Dusseldorf, Germany, -based utility E.ON is providing a wind turbine maintenance technology it has purchased from Liftra as part of a service offering to its customers in North America.
E.ON claims the technology lowers major O&M costs and helps streamline operations. Lifting and transportations solutions company Liftra developed the Liftra Crane, which E.ON claims “dramatically lowers the total costs to change out gearboxes and generators for certain turbines”.
“The Liftra technology can help lower the total repair costs by 20 to 30 percent,” E.ON Energy Services vice president Guy Dees said. “This technology replaces a traditional crane, has easier mobility, and can operate in harsh wind conditions.”
The Liftra technology is currently applicable on the General Electric 1.5, the Vestas V82 and Siemens 2.3 platforms, the statement added.
Recently, E.ON had entered a partnership with American rooftop solar developer Sungevity to expand online residential solar projects in Germany. The companies planned to target customers in Munich and Berlin initially.
E.ON has announced that it was planning to hive off its conventional energy business as a separate subsidiary named Uniper.
The company told an annual shareholders’ meeting recently that the subsidiary will break away next year. E.ON will then focus on renewables, energy networks, and customer solutions.
Ajith Kumar S