Editor’s note: This Q&A is from Moventas’ Senior Engineer site. The Senior Engineer answers questions that trouble visitors and overrules typical, gearbox-related wind industry beliefs. According to Moventas, gearbox manufacturer and repair experts, this guru has spent his entire career in power transmission (dating back to the 80s), and knows everything there is to know about gearboxes. He wants the wind industry to work together to lower the cost of wind energy and make renewables the number one energy source globally.
These questions relate to the Extra Life service concept Moventas launched for GE 1.5, Siemens 2.3, and kilowatt-class gearboxes.
Kilowatt-class gearbox fleet represent 12% of all gearbox fleets globally and 15% in Europe. Moventas’ Extra Life provides life-extension services to these gearboxes.
Q: Is it possible to do up-tower repair and implement Extra Life technologies at the same time?
A: Yes, Extra Life features can be added as part of an up-tower repair and modernize the old gearbox using state of the art technologies. Furthermore, Moventas is able to offer Extra Life spare parts for Winergy and Bosch Rexroth gearboxes.
Q: What kind of financial benefit do I get from the Extra Life replacement for GE 1.5?
A: As you can imagine, savings vary. However, when you choose the strongest gearbox available for this turbine, you reduce maintenance costs, gain savings with spare parts planning and predictability from condition management, increased availability and improved serviceability. We have calculated that the total lifetime savings value of these is at least ~175,000 dollars / 155 000 euros.
Read more Q&A’s on the Senior Engineer site.
Filed Under: Gearboxes, News, O&M
