The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum & Phil Totaro

We interview with Cory Mittleider of Malloy Wind, a company specializing in providing bearing solutions for wind turbine applications. Cory shares insights into common pitch bearing failure modes, how Malloy Wind analyzes failed bearings to develop improved designs, and the importance of factors like grease and manufacturing processes in bearing longevity. Visit https://www.malloywind.com/ for more info!







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com







Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, and I'm here with my co host, Joel Saxum. If you were an owner, operator, or technician in wind, you have come across pitch bearing problems. And those pitch bearing problems can get really hard to detect early. But once you see them, they're expensive to repair.







So Joel and I thought it was time to bring on an expert. In bearings to the podcast. So our guest today is Cory Mittleider of Malloy Wind. And Cory has an extensive background in wind bearings. Now, Malloy, if you're not familiar, is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is in the middle of the United States.







And Malloy Wind specializes in providing solutions for wind turbine. applications. So they're a total wind focus organization. They offer a variety of services, including upgrading gearbox bearings, blade bearings, main shaft bearings, pitch motor renewals, and generator bearings. Cory, welcome to the program.







Cory Mittleider: Hey guys, thanks for having me.







Allen Hall: So there's so many questions about pitch bearings and just having been down in San Diego at the ACP OMNS one of the complaints is, Oh, I got a huge bearing replacement program going on this summer. And my first thought was of you were thinking, wow, you guys must be really busy because Bearings are probably after lightning, it's lightning and then bearings were one and two of the problems for wind turbines at the moment.







Cory Mittleider: Yeah, it's been it's been a busy couple of years. There's certainly standout platforms that are having their own platform specific failure modes that we're discovering as we work with operators.







Joel Saxum: Yeah we talked a little bit off air about some of that thing. Okay, so we're in lightning space.







We know if someone calls and says, I have this turbine with these blades, you go, Ooh, you got problems.

Joel and Allen discuss their Texas and Oklahoma wind farm tour, finding tight budgets and lack of technicians are causing operators major struggles. Then the team discusses whether Inflation Reduction Act incentives are effectively driving more clean electricity generation or creating misaligned incentives for hydrogen over expanding wind power.







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com







Philip Totaro: Joel wants to do a billboard. In Texas to advertise Weather Guard Lightning Tech, and StrikeTape. That's a pretty good idea, but I got a better one. What if you did a TV ad, or like a, an ad you could post up on LinkedIn, but recreate the episode from the Twilight Zone, Terror at 20, 000 Feet, but instead of there being like a little monster on the airplane wing that William Shatner is all scared of, how about it's just like lightning strikes that get, diverted by strike tape and then, but you recreate the ethos.







And then nothing happens.







Allen Hall: It could be good. William Shatner is still alive. He's like 92. Yeah, he, I'm sure we could sign him up







Philip Totaro: to do that.







I'm telling you. This is actually, this is why I had the idea because his production company contacted me about six or seven years ago and they wanted me to do an infomercial with him.







And it was actually fairly reasonable price. So we should talk off air and look into this.







That's a thing. Why didn't you do







Joel Saxum: that? If we could get William Shatner to do a strike dig commercial. Come on. Phil, how much was it? Was it four figures? Three figures?







Three figures, that's what I'm talking about.







We spent a lot on barbecue this week.







We're trying to recover.







Allen Hall: Joel and I have been down in Oklahoma and Texas going to a variety of wind farms and meeting with the O& M folks, the site supervisors, just to see what's top of mind there. Really great discussions. Some of the best discussions about Wind energy I've had in the last couple of years because everybody's so frank about it and Joel maybe you can give top of mind what some of your insights were.







What are we chopped liver?







Joel Saxum: No. Just so we're clear, the conversation with you guys are great as well. We're, I don't know. I'm not discounting those.







