After a substantial technical upgrade, five wind turbines were successfully put into operation on November 23, 4 kilometres off the coast of Gotland in Sweden. The Danish company, Momentum Group is behind the project. The company is specialised in procuring and managing solar and wind turbine projects in Europe, primarily in Germany, Denmark, France, Great Britain and Sweden.

Refurbished and technologically updated wind turbines

Five 20-year-old 500kW WindWorld-wind turbines have been replaced with five newly renovated Vestas V47 600 kW windmills, while the towers, foundations and cables from the old wind turbines to shore have been reused.

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The replacement means a 15-year extension of the wind turbines' technical life-span and more than a doubling of the previous energy production from 5 million kWh a year to 11 million kWh a year.

"With the completion of this project, Momentum has shown that we can assist owners of worn-out wind turbines with an extension of their investment – also in offshore projects where the conditions might be even more challenging. We have been fully responsible for all processes from the purchase of used turbines, the renovation of towers, nacelles and main components, to freight and installation of the refurbished turbines and the destruction and disposal of the old turbines", said Kim Madsen, Administrative Director for the Momentum Group.

An increasing demand for upgrading old wind turbines

The project shows that in most cases it is better, and maybe the only solution, to recycle and renovate old turbines and replace existing and technically-worn turbines with the recycled ones.

-Related solution: Turbine refurbishment

The Momentum Group expects that the wind turbine owners will increase their demand for similar solutions in the future, where the economy or local conditions restrict or impede the construction of new, large and modern turbines.

The Danish company is already working on their next project in Sweden in an area where the altitude constrictions make the use of refurbished and technologically updated wind turbines the only economically viable option.

Source: Energy Supply