CONFERENCE PREVIEW

Global Windpower conference and exhibition

The worldwide wind industry is now a

major business and increasingly it is break-

ing free of national boundaries. Individual

companies are exporting their products

and services around the world and more

and more countries are installing capacity,

including new Asian nations such as India

and China. The trend is running towards

a globalised market place. A new confer-

ence and exhibition called Global

Windpower is being held to cater for this

trend and will take place in Paris, France

on 2-5 April 2002 at the CNIT, La

Defense venue.

The aim of this the inaugural Global

Windpower event is to bring together a

network of international wind energy

experts and practitioners, in order to share

their knowledge of every sector of the

wind industry - including policy, finance,

R&D, and manufacturing. Through its

links with key international institutions

such as UN Organisations and the World

Bank Group, the Global Windpower show

will help bring market oriented, sustain-

able solutions to different energy markets

situated around the globe.

The Global Windpower conference is

organised by the European Wind Energy

Association (EWEA), American Wind

Energy Association (AWEA), and the

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturer’s

Association (IWTMA). It is supported by

the French Government, the EU and many

other national wind industry organisations

and corporations. France, a latecomer to

wind power, is a strong supporter of the

event and sees it as part of the commitment

it made in December 2000 to enter the

industry in a big way. The country has set

itself a target of developing 5,OOOMW of

wind-generating capacity by 20 10.

Exhibition A broad range of companies have signed

up to appear at Global Windpower

including such well-known international

names as ABB, Nordex, Vestas, Shell and

NEG Micon. A comprehensive range of

products and services will be on display

across a wide range of different sectors.

For instance, manufacturers of turbines,

materials and components will all be pre-

sent. Investors, technical advisers, banks,

utilities, public authorities, and environ-

mental organisations will also be show-

casing their efforts. A selection of some

of the products and services that will be

on offer at the show are featured on the

next page of this feature (p.62).

Conference The conference programme at Global

Windpower 2002 brings together a num-

ber of speakers and experts from around

the world. The vice president of EWEA,

A. Zervos, will chair the conference in

conjunction with J. Chapman of the

AWEA and R. Bakshi of the IWTMA.

The programme will open with a speech

from the UK Energy Minister, Mr Brian

Wilson MP, followed by other high pro-

file political leaders such as the Indian

Minister for Non-Conventional Energy

Sources.

Also included in the programme are

two EC-funded projects. Wind Energy

Network is co-ordinated by EWEA and

strives to ensure that wind energy R&D

meets the needs of the industry. On 4th

April four parallel workshops will be run

to introduce the project and facilitate dis-

cussion. The four workshops cover man-

ufacturers; financiers and insurers; end

users; and research, testing and certifica-

tion centres. The other EC-funded pro-

ject is a professional course focused on

Offshore Wind Development. Running

on 3-4th April it will contain a high level

of technical detail and is co-ordinated by

EUREC (www.eurec.be) and EWEA.

Conference topics will include: Trends

in world market development; Wind

resource assessment; Regulatory issues;

Technology transfer; Rural electrification;

Continental achievements and

perspectives; Global policy instruments;

National programmes; Future markets

and perspectives; International industrial

partnerships; Finance and economics;

Impacts of international ptogrammes;

Regulatory issues; Environmental issues;

Project development; Technology

overviews; Wind resource assessment

and off shore wind to name a few.

24,OOOMW and rising New figures from the European Wind

Energy Association (EWEA) show that

wind power continues to grow in

strength and importance with

4,500MW of installed capacity being

added across the European continent in

2001. That’s a rise of 35%, bringing the

total amount of installed capacity across

Europe to 17,OOOMW. Similarly, the US

experienced a big rise in capacity during

2001 with an extra 1,600MW being

added, making a grand total of

4,150MW of installed capacity across

America. The worldwide figure for

installed wind power now stands at more

than 24,OOOMW according to the

EWEA.

