Thanks to a global supply chain, Availon can supply components with short delivery times, which contributes to reduced return-to-service times and greater productivity.

Availon, a multi-brand independent service provider for wind turbines, has successfully kept the U.S. wind farms it has under O&M contracts at historical levels of availability.

The most challenging wind site, which remains undisclosed at this time, is now continuously running at above 98.4% availability. Other less challenging wind farms enjoy availability levels between 99.4 % and 99.8%.

Availon was able to achieve the highest contractual availability, which the sites has ever seen, a remarkable performance considering that the increasing age of the turbines. With turbine downtime brought down to a level of near zero, Availon’s customers are able to maximize revenue yields.

“We are extremely proud of those results. When your business is to harness the wind, it’s vital to keep your turbines online. Our very name, which comes from “Availability ON,” underpins our mission to reach the highest availability and lowest component failure rate to drive peak profitability of the wind farm assets under our care,” said Ulrich Schomakers, CEO, Availon Inc.

Availon’s team helps clients manage costs by minimizing unscheduled maintenance, preventing turbine failure, and optimizing turbine performance. Clients are attracted to the unique blend of local solutions and global expertise Availon provides. Now, customers in North America are seeing the same benefits on their projects.

“We’re excited to offer our services to more customers in North America,” said Schomakers, who noted that Availon has its U.S. headquarters in Grimes, Iowa, along with another office in Texas. “Being located in the heart of America’s leading wind energy areas keeps us close to our customers. We deliver the wow factor. That’s why more and more U.S. owners trust their service needs to our expanding American business. We have built up the organization and are now ready to take the next steps to significantly grow our O&M global business in the next years.”

With more than 20 years in the wind energy business, Availon focuses on wind energy technology from GE, Vestas, and Gamesa equipment. The company has more than 1,700 turbines under contract, representing over 2,600 MWs of installed power. Approximately 10% of this business is located in the United States.

Availon
www.availon.com

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Together, Vestas and UpWind Solutions will service approximately 17 GW of turbines in the U.S. and Canada.

Vestas has acquired UpWind Solutions and its subsidiaries, a leading independent service provider in North America. With about 310 employees, UpWind Solutions currently services wind-power plants in nine U.S. states with a total capacity of more than 3 GW.

The wind-power plants under UpWind’s service represent a diverse customer base and include turbines from a number of manufacturers. The company also supplies parts for most major turbine technologies, performs blade inspections, and offers various performance upgrades.

“The acquisition accelerates our profitable growth strategy and helps Vestas to capture the full potential of the service business. We are broadening our capabilities and increasing the size of our addressable market for all major turbine technologies. In short, the acquisition is a strong strategic fit,” said Group Senior VP Christian Venderby, Vestas Global Service.

“North America is an important market for Vestas, and this acquisition will contribute to Vestas becoming the customers’ preferred fleet-wide service partner,” says Chris Brown, President of Vestas Sales and Service Division in the United States and Canada. “We are very pleased to welcome UpWind Solutions and its employees to become part of the Vestas organization.”

Vestas has more than 50 GW under service worldwide, and together Vestas and UpWind Solutions will service approximately 17 GW of Vestas and non-Vestas turbines in the United States and Canada with ambitions for further growth.

“Vestas represents high-quality technology and service and shares UpWind Solutions’ passion for excellence. We’re delighted to become part of the global wind industry leader, and look forward to jointly ensuring that our expanded customer base receives the best possible operations and maintenance service for their fleets,” says CEO Peter Wells, UpWind Solutions.

The acquisition price for UpWind Solutions is USD 60m (approximately EUR 55m) on a debt and cash-free basis. The consideration has been paid in cash from readily available sources. On a standalone basis excluding synergies, UpWind Solutions is expecting for 2015 to report consolidated revenues of USD 55m (approximately EUR 50m), an EBITDA of USD 3.4m (approximately EUR 3.1m), and total assets of approximately USD 20m (approximately EUR 18m).

The acquisition of UpWind Solutions is effective as of today. Vestas expects the acquisition will have only a limited effect on Vestas’ expected result for 2015. Outlook for 2015 revenue and EBIT margin before special items are maintained, while total investments are now expected to amount to approximately EUR 400m and free cash flow is consequently expected to be between EUR 750m and 950m for 2015.

Vestas
www.vestas.com

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Because wind turbines are often subjected to variable conditions, a reliable control system is needed to ensure continuous operation. Falcon Electric’s SSG Series of pre-configured UPS devices offer a double-conversion online sinewave design that’s UL listed for effective use in extreme temperatures.

