From tower to blade tips — full refurbishment of a 1.5 MW turbine

Situation:

• Full refurbishment of wind turbine including drive train, rotor blades, pitch system, controller, converter and other components
• Increased difficulty as the gearbox had not been commercially available for some time
• Updating of systems to the latest technology

Solution:

• Developed a repair solution for the gearbox
• Created an overall solution not requiring dismantling of the machine head, which would have been too costly in this case
• While the main components were refurbished, other systems, such as converters, brake system, controller and ventilation equipment were upgraded
• Refurbishment of rotor blades on site
• Project completed within 4 months

Benefits:

• Overall costs were nearly half of those quoted by the manufacturer
• The newly installed condition monitoring system for the main components allows better planning of repairs
• As a result of the upgrading measures, the turbine achieved a very satisfactory level of technical availability and yield for the owner after refurbishment