Robust corrosion protection for offshore wind turbines

VGB-S-021-00-2016-03-DE

Offshore wind turbines have great potential for power generation in these times of energy transition, but also confront manufacturers and operators with new and special challenges. The rough conditions on the open sea with strong winds, high waves and salt water are an ideal environment for corrosion damage on the massive steel structures of wind turbines and other wind farm components. The application of suitable corrosion protection systems aims at making the structures and equipment fit and safe for a service life of usually at least 25 years.

VGB PowerTech and the German Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute have now developed a joint standard with which the systems can meet these challenges. The German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency has also adopted the VGB Standard as a mandatory regulation in planning permission procedures for the offshore wind power industry. The standard has been published under the title of “Corrosion Protection for Offshore Wind Turbines and Wind Farm Components”.

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VGB PowerTech: Technical competence centre for wind power at the NRW booth of WindEnergy Hamburg 2016

VGB PowerTech presented its objectives at the NRW booth of the WindEnergy Hamburg 2016. VGB’s mission is to support the co-operation on all technical topics and tasks for wind power plants. The focus points are the exchange and transfer of experiences and information in VGB committees, standardisation (best practice), and the representation of interests of wind power plant owners in several User Groups.

The experiences pave the way for VGB-Standards for build and operation of power plants. The RDS-PP® – Reference Designation System for Power Plants with the special edition “Wind” and the VGB-Standard “Provision of Technical Documentation (Technical Plant Data, Documents) for Energy Supply Units” are two landmark publications for efficient and cost-optimised on- and offshore wind power plants.

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Dr Hans Bünting new Chairman of VGB PowerTech

Dr. Hans Bünting

Dr Bernhard Fischer hands over the office of Chairman to Dr Hans Bünting. Following his election, Bünting emphasized that “with its experience the VGB realises the urgently needed synergies between renewable and conventional generation and makes them visible. VGB thus sets the technical agenda for the transformation of the energy sector.”

Dr Hans Bünting (52) studied economics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and obtained his doctor’s degree there. He began his professional career at RWE Energie AG. Today Bünting is Chief Operating Officer (COO) Renewables of innogy SE.

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VGB Safety & Health Award 2016 awarded to Electricite de France

The VGB Safety & Health Award has been established to underline the increased importance of Safety & Health in the power and heat generation sector. The VGB Safety & Health Award 2016 was awarded to Electricite de France.

(LTR) Dr Bernhard Fischer, Jean-Francois Lehougre and Erland Christensen

The award was granted for the excellent example of the EDF’s Transmission and System Engineering Center (EDF-CIST), presented by Vincent Guignard and Didier Lachenal, how to develop a common and participative health and safety approach in order to avoid any accident in a construction site.

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Flexible thermal power plants – An Indian delegation study tour supported by VGB

A high-ranking delegation of representatives from India's Ministry of Energy, the Central Electricity Authority as well as different companies and institutions visited Germany from 18 to 25 September  2016. The participants were interested in learning about German experiences with adapting power plants to the fluctuating input of renewable energies.

„India Meet and Greet“ - VGB Congress „Power Plants 2016“

The VGB, together with its Indian partner organization EEC (Excellence Enhancement Centre), played a prominent role in organizing the program of the study tour, which was initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy under the auspices of the Indo-German Energy Forum. The Indian government has set ambitious targets for renewable energies. This requires a radical transformation of the energy system in India, as 70 percent of existing installed capacity currently comes from thermal power generation. Additionally, these plants are faced with new, stricter emission requirements.

The Indian government has set ambitious targets for renewable energies. This requires a radical transformation of the energy system in India, as 70 percent of existing installed capacity currently comes from thermal power generation. Additionally, these plants are faced with new, stricter emission requirements.

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China visited VGB - exchange on flexibility of coal-fired power plants

In China, the grid integration of renewable energy is a major challenge. In 2015, more than 33 TWh wind power were taken offline. With the provision of balancing energy, coal-fired power plants are playing a central role mainly in Northern China as there are hardly any hydropower plants in that part of the country. Against this background, representatives of the Chinese energy industry went on a study trip to Germany in order to familiarize themselves with the local experience with the flexibility of coal-fired power plants.

