Wind Power

Speaking ahead of Wind Energy Hamburg, Ben Backwell, chief executive of GWEC, discusses tripling wind installations, the Inflation Reduction Act and whether global trade tensions could derail the energy transition.  

Backwell spoke to Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs about whether global markets are on track to achieve a tripling of wind power installations by 2030, whether President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act has lived up to the hype and why policy makers should avoid ramping up trade tensions with their competitors.

The conversation also touched on how to bring emerging wind markets up to speed quickly, the UK’s role in the energy transition following the end of a de facto onshore wind in England and the how the rising tide of mis and disinformation is affecting the wind industry today.   

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden 

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As a country, Norway is heavily reliant on oil and gas exploitation to meet its energy demands. However, with the climate crisis encouraging a break from fossil fuels, Norway is increasingly looking to offshore wind to help with its energy transition. 

The country’s deep coastal waters mean most offshore wind in Norway will need to be built on floating platforms, and therefore rely on a technology that remains in its infancy around the world. 

In episode 27 of the Windpower Podcast, we spoke with two leading experts on Norwegian offshore wind to see whether floating wind can meet the demands of Norway’s energy transition, and what challenges it might face along the way. 

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden.

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

Welcome to the ‘Wind Power’ news review – hosted by Windpower Monthly’s editor, Ian Griggs, and Windpower Monthly reporter, Orlando Jenkinson – along with our regular panellists, Shashi Barla and Will Sheard.

This time on the news review: has US offshore wind turned the corner after a series of setbacks? Our regular panelists give their verdict.

The advance of Chinese turbine technology continues apace, but how concerned should Western OEMs be that their competitors will steal a march on them with European developers?

Meanwhile, back in Europe, some developers have criticized so-called negative bidding in Germany and the Netherlands, claiming that it makes projects unviable but are state regulators listening to their concerns?

And finally, is a summer of industrial strife on the cards after a German union, which represents workers from several turbine firms, threatened strikes if their pay demands are not met?

This episode was produced by Til Owen

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How vulnerable is wind industry infrastructure to physical and cyber-attacks – and is the risk growing?

The owners and operators of today’s wind industry infrastructure must now navigate a new and murky world of unattributed physical attacks, cyber warfare and GPS jamming – as well as hybrid attacks comprising one or more of these elements.

And as geopolitical tensions rise between Russia and Europe, China and the West - as well as other hostile state actors - what can the wind industry do about this growing threat?

In episode 26 of the Wind Power Podcast – the final episode of our series recorded at the Wind Europe conference in Bilbao earlier this year – we spoke to a security expert and a senior underwriter for a specialist insurance firm to find out more about the calculus of risk. 

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden 

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

This time on the news review: Our panellists discuss a change of leadership, rumoured job cuts and a new offshore turbine in development at Siemens Gamesa.  

A change of leadership, rumoured big job cuts and a new offshore turbine in development – we ask our panelists to analyse the big developments at Siemens Gamesa. 

Meanwhile, as the first shots are fired in a potential EU/China trade war, our guests discuss whether new tariffs could slow down the energy transition and whether Chinese turbine firms are a threat to Europe anyway. 

And industry safety is back on the agenda after a man died in a fatal fall at a Texas wind project and another man’s hand was crushed in an incident in the UK. 

Finally, is GE Vernova’s ‘workhorse turbine’ strategy one that fellow Western OEMs are likely to adopt for themselves? 

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden

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

Vic Abate, chief executive of GE Vernova’s wind segment, discusses the company’s Haliade-X workhorse turbine and how long-term relationships with its customers will determine which markets it is deployed in.

Interviewed at WindEurope’s annual conference in Bilbao earlier this year, Abate talked about how GE Vernova can reconcile deep cuts to its onshore workforce with the urgent need to ramp up global wind power installation - in Episode 25 of the Wind Power podcast.

He explained the increasing role of AI in quality control for turbine components and why the company is paring down the number of markets it serves.

Finally, Abate gave his take on whether the wind industry should be concerned about the outcome of the US presidential elections in November.

This episode was produced by Inga Marsden 

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

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

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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

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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.

This time in the news review: Major Western wind companies have released quarterly and full-year results but what do they tell us about the overall health of the wind industry? Meanwhile, several wind giants have announced – in the wake of their financial results – that they will narrow their focus on markets, but what is the strategy and what does it mean for the markets not chosen?

Following their joint award of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering last month, wind industry pioneers Henrik Stiesdal and Andrew Garrad told Windpower Monthly that the so-called turbine ‘arms race’ must stop – but is anyone listening, especially developers?

Finally, we ask our panellists how they think geopolitical events – such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the continuing attacks on merchant shipping in the red sea and Donald Trump becoming the presumptive Republican nominee in the forthcoming US presidential elections – are affecting the wind industry.

To listen, simply click on the 'play' button in the graphic above, or follow and download Wind Power on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms.

This episode was produced by Nav Pal and Inga Marsden

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