Curtesy image from London Array Offshore Wind Farm
Everyday Turbine Technicians set out to continue to keep the lights on for England during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s about a one-hour long journey for the Turbine Technicians and their crew members to travel by boat to get to the wind turbines. Without these essential workers working so tirelessly during the Covid-19 pandemic, it would make being on lockdown all the more harder for everybody in England.
Furthermore, I spoke with Bob Smith, General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, who told me how the Turbine Technicians have been impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and what safety measures have been put in place for these Turbine Technicians and their crew members – with consideration to the fact that there are at least six of them that go out by boat everyday and they are in a confined space.
So what is a wind turbine and how does it work?
According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. ” Moreover, to better understand this process, I asked General Manager Smith how a wind turbine works, how do they know when there is problem with the wind turbines, and how often do the Turbine Technicians need to go out to do maintenance on the wind turbines.
Journo Jess: So Bob, how exactly does a wind turbine work?
“The turbine itself is essentially a windmill, just like the old-style windmill used to be when the wind blows the blades turn. It’s a bit more sophisticated, because we can control how fast they turn based on their wind speed. We then can adjust the pitch of the blades and that then drives through a gear box into a generator. The generator produces electricity that flows from a cable to the wind turbine then to a substation onshore, that connects to the national grip.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
Curtesy images from London Array Offshore Wind Farm
Journo Jess: When do you know that there is a problem with the wind turbines?
“All of our turbines are managed in great detail with senses on pretty much every component and those senses are connected to the shore, so we can see every minute, in fact every second, what is happening on every machine. And then there are a series of alarms when something is not right it will tell us when there is a problem. And we can see that alarm. Sometimes, you can just restart it from the office or sometimes you have to go to the machine to restart it.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
Journo Jess: How often do the Turbine Technicians have to go out to the wind turbines for maintenance work?
“We have a team working full time, so they are always, every day, as long as the weather is suitable – everyday they go out to the machines.
There are 175 wind turbines with London Array. So even if you have to visit one every twice a year, you still have a full year worth of work right there. The technician crews are of six people and they are coming and going every day to one of the machines.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
Video featured below: Bob Smith explains how a wind turbine works, when they know there is a problem with a wind turbine, and how often they have to go out to do maintenance on the machines. 👇🏻 ▶️ 👀 duration: 2:29
How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the Turbine Technicians?
With social distancing being in place for the Covid-19 pandemic, it makes it extremely difficult for those essential workers who are working so closely with their colleagues while on the job. Therefore, I was intrigued to know what it is that London Array Offshore Wind Farm has put in place to best protect the Turbine Technicians, as well as their boat crew members, as they travel together. Here is what General Manager of London Array Offshore Farm, Bob Smith, had to say:
“Yes of course, we’ve reduced the number of people that travel in a boat and reduced the number of people that work together. So, our teams work in shifts generally anyway, but in addition to that we’ve staggered the salient, so that the boats don’t go out at the same time as they used to.
They go in separate journeys and when that happens the crews arrive at the office, they go through the process of preparation, go to the boat, and then to the wind farm. They’ve left before the next crew arrives at the office.
So, we’re separating them so that they don’t mix with each other. And then that way it obviously reduces the number of people they interact with.
Obviously, we don’t have anybody in the office. All of our office staff are working from home, so that again reduces the number of people they interact with and keeps the crews together so that they don’t interact, the crew doesn’t change or evolve, and it stays the same.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
With consideration to the fact that the UK Government is giving essential workers priority to get tested for the Coronavirus shall they experience any Coronavirus related symptoms, Turbine Technicians as well as their boat crew members do have this access; therefore, I wanted to know if General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith, have utilised this resource or not. Here is what Smith had to say:
“So, what we’re saying at the moment, if you feel unwell in any way you can go and get that test. And obviously while you’re getting that test, you’ll be isolating until you get the results. If the result is positive, you obviously go into isolation. If the result is negative you can come back to work if you feel okay.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
As many fear of contracting the Coronavirus, especially if someone is experiencing any Coronavirus related symptoms, I then asked Smith if he has been short on staff because of this problem, here is what he had to say:
So, we’ve had I think four people that have expressed concerns, because they were having symptoms and those people have been tested and the result was negative, so they were okay. We haven’t actually had anybody that’s had a confirmed diagnosis.
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith offers a message of appreciation to his Turbine Technicians and their crew members that have been working tirelessly during this pandemic:
“London Array produces 2% of UK’s electricity. That’s just over 500,000 homes. What we’re doing is absolutely critical to keep the lights on for the country. And I know for me, sitting in my house, it’s very easy to say, but we rely entirely on these people to go to work every day to do their job. And so far, they’ve done a fantastic job.”
– General Manager of London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Bob Smith
Featured video interview below: To hear the full interview with Bob Smith on how the turbine technicians are coping with the Covid-19 pandemic watch the video below. 👇🏻 ▶️ 👀 duration: 7.57
Have a story idea? Contact me at jessica@journojess.com
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