The International Resource Journal: OnSite: The Ecotecnia 100 Launch

OnSite: The Ecotecnia 100 Launch
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admin on 14 November, 2009 02:39:00
 
IRJ catches up with Alstom and edpr as they unveil the first wind farm to use
the world’s most powerful onshore wind turbine
On October 1st, Alstom Wind, of the Alstom Group of companies, the world-leading
transport and energy company, and EDPR (Energias de Portugal Renovaveis) of the
EDP Group, the integrated energy company of Portugal, gathered at the Vieux
Moulin wind farm near Pithiviers outside Paris, France.
Their mission; to inaugurate the wind farm and unveil the Ecotecnia 100
(ECO100); currently the world’s highest capacity production-line onshore
wind turbine, and the latest in a long and successful line of Alstom Ecotecnia
products. Today the company has installed or is in the process of installing
1857 wind turbines in 107 wind farms, offering a total capacity of more than
2203MW.
Alstom invited IRJ along to capture this momentous day and hear more about how
the company continues to spearhead in these pioneering projects.
Touring the ECO100
Our tour begins beneath one of the monolithic ECO100 turbines. Our guides,
Alfonso Faubel, CEO for Alstom Wind, and Francesc Rosell, Platform Director for
the ECO100, welcome the crowds of people as they gather round.
“Today is a great day. This is our first inauguration of the largest, most
powerful, commercially available wind turbine in the market,” Faubel
begins.
“If you think about it this is quite a combination because we are a French
company with a plant in Spain that is providing this for a Portuguese customer
in France.”
Sensing the inevitable next question, Faubel says that attendees will not be
“going up the ECO100” today because of the strict health and safety
training required to do so. As he puts the sheer size of the ECO100 turbine into
perspective, it is not difficult to see why health and safety is a great concern
for Alstom Wind. The inside turbine tower is 90 metres high and the blades on
top make up a total height of 140 metres, the equivalent of a 50-storey
building. Underground, the ECO100 foundations are rooted 2.5 metres below ground
with a base diameter of roughly 20 metres.
“It is a three megawatt turbine which can provide sufficient energy to
support about 2,000 households. We have six turbines here and the math is easy.
We can have about 12,000 families living off this wind park alone. This
isn’t even one of the largest farms,” Faubel says.
“The great thing about this is the size. It’s huge, which truly
reflects the change we are seeing in the market. Developers and manufacturers
such as ourselves are developing larger wind turbines with larger blades. This
is because we need to efficiently capture more wind where it’s less
strong. The blade here is 100 metres in diameter, hence the name Ecotecnia
100.”
As we edge closer to the turbine the enormous rotating blades cast shadows right
across the ground.
“You can fit an Airbus 380 in the blade diameter here,” Faubel
continues.
“If look at the rotor turning right now, you can see that although there
is not a great deal of wind it is going at about four or five metres per second.
This wind farm and unit has been conceived for an average speed of 8.5 metres
per second. That is measured by taking the average speed of the wind throughout
the whole year.”
The ECO100 began as a pilot unit in Barcelona, Spain and has been in operation
there for over a year.
“During that time we’ve agreed to provide this park with EDP and
that demonstrates a great confidence in the ECO100 which back then was not even
completed in its pilot year. The results that we are getting are very positive.
There have been some very high expectations,” Faubel says.
“One of the key features it offers is the reliability for our customers.
It’s a very unique design and that’s one of the key drivers for why
Alstom entered the wind market through Ecotecnia.”
Alstom acquired Ecotecnia in October 2007.
“This was the entry point of Alstom into the wind market. Ecotecnia has
been around for quite some time. The first wind turbine erected in Spain was
back in 1984 and done by the same team that is working with us today. There has
been quite an evolution since that time. Back then it was a 75 kilowatt turbine.
Now, 75 kilowatt to 3,000 kilowatts is quite an evolution and it reflects what
the industry has witnessed so far,” Faubel says.
