Wind Power

In this sponsored edition of the Wind Power podcast, Mike Blumenfeld, industrial lubricant development and wind energy specialist at ExxonMobil, discusses how advanced lubricant technology can help the wind industry cut costs, reduce waste and improve turbine performance in the long term.

Welcome to the Wind Power news review – hosted by Windpower Monthly senior reporter, Robyn White, and Windpower Monthly reporter, Orlando Jenkinson – along with our panel of experts, independent analyst Shashi Barla and K2 Management's country director for the UK and Ireland Sorcha Bán VersteegThis time on the news review; we’ll ask our panellists for their views on how the victory of Donald Trump and the Republicans in the US elections could impact wind power and renewable energy policy in the country. We also explore major wind energy firms’ third quarter financial results, which may be showing signs of improvement amid widespread difficulties. There is also a closer look at how Chinese manufacturers continue to push boundaries as they announce plans for the world’s largest wind turbines. Finally, there is an examination of why the government of Sweden decided to cancel 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, and what the role its open-door leasing policy may have played in the decision. This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. 

Yong Yu, international CEO at Chinese turbine firm Windey, discusses fair trade, whether bigger turbines are better and the country’s recent dominance of global installations.In episode 30 of the Wind Power podcast, recorded during the Wind Energy Hamburg conference earlier this autumn, Windey’s international CEO sat down for a discussion with Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs.The discussion focused on claims made by some wind industry voices that China enjoys the benefit of an unfair playing field with its European counterparts.The conversation also touched on how much market share Chinese turbine firms expect to have in Europe, from their current level of 0.2%, and the underlying reasons for China’s dominance of global turbine installations.  This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. 

Welcome to the Wind Power news review – hosted by Windpower Monthly senior reporter, Robyn White, and Windpower Monthly reporter, Orlando Jenkinson – along with our regular panellists, Shashi Barla and Will Sheard.This time on the news review; we’ll ask our panellists for their views on the recent blade issues that impacted GE Vernova’s Haliade X turbines in the US and UK, and ask how serious this could be for the reputation of the offshore wind industry. We also explore how a new government in the UK is looking to re energise wind power in the country by boosting a recent renewables tender, and ending the de-facto ban on new onshore wind. Meanwhile, Siemens Gamesa’s 4.X turbines are back on sale again. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for this troubled wind turbine platform? Finally, we explore how China’s industrial dominance is causing concern for workers at European wind energy manufacturers. This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. 

In Episode 29 of the Wind Power podcast, recorded during last week’s WindEnergy Hamburg conference, GE Vernova’s Gilan Sabatier sat down with Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs.The discussion centred on how the company’s growth will be shaped by its customers’ needs and how three recent deals illustrate its wider strategy in new and emerging markets.Sabatier also touched on healthy competition between turbine firms, in Europe and beyond, which markets the turbine firm is keeping an eye on right now and how a favourable – or unfavourable – policy backdrop can turn a market on its head in a matter of months.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. 

Speaking ahead of Wind Energy Hamburg, Ben Backwell, chief executive of GWEC, discusses tripling wind installations, the Inflation Reduction Act and whether global trade tensions could derail the energy transition.  Backwell spoke to Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs about whether global markets are on track to achieve a tripling of wind power installations by 2030, whether President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act has lived up to the hype and why policy makers should avoid ramping up trade tensions with their competitors.The conversation also touched on how to bring emerging wind markets up to speed quickly, the UK’s role in the energy transition following the end of a de facto onshore wind in England and the how the rising tide of mis and disinformation is affecting the wind industry today.   This episode was produced by Inga Marsden 

As a country, Norway is heavily reliant on oil and gas exploitation to meet its energy demands. However, with the climate crisis encouraging a break from fossil fuels, Norway is increasingly looking to offshore wind to help with its energy transition. The country’s deep coastal waters mean most offshore wind in Norway will need to be built on floating platforms, and therefore rely on a technology that remains in its infancy around the world. In episode 27 of the Windpower Podcast, we spoke with two leading experts on Norwegian offshore wind to see whether floating wind can meet the demands of Norway’s energy transition, and what challenges it might face along the way. This episode was produced by Inga Marsden.

How vulnerable is wind industry infrastructure to physical and cyber-attacks – and is the risk growing?The owners and operators of today’s wind industry infrastructure must now navigate a new and murky world of unattributed physical attacks, cyber warfare and GPS jamming – as well as hybrid attacks comprising one or more of these elements.And as geopolitical tensions rise between Russia and Europe, China and the West - as well as other hostile state actors - what can the wind industry do about this growing threat?In episode 26 of the Wind Power Podcast – the final episode of our series recorded at the Wind Europe conference in Bilbao earlier this year – we spoke to a security expert and a senior underwriter for a specialist insurance firm to find out more about the calculus of risk. This episode was produced by Inga Marsden