Podcasts about Onshore

American Clean Power’s Q1 report shows the weakest quarter since 2023, China plugs an undersea data center into offshore wind, and thermal imaging spots hidden blade damage. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter 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 YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Allen Hall: The Uptime Wind Energy podcast, brought to you by StrikeTape. Protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit StrikeTape.com. And now your hosts Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. I’m your host, Allen Hall. I’m here with Rosemary Barnes, Matthew Stead, and Yolanda Padron. And three out of the four of us, everyone except Rosie, went to Houston this past week. Matthew, you were on the floor. Yolanda, you were on the floor this week. What did you think? Matthew Stead: I think there was a few sort of common themes that I picked up. One, the obvious one which keeps coming up every time is insurance and lightning, and insurance, and all those sort of things. probably the other point that I observed was really strong supply chain. they had everyone, all the people, e- even people, building boxes. And [00:01:00] so they had boxes, transportation, cranes, really strong, supply chain. also really strong on the batteries, like the CATL batteries, et cetera, et cetera, and solar. I think that seems to be getting a bit more, a bit more, mature and more obvious. obviously blades, lots of people talk to us about blades, maybe ’cause we talk about blades. But, lightning root issues, blade bolts, those sorts of things, leading edge erosion, robotic repair, et cetera, et cetera. a bit about, add-ons like PowerCurve, were fairly visible, so that was good. but there was a lot of secret meetings in rooms away from the actual event. so that was one observation. and the other observation was perhaps not so many operators that actually [00:02:00] work on a day-to-day basis. That was my subjective impression  Rosemary Barnes: Speaking of secret meetings in rooms, what were you guys doing around the time of ACP?  Matthew Stead: So the Australian American Chamber of Commerce organized a special event, with two Australian companies to launch a new product, which monitors lightning and then transmits the results using satellite communications. So it was very open, but invitation only, Rose.  Rosemary Barnes: I, actually, I- the comments, ’cause people are always, after our first go organizing wind O&M event in Australia, I would hear about it from people who didn’t, just chatting at, on, different wind farm sites. They didn’t know I was involved, and they’re like, “Oh, yeah, there’s a secret event now.” And it’s we did our very best to publicize this, the most that we could. It was not intended to be secret. So yeah, I’m just wondering if, people are gonna think the same if [00:03:00] they, they missed out on, your event. But how was it re- received? Do, we need more events in the US?  Matthew Stead: Yes, absolutely. And I, I don’t have my pin on here, but, yeah, I do have a pin from the Australian American Chamber of Commerce Texas division,  Rosemary Barnes: How was the event for you, Yolanda?  Yolanda Padron: It was good. It was good. the showroom was the, or the exhibit floor was a little bit em- more empty than I thought it would be, but it was good. It was good to, to see people, to catch up with everybody. There were some really good chats happening everywhere. and I got … I don’t know about you guys, but I saw a lot more people not from the US that wanted to come in and understand the market better than I did other years, which was nice to see. Matthew Stead: Was there any new technology on the floor this year? I thought there was a new robot company, but it was actually solar cleaning.  Yolanda Padron: I saw some rebranding from some companies, moving from former ties to [00:04:00] OEMs just m- moving into their own little companies and stuff. in a very interesting, PR move, a, an insurance company was raffling a motorcycle, which was really, funny for us to see. Allen Hall: Not very safe, is it?  Yolanda Padron: Was  Rosemary Barnes: it at least an l- an electric  Yolanda Padron: motorbike?  Allen Hall: Rosemary, you’re in America.  Yolanda Padron: I don’t know very much about bikes, but it was big and scary for me. did I put my name in there? Yes. We’ll see how that turns out, but  Rosemary Barnes: I’m always trying to win Lego sets at, events and, try to sweet talk the, the stall managers or s- stall minders into “Oh, if somebody wins and they don’t show up, could I have it?” yeah, so far unsuccessfully. Although I do have, actually you can see I’ve, I’ve got a Le- a L- Lego, in inverted commas, not Lego TM, wind turbine that we’ve just started making. So that’s a, [00:05:00] or a tower for a… that we have created. I have succeeded in getting some sort of Lego for my podcast background. Allen Hall: Are you gonna buy the Sagrada Família Lego set that just appeared?  Rosemary Barnes: I haven’t. I’m not like the hugest Lego fan. I wouldn’t call myself an, what is it? AF- AFOL, adult fan of Lego? Is that what, There’s a, there’s an acronym. I’m not one. None of us are apparently.  Allen Hall: Oh, I don’t know. I think we’ll buy that one. Allen, does it take 200 years to make? Probably. I think there’s around 10,000 pieces. that’s what I re- recall. It, there’s a lot of pieces. It’s built in sections. I watched had a little discussion about it. It is really complex, but we may purchase one and put it in the lobby of our shop because that cathedral is protected by strike tape, some of the ornamental features at the top. So we’ll, probably build one, but it’ll, it will take a year [00:06:00] Delamination and bondline failures in blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. CIC NDT are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their nondestructive test technology penetrates deep into blade materials to find voids and cracks traditional inspections completely miss. CIC NDT maps every critical defect, delivers actionable reports, and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cicndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions Let’s talk about American Clean Power’s, first quarter 2026 market report. So the American Clean Power Association’s first quarter 2026 market report shows United States developers brought 6.4 gigawatts [00:07:00] of new clean power online in Q1, but overall capacity was down 17% year over year, the weakest quarter since 2023. Onshore wind took the hardest hit with less than 500 megawatts installed, the slowest pace since about 2018. the Department of Defense delayed approximately, 165 projects totaling 30 gigawatts and $54 billion of investment. Ken Young, the CEO of Apex Clean Energy, put it plainly, quote, “This DoD thing is real. They found a button to hit, and we got punched in the face.” Unquote. Developers won a preliminary injunction in Massachusetts federal court, but the Interior Department has pledged to appeal in regards to offshore wind. Is this gonna be a permanent setback, Matthew? You think this is gonna continue on, or will this eventually get wrapped up and wind will be back on track? Matthew Stead: If I wanted cheap power, I would be building wind, [00:08:00]battery, and solar. So I think, if people want cheap power, it, will definitely come back. That’s my view.  Allen Hall: Yolanda, you see some of the development. You’re close to it in Austin, Texas. What are you seeing on the ground there? I think there’s repowering going on, but is there much in terms of new development? Yolanda Padron: There’s repowering. I think new development slowed down a little bit than this time last year, but it’s still going on, both for wind, solar, and battery, which is good. on the ground level in some of these very rural towns, this is a very important source of income for a lot of those people, regardless of political affiliation. so it’s important for some of these people to get these on their, in their land.  Allen Hall: Does American Clean Power have a plan to try to address this situation? Are there any lawsuits in place or any legal action on the docket?  Yolanda Padron: Not that I know of. I, know there was a, there was that lawsuit end of last year, for offshore.[00:09:00] but from American Clean Power itself, I don’t know of anything off the top of my head. Do you guys know?  Allen Hall: I haven’t seen much of a roadmap from American Clean Power on this particular issue on the onshore wind. I haven’t seen much e-except but for a couple of summary pieces explaining what is happening on the ground, but n-no action to push back. And maybe there’s some lobbying going on with Congress people and, senators, but you think we would hear about some of it. I haven’t heard anything, and I’m watching pretty close. it is a little confounding because it does seem like this could be broken with one court case. Maybe not. Maybe it’s more difficult than that. Yolanda Padron: I don’t know. There’s always a lot of, yeah, there’s always a lot of lobbying going on by, not just by American Clean Power, but by a lot of these larger owners, right? A lot of them have some sort of office in DC and people coming in and out and going to meetings [00:10:00] with everybody, So I don’t know. I’m also very curious to see what goes behind the scenes for that political side of things.  Allen Hall: just as a quick aside, one of the discussions I was having during the week was about AI data centers and the push for power. If gas turbines aren’t available for a couple of years and they’re gonna… the administration’s gonna push back on renewables, AI data centers are gonna have a hard time getting the power they need. I know the administration wants them to, be powered by natural gas, but that’s not possible right now. I don’t see how this ends easily. Rosemary Barnes: It seems like e- everybody’s looking into any single way that you can power a data center. There are people making serious plans to do it. There’s obviously, we’ve talked about space-based data centers before. then there was a podcast I listened to this week. Allen, you actually suggested it to me, but it’s one that comes up for me anyway, Catalyst podcast about, [00:11:00] data centers on ships. It, actually isn’t just purely about data centers on ships. It’s about, this company, and they have a ship that’s designed to fairly passively capture energy from waves of a ship out on the o- open ocean. They’ve actually designed the shape of the hull so that it is, will actually capture energy. They choose the location of their factories very carefully, put it in the ocean where there’s already enough energy, and it just, phew, off it goes, just powers itself off to the, I think it was somewhere in the South Pacific, where there’s nice big fetches of, of water and power whatever, including data centers. But I think each ship was about a megawatt or something like that, so you’ll need a lot of them. And then wasn’t there one that you were, you wanted to bring up today, Allen, an, underwater data center?  Allen Hall: The one that I think you’re talking about is Penthalassa, which has recently come out of the dark mode, and they have been working on this, in at least a couple of years from far as I can tell, [00:12:00] trying to develop data centers that… using a, system driven by not necessarily the waves. It’s not the waves, Rosemary. I think it’s more to do with the pressure, of the ocean. It’s, something to that effect, which is really interesting. but, China has, like in many things, working offshore and trying to get data centers up and running. they’ve commissioned the first undersea data center powered directly by offshore wind. The Shanghai Lingang project, built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction, CCC, began operations off Shanghai’s eastern coast in May. Planned capacity is 24 megawatts, and the core design transmits offshore wind power directly to submerged data modules via subsea photoelectric composite cables. I’m not sure what that is, but I’ll have to dig into that deeper. And by bypassing grid routing entirely. Seawater obviously will serve as the cooling medium [00:13:00] through circulating pipes in the heat exchangers, reducing electricity consumption by about 20%. one of the local v- university professors estimates that this kind of data center model could save about 50 billion kilowatt hours annually across China’s data center fleet, equivaling, equivalent to not burning 15 million metric tons of coal per year, and that would be nice. Is there a future in offshore data centers that use the ocean to cool themselves and Plug ’em into wind turbines offshore, just get the electricity straight from the wind. Does this have growth futures,  Matthew Stead: particularly in China? I love it. I think it’s absolutely fantastic, and it just means you don’t have to send them into space, because that’s a silly idea. The other point, do you remember a couple of years ago they were going to build, hydrogen electrolyzers, offshore n- next to wind turbines? So all they do is [00:14:00] just scrap the electrolyzer and then put in the data center. It’s just perfect.  Rosemary Barnes: But that’s what this, ship one that I was, I listened to the podcast of, that’s their, thing. It’s just power for whatever. whatever, obviously it has to be something that’s capable of, operating on a ship environment. You’re not gonna be doing probably precision manufacturing or anything out there. But, apparently failure rates for, data center stuff is not… They’re not expecting it to be higher. Higher in some types of failures will be higher, and some will be lower, but, they think that overall it’s so much, so much cheaper. But yeah, they did also talk about doing, yeah, I don’t know, hydrogen. Is anybody, is anyone still talking about hydrogen anymore? I feel like we’re finally, not n- not doing that.  Allen Hall: Rosie, I think you killed it. I’ve seen more news reports about it, where they’re not proceeding and there’s been some funding challenges, and those things are happening. Like any new technology, it’s, hard. The beginning is hard.  Rosemary Barnes: But, you know that, already hyd- making [00:15:00]hydrogen the way that we make it today is something like 2% of the world’s, emissions. So it’s okay, we do need heaps of clean hydrogen for that 2%. So I’m definitely not against, some hydrogen projects happening, ’cause we’ve gotta… That’s the, same size as y- you know, nearly as much as aviation, for example. so not insignificant.  Matthew Stead: Yeah, someone actually came up to us and s- I had a bit of a discussion about that, Rosie. We’ve got a bit of information to share with you about that-  Rosemary Barnes: Oh, yeah …  Matthew Stead: that will dispute some of your claims. we’ll share that with you  Rosemary Barnes: offline. They’re not my claims. I’m merely reporting what people who are working on it say. But I, was saying to Allen, ’cause we had a big chat offline about contrails and how challenging it is to just alter an aircraft’s path to reduce them, I need to, Engineering with Rosie video on this and get an expert on and ask them all of Allen’s very informed questions. maybe I’ll get you on as a co- co-interviewer. I’m actually keen on viewer input, listener input. we’ve got a, Pardalote actually has a training course [00:16:00]coming up. I’ve been trying to organize this training so that I and my employees can learn more about blade repairs. So we have a course coming up, organizing it in collaboration with Direct Wind Services. We’ve got a great, blade repair guy who’s gonna be taking the course- It’s gonna start out with an optional day that I’ll be running about blade design, manufacturing, certification, those sorts of things. And then three days on blade repair. So we’ll go through the theory, also, hands-on stuff. So we’ll be doing grinding, we’ll be doing layups, infusions, all that sort of thing for three days in Ballarat. but the extra cool part is that I’m gonna be using this opportunity to make a video about wind turbine blade repairs, ’cause, one, I’ve been si- trying, I’ve wanted to make a video on this ever since I started my YouTube channel, six years ago. So this is the opportunity that I can take to, talk about what kinds of repairs are actually done. I think people will be really surprised to see, even in, when they’re brand new out of the factory, they still gotta do, dozens of repairs on a [00:17:00] blade before it’s ready to go out. And people will also probably be surprised at, the extent of, repair that you can do and get a blade back up to its original design intent. So I would ask, anyone listening to this that has questions about those sorts of topics, let me know, and I’ll try my best to include that in the video. ‘Cause I think it’s a topic that’s not, super well understood.  Matthew Stead: Can I come along as well?  Rosemary Barnes: Nice, nice segue into me advertising. So this is our first one. We’ve got, we’ve got a few spots. I think that they’re gonna very easily fill, but we are planning to run them periodically. So yeah, you can get in touch and, let me know. yeah. Anybody. You, Matt, I’ll send you over the, the information.  Yolanda Padron: That’s a really good idea, Rosie, ’cause I feel like a lot of people, you either have, a really robust, understanding of blades and a really good background on it, or you’re starting fresh. And when you’re starting fresh, it’s really difficult to know what exactly you’re [00:18:00] doing. Or you know in theory, not until you go into the nitty-gritty or until you watch Rosie’s videos, do you then get a better understanding of everything that’s going on.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. It’s, a fascinating topic. obviously that’s what I spend 90, 90%-plus of my time working on. yeah. Blade damage and blade repairs. But there’s so much, there’s so much information that would be better off if it was shared, if everybody, knew a bit more about what, what was possible, what was normal, what’s best practice. Then I think that the, O&M for blades would go a lot more smoothly. Allen Hall: We had Matt Sagala on the podcast this past week, and one of the items he was talking about, some of the basic fundamentals of repairs, the little checkpoints that need to be in place when you’re looking at a repair, and the photographs that come in a repair report and some of the details, how they get skipped. And there should be more emphasis on some of the basics, and making sure that the photos show the different layers that have been ground, where each of the plies are. [00:19:00] Something simple like that, which in a lot of good blade reports. You don’t necessarily see in all of them and Rosie, if you’re training people up and showing them what the fundamentals are, that’d be really helpful in getting that information out where you can access- where it’s accessible, like on YouTube. Rosemary Barnes: I’m always giving that, that feedback back, “Can you please at least show, an image of what it looked like before you started repairing?” Nobody ever does that, and it’s y- we have the inspection, the drone image, but, you don’t have… you had, you were right there. You had the opportunity to take the , photo from every, angle, because you wanna be able to recognize what does this damage look like the next time that we see it. What’s it gonna look like in a drone image? And, yeah, be able to… sometimes you get in there and you think that you’re just gonna be repairing a couple of layers, and it turns out to a huge, thing. like I’ve seen repair , repairs come in that, hundreds of thousands or more, to do just one repair that was totally unexpected by the person who was paying the bill.[00:20:00] the more information that you take about that repair, then the more possible it is for engineers like me to be able to, a- at least predict, okay, you’ve, you’re likely to have a big repair here, and plan for it.  Allen Hall: Trying to find someone doing blade repair correctly on YouTube is hard to find. It really is. I s- you see people with grinders and things, and yeah, they’re working hard and they’re doing a job. But someone to actually walk through from beginning to end, and made it, and explained it as they did it, would be helpful to the industry. Tremendously helpful.  Yolanda Padron: Just to make sure that your budget’s right, for the year. if you’re on the owner’s side, and then you think, “Oh, okay. Sure. this AI-based drone inspection told me that I need to tackle all of these, and I know that these are gonna cost me, I don’t know, X amount of dollars,” you can, take a, human pass through those images and make sure that, your expectations and your reality is, closer, just by [00:21:00] looking at Rosie’s videos. So that’ll be, really exciting.  Allen Hall: Rosemary, how do people join in on your blade repair fun?  Rosemary Barnes: for, first of all, get in touch if you wanna do the course, especially in Australia. we could definitely organize one. In, the US coming up, piggyback off a- another event or somewhere else. But also get in touch with me at pardaloteconsulting.com, and you can, yeah, send me a message through the contact form and let me know that you’re interested. Maybe spell pardalote,  Yolanda Padron: though, for people.  Rosemary Barnes: Pardaloteconsulting.com. P-A-R-D-A-L-O-T-E and then consulting.  Allen Hall: As wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it, difficult. That’s why the Uptime Podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high-quality [00:22:00] content you need. Don’t miss out. Visit peswind.com today. in this quarter’s PES Wind magazine, which you can get at peswind.com, there’s an article from Minerva Energy, ABJ Renewables, and Concept X where they have developed a product called WindView, which is an advanced inspection system using high-res optical capture with thermographic analysis for a full subsurface, inspection from rotor to tip. the system detects defects as small as three to four millimeters, which is quite small, and a- analyzes the blade structures up to about 15 centimeters, which is quite deep, so that it does seem like a pretty useful inspection tool. as we all know, just the generic, visual drone inspection can give you an idea of what’s happening on the surface, but a lot of the structural issues are deeper [00:23:00]inside the blade, so thermal inspection combined with optical inspection can give insights into some places that otherwise go unseen. And Rosemary, as a blade expert, and Yolanda too, there’s a lot that happens inside of blades, and having a- an additional tool to inspect blades and to get more understanding of what’s happening underneath the paint service could be really useful.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I’m always trying to recommend th- this. I haven’t got any clients that have actually used thermal imaging, to look for damages, but especially in, areas where you suspect that there are r- some repairs that haven’t been done correctly or you’re looking for early signs of a serial defect. Y- like one of the weird things with the full service agreement, actually it’s probably true with, yeah, any kind of turbine sale, is there’s this serial defect liability period, and you’ve got to hit usually, a crazy high, stupid high number, like 20%, 30% of all your blades have to have the [00:24:00] same damage within it might be a two or three-year period, not, very long. It’s better when it’s more like 20% in five years. That’s, enough time to actually catch things. But so one of the things that you’ve got to do is like you really want to catch things early in order to be able to, y- make a claim on that. And so this is one of the tools that people would have to catch things earlier, like it’s not yet visible, with a crack on the surface that– Or even, like even small cracks on the surface will fly under the radar as well because, they won’t be flagged in the inspection reports. So if you’ve got a few of something that’s looks like it might be the same, it, and you’re still within your defect, your serial defect liability period, it’s definitely worth doing something, the, some kind of NDT, and this, is one of the good options it’s actually worth spending a whole lot of money to, to try and get that in because, like the numbers are, millions and millions of dollars, maybe tens, maybe hundreds, depending on, the extent of the problem. So yeah, it’s always good [00:25:00] to be well aware of what your deadlines are and what tools are available, and this is one of the good ones.  Allen Hall: Yolanda, you think it’ll open up access to carbon pultrusion inspections on blades without actually cracking the blade open?  Yolanda Padron: Hopefully, yeah. in, internal inspections you can only go so far, right? And Rosie, you have a lot more experience with this in action than I do. but yeah, so I, I think it’d be really interesting to see just what, what people can get done without actually happing- having to go and carving everything out, and without having to already start a s- a, a repair that maybe you don’t have the budget to do. Allen Hall: If its speed is fast enough, I- thermal imaging can be slow at times, but from what I’ve seen, the, cameras have really improved over the last couple of years. If they have this down where you could really inspect blades quickly, it would be a tremendous help to have insights into [00:26:00] depth of damage, especially with c- I think carbon pultrusions are the one that we just don’t have a lot of oversight with, and it’s very difficult to inspect. And so if you could actually see damage to the pultrusion ahead of time, that would be a, major advantage. I, can’t imagine the insurance companies wouldn’t love this system. S-  Matthew Stead: it’s interesting. Yeah, I’ve got a question. GE Vernova has a patent around some of this, technology. They’ve had it obviously for many years. But, I know one of the challenges with the GE Vernova approach was that through the day, if you’ve got ambient temperatures, it was a bit hard to pick up, the actual damage. So at least for the GE, solution, it had to be done at dusk or, when the sun wasn’t out. So I don’t know the answer to that, but is that one of the technical challenges around, when it can actually be taken? Do you need to take it when the sun’s not out?  Allen Hall: Yeah, I wonder that too I’ve– The way I’ve seen it is they try to catch it at sunrise or sunset where there’s [00:27:00] a thermal gradient on the blade. However, the thermal imaging cameras is, are, cameras are so much better than they used to be. it may be possible to just do it during the daytime. Rosemary Barnes: I think the different companies are approaching it in different ways and, I’m sure that some of them can do it, like especially under direct sunlight, then that can be actually a really good way to get some, some heating. And then g- it relies– Mostly it’s relying on the fact that different materials heat up at different rates. So as long as you’ve got some sort of change in, in temperature happening, then you should be able to see. Yeah, like obviously if there’s a big, crack or a delamination, there’s some air there that’s gonna heat up differently than the composite around it.  Allen Hall: Oh, sure. Yeah.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. I think also like when cracks propagate, they are actually generating some heat at that site and you, can catch that too. But, I’m, actually not on top of it enough to know how much it’s one or the other. I think it’s mostly about, when a blade heats up, air will heat up differently to, to composite and you’ll be able to see it. that’s my limited [00:28:00] understanding anyway. Something worth more of a deep dive. I’m actually looking forward to some, hopefully some clients getting over the line to, doing some more of the, taking advantage of some of the NDT tests that are, available because it can just help you do such a better job of, management and huge risk redus- reductions too.  Allen Hall: So if you haven’t seen this quarter’s PES Wind, you can download it now at peswind.com. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. For Rosie, Yolanda, and Matthew, I am Allen Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy [00:29:00] podcast.

