The Hidden Costs of Hydraulic Equipment Downtime in Wind Farms
Hydraulic equipment plays a major role in wind farm production. Every wind turbine relies on a hydraulic power unit (HPU) and hydraulic blade-pitch system to optimize power generation. When a hydraulic equipment failure does occur, one of these two systems is frequently involved.
When wind farms sustain a hydraulic equipment failure, the costs go well beyond repairing the turbine. They also include:
- Lost power generation costs
- Imbalance charges
- Mobilization costs
- Technician/operator costs
- The cost of parts and inventorying
- Secondary equipment failures
- Insurance costs
- Inspection and safety costs
There are additional costs beyond those listed above. The important point is that repairs aren’t the only cost your organization will contend with if your hydraulic equipment goes down. Given the risk, many energy companies invest in expert hydraulic equipment maintenance through a trusted partner.
Beyond Repair: The Total Cost Breakdown of Hydraulic Equipment Downtime on Wind Farms
For facility managers, there are cost considerations when investing in preventative hydraulic equipment maintenance. But what is the cost of foregoing maintenance? If one of your wind turbines does go down with an equipment failure, you’re looking at the following:
- Lost power generation costs – In most instances, the number one cost of wind turbine downtime is losing out on its power generation. This is revenue that the company would have earned and is calculated using the total MWh lost multiplied by the wholesale prices – so MWh x $/MWh. The longer this downtime extends out, the more you will lose in terms of lost power generation costs.
- Imbalance charges – Imbalance charges may be assessed if they’re included in your Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Some PPAs require producers to hit output quotas or face penalties (or lose access to availability bonuses). Losing one or more wind turbines may bump your company out of range of its PPA benchmarks.
- Mobilization costs – In response to an equipment failure, expert technicians and specialized equipment will need to be mobilized to the site. Mobilization costs may represent a major part of overall repair costs, especially if lifting equipment like a crane is necessary. Industry data suggests that mobilizing a single crane may cost $40,000 or more, depending on mobilization distance.
- Technician/operator costs – If a wind turbine sustains downtime, it will take several teams to bring it back up. In addition to hydraulic equipment technicians, you’ll need to bring in equipment operators, drivers/pilots, scaffolders, rope-access teams and safety specialists. This all adds to the final repair bill.
- Cost of parts and inventorying – Chances are, replacement parts will be required to complete any wind turbine repairs. Bearings, gears, fittings and seals are vulnerable to wearing out and failing early.
To reduce the cost and delay associated with lead times on parts, consider inventorying high wear components. This comes with an upfront price tag, but the added downtime protection will eventually provide a significant ROI. - Secondary equipment failures – If a hydraulic failure goes undetected for a while, it can exert stress on other systems, like the turbine’s brakes or pitch system. By the time a significant failure occurs, the resulting stress may be enough to compromise other expensive components.
- Insurance costs – Insurance may satisfy some repair costs, but your organization will first need to cover the deductible, and following an emergency equipment failure, you may face higher premium costs.
- Inspection and safety costs – Following repair, investigation and reporting costs may follow if the failure was caused by safety or regulatory violations. Safety tests may be required as well, which will be added to your administrative costs.
- Lost power generation costs – In most instances, the number one cost of wind turbine downtime is losing out on its power generation. This is revenue that the company would have earned and is calculated using the total MWh lost multiplied by the wholesale prices – so MWh x $/MWh. The longer this downtime extends out, the more you will lose in terms of lost power generation costs.
A single major hydraulic equipment failure can have catastrophic effects on your organization’s budget, clearly. The question is, how can hydraulic equipment maintenance reduce the likelihood or impact of these secondary expenses?
What the ROI Looks Like on Hydraulic Equipment Maintenance for Wind Turbines
Preventative maintenance reduces the likelihood of unexpected hydraulic equipment failures, and it optimizes the performance of your hydraulic assets. Risk reduction is ultimately impossible to calculate, as it depends on several factors, but preventative maintenance improves uptime for your equipment in several ways, including:
- Ensuring your hydraulic fluid is clean and performing well – As the lifeblood of your hydraulic equipment, your operators must prioritize hydraulic fluid quality. If contamination (either solid or fluid) fouls the hydraulic fluid, it will cause widespread issues in your equipment. This could include overheating hydraulic fluid (and altered fluid flow), accelerated component wear, leaks, filter clogging, aeration/cavitation and more.
