In repowering, modern turbines replace first-generation wind turbines. There are benefits at a number of levels. For instance, the number of turbines can be cut in half even as output is doubled, resulting in a more efficient use of sites when three times as much energy is produced. Over the next few years, the annual market could be as big as 1,000 MW, equivalent to around one half billion euros in sales.

Modern wind turbines not only make more electricity from the wind, thereby reducing the cost of wind power – they can also be much better integrated in the power grid. In addition to reducing the visual impact of turbines by lowering their number, repowering offers a major opportunity to take down old systems, which are often spread across large areas and near residential districts, and set new ones up with more attention paid to the local impact. In this way, possible problems with nature conservation in existing locations can be avoided with new planning.

State-of-the-art wind turbines run at lower speeds. Their visual impact is therefore less than that of quickly spinning older turbines. In the 1990s, turbines turned 40 to 60 times per minute, but current ones only spin 10 to 20 times. Modern turbines have also been further improved to reduce noise.

Tags: Onshore, Repowering

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