Business - 22/October/2018

A new lease of life

Regulators and the wind industry are paying increasing attention to repowering existing wind farms to ensure prime wind sites continue to be exploited and renewable energy targets are met

As wind turbines near the end of their planned operational lives or their output is much reduced in comparison to modern turbines, operators must decide whether to extend the working life of existing machines through judicious component refurbishment or to “repower” existing sites by replacing old turbines with new units. While installing new turbines is generally more costly than reconditioning, the former has the advantage of being more powerful thanks to larger rotors, bigger generators and taller towers capable of reaching stronger winds and generating more revenue.

In Europe, repowering involves the complete replacement of turbines, including foundations, the turbine tower, electrical equipment and often the electrical cables. In most cases the old structures are replaced by fewer, bigger turbines, testament to significant increases in turbine sizes over the years. In just five years, the average rated capacity of wind turbines installed on land globally has grown from just under 2 MW in 2014 to 2.4 MW in 2018, as registered by FTI Consulting, a global intelligence business, in its Global Wind Market Update annual report. ...

Try FORESIGHT - 30 days for €29

Already a subscriber?

Login



Comments are closed.

Related articles

Wind industry faces up to the inevitable

Blades are posing the biggest waste challenge as increasing numbers of wind turbines reach the end of their useful life

Read more

A challenging marriage

Placing wind and solar photovoltaic facilities on the same site may sound attractive in theory, but the reality is more complicated and many experts suggest this will only make sense in a limited number of cases

Read more

Heavy industries are slowly starting to wake up to the reality of the energy transition, but full decarbonisation of the steel, cement and petrochemicals sectors is a significant challenge that will require new processes and significant amounts of clean energy

The heavy industry challenge

Heavy industries are slowly starting to wake up to the reality of the energy transition, but full decarbonisation of the steel, cement and petrochemicals sectors is a significant challenge that will require new processes and significant amounts of clean energy

Read more

Making energy savings more sustainable

Energy efficiency is vitally important, but policy makers and industry leaders could do more harm than good if they do not ensure that energy savings support wider environmental and sustainability goals, argue Luis Gabriel Carmona and Kai Whiting, researchers at the University of Lisbon, Portugal

Read more

Investment in energy efficiency could be key to carbon tax success

An ambitious tax on carbon emissions globally and the reinvestment of carbon revenues in energy efficiency could be game changers for the energy transition even if most countries still remain reluctant to entertain such ideas

Read more

Accelerating the energy transition will be good news for jobs, the economy and climate, says a major report published in September 2018

A faster energy transition will bring greater economic benefits

Accelerating the energy transition will be good news for jobs, the economy and climate, says a major report published in September 2018

Read more