We have some exciting news: SOH Wind Engineering, LLC (SOH WE) has obtained MEASNET certification for their wind tunnel in Williston, Vermont. Located less than nine miles from our headquarters, this tunnel opened in early 2013 in response to our request for local calibration services.
You know that the profitability of your wind farm depends on the performance of each turbine. Minor errors in yaw misalignment, blade pitch, and tip-speed ratio can affect power output and overall energy production.
Recently, two Renewable NRG Systems employees traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., to install a Wind Iris Lidar on a Northern Power Systems wind turbine. From their post on the small nacelle platform, Evan Osler and Alban Jehu could see planes taking off from JFK Airport just a few miles in the distance.
Renewable NRG Systems tilt-up towers are built to withstand extreme weather conditions, from ice storms, to marine climates, to extreme heat. With proper maintenance, they will stand for many years. Still, they need occasional TLC to sustain top performance.
Do you suspect that you have underperforming wind turbines? Are you familiar with the causes and consequences of yaw misalignment?
In a recent webinar, we discussed one of wind farm owners’ biggest problems, turbine underperformance, and one of the industry’s most promising tools, nacelle-mounted Lidar.
KB Energy, owned by Keith and Lois Broyles, is a North American-based company specializing in tilt-up meteorological tower services, including installations, decommissions, refits, and repairs. In total, we have installed over 1,700 towers, including a recently completed installation in Alaska. It was the most difficult—and the most satisfying—installation that we’ve ever done.
We’re excited to announce that WindSensor has released an updated classification report for the WindSensor P2546-OPR class 1 anemometer. Classification is used broadly in the wind industry to formally characterize an anemometer’s operational uncertainty. In other words, it indicates how effectively a sensor measures wind speed.
First Wind recently purchased a Wind Iris Lidar to optimize the performance of its wind turbines. This decision was the result of a successful field trial that used data from the nacelle-mounted Lidar to increase the total energy production of a turbine.
I drive by a single white wind turbine nearly every day. Backdropped by rolling farm fields and the jagged summit of Mount Mansfield to the east, it is a dramatic sight—especially when a storm is approaching and the turbine is bright against heavy, hard metal clouds. I like to gauge the weather by watching its steady blades.
My colleague, Emeric, and I recently traveled to Colombia, South America, to install an 80m XHD TallTower™. This met tower will be used to collect wind data on a site to determine whether it is viable for a small wind farm in the future. Visiting Colombia for the first time and only speaking a tiny bit of Spanish, I was both excited and wary.