Wind Energy Update's Operations Maintenance Report
1. Se ind
The Wind Energy Operations and
F
le i n
In
ct g S
ed
sI
Maintenance Report
de
UpdaTEd fOR 2011
Maximize wind power production,
minimize turbine downtime and plan
for cost effective on and offshore wind
O+M Image - land based wind turbine
n Updated to include three new exclusive chapters
- offshore O+M, Gearboxes, Blades
www.wIndenerGyupdate.cOM/OperatIOns-MaIntenance-repOrt
Open nOw fOr yOur selected findings frOm this
grOund breaking repOrt – nOw with 3 new chapters!
2. the wind energy Operations and Maintenance report
Maximize wind power production, minimize turbine downtime
and plan for cost effective on and offshore wind O+M
the impacts of the post warranty market including new health and safety
processes, operational requirements and enforcement has massive
implications on those responsible for wind farm O&M. there are now
utility companies who have more than 50% of their wind turbine outside
warranty. this is an industry first and a crucial tipping point. Business
planning has never been more imperative to wind farm owner/operators.
purchase this report today and you’ll get the best
available information on O+M so that you can plan and
predict component breakdown, mitigate costs and drive
efficiencies…
n■Discover how leading operators and investors plan and budget for O+M
n■Understand how and why turbines fail and mitigate the cost of repairs
n■Find out about real life creative solutions to wind energy O+M challenges
n■Learn how to plan O+M operations for maximum efficiency at minimum costs
n■Understand the challenges of Offshore Wind O+M
n■Gain access to detailed information on gearbox and blade failures
who should buy this report?
developers – as the owners of the wind turbine it is you who will pay the bill once your warranty period
expires. Do you have appropriate cover? Are you aware of the costs? Do you consider your O+M strategy to be
best practice? Purchase this report today to ensure you have a strong O+M strategy that boosts output and
minimizes costs.
Investors – the costs of O+M can dramatically impact your profit forecasts. The costs of O+M can vary wildly and
you need to understand the true costs and the risks that could significantly impact your ROI.
past buyers of this incredibly successful report include developers, prospective developers, engineering
consulting firms, investors, academics, non-for profits, OEMs. Secure your copy today to ensure you do not miss
out on this vital information.
report methodology
The data in this report was collected through surveys and in-depth interviews with over 100 wind energy industry
senior executives throughout 2010 and 2011. The data was analyzed by independent experts and complemented
with information from the most relevant secondary sources available.
To collate this information independently would take considerable resources in terms of time, manpower and
costs. Wind Energy Update do the hard work for you and provide you with previously unknown intelligence on
this critical area.
For the 2011 edition, three new chapters have been introduced focusing exclusively on offshore O+M, Gearboxes
and Blades.
Turn the page now for the ground breaking selected findings from this report!
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3. the wind energy Operations and Maintenance report
Maximize wind power production, minimize turbine downtime
and plan for cost effective on and offshore wind O+M
New selected findings from this groundbreaking report…
“Engineers are still scratching their heads the percentage of offshore
when it comes to gearboxes. Even though O+M costs that are
gearboxes are certified to operate for 20 caused by unscheduled
years, none of them on today’s market corrective maintenance
lasts more than 8 years.”
2-6 times higher – how much amount
offshore wind turbines O+M costs are
Offshore Wind Construction & Installation Report
than on-shore wind turbine costs
Offshore Wind Technology
2.6 Electrical transmission
- the loss in revenue due
The Transmission system
With the increasing size of wind farms and their distance offshore, the
electrical system is becoming more complex. The main elements are
indicated in the illustration.
The illustration indicates collection of power for two distinct systems of
shoreward (export) transmission namely:
to the effect of spattered
■■ AC transmission for distances up to 70 km
■■ HVDC transmission for distances beyond 70 km
29 tables of new
The losses in AC transmission become excessive beyond these limits
and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) provides an efficient solution
for long distance transmission, with cable losses typically being 20% of
AC levels.
data and findings debris accumulation on
This technology has been in use around the world since 1950 for major
long distance transmission lines, and for submarine lines since the
early 1970’s. Variable source conversion (VSC) technology overcomes
the need for a strong AC current at either end of the cable, which is
clearly an advantage for the offshore end avoiding the need for an AC
supply at start up.
the blade’s leading edge
Over 181 pages
of analysis,
Figure 2-14 Schematic arrangement of major elements of OWF electrical transmission system
technologies and
methods
Source: Siemens
76
Offshore Wind Construction & Installation Report
€100,000 to €300,000 per year
– the costs of keeping offshore turbines on-
General Overview
Offshore Wind Construction & Installation Report
Offshore Wind Technology
line vs. an allocation of €45,000 per turbine for
oil & gas experience covers the construction of platforms for very
deepwater conditions far from shore.