“We keep the ECO100 name in reference to the rich heritage of the
Ecotecnia team. We have two distinct platforms. One is the ECO100 platform,
which we are visiting here today, and the other is the ECO80 platform that is
slightly different. It’s 1.67 or 2.0 megawatts, and 80 metres in
diameter.”
Inside the ECO100
As the group piles inside the base platform of the ECO100, Faubel explains that
aftercare is an integral part of the products Alstom Wind offers to customers.
“Part of our formula of products and services is being available to assist
over a number of years in the operation and maintenance of our turbines. We seek
to ensure that these turbines generate as much power as possible for the longest
period of time. For that we do need to rely on the technology and the operation
of the turbine. Depending on the size of the park, we have regular pre-scheduled
visits as part of our normal maintenance,” he explains.
Where turbines are not manned and continuously supervised by personnel onsite,
Alstom Wind has technological solutions to ensure the smooth running of their
products.
“Sensors provide data constantly and we have a remote monitoring system
from our headquarters in Barcelona. This is also able to constantly monitor all
of our wind turbines in the world for those periods of time when people are not
available,” Faubel continues.
There is a central elevator inside the ECO100, and Faubel goes on to say that if
this is unable to function, personnel can climb the ladder that runs up the
turbine alongside the elevator shaft. There is also an opening in the elevator
should anyone inside need to get out and climb down. These design aspects
exemplify Alstom Wind’s health and safety-heavy focus to their products.
“We also never have one operator working by themselves,” Faubel
says.
“We do truly have a very high regard for the health and safety of our
employees and very high observance of all health and safety parameters. I
personally go to the farms and go up to the tops and review the security
procedures with our operators.”
Faubel attributes interest in the ECO100 to two main reasons, one of which is an
integral feature running through Alstom Wind’s turbine products; the
Alstom Pure Torque (TM) design.
“First of all it is the most powerful onshore wind turbine commercially
available in the market. There are other wind turbine manufacturers who have
similar ratings but they are still at advanced pilot stages. Secondly something
which all Alstom Wind ECO’s have in common is the design. The buzzword
here is reliability; to be reliable in the continuous supply of energy. How?
It’s based on our very unique design. This is the Pure Torque concept
design,” he explains.
“This design allows the wind turbine to be much more reliable over time.
If you think about the wind hitting the blades, you will get different types of
torque energy that might be transmitted to the gearbox and other components of
the wind turbine. The gearbox is one of the classic components in a wind turbine
which is more subject to the unwanted vibration that comes from the turbulence
of the wind. Because of its design, what our pure torque concept allows us to do
is to support the hub with a cast frame and in a nutshell this support takes
everything that you don’t want to reach the gearbox.”
In short, the only torque that goes into the turbine is the rotational torque
and the gearbox in an ECO100 is not subject to the stresses and strains of many
others, allowing for a longer, more reliable product life. “We’ve
performed an analysis of over 500 wind turbines from our ECO80 platform in over
50 wind farms that have been operating for up to five years. Based on the
statistical data analyzed, we believe that the majority of our wind turbines
could operate with their original gearbox for their whole lifetime, providing
very significant savings to our customers.”
Inaugurating Vieux Moulin
The EDP Group is Portugal’s largest industrial group and one of
Europe’s main energy companies. It engages in the acquisition of different
sorts of energy including wind. EDPR is the arm of the Group which purchases
different wind turbines from various companies and develops wind farms. It is
currently the world’s fourth largest wind energy company. The
company’s relationship with Alstom Ecotecnia is already well established
and looks set to continue.
“We have additional projects with EDPR right now. There are two more
farms, one of which is nearby,” Faubel says.
Later that day, Alstom Wind and EDPR gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Raucous applause ensued as the tricolour ribbon was cut into little flag-shaped
pieces and the national and international photographic press clamoured for shots
to capture the event.
The official press briefing took place in nearby Pithiviers shortly after.
The Vieux Moulin wind farm became fully operational in mid-October and continues
to exemplify Alstom Wind’s ground-breaking projects worldwide.
IRJ thanks Nathan McConnell and Carsten Nemitz of Alstom Power Communications,
Baden, Switzerland for their assistance and invitation to take part in this
inauguration.
