Tales of Wind #6 - Blade inspection

According to the ICPE decree of the 10/12/2021, blades inspection must be carried out every 6 months. The O&M provider carry out one annual blade inspection. Complementary, Greensolver proposes to lead on wind farms the 2nd blade inspection for each turbine.

Advantage : The blade inspection by a third party will allow to detect and analyze the damage complementary to the annual inspection lead by the O&M provider. This second opinion will push the O&M provider to be more pro-active on the follow-up of this component of the turbines and will allow to trigger repairs if needed.

Three type of blade inspection can be performed :

• Ground inspection using photograph equipment (high quality camera) : visual inspection and photograph from the turbine bottom. Precise and useful for defect follow-up.
• Drone inspection : visual inspection and photographic using a drone. Precise and useful for defect follow-up. Depending on the provider, the stop of the turbine is not always needed.
• Rope access technician inspection : a technician access to the blade using rope, enabling him to inspect directly the blade.

This type of inspection is heavier to organize and more expensive. The leading edge, trailing edge are inspected, defects can take the form of cracks, erosion or lightning impacts.

These defects can lead to :

• Aerodynamic performance loss
• Defect propagation and increasing repair cost
• Major accident risk

Written by Technical and Financial Asset Management Team