Pleasant mornings and warm afternoons • This morning is cool inland with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. The beaches will remain in the 70s. o Record low for Jacksonville: 59 (1972) • Onshore winds out of the east at 10-15 mph. • Unseasonably dry air will continue through the day and into the afternoon. • Comfortable humidity will last for at least the first half of the weekend. • We will be mainly dry now through Tuesday. • The weekend looks great, weather wise. • Highs will be in the 80s this weekend with at least some noticeable humidity in the afternoon on Sunday. TROPICS: No areas of concern. TODAY: Mostly sunny. Low humidity. HIGH: 85 TONIGHT: Mostly clear. LOW: 63 SATURDAY: Mostly sunny. 63/88 SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. Hot with more humidity. 67/89 MONDAY: Partly sunny. 71/90 TUESDAY: Partly cloudy. 73/88 WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy with an isolated shower. 70/88 THURSDAY: Partly cloudy with an isolated shower/storm. 71/89

In the third of a four-part series recorded at the recent WindEurope conference in Madrid, RWE's onshore chief, Sopna Sury, spoke to the Wind Power podcast about grid bottlenecks how to engage communities with large energy infrastructure projectsWindpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs also spoke to Sury about the opportunities and challenges of the AI age and what it means for the wind industry – and future electricity consumption.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Malaysia's insurance market is one of Southeast Asia's most developed, with total gross written premiums for general insurance totaling 23.1 billion Malaysian ringgit — approximately $5.8 billion — in 2024, representing year-on-year growth of 6.9%. In this episode of Skadden's global series on prudential solvency requirements, host Robert Chaplin and colleague Caroline Jaffer examine the country's distinctive dual financial system, which covers onshore and offshore insurance, as well as Malaysia's landmark risk-based capital framework that is scheduled to be implemented in January 2027, the Sharia governance framework governing Takaful operators, the new Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators framework and the offshore regime on the island of Labuan.

Australia's latest federal budget migration changes, including a 185,000 permanent migration cap, stricter student visa scrutiny, and priority for onshore applicants, could reshape Australia PR pathways, skilled independent visa opportunities, invitations and long-term migration plans. In this podcast, Aakarsh Shah, solicitor specialising in immigration law, shares insights on what these changes could mean for international students, job sponsorship pathways, skilled migration trends, and Indian students planning to study and settle in Australia.

CME and ICE want regulators to rein in Hyperliquid, which delivers 24/7 derivatives markets that incumbents can't match. Can it be brought onshore? ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsor! ⁠⁠⁠Coinbase One⁠⁠⁠: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at ⁠⁠⁠coinbase.com/unchained⁠⁠⁠. ======================================================== CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange have asked the CFTC to regulate Hyperliquid, the offshore perpetuals exchange that has rapidly become one of the largest derivatives venues in the world. The incumbents argue that price discovery is migrating to unregulated territory. Hyperliquid argues that its onchain transparency makes it less susceptible to manipulation, not more.  Walt Lukken, president and CEO of the Futures Industry Association, and Chris Perkins, CEO of 250 Digital Asset Management, sit down with Laura Shin to work through the options: come onshore and get the licenses, stay offshore and keep growing, or further decentralize until there is no entity left to regulate. The answer may reshape how global derivatives markets are built for the next decade. Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained Guests: Walt Lukken | President & CEO, Futures Industry Association Chris Perkins⁠ | CEO, 250 Digital Asset Management Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CME and ICE want regulators to rein in Hyperliquid, which delivers 24/7 derivatives markets that incumbents can't match. Can it be brought onshore? ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsor! ⁠⁠⁠Coinbase One⁠⁠⁠: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at ⁠⁠⁠coinbase.com/unchained⁠⁠⁠. ======================================================== CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange have asked the CFTC to regulate Hyperliquid, the offshore perpetuals exchange that has rapidly become one of the largest derivatives venues in the world. The incumbents argue that price discovery is migrating to unregulated territory. Hyperliquid argues that its onchain transparency makes it less susceptible to manipulation, not more.  Walt Lukken, president and CEO of the Futures Industry Association, and Chris Perkins, CEO of 250 Digital Asset Management, sit down with Laura Shin to work through the options: come onshore and get the licenses, stay offshore and keep growing, or further decentralize until there is no entity left to regulate. The answer may reshape how global derivatives markets are built for the next decade. Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained Guests: Walt Lukken | President & CEO, Futures Industry Association Chris Perkins⁠ | CEO, 250 Digital Asset Management Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 2026-27 Budget, the federal government announced changes to the Australia's permanent migration system aimed at prioritising "better-educated", "highly-skilled" and younger migrants. Of the total 185,000 permanent migration places, 70 per cent have been allocated to skilled migrants. While those awaiting parent and partner visas fear even longer wait times, experts believe the new approach could benefit onshore migrant workers. - ਫੈਡਰਲ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਹੁਨਰਮੰਦ ਕਾਮਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਘਾਟ ਪੂਰੀ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਆਪਣੀ ਸਥਾਈ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸ ਪ੍ਰਣਾਲੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਬਦਲਾਅ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ, ਜਿਸ ਤਹਿਤ ਬਿਹਤਰ ਸਿੱਖਿਅਤ, ਉੱਚ-ਹੁਨਰਮੰਦ ਅਤੇ ਨੌਜਵਾਨ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਤਰਜੀਹ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਜਾਵੇਗੀ। ਬਜਟ 2026-27 ਮੁਤਾਬਕ ਸਥਾਈ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ 185,000 ਸਥਾਨਾਂ ਤੱਕ ਸੀਮਤ ਰਹੇਗਾ, ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ 70 ਫੀਸਦ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਸਥਾਨ ਹੁਨਰਮੰਦ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਲਈ ਰਾਖਵੇਂ ਹੋਣਗੇ। ਮਾਹਿਰਾਂ ਦਾ ਕਹਿਣਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਇਸ ਨਾਲ ਆਸਟ੍ਰੇਲੀਆ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਹਿ ਰਹੇ ਕਾਮਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਫਾਇਦਾ ਹੋ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ, ਪਰ ਫੈਮਿਲੀ ਵੀਜ਼ਾ, ਖਾਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਪੇਰੈਂਟ ਅਤੇ ਪਾਰਟਨਰ ਨਕਾਰਾਤਮਕ ਅਸਰ ਪੈ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ। ਸੁਣੋ ਪੂਰੀ ਰਿਪੋਰਟ ਇਸ ਪੌਡਕਾਸਟ ਵਿੱਚ...

Listen to the Top News of 13/05/2026 from Australia in Hindi.

Rosemary reports back on her visit to multiple Chinese renewable energy companies, Vineyard Wind activates a $69.50/MWh PPA with Massachusetts utilities, and Bronze Age jewelry halts a German wind project. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter 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 YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com and now your hosts. Allen Hall 2025: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Allen Hall. I’m here with Yolanda Padron in Austin, Texas, who is back from the massive wedding event. Everybody’s super happy about that, and Rosemary Barnes had her own adventures. She just got back from China and Rosemary. You visited a a lot of different places inside of China. Saw some cool factories. What all happened?  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, it was really cool. I went over for an influencer event. So if you are maybe, you know, in the middle of your career, not, not particularly attractive or anything you might have thought influencer was ruled out for you as a career. No one, no one needs engineering influencers in their [00:01:00] forties. It’s incorrect. It turns out that’s, that’s where, that’s where I, I found myself. It was pretty cool. I, I did get the red carpet rolled out for me. Many gifts. I had to buy a second bag to bring home the gifts, and when I say I had to buy a second bag, I had to mention. Oh, I have so many gifts, I’m gonna need another bag. And then there was a new bag presented to me about half an hour later. But, so yeah, what did I do? I got to, um, as I was over there for a Sun Grow event. Huge, huge event. They, um, it’s for, it’s for their staff a lot, but it’s also, they also bring over partners. They also bring over international experts to talk about topics that are relevant to them. Yeah. They gave everybody factory tours in, um, yeah, in, in shifts. Um, I got to see a module assembly factory, so where they take cells, which are like, I don’t know, the size of a small cereal box, um, and assemble them into a whole module. Then the warehouse, warehouse was [00:02:00] gigantic. It, um, was, yeah, 1.8 gigawatt hours worth of cells that couldn’t hold in that one building. They’re totally obsessed with fire safety there in everything related to batterie, like in the design of the product, but also in, in the warehouse. And they do, yeah, fire drills all the, all the time. Some of them quite big and impressive. Um, I saw inverter manufacturing facility that was really cool. Heaps of robots. Sw incredibly fast. Saw a test facility.  Allen Hall 2025: So was most of the manufacturing, robotics, or humans?  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. So at the factory it was like anything that needed to be done really fast or with really good quality was done by robots. So they had, um, you know, pick and place machines putting in. Um, you know, components in the circuit board, like just insane, insane rate. I’m sure it’s quite, quite normal, but, um, just very fast. Everything lined up in a row. Most of their quality control is done by robots. Um, so it does well it’s done by ai, I should say. [00:03:00] Taking photos of, of things and then, um, AI’s interpreting that. Repairs, I think were done by humans. There were humans doing, um, like custom components as well. Like not every product is exactly the same. So the custom stuff was done by humans.  Allen H: So that’s the Sun Grove facility, right? You, but you went to a couple of different places within China?  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I went to another, a factory, a solar panel, a factory, um, from Longie. That was really cool too. I got to see a bit more probably of the, um, interesting, interesting stuff there, like, uh, a bit more. Um, yeah, I don’t, I dunno, processes that aren’t, aren’t so obvious. Not just assembly, but um, you know, like printing on, um, bus bars and, you know, all of the different connections and yeah, it was a bit, a bit more to it in what I saw. Um, so that was, but it, it’s the same, you know, as humans are only involved when it’s a little bit out of the. Norm or, um, where they’re doing repairs, actual actually re [00:04:00]repairing. You know, the robots or the AI is identifying which components don’t meet the standard and then they’ll go somewhere where a human will come and, um, fix them.  Allen H: Being the engineer there. Did you notice where the robots are made? Was everything made in China that was inside the factory or were they bringing in outside? Technology.  Rosemary Barnes: I didn’t think to look for that, but I would assume that it was Chinese made, also  Allen H: all built in country  Rosemary Barnes: 20 years ago that wouldn’t have been the case, but I think that China has had a long, a long time to, to learn that. Again, it’s not like, it’s not, it’s not rocket science. These are, these are pick and place machines, you know, like I remember working on a project very early in my career, so. Literally 20 years ago, um, I was working with pick and place machines. It’s the same, it’s the same thing. Um, some of them are bigger ’cause they’re, you know, hauling whole, um, battery packs around. It’s just the, um, the way that it’s set up, but then also the scale that they can achieve. You just, you can’t make things that cheap if you don’t have the [00:05:00] scale to utilize everything. A hundred percent. Like I said, wind turbine towers is a really good example. ’cause anyone, any steel fabricating  Allen H: shop  Rosemary Barnes: could make a wind turbine tower. Right? They, they could, they could do that. You know, the Chinese, um, wind turbine tower factories have the exact right machine. They don’t have a welder that they also use for welding bits of bridges or whatever. Uh, they have the one that does the exact kind of world that they need, um, for the tower. They, you know, they do that precisely. Robotically, uh, exactly the same. And, you know, a, a tower section comes on, they weld it, it moves off to the next thing, and then a new one comes on. They’re not trying to move things around to then do another weld in the same machine. You know, like they’re, um, but the exact right. Super expensive machine for the job costs a whole bunch to set up a factory. And then you need to be making multiple towers every single day out of that factory to be able to recoup on your cost. And so that is [00:06:00] the. The, um, bar that is just incredibly hard slash impossible for, um, other countries to clear. Allen H: Can I ask you about that? Because I was watching a YouTube video about Tesla early on Tesla, where they wanted to bring in a lot of robotics to make vehicles and that they felt like that was the wrong thing to do. In fact, they, they, they kinda locked robots in and realized that this is not the right way to do it. We need to change the whole process. It was a big deal to kind of pull those. Specialized piece of equipment, robots out and to put something else in its place in that they learned, you know, the first time, instead of deciding on a process, putting it in place and then trying to turn it on, see if it works, was to sort of gradually do it. But don’t bolt anything down. Don’t lock it in place such that it doesn’t feel like it’s permanent. So you engineer can think about removing it if it’s not working. But it sounds like this is sort of the opposite approach of. A highly specialized [00:07:00] machine set in place permanently to produce. Infinite amounts of this particular product, does that then restrict future changes and what they can make or, I, I, how do they see that? Did, did you talk about that? Because I think that’s one of an interesting approaches.  Rosemary Barnes: I didn’t actually get as much chances I would’ve liked to speak to engineers. Um, I was talking mostly to salespeople and installers. Um, so they know a lot, but I couldn’t, um, like in the factory tours, I was asking questions. Um. That kind of question and, and they could answer all, all that. Um, but outside of that, and I couldn’t record in the factory obviously. Um, but I did, I did take notes, but what I would say is that they would have a separate facility where they would be working out the details of new products and new manufacturing processes and testing them out thoroughly before they went and, you know, um, installed everything correctly. But what I do hear is that, you know, especially with solar power. Maybe to [00:08:00] batteries to a lesser extent. You, you know, you like, you have these kind of waves of technology. Um, so you know, like everyone’s making whatever certain type of solar cell and then five years later, um, there’s a new more efficient configuration and everybody’s making that. And I know that there are a lot of factories that kind of get scrapped. Um, and the way that China’s set up their, like, you know, their economy around all this sort of thing is set up is that it’s not that, like every company doesn’t succeed. Right. They SGO was a big exception because they’ve been going since 1997, I think it was. It was started by a professor quid his job and hired a room across the, across the road from his old university and, you know, built his first inverter and, um, you know, ’cause he, he could see that. Uh, the grid was gonna have to change to incorporate all of the solar power that was coming, which to be honest, in 1997, that was like pretty, pretty farsighted. That was not obvious to me when I started working in solar in mid two thousands. And it was not obvious to me that this was a winner.  Allen H: Well, has sun grow evolved then quite a bit? ’cause if you’re [00:09:00] saying that they’ve minimized the cost to produce any of their products by the use of robotics, they have been through an evolutionary process. You didn’t see any of the previous generations of. Factories. You, you were just seeing the most modern factory that that’s actually producing parts today. So is that a, is that a, is that just a cost mindset that’s going on in China? Like, we’re just gonna produce the lowest cost thing as fast as we can, or is it a market penetration approach? What are, what were, were the engineers in management saying about that?  Rosemary Barnes: I think there’s a few different aspects to that, like within China. So Sun Grow is the big company with a long track record and they’re not making the cheapest product out of China. So I think that they are still trying to make the cheapest product, but they’re not thinking about it just in the purchase price. Right. They’re thinking more in terms of the long, long term. You know, they’ve been around for 30 years and probably expect to be around for another 30 years. They don’t wanna be having [00:10:00] recalls of their products and you know, like having to, um. Installers in particular are probably working with them because they know that they won’t have to go back and do rework and the support is good and all that sort of thing. So they’re spending so much money on testing and you know, just getting everything exactly right. But I don’t think that that’s the only way that China is doing it. There’s, you know, dozens, probably hundreds of companies. Um. Doing similar stuff between Yeah, like solar panels and associated stuff like inverters and, and batteries. So many companies and all of them won’t succeed. You know, sun Girls Facility in, I was in her and it’s huge, you know, it’s like a, a medium sized country town. Just their, um, their campus there, they’re not, they’re not scrapping that and moving to a new site, you know, they’re gonna be. Rejiggering and I would expect that, you know, like everything’s set up exactly the way it needs to be, but it’s not like gigantic machines.[00:11:00] It’s not like setting up a wind turbine blade factory where it’s hard if you designed it for 40 meter blades, you can’t suddenly start making 120 meter blades. Like it’s, they will be able to be sliding machines in and out as they need to. Um, so I, I, yeah, I guess that it’s some, some flexibility. But not at the cost of making the product correctly. Allen H: Did you see wind turbines while you were in China?  Rosemary Barnes: I, the only winter I saw, I actually, I saw, because I caught the train from Shanghai, I actually caught the fast train from Shanghai to, which is about, it depends which one you get between like an hour 40 or three hours if it stops everywhere. Um, and I did see a couple of wind turbines on the way there, out the window, just randomly like a wind turbine in the middle of a, a town. Um, so that was a bit, a bit interesting. But then in the plane, on the way back, the plane from Shanghai to Hong Kong, I, at the window I saw a cooling tower of some sort. So either like a, yeah, some kind of thermal [00:12:00] power plant. And then. Around all around, well, wind turbines, so onshore wind turbines. So I don’t know. Um, yeah, I, I don’t know the story behind that, but it’s also not a particularly windy area, right? Like most of the wind in China is, um, to the west where, uh, I wasn’t  Allen H: as wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it. That’s why the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality content you need. Don’t miss out. Visit PS win.com today. So there are two stories out of the US at the minute that really paint a picture of the industry. It was just being pulled in opposite directions. The Department of Interior announced agreements to terminate two more. Offshore wind leases, uh, [00:13:00] Bluepoint wind and Golden State wind have agreed to walk away from their projects. Global Infrastructure Partners, which is part of BlackRock, will invest up to $765 million in a liquified natural gas facility instead of developing blue point wind. Ah. And Golden State Wind will recover approximately $120 million in lease fees after redirecting investment to oil and gas projects along the Gulf Coast, and both companies say they will not pursue further offshore wind development in the United States. Well, we’ll see how that plays out. Right? Meanwhile. In Massachusetts Vineyard Wind, which has been fighting with GE Renova recently has activated its long awaited power purchase agreement with three utilities. The contract set a fixed electricity price of drum roll please. [00:14:00] $69 and 50 cents per megawatt hour for the first year and a two and a half percent annual increase. Uh, state officials say the agreements will save rate payers $1.4 billion over 20 years. So $69 and 50 cents per megawatt hour is a really low PPA price for offshore wind. A lot of the New York projects that. Renegotiated we’re somewhere in the realm of 120 to $130 a megawatt hour, and there’s been a lot of discussion in Congress about the, the usefulness of offshore wind. It’s intermittent blahdi, blahdi, blah. Uh, but the, the big driver is what costs too much. In fact, it doesn’t cost too much. And because it’s consistent, particularly in the wintertime, uh, electricity prices in Massachusetts in the surrounding area are really high. ’cause of the demand and ’cause how cold it is that this offshore wind project, vineyard wind would be a huge rate saving. And [00:15:00] actually the math works out the math. Math everybody. Do you think this is, when we go back five years from now, look back at this. This vineyard wind project really makes sense for Massachusetts.  Yolanda Padron: I think it really makes sense for Massachusetts. I’m really interested to know what the asset managers are thinking on the vineyard wind side, um, and if they’re scared at all to take this on. I mean, it’s great and I’m sure they can absolutely deliver. Like generation I don’t think should be an issue. Um. I just don’t know. It’s, it sounds like they’re leaving a lot of money on the table.  Allen H: I would say so, yeah. But remember, the vineyard win was one of the early, uh, agreements made when things were, this is pre Ukraine war, pre Iran conflict on a lot of other, a lot of other things. It was pre, so I remember at the time when this was going on that. P. PA prices were higher than obviously a lot of other [00:16:00] things. Onshore solar, onshore wind, it would, offshore is always more expensive, but I don’t remember $69 popping up anywhere in any filing that I remember seeing. So even if they had said $69 five years ago, I think that would’ve still been like, wow, that’s pretty good for an offshore wind project. And now it looks fantastic for the state of Massachusetts  Yolanda Padron: because I know that there’s sometimes, and we’ve talked about this in the past, right? There are sometimes projects where, you know, you think you, you’ve got a really good price and you’re really excited about it, and then it goes into operation and then like a couple years down the road, prices increase quite a bit and it’s not the worst thing in the world. But you do just kind of think a little bit like, I wish I could. Renegotiate this or you know, just to get, to get our team a bit of a better deal or to get a bit more money in operations and everything.  Allen H: Does this play into Vineyard wind claiming $850 [00:17:00] million in dispute with GE Renova that at $69 PPA, there’s not a lot of profit at the end of this and need to get the money out of GE Renova right now, and maybe why GE Renova wants to get out of this because they realize. The conflict that is coming that they need to separate the, the themselves from this project. It’s, it’s very, as an asset manager, Yoland, as you have done this in the past, would you be concerned about the viability of the project going forward, or is all the upfront costs. Pretty much done in that operationally year to year. It’s, it’s not that big of a deal.  Yolanda Padron: As an asset manager taking this on, I’d probably have started preparation on this project a lot earlier than other of my projects like I do. I know that usually there’s, you know, we’ve talked about the different teams, right, throughout the stages of the project until it goes into operations, [00:18:00] but. And usually you don’t have a lot of time to prepare to, to make sure all of your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, um, by the time you take the project and operations from a commercial standpoint. But this project, I think would absolutely, like you, you would need to make sure that a lot of the, of the things that you’re, that might be issues for some of your projects like aren’t issues for this project. Just to make sure at least the first few years you can. You can avoid a lot of, a lot of turmoil that the pricing and the disputes and the technical issues are gonna cause you, because I feel like it’s just, there’s, there’s just so many things that just keep this side, just keeps on getting hit, you know? Allen H: Well, I, I guess the question is from my side, Yolanda, is obviously inflation, when this project started was pretty consistent, like one point half, 2%. It was very flat for a long time. And interest rates, if you remember when this project started, were very, very low. Almost [00:19:00] nonexistent, some interest rates. Now that’s hugely different. How does a contract get set up where a vineyard can’t raise prices? It would just seem to me like you would have to tie some of the price increase to whatever the inflation rate is for the country, maybe even locally, so that if there were a, a war in Ukraine or some conflict in the Middle East. That you, you would at least be able to, to generate some revenue out of this project because at some point it becomes untenable, right? You just can’t afford to operate it anymore. And,  Yolanda Padron: and I think, um, I, I haven’t, I obviously haven’t read the, the contracts themselves, but I know that there’s sometimes there, it’s pretty common for a PPA to have some sort of step up year by year. And it’s usually, it can be tied to, um, the CPI for. Like the, the change in CPI for the year to year. So you’re [00:20:00] absolutely like, right, like maybe, I mean, hopefully they’re, they’re not just tied to the fixed 69 bucks per megawatt hour. Um, but, but yeah, to, to your point like that, that price increase could, could really save them. Now that we’re, we’re talking the, the increase in, in inflation right now and foreseeable future,  Allen H: if you think about what electricity rates are up in the northeast. I think I was paying 30 cents a kilowatt hour, which is 300. Does that sound right? $300 a megawatt hour. Delivered at the house, something like that. Right? So  Yolanda Padron: prices in the northeast are crazy to me,  Allen H: right? They’re like double what they are in North Carolina. Yeah. Delamination and bottom line failures and blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws [00:21:00]before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep dip blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps Every critical defect, delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades. Back in service, so visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save  Yolanda Padron: you millions. Allen H: Well, sometimes building a wind farm turns out more than expected construction workers at a 19 turbine wind project in lower Saxony Germany under Earth. What experts call the largest Bronze age Amber Horde ever found? The region, the very first scoop of an excavator brought up bronze and amber artifacts that stopped construction and brought archeologists back to the site. Uh, the hoard has been dated between [00:22:00] 1500 and 1300 DCE and is believed to have belonged to at least three. Status women possibly buried as a religious offering. Now as we push further and further across Germany with wind turbines and solar panels for, for that matter, uh, we’re coming across older sites, uh, older pieces of ground that haven’t been touched in a long time and we’re, we’re gonna find more and more, uh, historically significant things buried in the soil. What is the obligation? Of the constructor of this project and maybe across Europe. I, I would assume in the United States too, if we came across something that old and America’s just not that old to, to have anything of, of that kind of, um, maybe value or historically significant. What is the process here? Rosemary Barnes: I assume that they’ve gotta stop, stop work. Um, yeah, that’s my, my understanding and I don’t think, do you have [00:23:00] grand designs in America?  Allen H: I don’t know what that is. Yes.  Rosemary Barnes: So missing out by not having that chat. It’s a TV show about people who are building houses or doing, um, ambitious renovations, and it just, it follows, it follows them. You can learn a lot about project management or. The consequences if you decide that you don’t need to, project management isn’t a thing that you need to do. Um, anyway. I’m sure that in some of those ones I’ve seen they have had work stop because in their excavation they found a, um, yeah, some, some kind of relic, um, from the, from the past. So based on that very well-credentialed experience that I have, I can confidently say that they would be stopping stopping work on that site. I mean, it’s so bad, bad for the developer, I guess, but it’s cool, right? That they’re, you know, uncovering, uh, new archeology and we can learn more about, you know, people that lived thousands of years ago. Allen H: It, it does seem [00:24:00] like, obviously. Do push into places where humans have lived for thousands of years. We’re going to stumble across these things. Does that mean from a project standpoint, there’s, there’s some sort of financial consequence, like does the lower Saxony government contribute to the wind turbine fund to to pay the workers for a while? ’cause it seems like if they’re gonna do an archeological dig. That that’s gonna take months at a minimum, may, maybe not, but it usually, having watched these things go on it, it’s. It’s long.  Rosemary Barnes: But wouldn’t that be something that you’d have insurance for?  Allen H: Oh, maybe that’s it.  Rosemary Barnes: You know, it seems to me like an insurable, an insurable thing, like not so hard to, it would’ve affected plenty of other, like any project that involves excavation in Europe would come with a risk of, um, finding Yeah. An archeological find. And having work stopped, I would assume.  Allen H: Yolanda, how does that work in the United States do, is there some insurance policy towards finding [00:25:00] a. Ancient burial ground and what happens to your project?  Yolanda Padron: I don’t know. I, um, the most I’ve heard has been, it’s just talking to like the government and like the local government and making sure that you have all your permits in place and making sure, you know, you might need to, to have certain studies so you know, you might not have to get rid of the whole wind farm or remove the hole wind farm, but at least a section. Of it has to be displaced from what you originally had thought. I don’t know. I know it happens a lot in Mexico where you get a lot of changes to construction plans because you find historical artifacts or obviously not everybody does this, but like. Tales of construction workers who will like, find, they’re so jaded from finding historical artifacts that they just kind of like take and then dump them to the next plot over to not deal with it right now. Not that it’s anything ethical, uh, or done by everybody, [00:26:00] uh, but it’s, but, but it’s a common occurrence, a relatively common occurrence.  Allen H: You would think it where a lot of wind turbines are in the United States, which is mostly Texas and kind of that. Midwest, uh, wind corridor that they would’ve stumbled across something somewhere. But I did just a quick search. I really hadn’t found anything that there wasn’t like a Native American burial ground or something of that sort, which they previously knew. For the most part. It’s, so, it’s rare that, that you find something significant besides, well, maybe used some woolly mammoths tusks or something of that sort. Uh, in the Midwest, it’s, it’s, so, it’s an odd thing, but is there a. A finder’s fee? Like do does the wind company get to take some of the proceeds of, of this? Trove of jewelry.  Rosemary Barnes: I, I would be highly surprised.  Allen H: Well, how does that work then? Rosemary?  Rosemary Barnes: I’d be highly surprised if that’s the case in Europe. I bet it would happen like that in America. Allen H: Sounds like pirate bounty in a sense.  Rosemary Barnes: In, in Australia it wouldn’t be like that because [00:27:00]you, when you own land, you don’t actually. You, you own the right to do things from surface level and above, basically. I don’t know how excavation works. So you don’t generally have a a right to anything you find like that? I mean, you shouldn’t either. It’s not, it’s not yours. It’s a, it belongs to the, I don’t know, the people that, that were buried. When you then to the, the land, like, I guess. The government in some way. I mean, in Australia it’s, um, like we don’t have so many archeological fines that you would find from digging. I mean, it’s not that there’s none, but there’s not so many like that. But it is pretty common that, you know, there are special trees, um, you know, some old trees that predate, uh, white people arriving in Australia. And, um, you know, that have been used for, you know, like it might have a, a shield that’s been, um. Carved out of it. Or, uh, hunting. Hunting things, ceremonial things, baskets, canoes, canoe like things, stuff like that. They call ’em a scar [00:28:00] tree ’cause they would cut it out of a living, living tree. And you know, so when you see a tree with those scars and that’s got, um, cultural significance. There’s also, you know, just trees that were, um. That that was significant for cultural reasons and so you wouldn’t be able to cut down those trees if you were building any, doing any kind of development in Australia and a wind farm would be no different. I know that they are, there are guidelines for, if you do come across any kind of thing like that or you find any anything of cultural significance, then you have to report it and hopefully you don’t just move it onto the neighboring property. Allen H: I know one of the things about watching, um. Some crazy Canadian shows is that. Uh, you have to have a Treasure Hunter’s license in Canada. So if you’re involved in that process, like you can’t dig, you can’t shovel things, only certain people can shovel. ’cause if they were to find something of value, you. You’ll get taxed on it. So there’s just a lot of rules [00:29:00] about it. Even in Canada,  Rosemary Barnes: if I was an indigenous Australian and you know, some Europe person of European descent came and found some artifacts, uh, aboriginal. Artifacts. I would be pissed if they just took it and sold it. Like that’s just clearly inappropriate right. To, to do that. So you, I don’t think it should be a free for all. If you find artifacts of cultural significance and you just, it’s, you find its keepers that, that doesn’t sound right to me at all.  Allen H: Can we talk about King Charles II’s visit to the United States for a brief moment? Uh, he is a really good ambassador, just like, uh, the queen was forever. He’s, he does take it very seriously and the way that he interacted with the US delegation was remarkable at times in, in terms of knowing how to deal with somebody that there’s a war going on right now. So there’s a lot [00:30:00] happening in the United States that, uh, not only could it be. Uh, respecting both sides of the UK and the United States’ position in a, in a number of different areas, but at the same time being humorous, trying to build bridges. Uh, king Charles, uh, had the scotch whiskey tariffs removed just by negotiating with President Trump, and sometimes that’s what it takes. It’s a little bit of, uh. Being a good ambassador.  Allen H: Yeah. The very polished you would expect that. Right? But this is the first visit of. The king to the United States, I believe. ’cause he, he’s been obviously as a prince many, many, many times to the United States. [00:31:00]But this time as, as a, the representative of the country, the former representative or head of the country, which was unique. I think he did a really good job. And I wish he, they would’ve talked about offshore wind. Maybe he could’ve calmed down the administration on offshore wind.  Rosemary Barnes: I bet that’s one of the, the goals. I mean, that’s an industry that’s important to. So  Allen H: I wonder if that happened actually. ’cause that’s not gonna be reported in, in the news, but how the UK is going on its own way in terms of electrification and I guarantee offshore wind had to come up it. Although I have been not seen any article about it, I, I find it hard to believe that King Charles being the environmentalist that he is, and a proponent of offshore wind for a long time. Didn’t bring it up and try to mend some fences.  Rosemary Barnes: Maybe he’s playing the long game though. I mean, Trump is pretty, he’s transactional, but he also, you know, he has people that he really likes and you know, will act in their interests. So maybe it’s enough to just be [00:32:00] really liked by Trump, and then that’s the smartest way you can go about it. Allen H: Did you see the gift that King Charles presented to, uh, the US this past week? It was a be from, uh, world War II submarine, which was the British, I dunno what the British called their submarines, but it was, the name of it was Trump. So they had the bell from. The submarine when it had been commissioned and they, they gave that to the United States, or give to the president. It goes to the United States. The president doesn’t get to keep those things, but it was such a smart, it’s a great president. It’s such a smart gift, and somebody had to think about it and the king had to deliver it in a way that got rid of all the noise between the United States and the uk. Brought it back to, Hey, we have a lot in common [00:33:00] here. We shouldn’t be bickering as much as we are. And I thought that was a really smart, tactful, sensible way to try to men some fences. That was really good. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to subscribe, so you never miss this episode. And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. For Rosie and Yolanda, I’m Allen Hall and we with. See you’re here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Allen covers CIP’s €1.44 billion buyout of Ørsted’s European onshore wind, the new Perigus Energy name, and Vestas paying €506 million for its stake in the firm. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter 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 YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! In Denmark, there is an old expression. “What goes around comes around.” The founders of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — known in the industry simply as CIP — know exactly what that means. Back in 2012, four executives were fired from DONG Energy, the Danish energy giant that would later rebrand itself as Ørsted. Their offense? Their paychecks were considered too large. So large that DONG Energy’s own CEO was forced out as well. Four men shown the door were. A year later, a woman joined them from that same company. The Danish press had a name for these five. They called them “the golden birds.” With six billion Danish krone from the pension fund PensionDanmark, they launched what is now one of the world’s largest clean energy fund managers. In 2020, turbine maker Vestas purchased a 25 percent stake in CIP. The deal included a performance-based earn-out arrangement. This week, the books revealed the size of that windfall. The five partners have now collected a combined 1.8 billion Danish krone — roughly 240 million euros. Vestas expects to make one final payment of 71 million euros this year. Including interest, Vestas will have paid 506 million euros for its stake in CIP. Not a bad return for a group of people who were shown the door. And. This week, CIP completed its acquisition of Ørsted’s European onshore wind business for 1.44 billion euros. They renamed it Perigus Energy. The new company holds 826 megawatts of wind and solar capacity, operating in Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Let that circle close. The executives fired from DONG Energy — the company that became Ørsted — just bought Ørsted’s business. Meanwhile, CIP’s annual report for 2025 tells the story of a company in transition. Profit for the year came in at 561 million Danish krone, down from 683 million the year before. The employee count fell by nearly a fifth, to 441 people. And yet, their CI Five fund closed this year at 12.3 billion euros — the largest greenfield renewable infrastructure fund ever raised. Looking ahead, CIP expects profit of 600 to 800 million Danish krone in 2026 as new fund closings take shape. So the picture this week is this. The men and women once considered overpaid, at a company that no longer carries the same name, have built the world’s largest greenfield renewable energy fund. And they now own a piece of the legacy that fired them. The golden birds are still flying. And that is the wind energy news for the fourth of May, 2026. Join us for more on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Mark Piano, Director and Consultant at Horizons Global, joins Bitcoin.com News to discuss the future of yen-backed stablecoins, Japan's evolving crypto regulations, and how legal frameworks are shaping the next phase of Web3 growth.In this episode, Mark explains why Japan's regulatory clarity could become a major advantage for blockchain builders, and how yen stablecoins may unlock new opportunities in tokenization, DeFi, and cross-border finance. He also breaks down the role of offshore structures, including Cayman foundation companies, and why they've become a standard for Web3 projects globally.From Bitcoin's early real-world use cases to the lessons learned from the DAO hack, this conversation explores how law, infrastructure, and innovation intersect in the crypto industry.Topics include: stablecoins, Japan crypto regulation, Web3 infrastructure, tokenization, DeFi, offshore finance, Cayman foundations, Bitcoin adoption, and global crypto markets.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction01:08 – Bitcoin Utility in Myanmar (No ATMs)02:30 – The DAO Hack & Becoming a Crypto Lawyer03:45 – Moving to the Cayman Islands04:50 – Why Cayman Became a Crypto Hub06:05 – What Are Cayman Foundation Companies?06:45 – Why Ownerless Foundations Matter in Web308:00 – Onshore vs Offshore Structures14:13 – Directors' Fiduciary Duties Explained16:33 – Why Mark Is in Japan17:18 – Yen Stablecoins & Tokenization Opportunities19:58 – Offshore Stablecoin Issuance21:09 – Institutional vs Retail Market Access

