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Offshore wind energy takes off at General Electric
INTERVIEW Offshore wind energy takes off at General Electric Interview with Steve Zwolinksi, GE Wind Energy For over a century, General Electric (GE) has been recognized as a power generation technology leader - a company committed to seeking out emerging products and fuel solutions and bringing these new technologies to life. In May 2002, GE entered the wind power industry - the world's fastest growing energy segment over the past decade. Today, a little more than a year later, GE is investing heavily in its wind technology, including new designs that anticipate growing markets for offshore development.
Peter
Asmus recently interviewed Steve Zwolinksi head of GE Wind Energy to find out more. "Wind is a natural part of our company's portfolio," said Steve Zwoliniski, a 20-year veteran of General Electric who became head of GE Wind Energy at the outset of its formation. He noted that GE has been involved with every segment of the power generation business, from nuclear reactors to coal and natural gas technologies. "In recent years, around the globe, we've seen an increasing interest in environmentally-friendly power generation. With the synergies that exist with other GE businesses, including the company's Global Research Center and transportation, plastics and industrial systems businesses, we know that we can make a significant contribution to furthering the wind technologies." An engineer by training with an MBA, Zwoliniski has held previous top management posts in medical, aerospace and power systems at GE. He also managed the hydropower division at GE and GE's service cenSteve Zwolinski, CEO of GE Wind tres all around the Energy, USA. Source GE Wind. world. "I thought
54
getting involved with the wind business was a great opportunity and I jumped at it," he recalled. Zwoliniski has a clear picture of where he wants to take the wind company. "Our goal is simply to anticipate our customer's ongoing wind energy needs and provide products and services that assure them the greatest value. Today our customers want innovative, cost-competitive technology for land and offshore use with solid performance guarantees -- this is what we're committed to providing."
Moving offshore A trend that could greatly impact the wind power industry is the move to place wind projects off-shore. During 2002, one of GE Wind Energy's most significant announcements was its introduction of the world's first wind turbine over 3 MW in size designed specifically for offshore use. A 3.6 MW design, the company installed a prototype on-land in Spain just over a year ago where the wind regime is similar to conditions found at sea. "Comparing traditional land-based wind projects with off-shore projects is a little like comparing the aircraft and aerospace industries" said Zwolinski. "Off-shore projects take
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net
the engineering science of wind power to a new level of sophistication. The physics and logistics involved with foundations, towers, wave conditions, salt, power transfers, etc., are a greater challenge off-shore." While more challenging, according to Zwolinski, the wind power potential is typically superior off-shore when compared to land-based wind projects. Lower turbulence is experienced due to the lack of obstructions like mountain terrain, buildings and trees. Capacity factors - the percentage of time that wind turbines actually generate electricity - is also higher offshore. While typical land-based capacity factors are found in the 30 to 40 percent range, off-shore projects can register capacity factors as high as 50 to 70 percent. Offshore wind power projects can also be located near population centres where demand for electricity is high and transmission and distribution connections are available. "We've been extremely pleased with the results received thus far from our 3.6 MW prototype" said Zwolinski. "We're really putting it through the ranks…we want to know exactly what to expect and what we can do to increase the value and minimize any risk to our customers." To make this happen, Zwolinski has enlisted the help of GE's worldwide R&D engineering team. The company also recently announced that it is co-developing a 25 MW project off the coast of Ireland with Airticity, a leading Irish renewable energy company as a demonstration platform for its 3.6 MW offshore machine. GE is building the project now and plans to own and operate the plant until its demonstration is complete - about two years after first operation, Once completed later this year, the project will be the first offshore wind
INTERVIEW
offshore projects in the U.S, including a proposed project off of the shore of Cape Cod that could total as much as 468 MW if built. Offshore wind facilities could possibly be, in fact, a very viable option in the U.S. over the next several years. Recent studies show that 5,000 to 10,000 MW of potential offshore wind power development are possible off the East Coast alone.
