Scottish onshore windfarm to be repowered

[dan_b]

There is definitely a 2nd hand market for wind turbines - there's a lot of tech in that hardware and if they can be sold on, they will be.

I think I remember a few years ago on the Abundance Investment platform a wind farm project which was using 2nd life turbines.

[Stig]

I wish someone would replace the whole set of dead two-bladed turbines near Davidstow, it saddens me every time I pass them.

[Mr Gus]

Great to hear Dan, makes inroads on the whole scenario of recyclability via re-purposing, there has been a lot of crap about the lack of ability to do so (blades etc) so this helps counter the anti renewables brigade all the more.

[Ken]

All very good news.

The grid is searching for dispatchable leccy whereby the farm can tender for fixed longer term contracts. Batteries of course help with curtailment and negative type prices.

So the farm may sell most of its production at short term rates but in the duck curve dip in the afternoon when prices do and will in the future drop very low they fill up the batts to export at peak time with peak payments.

There is rather a presumption being made that the present grid connection cannot cope and a new one will be needed but it could be that the voltage could just be doubled for eg and therefore only needing a new transformer, or the cable originally fitted was not at max capacity thinking there might be more development -who knows. At worst they would just lay an additional cable ?

If they did need new connection at least they can use the old one whilst waiting 15yrs??

Perhaps they dont even need to generate at max because at that time they could receive curtailment payments which are more lucrative than actually producing. They could even tender for reduction demand contracts which again will be valuable with too much sun and wind around in the future.

[Mr Gus]

How does this tie in with inter country supply via HVDC interconnectors in terms of pricing & the bigger game in terms of investment payback, profitability? will be interesting to see real time analytics for energy dumps via battery storage into grid networks (whichever countries they may be)

Something that hasn't been mentioned, (again poor news piece) is the reduction of turbines on site would have as a nigh on certainty been necessary to accommodate the sweep of blades that have also massively increased compared to that of the old set up due to original spacings just not fitting the bill.

Need to see much more on this project for a better picture from all angles.
Where is the battery storage? (presumably it sits underneath, utilising some of what was installed previously, if so how much)? & how does battery addition change the visible landscape, presumably no longer able to walk amongst turbines & fencing as a deterrent erected, remote locations of windfarms how does that affect local fire service attendance & requirements put in place for potential electrical fires until this kit is more proven & more widely accepted societally, (never mind us & our views / shared knowledge) ..tbh I'm waiting for a " we never agreed to this" news piece when it all comes together.

[dan_b]

All the info is here - all the planning applications, site plans, etc - if you've got an evening free and fancy wading through it all!

https://www.scottishpowerrenewables.com ... ering.aspx

[Mr Gus]

Bloody hell, thanks dan.

[Joeboy]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-66207623

[AE-NMidlands]

I ws looking at the Ripple webbsite and found this (a bit late (Aug '22) but it seems relevant.) https://octopus.energy/blog/repowering- ... -turbines/ with

An illustration of an octopus extending a turbine blade... Preliminary sketch of the blade-lengthening process


The process to build any new energy generator can be long and difficult. Everything from upgrading the local networks to getting planning permission can take ages. It typically takes seven years for a new turbine projects to get fully operational. Actual construction can be completed in a year: most of the time is taken up by lengthy planning and grid connection processes.

Tuning up our existing turbines can take far less time. We already have the most spot on data for wind speeds on site and local topography. Consultations with the local community are far quicker because they've already had a turbine in their neighbourhood – we're just adjusting what's already there. Because a lot of the most time-consuming work is already done, we can get more green electrons down the wires in months, not years.

It seems that raising the tower is an integral part of it, but no mention of re-equippingthe actual generator?
A

[nowty]

I ws looking at the Ripple webbsite and found this (a bit late (Aug '22) but it seems relevant.) https://octopus.energy/blog/repowering- ... -turbines/ with

An illustration of an octopus extending a turbine blade... Preliminary sketch of the blade-lengthening process


The process to build any new energy generator can be long and difficult. Everything from upgrading the local networks to getting planning permission can take ages. It typically takes seven years for a new turbine projects to get fully operational. Actual construction can be completed in a year: most of the time is taken up by lengthy planning and grid connection processes.

Tuning up our existing turbines can take far less time. We already have the most spot on data for wind speeds on site and local topography. Consultations with the local community are far quicker because they've already had a turbine in their neighbourhood – we're just adjusting what's already there. Because a lot of the most time-consuming work is already done, we can get more green electrons down the wires in months, not years.

It seems that raising the tower is an integral part of it, but no mention of re-equippingthe actual generator?
A

The way I read it (plus other info elsewhere) is it takes many years to get a new wind farm (seven years), but even though we have to go through the whole planning process again and re-build most things.

1) The local grid access point is there as it was before, so minimal grid work required.

2) The locals already have been used to the old windfarm so far less hostile to a new one so far easier to get the planning permission.

I believe these two aspects are the longest and hardest to get an otherwise greenfield wind farm operational from the drawing board.