Turbine operations and maintenance (O&M) outfit Deutsche Windtechnik is pushing into the US, hoping to help shape the changing market landscape with its independent full-scope, multi-brand offering.
The German-headquartered company, which currently services machines from Vestas/NEG Micon, Siemens/AN Bonus, Nordex, Senvion, Fuhrländer and Gamesa in Europe, is angling to making inroads in the US using "flexible" maintenance contracts that give operators "decisive influence over the profitability of a project".
"Service companies currently active in the market often function as subcontractors for OEMs. By contrast, Deutsche Windtechnik is an independent full-service provider on equal footing, and with its strong multi-brand expertise, the company can offer completely new options for operators and investors," said managing director Melf Lorenzen.
Deutsche Windtechnik contract models, he stated, will range from “individually designed basic contracts” that allow operators to maintain full control of maintenance and repairs at their wind farms, to “minimum-risk, full-maintenance” deals providing an "all-round carefree package" with guaranteed availability, which can also include replacement of large components as required.
"We have taken a step-wise approach to expansion, first moving into the UK, France and 12 other European countries, but with the rise in the number of requests we have been getting from US developer - and having grown to have more than 1,000 employees and carved out all the documentation and training elements, we feel enabled to extend our network overseas," Lorenzen told Recharge.
The acquisition in 2016 of UpWind Solutions and and Availon by Vestas – which offers O&M services for its own turbines and those of rival OEMs – removed two of the last independent O&M service providers in the US. But with the continued shift toward squeezing more operational uptime out of the world’s ageing fleet of wind turbines led Deutsche Windtechnik to take the strategic step now.
"This is a fast-growing market ... and one in which there is a large segment [of developers and operators] which still don't have the necessary skills to self-maintain [projects] taht are either geographically remote or use 'exotic' turbines and so are looking to an alternative to the [turbine] manufacturers," said Lorenzen.
Preparations for the first assignments are "in full swing", he added, with first Deutsche service technicians "now on duty, and sales and QHSE [quality, health, safety and environment] experts have also been recruited to the team to ensure optimal implementation of country-specific regulations".