Along with our regular monthly updates on policy, cereals, beef, sheep and milk, in this edition we also have a spotlight on Maker Space, a Digital Dairy Chain project. Time Stamps:00:36 News in Brief 05:45 Policy Briefs – Food and Drink Processing Scheme, Community Right to Buy, Funding for Gleylag Geese on Uist, Help for Households Using Heating Oil, Electronic Identification for Cattle, Key Dates. 17:14 Cereals – Latest news and market update 25:22 Beef – Latest news and market update 31:53 Sheep – Latest news and market update 39:27 Milk – Latest news and market update 46:49 Sector focus – Maker Space, a Digital Dairy Chain project 51:40 Further articles – FAS TV ‘After Winter: Crop Performance and the Season Ahead', FAS podcast ‘Rural Roundup Policy Update' and FAS article ‘Agronomy for Ecological Focus Area Herb and Legume Rich Swards'FAS Resources: Newsletters - Business & Policy Edition - Farm Advisory Service advice@fas.scot Other Resources: ScotGov - Scottish farm business income: annual estimates 2024-2025 Food and Drink Processing Scheme - Intro & Guidance Community rights to buy review - gov.scot Energy Grants Assistance | Energy Advice | energyadvice.scot Scottish Government Consultations: Accelerating Home-building in Scotland Scottish Law Commission's Report on Section 53 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 Onshore electricity generation: increasing the threshold for applications under The Electricity Act Publications: Short-term lets: regulation information - gov.scot Supporting Scotland's transition - land use and agriculture: consultation analysis report - gov.scot Planning for Water Scarcity: Practical guidance The Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator: Milk Sector Survey 2026 Further choices: After Winter: Crop Performance and The Season Ahead Rural Roundup - Policy Update EFA Herb and Legume Rich Swards New Technologies & Renewable for Dairy Farms Crofting Through the Seasons - Spring & Summer For more information, visit www.FAS.scot Facebook: @FASScot National Advice Hub Phone: 0300 323 0161 Email: advice@fas.scot

Today we're speaking with Stel Valavanis, Founder and Chairman at onShore Networks and Co-Founder at The Gallery Building, about sustaining a security company over three decades of industry changes. We also dive into investing in start ups and how founders can think long term about governance and growth.Stel has over 40 years of experience ranging from software development to network design and cybersecurity. He's founded 8 companies, invested in 10 more, and sit on various boards. His goal is to build the best tech stack for his customers but also wants to pay forward and make investments in startups, leveraging his knowledge and resources. Stel is always open to board positions and speaking engagements on cybersecurity, media technology, startup investing, and entrepreneurship.Support our show by sharing your favorite episodes with a friend, subscribe, give us a rating or leave a comment on your podcast platform. This podcast is brought to you by LimaCharlie, maker of the SecOps Cloud Platform, infrastructure for SecOps where everything is built API first. Scale with confidence as your business grows. Start today for free at limacharlie.io

As operational wind farms approach the end of their operational life, developers are faced with difficult decisions: decommission, life-extend or replace or upgrade old turbines with modern, higher-capacity technology. The opportunity to take advantage of consenting hurdles already overcome at wind farm sites are set against the challenge of new technical and commercial constraints associated with the scale of infrastructure, and the complexity of a new environmental baseline. The consenting legal and policy framework is playing catch up: how do we repower existing wind farm sites, sustain their contribution to wind energy deployment targets, and ultimately support the delivery of net zero objectives? Join us to hear from ReAmp's Directors William Black and Alison Sidgwick on the key policy considerations and James Gibson, Partner in Eversheds Sutherland's Planning and Infrastructure Consenting practice, on the legal framework to inform repowering strategies.

Along with our regular monthly updates on policy, cereals, beef, sheep and milk, in this edition we also have a spotlight on how a turbulent global trading environment is shaping the outlook for Scottish agriculture.Show Notes 00:35 News in Brief05:42 Policy Briefs – Agri-Tourism Investment Scheme (AIS), Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS), National Islands Plan, Securing Homes in Rural and Island Communities, Upcoming Grant Funding, Lamb Castration Consultation, Key Dates, Consultations and Publications.14:19 Cereals – Latest news and market update20:42 Beef – Latest news and market update27:48 Sheep – Latest news and market update30:50 Milk – Latest news and market update37:45 Sector focus – How a turbulent global trading environment is shaping the outlook for Scottish agriculture47:26 Further articles – ‘Preparing for calving (FAS TV), ‘All things insurance' (podcast) and ‘Alternative Protein Crop Overview' (FAS article)FAS Links and Resources:Newsletters - Business & Policy Edition - Farm Advisory Service advice@fas.scotOther Links and Resources:Agritourism Investment Scheme 2026 (FAS)Agritourism Investment Scheme contactManagement OptionsCapital ItemsFair Work FirstNational Islands Plan - gov.scotAffordable Housing Supply ProgrammeRural and Island Housing FundLamb Welfare: ConsultationAccelerating Home-building in Scotland (closing date 30.04.26)Scottish Law Commission's Report on Section 53 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 (closing date 15.05.26)Onshore electricity generation: increasing the threshold for applications (closing date 27.05.26)Short-term lets: regulation information - gov.scot (25.02.26 publication date)Supporting Scotland's transition - land use and agriculture - gov.scot (25.02.26 publication date)Scottish farm business income - gov.scot (2024-25 link available from 27.03.26)Is whisky tourism on the rocks? - BBC NewsScotch whisky production slows as tariffs and weak demand bite | EasternEyeWhat the India tariffs deal means for Scotch whisky - BBC NewsChinese whisky tariff cut to come into force - BBC NewsImpact.economist.com/key-findings FAS TV Series 5 Ep 27 - Preparing for CalvingAll things Insurance - FAS (Rural Roundup podcast)Alternative Protein Crop OverviewFor more information, visit www.FAS.scotFacebook: @FASScotNational Advice HubPhone: 0300 323 0161Email: advice@fas.scot