Yeah, no,

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners announced the acquisition of a 1.3 gigawatt onshore wind portfolio in New York called Liberty Renewables. Spanish renewable energy firm Acciona Energia decided to restructure its business in Brazil after reviewing their portfolio, citing challenges with project profitability. Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex is reducing its production in Brazil in response to low demand for contracts in the Brazilian marketplace.







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com







Allen Hall: I'm Allen Hall, president of Weather Guard Lightning Tech. And I'm here with the founder and CEO of InstelStor, Phil Totaro, and the chief commecrcial officer of Weather Guard, Joel Saxum. And this is your News Flash. News Flash is brought to you by our friends at InstelStor. If you want market intelligence that generates revenue, then book a demonstration of InstelStor at InstelStor. com.







Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has announced the acquisition of a 1. 3 gigawatt portfolio of onshore wind projects in New York called Liberty Renewables. CFP has made this acquisition through its CIV fund, where it is targeting a final close of 12 billion euros. Liberty has recently submitted its application to New York's Office of Renewable Energy, citing for its first project, Hoffman Falls Wynn, where construction is due to start there in 2026.







The building work on other projects in the 1. 3 gigawatt portfolio are due to start somewhere between 2027 and 2020. 30. Phil, why is Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners going for onshore wind in the United States?







Philip Totaro: It's a great question. And in particular, this Liberty Renewables portfolio it's interesting because the New York Independent System Operator, certainly within the state of New York, they need, additional power.







Anybody that's got a pipeline of projects in New York is probably in good stead. But their power prices in NISO have actually been fairly robust. And so I think, when Usually projects in New York don't have a fixed price power offtake contract, except for the offshore, obviously.







And even then there's an escalator in there. But yeah, most of the projects in the NYSO market are, on a pretty healthy merchant power offtake. So it's actually a great deal. And they're looking at potentially with this their fifth fund here, they're looking at a total potential of, I think they said something around 22 billion euros.







So on top of what they've already got committed,...

In this episode, Glenn Aiken and Eelko May from LiftWerx share how their pioneering, crane-less wind turbine repair solutions are transforming the industry with cost-effective, eco-friendly, and efficient approaches to major component exchanges and offshore wind maintenance. Visit https://liftwerx.com/ for more!







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com















Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, along with my co host, Joel Saxum. Today, we're joined by Glenn Aiken, president and co founder at LiftWerx, and Elke May, managing director at LiftWerx. Based in Canada, LiftWerx is leading the way in developing craneless wind turbine repair systems.







As many of Turbine repairs have traditionally depended upon large cranes that are difficult to transport and are vulnerable to wind delays. And this is where LiftWork comes in because they are disrupting the status quo. They have pioneered ingenious smaller lifting solutions that are cost effective, efficient, and eco friendly.







Glenn and Eelko welcome to the program. Thanks, Al. Yeah, thanks very much, Al. So as we all know doing major component exchanges is a difficult task. And, or doing a rotor removing the rotor, those kinds of things usually involves massive cranes. And in the United States, and even in Europe times getting a hold of a crane big enough to do the job is one expensive and two, usually there's a narrow window when you can actually get access to that crane.







This is where LiftWerx comes in and I really want to hear about, it's really a couple of different things you're working on. Obviously the gen hook and the rotor hook, but now you're into offshore. So I think that's a cool offering because there's going to be a, not a lot of work offshore in the United States coming up in which is going to need help.







So I want to hear about what you guys are seeing out in the world and how LiftWerx fills that void.







Glen Aitken: If I look back 10 years. Because I've been working in wind energy for around 20 years we've seen a massive rapid growth in the size and weight of wind turbine components we've also seen just a huge volume of wind turbines installed over the last decade and quite frankly, crane requirements have also, You're you know, increase just to meet the demand.







Both, both the, demands in height and weight, but also just the volume demand.

