Wind farm BoP

Author: Francesco Miceli

  • How much does it cost a wind turbine?

    The easy answer to this question is “Today it costs less then yesterday. And probably tomorrow it will cost less than today”. Today (April 2019) the average price is around 700.000€ per MW – that is, expect to pay around 3 ML€ for a 4 MW wind turbine. That’s a huge reduction when you consider…

  • Wood towers for wind turbines

    I always believed that wood towers for wind turbines were a solution possible only in small, domestic WTGs (somewhere around 10 kW to maybe maximum 100 kW). There are several example available, for instance this product of InnoVentum. Well, I was wrong: I see that some years ago (2012) a Vensys 77 1,5 MW turbine…

  • Wind farm project management: PRICE2 vs PMP

    In another post I have discussed my experience with the PMP certification and its (somehow weak) relationship with wind farm project management. In a nutshell, several processes and concepts are not directly applicable given the peculiarity of our industry. Said that, I believe that the PMP has a value, because it explain in detail a lot of…

  • Concrete tower assembly in Chile

      An interesting video on the use of concrete towers in Chile. Among the benefits of this solution the creation of local jobs (several hundred for factory) and the increase of local content (the amount of goods and services provided locally, an important parameter in some tenders). Concrete towers are especially cost effective when the…

  • Long term instrumented monitoring of wind turbine foundations cracks evolution

    Some weeks ago I have discovered that, as I am currently enrolled as a university student (getting “slowly but steady” a second degree in Economics) I have full access to the Elsevier database. This is an enormous amount of information, including all the best scientific papers and technical articles published by industry journals. I am…

  • Over and over and over again: serial defect clause

    The serial defect clause is a warranty frequently requested by customers. It belongs to a classic “tryptic” of warranties allocating risk on the turbine suppliers: General warranty, for defect in design, manufacturing, installation, etc. Power curve warranty Serial defect warranty Generally speaking, a serial defect is a component defective on a significant number of turbines….

  • Transfer of title & transfer of risk

    Transfer of title and transfer of risk are 2 key concepts in wind farms contracts (and, presumably, in many other comparable businesses). They appear in both EPC and Supply Only agreements. This is what they usually means: Transfer of title (ToT): the ownership (of the entire turbine or of one of the component of the…

  • Wind turbines defective parts warranty

    Lately I’ve been spending some time trying to learn something more about quality. Although I see that there is no consensus on the business effectiveness of some of these technique I’ve decided to take a certification (ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt) to have a first-hand experience. One of the first concept I’ve learnt is the…

  • Why wind turbine blades are made of composite materials?

    I’ve received a question regarding material selection for wind turbines blades. The reader asked why there is a predominance in the use of composite materials for the blades instead of wood, steel and aluminium and other materials used in the first glorious, pioneering years of wind energy. Please note that I’m by no mean an…

  • Wind turbine controlled demolition

    A reader of the blog shared a video with the controlled demolition of a wind turbine in the UK. The turbine looks like an old Acciona Windpower model. The turbine is connected using a rope to a back hoe and the base of the tower is slowly cut using a blowtorch. Then the backhoe start…