Allen, Rosemary, Yolanda, and Matthew discuss highlights from Blades USA including the carbon blade debate. Plus TPI Composites’ bankruptcy sale hits major obstacles as partners dispute over $100M in claims. And Europe’s offshore and onshore wind developers clash over state aid, with WindEurope’s new CEO urging unity. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter 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 YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts.  Allen Hall 2025: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host Alan Hall, and I’m here with Yolanda Padron, Rosemary Barnes and Matthew Stead. Yolanda and Matthew have just wrapped up a couple of days at the Blade USA forum in Austin, Texas. Maybe we should start there. Thoughts on the forum this year? Things that were highlights?  Matthew Stead: Yeah. Lightning Root de bond. One positive was that, um, there are a couple of startups there, so, you know, kudos to them for, you know, making the investment. There was a. There was a startup around, you know, data analytics and, you know, bringing machine learning in. And then there was also another startup looking at recycling. [00:01:00] Um, really trying to get that, that food chain through of, um, you know, grinding and then turning into some sort of valuable product. Um, yeah. However, I think someone also from EPRI said that, you know, at the moment, you know, the recycling path is, you know, eight times more expensive than the, um, the landfill path. There was a lot of carbon discussion actually. So, and, um, yeah, a lot of discussion about repairs, a lot of discussion about testing, uh, a lot of discussion about, you know, how maybe a carbon blade can last 40 years. Um, so a lot of discussion about lifetime extensions around carbon. Um, but, but, but, but, you know, really, really hard to repair.  Allen Hall 2025: That goes back to the comments Rosemary and Morton Hanberg made about carbon blades. Should we be making. Carbon blades are not. And I think Morton’s opinion, and maybe Rosemary’s, I don’t wanna speak for her, was carbon blades are okay, but they are really difficult to repair. Almost impossible to repair. And is it [00:02:00] worth even building them?  Rosemary Barnes: I think if you consider the blade in isolation, then it probably is adding more headaches than it’s worth. But carbon fiber is a bit of an enabler for improvements across the whole system of a, a wind turbine. ’cause when you take, like you can take a lot of weight out of a blade by using carbon fiber. I mean, it’s never been cheaper to make a blade with carbon fiber than an equivalent blade with glass. You do, you buy the more expensive carbon fiber blade because it’s lighter, a like, a lot lighter, and then you can take, um, weight. It, it reduces the requirements for basically every other component in the wind turbine, but especially stuff like the pitch bearings. Um, so you solve a lot of other problems, but you create blade problems. So. I think if you ask some of the only works on maintaining blades, then you’re gonna be like, why would you make a carbon fiber blade? It is so much headache. Um, but that’s not the reason why they were ever made in the first place. [00:03:00] So you’d need to talk to, you know, somebody on, uh, I dunno, front end engineering. Someone from the sales team about why it is that they are going with a more expensive carbon fiber blade. Even acknowledging that they probably underestimate how many problems there are with o and m with, uh, carbon fiber blades. But even so, like they’re already aware that there are trade offs. Um, and yeah, there’s non blade reasons for, for taking, taking that pain.  Allen Hall 2025: Are there other fibers that could be substituted besides carbon? There, I, I know fiberglass. A, a good, relatively strong fiber and carbon obviously is much stronger. But are there things in the middle that could be substituted that are non-conductive? Rosemary Barnes: Uh, y yeah, there are, but carbon fibers, it’s not just strong. It’s really stiff. And that’s what its benefit is. Um, like there’s Kevlar but it’s not very stiff. So you would, we would make a really heavy blade if you used Kevlar. It would be probably bulletproof though. So I guess that would be a plus. I, I haven’t looked into it recently, but nothing is [00:04:00] at the, um, like got the performance specs and the cost specs that you would need to, um, make it replace carbon fiber. Matthew Stead: So one thing that I picked up I thought was pretty, uh, interesting was that by having a stronger, you know, carbon protrusion, you know, the, you know, the backbone of the blade, um, it took a little bit of pressure off the skin. And so therefore, um, you know, the life, life of the blade, um, and the ability to keep running it ’cause the skin is not so critical. Those seem to be a real, a real plus as well.  Rosemary Barnes: I don’t know, people talk about this in like absolutes, but everything is just a con continuum, right? Like you can make an all glass blade that would last a thousand years if you really wanted to. You just, you know, you just have to make it very, very strong. ’cause it’s, you know, it’s all based on fatigue lifetime. And the smaller that your, um, strain on every component in the blade is, then the less, um, the less fatigue damage is gonna accumulate. Making it a little bit stiffer will actually increase the lifetime by [00:05:00] a a lot. I think the main benefit to protrusions is just that you avoid all of the um, or you avoid a lot of the possibilities for manufacturing defects. It’s easy to control the manufacture ’cause carbon fiber, like much more so than glass fiber. It’s so, um, it’s so dependent on the fibers being perfectly straight. If you have a little wrinkle, like a little wrinkle is bad in glass fiber, but it’s like really bad in carbon fiber. So protrusions mean that you won’t get wrinkles. Uh, and you can, you know, control the manufacturing process a lot better, but they are barely repairable, right? So that’s the trade off. You can do some small repairs, but you’re not gonna be just. Um, if you’ve got a, a, a full thickness crack or something, it’s, you know, it’s gonna be game over. You’re not gonna be building that up again. Allen Hall 2025: Delamination and bottomline failures and blades are difficult problems to [00:06:00] detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections, completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades. Back in service, so visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early  Yolanda Padron: will save you millions.  Allen Hall 2025: Well keep going on the, the subject of blades. Imagine if you were selling your house and you told the bank you owe nothing on it. Then the bank shows up with a bill for over a hundred million dollars. That is essentially what’s happening right now in the TPI composites bankruptcy. Uh, the wind blade manufacturer canceled its [00:07:00] February 17th asset auction after only one bidder came forward. A firm called ECP five LLC, which is, uh, part of Energy Capital Partners, which is based in New Jersey. Uh, but before TPI. Can hand over the keys. It has to settle up with its business partners. TPI told the court many of those partners were owed little or nothing. Uh, the partners check their books. Strongly disagree. Now, the judge has a mountain of competing claims to sort through before the sale can close. And everyone, I mean, the, the claims are big. Uh, there are several large names listed, and if you go through the filings, uh, Siemens C Mesa is probably the largest one, and it, it claims TPI owes about 84 million plus an unpaid inspection, repair, and replacement costs. Plus under 22 million [00:08:00]under apparent guarantee. Others include Aurora Energy Services stating it is owned about $5 million, uh, for post-bankruptcy services, plus 38,000, uh, for before the filing of bankruptcy. The landlord up in Iowa for the TPI facility there is objecting because they’re owed some rent. Some other ones include, uh. Oracle, uh, which is, uh, has a lot of software licenses that TPI currently has, and they’re saying those licenses will not swap over to the new owner. So there, this is a series of these filings going on at the minute, and they’re pushing back the closing of the, uh, sale hearing until March 9th. So they got about another two weeks as we record right now. This is a big deal and, and although I have seen almost nothing about it in the press. Because it’s hard. One, it’s hard to find, and two, it’s really [00:09:00] difficult to sort through. Uh, but it is a major milestone for TPI that they’re gonna be able to sell the, or at least transfer ownership to, uh, energy capital partners. And the none of the buyers investors had bought part of the facilities. But GE Renova or Siemens cesa, for that matter, are not involved, at least at the top level. Which is really to, in my opinion, odd. I thought GE Renova would’ve been involved, at least at some level. They have been supporting TPI through this process. But in terms of going forward, doesn’t look like too much is going on with Renova or Siemens Ga Mesa in, in terms of the operations of these facilities. Thoughts.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I agree. It’s strange that they wouldn’t have taken that opportunity and that makes me wonder what I don’t know that, you know, ’cause obviously it’s not a strange decision to the people who have made it so. They’ve got more information, a lot more information than us. So what is it that made it unappealing to them? That’s, um, that’s my question. [00:10:00] Yolanda Padron: What did TP, I think was gonna happen with all of that money that they owe everyone?  Allen Hall 2025: Well, it’s a bankruptcy hearing. Obviously they like to wipe that debt free and so would Energy Capital partners. They don’t wanna pay the a hundred million plus of whatever, uh, the court would ict, but. You just like to get the assets. If you can do it, that’s your cheapest option if you’re Energy Capital partners. But do you see Energy Capital Partners running the facilities? There’s a lot of organization within TPI that manages those facilities and controls the operation. From the quality side engineering side, there’s, there’s a lot of pieces to TPI here. Do you think they’re just gonna pick it up and run, run the company as it stands today? Or, or,  Rosemary Barnes: oh my goodness. I would be so nervous to, um, buy blades, uh, from them in that situation. I mean, we’ve seen so many examples in the last few years of decisions being made by senior management that have really compromised the quality at the end of the day. Like in theory, yes, the factory, you know, all the processes are in place to do things. Um, to do things [00:11:00] right, but you know, as soon as they get the next new project, which they’re doing constantly, right? It’s not like they just make a blade and they just make it over and over again. They make many different kinds of blades. There’s decisions to be made and you’re trying to get the price right and the quality right. And then, you know, given that we know that TPI was not profitable the way they were doing it before, they’re gonna have to spend less money. Then somebody who isn’t from the industry is making those calls about where to save it. It just seems like totally implausible to me.  Matthew Stead: Can I just add though, you know, TPI was mentioned multiple times at, um, at Blades, USA, and so, you know, a lot of people are relying on them or have relied on them and so forth. And so maybe this is a strategy about supporting the industry into the future. Like I think Alan, you, you said that they’re involved in, um, this investment business has other wind assets, so maybe it’s just like. Securing supply chain and, which I mean, that’s a pretty logical approach, isn’t it?  Allen Hall 2025: Oh, it would be. Uh, they’re about 50% owners of Ted’s US onshore fleet and a number. There are [00:12:00] other projects they’re involved in a number of renewable projects. Uh, so it would make sense for them to try to keep the supply chain going. But the largest purchaser of GB GE turbines that I know of is NextEra. So you would think NextEra would want to step into the mix too and at least in all the court filings, I haven’t seen much from NextEra or nothing from them at all. It if Osted US is wanting to keep their supply chain and Energy Capital partners wanted to keep the supply chain going, that would make a lot of sense to me. However, I just don’t know if they have the infrastructure to manage it. As Rosemary has described on numerous occasions running LM wind power is not easy. There’s just a lot of moving pieces, supply chain problems. You’ve got people problems, you have quality problems, you have repair problems, warranty issues. It’s a lot to that business. It isn’t like you’re stamping out widgets. You, you have a responsibility to that product after it goes out into [00:13:00] service. So if you have problems out in service, you’re, you’re kind of on the hook for all those warranty claims. It’s complicated.  Rosemary Barnes: You make it sound like I was running lm  Yolanda Padron: Rosie runs the world. Rosemary Barnes: I just wanna make it clear I was not running lm  Allen Hall 2025: Not yet. Rosie. There’s still time.  Rosemary Barnes: I was ru running one very tiny, tiny corner of it.  Yolanda Padron: I’d almost be curious ’cause like since ECP is so much into risk management and just, just in general, they have so many things that they are like part owners in, but they don’t necessarily manage the day to day hands on. Uh. I’d almost be curious to see if maybe they take a page out of Rosie’s book and try to make one thing. Well,  Matthew Stead: mm, that’d be novel, wouldn’t it?  Rosemary Barnes: It has actually been tried before. Um, you know, it’s, it’s uh, not something that has escaped the notice of blade engineers, uh, that if you make one thing, you can do it right. And wind turbine blades are a pretty similar there. No, you know, like great [00:14:00] differentiator between. How well performing the blades are from one company to another. I know at, at least at lm, they did have a blade that they designed, and their plan was to sell just heaps and heaps of those to multiple different manufacturers and just no one wanted it. Um, so it just quietly died. Um, so yeah, the, the concept is good. I think it’s. A little bit harder to pull off than you would hope. There are also some Chinese companies that are kind of selling just parts, generic parts. And so if you wanted to make your own wind turbine, um, company, if you wanted to be a wind energy o and m Yolanda, you could just buy an assortment of parts from Chinese manufacturers and put a. Yolanda Wind energy sticker on it and um, and, and, and you could be an an OEM. So it is, it, it, it is possible. I haven’t seen any of these out in the wild. Um, I have [00:15:00] heard of, you know, people considering it for, you know, certain aspects of certain types of projects. So it kind of exists in a way.  Matthew Stead: But the financial aspect, I mean, that’s accounting 1 0 1, I mean. You gotta know your assets and to owe people a hundred million dollars, that’s absolutely shocking. Really?  Allen Hall 2025: They owed a lot more than that before the bankruptcy. It is a lot of money.  Matthew Stead: How do you miss that?  Allen Hall 2025: Well, I don’t think they missed it. I just think the warranty claims and some of the repair that was going on and the, the, it sounded like price discounting was happening to some of the OEMs just caught up to ’em. But at the end of the day, I, I, I guess the question is. Does TPI as an entity remain? Obviously the Vestas portion will, because Vestas is gonna make them Vestas factories in a sense, and, uh, integrate as part of their overall operations. But Renova is not, Siemens is not interested in doing it, at least as we speak. No one’s [00:16:00] making any noise over at Nordex. It, it does leave these assets questionable as to what the real value is. We haven’t heard how much, uh, ECP has paid for them yet. The Vestas factories that were purchased, I think the, the two TPI factories in Mexico, I think Vestas paid about $10 million for each factory, which is a really inexpensive price to pay for new factories because Vestus had talked about at one point a year or two ago, about standing up a new factory saying it would cost him roughly a half a billion dollars to do. So buying a, that same asset for $10 million is a discount, a deep, deep discount, which maybe Vestas figures, Hey, it’s 20 million bucks, plus they got the India operations. Uh, it’s not that much money. If it all goes sour, it’s not that much money and we’re okay. Whereas Ver Nova decided to not to participate in that. As wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it difficult. That’s why [00:17:00] the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality content you need. Don’t miss out. Visit p ps wind.com. Today, over in Denmark, a fight has been brewing between offshore and onshore wind developers and. Sted once State Aid brought back for offshore wind auctions, onshore developers say that would tilt the playing field against them. Well, some have even walked out on their own trade group, uh, over it. Now the new CEO of Wind Europe, Tina Van Stratton, uh, is stepping in the middle of that discussion with a simple message. We need both. Don’t let offshore and onshore wind divide us. Nearly 90% of Europe’s installed wind capacity sits currently on land, and [00:18:00] she says that is not going to change anytime soon. Uh, so there, there is a big dispute about this right there. There does seem to be a, a amount of money being poured into offshore wind and requests of governments to support offshore wind at the same time. Onshore wind, which has been the primary growth market for wind in Europe, is getting the cold shoulder. In a sense. How does this play out everyone? Is there a, a good solution to it or is the need for offshore wind so great that, that they have to ignore onshore wind development for a couple of years?  Matthew Stead: I think we should just all be friends. So, I mean, really. Yeah, we need both and, um, I mean for the diversity and, you know, uh, I’ll leave all the technical topics to Rosie, but, um, um, really I think we need both. I mean, so what, it’d be crazy to, to drop the onshore, onshore industry.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense that, or said, especially Orid Europe doesn’t have any onshore anymore. Right. So it’s just [00:19:00]offshore. It would make sense that they really wanna push for help for themselves. And it’s, it’s great. It, it’s, it’s great to help, but I, I agree with Matt. Allen Hall 2025: Well, the Northern Europe and Scandinavian countries are talking about 100 gigawatts in the water by what, 2050? Something of that sort. So that’s a lot of energy in the water. In order to do that, you have to devote a number of resources to it, which. Will mean onshore wind is not gonna get the support it probably deserves, even though it has a proven track record. Rosemary Barnes: I just think it, it’s really interesting because I guess wind is, um, a very Europe. LED industry. Um, and so yeah, in Europe, e everything big and exciting is in offshore and the volume is in offshore. Um, I feel like that’s kind of filtered through to other regions though, because I mean, in Australia we don’t even have any offshore wind yet. We are probably getting some, but you go to any wind energy event, it’s gonna be. [00:20:00] More than 50% offshore wind and sometimes like 90% offshore wind, um, focused, which is, I think crazy when onshore is, is exists and has plenty of problems that need to be solved, and we need to be building more, a lot faster. I, I do actually wish that. If we could spend as much of the, you know, like some of the effort and the political effort that’s going into paving the way for offshore wind, I think would be much better spent on solving the problems. Um, the obstacles stopping us from rolling out onshore wind faster. Because we’re not on track in Australia to meet our renewable energy targets if we can’t get that under control. And then in the US yes you have some offshore wind, but it is not a growth industry at the moment or it’s not very appealing at the moment, at least. Right. So, and I dunno how much you talk about it there, but I do hear a lot of, like a whole lot of talk about offshore compared to how important it is for regions outside of Europe. Yolanda Padron: I think it’s important too to [00:21:00] note that. When you have a lot of offshore wind in your fleet, like you can sometimes test out products onshore that maybe they’re, of course not the exact same conditions, but you can test out products to a degree onshore. And I’ve seen, you know, owner operators that have to go across continents just to test that product because it’s cheaper to do that onshore than to do it offshore in your home site, in your backyard. So I mean that that would really benefit from an RD standpoint. It would really benefit everyone. If  Allen Hall 2025: they gave it up attention  Yolanda Padron: to onshore.  Rosemary Barnes: When I was at lm, one of my, well my key team member who was an electrical engineer, he had, um, done a bunch of work for a system that was only implemented on an offshore wind farm. And it sucked up so much time when stuff started going wrong with that, like even small things. And he was the only one [00:22:00] that could do it. You know, you go out, if you’ve got a five minute job to do, to get, you know, like turn something off and on again off. Reconnect something that’s a whole day of work, right? Like you, and, and not like a normal day, but like a 12 hour day, you’re gonna go out in the morning, they, you know, they go around in a boat or whatever and drop people off and they don’t come get you when you’re done 10 minutes later, you know, they come get you at the end of the day when they’re picking everyone up again. So, um, it, it was, it was incredibly challenging. I mean, for him personally and the team. Um, and I always recommend to, or, you know, sometimes I’m advising, um, companies that have offshore wind, um, technologies. And I’m always advising anything that you can test on shore, do it and get creative about it as well. ’cause you might think that you can’t, you certainly can’t get all the way there without testing in your real operating environment. But any problem that could happen onshore that you, um, learn about when it’s onshore is gonna cost you probably like, you know, one 10th as much [00:23:00] to fix. Um. So, and, and the time as well. So, yeah, I, I think that you’re right that we should be actually considering onshore as an opportunity for, um, improving offshore technology as well.  Allen Hall 2025: Can we talk about, uh, data centers for a minute? Just off the top of mind, I’ve been listening to a number of podcasts over the last month or two talking about powering AI data centers and how much coal or natural gas. It’s gonna be needed to provide the stable, reliable power that these data centers supposedly need. In the meantime, there’s like this industry being built, uh, and you see the, the purchases of gas turbines going out to like, what, 2032? I think it’s what Renova is talking about now is when you could actually get in line for a gas turbine. Other manufacturers or gas turbines are basically saying the same thing in the meantime. [00:24:00] Elon Musk and SpaceX are talking about putting AI data centers up in space where you don’t have any regulatory issues. You don’t have to burn coal or natural gas or any of these things. So the, the ground-based AI data centers appear to be locked into making these really expensive buildings and assets and putting generation and transmission and, and this infrastructure together, which will cost them. Hundreds of millions at a minimum, likely tens of billions of dollars to do, and that’s just in the United States. Meanwhile, SpaceX is really on a pathway of doing this up in the sky for probably a fraction of the cost. Is there a break point here? Because it does seem like the, the natural gas, coal, oil, petroleum industry and the on ground build, the building, people are ignoring that. SpaceX has a [00:25:00] capability of doing this, and if Musk decides to do it, and SpaceX decides to do it, that all those gas turbine orders, all that infrastructure, all the gas pipeline, all the drilling that would have to happen would just go immediately. Poof. Gone.  Rosemary Barnes: I don’t know about immediately because I mean, we’re not at the point yet where you can just launch a data center into space. So there is a bit of a, a, a transition period. Um, I. I also think that it’s overblown that, you know, I think you might have even fallen into the trap also, where you’re like, oh, when data centers need more energy, so therefore it has to be coal or gas or nuclear.  Allen Hall 2025: Nope, I agree with you.  Rosemary Barnes: Those things aren’t quick to build either. If you truly wanted to do it quickly, you’d be putting in, um, you know, heaps of solar panels and batteries and, and you know, wind turbines where that made sense. But that said, I, I do agree that, uh, like I, I don’t think space-based data centers is farfetched at all. I, I guess the biggest [00:26:00] challenges, uh, are, um, the cooling and heating requirements space has very large temperature fluctuations. So I guess you’re gonna need to design that carefully. I don’t think it’s insurmountable. Um, and then the next thing is a cost of launch, which I’m sure you’re about to tell me how. Dramatically the cost of launch is dropping. Um, you know, like, it, it’s got, it’s got a very good learning curve. The space launches, which is basically, you know, SpaceX is probably the main reason why that is just dropping and dropping and dropping. So I don’t think that it’s unrealistic at all. I don’t know the timeframe. You would know more, Alan, you work in, um, aerospace. I just. You know, um, follow it for general interest.  Matthew Stead: I reckon it’s stupid. He’s really stupid on a number of grounds. So first of all, you know, why do that when. You just, I can’t see how it can ever be more cost effective and you know, [00:27:00] I, you know, you should really, should be putting that effort into things like, you know, better healthcare and so forth. I mean, what a waste of resources. But why? I mean, why, why?  Allen Hall 2025: Because it’s a lot less expensive and it’s faster.  Matthew Stead: You’d do it in the ocean before that, wouldn’t you?  Rosemary Barnes: No, but the ocean still has, like how do you power it? You, you get the 24 7 solar power in space. That’s what you. That’s what you get, um, which you can’t get on Earth  Matthew Stead: or you put it next to a wind farm and you, you, and you make the load go up and down depending on the wind. I mean, seriously, there’s so many other ways of doing it. You put it next to a wind and solar.  Rosemary Barnes: I agree with you, Matt, that I think that the, the bulk of the solutions with data centers is gonna come from one demand not being what people think it is today. Like the numbers that get reported are just like the. Absolute best, best, best case scenario and then multiplied by three or four times because they’re looking at different options for locating each of the data centers they plan to make. So I think I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with 10% of what people think that we’re gonna get. [00:28:00] Now, the first thing, secondly, people assume that it needs to be 24 7. Just, you know, like a hundred percent reliable power, and that’s. That’s simply, yeah, it’s not, not everything needs to be just, um, you know, done at, at the exact time that it’s requested. There’s heaps of things that can be shifted and uh, when the price differential is there, then people are naturally going to choose that. And in fact, there are already some companies offering different levels of reliability depend, you know, for different prices. And companies can choose which of their processes can be put on hold. Like a lot of the training stuff, you’re happy don’t. Need 99.999% reliability, you’re probably happy with 90% reliability. And so, you know, if it costs a whole lot less than you will, I, I agree with you, Matt, that that’s gonna take most of it. But I do still think that for the, like, super reliable, um, data centers, I, I bet that we see at least one. And even if it’s just because Elon Musk is the type to push something through, um, you know, [00:29:00] first and. Wait for the market to catch up later. Uh, maybe that will be the reason, but I, I honestly think it’s more than 50% likely that we see a data center in space in the next, in the next decade,  Matthew Stead: it would make more sense to like drill a hole to the center of the earth and get the, the hot well cutting rock  Rosemary Barnes: and or there’s also plenty of geothermal. You did thermal projects as well.  Matthew Stead: Yeah, it’s just ridiculous.  Rosemary Barnes: I think that we’ve had our first hot take from Matthew, so I don’t know some sort of sound effect to be added here. Claire. Uh, yeah, Allen Hall 2025: that wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s conversation, please give us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. For Rosa, Yolanda and [00:30:00] Matthew, I’m Alan Hall, and we’ll see you next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Most farmers think tax credits are for tech companies and laboratories. They're wrong. The Research & Development tax credit has been around since 1981 — originally built to encourage innovation. Over the decades, it has become more taxpayer-friendly and more accessible… but still incredibly underutilized in agriculture. In this episode, we talk with Onshore, a tax technology company founded in 2020. Joining us: • Tim Taschner – Midwest native who grew up around ADM, now leading agricultural R&D tax credit case studies • Dominic Vitucci – CEO with a background in accounting and computer science, blending tax expertise with automation We break down: • What the R&D tax credit actually is • The history behind it and how it evolved • What qualifies in agriculture (farming, livestock, food processing) • Why testing new hybrids, chemistries, feed strategies, or processes may qualify • How AI now automates roughly 80% of the documentation process • What “audit-ready documentation” actually means • The difference between deductions and credits • What happens if you haven't paid taxes yet • How credits can carry back or forward • Why cost segregation and 179D deductions also matter Onshore's mission is simple: Turn tax incentives from a confusing compliance burden into a strategic advantage. Instead of spending weeks building documentation manually, their software integrates with enterprise systems, processes data quickly, and delivers clean, audit-ready support — including free audit defense. In today's tight-margin environment, producers and agribusinesses can't afford to overlook legitimate credits. If you operate: • 800+ acres • Livestock operations • Food processing • Agribusiness support companies • Or any operation testing improvements This conversation could directly impact your bottom line. Because the smartest operators don't just grow crops. Want Farm4Profit Merch?  Custom order your favorite items today! https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/   Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen!   Website: www.Farm4Profit.com Shareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.com Email address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.com Call/Text: 515.207.9640 Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5Xqw Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc  Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most farmers think tax credits are for tech companies and laboratories. They're wrong. The Research & Development tax credit has been around since 1981 — originally built to encourage innovation. Over the decades, it has become more taxpayer-friendly and more accessible… but still incredibly underutilized in agriculture. In this episode, we talk with Onshore, a tax technology company founded in 2020. Joining us: • Tim Taschner – Midwest native who grew up around ADM, now leading agricultural R&D tax credit case studies • Dominic Vitucci – CEO with a background in accounting and computer science, blending tax expertise with automation We break down: • What the R&D tax credit actually is • The history behind it and how it evolved • What qualifies in agriculture (farming, livestock, food processing) • Why testing new hybrids, chemistries, feed strategies, or processes may qualify • How AI now automates roughly 80% of the documentation process • What “audit-ready documentation” actually means • The difference between deductions and credits • What happens if you haven't paid taxes yet • How credits can carry back or forward • Why cost segregation and 179D deductions also matter Onshore's mission is simple: Turn tax incentives from a confusing compliance burden into a strategic advantage. Instead of spending weeks building documentation manually, their software integrates with enterprise systems, processes data quickly, and delivers clean, audit-ready support — including free audit defense. In today's tight-margin environment, producers and agribusinesses can't afford to overlook legitimate credits. If you operate: • 800+ acres • Livestock operations • Food processing • Agribusiness support companies • Or any operation testing improvements This conversation could directly impact your bottom line. Because the smartest operators don't just grow crops. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

