Letters / Turbine performance
As a change from commenting on the disastrous Viking Energy wind farm, I would like to highlight aspects relating to small-scale wind turbines and the realities of their performance in Shetland.
This will contradict claims by some manufacturer’s and certainly many accredited installers.
Fifteen years ago an accredited seller/installer (name supplied on request) sold the turbine and system to my predecessors on a basis of either total ignorance of the technology or intended deception. It could never do what it was designed and sold to do and committed the owners to greatly increased Hydro costs despite any wind energy it would produce.
As the owner and competent self taught service engineer (all accredited installers banned) of possibly Shetland’s oldest and most reliable small-scale wind turbine now 15 years old and the co-ordinator of the Shetland Renewable Energy User Group, I offer the following observations.
(The Shetland Renewable Energy User Group is an informal band of folk who own, operate or aspire ownership of renewable devices/systems, but mostly small scale wind turbines (15 KW & below) wishing to exchange experiences, knowledge, seek and give advise on related consumer information).
When I acquired the property I examined the machine and its supporting systems and found it nothing more than a total scam that would never deliver, let alone ever pay for itself.
Moving on a few years with many more small scale wind turbines popping up – the small scale wind turbine industry is not much better and still in many cases a rip off.
Wearing the hat of the Shetland Renewable Energy User Group, I have for the last three years been visually recording performance of all the small-scale turbines in my area and along my route from Clousta to Lerwick.
Whilst there are many more about now than when I started, the results are pretty much the same in terms of visual performance – so here are my findings based entirely on monitoring which turbines turn regularly, which are fixed in a reasonable timescale and which ones are stopped/grounded for long periods of time.
Reliability in order:-
- Ex Proven / Kingspan 3 & 6 KW mechanically regulated machines – very reliable and fixed quickly.
- Evance 6 KW mechanically regulated machines – very reliable and fixed quickly.
- Proven (defunct) 15KW mechanically regulated machines – unreliable due to design faults and component failure – can spend a long time out of operation.
- C&F remotely / IT controlled machines moderately reliable but can spend long periods out of operation awaiting engineers from south.
- Westwind mechanically regulated machines – all models operating in the area – very unreliable with one example on the ground for about a year.
The real issue here is establishing the cause of machine or system failure. Is it the machine, the manufacturer’s support or the accredited installers availability?
It’s a real difficult thing to establish on an individual case due to the machine or nature of each installation. However some reoccurring issues exist based on make, model, size, spares availability and the presence or not of a Shetland based service engineer.
Clearly the Kingspam and Evance machines are far superior in both reliability and local service agents resulting in a reasonably rapid return to service.
The other thing to bear in mind is that two or three reliable smaller machines are far better than one bigger one as you still have half or two thirds etc generating capacity when one fails.
Also Shetland has one of the best wind profiles for turbines so factor in (something the salesman will not tell you) more rapid wear, severe gust damage, salt corrosion etc, resulting in subsequent higher maintenance/service costs.
Also remember you cannot rely on them so you need back up. And just because they turn doesn’t mean you get energy, as they have to turn fast enough and there are many days even in the depths of winter that the wind is not blowing strong enough.
All this of course is more relevant if you want to use the energy to reduce your carbon energy demand but if the turbine is only a cash (FITS) cow then I really cannot comment as it would need someone on this tariff in a year or two to tell us if its a profitable exercise?
Vic Thomas
Clousta
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