China visited VGB

The Chinese delegation consisted of representatives of the National Energy Administration (NEA), the Electrical Power Planning and Engineering Institute (EPPEI) and various Chinese energy supply companies. The latter group included representatives of 16 pilot plants, which have to implement concrete flexibility requirements by the end of 2016.

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Polish standard for synthetic gypsum send to enquiry

The Polish Standards Institute PKN ordered its Technical Committee 194 on Gypsum and Gypsum Based Products to prepare a standard for "Synthetic gypsum -- Requirements and test methods". The standard was prepared by a Consultant without participation of all stakeholders, especially without participation of the power plant operators as producers of FGD gypsum.

The standard is based on the "Quality Criteria for FGD Gypsum" as published by EUROGYPSUM, VGB and ECOBA. It shows also analysis parameters and procedures copied from VGB M 701 "Analysis of FGD gypsum" but defines additional parameters and alternative test procedures. Furthermore, different qualities and conformity control procedures are defined. Based on this, the standard deviates from the agreed procedures and common praxis in other countries. It is expected that a Polish standard - once released - will serve as a master for other countries or for a European standard.

On 16 October 2016 PKN has started the enquiry of the standard. It is not clear yet whether it is an internal enquiry in PKN TC 194 or an enquiry with participation of public stakeholders. It is strongly recommended to Polish power producers and stakeholders to make use of the commenting and voting rights.

Contact: Dr Hans-Joachim Feuerborn

VGB information: Administrative Provisions – Technical Building Rules (VV-TB) and Requirements on Constructions (ABuG) - what will change on 16 October 2016?

The Court of Justice of the European Union judgement of 16 October 2014 against Germany regarding additional technical requirements for products according harmonised European products standard causes changes in the German building regulations. Based on § 3 of the master building code (Musterbauordnung MBO) the "(master) Administrative Provision – Technical Building Rules" (Muster-Verwaltungsvorschrift Technische Baubestimmungen (VV-TB)) and the included "Requirements on constructions regarding impact on soil and water" (ABuG) specify requirements on constructions regarding environmental protection which by now were regulated in national technical approvals.

The information is to explain the background and to give guidance on how to handle the changes in the building regulations especially regarding the requirements for auto and third party control of construction materials.

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Call for Papers - VGB CONGRESS 2017

The VGB CONGRESS 2017 with its new motto Generation in Competition will take place in Essen, Germany, 13 and 14 September 2017.

The goal of the congress is to discuss the joint action of renewable and conventional power generation within the rapid change of the energy markets in Germany and Europe. Political and overall topics will be discussed in the plenary session on the first day.

For the sessions on the second day the following major technical topics will be presented:

• New business opportunities
• Flexibility options in generation and storage of power and heat
• Interface power plant –grid
• Generation & storage technologies for the future
• Lessons learned in new build-projects and O&M
• Optimisation, monitoring & diagnosis
• Training and education
• Conservation and decommissioning.

We are looking forward to your paper suggestions before 16 December 2016.

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Call for Papers - VGB Workshop "Materials and Quality Assurance"

Aim of the workshop is to present results of advanced materials and quality assurance aspects. The workshop is aimed at manufacturers, planners, operators, insurers and experts interested in technology and its environment, researcher, authorities and associations.

The following topics will be addressed:

• Lifetime Assessment, Flexibility, Periodic Inspections
• Materials and Components
• Quality Assurance, Damages
• Renewable Energy, Energy Storage

Please submit your proposal for papers by 23 November 2016, at the latest.

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Abstracts of Minutes

• Supervision of Construction and Assembly/ Quality Assurance - March 9/10, 2016

VGB Innovation Award 2016 awarded to Josef Langen

The VGB Research Foundation awarded the VGB Innovation Award 2016 to Josef Langen (33) for the development of measuring systems for online measurement of fireside corrosion of evaporator walls. Josef Langen has worked on the further development of online corrosion probes for the use in lignite- and hard coal-fired power plants.

(LTR) Dr Bernhard Fischer, Josef Langen and Erland Christensen

The award, endowed with 10,000€, was handed over by the VGB chairman on the occasion of the VGB Congress "Power Plants 2016" in Leipzig on 21 September 2016.

