Gamesa will service FCC’s 650 kW, 850 kW and 2.0 MW wind turbines at 14 wind farms in Spain.
Gamesa, a global technology leader in wind energy, has signed a 7-year operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement with FCC covering 397 wind turbines with total installed capacity of 421 MW.
Gamesa has thereby renewed the existing O&M service agreement covering 357 MW and added another 64 MW to its portfolio. In total, Gamesa will maintain 184 of its own 850 kW turbines, 93 2.0 MW turbines and 120 660 kW turbines fitted in 14 wind farms across León, Galicia (Pontevedra and La Coruña), Andalusia (Huelva, Jaén, Granada and Almería), Zaragoza, Teruel and Toledo.
Under the terms of the agreement, Gamesa will install its Algorithm Improvement Program in FCC's 850 kW and 2.0 MW turbines. This program optimises turbine productivity by enhancing load curves and increasing their operating ranges. FCC's 2 MW turbines will also be fitted with the company's continual improvement program known as Gamesa Premium Availability (GPA), which is designed to boost platform availability, diminish risks and reduce the cost of energy (CoE). GPA implies a host of turbine enhancements, ranging from operational and software upgrades to minor repair work, streamlined logistics for major repair work and preventative maintenance systems. These design and process improvements maximise turbine availability and can lower a wind farm's operating expenses by up to 10%.
O&M services, key to the company's growth
Gamesa services capacity of over 19,100 MW for 180 customers worldwide. The recurring revenue stream implied by O&M services, coupled with high attendant profitability and cash flow generation levels, make these agreements one of the company's core growth drivers.
Moreover, the O&M services area rounds out Gamesa's end-to-end wind power offering. The company views this vertical integration as crucial to the creation of value in the development, usage and monetisation of a wind farm. To this end it draws on value-added programs to deliver maximum energy output levels, boost availability indicators and lower O&M costs, all with a view to minimising its customers' cost of energy.