www.onshore.comIn this What's Working in Ag segment, the Farm4Profit team tees up one of the most impactful conversations we've had all year: Research & Development tax credits for farmers.We sit down briefly with Dom and Tim from Onshore to explain—quickly and clearly—why this long-standing tax credit now applies to modern farming practices, not just labs and patents. From testing new hybrids and fertility programs to improving efficiency and yield, many farmers are already doing qualifying activities without realizing it.Here's what's at stake:A 2,000-acre corn and soybean operation could potentially unlock $100,000 or moreCredits can offset current taxes, refund taxes paid in the last four years, or carry forward up to 20 yearsUnlike deductions, tax credits are dollar-for-dollar—$100,000 is actually $100,000We break down:What “research and development” really means in farmingWhy this credit has become more farmer-friendly over timeThe difference between deductions and credits (and why it matters now)Who should be paying attention heading into 2026This episode is intentionally short and to the point—but it's also a preview. The full, deep-dive conversation drops next week, and if you're farming in today's margin environment, it's one you don't want to skip. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Austin Draughon spent nine years at BP keeping Gulf of Mexico wells producing tens of thousands of barrels per day from floating platforms in 6,000+ feet of water. He breaks down why offshore is ten times more expensive, takes ten times longer, and involves ten times more people than onshore drilling, from robots tightening bolts on the seafloor to the ice problem that can kill a well in eight hours. Jacob and Julie learn why you can't just build 6,000-foot concrete pillars, how Christmas trees got their name, and what happens when asphalt buildup shuts down a 10,000 barrel per day well worth the energy consumption of Montana. Plus: helicopter crash training, North Slope darkness, and why AI's best trick is turning 35-page documents into the one sentence you actually needed.Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.ioClick here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Gulf of America officially renamed01:41 - Nine years producing offshore Gulf of Mexico wells02:59 - North Slope Alaska: darkness and extreme cold survival05:06 - Production engineer managing 12 high-stakes offshore wells07:11 - Asphalt buildup can kill a 10,000 barrel per day well09:13 - Building technology to predict well failures early11:03 - From Excel spreadsheets to cloud-deployed Python scripts12:07 - Dry tree versus wet tree subsea completions explained18:19 - Wildcat exploration: finding elephants to justify $30B platforms20:09 - Blowout preventers and seafloor robots with little hands23:11 - Five-mile flowlines connecting subsea wells to platforms24:23 - Onshore takes weeks, offshore takes 90+ days minimum26:29 - Automation levels on offshore drill ships29:00 - 300+ people living on floating production facilities32:06 - ROV operators controlling robots like video games34:16 - Why offshore wells produce 1,000x more than stripper wells36:16 - Pushing spaghetti four miles to hit a four-foot target37:47 - Hydrate ice problem: eight-hour clock before well dies39:08 - North Sea waves versus Gulf of America conditions41:15 - Helicopter crash training at the YMCA pool44:17 - AI's killer use case: many to one summarization46:26 - Narrative layers surface buried statistics automaticallyhttps://twitter.com/collide_iohttps://www.tiktok.com/@collide.iohttps://www.facebook.com/collide.iohttps://www.instagram.com/collide.iohttps://www.youtube.com/@collide_iohttps://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

Beetaloo Energy: Could this Aussie onshore basin have 200 years of gas in it? Listen to ASX-listed Beetaloo Energy Managing Director Alex Underwood talk to Matt Birney on the Bulls N’ Bears Report about Beetaloo’s ambition to be the first to produce commercial gas from a broader basin that could meet Australia’s energy needs for centuries!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special podcast series, we speak to the winners of the WTiN Innovate Textile Awards 2025.World Textile Information Network (WTiN) is thrilled to announce the winners of the Innovate Textile Awards 2025. In this special podcast series we speak with the winners of the awards about the challenges, possibilities and successes of innovation within the textile industry.In this episode, we are joined by Anna Talvi, senior research fellow at Robotics Living Lab (RoLL). RoLL won the Manufacturing & Supply Chain Award for its novel research facility designed to support innovation for onshore fashion production. The award celebrates pioneering advancements in machinery, software and processing techniques that transform the textile & apparel industry. In this episode Talvi speaks through RoLL's inception and how it develops robotic solutions for the fashion industry. The lab opened early in 2025 after it was awarded GBP£3.8m by the Arts and Humanities research Council (AHRC). RoLL explores more sustainable approaches for fashion manufacturing. It sees fashion researchers, designers and manufacturers working together with robots to create high-value, low-volume fashion. Talvi delves into how it is advancing robotics and how robots can be used effectively in fashion and textile supply chains. You can learn more about RoLL at @robotics_living_lab.WTiN announced the winners in a virtual ceremony on 5 December 2025, which you can now watch on demand atWTiN.com.

Allen, Joel, and Yolanda discuss Siemens Energy’s decision to keep their wind business despite pressure from hedge funds, with the CEO projecting profitability by 2026. They cover the company’s 21 megawatt offshore turbine now in testing and why it could be a game changer. Plus, Danish startup Quali Drone demonstrates thermal imaging of spinning blades at an offshore wind farm, and Alliant Energy moves forward with a 270 MW wind project in Wisconsin using next-generation Nordex turbines. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter 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 YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts, Alan Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxon, and Yolanda Padron. Welcome to the  Allen Hall: Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alan Hall. I’m here with Yolanda Padron and Joel Saxon. Rosemary Burns is climbing the Himalayas this week, and our top story is Semen’s Energy is rejecting the sail of their wind business, which is a very interesting take because obviously Siemens CESA has struggled. Recently due to some quality issues a couple of years ago, and, and back in 2024 to 25, that fiscal year, they lost a little over 1 billion euros. But the CEO of Siemens energy says they’re gonna stick with the business and that they’re getting a lot of pressure, obviously, from hedge funds to do something with that business to, to raise the [00:01:00] valuations of Siemens energy. But, uh, the CEO is saying, uh, that. They’re not gonna spin it off and that would not solve any of the problems. And they’re, they’re going to, uh, remain with the technology, uh, for the time being. And they think right now that Siemens Gomesa will be profitable in 2026. That’s an interesting take, uh, Joel, because we haven’t seen a lot of sales onshore or offshore from Siemens lately.  Joel Saxum: I think they’re crazy to lose. I don’t wanna put this in US dollars ’cause it resonates with my mind more, but 1.36 billion euros is probably what, 1.8 million or 1.8. Billion dollars.  Allen Hall: Yeah. It’s, it’s about that. Yeah.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. So, so it’s compounding issues. We see this with a lot of the OEMs and blade manufacturers and stuff, right? They, they didn’t do any sales of their four x five x platform for like a year while they’re trying to reset the issues they had there. And now we know that they’re in the midst of some blade issues where they’re swapping blades at certain wind farms and those kind of things.[00:02:00] But when they went to basically say, Hey, we’re back in the market, restarting, uh, sales. Yolanda, have you heard from any of your blade network of people buying those turbines?  Yolanda Padron: No, and I think, I mean, we’ve seen with other OEMs when they try to go back into getting more sales, they focus a lot on making their current customers happy, and I’m not sure that I’ve seen that with the, this group. So it’s, it’s just a little bit of lose lose on both sides.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. And if you’re, if you’re trying to, if you’re having to go back and basically patch up relationships to make them happy. Uh, that four x five x was quite the flop, uh, I would say, uh, with the issues that it had. So, um, there’s, that’d be a lot of, a lot of, a lot of nice dinners and a lot of hand kissing and, and all kinds of stuff to make those relationships back to what they were. Allen Hall: But at the time, Joel, that turbine fit a specific set of the marketplace, they had basically complete control of that when the four x five [00:03:00] x. Was an option and and early on it did seem to have pretty wide adoption. They were making good progress and then the quality issues popped up. What have we seen since and more recently in terms of. The way that, uh, Siemens Ga Mesa has restructured their business. What have we heard?  Joel Saxum: Well, they, they leaned more and pointed more towards offshore, right? They wanted to be healthy in, they had offshore realm and make sales there. Um, and that portion, because it was a completely different turbine model, that portion went, went along well, but in the meantime, right, they fit that four x five x and when I say four x five x, of course, I mean four megawatt, five megawatt slot, right? And if you look at, uh, the models that are out there for the onshore side of things. That, that’s kind of how they all fit. There was like, you know, GE was in that two x and, and, uh, uh, you know, mid two X range investors had the two point ohs, and there’s more turbine models coming into that space. And in the US when you go above basically 500 foot [00:04:00] above ground level, right? So if your elevation is a thousand, once you hit 1500 for tip height on a turbine, you get into the next category of FAA, uh, airplane problems. So if you’re going to put in a. If you were gonna put in a four x or five x machine and you’re gonna have to deal with those problems anyways, why not put a five and a half, a six, a 6.8, which we’ve been seeing, right? So the GE Cypress at 6.8, um, we’re hearing of um, not necessarily the United States, but envision putting in some seven, uh, plus megawatt machines out there on shore. So I think that people are making the leap past. Two x three x, and they’re saying like, oh, we could do a four x or five x, but if we’re gonna do that, why don’t we just put a six x in? Allen Hall: Well, Siemens has set itself apart now with a 21 megawatt, uh, offshore turbine, which is in trials at the moment. That could be a real game changer, particularly because the amount of offshore wind that’ll happen around Europe. Does that then if you’re looking at the [00:05:00] order book for Siemens, when you saw a 21 Mega Hut turbine, that’s a lot of euros per turbine. Somebody’s projecting within Siemens, uh, that they’re gonna break even in 2026. I think the way that they do that, it has to be some really nice offshore sales. Isn’t that the pathway?  Joel Saxum: Yeah. You look at the megawatt class and what happened there, right? So what was it two years ago? Vestas? Chief said, we are not building anything past the 15 megawatt right now. So they have their, their V 2 36 15 megawatt dark drive model that they’re selling into the market, that they’re kind of like, this is the cap, like we’re working on this one now we’re gonna get this right. Which to be honest with you, that’s an approach that I like. Um, and then you have the ge So in this market, right, the, the big megawatt offshore ones for the Western OEMs, you have the GE 15 megawatt, Hayley IX, and GE. ISS not selling more of those right now. So you have Vestas sitting at 15, GE at 15, but not doing anymore. [00:06:00] And GE was looking at developing an 18, but they have recently said we are not doing the 18 anymore. So now from western OEMs, the only big dog offshore turbine there is, is a 21. And again, if you were now that now this is working out opposite inverse in their favor, if you were going to put a 15 in, it’s not that much of a stretch engineering wise to put a 21 in right When it comes to. The geotechnical investigations and how we need to make the foundations and the shipping and the this and the, that, 15 to 21, not that big of a deal, but 21 makes you that much, uh, more attractive, uh, offshore.  Allen Hall: Sure if fewer cables, fewer mono piles, everything gets a little bit simpler. Maybe that’s where Siemens sees the future. That would, to me, is the only slot where Siemens can really gain ground quickly. Onshore is still gonna be a battle. It always is. Offshore is a little more, uh, difficult space, obviously, just because it’s really [00:07:00] Chinese turbines offshore, big Chinese turbines, 25 plus megawatt is what we’re talking about coming outta China or something. European, 21 megawatt from Siemens.  Joel Saxum: Do the math right? That, uh, if, if you have, if you have won an offshore auction and you need to backfill into a megawatts or gigawatts of. Of demand for every three turbines that you would build at 15 or every four turbines you build at 15, you only need three at 21. Right? And you’re still a little bit above capacity. So the big, one of the big cost drivers we know offshore is cables. You hit it on the head when you’re like, cables, cables, cables, inter array cables are freaking expensive. They’re not only expensive to build and lay, they’re expensive to ensure, they’re expensive to maintain. There’s a lot of things here, so. When you talk about saving costs offshore, if you look at any of those cool models in the startup companies that are optimizing layouts and all these great things, a lot of [00:08:00] them are focusing on reducing cables because that’s a big, huge cost saver. Um, I, I think that’s, I mean, if I was building one and, and had the option right now, that’s where I would stare at offshore. Allen Hall: Does anybody know when that Siemens 21 megawatt machine, which is being evaluated at a test site right now, when that will wrap up testing, is it gonna be in the next couple of months?  Joel Saxum: I think it’s at Estro.  Allen Hall: Yeah, it is, but I don’t remember when it was started. It was sometime during the fall of last year, so it’s probably been operational three, four months at this point. Something like that.  Joel Saxum: If you trust Google, it says full commercial availability towards the end, uh, of 28.  Allen Hall: 28. Do you think that the, uh, that Siemens internally is trying to push that to the left on the schedule, bringing from 2028 back into maybe early 27? Remember, AR seven, uh, for the uk the auction round?[00:09:00] Just happened, and that’s 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind. You think Siemens is gonna make a big push to get into that, uh, into the water there for, for that auction, which is mostly RWE.  Joel Saxum: Yeah, so the prototype’s been installed for, since April 2nd, 2025. So it’s only been in there in the, and it’s only been flying for eight months. Um, but yeah, I mean, RWE being a big German company, Siemens, ESA being a big German company. Uh, of course you would think they would want to go to the hometown and and get it out there, but will it be ready? I don’t know. I don’t know. I, I personally don’t know. And there’s probably people that are listening right now that do have this information. If this turbine model has been specked in any of the pre-feed documentation or preferred turbine suppliers, I, I don’t know. Um, of course we, I’m sure someone does. It’s listening. Uh, reach out, shoot us at LinkedIn or something like that. Let us know, but. Uh, yeah, I mean, uh, [00:10:00] Yolanda, so, so from a Blades perspective, of course you’re our local, one of our local blade experts here. It’s difficult to work, it’s gonna be difficult to work on these blades. It’s a 276 meter rotor, right? So it’s 135 meter blade. Is it worth it to go to that and install less of them than work on something a little bit smaller?  Yolanda Padron: I think it’s a, it’s a personal preference. I like the idea of having something that’s been done. So if it’s something that I know or something that I, I know someone who’s worked with them, so there’s at least a colleague or something that I, I know that if there’s something off happening with the blade, I can talk to someone about it. Right? We can validate data with each other because love the OEMs, but they’re very, it’s very typical that they’ll say that anything is, you know. Anything is, is not a serial defect and anything is force majeure and wow, this is the first time I’m seeing this in your [00:11:00] blade. Uh, so if it’s a new technology versus old technology, I’d rather have the old one just so I, I at least know what I’m dealing with. Uh, so I guess that answers the question as far as like these new experimental lights, right? As far as. Whether I would rather have less blades to deal with. Yes, I’d rather have less bilities to, to deal with it. They were all, you know, known technologies and one was just larger than the other one.  Joel Saxum: Maybe it boils down to a CapEx question, right? So dollar per megawatt. What’s gonna be the cost of these things be? Because we know right now could, yeah, kudos to Siemens CESA for actually putting this turbine out at atrial, or, I can’t remember if it’s Australia or if it’s Keyside somewhere. We know that the test blades are serial number 0 0 0 1 and zero two. Right. And we also know that when there’s a prototype blade being built, all of the, well, not all, but you know, the majority of the engineers that [00:12:00] have designed it are more than likely gonna be at the factory. Like there’s gonna be heavy control on QA, QEC, like that. Those blades are gonna be built probably the best that you can build them to the design spec, right? They’re not big time serial production, yada, yada, yada. When this thing sits and cooks for a year, two years, and depending on what kind of blade issues we may see out of it, that comes with a caveat, right? And that caveat being that that is basically prototype blade production and it has a lot of QC QA QC methodologies to it. And when we get to the point where now we’re taking that and going to serial blade production. That brings in some difficulties, or not difficulties, but like different qa, qc methodologies, um, and control over the end product. So I like to see that they’re get letting this thing cook. I know GE did that with their, their new quote unquote workhorse, 6.8 cypress or whatever it is. That’s fantastic. Um, but knowing that these are prototype [00:13:00] machines, when we get into serial production. It kind of rears its head, right? You don’t know what issues might pop up. Speaker 5: Australia’s wind farms are growing fast, but are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Pullman on the park for Wind energy ONM Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management and OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at WM a 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals because this industry needs solutions, not speeches.  Allen Hall: While conventional blade inspections requires shutting down the turbine. And that costs money. Danish Startup, Qualy Drone has demonstrated a different approach [00:14:00] at the. Ruan to Wind Farm in Danish waters. Working with RDBE, stack Craft Total Energies and DTU. The company flew a drone equipped with thermal cameras and artificial intelligence to inspect blades while they were still spinning. Uh, this is a pretty revolutionary concept being put into action right now ’cause I think everybody has talked about. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could keep the turbines running and, and get blade inspections done? Well, it looks like quality drone has done it. Uh, the system identifies surface defects and potential internal damage in real time and without any fiscal contact, of course, and without interrupting power generations. So as the technology is described, the drone just sits there. Steady as the blades rotate around. Uh, the technology comes from the Aquatic GO Project, uh, funded by Denmark’s, EUDP program. RDBE has [00:15:00] confirmed plans to expand use of the technology and quality. Drone says it has commercial solutions ready for the market. Now we have all have questions about this. I think Joel, the first time I heard about this was probably a year and a half ago, two years ago in Amsterdam at one of the Blade conferences. And I said at the time, no way, but they, they do have a, a lot of data that’s available online. I, I’ve downloaded it and it’s being the engineer and looked at some of the videos and images they have produced. They from what is available and what I saw, there’s a couple of turbines at DTU, some smaller turbines. Have you ever been to Rust, Gilda and been to DTU? They have a couple of turbines on site, so what it looked like they were using one of these smaller turbines, megawatt or maybe smaller turbine. Uh, to do this, uh, trial on, but they had thermal movie images and standard, you know, video images from a drone. They were using [00:16:00] DGI and Maverick drones. Uh, pretty standard stuff, but I think the key comes in and the artificial intelligence bit. As you sit there and watch these blades go around, you gotta figure out where you are and what blades you’re looking at and try to splice these images together that I guess, conceptually would work. But there’s a lot of. Hurdles here still, right?  Joel Saxum: Yeah. You have to go, go back from data analysis and data capture and all this stuff just to the basics of the sensor technology. You immediately will run into some sensor problems. Sensor problems being, if you’re trying to capture an image or video with RGB as a turbine is moving. There’s just like you, you want to have bright light, a huge sensor to be able to capture things with super fast shutter speed. And you need a global shutter versus a rolling shutter to avoid some more of that motion blur. So there’s like, you start stepping up big time in the cost of the sensors and you have to have a really good RGB camera. And then you go to thermal. So now thermal to have to capture good [00:17:00]quality thermal images of a wind turbine blade, you need backwards conditions than that. You need cloudy day. You don’t want to have shine sheen bright sunlight because you’re changing the heat signature of the blade. You are getting, uh, reflectance, reflectance messes with thermal imagery, imaging sensors. So the ideal conditions are if you can get out there first thing in the morning when the sun is just coming up, but the sun’s kind of covered by clouds, um, that’s where you want to be. But then you say you take a pic or image and you do this of the front side of the blade, and then you go down to the backside. Now you have different conditions because there’s, it’s been. Shaded there, but the reason that you need to have the turbine in motion to have thermal data make sense is you need the friction, right? So you need a crack to sit there and kind of vibrate amongst itself and create a localized heat signature. Otherwise, the thermal [00:18:00] imagery doesn’t. Give you what you want unless you’re under the perfect conditions. Or you might be able to see, you know, like balsa core versus foam core versus a different resin layup and those kind of things that absorb heat at different rates. So you, you, you really need some specialist specialist knowledge to be able to assess this data as well. Allen Hall: Well, Yolanda, from the asset management side, how much money would you generate by keeping the turbines running versus turning them off for a standard? Drone inspection. What does that cost look like for a, an American wind farm, a hundred turbines, something like that. What is that costing in terms of power? Yolanda Padron: I mean, these turbines are small, right? So it’s not a lot to just turn it off for a second and, and be able to inspect it, right? Especially if you’re getting high quality images. I think my issues, a lot of this, this sounds like a really great project. It’s just. A lot of the current drone [00:19:00] inspections, you have them go through an AI filter, but you still, to be able to get a good quality analysis, you have to get a person to go through it. Right. And I think there’s a lot more people in the industry, and correct me if I’m wrong, that have been trained and can look through an external drone inspection and just look at the images and say, okay, this is what this is Then. People who are trained to look at the thermal imaging pictures and say, okay, this is a crack, or this is, you know, you have lightning damage or this broke right there. Uh, so you’d have to get a lot more specialized people to be able to do that. You can’t just, I mean, I wouldn’t trust AI right now to to be the sole. Thing going through that data. So you also have to get some sort of drone inspection, external drone inspection to be able to, [00:20:00] to quantify what exactly is real and what’s not. And then, you know, Joel, you alluded to it earlier, but you don’t have high quality images right now. Right? Because you have to do the thermal sensing. So if you’re. If you’re, if you don’t have the high quality images that you need to be able to go back, if, if, if you have an issue to send a team or to talk to your OE em or something, you, you’re missing out on a lot of information, so, so I think maybe it would be a good, right now as it stands, it would be a good, it, it’d be complimentary to doing the external drone inspections. I don’t think that they could fully replace them. Now.  Joel Saxum: Yeah, I think like going to your AI comment like that makes absolute sense because I mean, we’ve been doing external drone inspections for what, since 2016 and Yeah. And, and implementing AI and think about the data sets that, that [00:21:00] AI is trained on and it still makes mistakes regularly and it doesn’t matter, you know, like what provider you use. All of those things need a human in the loop. So think about the, the what exists for the data set of thermal imagery of blades. There isn’t one. And then you still have to have the therm, the human in the loop. And when we talk to like our, our buddy Jeremy Hanks over at C-I-C-N-D-T, when you start getting into NDT specialists, because that’s what this is, is a form of NDT thermal is when you start getting into specialist, specialist, specialist, specialist, they become more expensive, more specialized. It’s harder to do. Like, I just don’t think, and if you do the math on this, it’s like. They did this project for two years and spent 2 million US dollars per year for like 4 million US dollars total. I don’t think that’s the best use of $4 million right now. Wind,  Allen Hall: it’s a drop in the bucket. I think in terms of what the spend is over in Europe to make technologies better. Offshore wind is the first thought because it is expensive to turn off a 15 or 20 megawatt turbine. You don’t want to do that [00:22:00] and be, because there’s fewer turbines when you turn one off, it does matter all of a sudden in, in terms of the grid, uh, stability, you would think so you, you just a loss of revenue too. You don’t want to shut that thing down. But I go, I go back. To what I remember from a year and a half ago, two years ago, about the thermal imaging and, and seeing some things early on. Yeah, it can kind of see inside the blade, which is interesting to me. The one thing I thought was really more valuable was you could actually see turbulence on the blade. You can get a sense of how the blade is performing because you can in certain, uh, aspect angles and certain temp, certain temperature ranges. You can see where friction builds up via turbulence, and you can see where you have problems on the blade. But I, I, I think as we were learning about. Blade problems, aerodynamic problems, your losses are going to be in the realm of a percent, maybe 2%. So do you even care at that point? It, it must just come down then to being able to [00:23:00] keep a 15 megawatt turbine running. Okay, great. Uh, but I still think they’re gonna have some issues with the technology. But back to your point, Joel, the camera has to be either super, uh, sensitive. With high shutter speeds and the, and the right kind of light, because the tiff speeds are so high on a tiff speed on an offshore turbine, what a V 2 36 is like 103 meters per second. That’s about two hundred and twenty two hundred thirty miles per hour. You’re talking about a race car and trying to capture that requires a lot of camera power. I’m interested about what Quality Drone is doing. I went to that website. There’s not a lot of information there yet. Hopefully there will be a lot more because if the technology proves out, if they can actually pull this off where the turbines are running. Uh, I don’t know if to stop ’em. I think they have a lot of customers [00:24:00]offshore immediately, but also onshore. Yeah, onshore. I think it’s, it’s doable  Joel Saxum: just because you can. I’m gonna play devil’s advocate on this one because on the commercial side, because it took forever for us to even get. Like it took 3, 4, 5, 6 years for us to get to the point where you’re having a hundred percent coverage of autonomous drones. And that was only because they only need to shut a turbine down for 20 minutes now. Right. The speed’s up way up. Yeah. And, and now we’re, we’re trying to get internals and a lot of people won’t even do internals. I’ve been to turbines where the hatches haven’t been open on the blades since installation, and they’re 13 years, 14 years old. Right. So trying to get people just to do freaking internals is difficult. And then if they do, they’re like, ah, 10% of the fleet. You know, you have very rare, or you know, a or an identified serial of defect where people actually do internal inspections regularly. Um, and then, so, and, and if you talk about advanced inspection techniques, advanced inspection techniques are great for specific problems. That’s the only thing they’re being [00:25:00] accepted for right now. Like NDT on route bushing pullouts, right? They, that’s the only way that you can really get into those and understand them. So specific specialty inspection techniques are being used in certain ways, but it’s very, very, very limited. Um, and talk to anybody that does NDT around the wind industry and they’ll tell you that. So this to me, being a, another kind of niche inspection technology that I don’t know if it’s has the quality that it is need to. To dismount the incumbent, I guess is what I’m trying to say. Allen Hall: Delamination and bond line failures and blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become a. Expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections [00:26:00] completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions. After five years of development, Alliant Energy is ready to build one of Wisconsin’s largest wind farms. The Columbia Wind Project in Columbia County would put more than 40 turbines across rural farmland generating about 270 megawatts of power for about 100,000 homes. The price tag is roughly $730 million for the project. The more than 300 landowners have signed lease agreements already, and the company says these are next generation turbines. We’re not sure which ones yet, we’re gonna talk about that, that are taller and larger than older models. Uh, they’ll have to be, [00:27:00] uh, Alliant estimates the project will save customers about $450 million over the 35 years by avoiding volatile fuel costs and. We’ll generate more than $100 million in local tax revenue. Now, Joel, I think everybody in Europe, when I talk to them ask me the the same thing. Is there anything happening onshore in the US for wind? And the answer is yes all the time. Onshore wind may not be as prolific as it was a a year or two ago, but there’s still a lot of new projects, big projects going to happen here. Joel Saxum: Yeah. If you’ve been following the news here with Alliant Energy, and Alliant operates in that kind of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, that upper. Part of the Midwest, if you have watched a or listened to Alliant in the news lately, they recently signed a letter of intent for one gigawatt worth of turbines from Nordex.[00:28:00] And, uh, before the episode here, we’re doing a little digging to try to figure out what they’re gonna do with this wind farm. And if you start doing some math, you see 277 megawatts, only 40 turbines. Well, that means that they’ve gotta be big, right? We’re looking at six plus megawatt turbines here, and I did a little bit deeper digging, um, in the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s paperwork. Uh, the docket for this wind farm explicitly says they will be nordex turbines. So to me, that speaks to an N 1 63 possibly going up. Um, and that goes along too. Earlier in the episode we talked about should you use larger turbines and less of them. I think that that’s a way to appease local landowners. That’s my opinion. I don’t know if that’s the, you know, landman style sales tactic they used publicly, but to only put 40 wind turbines out. Whereas in the past, a 280 megawatt wind farm would’ve been a hundred hundred, [00:29:00]20, 140 turbine farm. I think that’s a lot easier to swallow as a, as a, as a local public. Right. But to what you said, Alan. Yeah, absolutely. When farms are going forward, this one’s gonna be in central Wisconsin, not too far from Wisconsin Dells, if you know where that is and, uh, you know, the, the math works out. Alliant is, uh, a hell of a developer. They’ve been doing a lot of big things for a lot of long, long time, and, uh, they’re moving into Wisconsin here on this one. Allen Hall: What are gonna be some of the challenges, Yolanda being up in Wisconsin because it does get really cold and others. Icing systems that need to be a applied to these blades because of the cold and the snow. As Joel mentioned, there’s always like 4, 5, 6 meters of snow in Wisconsin during January, February. That’s not an easy environment for a blade or or turbine to operate in.  Yolanda Padron: I think they definitely will. Um, I’m. Not as well versed as Rosie as [00:30:00] in the Canadian and colder region icing practices. But I mean, something that’s great for, for people in Wisconsin is, is Canada who has a lot of wind resources and they, I mean, a lot of the things have been tried, tested, and true, right? So it’s not like it’s a, it’s a novel technology in a novel place necessarily because. On the cold side, you have things that have been a lot worse, really close, and you have on the warm side, I mean just in Texas, everything’s a lot warmer than there. Um, I think something that’s really exciting for the landowners and the just in general there. I know sometimes there’s agreements that have, you know, you get a percentage of the earnings depending on like how many. Megawatts are generated on your land or something. So that will be so great for that community to be able [00:31:00] to, I mean, you have bigger turbines on your land, so you have probably a lot more money coming into the community than just to, to alliance. So that’s, that’s a really exciting thing to hear.  Allen Hall: That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s discussion, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show For Rosie, Yolanda and Joel, I’m Allen Hall and we’ll see you next time on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

