Akzo-Nobel Coatings: Wind Turbines

Akzo Nobel Matters.12/2006. Rising up from the unpredictable waters of the North Se off the east coast of Scotland are the largest and most powerful wind turbines in the world. Standing like gian in a notoriously unforgiving maritime environment, the offer a tantalizing glimpse into the future of alternativ energy production. Weighing 750 tons each with rotor blades more than 61 meters long, the two recently installed five megawatt turbines were manufactured by German company REpower as part the CAD 72 million Beatrice Demonstrator Project, a joint venture between Canadian company Talisman Energy Inc. and Scottish and Southern Energy.

Being monitored for the next five years, the project—itself part of Europe‘s largest research and development program in the held of renewable energies—has been launched to test the technical and economic feasibility of deepwater wind farms, which could have a majo role to play in the future energy programs of countries all over the wor

Installing offshore wind farms is nothing new, in fact, it‘s been promoted in Europe since the early 1 980s. But it‘s only now that technology has enabled deepwater farms to offer the very realistic prospect of making wind energy competitive. With governments acn the globe setting ambitious targets for increasing the amount of wir energy they produce, it‘s clear that more turbines are almost certaii to start springing up in oceans—and on dry land—all over the plane.

The two new turbines in the North Sea—which can generate enrn electricity for up to 4,000 households—are being used to power th€ Beatrice oil platform, which Talisman operates about 25 kilometers the Scottish coast. If the project proves successful, around 200 turbines could eventually be installed, which would have enough capacity to produce around 20 percent of Scotland‘s power needs.

However, placing a wind turbine in the North Sea inevitably creates certain challenges, not least the extreme demands placed the exterior of the structure by the harsh marine environment. To provide an effective solution, REpower chose to utilize a protective coatings system supplied by International Protective Coatings, one Akzo Nobel‘s coatings businesses. As well as delivering solutions variety of wind farm projects across the world, International Protective Coatings are also leading suppliers of coatings for the c and gas exploration and production industries.

"The North Sea is one of the worst marine environments in the world," explains Willem de Zanger, International‘s Business Development Manager OEM Europe. "When you look at coating an offshore wind turbine, you basically treat lt like an oil rig, because is steel in the sea and lt is subject to the same aggressive treatme from the elements."

International Protective Coatings supplied a total of around 3,000 liters of coatings for REpower‘s two 5 MW turbines (the average turbine needs 1,000 liters), which were applied in accordance witt ISO 12944. The specification included zinc epoxy Interzinc^® 52, coat Intergard 475HS and polyurethane finish lnterthane^® 870. ‚A weil as coating the towers, the company‘s products were also used the nacelles, and the foundations which were driven into the seabed to support the 85-meter high structures.

"The market for wind turbines is increasing all the time," adds de Zanger. "Europe has set a target to have eight percent of all its energy supplied by wind power by 2010, and 12 percent by 2020. lt‘s the same for the United States and Asia. What‘s interesting is that the offshore element is starting to play a bigger role in this and by 2020 it‘s expected that 50 percent of wind power will come from offshore farms,"

International‘s share of the market is growing all the time, supported by a worldwide wind energy group which has targeted further growth of between ten and 1 5 percent next year. A new product 99 has also been developed which will soon be available for wind turbine application. A moisture-cured polyurea, it dries in 20 minutes, can be applied in thicker layers and has a number of additional advantages.

"The fact that it dries very quickly at higher temperatures and humidity means that the speed through the fabrication shop is increased," de Zanger points out. "Color and gloss retention is very high and the product can also be used an various OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) applications, including cranes."

With offshore wind farms capable of reaching the capacities of conventional power stations, it‘s no surprise that general interest in wind power is growing. Denmark and Cermany are the clear world leaders in installed capacity, hut other countries such as the UK are installing more and more offshore turbines. Previously hesitant nations like Turkey and Greece, as weil as Central European countries, have also started to increase their interest in this technology.

"lt‘s becoming really big business," continues de Zanger. "lt‘s booming in the US. and Canada and is also growing quickly in India and China. Civen the targets various countries have set in terms of increasing the amount of wind power they generate, it‘s certainly going to be a very interesting market over the next few years."