PES is proud to introduce a new regular columnist to the magazine: Christian Holmgaard, CEO and Senior Consultant Project Manager for WTG Partners – a well-respected and well-known Danish consultancy. In this, the first of his missives, he discusses the (manifold) merits of turbine inspections…
We see many companies that are looking to invest in a wind power plant that is already in operation; this could be either on utility level, where smaller operating companies are acquired to increase the portfolio ,or simply when a private person is looking to invest in shares in one or more turbines – this type of acquisition is becoming increasingly popular due to taxation benefits, retirement funding
and green image.
What most people and, to some extent utility companies, fail to identify is the importance of a thorough technical due diligence of the assets. Typically emphasis is put on legal and financial terms and the technical aspects are often overlooked or at least downplayed.
When investing in, say, a 1MW wind turbine in operation you will typically focus on licensing, PPA, land rights, average wind speeds, etc. And these are all important aspects, but paying around the 1.4 million Euro mark for a second hand 1MW turbine does not insure that the technical qualities of the turbine are on par.
In worst case scenarios you could be looking at a turbine with a failing gearbox, a generator with degrading phase isolation, and a blade or two in need of gel coat repair and possibly damages from smaller lightning strikes. When looking at turbines in of between 5-20 years of age this list and a secondary list of smaller issues and errors would be considered normal. (Although some may object, this has been my experience.)
When looking at the costs involved for fixing these issues, again focusing on a 1MW turbine a refurbished gearbox, which would cost 40,000 Euro excluding labour and cranage in exchange for the old unit.
