'Defects' in Siemens Gamesa 4.X turbines cause partial shut down of wind project
'Defects' in Siemens Gamesa 4.X turbines cause partial shut-down of wind project | Windpower Monthly
The 163MW Odal Vind onshore wind farm, in Norway near the Swedish border, is comprised of 34 Siemens Gamesa SG 4.X turbines according to Windpower Intelligence. It is co-owned by Norwegian power firm Akershus Energi(51%), renewables developer Cloudberry(33.4%) and pension fund KLP(15.6%).
The project is operated by Odal Vindkraftverk, which disclosed the turbine problems.
Lars Tallhaug, CEO of Odal Vindkraftverk, told Windpower Monthly that 13 out of the 34 turbines at the project were not working, while another two were being repaired.
'Quality issues'
He said: “The main reason...that they are stopped [is] due to damages caused by manufacturing defects of the blades. Another two turbines are currently stopped due to other issues with ongoing repairs.”
Tallhaug added: “The blade damages are mainly related to production quality issues.”
Siemens Gamesa has faced quality control issues related to components in its 4.X and 5.X onshore wind turbines. These contributed to substantial financial losses and parent company Siemens Energy fired'those responsible'.
Tallhaug said the problems with the Siemens Gamesa turbines were discovered in 2023, after they had been installed and were operating, which led to a partial shut down at the project.
“This is a matter of damage within the period of guarantee of the contract and Odal Vindkraftverk is working closely with the supplier in terms of the repair work,” The repair work is expected to continue "well into 2024".
Siemens Gamesa was contacted for comment.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.