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

Allen Hall and Joel Saxum interview Matthew Stead, co-founder of eologix-Ping, about the company's growth, industry challenges, and their innovative sensing solutions for aging wind fleets. They discuss the benefits of eologix-Ping's acoustic sensing, lightning detection, and blade monitoring technologies.







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 co host Joel Saxun. We are in Minneapolis for the 2024 American Clean Power with the co founder of eologix-Ping, Matthew Stead.







Matthew Stead: Thank you, Allen.







Allen Hall: Matthew, welcome back.







Matthew Stead: Thank you. It's great to be here. I actually was here with you a year ago.







Allen Hall: Oh, that's right. In New Orleans. Yeah. So it has been a year since the merger of eologix and Ping. So a lot has happened over that time year's time span?







Matthew Stead: Absolutely.







Allen Hall: Uh, we should touch upon that. I want, first want to get your opinion of what this convention has been relative to New Orleans last year, what your thoughts were, what the interfaces have been with your customers.







What'd you think?







Matthew Stead: Yeah, I think industry's growing, fleets getting older, design issues, Every month, every six months, every twelve months, there's more and more challenges we're seeing, and I think that was reflected in the discussions we had here.







Joel Saxum: I think you're getting that, it's just being communicated, right?







Yeah. Hey, we have this problem, what can you do to fix it? I sat with someone last night at dinner and they literally just said I've got this. I want to do this. I want to do that. I want to do that. Who can do that? I said nobody can do all three, but this company can do this and this. I said, Pingmealogic can monitor for this and we can, you can do this for this.







And there's some gearbox stuff for that. So people are looking for solutions for their plaguing problems. And I think that is exactly what you said as the fleet ages, right? It was before everybody was just like trying to catch up. And now you're getting engineers into places. We do talk to a lot of people that are hiring engineers.

We're joined by Boaz Peled, co-founder and CEO of First Airborne, to discuss their groundbreaking technology that revolutionizes wind resource assessments. First Airborne's cloud-based anemometer system, suspended from a remotely controlled drone, allows highly accurate measurements of wind speed and direction across existing wind farms, significantly improving the efficiency and optimization of wind turbines.







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. Our guest today is Boaz Peled the co founder and CEO of First Airborne, an innovative company that is revolutionizing wind resource assessments. First Airborne has developed a cloud based cutting edge anemometer system that is suspended from a remotely controlled drone, allowing highly accurate measurements of wind speed and direction at various heights and locations across an existing wind farm.







The groundbreaking technology is poised to significantly improve the efficiency and optimization of wind turbines. We're excited to have Boaz join us to discuss First Airborne's unique solution and his insights on leveraging drones and advanced sensor technology to enhance wind energy production.







Boaz, welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. This is going to be an interesting discussion because First Airborne has some new technology, and in wind energy, you don't see a lot of sort of earth shattering technology, but this is one where it's a power producer, right? In the wind business, we're here to produce power.







The power comes from the wind. We need to know as much about the wind as we can. Problem is if you have an existing wind farm with a couple of met towers it can be hard to discern what's happening on a complex site. That's where First Airborne comes in. And would you just briefly describe what your product is?







I gave a little summary and introduction, but it's unique.







Boaz Peled: The best way to think of First Airborne's technology which we call Windborne by the way, it's actually very easy to explain for wind power people. Because what it is a windmast, but it can fly. So it's a flying windmast.







Imagine your windmast just grew wings and started flying any way you'd like to within your wind farm.

In this episode, Allen, Joel, and Philip discuss Siemens Gamesa's leadership changes and quality issues, the strong financial performance of Nordex and RWE, and upgrades to UK wind turbine testing facilities. They also cover the christening of the first American-built offshore wind service operation vessel, the EcoEdison, and the DOE's selection of five floating wind technologies for the Flow Wind Prize readiness competition.







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: All right, Lego lovers a Canadian man has combined his love of Lego and Star Wars, shocker, to build the 75, 000 piece Millennium Falcon in a record breaking time of, Joel, take a guess.







Joel Saxum: How much coffee did he have first?







Allen Hall: Red Bull.







Joel Saxum: I'm gonna say







Allen Hall: That's not too far off. Phil, what's your guess?







Philip Totaro: Six? I don't know.







Allen Hall: Seven hours, 36 minutes and 37 seconds. Ivan Wu of Markham, Ontario earned the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to build a Lego Star Wars 75, 000 piece Millennium Falcon. It's 10, 000 pieces an hour. That's insane. How did that, Phil, can your fingers move that fast?







Philip Totaro: 10, 000 pieces an hour?







Only when I'm typing Intel store research.







Allen Hall: You get the bags, right? And the bags are all just mixed parts, right? And they say, you open up the manual and it says, open up manual one out of six. And then you open bag one and six, and then you have to, that's three pieces a second. How do you tell your spouse Hey, I'm I really need to buy the 75, 000 piece Millennium Falcon to set a Guinness







Philip Totaro: World Record.







Sorry to stereotype, but this guy does not have a spouse.







Joel Saxum: But it only took seven hours of his life, so Seven hours of peace and quiet. Yeah, but how much training did it get to that point?







Allen Hall: See that, Joel, that's the ultimate question. I was thinking the same thing. That guy worked on that for weeks.







Joel Saxum: How many times has he built that thing? He's trained like an Olympic athlete. Seven hours was the record winning attempt, right? He's probably done it a hundred times or more. Canadian winters are long. They are, and now they're the world champions. There you go.