Michael A. Stout | Vice President of Engineering
Falcon Electric

The aim of wind-farm operators is to ensure optimal performance and consistent power generation, and maintain the safety and reliability of each turbine. With these goals in mind, there are a myriad of electrical and electronic components to consider for safe turbine operation that include blade-pitch control and braking, I/O modules, relays, hub computers, frequency converters, remote terminal units (RTUs), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) interfaces, distribution boards, and more.

Protecting each of these systems against power disruptions is challenging given the variable nature of wind and harsh environmental conditions most turbines face. What’s more, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), the electrical device that provides emergency backup power, isn’t designed to withstand extreme temperatures or sporadic weather conditions.

The operational temperature specifications for most online UPS products on the market are stated as 0° to 40°C (32° to 104° F). As part of the safety agency product evaluation, the temperature ratings of key electronic components, displays, plastics, circuit-board materials, insulating materials, and batteries are verified to stay within certain temperature specifications, while the UPS operates over the entire manufacturer-specified temperature range.

Most UPS units have also undergone safety-agency testing over the manufacturer’s stated operational temperature range and have received a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory or Underwriters Laboratories listing for use over the stated range. But most are designed for use in an indoor, temperature-controlled environment, which isn’t typical of a wind-farm environment. So it’s important to know what to expect when selecting a system.

Wind turbine control panel like this one helps maximize turbine performance while ensuring low operational costs and maximum power output. (Source: kk-electronics)

Installing a commercial, off-the-shelf UPS as a back-up power device in a wind turbine might save money in the short-term, but it isn’t a secure investment for the near-instantaneous protection from potential power interruptions turbines need to perform in all conditions. Industrial-grade UPSs are for harsh environments. These devices offer high-temperature components with an operating temperature of -30° to 60°C (-22°F to 140°F) that better meets most wind-farm conditions.

Some industrial UPS units are even pre-packaged inside NEMA 3 and environmentally controlled NEMA 4-rated enclosures. The National Association of Electrical Equipment’s “NEMA”-rated enclosure are constructed for indoor or outdoor use and provide a high degree of protection to personnel against access to the equipment’s hazardous parts and to the internal equipment (for instance, against foreign objects such as wind-blown dirt). NEMA-4 protection also safeguards equipment against water and ice.

These turnkey systems provide a fast, cost-effective solution to deploying high-level power conditioning and backup in harsh-rated environments, such as those common to wind farms. For NEMA 3-rated systems, however, it’s important to pair the UPS with reliable batteries that support a wide operational temperature range. This is not the case for environmentally controlled NEMA 4 systems where it’s possible to incorporate 10-year, long-life batteries.

The best industrial UPS devices also feature double-conversion online technology. In an online UPS, the batteries are always connected to the inverter instead of the ac power so power-transfer switches are unnecessary. Through continuous regeneration of new, uninterrupted ac power, the double-conversion UPS provides the highest level of power conditioning and protection, in addition to providing long-term battery backup protection.

The UPS design topology is similar to that of a switch-mode power supply. The online UPS rectifies and filters the incoming utility or generator power to a steady, regulated direct current (dc). Frequency variation, high-voltage transients, voltage sags and swells, and harmonic distortion aren’t a concern and don’t affect power reliability.

An online UPS regenerates clean, regulated power An industrial, online UPS eliminates many kinds of power anomalies, providing a much more stable power source when operating from utility and with batteries.

Clean, regulated dc is then fed to a pulse-width modulated inverter stage that recreates clean, tightly regulated, true sinewave ac power. Before drawing power from its internal battery, the online UPS also has large electrolytic-storage capacitors that let it ride through voltage dropouts. Unlike the switch-mode power supply, the online UPS has an advantage with battery backup capabilities that power critical equipment for minutes from its internal batteries to hours or days using extended battery packs.

When it comes to protecting critical wind-turbine systems located in harsh temperature environments, consider UPS units that are built from the ground up to withstand wide temperature variances and operate reliably over the long-term. While the initial purchase price of a non-industrial UPS is less expensive, the return on investment is lower because maintenance issues and required battery replacements far outweigh initial cost savings.

Double-conversion online industrial UPS devices currently offer the highest level of power conditioning and battery backup protection that wind turbine applications require. Wind-farm operators looking to safeguard their investment are well served to research and select UPS options that protect against power pollution and provide long-term reliability in demanding environments. 

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