manufacturers, consultants and lidar manufacturers collaborate on the research and development of industry best practices using nacelle-mounted lidars before they were integrated into the IEC standard. Because leaders in the wind energy industry know the new standard is around the corner, they are actively preparing their companies for when it is released, testing the concept to ensure they can hit the ground running with lidar next year. Advantages of Lidar in Wind Measurement Lidar provides the most quantitative and accurate measurement technique for wind energy applications. When compared to a met mast, lidar is much faster to install, deploy and collect data as early as the prospecting phase of work through operation. Nacelle-mounted lidars have already been installed on over 100 types of manufacturer turbines, and customers around the world are actively using ground-based vertical profilers for PPT. From the technology’s ease of use and cost efficiency to the time savings it enables and ability to optimize wind collection, even at the tallest hub heights, lidar is crucial for power performance verification.
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
EFFICIENCY OF LIDAR
Time Savings While it can take months to secure the permitting required to install a met mast, especially as they grow taller, there’s no permitting required or tower to build with lidar. When used in early stages of wind farm development, lidar sensors are not only mobile and compact, but they also deploy in a straightforward and easy manner, shaving weeks or months off a project's completion date. Nacellemounted lidars continuously follow turbine direction and are then aligned with wind direction. Thus, there’s no need to wait for the turbine to be aligned with met mats, and PPT can be completed extremely rapidly. Ease of Use Lightweight and portable, lidar technology can be positioned virtually anywhere — if developers need to move the sensor for additional measurements on the site, doing so is relatively easy. Wind sensing lidars have small footprints and are turnkey to use and provide ongoing measurements at multiple heights. Installing a nacellemounted lidar on a wind turbine is also a developing practice thanks to wind stakeholders, in particular wind turbine and lidar manufacturers, facilitating lidar operations from growing field experience, precise lidarmounting guidelines and overall logistic benefits.
SAFETY
Cost Efficiency As hub heights and rotor planes grow, wind behavior is not representatively measured from the single hub height measurement point a met masts delivers. Thus, with turbines growing larger, met masts are becoming prohibitively expensive to install and maintain. Plus, by measuring at multiple heights and distances, lidar technologies provide a more robust view of the wind for no additional cost. With wind turbines harvesting nearly half of the renewable energy used to create electricity in the United States, power performance verification is crucial in advancing wind energy projects. And with turbines increasingly growing in size, the traditional method of using a met tower alone to collect PPT data aligning with industry best practices is no longer viable. Lidar, however, enables the collection of data that is easily attainable, accurate and in line with industry PPT best practices. Yes, wind farms are an expensive, long-term investment, but the ease of use, time savings and cost efficiency lidar sensors unlock combine to create a more certain energy generation system. WPE
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
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The
FIRES and PROTECTION The
American wind industry has stayed resilient through a difficult year, with a positive outlook for development in the years ahead. However, in order to continue to grow and thrive throughout this crisis, owners and operators cannot afford to be complacent around fire risk. A high-profile fire can not only devastate current projects, but also jeopardize the prospects of future development across the industry – and this risk only grows as turbines get bigger and move into more remote sites on- and offshore. However, to date, the industry has underestimated the risk and cost of wind turbine fires. Even assuming an average of one fire per 2,000 turbines per year, based on incomplete reporting of fire incidents, a wind farm can expect to face one to two fires over the course of its
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
BY ANGELA KRCMAR GLOBAL SALES MANAGER, WIND FIRETRACE INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER 2020
WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
27
WIND TURBINE FIRES
operational lifetime. If the industry is to take action to prevent unsustainable losses from fire, owners and operators must first understand how much fires truly cost, how incidents start and what action can be taken to protect against fires. The true cost of a fire incident
A fire incident at a turbine can cost up to $4.5 million, according to a GCube report from 2015 – and as turbines have grown in size and upfront cost, this figure is likely to have increased dramatically. Assuming an average wind turbine costs $1 million per megawatt of generating capacity, offshore wind turbines ranging from 3 to 10 MW can cost up to $10 million, which would need to be paid up-front if out of warranty. Additionally, once a fire
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
starts, the project must be shut down and taken off grid for a period of time as a safety precaution, resulting in lost revenue. Turbine fires can have costs beyond the wind farm. A fire can spread down the tower to land surrounding the project if not carefully managed. This can potentially result in wildfires, causing extensive damage to the wider area and ultimately leading to significant reputational damage not only for the individual site but for the industry as a whole. How do fires start?
