Special report Power up
With many of the prime locations for wind turbines currently occupied by older models, repowering could prove vital for the future growth of the industry. Elly Earls speaks to Ivan Komusanac, electrification advisor at WindEurope, to find out what the repowering process looks like at present and why it is crucial for governments to streamline permitting procedures.
ith 45GW of onshore wind capacity in Europe set to reach their end of operational life by 2026, repowering could prove vital for the future of the wind industry. While some wind farms will inevitably be decommissioned and others will benefit from lifetime extension, in many cases rebuilding wind farms from the ground up with more powerful turbines will be the best way for operators to make the most of the wind industry’s prime locations.
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A handful of standout projects are proving that the replacement of older models with more efficient and technologically advanced turbines has the potential to hugely increase capacity. The Windplan Groen project in the Dutch province of Flevoland, for example, used to have 98 turbines with a total capacity of 168MW. These are now being replaced by 90 more powerful turbines, which will take the total capacity of the wind farm to around 500MW, enough to power the whole province. Of these turbines, 37 will be Vestas’ 6MW model – not only the company’s most powerful machines but also
the most powerful ever installed in the Netherlands. A wind farm at Malpica in Galicia, Spain, has seen an even bigger transformation. The number of turbines went down from 69 to seven, but true electricity output doubled. “Projects such as Windplan Groen and Malpica show how big an impact repowering can have. Replacing old turbines with more powerful ones is a very effective way to produce more renewable electricity quickly. Older turbines are generally built where the wind blows the most. New technology can produce much more electricity in these places,” said Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope – a body that advocates wind energy policies for Europe on behalf of more than 450 member companies – in a March 2022 press release. “But permitting for repowering is just way too slow and complicated right now,” he added. “Governments need to change their approach and facilitate repowering by drastically simplifying the permitting procedures.”
Repowering projects are underway all over the rest of Europe, with most in 2021 taking place in
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World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
Arda Savaciogullari/
Shutterstock.comArda Savaciogullari/
Shutterstock.com
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