Expert Assessor for Wind Turbines
Electrical and electronic systems of the wind turbine: converters, pitch systems, generator, medium-voltage switchgear, grid connection. Expert reports for insurers, loss adjusters and operators, throughout Germany and neighbouring countries.
You are handling a claim on a wind turbine and need a reliable statement on whether ageing, surge, an installation error or external influence is behind it. We examine the electrical and electronic assemblies of the turbine, from the nacelle to the transfer station, individually or as a cluster across an entire wind farm, and separate the loss from maintenance shares and costs that would have arisen anyway.
Typical damage patterns
- Failure of several pitch modules, relay boxes and limit switches after an earth fault at a medium-voltage cable joint
- Converter and control failures from transient overvoltage, lightning strike or switching operations in the grid
- Thermal failure of cable terminations and bushings in medium-voltage switchgear
- Insulation wear and moisture at the tower base, condensation on medium-voltage components
- Bearing and generator damage with consequential damage to power electronics and cooling
- Mechanical damage in the spinner after faulty maintenance work, standstill and yield loss
Questions of evidence we answer
- Is the defect in the converter, pitch system or control attributable to external surge, external influence or operational ageing?
- Did a maintenance or inspection omission or an installation error cause the loss or prevent its detection?
- Are the repair invoices entirely loss-related, or do they include maintenance, ageing and betterment shares?
- Is the claimed yield loss plausible on the basis of reference turbines and operating data?
- Was the surge protection of the turbine adequate, and is there recourse against the installer, manufacturer or grid operator?
How we examine
Systematic exclusion logic: every conceivable cause is examined individually and ruled out with reasons until the most probable one remains.
- File review: fault messages, operations management reports, SCADA and log data, maintenance records
- Site inspection in the nacelle, tower base and transfer station with visual inspection before any dismantling
- Localisation of the damage via soot, flashover and crack traces on cable connections, bushings and assemblies
- Laboratory testing of the electronics: microfocus X-ray, insulation measurement, component parameters, age determination from date codes
- Exclusion diagnostics: installation error, external influence, manufacturing defect, lightning and grid event examined individually, lightning location and weather data checked
- Chronological reconstruction from log data, for cluster losses a comparison of all turbines on the same cable string
- Standards check, including VDE-AR-N 4110 and DIN VDE 0105-100
- Cost review: invoices for loss relation and market rates, separation of maintenance and betterment, yield loss via reference turbines
The result
You receive a report with findings, laboratory results, cause analysis by the exclusion method and an answer to each question of evidence. In addition, the verified amount of loss net of items not related to the loss and, on request, the yield loss calculated by the reference yield method.
Frequently asked questions
Do you also examine several affected turbines of one wind farm?
Yes. For cluster losses after a grid or cable event we examine all affected turbines on the same string together and attribute each assembly to the event or separate it.
What happens to the removed assemblies?
We test pitch modules, converter assemblies, control boards and cable joints in the laboratory. Please secure the damaged parts and do not have them disposed of until the examination is complete.
Do you work with the manufacturer's service partner?
The site visit takes place with the operations manager or service partner who provides access to the turbine. The assessment of cause and cost remains independent of them.
Enquiry about this type of loss
A few key facts, and we get back to you on the same working day with an assessment of how to proceed.
Do you have a case?
Call us or send us the claim notification with your questions of evidence. We get back to you the same working day.