“With wind farm maintenance, partnering with a supplier that can provide a quick and reliable delivery service is vital” Damian Wynne, Industry Sector Manager, RS Components
“Most wind farms are based in rural or offshore locations – usually not close to cities or logistics hubs – which means that engineers have to drive to get there, often taking a full day to perform maintenance,” explains Damian Wynne,Industry Sector Manager at RS Components. “Once they get there, they need to have all the tools, parts and equipment necessary to carry out the work. If any key element is missing, the entire trip has been wasted and will need to be done again.”
Being prepared
The efficiency of planned maintenance simply comes down to the organisational skills of a wind power operator’s engineers, since the work can be scheduled for the best possible time in terms of shutting turbines down, while all the equipment can be arranged in advance. However, unplanned maintenance can potentially result in significant costs to the business.
Wynne believes that there are three key ways in which wind power companies can minimise the impact of unscheduled maintenance: “First, while most new turbines will have Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology in place to allow remote monitoring, it’s worth operators investing in this technology, or telemetry, for existing equipment so that it can provide as much data as possible to help inform the engineers of what’s wrong before they set out,” he says. “Secondly, many engineers will ‘over index’ when they take parts and tools in their van so that they are covered for as many eventualities as possible.
“We’re witnessing a revolution in the energy sector and the growth of offshore wind farms is part of that. But that can involve greater logistical complexity and cost” Damian Wynne, Industry Sector Manager, RS Components
“Lastly, partnering with a supplier that can provide a quick and reliable delivery service is vital,” he adds. “Specifically with MRO, it’s often the safety equipment, specialist tools and testing equipment that engineers need to have in place or they will not be able to do the job. In some cases,
RS can deliver products to customers on a same-day basis within a specific time window, which could potentially save significant expense.”
The importance of getting the right equipment in place is further increased when wind turbines are located offshore. “Maintaining offshore wind farms involves much greater logistical complexity and cost,” says Wynne. “This means that any mistakes or delays will have a bigger cost impact, so it’s essential that engineers have all the equipment when and where they need it.”