The following is a reposting of a good article by The Telegraph which sets forth a number of the problems with faulty industrial wind turbines that Siemens are now admitting to in addition to the “creaky blades” mentioned at the end of June when their share price fell dramatically.
Wrinkles in rotor blades and faulty gears are among a number of manufacturing flaws uncovered CREDIT: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg
When Siemens announced a deal to merge its wind power business with rival Gamesa in 2017, executives saw only upside.
Then Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser said there was “a clear and compelling industrial logic” that would make “renewable energy more cost-effective”.
Siemens warned on Monday that it was facing a €4.5bn (£3.9bn) loss this year as a result of issues within its wind turbine division.
Wrinkles in rotor blades and faulty gears are among the problems uncovered, which have led to operating issues and warranty claims from buyers. Inflation has only added to headaches.
The admissions of failures wiped as much as €6bn off the value of Siemens on Monday.
The German industrial powerhouse has been in the wind power market for almost two decades and Gamesa, which was until last year a joint venture, traces its roots in the industry back to the 1970s.
Yet a rapid expansion of its manufacturing in recent years has left the combined business over-extended.
Jochen Eickholt, chief executive of Siemens Gamesa, admitted: “We sold turbines too quickly,” describing the company as a “victim of our own ambitions”.
Siemens Gamesa manufactures blades for wind turbines, which can measure over 100m in length and are made up of many layers of material.
The technology must be highly precise and testing uncovered flaws causing “abnormal vibrations”, which could lead to damages and other issues.
Jochen Eickholt, chief executive of Siemens Gamesa, has put the issues down to “wrinkles” within layers of the blades and has blamed suppliers. Some have been cut off in response.
Hiccups weren’t picked up earlier because the company was focused on the rapid introduction of new turbines and the ramping up of capacity, Siemens Energy chief executive Christian Bruch said.
Kathryn Porter, an independent analyst at energy consultancy Watt Logic, said: “There’s been pressure from the developers to have bigger turbines, because then obviously it’s easier to build, but there have been a lot of warranty problems.
“Now you’re getting people saying behind the scenes, maybe we need to have a pause on this bigger and bigger turbine thing because they just keep breaking.”
Profitability has been weak in the industry for a long time, she said.
Problems at Siemens’ turbine business are not new. The company said in June that the issues would cost €1bn to fix and Bruch described the problems as “more severe than I thought possible”.
However, worryingly, new issues are still being uncovered.
Deutsche Bank analyst Gael de-Bray said in a note: “As we feared, in addition to the onshore quality issues, [Siemens Energy] expects higher product costs and further challenges in the ramp up process in offshore, which led to additional charges of €600m.”
The German company is not alone in struggling: its competitors and its customers are also battling a more expensive landscape for the green energy industry.
Energy giant Vattenfall last month shelved plans for a major wind farm off the coast of Norfolk CREDIT: Vattenfall
Vestas, the world’s biggest wind turbine maker, lost €1.5bn last year after a surge in costs, particularly metal prices.
Chief executive Henrik Andersen said in May: “The wind industry remains challenged by political uncertainty, slow permitting processes and high inflation, which we expect to continue throughout 2023.”
Wind farms in the UK are largely governed by contracts for difference (CfDs), which are government deals guaranteeing operators a stable price for their power for 15 years. This price stability helps developers to borrow the money required to build them.
However, the combination of surging costs and fixed earnings long into the future means budgets can easily be blown.
Sweden’s Vattenfall said its costs had surged 40pc since agreeing a deal with Whitehall last year. The surge rendered the project, which had the capacity to power 1.5 million homes, unviable.
Ana Musat, executive director for policy at industry group RenewableUK, said: “The economic circumstances are quite difficult across the board, we’ve seen really high inflation, we’ve seen interest rates going up. And if you’re in a capital intensive industry, like this one, those will impact you immediately.”
In CfD auctions, companies put forward a “strike price” they will sell their electricity for and the most competitive offers result in subsidy deals with the Government. When market power prices go below this strike price, the company’s revenues are topped up – and when it rises above, they make payments to the Government. CfDs are funded through levies on consumer bills.
The UK is currently in the middle of another round of bidding for the contracts. In this current allocation round, which finishes next month, offshore wind is competing with solar and onshore wind, which are both cheaper to build.
The maximum strike price for offshore wind has been set at £44 per megawatt hour for this round, called AR5, a very similar price to the last round which concluded last summer, dubbed AR4.
Duncan Clark, head of Ørsted UK and Ireland, which is developing the Hornsea 3 windfarm off the Yorkshire coast, said current wind power deals were “excellent value” for taxpayers but warned the company had been hit by “an extraordinary combination” of higher costs since then.
Musat said: “We have had 11pc inflation, interest rates going up by 5pc. So I think just to expect projects to be able to deliver under those same cost profiles, is really not realistic. Something’s going to give.”
All of this means the wind power industry faces more, not fewer, stumbling blocks.
Siemens Energy has put its entire wind division, Siemens Gamesa, under review despite only recently taking full control.
The review will look at “all options”, Bruch said when asked whether parts could be sold. An update is expected in November.