Thorbjørn Rasmussen and Michael Drachmann Haag of Polytech discuss the company's new onshore leading edge protection (LEP) product, designed to be more flexible and easier to install than their previous offshore version. Get an inside look at the technical details and customer-focused approach behind Polytech's latest wind industry innovation. Visit https://www.polytech.com/ for more!







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com







Joel Saxum: Okay, guys, we're recording here. We're live right now at blades USA 24. We're sitting in the area where there's some coffee and some conversations, ISPs, asset owners, some blade design engineers, and of course, a lot of solution providers. I'm here with Polytech came over from Denmark on a world tour.







You're heading back to Denmark. You're going to OMS in San Diego, so we'll be over there. Okay. So I've got Thorbjørn Rasmussen, chief commercial officer over at Polytech and also Michael Drakmann Haag. I got it, right? Yeah. Perfect. Perfect. So chief technical officer. So we have two of the great minds from the Polytech team here right now.







Polytech, while they do a lot of different solutions they have some lightning protection things, they sell to OEMs, sell to asset owners, all the above, out of Denmark. They're really known for the L shells. L shells is a product that if you're dealing in wind turbine maintenance at all, you know that the leading edge is a problem and the L shells were developed for offshore use originally, correct?







And they have been installed some onshore turbines, some high erosion areas, or even people that are like, you know what? I think this is the solution. I don't have to touch my leading edges for 10, 15, 20 years. I'm putting the big stuff in. So you guys have been behind the scenes, behind the curtain, working on another kind of version of that, but adjusted specifically for onshore.







Yes, tell us about that.







Michael Drachmann Haag: Yeah, so we've taken all of the great learnings that we've had on the yellow onshore, offshore products, and then we've taken and built. On those innovations. And then we designed a product that then is easier to install comes at a lower price point as well. And really sets aside from the more, you could say more complicated stuff that you get out in the industry.







But while still having the the great performance and also then we don't need the material to cure at site,

A 107-meter mold at the LM factory in Sherbrooke, France has been damaged and LM in Denmark faces significant layoffs. Researchers at TU Delft develop noise-reducing "Muteskin" technology. The U.S wind industry suffers from shortage of skilled welders.







Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!







Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com







Allen Hall: Alright, Joel, so we seem to have eaten our weight in barbecue in the last three days.







Joel Saxum: Yes.







Allen Hall: That is a literal fact.







Joel Saxum: Now should I tell you the perfect barbecue plate order? If you're in Texas and you're getting barbecued, this is what you want. You want a two meat plate, you want brisket, you want a jalapeno cheese sausage, you want fried okra, and some mac and cheese.







That's it.







Allen Hall: We were sitting with some Danish folks last night and trying to explain what okra was or is. And then I thought, I betcha Rosemary doesn't know what okra is either. Have you had okra before, Rosemary?







Rosemary Barnes: Oh, we have it. Yeah, I haven't eaten it a lot, but you can, yeah, it's in the supermarkets, usually.







Yeah.







Allen Hall: Does it have a taste? Can you describe what the taste of okra is for those who have been uninitiated?







Rosemary Barnes: It's not something that I eat often. I've tasted it, but I I don't even really remember. I know that it gets if you don't do it well, it gets slimy. That's its biggest crime. It has to be well cooked, otherwise it's a slimy mess.







Allen Hall: Now. So we went to our restaurant and Joel and I didn't say anything to our waitress. It was a nice restaurant. It was a barbecue restaurant, of course. We're in Texas. But the waitress came up and immediately associated Joel with Texas, even though he's from Wisconsin and then associated me with being an outsider.







Now, I was born in Nebraska. I'm a lot closer to Texas than Joel, but I was seen as being an East Coast person. Immediately, I thought, oh my gosh, I think the Massachusetts is starting to show on me.







Joel Saxum: It's the glasses. I think.







Allen Hall: Is it the glasses? You think that makes me look Danish?







Rosemary Barnes: Don't you have glasses too, Joel?







I'm looking at you both.







Joel Saxum: Allen's looks way too smart.