From testing and commissioning for onshore and offshore wind farms
We partner with wind farm owners, operators, developers, and independent energy producers to mitigate risk by providing flexible temporary energy.
Whether you’re checking the integrity of turbine controls during pre-commissioning or running load bank tests during commissioning, your onshore or offshore wind farm needs a reliable source of energy. Even where no grid connectivity exists, or connections are delayed. That’s where we come in.
We help wind farms get online on time by delivering scalable energy wherever it’s required – onshore and off. With grid emulation and temporary energy sources, we help you:
- Reduce financial and tax risk by thoroughly testing turbines before your Commercial Operation Date (COD)
- Mitigate the impact of delays to grid connectivity
- Optimize testing and commissioning to reduce emissions and costs
- Undertake maintenance without costly downtime
Outstandingly effective solutions across the windfarm lifecycle
- Grid emulation for testing and commissioning, using generators, load banks, transformers, and load control panels to create a temporary grid. This allows you to test earlier and more often. Our generators are also capable of paralleling with automatic load controls, allowing you to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
- Hybrid grid emulation solutions that combine efficient generators with Aggreko batteries. Our turnkey solutions use energy storage to reduce generator run time and, in turn, emissions. All with fast installation and plug-and-play functionality with the entire Aggreko ecosystem.
- Pre-commissioning energy, enabling manufacturers to test turbine controls and identify any equipment that may have been damaged in transit or during construction.
- Energy for emergencies and maintenance, including energy for blade hospitals and repair facilities.
Contact Our Renewable Energy Specialists
Your lifetime partner for renewable energy
Aggreko has been working with the wind farm industry since it started, so we know that each stage of design brings unique challenges. We can work with turbine manufacturers, wind farm operators and contractors to help you with:
- Planning and infrastructure: We can provide power for your site surveys and initial infrastructure work, including laying cables and civil works. We can also supply power, heating, cooling and dehumidification for site camps and wind turbine equipment storage.
- Construction: We can provide power, distribution and fuel management during wind farm construction and installation, together with temperature-control equipment for storage units and worker accommodation.
- Pre-commissioning: We can provide the power and loadbanks needed to fully test turbines prior to commissioning the wind farm, to make sure nothing has been damaged during transit to the site.
- Testing and commissioning: Our high-voltage technicians will bring in a tailor-made package, including load banks, generators and transformers, to mirror the power conditions and loads you expect from the grid, so you can be sure that everything will work perfectly from the moment you connect to it. This can result in early revenue generation and meeting subsidy-reduction deadlines.
- Operation and maintenance: If grid power is interrupted for any reason, we can provide a temporary power solution to keep your equipment healthy and make sure you return to generating power swiftly. We can help you manage temperature and humidity levels during blade repairs with equipment that we tailor to regional and seasonal conditions. We also provide power, heating, cooling and dehumidification during tower upgrades and maintenance.
Our support covers all stages of your project
Stage 1: Transport, infrastructure and construction applications
Aggreko's temporary power and temperature control solutions can help prevent project delays and reduce risk, with a wide range of generators to pitch the turbine blades on the hub during ground assembly and to protect the nacelles during construction staging, or while in storage. We also provide power for construction equipment, site power, building and cable laying.
- Temporary power (buildings, cable laying, running ancillary equipment on turbines)
- Fuel management services
- Temporary temperature control solutions (stable installation, blade balancing, storage of blades, for construction contractors)
Stage 2 - Commissioning applications
The commissioning phase is vital to getting the wind farm in operation. At Aggreko, we provide critical technical and power support throughout the commissioning phase to ensure equipment is efficiently tested and proven reliable after installation.
Our generators and loadbanks allow turbines to be commissioned prior to connection to the power grid, saving time and money by allowing customers to begin production as soon as the substation is complete.