Wind turbines catch fire for the same reasons as other heavy machinery – components inside the turbine fail, generating heat or sparks and
www.windpowerengineering.com
igniting flammable materials such as plastics, resins, fiberglass and hydraulic lubricants. Most turbine fires originate in the nacelle, typically at three points of ignition: converter and capacitor cabinets, nacelle brake and transformer. The most common location for an electrical fault in a wind turbine is the converter cabinets and capacitor cabinets in the nacelle. When an electrical fault produces an arc flash or sparks, surrounding plastics in the electrical cabinet can quickly ignite other sources resulting in total loss of a nacelle. Transformers, located in the nacelle or at the base of a turbine, are the second most-common ignition point for wind turbine fires. Transformers convert energy into the appropriate voltage for the electrical grid, and as with converter
SEPTEMBER 2020
WIND TURBINE FIRES
and capacitor cabinets, sparks and arc flashes due to electrical faults can lead to a fire. The nacelle brake, which is commonly found behind the gearbox, is another component that can be an ignition point, albeit due to friction rather than electrical failure. In an emergency, the nacelle brake stops the turbine's blades from spinning. The mechanical braking system can generate a huge amount of friction and heat, sometimes resulting in a fire. While newer turbines may feature electric braking systems, which are less susceptible to fire, mechanical brakes are often used as back-ups to electrical braking systems.
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According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the average wind turbine hub height has grown from 20 m to 88 m since the 1980s in order to access higher wind speeds. However, this height also means the nacelle is often out-of-range for groundbased firefighting. Sending a team up the tower to manually fight the fire constitutes a significant health and safety risk. If the fire is left to burn, the whole turbine can be damaged beyond repair in a matter of hours. Offshore wind turbines are at particular risk of severe damage from fire, due to the remote nature of offshore project sites. Since many sites are situated at least 45 minutes from shore, in the event of a fire, an emergency response team is unlikely to arrive in time to prevent significant and irreparable damage. Cost-benefit of fully protecting against fires
In order to reduce the severity of nacelle fires, automatic fire suppression systems must be installed at the main points of ignition. While preventative technology such as arc flash detection and condition monitoring systems can reduce the risk of a fire, only suppression systems can put a fire out once it has started.
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Firetrace is one of the few experienced providers of these systems, which are designed with flexible heat detection tubing. Once a fire breaks out, this tubing ruptures and a suppression agent is released automatically through the tubing or via nozzles nearest the point where the most heat is detected, extinguishing the fire precisely where it starts and before it can take hold. Once a turbine’s capacity exceeds 3 MW, the cost of fire suppression to protect all three risk areas is outweighed by the cost of replacing that turbine. Installation of fire suppression systems at all three ignition sources typically costs less than $30,000 – less than 1% of the average installation cost of a 3-MW onshore wind turbine and less than
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
0.6% of the average cost of a fire loss. When factoring in the average frequency of one to two fire incidents over the course of a wind farm’s lifetime, the benefit of full protection of all ignition points outweighs the cost of installation. The unintended consequences of a fire incident in a wind turbine can have far reaching operational, safety and health risks. By investing in fire suppression, owners, operators and their insurers can prevent not only the immediate, short-term costs of wind turbine replacement, but also the long-term reputational risk. If the wind industry is to thrive in the coming years, it must take action to manage and protect against fire incidents. WPE
www.windpowerengineering.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
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