Masdar signs a land access deal for a 10 GW Egyptian wind project. Goldwind acquires GE's idle Brazilian wind turbine factory. Canadian pension fund CDPQ faces hurdles deploying energy transition capital in Asia. Sweden's EQT moves to acquire renewable developer OX2 for $1.5 billion.







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 IntelStor, Phil Totaro and the chief commercial officer of Weather Guard, Joel Saxum. And this is your News Flash. News Flash is brought to you by our friends at IntelStor. If you want market intelligence that generates revenue, then book a demonstration of IntelStor at IntelStor. com.







Renewable energy major, Masdar, is joint venture Infinity Power and partner Hassan Alam Utilities have signed a land access agreement with the Egyptian government for a massive 10 gigawatt onshore wind project. The deal provides the consortium with over 3, 000 square kilometers of land in West Suhag to conduct necessary studies and surveys to advance the project.







When completed, this wind farm is expected to generate nearly 48, 000. thousand gigawatt hours annually, reducing Egypt's carbon emissions by 9 percent and helping the country achieve its 42 percent renewable power target by 2030. It could also save Egypt an estimated 5 billion per year in natural gas costs.







Phil Masdar, once again, doing amazingly large projects.







Philip Totaro: Yes, and this thing is going to involve a significant amount of investment. And Mastar's the type of company that hasn't shied away from sourcing turbines from China, for instance. So this could end up being a big deal for Envision or Goldwind.







Egypt right now has, I think about 1. 6 gigawatts of wind operational, pretty much all along the the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. But this is, taking advantage of an ample amount of space that still exists out there and reasonably close proximity to to Cairo, where I think a lot of the power will end up getting piped into.







Fantastic news, again, to see, in general development in Africa. And we'll see how this evolves in terms of, what they line up as far as the supply chain players that are going to be a part of this.







Joel Saxum: If I was to recommend anything to anybody from Mazdar in the development phase or Hasan Alam in these, in, while they're planning this,

This episode features an insightful discussion with Dr. Elizabeth DiGangi, a Lightning Scientist at AEM, who shares her expertise on severe weather patterns, the findings of the AEM 2023 United States Lightning Report, and the potential impact of storms on wind turbines. Dr. DiGangi provides valuable insights into the formation of tornadoes, hail, and lightning, as well as the measures wind farm operators can take to mitigate risks associated with severe weather. Reach out at  https://aem.eco/contact-us/ !







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 Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, your go to podcast for the latest insights and discussions on the wind energy industry. I'm your host, Allen Hall, along with my co host, Joel Saxum. The U. S. Heartland has recently experienced a series of severe weather events, including violent tornadoes, intense lightning strikes, and large hail.







These extreme conditions pose significant challenges to the wind energy industry, as wind turbines are particularly vulnerable to the forces of nature. We are thrilled to have with us a very special guest, Dr. Elizabeth DiGangi a Lightning Scientist at AEM, and AEM is based in Germantown, Maryland. Dr. DiGangi holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our discussion. In this episode, Dr. Daganji will share her insights on the recent severe weather patterns, the findings of the AEM 2023 United States lightning report, and the potential impact of these storms can have on wind turbines.







She will also discuss the measures wind farm operators can take to mitigate the risks associated with severe weather and ensure the longevity and efficiency of their turbines. Turbines, whether you're a wind energy professional, a meteorology enthusiast, or simply interested in the intersection of weather and renewable energy.







This episode promises to be both informative and engaging. Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities presented by severe weather with the wind energy industry with Dr. Elizabeth DiGangi from AEM, Dr. DiGangi. Welcome.







Dr. Elizabeth DiGangi: Thank you very much. I'm happy to be here.

Allen sat down with Nicholas Gaudern, CTO of PowerCurve, at ACP in Minneapolis to discuss the importance of aerodynamic blade optimizations and upgrades during wind turbine repowering. PowerCurve's AeroVista tool can help operators address leading-edge erosion and suboptimal blade designs to mitigate aerodynamic losses.







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 am at ACP 2024 in Minneapolis with Nicholas Gaudern the CTO of PowerCurve. And PowerCurve is based in Denmark, and they are aerodynamic blade experts. And Nicolas background is with Vestas, and now he's a freelancer, so to speak, at PowerCurve.







And PowerCurve is where WeatherGuard goes for aerodynamic help. Yes, and a lot of other operators around the world reach out to power curve. So we thought it'd be a good time to talk to Nicholas because of all the repower activity in the United States and aerodynamic upgrades that should be happening on the ground.







Nicholas Gaudern: Yes. Yeah.







Allen Hall: That, that the opportunities being passed by, which is a total mistake, absolutely total mistake. And Nicholas, welcome to the program. And I want to walk through that.







Nicholas Gaudern: Thanks for having me back Allen. It's really nice to talk to you again and and another show. So always good.







Allen Hall: So in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, all over the United States, the IRA bill is kicking in and there's a lot of repowering happening at the moment.







And when I talk to operators about lightning protection, they're like, yeah, absolutely. We need to put additional lightning protection on because we know from the previous blades that they were not great. And we've heard rumors that these blades are not great. Our new blades are not great. So for lightning protection, that's pretty easy, but they also don't they don't think about the aerodynamic aspects.







Nicholas Gaudern: No not necessarily. And I think it's it risks being a really big missed opportunity. Yes. Because whenever you've got a blade on the ground, that is obviously an easier time to be doing any upgrade work, repair work, enhancement, whatever you want to do. So when you've got a blade on the ground, you should absolutely be considering the optimization potential,