By Gabriel Amiel

A maturing wind power portfolio brings the opportunity – and the challenge – to increase portfolio value. In essence, this means finding ways to reduce costs, increase revenue and the discovery of additional value by upgrades and extensions. There is typically a lot that can be done to enhance project value but each project is different. The various initiatives targeted to enhance project value are discussed below.

Various factors may limit power production on a wind farm, for example curtailment for grid compliance, noise nuisance to residents and shadow flicker from turbine blades. Curtailment strategies should be reviewed regularly in the first years of operation; in many cases the curtailment can be reduced through close review of the actual impacts and by working closely with stakeholders.

Power export systems (HV/LV), setup rapidly during construction can be significantly optimised once in operation. Through adjustment of power parameters and the use of smart technology it is possible to reduce both line losses and parasitic power consumption to boost revenue and cut overheads.
Many of the best value enhancements are derived simply through a close review of project contracts and the financial model. Ensuring close contract compliance and benchmarking of cost assumptions often reveals significant value. For example, recent emergence of third-party O&M providers for wind plants have provided much needed price competition.

The trickiest optimisations are those technical changes where reliable measurement of performance improvement is not possible.  This category includes initiatives to correct underperformance (e.g. blade erosion or misalignment) as well as upgrades marketed to enhance performance (e.g. vortex generators, control software upgrade). A strong commercial case is needed to overcome technical risk and uncertainty.

Finally, operating life extension offers the prospect of a material portfolio-wide value uplift. It has become fairly common to assume that a wind farm can continue to operate beyond its 20 year certified design life. Even so, careful consideration of component lifetimes and other restrictions (planning, land, route to market) as well as O&M costs is needed.