Preventive Maintenance and Troubleshooting Techniques for Wind Turbines

More than 1,200MW of wind power capacity was installed in the United States in the third quarter of 2011 alone, bringing new installations through the first three quarters of the year to 3,360MW, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The U.S. wind industry now totals 43,461MW of cumulative wind capacity through the end of September 2011. Of this total, more than 35% of all new generating capacity has been installed within the past four years.

EC&M's November issue features an article by Staff Writer Beck Ireland on preventive maintenance and troubleshooting techniques for wind turbines. Annual operations and maintenance costs for wind turbines, which include insurance, regular maintenance, repair, spare parts, and administration, are estimated between 3% to 5% of the total cost of installation. If the turbine is still relatively new, the costs are estimated to reach between 10% to 15%; however, this percentage may increase to at least 20% to 35% by the end of the turbine’s life cycle. Costs for repair and spare parts, in particular, increase as the turbine ages.

Many of the same processes used to reduce O&M costs in industrial plants apply to wind power projects. However, the variable environments of both inland and off-shore wind turbine locations, as well as the height of the turbines themselves, pose unique challenges. The article also reports that within the wind energy system, certain components may require more critical O&M care than others.

Job opportunities also exist and will increase in this sector: Until all failures in wind systems can be engineered away, there will be a need for wind turbine technicians. There are no technical or physical barriers for wind to supply at least 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030, according to the DOE; therefore, the organization estimates there will be 80,000 O&M jobs by that year.