Wind turbine owners left without warranties or support after turbine manufacturer Endurance went out of business now have innovative repair and upgrade options open to them thanks to nationwide renewables specialist Natural Generation Ltd.

When Endurance closed its doors in 2016, turbine owners throughout the UK who had invested in their 55 – 85kW machines were suddenly left exposed as problems began to affect their machines.

The biggest of the issues were cracks appearing in the bed frames – the main structural component inside the nacelle – broken main shafts and cracks in the blade roots. Some machines failed and others were shut down on safety grounds.

Natural Generation, which specialises in the operation and maintenance of solar and wind energy systems, has built a network of third party suppliers in order to have a full range of new and upgraded parts on tap, not just making the turbines as good as new but in fact even better than new.

“Major component failures and shut downs used to mean machines lying idle for long periods of time” says Ivor Thomson, managing director of Natural Generation.

“We’ve worked hard to bring together a supply chain and stockholding system that lets us minimise the time it takes to get a turbine back earning money.”

Typical parts required include new stronger bed frames, uprated shafts and bearings and re-engineered blades on an exchange basis.

A full upgrade takes about a week, and there is a range of maintenance contracts available. All contracts now include all-hours remote monitoring as standard and can also offer condition monitoring of key components to spot problems early and avoid shutdowns in future.