Photo courtesy of Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

Ask most people about the U.S. offshore wind industry and they think of the recently-launched Block Island project and eastern ports in New York City, Norfolk, and Charleston. But those aren’t the only U.S. projects making progress. For instance, there is a wind project in Lake Erie, and ports along the Great Lakes are participating as well.

While other coastal offshore wind projects struggle with their plans, North America’s Great Lakes offer a notable alternative as the next site for offshore wind-farm construction. The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) is planning to construct and install an offshore wind project in spring 2018 called “Icebreaker.” According to LEEDCo president Lorry Wagner, building the wind farm in fresh water will be easier than building along the East coast

“Lake Erie offers a more benign environment than the Atlantic,” Wagner said. “Wave heights, swell periods, and wind speeds are lower on average. In addition, water depth is a consistent average of 23 m, and the problem of foundation scour is lessened by the lack of current.”

Photo courtesy of Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

Because Lake Erie is fresh water, corrosion and marine growth is significantly lower, and no marine mammals are present to limit construction activities.

The project’s nearness to Cleveland gives it access to heavy manufacturing, machining, fabrication, as well as the country’s largest heavy steel rolling mill and crane-rental company. The distance to the “best wind” in Lake Erie is less than 20 miles from where service craft can be docked, according to Wagner.

Furthermore, over 2 GW of abandoned substations are available for offshore wind interconnection into the PJM grid, which offers significant construction-cost advantages.

Onshore wind farms also benefit from the Great Lakes, especially when wind-turbine components are shipped to the U.S. from overseas. Selecting a port to handle the cargo will depend on final destination. For turbine components sent to the upper Midwest region of the country, shipments primarily come through the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system.

Photo courtesy of Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

“The Port of Duluth is strategically situated at the western end of the St. Lawrence Seaway to service the North American ‘heartland,’” said Jonathan Lamb, president of Lake Superior Warehousing Company in Duluth, Minnesota. Lamb has served projects as far west as Montana and Wyoming, southwest to Colorado and Oklahoma, as well as Iowa, Illinois, and Manitoba, Canada. “Particularly with clearance and permitting issues, most shippers try to minimize overland carriage and maximize waterborne transport,” he added.

A few recent changes in turbine design make transport by road difficult. “There is a trend to make everything bigger, it seems,” said Lamb. Larger designs also pose transport challenges in terms of weight. Bridge clearances and axle-weight distribution are heavy factors in states’ truck routes.

“On the flip side, recent innovations in turbine design use lighter construction materials to mitigate weight problems,” Lamb noted.

In other areas, modular engineering methods show that companies are thinking about overland clearances. One example is shipping drivetrains separate from nacelles. Modular designs often make offloading and handling easier for all transport modes, said Lamb.

The post What are some logistics considerations for U.S. wind projects? appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.

Bigfoot Crane Company recently introduced its new crane wind meters for North America. The company’s Windy Smartphone Anemometers uses wind speed and direction sensors to wirelessly transmit real-time wind and temperature data to smartphones or tablets. A free app is available that provides instant data of current, average, and maximum wind speed, direction, and temperature. History graphs may also be viewed.

The Windy Smartphone Anemometer also features data refresh every 2 seconds, 2 years of sensor battery life, and a programmable wind speed alarm. The wind tunnel-calibrated sensor is made with a stainless steel ball bearing and replaceable cups.

Bigfoot has partnered with Navis Anemometers to develop this line of wind meters for North America. The company touts a simple installation process, and says the smartphone app is easy to operate. Users can connect the Bluetooth-wireless anemometer with the Windy smartphone app.

“Bigfoot’s Windy Smartphone Anemometers are built with simple installation, calibration, ease of use, and a new smart phone application. Bigfoot is a leader in anemometers,” said Jamie Sheaff, president of Skylink Services.

Both the anemomter and the display unit feature magnet brackets, which allow flexibility in attaching the devices to metal surfaces. The anemometer and display are pre-configured to communicate with one another; no set-up necessary. Once the display unit and the smart phone app are set with the desired safety parameters and the anemometer unit number is entered into the smartphone app, the app will parallel the display unit at distances up to 100 meters.

Request a quote at this link.

Bigfoot Crane Company
www.bigfootcrane.com/

The post Bigfoot Crane Co. features mobile wind meters appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.

Designed in an easy-to-use format, the Bolting Tools catalog introduces several bolting application challenges and solutions with a product range overview. A variety of challenges are included, such as misaligned joints, controlled bolting, and frozen or corroded nuts, with corresponding solutions. The product overview also features product images for easy referencing and ordering.

The catalog also provides complete details for each product line, which are clearly separated by product function. Each product page includes performance features, applications and a selection chart with specifications and model numbers.

The catalog highlights several of Enerpac’s new bolting products, including:

• UltraSlim torque wrenches for high-performance bolting in tight spaces
• X-Edition hydraulic torque wrenches, which improve operator safety and productivity and are available in S-Series square drive and W-Series low-profile hexagon models.
• PTW-Series pneumatic torque wrenches with high-speed, continuous rotation for constant torque output

Enerpac’s Bolting Tools catalog also provides valuable technical information with an overview of bolting theory, torque tightening and tensioning. It’s aimed to serve as a useful industry resource with information on bolt and nut sizes, conversion factors and pressure-to-torque tables.

Enerpac 
www.enerpac.com

The post Enerpac releases new bolting tools catalog appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.