A strong start
The 3.6MW GE wind turbine
project with wind turbines above 3megawatts, and Ireland's first offshore wind project. The 3.6 MW machine has also been named as the wind turbine of choice for several proposed future
Since entering the wind industry last year, Zwolinski reports that GE's wind segment has received more than $3 billion in orders and commitments for delivery of wind turbines between years 2002-05. This year, GE Wind Energy will install 750 MW of new wind power in the U.S. alone, an impressive increase over the entire U.S. industry's installed capacity last year which totaled 410 MW. The company is also making a major impact in Europe and Asia this year with 800 MW of new wind power
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net
planned. This latter figure represents a 40 percent increase over GE Wind Energy's installations in these two promising and highly competitive global markets in 2002. Under the direction of Zwolinski, more than 60 new engineers have been added to the wind segment's staff over the last year, bringing the total number of engineers working on perfecting its wind power products to over 100. The amount of investment in the company has also increased by a factor of four to five times since GE purchased America's only major wind turbine manufacturer. At the same time, several top managers from other GE businesses have been integrated into the wind energy unit. Zwoliniski is quite impressed with the welcome mat GE has put out for wind power. "So far, I am very encouraged by the passion for wind power, both internally at the company and externally among stakeholders and market players. Quite frankly, I have been surprised at the level of
55
Investing in wind
Offshore projects can register capacity factors as high as 70 %
excitement for this technology. The curiosity and energy level evident among those now working on improving wind technology at GE is phenomenal." One of the first initiatives launched by Zwoliniski when he arrived at GE Wind Energy was to integrate a standard GE management process known as "Six Sigma" into the new wind division of the company. This term refers to the 18th letter in the Greek alphabet - sigma - that is also the symbol for a standard deviation, a measure of variance from a firm performance target. When a process has complied with Six Sigma, a manufacturing process will not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. General Electric has been engaged in Six Sigma, a process first deployed by Motorola and others, since late 1995. "It is a very data intensive process that is very logical and quite vigorous. It forces a business to really validate between vital and non-vital issues," commented Zwoliniski. "Reliability was one of the first issues we addressed with Six Sigma," stated Zwoliniski, noting that some GE Wind Energy customers had concerns about reliability. "First, we met with our customers to better understand their concerns and real world problems. Six Sigma then allowed GE staff from a variety of departments to look at the five or six elements that might determine the reliability of our current fleet of wind turbines." He went on to report that Six Sigma seems to have paid off. In the last several months, GE registered a 99 percent availability figure for all of its wind turbines operating in the field.
56
Perhaps the greatest indication of the growing acceptance of wind as a viable power supply option is the growing list of larger corporations investing in wind projects. Beyond GE, the list of corporate heavyweights investing in wind include Shell, which now is developing and/or operating over 1,000 MW of wind power globally. BP and Chevron Texaco are also putting some dollars into wind power. Utilities and utility affiliates based in the US -- FPL Energy, PacifiCorp and American Electric Power - are also investing significant sums into wind projects. FPL Energy owns 1,700 MW, or roughly a third of the nation's total wind turbine fleet. The utility affiliate plans to add as much as 1,000 MW of additional capacity this year. PPM Energy, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, has 560 MW of wind power in operation or under construction and has set a goal of developing 2,000 MW of wind power by 2010. "We see more and more utilities looking at wind as a hedge against natural gas prices. Due to economies of scale, and larger and larger machines, wind power is now cost competitive with all other forms of generation," commented Jan Johnson, communications manager for PPM Energy of Portland, Oregon.
The list of private companies purchasing all or a portion of their electricity supply from wind power also continues to grow: DuPont, Kinko's, Staples, Interface, Toyota, Ben & Jerry's and many others are joining the trend toward environmentally-friendly power choices. Along with these voluntary efforts by the private sector are fresh public policies being instituted at the federal and state level in the U.S. "In the U.S., this past year was quite strong for wind because of the Federal Production Tax Credit and various state-supported Renewable Portfolio Standards," observed Zwoliniski. "Of course, there is a cyclical side to the business in the U.S. because of the stop and go nature of the tax credit, but the overall trend looks quite promising." The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) predicts that the U.S. market for wind will grow by 25 percent in 2003. If that prediction comes true, as much as 1,400 MW of new wind capacity could be on-line by the end of 2003, boosting the U.S. total to 6,000 MW, enough electricity to serve 1.5 million homes. "We see wind power as the most practical renewable energy solution today," concludes Zwoliniski. "We also see it as a growth industry - a strong one that will become a more important part of our customers' energy portfolios in coming years."
