OX2 Wind Power Service Benchmarking

Wind Energy Consulting

Summary of technical comparison

Meventus consultants conducted a wind power service benchmarking study focusing on markets with high ISP shares: GER, ESP and DEN

 

Situation and objective

• In 2012 Sweden’s windfarm services were almost completley performed by the turbine suppliers
• O2 Vind (today OX2) as on of the major wind project developers and operators in Sweden wanted to understand prerequisites for alternative service solutions for wind farms in Sweden compared to the OEM  approach

 

Approach

• Meventus’ consultants suggested a service market benchmarking approach with the following key elements:
• Eexamine the status and history of alternative service providers in the most mature European wind power markets: Germany, Spain, Denmark
• Perform expert interviews with independent service providers (ISP) and large buyers of wind power services like RWE Innogy, Vattenfall or Eon in the focus markets
• Collect strengths & weaknesses of different service provider types
• Derive lessons learned about prerequisites to establish alternative service solutions in Sweden

 

Results & Benefits

• Each type of service provider comes with specific strengths and weaknesses – the right choice depends on the owner’s O&M strategy and site specific factors
• Switching from OEM to ISP can reduce life cycle O&M cost by 20-40%, accepting  a higher risk exposure
• 60-80% of spare parts can be sourced from others than OEM at 10-40% lower prices (depending on turbine type)
• OEM are experts on their own technology but the best technicians are likely to be working with new installations and not with maintenance and  repair