Show notes
This week we discuss uncertainty surrounding the IRA bill, GEV Wind Power's acquisition by Certek, and the sale of an LM Wind Power factory to Vestas. Plus Blackstone is in talks to acquire TXNM Energy, pointing to increase data center demand. Register for the next SkySpecs webinar!
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!
You are listening to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, brought to you by build turbines.com. Learn, train, and be a part of the Clean Energy Revolution. Visit build turbines.com today. Now here's your hosts, Allen Hall, Joel Saxum, Phil Totaro, and Rosemary Barnes.
Allen Hall: Well, welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, Joel and Rosemary.
It's been an exciting week. A lot going on in a, in America in regards to what's gonna happen with the IRA bill. Nobody knows the, it's like, uh, as tense, as tense can be. You, you don't even really see a lot of articles about it at the moment. Everybody's just in, in kind of hold mode, like, hold your breath and hope something bad doesn't happen.
Joel Saxum: I think the interesting thing there is when something like this pops up, you would tend to see a lot of LinkedIn opinions and you're not. I think a lot of, a lot of people are kind of moved. They're kind of, [00:01:00] nobody's really saying too much. We're kind of waiting to see,
Allen Hall: yeah, waiting for that spicy take.
Usually from Rosemary, but she hasn't written that article yet. It must be coming. Rosemary.
Rosemary Barnes: Well, I haven't been writing a lot of anything on LinkedIn recently. Um, yeah, a bit, I'm bit busy. I got, I got really sick of, uh, LinkedIn as well when I, I over posted for a few months and. I got over it. Started, started to hate it when people would, would write a comment on my post.
Yeah. And I'm like, just stop talking to me. Go away. And I'm like, yeah, you were the one who made this post. So you That was my, that was my sign to, um, yeah, to, to move away for a little while. Yeah. But it's also, uh, I mean, you know, like I, it's not a topic that I am an expert in. 'cause obviously I'm, you know, I don't live there, so I'm not, yeah.
I have. I have heard a few podcasts talking about it. Um, there's that one. Um, uh, do you guys listen to that podcast? That's, it's like [00:02:00] the original Energy gang crew, but none of them are on the Energy Gang anymore. Now they've got their own new podcast. It's like Dig Ashore. And, um, the other two, sorry, I don't, I don't remember their, their names.
Joel Saxum: They just started
Allen Hall: that one.
Rosemary Barnes: It's called, maybe it's called Open Circuit.
Allen Hall: Oh, maybe I have, yes, I know what you're talking about.
Rosemary Barnes: It, it's really good. It's very, uh, it's too American Central for me to listen to every episode, but for, you know, Americans then, I'm sure that that's, uh, that's good. Um, they, they speculate a fair bit about it.
Um, and also the, um, podcast that has Jesse Jenkins on it, which is called Shift Key, um, they talk about it a bit as well. So I have, I have heard a fair few takes on it, but, um. Yeah, I don't know. I'm, I'm waiting to see, to, to be honest, as a non-American, I've just written off American Wind Power for the next few years and, uh, you know, just like, wait, wait, wait a little while to like, uh, get started again.
But it, you know, it doesn't affect me so much. I don't, I, I don't have [00:03:00]projects in America. Um, so I. Not affected day to day,
Joel Saxum: a and a half a dozen part load leads that I was in a hand, but now I'm not gonna
Rosemary Barnes: do. You know what though? I, it is actually incredibly challenging for me too because, um, Australians and probably every non-American, like I, my business insurance will not cover me in the us They just absolutely not.
There is not, it is not possible for me to get insurance. To do projects in the us Um, and it would only be possible if I actually started an American company. That would be the only way to do it. So, um, that is a big disincentive for me to expand into America. Um, just 'cause your legal system is very, very different to the rest of the world and um, yeah, insurance companies won't take that risk so.
That's why that, that's why I'm not expending to America. But you know, the rest of the world is a big place. So,
Allen Hall: well, if you don't spend all your time on LinkedIn, then maybe you can then join us on the webinar. We have an up on Wednesday, May 28th at 11:00 AM East Coast, US and it's about lightning damage and lightning [00:04:00] strikes and it's one of another, one of the monthly Sky Specs webinars with uh, PES Wind and the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.
