Despite the scale and rapid growth of the wind industry, it has until recently been challenged by the limited service options available for the maintenance and overhaul of turbine gearboxes. We take a look one company’s forward-thinking solution.
The UK wind energy market comprises more than 4,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines, with around 1,400 more currently under construction and thousands more at various stages of the planning process. Maintaining a wind turbine gearbox in first-class condition ensures that it is capable of delivering its rated performance safely and reliably under heavy and fluctuating loads. If the gearbox sustains damage, the turbine’s condition rapidly deteriorates, often rendering it inoperative and no longer generating revenue. Catastrophic turbine failure may lead to a major shutdown of all or part of a wind farm and as the number and size of offshore installations grows, the cost of such a shutdown will continue to increase.
The overhaul challenge
Preventive maintenance is a key factor in limiting the downtime of a wind turbine. Until now though, obtaining access to diagnostics and repair programmes within
a narrow timeframe has not always been a viable option for UK wind farm operators.
In the majority of cases, a failed unit or part would be shipped back to its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) outside the UK for repair, inevitably extending the interruption of power generation.
ZF Services UK Ltd therefore set out to investigate whether extending its capabilities to include a UK-based wind turbine gearbox inspection and overhaul service would enable wind farm operators to maximise turbine uptime. The company initially consulted with the UK’s major wind turbine operators to understand the challenges they faced in keeping wind-driven generating equipment operating at peak performance.
This approach proved welcome, and the decision was subsequently taken to invest in dedicated tooling and handling facilities to diagnose and overhaul wind turbine gearboxes. To reduce loss of energy production to a minimum during repair, the company also invested in a variety of swing units which can be made available to wind farm operators to keep turbines operational.
Some three years later, the company is firmly established as a leading multi-brand gearbox service provider to the UK’s wind energy sector, and offers a localised service incorporating preventive maintenance, unit overhaul and field support and has already achieved ‘approved supplier’ status with five of the UK’s top wind farm operators. With strong growth forecast in the wind energy market, increased demand is expected for on-site fault finding and diagnostic support, particularly for offshore wind farms located in British waters.
