Smart asset management essential after tenth anniversary of Prinses Amalia wind farm
Eneco signed new contracts with Siemens Gamesa, ØER Energy, GEV Windpower and MPI Contractors
The Prinses Amalia wind farm started to generate its first green power more than ten years ago. Since they came on stream, the park's 60 Vestas V80 turbines, each with a capacity of 2MW, have generated over 400 GWh every year. Partly due to the expiry of the existing government subsidy, the park, which is technically in good condition, reaches a phase in which smart asset management becomes even more important. With this in mind, Eneco recently concluded a number of new management and maintenance contracts for the wind farm.
ØER Energy A/S, a subsidiary of the Norwegian company NSG Wind, won the European tender for supplying technicians specialised in the replacement of main components. Since the beginning of this year, all transport and lifting services are provided by MPI Contractors, for which it will use one of its crane vessels. The tender for the maintenance of rotor blades was won by GEV Windpower and Siemens Gamesa won the tender for the supply of gearboxes. MHI Vestas Offshore Wind – Eneco’s partner in several offshore wind projects – will continue to carry out the regular preventive maintenance for the next five years.
Arjan Donker, Operational Manager Offshore Wind at Eneco: "We have an extensive portfolio of both existing wind farms and projects in the pipeline. Consequently, it is essential to continuously keep an eye out for better, smarter and more cost effective management and maintenance possibilities. This is particularly important for a wind farm that has to operate without financial support in the form of subsidy. We are proud that the new contracts that we have concluded will enable the park to continue to operate on a financially sound basis during the coming years."
New partners help Eneco to further bring down the cost level. This not only relates to lower prices for services provided, but also to more efficient maintenance planning. For the coming years the costs related to replacement of the main components are minimised by optimising the use of the most expensive component, which is the crane vessel. This makes it possible to combine the replacement of a number of main components, such as gearboxes, generators and/or rotor blades, in a single maintenance operation. In addition, we have opted for a flexible planning mechanism, which gives MPI Contractors room to optimise the use of their crane vessel in several projects.
Driving force
The groundbreaking offer made by the consortium consisting of Eneco, Shell, DGE and Van Oord at the end of 2016 for the construction of the offshore wind farms Borssele 3 and 4, confirms that Eneco is one of the driving forces behind improving the cost efficiency of wind energy. Smarter asset management is an important ingredient to bring down the cost level of offshore wind energy even further. Donker concludes: "It is also crucial for the realisation of our strategy, which is to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy."
About Prinses Amalia wind farm
Prinses Amalia wind farm is located at a distance of 23 kilometres off the coast at IJmuiden. Since 2008, this wind farm supplies electricity to 125,000 households. It is the first Dutch wind farm that was built at this water depth and at such a large distance from the coast, outside the 12 mile zone. More information on the wind farm can be found at the project website.