During preventative maintenance, your hydraulic technician will inspect the system’s hydraulic fluid and take samples for chemical analysis. If fresh fluid is needed, the equipment will be flushed out and the fluid replaced. - Identifying worn components that need to be replaced – During a full system inspection, your hydraulic technician will also check for worn components. If wear is spotted anywhere in the system, replacement parts will be ordered and switched in.
- Spotting other minor issues that may progress to major failures – Many hydraulic equipment failures start with seemingly minor issues, like unusual sounds or odors, odd performance drops or rough equipment handling. Any of these could point to a simple calibration error or something worse.
- Ensuring each hydraulic system is properly calibrated – Over time, it’s possible that your operator teams will unknowingly or mistakenly recalibrate your hydraulic power units and other hydraulic tools. Calibration errors can masquerade as potential mechanical problems, so your hydraulic technician will first verify that each component is functioning properly in the context of the larger system.
- Ensuring your hydraulic fluid is clean and performing well – As the lifeblood of your hydraulic equipment, your operators must prioritize hydraulic fluid quality. If contamination (either solid or fluid) fouls the hydraulic fluid, it will cause widespread issues in your equipment. This could include overheating hydraulic fluid (and altered fluid flow), accelerated component wear, leaks, filter clogging, aeration/cavitation and more.
It’s impossible to put a precise price tag on expert hydraulic maintenance, as averting just one downtime-causing emergency is worth it. Some energy companies opt to bring on a hydraulic technician on retainer, as the blended total cost of a retained technician is far less than emergency mobilization and repairs. Even hiring a part-time onsite technician is worth it for many wind energy companies.
How to Plan for Hydraulic Equipment Emergencies on Your Wind Farm
There are a couple of ways that facility managers can improve their emergency response should a hydraulic system sustain a failure. Briefly, they include:
- Authoring an emergency action plan (EAP) to protect assets should a failure occur.
- Maintain a robust inventory of replacement hydraulic components.
In addition to the above, the most important step wind farms can take is partnering with a proven hydraulic technician to perform preventative maintenance and repairs, as needed.
If one or more of your wind turbines go down due to a hydraulic equipment failure, you’ll need an expert technician to troubleshoot and address the problem. Further, once the issue is corrected, a professional technician can run the necessary safety checks to verify that the turbine can operate properly again.
To ensure any downtime is minimal, many companies hire an experienced hydraulic technician on retainer – especially if they can get that expertise with a priority response. Hydraulic technicians are willing to work out a priority response contract (between 24 and 72 hours), and though this comes at a premium, it guarantees rapid turnaround on emergency maintenance. If your hydraulic technician partner will largely be responsible for preventative maintenance, a priority contract may not be necessary. However, the faster response time will provide a reliable backup plan if you need to mobilize additional skilled labor.
Minimize the Hidden Costs of Hydraulic Equipment Downtime in Wind Farms by Partnering with an Expert Technician
Hydraulic equipment is critical to wind farm production and safety. As such, there is a considerable risk of downtime if one or more of your wind turbines develop an equipment failure.
Downtime on wind farms results in a potential cascade of costs that may not be accounted for. Imbalance charges, mobilization expenses, secondary equipment failures, insurance and safety costs are examples, and may escape your initial cost/risk analysis—and that’s on top of lost power generation, skilled labor and additional part acquisition.
To avert these costs and ensure steady wind turbine production, many energy companies partner with an experienced hydraulic equipment technician. In most instances, this is to establish a consistent preventative maintenance routine, which is essential in eliminating downtime. However, your hydraulic equipment expert can also provide priority repair and maintenance services in the event of a sudden equipment failure. In both cases, your organization will be protected from major operational disruptions, and its many costs.