New Ørsted US Head, Mingyang Blade Collapse, Holiday Party Etiquette
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
We Make Lightning Protection Easy | Wind Turbines & Aircraft
Highlights from the latest Uptime podcast + exclusive content
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Meta Goes Natural, Other Shifts in Process
This week, we discuss why Meta is shifting its AI data centers to natural gas, ferret out as much information as we can about the major Mingyang offshore turbine blade failure that China wants to hush up, and consider what the future might hold as Shell’s head of renewables moves to Ørsted.
All of which is pretty important - and so is this: Fill out our Uptime listener survey and enter to win an Uptime Wind Energy Podcast mug! Honestly, it’s so new we haven’t seen it yet. It’s probably more like this ➡️☕️ than that ➡️🍺 but what you use it for is your business.
The bottom line: We’d truly appreciate your feedback on our podcast here.
What We Think About the Mingyang Blade Failure
As you can still see from a post on Phil’s LinkedIn page, two blades broke off from a Mingyang Smart Energy MySE18.X-20MW at a test wind farm in Hainan in early December.
The incident was very briefly reported; videos circulated then seemingly disappeared from the internet. Should the wind community be suspicious? Surprised? Maybe.
Or maybe not. The 143-meter-long blades (not a typo!) were part of a prototype wind turbine. Obviously, the prototype failed and a root cause analysis is underway.
But, just because we don’t have all the information yet doesn’t mean we won’t speculate on the failures. Allen Hall , Joel Saxum , Philip Totaro , and Rosemary Barnes share their insight and a few theories on why the failures occurred in this week’s podcast.
Best Safety Training Experience Ever
“Just thinking back to it now, I have goosebumps.”
That’s how Joel describes the lasting impact of an Active Training Team experience he had last summer. The immersive session features professional actors who place YOU in the center of all-too-real workplace accident scenes. Then YOU work alongside the actors and other participants to change the situation.
It’s probably the only existing safety training that’s best described as “life changing.”
And YOU and your team can have that experience on January 24 in Houston.
Experience Active Training Team’s Thrive USA event in Houston January 24th! Email florence@activetrainingteam.co.uk to register for this unique, truly vital event.
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New Era in Offshore Construction?
The D500 is the first ship built specifically for transporting wind turbine parts. Read that again - it’s possible that we’ll look back (soon) and say, that’s when everything changed for offshore wind.
In this week’s podcast, Joel and Allen describe the ship’s unique capabilities and why they’re groundbreaking; you can read more in an the exclusive interview with Captain Hauke Bindemann in this PESWind article. From crew accommodations to engineering and operational efficiencies, see why the D500 is a marvel.
Wind Farm of the Week
This week’s Wind Farm of the Week is the Crocker Wind Farm in South Dakota. The 200MW project owned by National Grid Renewables supplies power to Walmart and Cargill.
Like most wind farms, Crocker has a direct and significant impact on the area thanks to new tax revenue, construction and operations jobs - think in the ballpark of $83 million. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
But Crocker Wind took things to another level by creating a charity fund for the community. Through that fund, $40,000 is available in grants to community members and organizations every year - every year for the next 20 years.
Kudos to National Grid Renewables, and to everyone who works at Crocker Wind Farm, contributing mightily to the community.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Wind Energy O&M Australia: REGISTER NOW
If you haven’t registered yet, Wind Energy O&M Australia, it’s time!
Attendees will be able to network with experts in operations, maintenance and budgeting, learn about preventative measures that can immediately reduce blade repair costs and get truly useful information on working collaboratively with an OEM to reduce headaches and improve operational efficiency.
This is not a giant, impersonal show; it is an opportunity to meet experts in the field face to face. Good for your business, good for your career.
The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech.
⚡️ NEWS FLASH 12/23/24: CIP Canadian Wind & Hydro, Riverstone Sells Stake in Pattern
🎤 New Interview: Romotioncam: Inspections in Motion
Interesting Finds From Around the Web
Stay informed: Each week we highlight wind energy news and the latest technology with insight from experts from around the world. If you learned something, please forward to a friend. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe now.
Protect Your Blades, Get the Sensors You Need
Lightning sensors don’t protect your blades - but they do provide data that helps inform your day-to-day operations. The best way to ensure your production now and over time is to install sensors and lightning protection.
That’s why we NOW SHIP EOLOGIX-PING’s low-cost, low-maintenance lightning sensors WITH StrikeTape orders! Get easy-to-install, effective protection, now, with the sensors you need.
Learn more: contact Joel.saxum@wglightning.com
Catch up with us!
Remember, you can always listen to the Uptime podcast on your favorite platform or catch up with previous issues of this newsletter here.
Have a great week and thanks for listening! - Allen, Rosie, Joel, Phil & everyone from the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast
P.S. About That Party
It may be too late for the holiday party advice, but hey, there’s always next year. Listen, if you think you may have overstepped, we’d be happy to help you out. Just send those pictures to us. Who knows? We might be able to use them on a light news week.
Seriously, if need to lay low for a while, take some time to subscribe to this newsletter to stay current on the industry. And complete this short survey about the podcast! Your co-workers may not want to hear from you, but we do.
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