The UK Round 3 sites and the majority of the German sites are situated
predominantly in exposed situations in the North Sea, in the Irish Sea
and off the south and westerly UK coasts with westerly exposure to
Atlantic swells. Water depths range upwards from 20m to 50m and
onshore wind
beyond.
Over 70
monopile installations to date. This appears to have been related to Figure 2-5 Gravity Base Foundations
Distances from shore are generally greater than earlier UK Round 2 adoption the smooth surface interfaces between the transition piece
wind farms and range up to 70-100km, while distance from the nearest inner surface /grout annulus/ monopile outer surface in accordance
useful marine bases may be significantly greater. with standard design specifications promulgated for offshore wind.
It has not been practice to provide mechanical shear keys (as has
comprehensive
Improvement in costs needed
usually been practice in grouted connections in oil and gas). This
According to a number of sources (which ones?), cost trends in terms
simplification was originally justified on the basis of medium scale
of capex / MW installed, have moved steeply upwards over the past
laboratory tests undertaken in Denmark. The investigating team has
four years. Capex costs for wind farms completed in 2009/10 have
not yet published details of the precise failure mechanism, although
edged toward £3m / MW, some 50 -100% above costs of wind farms in
some interim measures for work currently in progress have been
figures
the period up to 2006. Figure 1-1 indicates the trend for completed UK
published. Two alternative approaches have been indicated.
offshore wind farms against the date of completion.
■■ The first involves using or providing a direct bearing flange on the
inside of the transition piece bearing via an annular elastomeric
Figure 1-1 Trends in wind farm project costs
bearing onto the monopile case.
3.5 ■■ The second approach cannot be retrofitted and involves providing
Drivers
of wind turbines
• Rising commodity prices Rhyl Flats aconical geometry to the top of the pile and a corresponding conical
3.0 • Bottlenecks in supply chain Robin Rigg
Cost per MW installed (€m/MW)
• Complexity of sites, disctances, depth section on the transition piece which will relieve the grout interface
• FX rate volatility
2.5 of pure shear stress and provide a mechanical lock in the case of a
Gunfleet
North Hoyle Sands friction/bond failure of the grout.
2.0 Lynn
Burbo
Kentish flats
These measures are of course intended as a supplement to the normal
1.5
grout connection.
South Sands
1.0
were still under
Barrow Gravity Base foundation
0.5 The gravity base foundation (GBF) is very simple in principle. It
transfers the imposed loads directly to the underlying formation and
0.0 soil and is designed to avoid tensile stresses between the base of the
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
structure and the seabed while not exceeding its bearing capacity.
Source: Carbon Trust/Emerging Energy Research (2009) This is achieved by virtue of a sufficient mass of structure and added
ballast, coupled with a sufficiently wide base.
This increase relates to a number of factors, including:
warranty at the
Accordingly for a given duty, GBFs will have a significantly larger mass
■■ Bottlenecks in the supply chain including increase in the costs of than piled foundation types. Concrete, either reinforced or pre-stressed,
turbines arising from offshore wind demand having to compete
Clear text format
provides the most suitable structural material, while ballast is ideally
against stronger demand for onshore turbines. sourced from the densest material available at an acceptably low cost.
■■ Volatility in basic commodity prices in the global market. Steel and
Figure 2-6 Contour Plot of GBF under extreme wind loading
copper prices were rising strongly until the 2008 credit crunch.
