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August 13, 2009

Why Wind Turbine Operators Need to Review Their Asset Management, Repair and Parts Procurement Strategy
Author: Sean Keller, Business Unit Director, DEX Renewables

What happens when wind turbine parts fail or come out of warranty?  Do you have a comprehensive strategy in place to avoid the downtime, lost output, disruption and perhaps penalties which can ensue?

Like any piece of electro-mechanical equipment, wind turbines will fail at some point – it’s not a question of if but when.  As wind turbines come out of their warranty periods operators face a number of dilemmas.  Should they replace the failed part or repair it?  Has the part been discontinued or is it difficult to source?  Does technical documentation still exist for that part?  Why did the part fail – this may require detailed investigation and analysis by experienced engineers and technicians to establish the root cause.  Are there performance issues with a particular part?

Operators need to adopt a holistic engineering solution to report failure symptom trends, epidemic failures, third party module issues, and evidence of design quality and reliability problems.

Several factors come into play when designing such a solution with the aim of ensuring repairs are carried out swiftly and efficiently to minimise downtime and disruption to operations.  The location, storage and transportation of spare parts is crucially important.  In many cases spares are kept close to the wind farm site in temporary buildings which do not offer the optimal environmental conditions for electro-mechanical parts.  As a result many parts become unusable or need to be repaired or refurbished before they can be installed.  This problem can be avoided if parts are stored centrally under strictly controlled environmental conditions.  Sensitive electronics are particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature, humidity, static charges and so forth so must be stored properly.

Being able to track spare parts is equally important.  An efficient asset management system should be able to provide 24/7 visibility of where a particular part is located, its age and condition.  This can not only save valuable time in finding a part but can also highlight any deficiencies in stock which can then be rectified.

Wind turbine parts generally have a high unit cost therefore the cost of a new replacement part can be as much as three times the cost of repairing an existing part.  Therefore, the total cost of ownership can be significantly reduced by careful management of existing parts.  If there are performance or reliability issues detailed testing and analysis of the equipment in a simulated factory test environment can be employed to determine the root cause.

If parts are unavailable, discontinued or difficult to source it can prove to be a major headache for operators.  For example, one operator experienced five months downtime (at an estimated loss of 250,000 euros) due to long lead times on rotor current controller parts.

At every stage in the repair or refurbishment process it is crucial that the highest quality assurance standards are adhered to and that a full audit trail can be produced showing the progress of the repair and certifying that the relevant quality standards have been complied with.  Wherever possible, once a part becomes defective it should be immediately swapped out for a fully functional part and the defective part repaired so that a stock of good parts is always available.  Parts pooling schemes between operators can also help ensure that contingency stocks are kept high.

About the Author
Sean Keller is business unit director of DEX Renewables.

DEX Renewables is a division of DEX.  DEX is an international specialist engineering company with a 30 year pedigree providing optimal solutions for the Technology Supply Chain including logistics, repair, parts procurement and asset recovery services. DEX operates in high-tech industries including computer, industrial and medical equipment.  The company has a global presence with a number of facilities in the US, Europe and Asia.  It counts dozens of Fortune 500 companies among its clients.

The new division applies this world-leading expertise to the European renewable energy sector, initially focusing on wind turbine solutions.

For further information please visit www.dex.com/renewables or call +353 1 848 6555.

Marketing inquiries, please contact:

Randy Hudson
Marketing Director
805-388-1711 x146
Email: rhudson@dex.com

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