In this episode of Energy Transition Today, Leonard and Maja start with the fallout from the UK's AR7 offshore wind auction, looking at record awarded volumes alongside cancelled projects and growing strain on the development pipeline. They then turn to Poland, where RP Global is progressing a highly leveraged, largely merchant onshore wind project, highlighting rising lender confidence in Central and Eastern Europe. The focus moves to the Netherlands and its decision to introduce a temporary one sided CfD to relaunch a 1GW offshore tender and rebuild investor appetite. The episode also examines Germany's newly approved gas capacity programme and what it means for system security, before closing with the surge in battery storage investment, including major equity and debt financings for terralayr in Germany and Greenvolt's grid scale project in Hungary.Hosts: Maya Chavvakula and Leonard MüllerThis epsiode was edited by Leonard Müller. Reach out to us at: podcasts@inspiratia.comFind all of our latest news and analysis by subscribing to inspiratia For tickets to our events email conferences@inspiratia.com or buy them directly on our website. Listen to all our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other providers. Music credit: NDA/Show You instrumental/Tribe of Noise©2025 inspiratia. All rights reserved.This content is protected by copyright. Please respect the author's rights and do not copy or reproduce it without permission.

Steffan Szumowski, a 16-year US Nuclear Navy veteran and author of "The Nuclear Review," joins the show to discuss the accelerating momentum of the domestic nuclear industry under the current administration. The conversation covers the Department of Energy's ambitious "breakneck" push to have three new reactors attain criticality by July 4, 2026, supported by new pilot programs for both reactors and fuel. Szumowski explains the strategic effort to onshore the supply chain by awarding $900 million contracts to companies like Centris and Orano to build domestic enrichment capacity and eliminate reliance on Russian supply. The guests explore how the massive power needs of AI data centers are driving "hyperscaler" deals with advanced reactor companies like Oklo and TerraPower, even as debate continues over the future of large-scale AP1000 deployments. Szumowski shares insights from his experience operating submarine reactors and highlights why real engineering progress is the only way to win the race among 126 different small modular reactor designs.Support for this podcast and all of Clear Commodity Network comes from TerraHutton.

Today's phone-in: we discuss holiday drinks, cocktails and mocktails, with a sommelier and a purveyor of non-alcoholic cocktails. And off the top, the NS government is exploring the onshore gas industry again, but not everyone is on board. Plus, we hear about meals and memories on PEI.

Trent Mell, President, CEO, and Founder of Electra Battery Materials Corporation (NASDAQ: ELBM) (TSX-V: ELBM), joins me for a comprehensive overview the value proposition for the Company, as a leader in advancing North America's critical minerals supply chain for lithium-ion batteries and for the defense industry.   Electra's primary focus is constructing North America's only hydrometallurgical facility capable of refining  cobalt sulfate, and it has an operating history of previously producing cobalt carbonate and nickel carbonate. This is part of a phased strategy to onshore critical minerals refining and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. Electra's cobalt sulfate refinery is located in Ontario, Canada, near some of the largest auto manufacturing centers in North America.   Electra is also advancing black mass recycling opportunities to recover critical materials from end-of-life batteries, while continuing to evaluate growth opportunities in nickel refining and other downstream battery materials like lithium and graphite.   Trent reviewed their strategic government-backed infrastructure with support from U.S. Department of War, the Government of Canada, and the Invest Ontario program. The Company has in place 2 key feedstock contracts with Glencore and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), as well as commercial offtake agreements with LG Energy Solution and off-book government and manufacturing organizations.   In addition to the main opportunity and contracts in place to feed the refinery, Electra holds a significant land package in Idaho's Cobalt Belt, including its Iron Creek project and surrounding properties, positioning the Company as a potential cornerstone for North American cobalt and copper production. The potential exists to add future Idaho feedstock to supplement the Ontario refining, to add in the processing of nickel sulfate, in addition to the battery recycling expansion opportunity.   If you have any further questions for Trent regarding Electra Battery Materials Corp, then please email them into me at  Shad@kereport.com.   Click here to follow the latest news from Electra Battery Materials Corp   For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:   The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/ Shad's resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/     Investment disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

