BLADE INSPECTION & REPAIR
FEATURE SPONSOR
THE
Blade damage as a result of severe weather is a familiar occurrence. In fact, lightning strikes are typically a leading culprit in most geographies. Lightning can be especially harmful because it often goes undetected initially, causing the damage to propagate over time and resulting in more extensive repairs or even a full blade replacement. Suddenly, you’re faced with failed equipment, unplanned maintenance and unscheduled equipment expenses, such as crane procurement. Costs can quickly reach six figures, not even taking into the account the lost power generation.
BOTTOM LINE
With every turn of a blade, you’re trying to maximise the power generation and profits of your windfarm – the condition of your assets, the efficiency of your operations and the safety of your crews all impact your bottom line. Weather is another significant factor that can affect every area of your organisation. Mitigating harmful and increasingly volatile weather conditions can help reduce unexpected, short-term costs and long-term risks to your operations.
DETECTION – THERE’S A BETTER WAY Traditionally, the most common and high- tech way to visually determine if a wind turbine has been struck by lightning is to use your eyes – hardly a fast or efficient method!
You can’t stop lightning from damaging your turbines or blades but you can enhance the efficiency and speed with which you identify the problem, initiate repairs and get a turbine back on line. Schneider Electric offers an efficient automated and 21st century answer in the
most comprehensive support package on the market for lightning solutions. From blade inspection reports, to highly accurate weather forecasts, to patented lightning alerts, you receive powerful intelligence that helps you react faster, keep crews safer and get those blades turning again.
BLADE INSPECTION REPORTS A key component of the company’s industry-leading intelligence is lightning tracking technology. Operators receive a daily data report that includes…
• All lightning strikes that were close enough to impact a specific turbine
• The likelihood that turbines within a given area were struck
• The affected turbine’s name/ID • Date and time of strikes • Latitude and longitude • Amplitude and polarity
Moreover, all strikes are assigned a confidence level, allowing you to choose the degree of confidence that a strike occurred within a certain number of metres, as well as prioritise your response.
By removing the guesswork and physical trips to view individual turbines, crews now know which ones may need attention ahead of time and can schedule inspection and maintenance accordingly. Warranty and insurance paperwork is accurate and supported with hard data. In addition, earlier detection and faster repairs mean that blades can be fixed before the damage gets any worse – cutting overall blade repair costs and turbine downtime.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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