News review: Siemens Gamesa 4.X defects | Ukraine’s resistance | China, US & UK | WindEurope 2024

04/18/24 • 30 min

This time on the news review: Our panellists discuss the continuing issues with Siemens Gamesa’s 4X platform, after a wind project supplied with the turbines in Norway was shut down when a turbine blade broke.

A Russian drone attack on a Ukrainian energy substation left 200,000 people without power but are wind turbines are more resilient than other energy infrastructure and is wind power becoming emblematic of Ukraine’s - and the EU’s - resistance to Russia’s aggression?

Meanwhile, two reports showed respectively that Chinese manufacturers dominated global turbine supply in 2023 and that US turbine firm GE Vernova similarly dominated the US market. But is China is caught in a trap of its own making, with more than 95% of the supplied turbines installed in its domestic market, and is GE Vernova also playing it safe on home turf?

Meanwhile, the UK government approved an additional £800m to boost strike prices for offshore wind in the forthcoming AR6 tender round but wind industry voices are still calling it a missed opportunity - are they right?

And finally, what were our panellists most important takeaways from WindEurope’s annual conference in Bilbao?

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And finally, what were our panellists most important takeaways from WindEurope’s annual conference in Bilbao?

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Blades O&M – size matters, unexpected failures and the power of AI

Experts from across the industry discuss how to optimise blade performance and reduce the cost of operations and maintenance.

Recorded at our Blades USA conference, held in Austin, Texas, earlier this year, this episode of the Wind Power podcast features speakers from Vestas, RWE, the Electric Power Research Institute in the US, Envision and Aerones.

What emerged loud and clear from the discussions is just how far the industry has come over the last decade but also the challenges brought by the rapid growth in blade length in recent years.

Bigger blades bring bigger challenges and blade failures can happen in unexpected ways. In an industry where the cost of maintenance and downtime can be very high, identifying whether a blade defect is cosmetic or structural and, crucially, how much time there is before that defect turns critical, is becoming increasingly important.

According to our experts, drones, robotics and artificial intelligence will all increasingly play their part as this industry develops, particularly given the workforce challenges facing the industry and the limited weather windows for carrying out blade maintenance.

This episode features Noah Myrent, a senior technical leader at the Electric Power Research Institute, Kevin Standish, director of the Global Blade Innovation Center at Envision Energy, Pasquale Braione, head of global repair at Vestas, Arnold Wilmink, VP of reliability engineering for the Americas at RWE and Greta Krumina, regional manager for North America at Aerones.

The episode was produced by by Inga Marsden

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

How should member states enable EU wind policies?

Senior wind industry voices discuss what they want to see from member states to enable EU policies to be implemented quickly - and the potential roadblocks.

Recorded at the recent WindEurope conference in Bilbao, the Wind Power podcast spoke to delegates on the conference floor about what member states should do to enable far-reaching EU policies, such as the Net Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act, to reach their full potential and what the challenges might be to achieve that.

Speakers raised issues such as auction design and setting clear milestones to achieve stated goals for wind installation targets in member states, as well as where the EU’s policy falls short when compared with the Inflation Reduction Act in the US and a necessary investment in grid and port infrastructure at a country level.

Episode 24 of the Wind Power podcast features comments from Morten Dyrholm at Vestas, Victor Signes at Rystad, Katja Wünschel at RWE, Carmelo Scalone at Renantis, Carolina Clemente at Siemens Gamesa parent company, Siemens Energy and Alfredo Parres at Hitachi.

This episode was edited by Ian Griggs and produced by Inga Marsden and Nav Pal

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.