Allen, Joel, and Yolanda recap the UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Spotlight in Edinburgh and Great British Energy’s £1 billion manufacturing push. Plus Ørsted’s European onshore wind sale, Xocean’s unmanned survey tech at Moray West, and why small suppliers must scale or risk being left behind. 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! You are listening to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by build turbines.com. Learn, train, and be a part of the Clean Energy Revolution. Visit build turbines.com today. Now, here’s your host. Allen Hall, Joel Saxon, Phil Totaro, and Rosemary Barnes. Allen Hall: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host Allen Hall in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Queen City. I have Yolanda Pone and Joel Saxon back in Austin, Texas. Rosemary Barnes is taking the week off. We just got back from Scotland, Joel and I did, and we had a really great experience at the UK offshore wind supply chain spotlight 2025 in Edinburgh, where we met with a number of wind energy suppliers and technology advocates. A Joel Saxum: lot going on there, Joel. Yeah. One of the really cool things I enjoyed about that, um, get together the innovation spotlight. [00:01:00] One, the way they had it set up kind of an exhibition space, but not really an exhibition. It was like just a place to gather and everybody kind of had their own stand, but it was more how can we facilitate this conversation And then in the same spot, kind of like we’ve seen in other conferences, the speaking slots. So you could be kind of one in ear, oh one in year here, listening to all the great things that they’re doing. But having those technical conversations. And I guess the second thing I wanted to share was. Thank you to all of the, the UK companies, right? So the, all the Scottish people that we met over there, all the people from, from England and, and around, uh, the whole island there, everybody was very, very open and wanting to have conversations and wanting to share their technology, their solutions. Um, how they’re helping the industry or, or what other people can do to collaborate with them to help the industry. That’s what a lot of this, uh, spotlight was about. So from our, our seat, um, that’s something that we, you know, of course with the podcast, we’re always trying to share collaboration, kind of breed success for everybody. So kudos to the ORE [00:02:00] Catapult for putting that event on. Allen Hall: Yeah, a big thing. So, or Catapult, it was a great event. I’ve met a lot of people that I’ve only known through LinkedIn, so it’s good to see them face to face and. Something that we’ve had on the podcast. So we did a number of podcast recordings while we’re there. They’ll be coming out over the next several weeks, so stay tuned for it. You know, one of the main topics at that event in Edinburg was the great British Energy announcement. This is huge, Joel. Uh, so, you know, you know, the United Kingdoms has been really pushing offshore wind ambitions for years, but they don’t have a lot of manufacturing in country. Well, that’s all about the change. Uh, great British energy. Which is a government backed energy company just unveiled a 1 billion pound program called Energy Engineered in the uk, and their mission is pretty straightforward. Build it in the uk, employ people in the uk, and keep the economic benefits of the clean energy transition on British soil. 300 million pounds of that is really [00:03:00] going to be focused on supply chain immediately. That can happen in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. It’s a big promotion for the UK on the wind energy side. I see good things coming out of this. What were your thoughts when you heard that Joel Saxum: announcement, Joel? The offshore wind play. Right. It’s like something like this doesn’t happen to economies very often. Right. It’s not very often that we have like this just new industry that pops outta nowhere. Right. We’re, we’re not making, you know, it’s like when, when. Automotive industry popped up in the, you know, the early 19 hundreds. Like that was this crazy new thing. It’s an industrial revolution. It’s all this new opportunity. So offshore wind in, in my idea, same kind of play, right? It’s this new thing or newer thing. Um, and as a government, um, coming together to say, Hey, this is happening. We have the resources here. We’re gonna be deploying these things here. Why would we not take advantage of building this here? I mean. Any politician that says I’m bringing jobs or I’m bringing in, you [00:04:00] know, um, bringing in funds to be able to prop up an industry or to, uh, you know, start a manufacturing facility here or support an engineering department here, um, to be able to take advantage of something like this. Absolutely right. Why offshore this stuff when you can do it Here, you’ve got the people, you have the engineering expertise. It’s your coastline. You’ve operated offshore. You know how to build them, operate ’em, all of these different things. Keep as much of that in-house as you can. I, I mean, we’ve, we’ve watched it in the US over the last few years. Kind of try to prop up a supply chain here as well. But, you know, with regulations and everything changing, it’s too risky to invest. What the, it looks like what the UK has seen over there is, well, we might as well invest here. We’ll throw the money at it. Let’s, let’s make it happen on our shores. The Allen Hall: comparison’s obvious to the IRA Bill Yolanda and the IRA bill came out, what, A little over two years ago, three years ago, roughly. We didn’t see a lot of activity [00:05:00] on the manufacturing side of building new factories to do wind. In fact, there was a lot of talk about it initially and then it. It really died down within probably a year or so. Uh, you know, obviously it’s not a universal statement. There were some industries model piles and some steelworks and that kind of thing that would would happen. But sometimes these exercises are a little treacherous and hard to walk down. What’s your thoughts on the UK government stepping in and really. Putting their money where the mouth is. Yolanda Padron: I think it’s, I mean, it’s, it’s great, right? It’s great for the industry. It’ll, it’ll be a great case, I think, for us to look at just moving forward and to, like you said, government’s putting their money where their mouth is and what exactly that means. You know, not something where it’s a short term promise and then things get stalled, or corporations start looking [00:06:00] elsewhere. If every player works the way that they’re, it’s looking like they’re going to play right now, then it, it could be a really good thing for the industry. Allen Hall: Well, the, the United States always did it in a complicated way through tax policy, which means it runs through the IRS. So any bill that passes Congress and gets signed by the president, they like to run through the IRS, and then they make the tax regulations, which takes six months to 12 months, and then when they come out, need a tax attorney to tell you what is actually written and what it means. Joel, when we went through the IRA bill, we went through it a couple of times actually, and we were looking for those great investments in new technology companies. I just remember seeing it. That isn’t part of the issue, the complexity, and maybe that’s where GB Energy is trying to do something different where there’s trying to simplify the process. Joel Saxum: Yeah. The complexity of the problem over here is like that. With any. Business type stuff, right? Even when you get to the stage of, um, oh, this is a write off, this is this [00:07:00] for small businesses and those things, so it’s like a delayed benefit. You gotta plan for this thing. Or there’s a tax credit here, there. Even when we had the, um, the electric vehicle tax credits for, uh, individuals, right? That wasn’t not something you got right away. It was something you had to apply for and that was like later on and like could be. 15 months from now before you see anything of it. And so it’s all kind of like a difficult muddy water thing in the i a bill. You’re a hundred percent correct. Right. Then we passed that thing. We didn’t have the, the rules locked down for like two years. Right. And I remember we had, we had a couple experts on the podcast talking about that, and it was like, oh, the 45 x and the 45 y and the, the C this and the be that, and it was like. You needed to have a degree in this thing to figure it out, whereas the, what it sounds like to me, right, and I’m not on the inside of this policy, I dunno exactly how it’s getting executed. What it sounds like to me is this is more grant based or, and or loan program based. So it’s kinda like, hey, apply and we’ll give you the money, or we’ll fund a loan that supports some money of with low interest, zero [00:08:00] interest, whatever that may be. Um, that seems like a more direct way, one to measure ROI. Right, and or to get things done. Just just to get things done. Right. If someone said, Hey, hey, weather guard, lightning Tech. We have a grant here. We’d like to give you a hundred grand to do this. Or it was like, yeah, if you put this much effort in and then next year tax season you might see this and this and this. It’s like, I don’t have time to deal with that. Yolanda Padron: Yeah. We might also just change the rules on you a little bit, and then maybe down the line we’ll see where we go. Yeah. It does seem like they’re, they’re setting up the dominoes to fall in place a bit better. This way. Yeah, absolutely. Joel Saxum: That’s a, that’s a great way to put it, Yolanda. Let’s setting up the dominoes to fall in place. So it’s kinda like, Hey. These are the things we want to get done. This is what we wanna do as an industry. Here’s a pool of money for it, and here’s how you get access to it. Allen Hall: A lot’s gonna change. I remember, was it a couple of months ago, maybe, maybe a year ago, time flies guys. Uh, we were just talking about. That on the way home from [00:09:00]Scotland, like how many people have had in the podcast? It’s a lot over 60 have been on the podcast as guests. Uh, one of the people we want to have on is, uh, Dan McGrail, who’s the CEO of Great British Energy because, uh, we had talked about with Rosemary the possibility of building turbines all in. The uk, they have blade factories. All this stuff is doable, right? They have technology. This is not complicated work. It just needs to be set up and run. And maybe this is the goal is to just run, it may maybe not be OEM focused. I I, that’s what I’m trying to sort through right now as, is it vestas focused? Is it GE focused? Is it Siemens Keesa focused? Is there a focus or will these turbines have GB energy? Stamped on the side of them. I would Joel Saxum: see love to see support for sub-component suppliers. Yeah, I would too. Yeah. The reason being is, is like that’s, that’s more near and dear to my heart. That’s what [00:10:00] I’ve done in my career, is been a part of a lot of different, smaller businesses that are really making a difference by putting in, you know, great engineering comes from small businesses. That’s one of my, my things that I’ve always seen. It seems to be easier to get things done. In a different way with a small business than it does to engineering by committee with 50 people on a team faster, sometimes better. Uh, that’s just my experience, right? So I would like to see these smaller businesses propped up, because again, we need the OEMs. Yes, absolutely. But also spread it around, right? Spread the wealth a little bit. Uh, you know, a, a factory here, a factory there, a engineering facility here. The, uh, you know, an execution plant here. Some things like that. I would love to see more of these kind of, uh, spread around like the, like GB energy’s money spreads around, like fairy dust. Just kind of plant a little here, plant a little in this city, make a little here, instead of just lumping it to one or lumping it into one big, um, OEM. And that doesn’t necessarily [00:11:00] have to be an OEM, right? It could be a blade manufacturer that I’m talking about, or. Or a big, big gearbox thing or something like that. We need those things, and I, I’m all for support for them, but I just don’t think that all of its support should go to them. Speaker 7: Australia’s wind farms are growing fast, but are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Poolman on the park for Wind Energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at W OM a 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by Wind Professionals for wind professionals because this industry needs solutions, not speeches. Allen Hall: If you haven’t booked your tickets to Wind Energy o and m Australia 2026, you need to be doing [00:12:00] that. Today, uh, the event is on February 17th and 18th in Melbourne, Australia. Uh, we’ll have experts from around the world talking everything o and m, and there’s so many good people are gonna be on the agenda, Joel, and a lot of big companies sponsoring this Joel Saxum: year. Allen Hall: You want to give us a highlight? Joel Saxum: Yeah, so like you said, Alan, we have a ton of sponsors going to be there and, and I’d like to say the sponsors. Thank you ahead of time. Of course. Right. We’re, we’re, we’re super excited for them to get involved because as we’ve put this event together. We’re trying to do this no sales pitches, right? So we wanna do this, not pay to play. We want people here that are going to actually share and learn from each other. And the sponsors have been kind enough to get on board with that message and follow through with it. So, like our lead industry sponsor Tilt, uh, Brandon, the team over there, fantastic. Um, they have, they’re, they’re the, their key sponsor here and they’re supporting a lot of this. So the money’s going to applying in experts from all over the [00:13:00] world, putting this thing together. Uh, so we have an, uh. A forum to be able to talk at, uh, C-I-C-N-D-T. From here in the States, uh, we’ve got Palisades, who’s another operator in the, uh, Australian market, uh, rig com. ISP over there doing blade work and it just keeps rolling down. We’ve got squadron on board, squadron’s gonna do one of the coffee carts. Um, so I know that we’ve got a limited bit of tickets left. I think we are 250 in the venue and that’s what the plan is. I think we’re sitting at about half of that leftover. Allen Hall: Yeah, it’s getting close to running out. And I know in Australia everybody likes to purchase their tickets at the last minute. That’s great. And but you don’t wanna miss out because there is limited seating to this event. And you wanna go to WMA w om a 2020 six.com. Look at all the activities. Book some tickets. Plan to book your travel if you’re traveling from the United States or elsewhere. You need a couple of weeks [00:14:00]hopefully to do that ’cause that’s when the airline prices are lower. If you can book a a couple of weeks ahead of time. So now’s the time to go on Woma 2020 six.com. Check out the conference, get your tickets purchased, start buying your airline tickets, and get in your hotel arranged. Now’s the time to do that. Well, as you know, war has been selling off pieces of itself after setbacks in the America market. Uh, sounds like two heavyweight bidders are looking for one of those pieces. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and ENG G are allegedly competing for Seds European. Onshore Wind business, a portfolio valued at roughly 1 billion euros. Supposedly the bids are gonna be due this week, although nothing is certain in a billion dollar deals. This is a little bit odd. I understand why Stead is doing it, because they’re, they’re trying to fundraise, but if they do this. They will be essentially European offshore wind only [00:15:00] with some American onshore and a little bit American offshore. Not much. Uh, that will be their future. Are they gonna stay with America one onshore or, and American offshore? Is that a thing? Or they just could, could be all European offshore wind. Is that where Osted is headed? It’s a complicated mix because, you know, they’re, they’re, they’ve negotiated a couple of other deals. Most recently to raise cash. They’re supposedly selling, uh, another set of wind farms. I dunno how official that is, but it’s, it seems like there’s some news stories percolating up out there trying to raise more cash by selling large percentages of offshore wind farms. Where does Joel Saxum: this all end? I don’t know. The interesting thing is like if you looked at Ted, uh, man, two years ago, like if you Googled anything or used a jet, GPT or whatever it was like, gimme the. Three largest wind operators in the world. They were the top three all the time. Right. And, and most valuable. At one point in time, they were worth like, [00:16:00] uh, I don’t wanna say the wrong number, but I, I thought, I thought 25 billion or something like that. They were worth. ATS at one point in time. Market share. Allen Hall: Yeah, Joel Saxum: I think that seems right. So like they, they were huge and it just seems like, yeah, they’re trying to survive, but in survival mode, they’ve just kind, they’re just dwindling themselves down to being just o just a small offshore company. And, or not small, but a small, just a, just a siloed offshore company. A large offshore company. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, like, even just, there was, there’s another article, um. Today we’re, we’re talking here, CIP and Engie looking to buy their European onshore business. They’ve also are putting up like, uh, was it greater Ang of four in Taiwan for, for sale as well. So, I mean, like you said, where does it stop? I don’t know. Um, CIP is an interesting play. Uh, an Eng, CIP and Engie kind of battling this one out ’cause the CIP management team is a bunch of ex or said people, so they know that play very well. Um, ENGIE of course, being a big French [00:17:00] utility. So that one will sell, right? They’re, their European offshore or onshore assets will be gone shortly. Uh, they’ll be sitting with a bunch of offshore assets that they own and partially own around the world. Uh, and of course their, their, I think their US onshore fleet is about a gigawatt, maybe a and a half. Um, that could be the next domino to fall. You don’t, I, sorry, Yolanda, I used your, your, your, uh, euphemism from before, but, um. That they’re actively parting ways with some stuff. I don’t know when it stops. Allen Hall: It is odd, right? EOR has basically stopped a lot of renewables. Stat Craft has pulled back quite a bit. Another Norwegian company. A lot of the nor Northern European companies are slowing down in wind altogether, trying to stick to onshore for the most part. Offshore will still be developed, but just not at the pace that it needed to be developed. There is a lot of money moving around. Billions [00:18:00] and billions of, of euros and dollars moving. And I guess my, my thought is, I’m not sure from a market standpoint where Orid is headed, or even Ecuador for that matter, besides maybe moving back into oil and gas. They never really left it. The direction of the company is a little unknown because these, uh, news articles about sales. Are not really prefaced, right? It’s just like, all right, Taiwan, we’re selling more than 50% of the projects in Taiwan. We’re out, we’re selling European onshore pow, which there’d been some rumors about that, that I had heard, but nothing was really locked in, obviously, until you really start seeing some reliable news sources. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is an interesting play just because it kind of keeps it. Up in Denmark and not in France with Engie. That’s what I’m, in my [00:19:00] head. I’m thinking Sted is not likely to sell it to Engie just because they’re French. This is a national, uh, security issue for Denmark Sted. Is it, I I how Engie is involved in this maybe to help set a, a baseline of what the valuation is so that CIP can then purchase it. Do you see CIP losing this, Joel? Joel Saxum: No, I don’t think so. I think, yeah, I think CCIP has to land with this one and, and CI P’s been building a portfolio quietly, building a, not, I guess not quietly, they’ve been building a portfolio for the last few years. It’s pretty stout, uh, pretty fairly sizable. Right? And it, it’s an interesting play watching this for me because you, you see all these people kind of rotating out. And it, and it has to do with the, the, in my opinion, it has to do with the macroeconomics of things, right? Once, when you develop something and you get through, like in, into the teething pain cycle and all that kind of stuff. [00:20:00] The asset is not designed to have a 50, 70%, you know, margin, right? That’s not how wind works. Wind, wind operates of small margins and a lot of times in the early, a early stages of a project, you end up running into issues that eat those margins away. So when you’re talking about small margins, they’re six to 10% is what you kind of see. Um, and it’s pretty easy to eat away a 6% or a 10% margin. If you have some kind of serial defect you have to deal with, uh, or that, that the OEM’s fighting you on and, and you know, whether or not they take responsibility for it or you have to pay for it. A lot of times those processes can drag out for 12, 24, 36 months until you get made whole. So the early state, the first, you know, five years of a lot of these projects, five to eight years, are very expensive. And then once you get through kind of those things and the thing starts just chugging. Then you actually are starting to make money, and that’s where CIP P’S buying these assets is in that years after it’s gone through its teething pains and the company that developed it is like, man, [00:21:00] we need to get outta this thing. We’ve just been burning through cash. Then CI P’s kinda swooping in and grabbing ’em. And I think that this is another one of those plays. Allen Hall: So they’re gonna live with a smaller margin or they’re gonna operate the assets differently. Joel Saxum: The assets may be being operated better now than they were when they started, just in that, in, they exist, the starting company simply because the, some of the issues have been solved. They’ve been sorted through the things where you have early, early failures of bearings or some stuff like the early fairings of gearboxes. Those things have been sorted out, so then CIP swoops in and grabs them after the, the teething issues that have been gone. Allen Hall: Does evaluation change greatly because of the way horse did, manages their assets? Up or down? Joel Saxum: I would say generally it would go up. Yeah. I don’t necessarily think it’s dependent on o and m right now. I think it’s just a, it’s a time to buy cheap assets, right? Like you see, you see over here in the States, you see a lot of acquisitions going on. People divesting, they’re not divesting because they’re like, oh, we’re gonna make a ton of money off this. They may need the cash. They’re [00:22:00] divesting in, in, um, what’s the term, like under duress? A lot of them, it may not look like it from the outside in a big way, but that’s kind of what’s happening. Yolanda Padron: Yeah, I think it’ll be really interesting to see, uh, you know, there were a lot of layoffs in Ted and Europe as well, so seeing if maybe some of the people who can make those assets perform better. Come back just with a different t-shirt on. Allen Hall: As wind energy professionals staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it difficult. That’s why the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES wind has the high quality content you need. Don’t miss out. Visit PES wind.com today in this quarter’s, PES Wind Magazine, which you can download a copy at PES [00:23:00] wind.com. There’s an article by Xan and they were, uh, contracted by Ocean Winds to evaluate the sea floor from. The sea floor at Moray West, which is way, way, way up north on the northern end of Scotland. A pretty rough area, Joel. And, but what ex Ocean did was they used unmanned survey equipment to monitor the ocean floor where the mono piles were gonna replace for the Moey West Wind Farm. That is a really difficult area to operate any sort of boat, but. Uh, the reason we’re doing this remotely unmanned was that it, it gave them sort of a, a less costly way to get high resolution images of the sea bottom. This is interesting because ocean wind was developing more a West apparently hadn’t used anything like this before, but the results, at [00:24:00] least from what I can see in PS win, look Joel Saxum: great. Yeah. This is a technology that’s been, um. Man, it’s been under development by a lot of companies in the last six, eight years. And now it’s starting to get to the point where it is, I mean, we’re, we’re TRL nine plus, right? There’s a lot of these solutions out there that are commercially ready. Xans been a top of this list since, man, since I was playing in that oil and gas world, to be honest with you. Like 20 18, 20 17, uh, really cool looking boats. That’s besides the point. Uh, but when they show up at trade shows and stuff with ’em, you’re like, ah, oh, that thing’s neat looking. Um, but it, it, it, it solves all kinds of problems, right? So when you go offshore and you’re just gonna do, say you’re just gonna go out there and do multibeam, so you’re just gonna do echo sound where you’re just looking to see depths and what’s on the sea floor. The minimum kind of vessel you need for that is 10 to 15 meters long. You need probably two to six people on that vessel. And that’s just, if you’re going out doing shift work, if you’re staying out there [00:25:00] and working 24 7, that vessel grows to. 30 meters instantly, right? So now you’re burning thousands and thousands of dollars in fuel. You’ve got food on board. You got all, it’s just a pain to put this vessel out there. You take all of those people out of harm’s way. You take all the costs away and they, and you put two of them, or one or two of them on shore in a facility, and then you put this three meter vessel out there that’s fully autonomous. No people, but collects the same style of data. I mean, it’s a no brainer, right? So you’re getting the same style of data and if, and the thing’s working 24 7, there is no need to have someone sleep. There’s a not a technician issue. There’s not, none of this is, is a problem anymore. Nobody’s getting seasick, right? So you’re sitting, you’re, you’re sitting back on shore, uh, going to work, uh, with no PPE on, um, having a, having a coffee from Starbucks down the street. And you’re running this thing 24 7, you’re collecting all [00:26:00] that fantastic data. Uh, it is just, like I said, it’s a no brainer. Now, now they’re getting to the stage where they’re putting ’em out as swarms, so you can cover whole fields. You’re doing live cable inspections. It’s, it’s pretty fantastic. So Exo ocean’s really making the next generation of robotics o offshore. Allen Hall: Yeah. And that’s gonna drive down the cost of energy. These kind of developments make huge strides in lowering costs, and this is why you need to read PES Win Magazine. So there’s a. Great articles all throughout the magazine. This quarter’s issue is, is Heavy with articles. Get your free copy@pswin.com today. As you know, in the wind industry, survival has always belonged to those who can keep up, uh, and Sorn freeze. Nuon knows better than most with his decades of experience at LM Wind Power and Uzon. He now chairs two Danish subcontractors, Polytech and Jupiter. Bach. Uh, his message to smaller suppliers in, in a recent article is. Pretty blunt. It [00:27:00]says the manufacturers, big OEMs want fewer partners and larger partners who can take on more responsibility. And if you cannot invest and grow with those manufacturers, you’ll be left behind the winners. It says it will be those who stay close to the turbine makers and adapt as the industry evolves. Joel, this is a really interesting discussion that, uh, Soren put out there. Obviously he’s invested in Polytech and Jupiter, Bach, uh, to great suppliers obviously, but small businesses are where a lot of the key technologies have been driven over the last five, six years. In wind, or more broadly the last 20 years in wind, a lot of great technology has come out of places that you wouldn’t have thought of. The OEMs have not been the bastion of innovation. I would say it [00:28:00] is necessary. You have both, wouldn’t you think? You have to have the small business innovation to prove out ideas and to show that they work, but you also have to have the large manufacturers to implement those ideas more broadly without either one of them, nobody wins. Joel Saxum: I fully agree and I think that one of the things that’s a little bit, uh, more of a granular comment there is. I think sometimes you need the OEMs and the other suppliers within the supply chain to open their doors a little bit, right? So this is, this is me wearing my, my small business, small innovative business, uh, in the wind industry cap. And that is, man, sometimes it is hard to get a conversation with a large subsupplier or with an OEM when you have something that can help them. And they just don’t want to communicate, don’t want to help. It’s just our way or the highway kind of thing. And if you watch, like we, so the podcast gives us an kind of, or not [00:29:00] gives us, it forces us to have kind of an op, an opportunity to look at, you know, what are the, what are the financial statements of some of these OEMs? What are the financial statements of some of their large sub-suppliers? You know? ’cause if they’re located in countries where that stuff is public knowledge, you can see how and what they’re doing. And if you, if you look at business in a general way where you rely on one customer or two customers to, for your whole business, you’re gonna be hurting. Um, especially in the way we look at things or what we’re seeing in the wind industry right now is if you’re, if you are a large company to say you do a hundred million in revenue and your customers are ge Vestas. Depending on what happens regulatory wise, in some random country somewhere your a hundred million dollars could shrink to 50 real quick. Um, so I don’t think that that’s a great way to do business. I think, you know, having a bit of diversification probably helps you a little bit. The OEMs Allen Hall: have a particular job to do. They need to deliver turbines onsite on time and create power for their customer. That’s our main [00:30:00] focus. They are a generator. Driven company, they make generators on steel towers with a propeller system basically. Right. Just simplify it way, way down. There’s not a lot of technology in that itself. Obviously there’s control systems, obviously there’s electronics involved, but the concept from this basic fundamentals is not difficult to to grasp. The difficulty is in execution. Showing that that product can last for 20 years, and that product can last in different environments. Australia, United States, up in Scandinavia, Canada, way down south and Brazil. There’s some really rough environments there and the OEMs are relying upon in industry, uh, guidance from like the IECs and then the dvs, uh, uls Tube. Nord. Uh. Bvs where they’re trying to make these turbines comply to a [00:31:00] set of essentially regulations, which just simplify it. You can do that. But as we have seen historically in the wind industry, if you make a turbine that just meets those requirements, you do not necessarily have a successful product. You have a product that is marginal, and as Yolanda has pointed out to me numerous times, there’s a lot of real issues in wind turbines. That probably could have been solved five years ago by small mobile companies with outside of the box ideas that could have given the OEMs a huge advantage, especially in blades. Yolanda Padron: Yeah, and I think a lot of these companies are, they’re looking at things from a different point of view, right? They’re smaller companies. You have people who could know the product, they know the real issue that’s going on on the ground. They know. Kind of what they need to do, what the next step is to move forward in their solution.[00:32:00] Right? But it’s not like it’s a, a company where you need 30 people to sign off before you can go onto the next stage, and then you need 30 more people to sign off before you can get funding to do something else. And so yes, the OEMs are doing a good job in their scope. If they’re meeting their scope, they are doing a good job. You know, if I, if I take like bread and cheese, then yes, I have a sandwich, right? Like, it might not be the best sandwich in the world, but I have a sandwich. So like, they’re making the sandwich and that’s great. But if you want something to, to actually work and to last and to, to give everybody else the, the idea that. You know, wind is profitable and we can all benefit from it. You have to get all those different layers in there, right? You have to make [00:33:00] sure that you know, if you have a big lightning issue, then you get the right people in the room to get that retrofit in there to solve your lightning issue. If you have a big leading edge erosion issue, then you get those right people in the room to solve everything, and it’s not always going to be a one size fits all. Right, but you do need those smaller companies to, to be in the room with you. Joel Saxum: I’m a hundred percent agreeing with you, Yolanda, and I think that this is the issue here is that at some level then an OEM, an OEM engineering head would have to admit that they’re not the end all be all, and that they may have got a couple of things wrong. And what, what I would love to see and who, and maybe maybe ask you this question, who of the major four Western OEMs. Do you think would be open to like an industry advisory board? Nordex, you think it’s Nordex? I think Yolanda Padron: that’s the closest one so far that we’ve seen. Right? Joel Saxum: Yeah. I, I, I agree with you, and I’m saying that because I don’t think any of the other ones would ever admit that they have an [00:34:00] issue, right? They have attorneys and they have problems, Allen Hall: so they really can’t, but I, I think internally they know that they haven’t optimized their production, they haven’t optimized their performance out in the field. They’re trying to improve availability, that’s for sure. Estes has spent a great deal of time over the last year or two improving availability so that the money is being spent. The question is, do they have all the right answers or the overspending to get to the availability that they want to deliver to their customers? That’s a great question because I do think that we we’re just in Scotland and there’s a number of technology companies in the UK that I think, wow, they should be implementing some of these. Ideas and these products that have been proven, especially the ones that have been out for a couple of years, they should be implemented tomorrow, but they’re not yet because they can’t get through the door of an OEM because the OEM doesn’t want to hear it. Joel Saxum: Yeah, agreed. Agreed. Right. Well, well, like I, the, the, the example that keeps popping into my mind is Pete Andrews and the team over [00:35:00] at Echo Bolt, simply because they have a solution that works. It’s simple. They’ve done the legwork to make sure that this thing can be optimized and utilized by technicians in the field around the world. But they, it just like, they haven’t gotten the buy-in from, from whoever, uh, that it seems to be, you know, there’s a hurdle here. Uh, and that hurdle may be the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know. Uh, but I would love to see, I would love to see their, uh, solution for bolted connections, uh, and monitoring bolted connections kicked around the world because I think you could save. Uh, the wind industry a ton, a ton, a ton of money. And that is an example of a small business full of subject matter experts that made a solution that can solve a problem, whether you’re an OEM or you’re an operator or whatever. There’s there that’s there, utilize them, right? Those are the kind of things that we need in this industry. Yolanda Padron: And it’s also those smaller companies too that will look at your feedback and then they’ll say, oh. Okay, do I need to adjust here? [00:36:00] Did I not focus on this one parameter that your specific site has? Right. And you don’t see that from the OEMs ’cause they have so, uh, they have so many problems that they’re trying to tackle at once that it gets really difficult to, not just to hone in on one, but to, to tell everybody, oh, I, I have this perfect solution for everything. Here you go. Allen Hall: Right. I think there’s an internal conflict in the engineering departments and manufacturing departments of any OEM, regardless if it’s in wind or in any other industry, is that they have a system to make this product and they’re pretty confident in it, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. They don’t want to hear outside noise is I, I would describe it as noise. Like, uh, if you have a great solution that would help out their manufacturing process. But I work here, I know how, I know the ins and outs that that new idea by a small company won’t work here. Those [00:37:00] barriers have to be knocked down internally in the OEMs. The OEM management should be going through and saying, Hey, look, if I find me the manager of this operation, if I find a company that could help us and save us money, and you’re being a roadblock, guess what? See ya. Hit the road because there is no way you can let those opportunities pass you by. In today’s marketplace, you need to be grabbing hold of every opportunity to lower your cost, to improve your product availability, to improve your relationship with your customers. How do you do that? Quickly, you look at the companies that are providing solutions and you grab them, grab them, and hold on for your life and listen to what they have to say because they have probably done more research into your product than your people have. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you [00:38:00] found value in today’s discussion, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show and we’ll catch you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Terra-Gen's 238.5 MW project in Texas is now fully operational and the Philippines just awarded approvals for more than 10 GWs of renewables. Plus Nordex and Siemens Gamesa are optimistic about their future. 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! There's news from the wind industry this week. And for once... the headlines tell a story of growth. Down in Hidalgo County, Texas... something worth celebrating happened this week. Terra-Gen commissioned the Monte Cristo ONE Windpower Project. Two hundred thirty-eight-point-five megawatts. Fully operational. The wind facility will generate more than 850 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity every year. Enough to power roughly 81,000 homes. And the power? Already sold. Long-term purchase agreements with two corporate customers. Construction created about 280 jobs at peak activity. More than 490,000 work hours. Not one lost-time incident. They upgraded 11 miles of state roads. Twenty-five miles of county roads. Over its lifetime... the project will deliver more than 100 million dollars to the local community. Property taxes. Landowner payments. Other economic contributions. "It is an honor," said John O'Connor, Chief Financial Officer for Terra-Gen, "to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of men and women who made the commissioning of the Monte Cristo wind project possible." Meanwhile... halfway around the world in the Philippines... the government just awarded approvals for more than 10 gigawatts of renewable power. That's ten-point-two gigawatts, to be exact. One hundred twenty-three winning bidders. Solar. Storage. And wind. Onshore wind alone claimed two-point-five gigawatts of that capacity. Twenty-one projects. All set to deliver power by 2029. The Philippines is targeting 50 percent renewable generation by 2040. And they're not waiting around. The "overwhelming response," said the department of energy, "reflects the growing confidence of investors." Back in Europe... in Germany... Nordex is making moves. The turbine manufacturer just secured orders for 123 megawatts from Denkerwulf. Twenty-five onshore wind turbines. Installation begins in 2027. Commissioning in 2028. And Nordex shares? They're climbing. Hit a multi-year high this week. Trading at 28 euros and 2 cents. Denkerwulf'S orders for Nordex in 2025 now total nearly 144 megawatts. And last week... Mingyang signed a contract with ORE Catapult... a state-owned British test center. They're going to test main bearings for Mingyangs offshore 18.5MW turbines in the United Kingdom. "A major milestone," said Mingyang'S chief technology officer for Europe, Marc Sala. "A decisive breakthrough for our local operations." Mingyang has big plans for Britain. One-point-five billion pounds in investments. Half for factories. Half for the offshore wind supply chain. Now... over at Siemens Gamesa... things are looking up. The wind business has been struggling. Over four fiscal years... losses totaled eight-point-six billion euros. But Chief Executive Officer Christian Bruch confirmed this week... they're still targeting profitability by 2027. Break-even by 2026. Revenue for full-year 2025 rose 5 percent to ten-point-three-seven-five billion euros. Losses improved slightly. "The journey towards profitability is going to take time," said Chief Financial Officer Maria Ferraro. "But I think the team is doing a great job." They expect a positive fourth quarter in 2026. So there you have it. The wind industry is pushing forward. Two hundred thirty-eight-point-five megawatts commissioned in Texas. One hundred twenty-three projects approved in the Philippines. One hundred twenty-three megawatts ordered in Germany. Eighteen-point-five megawatt turbines heading to Britain for testing. And Siemens Gamesa ... now seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The numbers tell the story. Things are beginning to stabilize – and there's hope for the future. That's the state of the wind industry on the 17th of November 2025. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy podcast.