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Alkali Silica Reaction - Variation of Prestorage Time - Further Investigations - New research project started

Within previous VGB research projects the avoidance of alkali silica reaction (ASR) by using fly ash in concrete was investigated and essential questions have already been answered. Based on this it is now possible to compare different test procedures and predict the resistance of fly ash concrete with dense aggregate against ASR. But there are still some questions to answer regarding different cracking behaviour depending on the storage conditions in a follow-up project.

In case of success, the results will support the modification of regulations with the aim of an enlarged application area of fly ash concrete. The project is assigned to the VGB focal point research programme "Waste Management of Coal-fired Power Plants and Waste Incineration Plants" (ERKOM) and is supervised by the VGB-Technical Group “Power Plant By-products”.

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VGB PowerTech Journal 9 (2016): VGB Congress “Power Plants”. Renewables and distributed generation

Editorial

Dr Bernhard Fischer and Erland Christensen

Welcoming address to the VGB Congress “Power Plants 2016”

Some topics:

• The project Linthal 2015 – Pumped hydropower plant Limmern (Norbert Wohlkinger)
• The economic situation of large hydropower in Bavaria: Increasing burdens but dwindling revenues (Klaus Engels, Carsten Gollum, Karl-Heinz Gruber, Frank Pöhler and Albrecht Schleich) Download ...
• Standardised instrumentation and control system for centralised operation of power plant fleets (Wolfgang Gerndt)
• Latest developments for an integrated automation solution for hydro power plants (Clemens Mann and Matthias Pairits)
• Condition monitoring for a large fleet of wind turbines (David Futter) Download ...

Issue 9/2016

VGB-S-002-05-2015-10-EN-ebook - Wind Turbines (WT) ─ Definitions and Indicators - Now available as eBook!

The VGB-Standard "Wind Turbines (WT) – Definitions and Indicators ", provides the basic definitions and indicators for describing conditions and ensures their consistent usage and therefore their clarity. This VGB-Standard is available in German and English and is provided as a free of charge reference book.

Definitions of the following areas are mentioned:

• Technic,
• Capacity, energy and time definitions,
• Indicators such as availability and utilization.

A continuous revision of this standard is provided by the international ‘Performance Indicators’ technical group.

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TW-103 Ve "Availability of Thermal Power Plants" - Now available as eBook!

The Technical-scientific Report "Availability of Power Plants" for the period 2006 to 2015 is now available. This new report was revised in terms of  form and content. Here are some new features:

• International focus,
• general information and interpretation of various results,
• new trend charts containing data for over two decades,
• new capacity, operating time and age cluster,
• new "quartiles" (best, median, worst) indicators pointing out the upper and lower limits of the results.

The current report provides performance indicators for 655 power plant units plus 171 machine sets of pumped storage and storage hydro power plants.

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VGB PowerTech Journal 10 (2016): Electrical engineering, instrumentation and control, information technology. Combined heat and power plants (CHP): Concepts and technology

Editorial

Dr Oliver Then

The VGB “Hg^cap(ture)“ initiative
Further reduction in mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants

Some topics:

• Information security in operation and control of electricity generation plants (Kay Tidten)
• Development and comparison of a central and decentral coordination approach for virtual energy storages (Leander Grunwald, Sebastian Ruthe and Christian Rehtanz) Download ...
• Challenges at grid connection and operation of offshore wind farms (Steffen Schüler and Dirk Matzke)
• About design and operation of large-scale virtual power plants (Sleman Saliba and Sebastian Hölemann)
• Power System Restoration: Interactions between wind energy generators and thermal power plants (Holger Becker, Tobias Hennig, Alev Akbulut, Denis Mende and Lutz Hofmann) Download ...

Current Issue

Latest Media Data 2017: Your Advertisement in VGB PowerTech

Also in 2017 VGB PowerTech will continue to provide current information and latest news and findings about the trends in the power business. Make advantage of our renowned journal and print advertising and address your customers and stakeholders to draw the attention to your products and services.

The focal issues and deadlines are listed in our editorial schedule so that you can decide when to place you advertisement for the maximum yield. Get in touch with us, we would be please to make a bespoke offer to increase and improve your market position.

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