It always seems that, in any wind farm, at least one of the cluster of turbines isn鈥檛 turning. What is the reason for this? Is it undergoing repair or are there other, more interesting, factors at work?
鈥� Wind turbines are complex pieces of machinery, but are generally very reliable: their availability is typically around 97 per cent. Needless to say, regular maintenance is necessary, and some of this requires individual turbines to go offline.
One notable cause is that the blades accumulate minor damage from stones peppering them in high winds. Blade inspection and repair is usually carried out in the gentler weather of summer, and this provides a major source of employment in areas where there are lots of turbines.
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Other components of the turbine can fail and need repair too, such as the gearbox, which is a heavily stressed component.
Turbines may also be turned off in times of turbulence or (often) at night, because of the noise they make. This sort of downtime is normally programmed into the wind farm鈥檚 computerised management system.
鈥淚f one or two turbines are not turning, it鈥檚 probably maintenance. If more, then it鈥檚 to do with the grid鈥�
If just one or two turbines are not turning, then, that is probably down to maintenance issues. If the whole site is idle, then the most likely reason is 鈥済rid curtailment鈥�, which occurs when too much electricity is being generated for the grid to make use of it all.
One of the joys of wind turbines is that they can respond very quickly to a request to stop generating power. This gives a measure of flexibility to the grid.
Eric Billett, Director of the Kilbraur Wind Cooperative (Scotland), Chellaston, Derby, UK
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