Since 2007, 4Subsea has been helping companies of all sizes run to keep their wind farms at 100%. What sets us apart is the combination of traditional wind turbines engineering experience and modern data-driven decision making, which allows us to provide our clients with the best of both worlds.
Wind energy engineering is the process of designing wind farms and includes all aspects of the design process, including planning, manufacturing, and testing.
4Subsea has a unique experience with structural assessment, damage investigation and monitoring of submarine power cables and umbilicals. We are experts on offshore wind systems, including wind turbines engineering.
Wind as a Renewable Energy Force
People have been interested in renewable energy since the 19th century, however, it took a century and a half for people to find a way to use it properly. Last year, renewable energy provided 23% of all power generation in the United States. In comparison, coal was only responsible for 20% power generation.
Renewable energy, of course, refers to all of the energy produced from resources that can be replenished without human interference. Most well-known examples of renewable energy include solar power, hydropower, and biomass. But all of these sources are overshadowed by the wind.
The Popularity of Wind Power
Since 2013, there’s been a 1,150 TWh increase in electricity generation. Wind energy was responsible for a good percentage of that increase. In 2019, more than 9 GW of additional wind power has been put online. That number represents almost 40% of all new renewable power additions.
According to the Wind Powers report from last year, the United States now has an operating wind capacity of 105 GW. That energy is responsible for more than 120,000 jobs and 530 factories in the country. Wind farms around the US have brought in $1.6 billion in revenue.
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What Does a Wind Turbines Engineer Do?
There are different types of wind turbines, but they work on the same principle: all have propeller-like blades, which allows them to use the power of the wind to create electricity. Wind turbines can be found on wind farms, which can house anywhere from 5 to 150 turbines.
People who are in charge of designing, maintaining, and running these turbines are called wind turbines engineers. Their job is to work with other engineers to ensure that every piece of equipment works properly and that the farm is working at full capacity.
What Are They in Charge Of?
A wind turbine engineer works on turbine design, control programming, and software development for the wind farm. Simply put, these engineers play a crucial role in everything from layout creation to system operation. Here are some of the responsibilities of wind turbines engineers:
- Working on infrastructure changes
- Improving wind turbine performance
- Maintaining the documentation for the farm
- Investigating new tech improvements
- Providing tech support for farmworkers
When you need to do anything on a wind farm – including making turbine tweaks, layout changes, and optimising the systems – you need to consult a wind turbines engineer.
Typical Challenges for Offshore Wind Operators
We have a dedicated team of wind turbines engineers who aim to redefine how the offshore wind industry is operated. To do so we need to address the industry’s common challenges.
Typical challenges we see for our clients include:
- Corrosion, damage or fatigue of sub-structures are resulting in reduced lifetime of equipment, hence increasing levelized cost of energy (LCOE).
- Cable failures due to movements, temperatures, or loads outside design parameters of equipment.
- New actions are needed for LCOE reduction, and smart use of data is an under-utilised asset for your company.
- Loss of production, either stop in production or production downtime due to cable or other asset integrity issues.
- Sub-optimal replacement scheduling; repairing or replacing equipment due to age rather than the actual status of equipment.
Our wind turbines engineers have developed advanced tools and methods based on extensive accumulated experience, knowledge and sophisticated analysis of substructures used in the offshore wind industry.
With our technology, we can make wind turbines engineering both cost-effective and durable.
How Can 4Subsea Help You With Wind Turbines Engineering?
Companies operating offshore wind farms that are looking to change their layout, try out new designs, and improve their bottom line will have use of wind turbines engineering. 4Subsea is there to help you analyse your wind farm, identify areas of improvement, and make your operation more efficient.
Our main mission is to provide cutting edge technology that will help your company and the world as well. 4Subsea engineers are there to collaborate with companies like yours and develop technology that will add actual value to your business and industry.