Posters

Abstract

Generally, the design conditions of old wind turbines are very conservative compared to the reality of the sites where they are located, so they have a huge potential to be unlocked in terms of life extension, performance improvement and maintenance optimization. In this sense, the retipping solution aims to increase the rotor diameter of wind turbines in order to significantly impact in the energy production since the blades are the key element for energy extraction. Therefore, acting in the blades with tailored designs can maximize energy production of the turbines. By upgrading the rotor of wind turbines with modular configurable tip extension designs, nabla manages to deliver Annual Energy Production (AEP) increases of up to 15% and a significant reduction in the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The objective is to achieve a redevelopment of the assets, reformulating the business plan for each wind farm while unlocking the hidden potential that the site-specific conditions are allowing. The retipping project is installed since August 2021 and nabla have already received the operational results of the project. With the operational data available, it is shown that retipping solution increases the AEP by 10% and provides high return on investment with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 10%, keeping the loads within turbine original design safety margins and factors of reserve, as well as being a plug & play solution. Nowadays, the eligible fleet for retipping is the multiMW fleets between 1.5MW and 4.5MW, which easily exceeds 100GW worldwide.