It’s on a need to know basis and…
Remembering the state of the wind operations and maintenance (O&M) market in 2013, Enercon wind turbines were largely a black box, in the UK at least. BKW Italia had made incredible progress in Italy. But in the UK there were no alternatives when it came to O&M, spare parts, main bearing change-outs and data access. My conversations with owners about main bearing CMS were typically over before it started as they hadn’t started failing yet. The farmers and utilities accepted their lot of expensive turbines and long service contracts on the grounds that the turbines had good availability and didn’t cause them too much trouble. That, and they were making loads of money so there was no cause for inquiry. Anything like generator repairs, data access, supply chain or finding another service company were completely out of the question.
After wind had cleaned up the mess left by Senvion’s collapse in 2019 Enercon looked to be on the ropes financially in 2022. We all held our breath for the failure of another European OEM which is never something that you want to see. Thanks to the German government, they are still here and seemingly doing well. A few years earlier at DEIF we were presented with a challenge. A French customer had enough of their OEM and was going through a picture-frame-smashing breakup. We were tasked with developing a controller retrofit solution for the Enercon E70 and E82.
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If you look after good quality technicians and engineers they’ll look after your turbines, Make their lives easier.
DEIF, Business in Wind, Full Circle, Greecat Renewables and Windy Productions at Strathallen Open Day March 2025
I would say that most wind turbines, just like men, have two brains. One in the nacelle and the other in the tower base. The Enercon brain is more like an octopus, it’s nervous system more distributed, its control and decision making collaborative. Certainly, within our ranks there were those that doubted the technical and economic viability of such an undertaking. Eventually we stopped asking ourselves whether we should and we started asking ourselves whether we could. What resulted was our magnum opus of controller retrofit, a Robin-Hood like dedication to addressing the inequality of data, control and troubleshooting. The amazing control engineers have also managed to squeeze measureable AEP out of them (backed by contract). It is truly something to be proud of and seeing really is believing. E70 wind turbine data access is now possible.
Enercon converter cabinets post-retrofit
Change the heater parameter after curtailment events to reduce condensation to ensure IGBT reliability
Enercon wind turbine servicing and major components
For service, Full Circle built on their EWT direct drive experience, have recruited well and under good leadership appear to be the market leader not just in Enercon but in market share acquisition at the time of writing. There are other companies that offer generator repair up-tower through coil bridging and coil replacement processes. A lot more palatable than the 1m EUR that a new generator will set you back (18 months lead times are not uncommon) but feedback from the market is that repair results can vary.
Spare Parts and Repairs for Enercon wind turbines
Spare part availability has also become more widespread as turbines have aged component manufacturers such as pitch bearings have stepped outside of their dwindling supply contracts as the turbines have moved out of production and focussed on the aftermarket. At 25 years old you would expect some independence. She moves well with a rotor speed of 25 U/min and a tipspeed of 78m/s and for a thigh rubber like me she’s a good-looking turbine too. But news comes that the E82 will become a legacy machine too by the end of 2025. Enercon themselves have offered spare parts distribution through the usual channels and some new ones too (send me an email for a hookup) and whilst pricing and availability can have you wincing at the end of the day you can get parts and repairs.
Windy Productions repairs PCBs, slip rings, IGBTs, capacitor banks and heat sinks
Second hand turbines are still doing work in UK onshore development in 2025
The UK wind market is not blessed with topography so it doesn’t wear big turbines well. It has a large population for the size of island and a grid connection queue longer than the line for Oasis tickets. Coupled with the fact that it’s basically a developing country (have you seen our roads?) it makes it ideal for second hand turbines in the 2MW class. And they are class. V80s, V90s, E70s and E82s were all beautifully engineered and often decommissioned with more still to give. Through good refurbishment processes and development partners they can be given a new lease of life and continue to provide green energy in a circular fashion.
Strathallen Wind Farm – Open Day March 2025
Case Study – The realised dream of in-house maintenance 2025
Just occasionally I am part of something that makes me incredibly proud to work in wind. Last week was one of those occasions where we had some of the best, brightest and most seasoned people our industry had to offer at Strathallen Wind Farm open day where we showcased the complete solution to Enercon. It was being operated, owned, controlled, refurbished, serviced and supplied entirely by the open aftermarket. Enercon were not present at all. They had no power or leverage over the turbines. This isn’t to say that I don’t admire their engineering, the E70 is one of the best in it’s class. But if you own an asset, just like a car, you should be able to choose who looks after it. Whether you work on it yourself, use an independent or the OEM. Only once you have access to everything can you understand your turbines and perfect operations and maintenance. Whilst perfection is a pursuit at Strathallen Wind Farm it was difficult to find fault with what had been achieved.
I’d like to finish with a quote, which sums up my feelings about working in wind O&M.
“We the willing led by the unknowing are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little we are now qualified to do anything with nothing forever.” – Jireček
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