Show notes
GE Vernova's CEO, Scott Straszak, announced at a conference that the company is on schedule to lose about $300 million in Q3. It seems the blade failures at Dogger Bank and Vineyard Wind are resulting in a big chunk of these losses. And many European companies have decided to leave Vietnam due to the country's relationship to China.
Register to attend AMI's Wind Turbine Blades Boston, October 2nd and 3rd. Enter to win 2 VIP NASCAR pit passes at the Kansas Motor Speedway!
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com
Philip Totaro: Phil, you were just at RE+ in Anaheim, sunny Anaheim. How'd it go? I was extremely sunny and face meltingly hot on the first couple of days from the heat wave we've had in California. It was like a hundred and three degrees on Monday and then it started cooling off thankfully more recently, but there were, I don't know the official number but they were telling me it was close to 40, 000 attendees.
So I've done a few of these events before in at the Anaheim Convention Center, if you're familiar with it. It can hold that capacity, but it was absolutely bursting at the seams. And people absolutely everywhere. I've never seen that so jam packed. The interesting thing about it is there were many different exhibitors there.
But the overwhelming majority of them seemed like they were supply chain companies. Which was a little disappointing on my part. I was, I was there to try to talk to project developers and financiers anyway. But the supply chain companies that were there covering the spectrum of both residential and utility scale solar, as well as battery storage technology, really interesting stuff.
There's some, they're making great strides in some of the solar module manufacturing and sell. Technology and even some of the packaging and integration is getting pretty slick. Keep in mind, too, that, CAPEX for solar compared to wind is still You know what about 15 to 20 percent lower at this point?
Especially in the U. S. market anyway so you're seeing, it's rather substantial amount of interest at this point in solar and hybrid battery storage projects. And everybody that was there, the energy of the event was good. We didn't sadly do an uptime wind energy podcast there.
So they're a little light on the the wind energy content that, that the, rebranded solar Power International re, which is now repl, but we hope to be able to address that in the future.
Allen Hall: It's a sunny conference for our solar and battery festival, which is really what it is.
Makes sense. I just wish when we get to some of our wind conferences, we're in places that are windy. We don't tend to go to places that are windy, like Kansas or Oklahoma.
Philip Totaro: I got news for you. It seems like next year we're gonna be in Phoenix Arizona, right? So that, that's gonna be hot and maybe a little miserable, cause I think it's happening in May.
Allen Hall: Yeah, we're in a solar hotbed. We should be at a wind site. I know, irony.
I'm Alan Hall, and I'll be joined by the rest of the Uptime hosts after these news headlines. The United States is seeing significant growth in offshore wind development. Massachusetts and Rhode Island are moving forward with three offshore wind projects totaling 2. 9 gigawatts. The projects, named South Coast Wind, New England Wind 1, and Vineyard Wind 2, are expected to power approximately 1.
6 million homes. This development brings both states closer to their renewable energy goals, with Massachusetts aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. power sector carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050, while Rhode Island targets 100 percent renewable energy use by 2033. In a related milestone, the Revolution Wind Project has installed its first offshore wind turbine, marking Rhode Island and Connecticut's first utility scale offshore wind farm.
Developed by Orsted and Eversource, the project will feature 65 Siemens Gamesa turbines and generate 704 megawatts when fully operational. The installation is supported by efforts at three New England ports and is expected to create 1, 200 jobs. while advancing workforce development and infrastructure investments across both states.
Further south, Festus has secured its first U. S. offshore wind order for Empire Wind 1 off the coast of New York. The 810 megawatt order includes 54 V236 15 megawatt turbines and a five year service agreement. The project will transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a major offshore wind hub, supporting the staging and pre assembly of wind turbine components.
Moving onshore, Colorado is leading the nation in wind energy jobs, ranking third in wind energy related jobs per capita. For The state is part of a broader trend with wind turbine service technicians projected to be the fastest growing job in the United States over the next decade. Colorado's renewable energy sector continues to gain momentum.
With the state ranking seventh per capita nationwide for wind and solar generation projects last year. In support of this growing workforce, the National Fire Protection Association has launched the industry's first Wind Turbine Technician I certification program. This initiative aims to provide the emerging wind workforce with the necessary skills to excel and work safely in the rapidly developing wind energy sector.
The certification is designed for newcomers to the industry and those who have completed foundational courses in wind turbines and electrical safety. Turning to Europe, GE Vernova has announced a milestone agreement for onshore wind, signing a deal with Public Power Corporation Renewables. to supply 23 of GE Vernova's 6.
1158 turbines for a wind farm in Romania. This 140 megawatt project expands GE Vernova's presence in Romania, adding to their existing installed base of more than 700 megawatts in the country. The project is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025 and will support Romania's goal of adding 5 gigawatts of wind capacity By 2030.
However, the European wind industry is facing challenges. German trade union IG Metall and employee representatives from Siemens Energy are calling for protection against unfair Chinese competition in the wind turbine manufacturing sector. Their concerns were sparked by a preliminary agreement between German renewable energy asset manager Luxgara and Chinese manufacturer Mingyang for 16 offshore wind turbines.
The Union warns that heavily subsidized Chinese companies could distort competition and potentially endanger jobs and energy supply in Europe. In Asia, Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation has launched the reconstruction of the Adano Sawa wind farms in Japan. The project will replace 10 turbines with 7 new 4.
3 megawatt turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa. Increasing the total capacity from 13 megawatts to 43 megawatts. This upgrade aims to maximize the use of local wind resources and is scheduled for completion by March, 2027. Lastly, in a development that could reshape the wind energy landscape, the H two mirror off grid wind project in Denmark has successfully integrated two electrolyzers with a megawatt scale wind turbine.
This system could soon be replicated on onshore wind turbines, potentially reducing green hydrogen production costs. That's this week's top news stories. After the break, I'll be joined by my co host, CEO, and founder of Intel Store, Phil Totaro.
Joel Saxum: As busy wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial.
And let's face it, that's why the Uptime Podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you're an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality content you need.
Don't miss out. Visit PESWind. com today.
Allen Hall: All right, Phil, we got a couple of items we need to kick off the show with and first is the AMI Wind Turbine Blades Boston event on October 2nd and 3rd. And if you haven't registered for that event, you need to do that now and get your tickets to Boston, which will be beautiful.
In early October, that conference is focused around materials, design, manufacturing, performance of wind turbine blades and along with all the testing and maintenance and life cycle management of blades. So anything to do with blades is going to be in Boston and you better be there. So just Google AMI wind turbine blades, Boston, and it'll pop up, go ahead and register and get yourself to Boston.
At Weathergard, we are having a contest, a VIP contest with NASCAR. And NASCAR driver, Kyle Weatherman, and that event is on September 28th at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. So if you're around that area and want to go. Do something really cool with NASCAR that allows you to get on track, get into the pits, get into the garage.
You can watch the race from pit lane and you are right in the middle of the action. Then if you like that kind of stuff, now's the time. This is free. If you can win these two tickets, the way to do it is to visit weatherguardwin. com slash contest. And do it quick, and hopefully you win. All right, Phil, a lot of news this week coming from GE Vernova, where Scott Straszak was at a conference and said GE Vernova, the wind business, is on schedule to lose about 300 million.
Yes,