So, wind is important. It’s now a big

industry that is contributing in a major

way to worldwide power generation. As a

comparison, 1,748MW of new nuclear

capacity was connected to the grid world-

wide in 2001, according to the

International Atomic Energy Agency’s

Power Reactor Information System. This

is roughly the same amount of power

produced by wind power in Europe

alone, during 200 1.

The industry is going mainstream and

consolidating on a global level. With EU

enlargement and emerging markets on

each continent the arrival of a global

conference and exhibition that can

address the worldwide needs of the

industry is very well timed. The event in

Paris promises to provide a stimulating-

global forum for the wind industry. For

more information visit www.ewea.org

March/April 2002 RE 6‘ iv<. k_):i www.re-focusmet

CONFERENCE PREVIEW

Nordex Group Stand C4 www.nordex-online.com

The Nordex Group will be showcasing

their N80/2500kW turbine ind

N90/23OOkW model at the Global

Windpower show in Paris. The major

highlight of their stand, however, will be

a presentation of the Nordex Control II,

a realtime evaluation and control device.

Nordex Control II monitors internal and

external data from a wind turbine site,

pools all the information collected, and

then displays it in realtime via a browser.

The solution can operate 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, ensuring that opera-

tors can constantly optimise the perfor-

mance of an installation and simultane-

ously ensure reliable operation. Visitors

to the Nordex stall will be able to see the

Nordex Control II solution in action

thanks to a webcam which will be perma-

nently focused on a real wind farm that

uses the solution.

NRG Systems Inc. Stand Cl 2 www.nrgsystems.com

NRG Systems will unveil a new internet- With the new product data can be direct-

enabled, wind assessment technology at ed to any ISP in the world and delivered

the show in Paris. The Symphonie data directly to your desktop via an easy-to-use

logger supports a wide range of sensors, e-mail attachment. NRG Systems will also

delivers accurate and reliable time-stamped be displaying their new 6Om TallTowerTM

data, and meets industry-wide standards. product.

Risoe National Its Wind Energy department will be at reference guide, which is available on a

Laboratory Global Windpower in Paris with its floppy disk and its handbook

Wind Analysis and Application (Wasp) ‘Guidelines for the Design of Wind

Stand E3 software. This suite of products offers Turbines’.

www.risoe.dk users wind resource calculation, micro- Visitors to the stand can also find out

siting tools, and engineering programs more about the services provided by

The Risoe National Laboratory situated designed to assess turbulence and other Risoe National Laboratory, such as due

in Denmark provides a range of prod- measurements. Risoe will also be offer- diligence, blade testing and verification,

ucts and services to the wind industry. ing its European Wind Atlas, a handy amongst others.

Carrad Hassan & Partners Stand A3 www.garradhassan.com

Garrad Hassan and Partners, a leading

international wind energy consultancy

firm, will be highlighting the range of ser-

vices it can offer at the 2002 Global

Windpower exhibition in Paris.

The company can provide independent

advice on all technical, commercial and

environmental aspects of wind energy

and will be highlighting previous exam-

ples of their expertise at their stand.

Gatrad Hassan and Partners will also

be demonstrating a number of new soft-

ware products at the exhibition including

their recently developed generic wind

farm SCADA system, featuring a report-

ing facility and ‘Bladed Educational’,

which is a scaled down version of their

industry standard so&are for wind tur-

bine design calculations. In addition, the

company will be launching an electrical

module for their wind farm design soft-

ware, WindFarmer, which will allow users

to analyse the electrical network for their

wind farm. WindFarmer is also now

available in Spanish, German and French

as will be highlighted at the show.

Representatives from Garrad Hassan

and Partners will be active participants in

the conference programme at Global

Windpower with some members present-

ing papers and others speaking at the off-

shore seminar.

