Knowing whether to repair or replace wind turbine blades is integral to wind farm output and profitability. Making this decision requires the proper specialist support, expertise, and resources.
Wind turbine blades must be in peak condition and maintained with a programme of scheduled and preventative maintenance to ensure maximum efficiency throughout their lifetime. However, knowing when a wind turbine blade can be repaired and when it needs to be replaced can be challenging.
The most common causes of wind turbine blade failures relate to environmental factors such as weather ingress or the effects of lightning, bird strikes, general fatigue (perhaps from faulty control systems or the detachment of blade furniture), poor maintenance, manufacturing defects, and design. Each of these presents its own set of considerations.
Investigate
However, before the repair or replacement question can be answered, it’s necessary to investigate the failing wind turbine blade thoroughly. This inspection and analysis process is crucial to understanding the blade’s damage and the required remedial action.
A team of wind turbine specialists will need to review factors such as:
- The scale of damage to the wind turbine blade—The amount of material damage, focusing on the size of the affected area.
- Material damage – Wind turbine blades are made of complex materials, so it’s crucial to know which materials are damaged. Is it the blade shell (outer) or the blade beam (core)?
- Impact on aerofoil geometry – Wind turbine blades are designed to maximise their aerodynamic efficiency, so it’s essential to identify any damage to their geometry and, therefore, efficacy.
- Structural integrity—If too much of a blade’s structural integrity has been damaged or compromised, it may indicate that a repair is impossible. These checks assess whether the blade’s structural integrity is intact and can endure the loads required during operation.
Once these factors have been assessed, it’s possible to determine whether the repair cost exceeds the blade’s value and whether replacing the blade entirely is more cost-effective.
Where repairs are possible, wind farm operators will need to call on the support of a trusted repair partner to isolate the turbine, carry out the blade repair and reconnect the power so the turbine can return to operation.
Where a wind turbine blade replacement is required, it’s vital to ensure the new blade matches those still in operation. Due to discrepancies in the manufacturing process, not all wind turbine blades are the same, even when they’re from the same manufacturer or have the exact specification. To ensure new blades will not cause undue strain on motors, the other blades, bearings and gears, new blades may require load distribution and ballast blocks to be used as necessary.
A trusted partner
At AIS Wind Energy, we are experts in planned wind turbine maintenance programmes and support hundreds of wind farm operators across Europe with our maintenance, commissioning, decommissioning, and installation services.
The operational and commercial value of having a trusted and experienced wind turbine maintenance provider to carry out routine maintenance is in mitigating the risk of operational downtime and the associated financial losses. Routine maintenance keeps wind turbines operating at their peak by ensuring blades are in optimal condition, and any potential faults are identified before they become a problem.
Our scheduled maintenance programme includes lubricating, cleaning, and repairing wind turbine blades, tower sections, couplings between gearbox and generator, gearboxes, generators, blade bearings, and main ring bearings.
Our expert team of fully certified and experienced operatives works with operators to schedule wind turbine maintenance programmes by offering wind turbine blade maintenance and repairs as part of a complete range of services to increase the longevity of turbines. These services include:
- Planning, method statement and risk assessment for the wind turbine blade replacement.
- Isolation of the wind turbine to allow blade replacement to take place.
- Wind turbine blade disconnection and removal.
- Lifting the new blade into position.
Commissioning support for your wind turbine blade replacement through our partners.
Combining our team’s skills, critical safety know-how, and ability to access resources and expertise within the group gives operators the longevity, security, and reliability they need to keep their turbines turning.
Call 0151 318 4725 to learn more about our wind turbine blade expertise and how we can support your farm with scheduled preventative maintenance or component replacement.
