As offshore wind technology continues its global expansion, a noteworthy collaboration has emerged between industry giants GE and Toshiba, who are now partnering to deploy cutting-edge Haliade-X nacelles for Japanese offshore farms. Meanwhile, in Louisiana, discussions are underway for the establishment of up to 5 near-shore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico, a strategic move that would keep these projects out of federal waters. However, the wind industry and WindEurope have expressed their disapproval of the recent negative bidding process that unfolded for German offshore sites, which has sparked debates. On a brighter note, Swiss-based RigiTech is revolutionizing drone deliveries to offshore turbines, promising improved efficiency and effectiveness. In US waters, tensions arise between worker groups and developers due to the Jones Act, posing challenges to offshore endeavors. In the realm of corporate innovation, Shopify is taking a novel approach to reduce meeting times with an innovative calendar update. Lastly, let's shine a spotlight on our Wind Farm of the Week, the impressive Fowler Wind 1 project.











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! 



Uptime 175



Allen Hall: Joel, I had a meeting with nascar Xfinity Driver, Kyle. Weatherman. He is a really interesting character. I have never talked to a NASCAR driver before. Super talented and we went to watch the race this weekend up in New, well, when you hear this, it's been a week past, but it was up in New Hampshire, which was fascinating.



I haven't been that close to a NASCAR race before. I've watched it on television for years, but it never really been to one. It, it was really cool. It's loud and powerful and there were a couple of really. Significant accidents right, right in front of us near know the start, finish line. It was quite the scare there at the end.



But a really, really good time. So we're just gonna keep track of him the next couple of months. It's just interesting to talk to somebody who actually races cars for a living. It's. It's pretty cool. It's kinda like being a lightning engineer. They're cool. But, so this week we talk about a woman being hit by a meteorite in France and then GE and Toshiba are partnering together in Japan to make NA cells, which is 



Joel Saxum: really cool.



And the state of Louisiana taking advantage of its three mile economic zone to install some offshore wind down there. And then we're gonna stay in the offshore wind world and take a peek at the. Auction that just happened over in Germany, and we do call it an auction instead of negative bidding via Rosemary.



And then also staying again in the offshore world of RigiTech or RigiTech. We're not really sure which one it is, but drone deliveries right from the vessel all the way up to the nael dropping parts, and most importantly lunches off to technicians 



Rosemary Barnes: up there. And we're gonna talk about the Jones Act with suspicions that foreign flagged vessels might be being used instead of us made ones in off the US coast, we're gonna talk about Shopify's plans to reduce waste of meetings with unnecessary people involved.



Our Wind Farm of the week this week is the Fowler Wind One upgrade. I'm Allen Hall 



Allen Hall: president of Weather Guard Lightning Ticket. I'm here with the Vice President of North American Sales for Wind Power Lab, Joel Saxon and International Renewables expert Rose Murray Barnes, and this is the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.



Well, Rosemary, a French woman, was hit by a meteorite while having coffee on a terrace with a friend in,