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Mobile WebSiteEuropean offshore wind power operators generally sign a five-year warranty contract with the wind turbine supplier five years before the wind farm is put into production. Along with the end of the warranty period of a batch of offshore wind farms put into production in Germany and other European countries in 2014 and 2015, the operators have to do their best for the inspection before the quality assurance and how to carry out the maintenance of the wind farm after the quality assurance!
Beihai wind farm warranty expires gradually
According to the current wind farm production situation in Europe, if the contract is normally fulfilled, there will be two German wind farms and one British wind farm end the wind turbine warranty at the end of 2019; there will be eight German wind farms in 2020. Two British wind farms and one Dutch wind farm mainframe warranty contract expired; and the Baltic Sea will also have a German wind farm warranty.
Preparation before warranty
In order to reduce the operation and maintenance risks, the general operators will choose to continue to sign the fan maintenance agreement with the whole machine manufacturer, but many owners will choose their own operation and maintenance for the consideration of operation and maintenance costs. This requires that the wind farm operator conduct a comprehensive inspection of all wind turbines before the end of the warranty period to ensure that the wind turbines are in good condition and seize the last chance to claim from the host manufacturer. If the last opportunity is missed, the operator will soon be able to afford a high cost of repair and replacement of large parts.
In the face of these wind farms that are going to be out of warranty, operators need to prepare in advance to ensure that the fan operation and maintenance costs and downtime are minimized after the end of the warranty period, and the preparation process is as early as possible. Among them, attention should be paid to the large parts such as blades, main bearings and gearboxes that are prone to failure, seriously affect the availability of the fan and have high maintenance costs.
Once the offshore wind turbine has a failure that is not predicted in advance, the cost of maintenance is high, which is not a loss of power generation. The most important goal of the operator is to ensure reliable operation of the fan for a long time, which requires the detection of defects and potential failures of critical components during the warranty period. Claims valid during the warranty period are an important means of minimizing the cost of operation and maintenance.
A comprehensive inspection before the warranty is essential
In order to have a comprehensive understanding of the operation of the fan, the inspection before the end of the warranty period is essential, especially for the overall inspection of the entire fan condition and key parts. In Europe, if a claim needs to be filed, a similar inspection must be completed three months before the expiration of the warranty or earlier.
In the comprehensive inspection, many technical means are used. For example, endoscopy can understand the internal condition of the component without disassembling the components. It is used more and more widely. It can check the internal condition of the generator, gearbox and main bearing. Wait.
A similar “quality inspection” is generally carried out during the small wind season, when it is less affected by bad weather, and it does not cause a large loss of power generation due to long downtime. The evaluator needs sufficient time to complete the inspection, prepare the report, communicate with the owner and the wind turbine manufacturer to propose a solution, prepare a maintenance work plan, etc., so the industry mainly arranges early.