- Temporary power (test turbines, soak testing, substation testing)
Commissioning:
- Temporary power and loadbanks for full load testing solutions, and testing of transformers, switchgear and electronic systems at both high and low voltages
- IHV transformers (power ring main testing for single and multiple wind turbine start-ups)
- Resistive / reactive loadbanks (to stabilize the system)
- High voltage power solutions for flux limits of substation transformers
- Low voltage power at the base of each turbine to power ancillary equipment including anti-condensation heaters, lighting and the hydraulic pumps to turn the rotor to prevent bearing lock up
- Offshore: Oil-free compressed air underwater for noise protection (bubble curtains)
- Offshore: Temporary power (grid simulations to test substation, soak testing and testing functionalities)
- Offshore: Chilled water plant to enable commissioning of HVDC converter stations prior to the seawater cooling systems coming online
Aggreko's technical support team designs bespoke power and load packages that allow you to complete your commissioning requirements prior to grid connection. With fewer scheduled bottlenecks, you will be able to keep your commissioning team onsite, preventing delays and alleviating additional project costs.
Stage 3 - Operation and maintenance applications
To help ensure smooth running of wind farms, we offer environmental control packages for blade remediation. We tailor these packages to meet your specific regional and seasonal requirements for managing temperature and dehumidification during blade repair. We also provide power, heating and cooling solutions during planned utility outages and tower maintenance. We offer a complete turn-key package, which includes service and maintenance of all our equipment and an offshore fuel management service via our selected vessel suppliers.
- Temporary power (maintenance shut-down, reprogramming of turbines, test turbines)
- IHV transformers (power ring main testing for single and multiple wind turbine start-ups)
- Fuel management services
- Temporary temperature control (dehumidification of blades and nacelles)
Why do renewable energy contractors choose Aggreko?
When windfarm owners, operators, developers, independent energy producers, and turbine manufacturers need agile support from a team that understands renewables, they turn to Aggreko.
Rapid deployment
Our unique reach and scale means we can deploy a turnkey solution anywhere in North America, keeping your project moving.
24/7 remote monitoring
With Aggreko’s Remote Monitoring service, we take responsibility for optimizing grid performance as your project continues.
Greener and leaner
Our highly efficient equipment means you can progress your renewable energy project without increasing your emissions.
Scalable solutions
Our equipment is designed to be modular, scalable, and flexible. Whatever your timeline and energy needs, we can help.
Rethinking refueling
Our remote monitoring and fuel services take the complexity out of fuel, unlocking new opportunities to reduce costs.
The trusted partner
Working with Aggreko means working with an industry leader with over 50 years’ experience in 80+ countries.
Learn more about our services for windfarms
Maximize the potential of your wind farms with our specialized services. Discover cutting-edge technologies and strategies that enhance efficiency, increase reliability, and optimize the sustainability of your projects. We support you at every stage, from planning and development to maintenance and optimization. Don't miss the chance to drive your wind farms toward a greener future!
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FAQs about Aggreko’s wind commissioning solutions
We support independent windfarm energy producers with comprehensive services to de-risk testing and commissioning and enable successful delivery. With our grid emulation for testing and commissioning, hybrid energy, and temporary energy, we help producers test and validate performance sooner, so they can start selling energy from day one.
With grid emulation, we engineer a turnkey solution using generators, load banks, and distribution equipment to imitate the energy you’ll receive from the grid. With hybrid grid emulation, we add battery storage to improve resilience and stability while reducing generator run time and fuel consumption.
Where windfarms can be connected to the grid, this is an effective way to provide energy for testing and commissioning. The problem is that, with so many moving parts, it’s easy for grid connectivity to be delayed.
Using grid emulation puts you in control of when you test and commission your turbines, so you can keep your renewable energy project on track and achieve the performance you expect from day one.
At Aggreko, we bring together diverse expertise from some of the world’s most complex renewable energy projects, as well as best practice testing and commissioning. Working with us, you’ll get an expert team to guide you through the process, engineer the appropriate solution, and even monitor your equipment remotely. We’ll prioritize your aims, risks, and timelines every step of the way with a turnkey, custom strategy to suit you.