Progress 06/01/14 to 01/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience: For the Phase I project, the target audience includes Keystone's industry partners and other wind industry stakeholders, who will learn about Keystone's system and how it can be incorporated into industry products and processes. For the overall development of on-site spiral welded tower production, the target audiences include: local communities who will benefit from the on-site facility (e.g., employment at the facility, sourcing of materials from nearby providers, etc.) ; and all communities that will benefit from replacing fossil fuel-generated electricity with renewable wind generation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results are being shared directly with key wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers as we work to design our towers into their turbines and projects. In addition, we have shared the results at the annual American Institute of Steel Constructionconference, and have been invited to share the results at the annual American Wind Energy Assocciation conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Site Selection 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted: -Selected 2 potential example wind farms, one in Ohio and one in Maine -Worked with the developers of these sites (Iberdrola Renewables and First Wind) to assess the integration into these sites -K2M conducted wind resource analysis for each site to compare energy capture at different hub heights 2) Data collected: -Annual average wind resource and energy data 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: A 140m tower can capture around 30% more energy than the standard, transportable 80m towers. (the specific reference sites yielded 36.4% and 25.2% higher energy capture) 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized The wind energy capture statistics will serve as key input for economic analysis. Permitting and Logistics 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted: Permitting review of several states including Ohio, Maine, Texas and Tennessee 2) Data collected: -VOC limits for US states -Permitting department contacts 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/A 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized It was found that VOC limits for the tower coating operation do not pose a critical limitation Foundation predesign 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted Cost analysis for foundation design of tower with varying base diameter 2) Data collected -Cost curve of base diameter vs. foundation construction cost -Cost curve of soil water content vs. foundation construction cost -Cost estimate for door-in-foundation concept 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/A 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized It was found that current foundation designs and costs are feasible. A more detailed design effort is needed to validate construction cost Coating selection 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted Keystone worked with paint manufacturers to verify that in-field application of this coating would be compliant with VOC emissions regulations, and is working with a paint booth manufacturer to develop a system to ensure proper containment of overspray and prevent ground contamination. 2) Data collected VOC content for various coatings, coating application rates for manual and automated applicators, cure times for various 2 and 3 part coating systems, costs for equipment and consumables 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: The corrosion protection system identified by Keystone consists of an exterior application of a zinc-rich epoxy primer with a polyaspartic topcoat, a similar system to what is used for in-field painting of steel bridges. The tower interior would receive a direct-to-metal polyaspartic one-coat system due to the reduced corrosion risk in C2-C3 environments. 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized The identified coating system enables faster cure times over a broader range of temperatures and humidity than the three-coat epoxy system typically used on towers. This coating system selection was validated by coating suppliers as appropriate for in-field application for wind turbine towers. Facility development 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted A detailed accounting was performed for all manufacturing operations required for commercial tower production following the initial spiral welding process. These operations were refined into an work-flow order and segmented into 6 distinct work stations; Spiral Welding, Flange Installation, Door Installation, Blasting and Surface Preparation, Painting, and Internals Installation. 2) Data collected For each work station, a detailed bill of resources and bill of materials was compiled, composed of the required equipment, area, materials and labor skill to complete the work operations. This also included equipment setup and breakdown time and labor to account for the factory deployment. 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: The entire mobile operation requires two acres of land, a relatively small area compared with the overall wind farm, sets up in 3 weeks and costs approximately $1.1M to deploy at the project. The factory capital expense is approximately $15M and requires2 alternating crews of 48 workers to operate. 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized The savings that can be achieved through in-field tower fabrication can save well over $100k per tower, so in-field tower fabrication is justified for projects with more than 10 towers. In the US 98% of wind turbines are installed on projects that are larger than this size. Production study 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted - A reference 137m tower design was drafted for a Vestas V126 3.3 MW turbine in colaboration with Vestas' tower engineering team -The manufacaturing operations, equipment, and materials needed to produce this tower were identified 2) Data collected Compiled set of equipmentand consumablesfor each operation 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: The reference tower can be manufactured with less than 48 hour cycle time 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized Keystone can accomplish the current industry standard of delivering and installing a tower every 1-2 days during wind farm construction Assessing impact 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted Constructed energy production and economic models to perform wind farm cost of energy analysis for Blue Creek wind farm in Ohio 2) Data collected - Original wind farm development and construction plans for Blue Creek -Industry average wind plant component and balance of plant construction costs 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: The Blue Creek project would produce 16% more energy annually at 15% lower cost if it were built using a 137m on-site Keystone tower instead of a 100m transportable tower with the V126 3.3MW turbine. The difference is even greater if the industry standard 80m towers are assumed. 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized On-site manufacturing of towers would increase the amount of full-time jobs from wind plant construction by 44%. By enabling tall towers, on-site manufacturing increases energy capture and increases cash flow to the local communities by 27%. Across the US, tall towers can double the amount of land area available for economic wind development.

Publications

Progress 06/01/14 to 01/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Plans for the remainin goals are listed below. Coating selection Speak with industrial coating equipment/material vendors and identify several possible in-field coating solutions. Analyze the cost and time of applying each of these solutions to a reference tower design. Facility development Develop a complete set of operations and segment operations into stations. Detail the workflow of operations in each station and estimate the time, equipment and labor requirements for each task. Production study Based on the operations analysis, estimate the lead time and cycle time of the reference tower design to calculate the tower production rate. Assessing impact Build factory and wind plant cost models to estimate the cost of energy production and the change to local economic impact in terms of cash flow and workforce development.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments for each goal of the project are listed below. Site selection Major activities completed / experiments conducted: - Selected 2 potential example wind farms, one in Ohio and one in Maine -K2M conducted wind resource analysis for each site to compare energy capture at different hub heights 2) Data collected: -Wind resource data 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: -140m tower can capture 30-50% more energy 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized -Energy capture statistics will serve as key input for economic analysis Permitting and Logistics 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted: -Permitting review of several states including Ohio, Maine, Texas and Tennesse 2) Data collected: -VOC limits for US states -Permitting department contacts 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/A 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized -VOC limits for coating operation do not pose a critical limitation Foundation predesign 1) Major activities completed / experiments conducted -Cost analysis for foundation design of tower with varying base diameter 2) Data collected -Cost curve of base diameter vs. foundation construction cost -Cost curve of soil water content vs. foundation construction cost -Cost estimate for door-in-foundation concept 3) Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/A 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized -Current foundation designs and costs are feasible. A more detailed design effort is needed to validate construction cost Coating selection Nothing to report Facility development Nothing to report Production study Nothing to report Assessing impact Nothing to report

Publications