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- Category: Windtech Future
Tracing curiously the case of Siemens wind turbines in Hywind wind farm to see what the problem has been, requiring major repairs, I could not find any official statement in Equinor or SGRE websites. Obviously companies do not like to talk about their product failure or deficiency. Just recently I learned (1) that the “heavy maintenance” work included replacement of the main bearing(s). Certainly, this has not been the only repair.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
Recently I came across a website [1] that lists the reports on various wind turbine failures or complaints made about wind turbine accidents in the neighborhood. Although the list may not reflect all the cases, it is a good representation of the real world and what has happened involving wind turbines. The list is extensive and covers the incidents in all countries since 2005.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
One problem always mentioned for offshore wind farms is the water depth and the limitation faced for turbine foundations, which leads to floating wind farms for depths over 100 metres. Although it has not yet surfaced, as wind farms get farther to sea, the distance from shore can also become a limitation for transmission.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
It was shocking to me to read: Norwegian energy major Equinor will tow the five Siemens Gamesa turbines at the world’s first floating offshore wind farm to shore for “heavy maintenance” this summer. The above news can be found on many sites on the internet and from other sources. This is just after 6 years of operation, the majority of which has been very glorious and successful! (See for example [1], [2]).By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
I intended to perform an analysis and comparison of wind turbines with doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) and those with permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) in terms of reliability and weight issues. The reason behind this comparison is the fact that these two issues are the most important matters pertinent to how profitable a wind turbine is in its life cycle. Reliability determines the possible downtime and loss of revenue through the entire life of a turbine, while the weight (of what goes on top of a tower - the nacelle and rotor) affects the initial cost of the tower and its foundation as well as transportation and installation, particularly for offshore turbines, for which the cost of any operation is much higher than for onshore machines.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
When talking about wind turbines and the cost of wind energy, the scenario that comes to mind is an onshore or offshore wind farm that captures power from wind and injects it into a grid. That is, wind power is used according to:
Scenario 1: Wind energy is generated at point A and transmitted via a high-voltage line to point B.
The costs involved in this scenario are those of the wind farm development and accessing the high-voltage line, the cost of which is not often a part of the associated expenditure.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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| #39 11MW Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines installed at Borkum Riffgrund 3 in the North Sea, Germany (courtesy Kim Larsen |
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