Reconditioned – Refurbished Wind Turbines In Northern Ireland – Short Term Gain Or Long Term Pain ?

It amazes me every month the number of farmers and landowners in Northern Ireland willing to spend £200k + on reconditioned, refurbished, second hand wind turbines like the Vestas V27 225kw for example, without fully understanding the pro’s and the con’s….

Some of my concerns are regarding resellers/installers of reconditioned- refurbished turbines not offering a support package to the customer, in terms of  servicing,maintenance for the turbine. Only last week i heard of a reseller of these machines, that would happily install a turbine for £150k+, but offer no servicing/maintenance support in house, by of way of fixing the machine if it went wrong!….Apparently it’s a case of ring these guys, if you need it fixed/serviced, which is unbelievable to say the least !  I know the majority of MCS approved small scale turbine distributors/resellers in Northern Ireland will have been manufacture trianed, to offer support long term to the customer, in the event of a breakdown or service. It seems to me, if you buy a used, second hand turbine, you may be booking your service through an agent outside of Ireland.  The next problem i have, is that some of these resellers/installers have no certification or approval from anyone to sell these machines. For example, most domestic turbine (under 50kw) resellers/installers in Northern Ireland are MCS certified, which is great for the industry, MCS gives protection to the consumer in terms of product and service.  So in other words you can spend £15K on a 6kw turbine, and have the protection of MCS, and nothing if you spend £150k + on a second hand machine…

Insure it for losing you money!

The next no-no, is that you cannot insure a second hand, reconditioned / refurbished wind turbine for loss of revenue. So why do i need that you may ask?  Well even if you buy a new turbine, we recommend that you insure it for – lightening strikes – loss of revenue - theft – vandalism etc etc….more info on this soon!  The insurance company that Silverford deal with, would not touch a recon/refurb for loss of revenue protection insurance…on the grounds that - it’s a used 15yr+ old turbine – with a 20yr design life, lack of spare parts that are readily available of the shelf, little or no factory support or service for a turbine that is no longer made, was just a few of their comments. From day one we @ Silverford, said no to selling/installing recon/refurb wind turbines, as the risk was too great, to both the customer and ourselves. So when your bank or lender is holding their hand out for repayments on your recon wind turbine, while you wait to get a part to fix your wind turbine, that by the way, made no revenue from ROC/ Electric Export during that period, and that you didn’t have an insurance policy that would have covered the replacement part, loss of revenue and associated costs like crane hire…it can be a difficult place to be, in an already difficult economic environment.     

So you still want to buy a recon/refurb wind turbine?

In my opinion there are very few companies in Ireland that can offer genuine support, in-house for a recon/refurb turbine. Just Ask ! – Do they build gearboxes in-house or have the capability or infrastructure to do so?  Have direct access to manufacture support ? Are They Certified - Do they have Vestas (or any other manufacture for that matter) Certs to show, that they are actually trained to work on said machine?.

Over the past few months i have pointed quite a few interested recon/refurb turbine clients to Mike Farrell – 00353 87296 7040 (WindTech Ireland). At Silverford, we believe that Mike offers a service that cannot be touched in Ireland – 25yrs in the wind industry, builds and maintains wind farms etc etc. Just ring him and ask him his thoughts on recon/refurb wind turbines….you may need to plug your ears now and then during your conversation with him, with his choice selection of words!….but it will be an honest reflection of the wind industry, and his experiences with wind turbines,and remember a spade is a spade with Mike….leave a voice mail for him if he dosn’t answer straight away, he’s probably stuck 80m up a turbine in Cork!…

Short Term Pain – Long Term Gain!

With buying a recon/refurb turbine, it could be “Short Term Gain – Long Term Pain”, if you get it wrong…and believe me that the chances of getting it wrong are better than getting it right!  With a new turbine, you know where you stand from day one – “Short Term Pain – Long term Gain”. Whisperings from inside sources, are  apparently  suggesting that DETI are going to end 4Rocs on recon/refurb wind turbines…. ( Note: Im sure that your recon/refurb turbine supplier would have made you aware of this roc situation by now ?.. and im sure that in your recon wind turbine supply contract, that you will get your deposit back – if you pull out of the deal, because your business case dosn’t add any longer because the 4 rocs on these turbines has ended!?).  The 4 ROCS for recon/refurb wind turbines is fuelling a dangerous market place for the consumer, as regards to turbine back-up and support for when it goes wrong.  It seems that the lure of £50k – £80k+ annual returns, has put the ‘blinkers’ on a lot of people…  

At  Balmoral Show for example, I seen a few   “Look What You Can Earn From A Refurbished Wind Turbine”  leaflets floating around, which failed to state the price of servicing – every 6/12 months, and that replacement parts may prove difficult to get, and that a large slice of  the revenue earned from the turbine, will be going to the tax man! …maybe there is some irony in the term recon wind turbines…

Well, that’s enough for today, and i did’nt even get started on Planning, Enviromental Impact Studies and Grid Conection for the above wind turbines…which can run to £50k -£100k+

When i get the time, we can look at varoius issues on larger wind turbine planning applications…..

• Ecology. 
• Noise Impact.  
• Visual Impact.
• Soils, Hydrology and Geology.
• Archaeology.
• Engineering and Transport.  
• Landscape Character Areas.
• Topography Information.
• Existing Site Character – Site Photographs.
• Landscape Designations.
• Access, Settlement Pattern and Residential Amenity.
• Wind Turbine Generator Proposals and Site Layout.
• Zone of Theoretical Visibility. 
• Visual Reference Points and Photomontages.