Prices dropped back, but are now rising again. These changes in
end of 2010
basic materials for construction, and therefore capex, also affect the -3E-03
5.707
overall economics of wind more seriously than similar changes in 8.261
-1E-02
-2E-02
-10.81
construction material costs would for fossil or gas fuelled generation -13.37
-3E-02
-4E-02
where fuel costs are dominant. -15.92
-18.48
-4E-02
-5E-02
-21.03 -6E-02
33 -23.58
-26.14
-7E-02
-8E-02
-28.69 -9E-02
-31.24 -9E-02
-33.80 -0.1021
-36.35 -0.1103
-38.90 -0.1185
-41.46
Vertical displacement (m) Bearing pressure (MPa) – peak 0.106
61
A significant amount of R&D is currently going
into gearbox reliability. Many gearboxes,
designed for a 20-year life, are failing after 6 to
8 years of operation
Includes schmatic
illustrations
“We have the data on O+M costs,
but we don’t even share it with the
manufacturers. I’ve seen their data, and
30 illustrative it is all wrong. The problems are way,
photographs
way worse than they realize. If you keep a
turbine long enough, it will fail.”
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4. the wind energy Operations and Maintenance report
Maximize wind power production, minimize turbine downtime
and plan for cost effective on and offshore wind O+M
Contents
1. ExEcUTivE SUMMaRy Figure 7 Estimated Wind Turbine O&M Data per Unit of Energy
Production for Five Machines Over Time (Poore & Walford 2008)
2. inTROdUcTiOn TO Wind EnERgy O&M Figure 8 European O&M Costs for Selected Win Turbine Sizes and
2.1 Wind Industry Collaboration Types (Krohn et al. 2009)
2.2 Wind Turbine O&M Cost Perspectives Figure 9 Component Failure Rate Evolution or “Bathtub Curve”
2.3 Wind Industry Course Correction (Sanchez 2009)
2.4 Wind Industry Going Offshore Figure 10 ISET Wind Turbine Component Annual Failure Rate Data and
3. REpORT METhOdOlOgy Downtime (Faulstich et al. 2008)
Figure 11 WEU Survey Results for Capacity Factor vs. Wind Plant Terrain
4. cOMpOnEnT OvERviEW & hiSTORical Wind O&M daTa Type
TREndS Figure 12 Wind Farm Availability versus Year of Operation (Coutinho 2009)
4.1 Wind Turbine Component Overview Figure 13 WEU Survey Results for Wind Farm O&M Costs in Dollar
4.2 Historical Wind O&M Trends Figure 14 WEU Survey Results for Wind Farm O&M Costs in Euro
4.3 Wind O&M Historical Cost and Reliability Trends Figure 15 Wind Turbine O&M Costs per Unit Energy of Production (Wind
4.4 Wind Farm Operator O&M Perspective Energy Update Survey and LBNL Data)
4.5 Wind Component and Sub-Assembly Failure Overview Figure 16 Component and Sub-Assembly Failure Frequencies (Faulstich
4.6 Wind Turbine O&M Monitoring Systems et al. 2008)
5. Wind EnERgy UpdaTE RESEaRch findingS and analySiS Figure 17 Component Failure Frequencies
5.1 Wind O&M Costs: Survey and Interview Results Figure 18 Loss of Energy Production due to Component Failures
(Coutinho 2009)
6. Wind O&M SUccESSES and SOlUTiOnS Figure 19 Wind Turbine Manufacturer Market Share in U.S. (American
6.1 General Electric Wind Energy Association 2008)
6.2 Szlon Wind Energy Corp. Figure 20 NextEra Energy Cost Breakdown of Large Component
6.3 NextEra Energy Resources, LLC Replacement (Sanchez 2009)
6.4 Clipper Windpower Figure 21 LM Wind Power Rotor Blade Landscape (Thomsen 2004)
6.5 Enercon Figure 22 Blade Sections of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (Ruud van
6.6 Nordic Windpower Rooij 2004)
Figure 23 Shear Web and Spar Cap Concept (Bottasso 2010)
7. Wind TURbinE bladES and gEaRbOxES in fOcUS Figure 24 Spar-Box Concept (Bottasso 2010)
7.1 Rotor Blade Figure 25 Fabric Application at LM Wind Power (Thomsen 2004)
7.1.1 Blade Design Figure 26 LM Wind Power Blade Condition Monitoring System
7.1.2 Manufacturing (Korsgaard 2004)
7.1.3 Condition Based Monitoring Figure 27 Trailing Edge Split and Debonding
7.1.4 Failure & Wear Processes Figure 28 Bonding Paste Deficiency / Thick Bond Line Resulted in
7.1.5 Blade Reliability Debonding of the Skin
7.2 Gearbox Figure 29 Broken Leading Edge and Delaminations
7.2.1 Design Figure 30 Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Transport Jig
7.2.2 Manufacturing Figure 31 Transport damage
7.2.3 Experimentation Figure 32 Leading Edge Erosion
7.2.4 Failure & Wear Processes Figure 33 Lightning damage (Kanaby 2010)
7.2.5 Lubrication and Cooling Figure 34 Lightning damage (EWEC 2010)
7.2.6 Preventive and Predictive Maintenance Figure 35 Blade Root Instrumented Fasteners (Bussieres 2011)
Figure 36 Dirt & Insect Affected Leading Edge (Blade Cleaning n.d.)