Vestas continues to make headwinds in the US, despite the current administration's disdain for wind energy. 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! Vestas is making headway in America. Despite a president who has a dim view of their product. Despite the administration halting offshore wind projects across the country. Despite tariffs climbing over one hundred percent. Vestas delivered more than sixty percent MORE to America in the third quarter of this year. Vestas delivered ONSHORE wind turbines. One point four gigawatts [GIG-uh-wahts]. Enough to power more than four hundred thousand homes. Every third turbine they delivered worldwide went to the US - that Danish wind turbine manufacturer - has a chief executive named HENRIK ANDERSEN. VESTAS Chief Executive HENRIK ANDERSEN.Andersen said something remarkable recently: "We are pleased with what we see." Now you might wonder how. How does a wind company GROW when the White House opposes wind turbines? How do orders INCREASE when the administration halts offshore wind development? How does business boom when tariffs make everything more expensive? Here's what VESTAS figured out two decades ago. They built blade factories in Colorado. Nacelle factories too. More than twelve hundred American companies are in their supply chain. Creating jobs. Creating trust. Creating roots too deep to pull up. And here's the thing about electricity in America today: The demand is so HIGH - from factories, from those hungry data centers powering artificial intelligence - that customers will buy power REGARDLESS of tariffs. As Andersen puts it: "Electricity is in such high demand that orders will actually be fulfilled." Some customers ARE waiting for clarity on those tariffs. VESTAS admits it would have gotten even MORE orders without them. And yes, offshore wind orders? Zero. Not a single megawatt in the third quarter. The administration saw to that. Despite everything - the politics, the tariffs, the offshore freeze - wind remains the most cost-effective electricity source available. ONSHORE wind. Seven to nine percent annual growth expected through twenty thirty. And VESTAS? They're so confident they just announced a one hundred fifty million EURO share buyback program. That's money they're returning to shareholders. You don't do that unless you believe in what's coming next. Twenty-five hundred megawatts ordered for the Americas in just one quarter. The US and Germany - driving their order book right now. Now Andersen won't predict WHEN all those waiting customers will place their orders. "It's simply too difficult to predict," he says. But he adds this: "We take the orders we can get" And there's something else worth knowing. Those rising electricity prices everyone's feeling? In parts of America, wholesale power costs jumped as much as two hundred sixty-seven percent in just five years. Baltimore. Los Angeles. Minneapolis. Cities far from data centers paying more because the grid serves everyone. VESTAS is betting that when power bills climb, wind becomes MORE attractive. Not less. The cheapest electron wins. And right now, even WITH tariffs, wind is delivering the most affordable power in America. So while Washington halts offshore projects and debates tariffs, this Danish company just keeps building ONSHORE. Keeps hiring. Keeps delivering. One point four gigawatts at a time. The administration froze offshore wind. But VESTAS found another way.

Join host Tanner Dees on this episode of the Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report, the premier Gulf Coast podcast for local fishing tips and charters. This week, Capt. Patrick Garmason of Ugly Fishing Charters delivers an inshore report packed with expert advice on targeting speckled trout, redfish, and flounder using advanced popping cork techniques and bait selection for the fall transition. Onshore specialist Capt. Tony Emmons of South Alabama Surf Fishing covers successful surf fishing tactics for bull redfish, slot reds, and flounder utilizing live bait and artificial lures, highlighting current conditions on the Fort Morgan beaches. Offshore, Capt. Matt “Swigs” Swiggum shares a deep-drop golden tilefish report and advanced safety tips for solo deep sea fishing out of Alabama's Gulf Coast, along with Grouper and Snapper tactics. Whether you're after the latest in fall Alabama fishing, tried-and-true charters, or the best lures and rigs for the season's action, this episode is loaded with actionable, SEO-rich tips for anglers of all levels.   SPONSORS The Coastal Connection Mobile Baykeeper  Sea Tow Test Calibration Bucks island Dixie Supply and Baker Metal Works  Admiral Shellfish  Foster Contracting  SouthEastern Pond Management CCA Alabama STAR Tournament  Fishbites  Salts Gone  Realtime Navigator  Return em Right   Shoreline Plastics Saunders Yachtworks  Pure Flats KillerDock  BOW Blue Water Marine Service ADCNR The Obsession Outdoors Black Buffalo Stayput Anchor

Veteran editors Bobby Harrison, Geoff Pender and Emily Wagster Pettus recall the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and a monumental special legislative session to address storm recovery 20 years ago. They are joined by multimedia and video editors Michael Guidry and Richard Lake for a preview of "The Bulletin," a Mississippi Today video documentary that will premiere Aug. 29th, the anniversary of the destructive, killer storm. View a trailer of the documentary here.

In this episode of the APAC Wind Energy Summit podcast, Stewart Mullin, CIO at GWEC interviews Morten Dyrholm, Group Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications, Sustainability and Public Affairs from Vestas about the significance of the Australian wind market, the challenges and opportunities in onshore wind, operational strategies, innovations in hybrid projects, and the importance of regional collaboration in the APAC wind sector. Dyrholm emphasizes Australia's strategic role in renewable energy and discusses the need for improved permitting processes and collaboration among countries in the region to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

In this episode, host Aidan Larkin delves into the intricate world of FATF compliance with Liz Lees, the former national coordinator for the Cayman Islands. They explore the unique challenges smaller jurisdictions face in aligning with global standards, emphasizing the pivotal role of asset recovery. Join us as Liz shares her insights on building effective compliance frameworks and overcoming resource constraints. As Aidan and Liz unpack the complexities of compliance in these unique environments, discover how these financial hubs balance the demands of international regulations with the need to preserve their local integrity. Timestamps00:00 - Introduction 05:12 - Understanding FATF Compliance 12:45 - Challenges in Smaller Jurisdictions 20:30 - The Role of Asset Recovery 28:15 - Building Effective Frameworks 35:50 - Overcoming Resource Constraints 42:00 - Balancing Global Standards and Local Integrity 50:10 - Conclusion and Key Takeaways About our Guest Liz Lees is a seasoned legal counsel and former National Coordinator to the Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group in the Cayman Islands. With extensive experience in financial compliance, Liz has been instrumental in shaping effective frameworks for smaller jurisdictions. As the co-founder of Claritas Legal, Liz specialises in regulatory law and financial crime, advising governments, law enforcement agencies, and supervisory bodies on compliance with FATF standards. Key Takeaways Understanding FATF Standards: Liz Lees explains the importance of FATF standards in shaping global financial compliance and the role they play in asset recovery. Challenges in Smaller Jurisdictions: The discussion highlights the unique challenges smaller jurisdictions face in implementing effective financial compliance frameworks. The Evolving Landscape of Financial Crime: Insights into how financial crime is evolving, particularly with the rise of digital assets and the need for updated compliance measures. Importance of Coordination: Emphasizes the need for coordinated efforts among governments, law enforcement, and financial institutions to effectively combat financial crime. Resources Mentioned FATF Official Website FATF's Recommendations Recent FATF Mutal Evaluation Reports Stay Connected Dive deeper into the world of asset recovery with Seize & Desist. Subscribe for exclusive insights into the stories that are redefining asset recovery. Disclaimer Our podcasts are for informational purposes only. They are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, and/or investment advice. Listeners must consult their own advisors before making decisions on the topics discussed. Asset Reality has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Asset Reality employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Asset Reality does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material. Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Asset Reality.

Angkor Resources (TSXV: ANK | OTCQB: ANKOF) CEO Delayne Weeks breaks down their major oil and gas push in Southeast Asia. EnerCam Resources—a subsidiary of Angkor—has launched its seismic program for Cambodia's Block VIII, the country's first onshore exploration of its kind. In this interview, she explains why this project could reshape Cambodia's economy and how the company is balancing energy and mineral projects across Asia and North America. With active revenue from Canadian oil production and copper and gold drilling in motion, Angkor Resources is gaining traction on several key projects. Learn more about Angkor Resources: https://angkorresources.ca/Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/-Aem-MqtrlY?si=doxjymeo6hObxL0Q And follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalOneMedia?sub_confirmation=1

Angkor Resources (TSXV: ANK | OTCQB: ANKOF) CEO Delayne Weeks breaks down their major oil and gas push in Southeast Asia. EnerCam Resources—a subsidiary of Angkor—has launched its seismic program for Cambodia's Block VIII, the country's first onshore exploration of its kind. In this interview, she explains why this project could reshape Cambodia's economy and how the company is balancing energy and mineral projects across Asia and North America. With active revenue from Canadian oil production and copper and gold drilling in motion, Angkor Resources is gaining traction on several key projects. Learn more about Angkor Resources: https://angkorresources.ca/Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/-Aem-MqtrlY?si=doxjymeo6hObxL0Q And follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalOneMedia?sub_confirmation=1

BP sells its US onshore wind business ... Utilities accelerate renewables projects ... Moss Landing sparks more BESS pushback ... Trump taps LaCerte for FERC ... Commerce plans new duty on Chinese graphite ... The EU marks a solar power milestoneSign up for the Renewable Energy SmartBrief

Grimsby could become home to the UK's first large-scale onshore salmon farm. A judicial review has upheld North East Lincolnshire council's decision to grant it planning permission. An animal rights group had challenged the development on fish welfare grounds. However a high court judge ruled that animal welfare concerns could be a key planning consideration in future planning cases.This week we're following the journey of a loaf of bread, from seed, to the field, to the mill and eventually the shelf in the shop. The wheat used for bread has to be high in protein and have specific qualities to make good dough. It's known as Group 1 Wheat. We visit a seed breeder in Cambridgeshire where bread-making varieties of wheat are developed.Most commercial poultry farmers keep chickens for either egg-laying or meat production, and that specialisation is the way modern poultry farming has operated for decades. But does it have to? A group of farmers are now looking into the use of ‘dual-purpose' heritage poultry breeds that can be used for both eggs and meat. They say that if these birds were farmed more widely it could also stop the cull of the male chicks which aren't wanted in egg-laying flocks. Six farms are taking part in field trials run by the Innovative Farmers group.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

In this episode of Uptime News, Allen covers leadership changes at Eneco, historic renewable energy deals in Poland, strong support for wind energy in Ireland, and a surge in American clean energy investment. 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! Welcome to Uptime News. Flash Industry News Lightning fast. Your host, Allen Hall, shares the renewable industry news you may have missed. Allen Hall: Leading off the week, there's a leadership change at a major European energy company. As Templeman is stepping down as CEO of Dutch Energy firm, Eneco on August 1st. Templeman is leaving to become the new chief executive of lighting company, signify in September. Eneco says Kees Jan Rameau will serve as interim CEO starting July 4th. The company's board has already started searching for a permanent replacement. Templeman joined an Eneco as CEO in July of 2020. The supervisory board chair Mel Kroon says Templeman led the successful launch of the company's one planet plan before Eneco. Templeman held senior positions at Shell across [00:01:00] Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Over in Poland, energy companies have closed one of the largest renewable energy deals in European history. Norwegian firm, Equinor, and Polish company, Polenergia, have secured 6 billion euros in financing for two offshore wind projects. That's about $6.8 billion. The companies say it's the largest project finance deal in Poland's energy history. The Baltic two and Baltic three Wind Farms will feature 100 turbines with a combined capacity of 1.4 gigawatts. Polenergia, CEO Adam Purwin says they have secured financing from around 30 institutions. He says The company's obtained exceptionally favorable terms despite challenging market conditions, construction has already begun. Onshore marine operations will start next year. The wind farms should begin full commercial operation in 2028, and they'll provide power to more than 2 million [00:02:00] Polish households. And Irish citizens are showing strong support for wind energy development. A new national survey by Wind Energy Ireland found 80% of the public supports wind energy development, 62% back having a wind farm in the local area. The survey found people support wind energy because it offers more affordable electricity and reduces carbon emissions. Energy independence was also a key motivator. CEO. Noel Cunniffe says, Irish people know wind power is the leading solution to rising energy costs and climate change. He says, wind power is already helping reduce electricity prices and create jobs. 75% of those surveys support offshore wind energy. 82% recognize its role in securing Ireland's energy supply. Research shows Ireland's offshore wind farms could generate 38 billion euros for the Irish economy by 2050. And American clean energy investment continues to surge. The American [00:03:00] Clean Power Association says developers installed 7.4 gigawatts of new solar, wind and storage capacity in the first quarter. That represents $10 billion in domestic investment. The trade group says it was the second strongest start to a year on record. Battery storage achieved record first quarter installations surpassing 30 gigawatts of total capacity nationwide. The development pipeline grew 12% to reach 184 gigawatts. That represents $328 billion in potential project investment. CEO. Jason Grumet says, clean power is shovel-ready at scale. He says the industry has a technology. Investment capital and workforce needed. Grumet warns that the greatest threat to reliable energy is an unreliable political sys...

In this episode of Leaders in Medical Billing, host Chanie Gluck sits down with Ramesh Gogineni, CEO of Med-Strategies, who shares his entrepreneurial journey from India to the U.S., and how he built a hybrid offshore/onshore medical billing model along the way.  Formally an engineer with plenty of operations and tech experience, Ramesh's healthcare career started when he married a physician and decided to set up a company that set up Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and then a billing company. He highlights the challenges of early offshoring, why blending automation with human expertise is critical for success, and the optimal staffing mix for RCM operations today.  He also offers practical insights on using RPA, AI, and smart vetting processes to drive efficiency while maintaining quality in Revenue Cycle Management. Listen to this episode to hear first-hand experience from someone who has spent decades experimenting with offshoring medical billing. Plus, Ramesh shares what he's looking forward to in the future of medical billing: improving relationships between payors and providers.  You can find out more about Med-Strategies here: https://med-strategies.com/  Sponsored by 4D Global, empowering medical billing companies through offshore staffing, automation, AI and technology.   

Tony Greer interviews Brian Rainsborough and Chris Sembritzky from Renaissance Energy Africa about their exciting oil exploration efforts in Namibia. They discuss the significance of drilling one of the largest onshore wells in history, the geological challenges and potential of the region, and the economic viability of their operations. The conversation also covers the infrastructure in Namibia, market strategies for oil export, and the future prospects of expanding their operations into Angola. In this conversation, Brian and Chris discuss the unique opportunities and challenges in oil exploration in Namibia. They highlight the importance of community engagement, regulatory support, and innovative technical approaches in their exploration efforts. The conversation also covers the company's structure, financial insights, and future goals, emphasizing their commitment to making a positive impact in the regions they operate in.

The Center Square's Greg Bishop discusses the back and forth between President Donald Trump announcing tariffs and the reaction from Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Angkor Resources (TSXV: ANK | OTCQB: ANKOF) has signed a 30-year production sharing agreement with the Cambodian government, marking the country's first onshore oil and gas project. With Cambodia entirely reliant on imports, this deal is a major step toward energy independence.In this interview, CEO Delayne Weeks discusses the details of the deal, adding that an environmental impact assessment has already begun at the Block VIII onshore project. The company is focused on accelerating the exploration timeline, potentially cutting the standard six- to seven-year exploration phase to three years.Learn more about Angkor Resources and its assets: https://angkorresources.ca/Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/2bub9786-REAnd follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalOneMedia?sub_confirmation=1

Angkor Resources (TSXV: ANK | OTCQB: ANKOF) has signed a 30-year production sharing agreement with the Cambodian government, marking the country's first onshore oil and gas project. With Cambodia entirely reliant on imports, this deal is a major step toward energy independence.In this interview, CEO Delayne Weeks discusses the details of the deal, adding that an environmental impact assessment has already begun at the Block VIII onshore project. The company is focused on accelerating the exploration timeline, potentially cutting the standard six- to seven-year exploration phase to three years.Learn more about Angkor Resources and its assets: https://angkorresources.ca/Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/2bub9786-REAnd follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalOneMedia?sub_confirmation=1

Interview with Paul Baay, President & CEO of Touchstone Exploration Inc.Recording date: 28th February 2025Trinidad and Tobago's natural gas sector presents a compelling investment case for companies with the right expertise and approach. Despite being a small nation, Trinidad punches above its weight in the global energy market due to its strategic location near the resource-rich Venezuelan Basin, well-developed infrastructure, and supportive regulatory environment.The country's energy landscape is split between offshore operations led by international oil majors and onshore projects driven by smaller independent companies. This creates a niche opportunity for firms that can successfully navigate the local framework while leveraging modern technologies to unlock value in underexplored onshore assets.Touchstone Exploration, a Canadian company focused solely on Trinidad, exemplifies the three-stage approach to natural gas development that can generate attractive returns: land acquisition to secure resources, infrastructure control for processing and market access advantages, and targeted drilling to convert reserves to production and cash flow.Trinidad's natural gas wells are characterized by strong initial production rates followed by steep declines before stabilizing at lower long-term levels. This profile front-loads cash flows, enabling quick capital recovery. However, it requires technical expertise to manage reservoir characteristics and optimize recovery.The investment case is enhanced by Trinidad's domestic natural gas supply deficit, which ensures producers have a guaranteed market for their output. Recent changes allowing access to LNG export markets at prices several times higher than domestic rates further amplifies the upside. Producers also benefit from sales in US dollars and relatively low royalty rates.Maintaining discipline in capital allocation is critical, balancing self-funded development with exploration upside. Near-term value comes from efficiently developing proven reserves, while the untapped deeper Cretaceous formations provide longer-term potential that could be transformational.Touchstone's acquisition of Shell's onshore infrastructure, 229 drilling locations, rapid payback model, and clear growth trajectory to 7,000 boe/d makes it a leading investment opportunity in Trinidad's natural gas sector. As global gas demand expands, Trinidad's unique mix of low-risk development and step-change upside could offer compelling risk-adjusted returns for energy investors.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Marty and Tom Luongo watch as Trump's unveiling of the deep state unfolds.Tom on Twitter: https://x.com/tfl1728Tom's website: https://tomluongo.me/0:00 - Intro0:36 - USAID was the right place to start6:44 - Trump's new crew13:20 - Libertarian envy18:42 - Fold & Bitkey20:37 - Gold price24:12 - British Empire and European globalists vs the Fed33:59 - Taxes suck40:17 - Unchained41:18 - LME/COMEX & Basel III52:55 - Onshore/offshore dollar56:26 - Israel, Nordstream and oil revenue1:02:05 - Defunding the demons1:11:22 - Public sentiment1:18:35 - Tom's purpose1:24:39 - Inspiring people and revealing cracks in the armor1:29:38 - Gerontocracy vs Gen Z1:39:01 - Open source will win1:43:34 - Big BallsShoutout to our sponsors:Foldhttps://foldapp.com/marty/Bitkeyhttps://bitkey.world/Unchainedhttps://unchained.com/tftc/Join the TFTC Movement:Main YT Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/c/TFTC21/videosClips YT Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQcW3jxfQfEUS8kqR5pJtQWebsitehttps://tftc.io/Twitterhttps://twitter.com/tftc21Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/tftc.io/Nostrhttps://primal.net/tftcFollow Marty Bent:Twitterhttps://twitter.com/martybentNostrhttps://primal.net/martybentNewsletterhttps://tftc.io/martys-bent/Podcasthttps://www.tftc.io/tag/podcasts/

Mark Lundstrom is the founder and CEO of Radia.Radia is developing the WindRunner, the world's largest aircraft, specifically designed to transport massive offshore wind turbine blades—some reaching the length of football fields—to onshore sites. This capability, termed "GigaWind," could redefine the scope and scale of onshore wind projects. Radia isn't stopping at building these groundbreaking aircraft; they also plan to develop wind energy projects to catalyze the GigaWind transformation. This episode dives into Radia's verticalized approach to addressing a major challenge in wind energy: the physical limitations of transporting turbine blades via the U.S. interstate highway system. By circumventing these constraints, Radia envisions a future where wind farms can reach unprecedented scales.In this episode, we cover: [2:13] Mark's background in aerospace [6:27] Logistics of wind turbines on land today[9:03] Onshore vs. offshore wind energy in terms of turbine size, logistics, and economics [14:04] China's wind energy generation[15:53] An overview of Radia's WindRunner aircraft [20:57] Radia's plan to become a power provider[24:07] Siting and permitting process for Radia's projects [28:23] Radia's progress to date [30:20] Capital stack needed to fund Radia's WindRunner[35:05] Radia's decision to come out of stealth[38:32] Who Radia wants to hear from and hire [39:43] How Radia's solution can address AI power demandsEpisode recorded on Sept 19, 2024 (Published on Nov 13, 2024) Stay Connected with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedIn | XVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ NewsletterEnjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

On today's show we are taking a look at the inland port.  North America is about to experience a labor disruption of epic proportions. If we look beyond the immediate, there is a lot going on in shipping behind the scenes that most people are largely unaware of.  But first we need to be aware of the impact that the disruption of the ports can have not just on imports that we are accustomed to enjoying. Much of the products we purchase in a retail store enter the US and Canada via shipping container. Most major retailers have been building inventory over the past six months in order to mitigate the risk of a work shutdown on October 1. But on today's show I'm looking beyond the strike. This is after all a real estate podcast. So we are going to focus on the real estate and logistics of shipping.  Many of you might remember the congestion at the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach in California during the pandemic. The solution to this logistics problem is to move the port to a new location where there is more land available. Now the port of Long beach is not exactly small. It consists of 3200 acres. There are 10 piers and space for up to 80 ships at a time. It's a huge port, but not large enough.  The new seaport is located miles from the ocean in the state of Utah. There are in fact five locations in the state of Utah that form the inland port. The largest is 16,000 acres.  ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)