One of several 3.6MW turbines currently under construction off the east coast of Ireland. Source GE Wind.
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net
Peter
Asmus recently interviewed Steve Zwolinksi head of GE Wind Energy to find out more. "Wind is a natural part of our company's portfolio," said Steve Zwoliniski, a 20-year veteran of General Electric who became head of GE Wind Energy at the outset of its formation. He noted that GE has been involved with every segment of the power generation business, from nuclear reactors to coal and natural gas technologies. "In recent years, around the globe, we've seen an increasing interest in environmentally-friendly power generation. With the synergies that exist with other GE businesses, including the company's Global Research Center and transportation, plastics and industrial systems businesses, we know that we can make a significant contribution to furthering the wind technologies." An engineer by training with an MBA, Zwoliniski has held previous top management posts in medical, aerospace and power systems at GE. He also managed the hydropower division at GE and GE's service cenSteve Zwolinski, CEO of GE Wind tres all around the Energy, USA. Source GE Wind. world. "I thought
54
getting involved with the wind business was a great opportunity and I jumped at it," he recalled. Zwoliniski has a clear picture of where he wants to take the wind company. "Our goal is simply to anticipate our customer's ongoing wind energy needs and provide products and services that assure them the greatest value. Today our customers want innovative, cost-competitive technology for land and offshore use with solid performance guarantees -- this is what we're committed to providing."
Moving offshore A trend that could greatly impact the wind power industry is the move to place wind projects off-shore. During 2002, one of GE Wind Energy's most significant announcements was its introduction of the world's first wind turbine over 3 MW in size designed specifically for offshore use. A 3.6 MW design, the company installed a prototype on-land in Spain just over a year ago where the wind regime is similar to conditions found at sea. "Comparing traditional land-based wind projects with off-shore projects is a little like comparing the aircraft and aerospace industries" said Zwolinski. "Off-shore projects take
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net
the engineering science of wind power to a new level of sophistication. The physics and logistics involved with foundations, towers, wave conditions, salt, power transfers, etc., are a greater challenge off-shore." While more challenging, according to Zwolinski, the wind power potential is typically superior off-shore when compared to land-based wind projects. Lower turbulence is experienced due to the lack of obstructions like mountain terrain, buildings and trees. Capacity factors - the percentage of time that wind turbines actually generate electricity - is also higher offshore. While typical land-based capacity factors are found in the 30 to 40 percent range, off-shore projects can register capacity factors as high as 50 to 70 percent. Offshore wind power projects can also be located near population centres where demand for electricity is high and transmission and distribution connections are available. "We've been extremely pleased with the results received thus far from our 3.6 MW prototype" said Zwolinski. "We're really putting it through the ranks…we want to know exactly what to expect and what we can do to increase the value and minimize any risk to our customers." To make this happen, Zwolinski has enlisted the help of GE's worldwide R&D engineering team. The company also recently announced that it is co-developing a 25 MW project off the coast of Ireland with Airticity, a leading Irish renewable energy company as a demonstration platform for its 3.6 MW offshore machine. GE is building the project now and plans to own and operate the plant until its demonstration is complete - about two years after first operation, Once completed later this year, the project will be the first offshore wind
INTERVIEW
offshore projects in the U.S, including a proposed project off of the shore of Cape Cod that could total as much as 468 MW if built. Offshore wind facilities could possibly be, in fact, a very viable option in the U.S. over the next several years. Recent studies show that 5,000 to 10,000 MW of potential offshore wind power development are possible off the East Coast alone.
