Wind farm in a mountain with the sun rising Wind farm in a mountain with the sun rising
Wind

Did you know that even with a full-scope O&M contract your blades are not fully covered?

Nov. 12, 2016
3 minutes

Did you know that even with a full-scope O&M contract your blades are not fully covered?

Did you know that even with a full-scope O&M contract your blades are not fully covered? Our team of experts have identified for you 3 main risks to be aware of:

 

 

1. Cosmetic damages

 

 

Small defaults often link to erosion; they will directly impact the blade’s aerodynamic and can lead to a loss of production of about 1%.
Many contracts do not carry the obligation for the contractor to perform cleaning, resurfacing and/or painting of external parts, including blades; having a direct impact on aerodynamics.

 

 

2. Wear & tear events

 

 

Wear & tear events are to be understood as minor peeling, air pockets & crack formations on the surface of the blades and account for about 60% of damages claimed. Most turbine manufacturers won’t be held responsible if those events occur, as in most cases it isn’t a structural default and not an emergency. Small cracks aren’t a priority for manufacturers as the priority is always given to big components failures.

However, they have to be taken seriously as it can easily become a larger issue and hide bigger damage. In the end, those events will also have a direct impact on your wind park performance, power curve & load of your rotor.

 

 

3. Major events

 

 

This can be summed up most of the time as lightning strikes. Those are now more often than not excluded from O&M contracts and yet they are amongst the most important failures that can occur. Insurance cover needs to be carefully reviewed to cover the contractual shortfall. Not doing so can cost from 10K€ to 50k€ per event.

Read more here if you want to learn more about other types of blade damage and how Greensolver can help mitigate them.

 

 

Bladesolver: a unique solution to protect your blades from every risk
Bladesolver is one of our in-house services specifically designed to cover shortfalls of any O&M contract with regards to blades and consists of 4 steps:

  • Risk assessment audit: performing a risk analysis of your asset at the beginning of your contract,
  • Risk categorization report: providing you with a report and solutions to reduce risks,
  • Implementation: choosing the right solution for every given blade, over the contract lifetime,
  • Monitoring & upgrade: monitoring your blade activity and providing you with new technologies to improve your wind farm production.

To discover Bladesolver in detail, click here.

Blog

The Latest Renewable Energy News

Greensolver will be at 27th Annual Submit of French Renewable Energy Trade Association – 29th of September

Greensolver will be at Solar and Storage Birmingham – 22-24 of September

Greensolver will present at the INES Solar Conference on September 15

Greensolver will be at European Power Investment Summit 2026 – 16st of September

Greensolver at the Onshore Wind Conference 2026 – 1st of September

AMPYR Distributed Energy: Technical Asset Management of a 70 MW pan-European solar portfolio

Webinar Replay – Modeling the Economic Potential of BESS: How to Manage Uncertainty | June 17, 2:00 p.m. CET

Greensolver will be attending the 12th GreenUnivers Infrastructure Financing Conference on July 1

Greensolver at the National Event on “Flexibility in Renewable Energy and Storage” — July 2

Resources and insights Did you know that even with a full-scope O&M contract your blades are not fully covered?