Retrofitting Danwin turbines in the USA
Retrofitting Danwin turbines in the USA
WES Engineering is a USA-based company which has been active in the wind industry for the last 20 years. The long history in the wind industry and the experience of the current employees helped WES Engineering build a strong business and a network of suppliers. The company began to offer maintenance 8 years ago, where the focus was MW turbines. Today the focus has evolved to including medium-sized turbines.
In 2019 WES Engineering became involved in a project with 13 Danwin, 160 kW turbines. The aim was to either repower or refurbish the turbines depending on what the optimal choice should be. WES Engineering researched different solutions. Overall, the turbines were in good condition, so the choice was made to go for refurbishment. Both from a financial and a sustainable perspective.
The wind turbines needed to get their controllers updated to receive communication, so it was a must to source a control solution including a SCADA system for remote monitoring and control. WES Engineering began their search to find possible suppliers and the search led them to Europe where they initiated a dialogue with possible suppliers. Orbital stood out with an all-in-one control solution consisting of the TMC3 controller, accessories (wind vane, anemometer, etc.), OrbiSCADA and at a reasonable cost.
Orbital’s solution also included the possibility to have a technician come to the USA to assist with the installation process. WES Engineering decided to use that option to speed up the installation phase. Wes Slaymaker says,
“The support we received from the Orbital commissioning engineer was instrumental in getting the wind turbines operational. They helped us adjust the parameters and get the first machine up and running. They also educated our employees on how to plan, execute, and document this kind of refurbishment work. Clearly, Orbital has been involved in many retrofitting projects of small and medium sized wind turbines, so they are aware of how to avoid possible pitfalls and get the best ROI”.
OrbiSCADA is part of the all-in-one solution from Orbital. The SCADA system was very beneficial during the installation and setup phase. Wes Slaymaker also expects OrbiSCADA to be very helpful in the future,
“It is a very convenient tool to stay up to date on how the turbines perform. It is fast and also user-friendly. We login from any smartphone or computer, and that saves us a lot of time when we don’t need to go to the site to figure out what might be the issue”.