Babcock & Wilcox to Cut 30% of Renewable Workforce on Profitability Woes

Babcock & Wilcox will slash 30% of its renewable energy workforce and implement cost-saving measures to combat falling revenues. [B&W] 2017 Q3 revenues stood at $408.7 million, falling 0.5% compared to Q3 2016.

[B&W] embarked on restructuring in June 2016 after projections showed that coal utilization will decline faster than previously forecast. B&W then said it would shed 200 jobs and restructure its traditional power business that serves coal-fired power generation...

...its power segment, nearly half of B&W’s revenue stream, saw a 4.5% loss compared to the prior year. ... Lower revenues were also due to the down turn in the global market for new-build coal-fired power plants.

[the B&W] power segment, which accounts for half of B&W’s revenue stream, saw a 4.5% loss compared to the prior year. “Revenues decreased as a result of lower construction activities associated with new build utility and environmental projects..." Lower revenues were also due to the down turn in the global market for new-build coal-fired power plants.

B&W’s renewable segment—which brought in about $108.6 million, or about 26% of total revenues for the third quarter—fared even worse, seeing a 12.7% decrease compared to last year.

B&W blamed the losses on the failure of a structural steel beam at an unnamed renewable new-build project, which required work to be stopped to stabilize the structure. A similar design was used on two other new-build projects in the UK, and although no structural failure occurred on these projects, work was also stopped for a short period of time, and reinforcement of the structure is underway...Total costs associated with the structural steel design issue at the three projects, mainly due to the resulting schedule impact, are said to be in line with the company’s previously stated estimate—approximately $20 million.

B&W coal business is lackluster, but their renewables business is faring FAR WORSE! It is odd that B&W only makes vague references to a "renewable energy project in the United Kingdom." The only renewables projects that use large scale structural steel are wind turbines. A couple minutes of Google sleuthing reveals the Scottish Power failure at the beginning of 2017. Safety probe launched after collapse of 480-foot wind turbine in Ayrshire.

The catastrophic collapse of a giant wind turbine is being investigated. A 480-foot high turbine came down in a storm - only the second windmill in Scotland to crash to the ground. The astonishing structural failure of the £2 million machine has prompted demands for information by the community in Barrhill.

The Kilgallioch wind farm is operated by Scottish Power Renewables which had failed to alert the public to the incident for seven days. The Ayrshire Post's source says the 328-foot tower “creased” at the access door at ground level. The three blades and switchgear were all smashed on impact. “Debris was spread over half a kilometre and a crane was been brought in to try and clear the damage.

“The company was trying to keep things hush-hush and were not keen to say anything. The site is so large and unseen from public roads that the only way to see the collapse is from the air.

It happened during the early hours of Friday, January 13 as the area was hit by high winds and snow squalls. At the time 55mph gusts were blowing in from the north west.

Wind tower collapses happen fairly regularly. Info below from Scottish Wind Power Company Attempts to Cover Up Turbine Collapse, Feb. 25, 2017:

Kilgallioch cover up: the ‘rarity’ they didn’t want the world to see.

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Well, let’s take a look the wind industry’s “exceptional safety record”…. with this lengthy pictorial – starting with a few tower collapses:

Fenner, New York 2009.

Kansas, 2014.

Germany, 2014.

Starfish Hill, South Australia, 2013.

Devon, 2014.

Mill Run, Pennsylvania 2014.

Brazil, 2014.

Tyrone, Ireland January 2015.

Sweden, December 2015.

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With gravity one of nature’s constants, wind farm neighbours can hardly rest assured. Expect more of the same.

Then there is the ‘minor’ issue of ‘component liberation’.

Turbine blade failures, including events where 10 tonne blades are thrown to the 4 winds are so common that we have considered running a separate site dedicated to their aerial escapades – here’s a few to whet your appetite for destruction (the captions are linked to the stories behind the pictures):

Sigel Township, Michigan, February 2016.

Ostsee, Germany, December 2015.

Pontecesco, Spain, January 2016.

Fenner, New York, February 2016.

Leystad, A6 Highway, Netherlands, May 2009.

Donegal, Ireland, December 2013.

Kerry, Ireland, January 2015.

Ocotillo, California, May 2013.

Whitelee (near Glasgow), Scotland, March 2010.

Menil-la-Horgne, France, December 2015.

Hamburg, Germany, March 2016.

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Now that those who are forced to travel past, live with and work near these things know how rare it is for 10 tonne blades to be thrown to the 4 winds; how rare it is for 60 tonne rotors to drop 90m from the heavens; and how rare it is for 160m high, 290 tonne turbines to plummet to Earth, we expect you feel a whole lot safer. No?

Welcome to your wind powered future.

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