Conference: Optimising Wind Power O&M: Europe

There has never been a better time to review and renegotiate operations and maintenance contracts for wind turbines.  In November 2012, Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that the average price for full service O&M offerings for onshore wind farms fell to Euro 19,200 per MW annually, a 38% decrease since 2008. However, with total maintenance costs for a typical onshore wind farm running at up to 30% (and offshore even higher) of total operating expense, successfully controlling this spend can make the different between profit and loss in any one year.

Impacting on performance, productivity and profitability, turbine O&M is critical to the commercial success of wind farms.  In this increasingly competitive market, the range of contract options and tools available to asset owners is huge and complex.  Which strategy best fits your business model and risk appetite?  What are your inhouse capabilities?  What can you learn from the strategies adopted by other asset owners?

These and other key questions will be answered at Green Power Conferences’ forthcoming Optimising Wind Power O&M: Europe.  Taking place in Manchester on September 3rd & 4th, the two day agenda will analyse and evaluate the risks and rewards of different O&M contracts for onshore and offshore wind turbines.  Asset owners will provide case study examples of how they work to minimise downtime, plan maintenance schedules and ultimately maximise the yield from each euro spent on O&M.

Key issues to be addressed on the agenda include:

• How to keep O&M costs under control
• Evaluating the best options for end of OEM warranty
• Dispelling the myths about Condition Monitoring Systems – do they really work in practice?
• Which strategy is the most cost effective and time efficient – predictive, preventative or reactive maintenance?
• Getting the balance right between inhouse, OEM and third party service provider maintenance
• Latest techniques and tools to effectively manage maintenance on blades, generators and gearboxes
• Retrofitting vs. replacement – what are the options and the cost benefit analysis?
• The role of effective inventory and spare parts management in managing O&M costs

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