Energy Savings Analysis in Logistics of a Wind Farm Repowering Process: A Case Study

Abstract

The process of wind farm operation requires proper logistics services, consisting of the supply of all resources necessary in this process. A critical moment in the operation of wind farms is the implementation of the repowering process, in the form of replacement of the basic elements of wind farms: blades, hub rotors, nacelles or even towers. The replacement of these basic elements of the wind farm relates to the necessity to provide logistics services for heavy and oversized deliveries. Therefore, this article presents a unique analysis of logistics processes related to wind farms. Therefore, the aim of the article is to identify the most energy-saving variant of logistics service of the wind farm repowering process. However, the criterion of selecting the optimal variant is based on the original methodology of energy consumed during logistics services, as opposed to the traditionally used cost-effectiveness criterion. The SolidWorks software with other methods and tools were used for this purpose. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that the differences in individual variants of logistics service implementation may range from 4.7% to even 19.4% in terms of energy savings. Due to the increasingly common need to implement the process of repowering wind farms, the presented original methodology for the analysis and selection of the delivery variant with lowest energy consumption fills the literature gap and formulates a model of business practice, thus constituting both theoretical and practical value.

Keywords

• renewable energy
• wind farms
• energy savings in logistics