Orga Suisse S.A.R.L. Stand El www.orga.org

Orga make both visual and audible warn-

ing systems for obstructions such as wind

turbines that may potentially cause a haz-

ard to air or sea t&c. They will be dis-

playing a full range of their systems and

products at Global Windpower. The com-

pany believes that as the height of wind

turbine towers continues to increase and

more and more developments go offshore

the requirement for aircraft and marine

navigation aids in wind farms will become

indispensable. They have therefore target-

ed the wind industry for future growth

and have co-operated with the civil avia-

tion and marine authorities in their home

country of Denmark, Copenhagen

Technology University and many others to

develop a range of products specifically tai-

lored for the wind industry. Orga will be

highlighting their most recent work on the

Horns Reef offshore wind farm in the

North Sea, off the coast of Denmark,

where they provided the navigation aids.

March/April 2002 REFOCI.15 www.re-focus.net

WASP 7.2 The industry-standard Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, and 2000.

More than 800 users in over 80 countries use WASP for:

l Wind data analysis

l Map digitisation & editing

l Wind atlas generation

l Wind climate estimation

l Power production of WTG

l Micro-siting of turbines

a Wind farm production

l Wind farm efficiency

l Wind resource mapping

l and much more.. .

Please visit

www.wasp.dk .for more information and

details of ordering/upgrading

I Riser National Laboratory* Roskilde l Denmark l T +45 46 77 50 97 l F +45 46 77 59 70 l wasp@risoe.dk

New Reader Enquiry Service No. 222. Go to www.re-focus.net to make your enquiry.

Reinforced Plastics magazine - Special issue focusing on Wind Turbine In this issue we are

pleased to introduce

Refocus magazine’s sis-

ter publication

Reinforced Phtics - the

monthly magazine

dedicated to the global

composites industry. Reinforced &stirs has

been around for over 40 years covering the

business and technology developments in the

composites industry. A key market for com-

posites is wind turbine blade manufacturing

and the March 2002 issue of Reinforced

Plastics will feature a special focus on this

area. Details for the areas covered are

abstracted below - if you would like further

details of these articles or to see a copy of

Reinforced Plastics magazine please visit

www.reinforcedpl&ics.com or contact the

editor, Amanda Jacob on tel: +44 I865

843638; e-mail: a.jacob@elsevier.co.uk

blade manufacturers must develop the

composite materials and processing tech-

nology to keep pace. One of the largest

wind turbine blades so far committed to

production is an almost 56 m long giant

being fabricated by German company

Nordex AG for its new 5 MW turbine sys-

tem intended for offshore use. The need

for competitive power generation offshore,

along with a growing onshore low-wind

sector, is driving a requirement for large

turbines and blades of 45 m and above.

Crucial to the success of the new blades

will be carbon fibre reinforced plastic

(CFRP). George Marsh reports....

Features in the wind special issue include.... Bigger blades - the carbon option As the booming wind energy industry

turns to bigger, more powerful turbines,

Turbine makers build their own blades The wind turbine industry is still booming

and current developments are focusing on

the manufacture of bigger turbines and

longer rotor blades.. As the successful

design of longer blades becomes an

increasingly important factor for the

industry, a number of the bigger wind tur-

bine manufacturers are ‘insourcing’ their

rotor blade production. Sebastian

Swiatecki reports......

The role of sandwich composites in turbine blades For the majority of applications where

sandwich composites are utilised the

component is subjected to out-of-plane

loading where the primary loads are

applied perpendicular to the panel sur-

face. In recent years the wind energy

industry has emerged as the fastest grow-

ing market segment for sandwich com-

posites with the blades being the most

significant composite component, albeit

that sandwich composites are also used in

the spinner and the nacelle. From an

engineering standpoint the turbine

‘wings’ differ greatly from ‘traditional’

sandwich structures as the sandwich sec-

tions of a rotor blade are primarily sub-

jected to in-plane loading; in other words

loaded parallel to the panel surface. This

change in primary loading requires a fun-

damentally different approach in terms of

engineering. The most efficient way to

design a sandwich construction against

local and general buckling is to increase

core thickness and core density. Peter

Norlin and Stefan Reuterlov of DIAB

Technologies explain......

March/April 2002 RE www.re-focmnet 63