Changing out your wind turbine controller for a new one isn’t for everyone. There’s a case for if it ain’t broken don’t fix it and this article explores whether it may be right for your wind farm, organisation and O&M strategy.
1. It doesn’t suit your O&M strategy
If you have a long-term service agreement (LTSA) with the OEM then it is unlikely that they will accommodate such a change. At the first mention all downtime vaguely attributable to controller issues will be carved out and not covered under full scope. Not that full scope contracts are full scope anymore. Most of the time it isn’t in the OEM’s interest to controller retrofit, it weakens their ecosystem of data, parts sale and control of the wind turbine. Training is available to the OEM techs and data access can be provided by the owner for sufficient control but contractually it is a nightmare.
For independent service providers (ISPs) it is a different story. If you are looking to move away from the OEM and towards an ISP, controller retrofit is a good way to level the playing field when it comes to data access allowing for more competitive tenders and easier troubleshooting and remote control without having to pay subscription fees. If your ISP already has access and you don’t loose too much contractual reassurance in the process you might not need controller retrofit.
If you are looking to in-house your wind turbine operations and maintenance then controller retrofit is a good choice. You can start fresh with documentation, technician training and look to completely integrate the WTGs into your SCADA system without restrictions or third-party cyber vulnerabilities (leaving the door open to the OEM).
2. You already have sufficient data access
If you had an informed lawyer who negotiated data access as part of the turbine supply agreement (TSA) and you don’t pay for this, then you are one of the lucky ones. Perhaps you have some compromising pictures of your OEM customer representative at the Christmas Party, and it affords you a back door to data access or you’ve obtain access through stolen laptops and passwords. I won’t tell if you won’t.
The wind industry is built on stolen laptops, passwords and copied documents.
As OEM’s struggle to maintain profitability and as their service market share dwindles they are increasing their pricing and protectionism when it comes to turbine access. Unless you have a gilded WTG order book and are subscriped to their premium package, you’d do well to get someone to answer the phone. This can leave you vulnerable to compatibility issues, software updates and any troubleshooting that requires anything more than a mulitmeter.
3. Not enough money in it
The price of power is forecasted to come down in the medium to long term (I’ve heard that before), but certainly in some countries such as Sweden (20-30 EUR/MWh) it is a struggle to build any business case based on marginal gains. A 2.3% increase of fuck all is still fuck all. This is difficult to argue with particularly at times of redundancies and you have to get creative. To outrun the lion you need good footwear. In Sweden for example during the winter, if you have a good ice detection or heating system integrated into your controller you can operate when others are not and you can get a 3-fold increase of your power price.
In other countries such as the UK and Ireland where our grids are poorly suited for high renewable penetration staying agile in the spot market through a good power park controller (PPC) to enable active and reactive power and low voltage ride though (LVRT) it gives your traders the edge. This is particularly true if you are co-locating your wind farms with BESS or PV. Do your generating assets all talk to each other and at a speed that allows you to be optimised for grid and power price conditions? Virtual power plants are truly the future and those slow to prepare will find themselves in the queue for cash.
4. Site is a Joint Venture
If you have to ask your wife for permission to buy a jetski then chances you are going to have to write a pretty strong powerpoint presentation or at least take her to New York in exchange. A good quality business case for controller retrofit is a summation of AEP gains, O&M cost reduction, less downtime and subscription fees for data access (such as Vestas toolkit). That is leaned up against cost of hardware vs installation downtime and this varies by wind turbine technology.
5. Prioritise later
If you want a body for summer, then you need to start eating celery and doing situps in February. Most people in wind are running from one fire to another and most years are behind in service, major component exchange and prioritsing getting wind turbines back online due to a string outage or something (that’s a bad month at the office). They do all of these activities with one hand tied behind their back either due to data access, supply chain, grid stability or advanced warning of failure. It’s a career for the masochistic. Trying to speak to someone in O&M about best practices of predictive maintenance or controller retrofit for the benefit of multiple stakeholders is preaching to the choir. They understand if they had done this last year their life would have been easier this year. Prioritise later.
Summer is for planners
6. Can still get parts new or repaired
There are repair options for control modules, CT modules, HMIs and converter controllers. This reduces waste, improves circularity and can provide continuity for legacy components. Good management of software and firmware control is key for maintaining compatibility particularly when buying refurbs. This is good practice but still comes with some limitations. Due to the advancing nature of power electronics, component manufactured graduates from production to grey market to obsolescence quite quickly. I spoke with someone working in O&M recently who confessed to spending 60% of his working day on managing obsolescence issues. Continuation, compatibility, updating documentation and supply chain development. Nobody gets into engineering for that reason.
Another limitation of hardware developed in the noughties is that CPU can be limiting both in terms of speed of access/download, processing, software upgrades and cyber security. Pitch control and other parameter control algorithms could be janky, cause unnecessary downtime and reliability issues leaving money on the wind.
Legacy gear can be repaired but spare parts aren’t forever
7. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
There’s nothing wrong with your controller. You know how it works, you have enough access and whilst it looks like a prop from a seventies James Bond film, its yours, qwerks and all. Your systems are build around it, your documentation and you’ve got spares and repairs lined up. A lot of people feel this way about the COTAS controller on the older Vestas machines. To these people I have tremendous empathy. I drive a 2009 golf, the standard one, no bells, no whistles. It starts everytime, it’s cheap to tax and flys through a MOT. It’s a diesel, it’s done 100k miles and will do another 100k more. If you never drive nice cars you know any different, you are contented.
Every single person that I have spoken with that has tried the DEIF controllers love it and never go back. Vestas, Enercon, Senvion, GE or Suzlon. The techs loves it, the super SCADA users love it and the owners love the extra money and life extension assurance. We offer a free controller retrofit trial with 12 month payment terms. Nobody sends it back. Most roll it out.
8. Can’t be arsed
Some people are contented coasting through life. Who isn’t prone to a good reclining session whilst reading through Classic Tractors on a weather day. There’s been no wind this year and I am surprised to hear that people are ahead in servicing and letting the turbines turn to make some money. Whilst any recommendation for getting ahead, reading up, or preparing for worse days will be booed derisively by all those in the office. You may curse your lack of proactivity in 6 months time when you are freezing your tits off poking an unresponsive controller through fingerless gloves.
The quality of life enabled through controller retrofit cannot be understated
9. Pragmatism wins over idealism
The challenge with controller retrofit is that it benefits so many people: techs, SCADA, asset management, IT and operations. If you work for an organisation of any size, getting buy in from all of those functions is a big job in itself. Nothing easy is worth doing. In the long run it will make your life so much easier. Most of the people who work in wind are here for a long time and not a good time. If we change how we own and manage assets and prioritise longevity and pride rather than short-termism then we can change the world. You can’t do that without control.
10. You aren’t long for this world
It may be that you have chosen not to repower your GE1.5 or MM82 site and that the plan is to replace them with newer turbines that arent so needy. This is a pretty good reason not to invest. However if your feed in tariff or PPA is still good and despite your reliability warnings over blade and tower collapse the accountants are happy then you better lock in for another 5-10 years. A new controller can give you obsolescence protetction as well as additional CMS integration should you be worried that you might appear on the local news.
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