Statoil Is To Test Next Generation Turbine
In the world’s northernmost wind farm at Havøygavlen, Statoil is to test next generation turbine technology. The innovation is a gearless turbine that promises to achieve significant reductions in operation and maintenance costs for offshore wind power. “A lot of engineering work has gone into this, and the number of moving parts has been halved,” says operational manager for wind power in Statoil, Sverre Trollnes. One of the biggest challenges with developing offshore wind power is the major cost involved in repairs and maintenance out at sea.”If an offshore wind turbine breaks down, there are many factors contributing to increased downtime compared with a land-based turbine,” explains operations manager for wind energy in Statoil, Sverre Trollnes. According to Trollnes, a common cause of problems with today’s turbines has been lack of robust design and component selection. Statoil’s supplier Siemens has developed a gearless turbine that represents a major step forward in the simplification of the technology – and which promises to reduce maintenance by 20%. Siemens are now manufacturing a trial series of 10 wind turbines – and one of these is earmarked for Statoil’s wind farm at Havøygavlen, as part of Statoil’s initiative ‘Bringing cost of offshore wind down.’