8. OffShORE O&M challEngES Figure 37 Full Length Dirt & Insect Affected Leading Edge (Blade
8.1 Meteorological Characteristics Cleaning n.d.)
8.1.1 Wind Conditions Figure 38 (A) Plug/patch and (B) scarf repair systems
8.1.2 Wave Conditions Figure 39 GE One-Stage Compound Planetary with One-Stage Parallel Shaft
8.1.3 Seasonality Figure 40 GE Two-Stage Planetary with One-Stage Parallel Shaft
8.2. Wind Park Description Figure 41 2.5MW Wind Turbine Drive Train Dynamometer Test Bed
8.2.1 Number of Turbines (NREL’s National Wind Technology Center) (ECEN 2060 2011)
8.2.2 Distance to Shore Figure 42 Damage to the main bearing. Torsion is the primary cause of
8.2.3 Grid Integration failure (Zellman 2009)
8.2.4 Crew Figure 43 Teeth Breakage on Gears (Korbijn 2011)
8.2.5 Access System Figure 44 Teeth Breakage on Gears(Korbijn 2011)
8.3 Failure Landscape Figure 45 Automatic CMS Mounted Under a 2.5MW Generator (Becker
8.3.1 Heavy Component 2008)
8.3.2 Large Component Figure 46 Piezoelectric Accelerometers Installed on the Gear (Becker 2008)
Figure 47 Operation and Maintenance Cost and Availability (Kotsonis
8.3.3 Small Parts
2010)
8.3.4 Small/No Parts Figure 48 Significant Wave Height and Wind Speed Relationship
9. Wind O&M fUTURE OUTlOOk (Bussel & Bierbooms 2005)
9.1 Barriers to Entry for Component Suppliers Figure 49 Ship-Based Stabilized Gangway Platform for Offshore
9.2 Proactive Versus Reactive O&M Costs and Strategies Structure Access (Ampelmann 2010)
9.3 Wind O&M Future Trends Figure 50 Overall Availability of an Offshore Wind Farm (Bussel &
Bierbooms 2005)
Figure 51 Wind Park Configuration (Van de Pieterman et al. n.d.)
Figure 52 Damage Accumulation (Van de Pieterman et al. n.d.)
LIst OF FIGures Figure 53 Cumulative Distribution Function of the Weather Window
Figure 1 Failure Rate Evolution (Bussel & Bierbooms 2005)
Figure 2 Offshore Wind Supply Chain Map (Scottish Enterprise 2010) Figure 54 Offshore Timely Failure Rates (Van de Pieterman et al. n.d.)
Figure 3 5MW Wind Turbine Component Capital Costs Breakdown Figure 55 Life Cycle Cost: Pro-Active versus Reactive Maintenance
Figure 4 5MW Wind Turbine Component Capital Costs Breakdown (Roeper 2009)
(Krohn et al. 2009) Figure 56 Wind O&M Cost and Forecasted Per Unit of Energy Yield
Figure 5 O&M Costs for German Turbines (1997-2001)(Krohn et al. 2009) Figure 57 Average Five-Year O&M Cost Per Turbine (Wiser & Bolinger 2009)
Figure 6 Historical US Average Annual Wind Turbine O&M Costs (Wiser Figure 58 Estimated 20-Year Parts Cost Breakdown for a 60MW Project
& Bolinger 2009) (Wiser & Bolinger 2009)
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5. the wind energy Operations and Maintenance report
Maximize wind power production, minimize turbine downtime
and plan for cost effective on and offshore wind O+M
purchase yOur cOpy tOday SpEcial nOTE: for 2010 report buyers!
Format: Secure PDF Upgrade your report with 3 new three new
chapters on Offshore O+M, Gearboxes and
extent: 109 pages
Blade failures for just $699.
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