We have some really interesting guests. In this one, Matthew Stead from eLog Ping and Matt Segal from EDF. So if you know Matt Segal, uh, he knows his way around blades and blade repair and he has a really solid approaches on how to deal with the damage, that's gonna be a great discussion. So if you have lightning damage and pretty much every operator that I've talked to has some lightning damage at the moment, uh, you're gonna want to attend that.
Webinars free. So it's Wednesday, May 28th, 11:00 AM. East Coast and you just sign up in the show notes below. Really simple
Joel Saxum: as busy wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let's face it difficult. That's why the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. I. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert [00:05:00] 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 PS wind.com today.
Allen Hall: So the big news of the week, well there's actually a couple, uh, big news articles this week. Uh, GEV, wind Power, which is a large repair company. Based in the uk, but they have a lot of their business in the United States.
Uh, was acquired by a company called CEC and Joel just doing some research on cec. It looks like a holding company. That's what it seems like to me. It's owned by David Harrison, who is based in the uk and it just looks like they're gonna continue to, uh, try to grow GEV, but it also includes Wind Power Lab from Denmark and rig com.
Joel Saxum: From Australia. Yeah, they group their ctec. Um, I know that GEV Wind Power is, um, they, they have huge plans for growth, right? They've got the office in Dallas office in [00:06:00] Poland, the Wind Power Lab office in Copenhagen. Rig com office, I believe is in Melbourne, down in Australia, down by Rosemary. And then they have of course the big office for the UK and Hull and that's for offshore and onshore.
Uh, but they've also just not opened another office up in Canada. So big, big expansion plans for GE v windpower. This CEC capital injection, uh, is gonna help for sure, right? They've got a, they've got a existing our infrastructure, uh, for the GEV WINDPOWER group. Uh, and they're gonna keep 'em all in place and they're just gonna con continue to grow.
So, uh, look to see some more things coming out of the, uh, GEV group. Put this injection to cash.
Allen Hall: Yeah, because GEV, when Power Lab and Rcom were part of the Bridges Fund, which was owned by Hojo
Joel Saxum: Well Bridge, so Bridges was a technically a think minority shareholder in the GEV group. Uh, but that was Goldman Sachs money, uh, bridges was right.
So now, now we're going, CTEC is Macquarie money, so [00:07:00] Australian money. Being injected in. Well,
Allen Hall: that does make a little bit of sense though. Australia is gonna be a huge renewable powerhouse. It already is. So it makes sense that a Australian money would be involved in this because, uh, yeah, there's gonna be a lot more wind turbines in solar activity in Australia.
It's gonna pick up pretty well, so might as well grab a company early while you can and, and continue to grow it. The other thing that that happened today was LM wind power. Selling a factory up in Poland to Vestus. Now, we've all talked internally about what is happening at LM Wind Power because they've had a a number of staff reductions over the last year or so, and then they had the blade problem up in Canada.
It does seem like a lot of the design activities are moving towards the United States from GEs point of view. [00:08:00] That leaves a lot of LM factories with that are making blades for somebody else. Rosemary, when you were there, uh, LM did make blades for almost everybody for quite a while. It looks like they still do, but now they're selling off the non GE factories.
Is that the plan?
Rosemary Barnes: I, I don't know what the plan is. Uh, um, yeah, not inside anymore, so I don't have any insider info, but, uh, I did spend. Quite a lot of time actually at that factory in Glen. And it's definitely one of my favorite, favorite wind turbine blade manufacturing facilities that I ever visited. Um, they get a lot, they get a lot done there.
That is like what I could say. The team there is amazing. They, the amount of stuff they can get through in, you know, one shift is like. Double what it is in some other factories. So I think, you know, from, from that perspective, without knowing what best has paid for it, I think it's a, um, a good call if they get to keep the personnel.
Um, so yeah, [00:09:00] it, um, good for Besters. I was actually looking at some information recently, something unrelated, but I,