New-Tech Europe Magazine | April 2019

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500,000 cubic meters of fresh water each year. In conjunction with the existing treatment plant, the premium manufacturer will in the future recycle about half of the wastewater produced at the Ingolstadt site. In order to save groundwater, Audi is also increasingly using rainwater for service water purposes at its Ingolstadt plant.

service water to the production processes

at the Ingolstadt plant, it is treated in up to three stages. It first passes through a chemical- physical process. This neutralizes alkaline and acidic components and removes heavy metals, for example from the paint shop. The membrane bioreactor is then used. It is the core element

Cypress to help them both lower the cost of onshore wind and gain added flexibility in siting turbines.” The Cypress platform is offered with multiple ratings and varying hub heights. It will enable a lower cost of electricity by matching each wind turbine solution to specific site needs, which is critical as wind power increasingly competes on price with other sources of power generation. First announced in September 2017 1, the Cypress platform will be powered by a revolutionary two-piece blade design that makes it possible to use larger rotors and site the turbines in a wider variety of locations. The AEP improvements from the longer rotors help to drive down Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), and the proprietary blade design allows these larger turbines to be installed in locations that were previously inaccessible. Duncan Berry, CEO of LM Wind Power, said, “The project is truly coming together in a very short and demanding time frame. We have invented a new and effective solution for a blade in two parts, which is borne of the full expertise of LM Wind Power engineers combined with design input from GE Renewable Energy and GE Research. The technology results from decades of blade making knowledge and experience.” Rainwater from over 450,000 square meters of roof and parking space is collected in underground cisterns. Depending on weather conditions, up to 260,000 cubic meters of rainwater can be used annually. Audi has set itself the target of reducing the environmental factors of energy, CO2 emissions, fresh water, waste and volatile organic compounds by 35 percent per car produced by 2025 compared with reference year 2010. The company’s long-term goal is to produce automobiles that are CO2 neutral and wastewater free.

GE Renewable Energy announced that the prototype for its Cypress platform, the largest onshore wind turbine for GE in the field, has been successfully installed and is fully operational, producing power at a rated level of 5.3 MW in Wieringermeer, Netherlands. Company officials hail the milestone as a key step in commercializing a unit able to both lower the cost of electricity and offer additional flexibility in terms of where wind turbines can be located. The Cypress 5.3 MW prototype was installed in late 2018 and produced its first kilowatt in February 2019. GE Renewable Energy will continue to operate the prototype during the months to come in order to validate the performance of the Cypress platform. This testing will also support the process of obtaining the Type Certificate, a key step in commercializing the product. Jérôme Pécresse, CEO of GE Renewable Energy, said, “We’re delighted with the progress our team has been able to make in bringing our innovative, high-tech turbine to market on an accelerated schedule. We are confident that Cypress, with its two-piece blade design, will be a game changer for the industry. We’re hearing equal enthusiasm from our customers across the globe, who tell us they appreciate the potential of of water treatment. Here the production water is mixed with sanitary wastewater and freed from organic components. The MBR then removes bacteria and viruses from the wastewater using pore-fine membranes. Audi is thus taking water treatment one step further than conventional sewage treatment plants that do not use this process. Finally, reverse osmosis removes residual salts. The treated wastewater is then returned to the production process as service water. With the new service water supply center, Audi will save up to

GE’s Largest OnshoreWind Turbine Prototype Installed and Operating in the Netherlands

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