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Range of Activities
| Site Appraisal and Procurement | Planning, Permits and Financing | Construction of the Wind Farm | | | | Many complex steps are necessary before a wind farm produces energy. ABO Wind employs mechanical, building and environmental engineers, geographers, physicists, landscape designers and economists in order to take a wind farm project from the planning stage all the way through to the operational stage. |
| Site Appraisal and Procurement
To begin with, a large amount of criteria must be taken into account in order to assess whether a designated construction site is feasible for an ABO wind farm. Land surveys are commissioned to provide information about local structural conditions. For example, a potential site is examined for its wind power potential: Is it exposed directly to wind currents or is the wind affected by geographical structures or vegetation growth? ABO Wind always has at least two independent wind assessments taken to evaluate a potential site. The experts determine the expected long-term resource yield of the site. From a short-term perspective, this potential is hard to gauge because some months and years produce very different outputs. In order to gain a long-term perspective on the yield potential of a site, wind indexes are used. These indexes are based upon output capacities of existing wind farms and other wind measurement instruments and can give an indication about a site’s expected yield. A more accurate estimate can only be gotten when the site is operational and statistics can be compiled over several years.Another important aspect of site selection is the cost-effectiveness of the possibilities to connect the site to the power grid.
If a site is determined to be feasible, ABO Wind establishes contact with the communities, townships and citizens right from the beginning in order to involve them in the project and ensure that the project is as socially and environmentally friendly as possible. Land leasing contracts are made during this phase of the project.
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| Planning, Permits and Financing
A Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to determine the most ideal position for the individual turbines. The decision is made on the basis of factors like energy yield estimations, noise level estimates, safety studies
and shadow flicker evaluations. These factors can be gathered by the planning department with a special computer program. The findings are then presented with the permit applications to the local authorities.
A forecast of potential earnings is also made during this phase. The amount of capital investments needed and the expected revenues of the wind farm over its lifetime are the basics that are considered in the financing concept. Through its experience ABO Wind can offer a myriad of international financing possibilities, which does not only accelerate a project but also enhance its value.
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| Construction of the Wind Farm
ABO Wind also manages the wind farm construction in order to ensure that due dates, quality standards and cost calculations are met. In other words, ABO Wind plans, coordinates and supervises the construction phase.
Installation of the Foundation
Local
small and medium sized construction firms are normally used as much as
possible to do the construction work. The first steps in wind farm
construction are to install the foundation and to build access roads if
necessary. Existing access roads are used whenever possible and are
gravelled if needed.
Cable installation
Cables that run the
distance from the wind farm to the power stations are usually laid
underground parallel to the access roads. By using a cable plough, up
to 1,000 meters of cable can be laid daily.
Wind Turbine Construction
The
actual construction of the wind turbine takes place within a few days
in three steps.First, the tower segments are delivered and are built up
by using two cranes.Then the nacelle, which houses the electrical
generator, is mounted with high-strength screws. Finally, the three rotor blades are
connected to the hub. |
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