Yet as problems mount, Bruch is still optimistic. “We believe more than ever in the potential of wind power,” he told reporters.
Investors hope that proves more than just hot air.
If these turbines were sold without being adequately tested, they would never have received any CE label. The CE process is all about self-reporting. The CEO has publicly admitted that they did not test. This means that they lied about their CE application and that the turbines are all illegal.
I recommend that someone contact Mikael. Holst@av.se and reports Siemens for fraud. Mikael is personally responsible for these reports.
Interestingly, the type certificates used to sell these turbines are produced by UL. This means that they are part of the fraud. Just like they cheat on sound modelling when there's not even a prototype running.
We have known for years that the processes for testing, certification and market approval are all frauds. Nice to see this coming out now.
In order to ensure health and safety standards, manufacturers of wind turbine and related equipment need to make sure that products are compliant with all applicable directives. CE Marking illustrates such compliance. Selling wind turbines and equipment across the European wind energy market requires a Declaration of Conformity and CE Marking.
The following six steps lead to successful CE Marking for wind turbines:
Step 1: Clarification of Directives
More than 20 directives require CE Marking. For wind turbines, a number of these directives must be applied, including the Machinery Directive, the Low Voltage Directive, the EMC Directive, and many others.
Step 2: Verification of Requirements
The first step a manufacturer should take to ensure that a wind turbine complies with the directives is to carry out an assessment of the essential requirements. This includes checking which European Harmonized Standards are applicable, as a way to get presumption of conformity.
Step 3: Do You Need for Notified Body?
Before proceeding with the assessment, you need to clarify whether you, as a manufacturer, can assess your product by yourself or if it needs to be done by a Notified Body.
Step 4: Evaluation of Conformity
Under consideration of the risks associated with using of wind turbines covered under the Machinery Directive, conformity assessment procedures for essential health and safety requirements must be established. The manufacturer or an authorized representative should ensure that such a risk assessment, a key element, is conducted. To do this, a manufacturer must determine which essential health and safety requirements are applicable and where measures need to be taken.
Step 5: Technical Documentation
A successful assessment of the technical documentation is also required. The technical file should include:
Detailed documentation of wind turbine construction results.
Test results.
Description of protective measures in place.
Other elements.
A copy of the EC declaration of conformity.
Step 6: Marking
Upon successful completion of all necessary steps, the logo may be placed on the wind turbine.
In 2021, UL won the contract with Siemens to certify their wind turbines as was announced in their press release.
By providing type characteristics certification and grid code compliance certification for markets including Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, UL will help enable Siemens Gamesa to deploy reliable, innovative turbine technologies across Europe.
October 13, 2021
Northbrook, Illinois – Oct. 13, 2021 –UL, a global safety science leader and one of the world’s top testing, inspection and certification providers for renewable energy projects, has been awarded certification contracts by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) for the company’s most advanced turbine designs. Part of SGRE’s new 5.X onshore platform, the SG5.8-170 and SG5.8-155 wind turbines have a capacity of 5.8MW and rotor diameters of 170 and 155 meters — representing some of the largest turbines in the global onshore wind industry.
An accredited party must certify the electrical characteristics of wind turbines to help ensure reliable and safe power generation. By providing type characteristics certification and grid code compliance certification for markets including Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, UL will help enable SGRE to deploy reliable, innovative turbine technologies across Europe.
“Confirming that new turbine technologies can support the power grid while optimizing energy production is crucial to accelerating the development of wind farms and Europe’s green energy transition,” said Kai Grigutsch, head of wind certification for UL. “We’re proud to be collaborating with Siemens Gamesato help advance the adoption of safe and reliable wind energy.”
To help support the launch of the 5.X onshore platform worldwide, SGRE chose UL as a strategic procurement supplier to capitalize on UL’s deep experience in international grid code compliance and help SGRE navigate safety, reliability and performance risks for their turbines.
“We needed a trustworthy strategic supplier that could help us efficiently certify our latest turbine design platform for international deployment and to support our customers,” Irene Alli Oños, head of SG5.X Certification at SGRE, said. “Our collaboration with UL will enable us to swiftly meet market-specific certification requirements. We look forward to working with them as we continue to develop industry-leading turbine designs.”
About UL UL is a global safety science leader. We deliver testing, inspection and certification (TIC), training and advisory services, risk management solutions and essential business insights to help our customers, based in more than 100 countries, achieve their safety, security and sustainability goals. Our deep knowledge of products and intelligence across supply chains make us the partner of choice for customers with complex challenges. Discover more at UL.com.
For information about Standards development and other nonprofit activities, visit UL.org.
Given that novice wind developer Bute Energy told me in Septenber 2022 that they were in discussions with Siemens and GE to use their wind turbines for the 22 “energy parks” they plan to plant across beautiful rural Wales, including the ancient domed hills of the Radnor Forest with 36 x 220m tall industrial wind turbines, it is extremely important that we continue to monitor the issues with their apparently fault ridden wind turbines. This reality is yet another reason why Bute Energy should not be granted permission to proceed.
