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Vestas Cutting Jobs Despite Leading Wind Installations

March 22, 2022

Vestas occupies the top spot when it comes to market share among global wind turbine manufacturers, according to a new analysis, but the Danish business is not immune to the challenges facing several of the leading companies in the wind power sector.

Supply chain issues are buffeting wind energy, as they have other industries. Though Vestas Wind Systems A/S continues as the leading manufacturer of wind turbines, according to a GlobalData report released March 22, the company also this month announced it plans to cut at least 275 jobs, including 75 in Denmark, in what it termed a “highly volatile environment” for the sector. A Vestas spokesperson in a statement said the group wants to balance “2022 priorities and long-term growth” for the company, with the job cuts part of “adjusting our activities and organizational setup.”

It’s the latest round of job cuts for the wind energy giant. A POWER analysis of Vestas’ announcements found the company has jettisoned nearly 2,000 jobs from its manufacturing facilities in Denmark, the UK, Germany, and Colorado since September 2019.…

Eight of 15 Ukrainian Reactors Remain in Operation After Three Weeks of War

March 20, 2022

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Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 16 that eight of the country’s 15 nuclear reactors were in operation despite the ongoing Russian invasion. Of the four sites with operational units, two of six at Zaporizhzhya, three of four at Rivne, one of two at Khmelnytskyy, and two of three at South Ukraine were in operation.

At the Zaporizhzhya site, which Russian forces took control of on March 4, Ukrainian staff have continued to operate Units 2 and 4. The units are running at “slightly decreased” power supplies to the grid because some power lines had been damaged by the fighting. The plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant (NPP) in Europe, has four high-voltage (750-kV) offsite power lines. Two of the four were damaged earlier and a third line was lost on Wednesday. The station also has a standby line, which, with the one remaining power line, “were sufficient to ensure that all safety systems remained fully functional without limitations,” the IAEA said.…

Fukushima Touched by Another Earthquake, Some Deficiencies Reported at Nuclear Plants

March 18, 2022

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A 7.3-magnitude earthquake caused some deficiencies at two of the three nuclear power plants (NPPs) located in relatively close proximity to the fault, but it did not cause any safety concerns, according to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).

The quake struck about 60 kilometers off the coast of Japan on March 16 at 2:36 p.m. UTC. The NPPs affected include the Fukushima Daiichi facility, site of the infamous nuclear disaster in February 2011. Other potentially vulnerable facilities were the Fukushima Daiini and Onagawa nuclear power stations.

At the Daiichi site, hundreds of seismically qualified tanks store treated water from the 2011 accident. The force of the quake reportedly moved some of these tanks up to 10 centimeters, but there was no leakage, according to the NRA. Also at the Daiichi site, a cooling pump for the Unit 5 reactor’s spent fuel pool temporarily stopped working, but later resumed operation and cooling functions at the site have been maintained, the regulator said.…

Illuminating Your Path to Operational Excellence

March 16, 2022

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Operational excellence (OpEx) is a holistic approach to business change that requires small, ongoing modifications capable of producing significant effects. Within power operations, this approach can be used to improve crucial day-to-day procedures, such as shift handover, and address deviations from the norm, for example, market conditions.

It is important to acknowledge that OpEx is applicable to every single person across a power enterprise. OpEx works at its optimum with a well-defined transformation strategy and a shared culture of improvement that, when implemented properly, is clear, concise, practical, actionable, and teachable. In return, achieving sustainable OpEx can yield greater efficiency with reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction for a more competitive business.

While the process sounds straightforward and feasible to implement, due to variations in interpretation and implementation, organizations must work hard to develop a viable and sustainable plan with the appropriate level of execution to achieve it.

Hexagon explores some of the triggers that may spur an organization’s OpEx journey, the role a healthy culture of continuous improvement can play, and what can be done to develop and nurture a sustainable OpEx organization for long-term success, giving special consideration to the cyclical nature of commodity-based industries, including power.…

GE Exec Expects Rebound for Renewables

March 14, 2022

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The leader of General Electric’s (GE’s) global energy business said the company expects its power and renewable energy units should be profitable in 2023, and experience even more success in 2024, after it weathers market headwinds that present challenges this year.

Scott Strazik, speaking at the company’s March 10 investor day, said GE is poised to turn around “unacceptable” financial results in its renewable energy division, though he said he expects onshore wind will not be profitable this year due to a slowdown in the North American market. The company’s power and renewable energy units could record what Strazik characterized as a low-single-digit profit margin in 2023, and then a mid-single-digit margin the following year.

GE last year announced it would divide into three separate, publicly traded companies, with the core GE business focusing on aviation. GE Healthcare is expected to be spun off early next year, with GE Power, GE Renewable Energy, and GE Digital becoming a single business that will be spun off in 2024.…

Women Are an Important Piece of UAE Nuclear Power Program

March 12, 2022

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Tuesday, March 8, was International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The idea of an International Women’s Day (IWD) was first proposed in 1910 by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, during a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The following year, on March 19, more than a million people reportedly attended IWD rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. The campaign was aimed at ending discrimination and allowing greater rights for women to work, vote, be trained, and hold public office.

While the situation has improved for women since 1911, inequality persists. According to the World Economic Forum, none of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes. In fact, gender parity may not be attained for another century. Yet, there are women around the world achieving great success. One example is Amani Al Hosani, a nuclear engineer in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.…