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation and rail
infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally
friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity
automated metro in the world, and provides turnkey integrated power plant
solutions, equipment and associated services for a wide variety of energy
sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind. The Group employs 81,700
people in 70 countries, and had orders of €24.6 billion in 2008/09.
For more information on Alstom, visit www.alstom.com.
BREAKING NEWS
As IRJ went to press, Alstom and Schlumberger, the global oilfield and
information services company, announced the signature of an agreement for mutual
collaboration in the joint offering of CCS*-ready studies.
These innovative studies will conduct a technical analysis of a power plant to
identify how it should be adapted to accommodate an Alstom CCS system. The
studies will also include an evaluation of potential CO2 storage sites for the
power plant, as well as an evaluation of required investments for future CO2
transport and storage. The offer is designed  to facilitate the future
conversion of power plants to CCS and the securing of environmental permits as
well as optimising time-to-market periods and associated costs.
“Our customers are increasingly demanding full support, from the flue gas
outlet to the downhole, to ensure that their new power plants are CCS ready.
Assessing this readiness will be a mandatory requirement for all large
fossil-fuelled power plants in Europe by 2011**. Similarly, the State of
Queensland in Australia recently announced that no new coal fired power station
will be approved in the state unless it is CCS ready” said Andreas Lusch,
Senior Vice President, Alstom Power Thermal Systems.
The first wave of large-scale CCS demonstration projects, such as AEP’s
Mountaineer in the United States or Vattenfall’s Schwarze Pumpe in
Germany, also requires an integrated approach along the value chain. This
agreement is designed to offer this type of comprehensive service, both for new
and existing power plants.
“We see tremendous added value for our customers in this joint offering,
including optimised project sequence and technical and economic fine-tuning of
the entire capture, transport and storage chain,” said John Tombari, Vice
President of Schlumberger Carbon Services.
Alstom’s agreement with Schlumberger brings together the expertise of two
industry leaders and pioneers in the development of CCS technologies. As an
original equipment manufacturer providing key equipment for the energy market,
Alstom will bring its know-how in post-combustion and oxy-combustion capture
technologies as well as its strong Plant IntegratorTM experience. Schlumberger
Carbon Services brings the resources, technologies, and expertise in managing
all phases of geological carbon-dioxide (CO2) storage projects, projects in
which it is actively involved throughout the world today.
Most published climate change targets call for a reduction of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions by a factor of two in 2030, and complete de-carbonisation of the
power sector by 2050. The joint effort initiated by Schlumberger and Alstom
brings an immediate option to power plant developers world-wide facing
increasingly strict environmental regulations.
*CCS – carbon capture and storage
** Source: EU Directive on the Geological Storage of CO2 (January 23rd 2008).
About Alstom
Alstom CO2 Capture Systems is at the forefront of carbon capture technology
development. Since 2006, as part of its multi-product strategy, Alstom has
announced agreements with AEP, Statoil, Vattenfall, E.ON, Total, DOW and PGE
Elektrownia to test CO2 capture technologies in the U.S. and Europe. To date,
Alstom has started operation at five CO2 capture pilot projects, with EPRI and
We Energies in Wisconsin, USA, E.ON in Sweden, Vattenfall in Germany, Total in
France, and Dow in USA.
About Schlumberger
Schlumberger is the world’s leading supplier of technology, integrated
project management and information solutions to customers working in the oil and
gas industry worldwide.
Schlumberger Carbon Services provides technical expertise, project management
and technology for comprehensive carbon dioxide geological storage solutions,
consistent with care for health, safety and the environment.
For more information, visit http://www.slb.com/carbonservices.
The PURE TORQUETM CONCEPT
A unique rotor support concept protecting the gearbox from deflection loads.
The hub is supported directly by a cast frame on two bearings whereas the
gearbox is fully separated from the supporting structure.
As a consequece the deflection loads (red arrows) are transmitted directly to
the tower whereas only torque (dark arrows) is transmitted through the shaft to
the gearbox.