GE Vernova Restructures Offshore Wind Division
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Iconic Toys Take Us Back
In this week’s Uptime Wind Energy Podcast , before getting into the nitty-gritty news, Allen Hall, Joel Saxum and Phil Totaro salute the ?? Tonka Truck ?? and other time-tested toys. In November, the Strong National Museum of Play will announce which iconic toys will join its Toy Hall of Fame - and they’ve got some tough choices to make.
Speaking of tough - on to the week's wind news.
Restructuring isn’t Child’s Play
GE Vernova’s restructuring of its offshore wind operations could potentially eliminate 900 jobs. What are the near- and longterm implications for the US and international wind energy markets? Will it prove to be a smart move for the company and its shareholders?
Phil points to project cancellations (that didn’t necessarily stem from blade problems) and flagging orders, particularly in Europe, as primary drivers of the layoffs. Because the moves will make GE look more profitable, Allen says the company will be stronger in the next few years. But Joel wonders about the brand’s long-term viability. Will Vernova be able to bring back engineers, if and when it needs to, to reinvigorate its ranks? And in the short term, how will the company fare with European unions?
BlackRock’s Bigger Footprint in Spain
Earlier this month, the Spanish government authorized BlackRock’s stake in Natergy.
The Ministry of Economy described the deal as “attracting investments and safeguarding the strategic interests of our country," and the approval includes support for energy transition projects and maintaining Natergy’s headquarters in Spain.
But since BlackRock bought GIP in January - and GIP owns 20.6% of Naturgy - the new authorization positions BlackRock as a major player in Spain’s energy sector.
SOV Hits Wind Turbine: Both Damaged, No Injures
An investigation is underway following a collision between a service operation vessel (SOV) and a wind turbine at Orsted’s Hornsea 1 wind farm, off east England. The vessel, carrying 72 people, was damaged and will return to port for repairs. No injuries or pollution were reported. Orsted is assessing the damaged turbine base to determine how long repairs will take. We’ll be watching for more information.
Two New Offshore Wind Farms in Denmark
Two Vattenfall-developed wind farms off the Danish west coast featuring 41 wind turbines are expected to power 350, 000 households.
Combined, the recently inaugurated Vesterhav Nord and Vesterhav Syd wind farms are expected to have an annual production of 1.5 TWh of electricity, bringing Vattenfall’s total offshore wind capacity in Denmark to 1.5 gigawatts.
Canadian Sites Strengthen North American Wind
A former US Naval Base site is being redeveloped in the Canadian Port of Argentia to store and ship wind turbine blades to offshore developments off the US east coast. The agreement between the port and Denmark’s Scan Global Logistics begins this fall and continues into 2025.
And in Matane, Quebec, Canada, wind tower manufacturing activities will resume. Marmen énergie, Invenergy, the Alliance de l’énergie de l’Est and Vestas have announced a wind tower supply contract that will see 100 jobs added to those already at the Matane facility.
What Happened at Sandia Blade Workshop?
Every two years, the Sandia Blade Workshop brings researchers, engineers, and operators together to discuss known problems in the industry, what to do about them now, and they detail the technology and procedures being developed to prevent those problems in the future.
Key takeaways: The “checklist mentality” is in, from manufacturing to MRO, and digitizing tribal knowledge is essential to moving the industry forward.
We’ll cover some of the new tech developments and go into detail on more of the operational issues we learned about at Sandia in an upcoming special edition of Uptime Tech News. Subscribe to get it first!
Hydraulic Tools for Offshore Environments
Imagine you’re planning an offshore operation 15 years into the future. You have a good idea of the size and number of monopiles you’ll place, and where - and you also know specs will change before the project gets underway.
The tools you’ll need to drive ROVs, install the towers, mount the blades, and other critical jobs all have to be developed, tested, and ready to work long before the first workers are onsite.
Holmatro, based in the Netherlands, makes tools that offshore construction projects rely on, and the latest PES Wind magazine highlights some of the company’s engineering design and innovation that brings those powerful, highly specialized hydraulic tools to offshore operations (as well as to a few other, equally specialized industries) to get the job done.
In-depth articles like this one are why we read PES Wind.
Protect Your GE2X Turbines, Win a Yeti Roadie 48L Cooler
Across America, we know that GE2X wind farm operators have experienced lightning damage and then seen the difference when StrikeTape is protecting their blades. If you work on a GE2X site, you need to see what’s happening with the 2X blades , and how to protect them with StrikeTape.
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We’re Talking Blades in Boston!
The AMI Wind Turbine Blades Event will be held in Boston next Wednesday and Thursday. Will you be there? Weather Guard Lightning Tech CEO Allen Hall moderates Thursday’s panel covering blade technology, performance, and more .
Where will we be next? Check our Trade Shows page. Need to chat sooner? Schedule a call here .
The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Links below take you straight to the stories we discuss in this week’s episode.
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Have a great week and thanks for listening! - Allen, Rosie, Joel, Phil & everyone from the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast
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