POWER March 2021 - 17

FOCUS ON O&M
As for tool maintenance, safety checks can be performed
by tool OEMs. Also known as a tool crib audit, this is typically
a visual inspection of all high-pressure hydraulic tools and a
detailed report summarizing the condition of the tools and suggested
improvements. This can minimize downtime and ensure
that tools are ready to perform.
Often, loosening and tightening of bolted joints is a critical
path item to larger maintenance outages. A tool that fails during
an outage can cause a tremendous headache when it comes
to workflow and keeping a project on schedule. Because work
must stop until the tool is repaired or replaced, you could easily
incur a $50,000 delay due to downtime. A good tool supplier
will be your partner for site maintenance and help make expert
decisions about the right bolting tool that will perform reliably,
every time.
Maintenance will be an ongoing need in the wind power industry.
As wind energy continues to rise in popularity, the technology,
tools, and equipment will continue to advance as well.
Streamlining an operations and maintenance strategy will keep
a wind farm operating efficiently, and the right tools will enable
safe performance of critical jobs.
-Jon Bice (jon.bice@enerpac.com)
is director of bolting at Enerpac Americas.
Solar and Storage: When It Makes
Operational Sense
Energy storage is becoming increasingly important in solar installations,
and many renewable energy projects, including wind
farms and others, are incorporating storage into their design.
Figuring out the value achieved by adding storage to a project
may not be readily apparent at first glance, but for the right
projects in the right locations, it can pay significant dividends to
your operations over time. It's important to determine not only
whether the economics of adding storage to a project makes
sense, but also whether the operations and maintenance of a
solar array or other renewable energy project will be impacted
by adding a storage mechanism.
Is adding storage worth the upfront investment? When
large consumers " go solar, " it's typically through a power purchase
agreement (PPA) that comes in the form of a dollar-perkilowatt-hour
rate. When you're financing storage along with
solar, that increases the total amount of capital you have to
expend, and because the storage is replenished by the solar
solution, it will erode some of the kWh the solution produces.
4. This 250-kW/500-kWh Samsung Sungrow energy storage system
was installed by Distributed Solar Development at Windsor High
School in Windsor, California. Courtesy: Distributed Solar Development
March 2021 | POWER
www.powermag.com
griffolyn.com * 800 231 6074
17
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POWER March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER March 2021
