Wind turbines – life extension for obsolete technology

But whilst new technological developments bring agreed benefits – what’s the answer for those older generation wind turbines, and how can we tackle the problem of wastage?

As the renewable energy industry accelerates its journey in supporting the world’s transition to cleaner energy, the issue of obsolete technology is becoming a growing problem for the sector. For instance, wind turbines available pre-2010 are no longer in production, and the manufacturers themselves may no longer be operating, making these models obsolete.

By 2030 there will be 78 GW of wind turbines reaching the end of their design life in Europe alone, this number will increase every year as the first generation of utility-scale wind turbines become older¹.

Owners of these wind turbines have a few options as these structures reach the end of their design life:

1. Repowering: Removing all wind turbines and replacing them with newer models
2. Life Extension: Employing a third-party engineer to complete a survey to assess the useful life of key components in the wind turbine. Then designing and implementing an upgrade plan to allow the wind turbine to run safely beyond its original designed life
3. Decommission: Remove all wind turbines from the site and restore the site to its preconstruction condition.

Repowering, which is essentially building a new wind farm from scratch, is underway in a number of countries², however, this isn’t always an option, especially in places where planning laws are restricted³.

Instead, supporting the first generation of wind farms with a life extension as they reach their twilight years, whilst not the easiest choice, is an important element of the energy transition – and if it can be achieved will provide longer-term efficiency benefits, cost savings and ultimately reduce wasted materials as opposed to taking no action⁴.

Supporting complex life extensions

Our ambition is to support as many older wind farms as we can to take the option of life extensions. We insure over 100 wind turbines that are 25 years or older and work with those clients to understand the complexities of extending the life of their wind turbines whilst continuing to insure them.

We asked Nick Evans, Aviva’s Deputy Head of Renewable Energy how this has worked in practice:

"One of our clients, Thrive Renewables, is a UK Wind Farm and was reaching 25 years old. The Owner received permission to replace blades and hub using parts from a wind turbine in a different location that had an additional 15 years of life remaining. They appointed a third-party engineer to assess the remaining life of the new parts and it was deemed that particular wind turbine had been operating in lower-than-designed wind conditions meaning it had consumed only half its usable life. We worked with the client to understand all the technical details of this change and were able to continue providing the same level cover for the updated wind turbine. We were also able to provide the same level of operational all-risk coverage throughout the process."

The power of new technologies

Earlier wind turbines don’t feature the monitoring systems of newer models, so reducing their risk exposures requires more oversight from the owner. Without this technology, it can be difficult to understand the mechanical condition until routine maintenance takes place. Retroactively installing Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) can help owners detect issues early on to prevent escalation and potentially catastrophic damage. For example, CMS can detect abnormal vibration, which is often an early sign of a problem, therefore providing an opportunity to extend the lifetime of a turbine further. Aviva in collaboration with Onyx Insights company to help our insureds with this service.

How Risk Management and claims expertise can help

Our risk management experts are here to help when it comes to assessing the life extension of a wind turbine. Our experienced Renewable Energy Engineers can:

• Conduct Risk Engineering Surveys on individual wind turbines and wind farms
• Assist with Condition Monitoring System implementation
• Carry out additional validation of third-party engineering reports
• Provide Operations and Maintenance contract support

We also work with experienced Loss Adjustors and together have extensive contacts able to help source replacement parts, which may not be like for like but are compatible. Often such replacement parts are quicker to source, meaning reduced generation downtime.

The first generation of wind turbines may be becoming obsolete, but the wind resource will always remain constant. We’re here to support in this space - providing innovative insurance solutions that support the clean energy transition, and growth of the Renewable Energy sector.

^{* https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/history-wind-energy}

^{1 https://windeurope.org/newsroom/press-releases/repowering-europes-wind-farms-is-a-win-win-win/}

^{2 https://windeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/files/policy/position-papers/20240626-Repowering-policy-recommendations.pdf,}

^{3 https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04370/SN04370.pdf}

^{4 https://ore.catapult.org.uk/resource-hub/blog/race-reduce-carbon-footprint-wind-energy}