A strong start
The 3.6MW GE wind turbine
project with wind turbines above 3megawatts, and Ireland's first offshore wind project. The 3.6 MW machine has also been named as the wind turbine of choice for several proposed future
Since entering the wind industry last year, Zwolinski reports that GE's wind segment has received more than $3 billion in orders and commitments for delivery of wind turbines between years 2002-05. This year, GE Wind Energy will install 750 MW of new wind power in the U.S. alone, an impressive increase over the entire U.S. industry's installed capacity last year which totaled 410 MW. The company is also making a major impact in Europe and Asia this year with 800 MW of new wind power
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net
planned. This latter figure represents a 40 percent increase over GE Wind Energy's installations in these two promising and highly competitive global markets in 2002. Under the direction of Zwolinski, more than 60 new engineers have been added to the wind segment's staff over the last year, bringing the total number of engineers working on perfecting its wind power products to over 100. The amount of investment in the company has also increased by a factor of four to five times since GE purchased America's only major wind turbine manufacturer. At the same time, several top managers from other GE businesses have been integrated into the wind energy unit. Zwoliniski is quite impressed with the welcome mat GE has put out for wind power. "So far, I am very encouraged by the passion for wind power, both internally at the company and externally among stakeholders and market players. Quite frankly, I have been surprised at the level of
55
Investing in wind
Offshore projects can register capacity factors as high as 70 %
excitement for this technology. The curiosity and energy level evident among those now working on improving wind technology at GE is phenomenal." One of the first initiatives launched by Zwoliniski when he arrived at GE Wind Energy was to integrate a standard GE management process known as "Six Sigma" into the new wind division of the company. This term refers to the 18th letter in the Greek alphabet - sigma - that is also the symbol for a standard deviation, a measure of variance from a firm performance target. When a process has complied with Six Sigma, a manufacturing process will not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. General Electric has been engaged in Six Sigma, a process first deployed by Motorola and others, since late 1995. "It is a very data intensive process that is very logical and quite vigorous. It forces a business to really validate between vital and non-vital issues," commented Zwoliniski. "Reliability was one of the first issues we addressed with Six Sigma," stated Zwoliniski, noting that some GE Wind Energy customers had concerns about reliability. "First, we met with our customers to better understand their concerns and real world problems. Six Sigma then allowed GE staff from a variety of departments to look at the five or six elements that might determine the reliability of our current fleet of wind turbines." He went on to report that Six Sigma seems to have paid off. In the last several months, GE registered a 99 percent availability figure for all of its wind turbines operating in the field.
56
Perhaps the greatest indication of the growing acceptance of wind as a viable power supply option is the growing list of larger corporations investing in wind projects. Beyond GE, the list of corporate heavyweights investing in wind include Shell, which now is developing and/or operating over 1,000 MW of wind power globally. BP and Chevron Texaco are also putting some dollars into wind power. Utilities and utility affiliates based in the US -- FPL Energy, PacifiCorp and American Electric Power - are also investing significant sums into wind projects. FPL Energy owns 1,700 MW, or roughly a third of the nation's total wind turbine fleet. The utility affiliate plans to add as much as 1,000 MW of additional capacity this year. PPM Energy, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, has 560 MW of wind power in operation or under construction and has set a goal of developing 2,000 MW of wind power by 2010. "We see more and more utilities looking at wind as a hedge against natural gas prices. Due to economies of scale, and larger and larger machines, wind power is now cost competitive with all other forms of generation," commented Jan Johnson, communications manager for PPM Energy of Portland, Oregon.
The list of private companies purchasing all or a portion of their electricity supply from wind power also continues to grow: DuPont, Kinko's, Staples, Interface, Toyota, Ben & Jerry's and many others are joining the trend toward environmentally-friendly power choices. Along with these voluntary efforts by the private sector are fresh public policies being instituted at the federal and state level in the U.S. "In the U.S., this past year was quite strong for wind because of the Federal Production Tax Credit and various state-supported Renewable Portfolio Standards," observed Zwoliniski. "Of course, there is a cyclical side to the business in the U.S. because of the stop and go nature of the tax credit, but the overall trend looks quite promising." The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) predicts that the U.S. market for wind will grow by 25 percent in 2003. If that prediction comes true, as much as 1,400 MW of new wind capacity could be on-line by the end of 2003, boosting the U.S. total to 6,000 MW, enough electricity to serve 1.5 million homes. "We see wind power as the most practical renewable energy solution today," concludes Zwoliniski. "We also see it as a growth industry - a strong one that will become a more important part of our customers' energy portfolios in coming years."
One of several 3.6MW turbines currently under construction off the east coast of Ireland. Source GE Wind.
November/December 2003
REFOCUS
www.re-focus.net