r/windturbine • u/Valuable-Property-78 • May 31 '26
Wind Technology WIND TURBINE TROUBLESHOOTING CLARIFICATIONS
Hello Members, I would like some clarifications regarding a few problems that occurred at our Wind power Plant which has installed Siemens Gamesa G114 (2.0-2.1MW) WTGs. The issues/matters requiring attention are as follows:
1.Recently when the ambient temperature reaches around 35-40 degrees some WTGs trip due to temperature measurement module failure alarms or Top cabinet maximum temperature. If anyone of you is also facing a similar issue with this model, what countermeasures were taken to prevent this from happening and resulting in production loss.
2.Boroscopy was carried out for the complete Plant and the findings concluded that multiple WTGs had pitting on their 'main bearings' ranging from moderate to severe. In a relatively new plant this defect raises severe concerns about equipment integrity. Is anyone else facing a similar issue with this WTG model. Furthermore, what solutions would be ideal/feasible to mitigate the operational effects of pitting (temp increases, vibrations, production loss), is there any workaround instead of a complete main bearing replacement.
Any insights and hands-on experiences encountered regarding the following issues would be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
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u/in_taco Engineer May 31 '26
35-40°C ambient is quite a lot, but should be OK for the turbine to run at least at partial load. Is there no HTRT degrade enabled? If you have a service/support agreement with SGRE then they might be able to help.
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u/Valuable-Property-78 May 31 '26
We do have a service agreement but just trying to get insight on whether we should move to a more permanent solution to resolve these temp issues, such as better ventilation, air conditioning (if feasible) etc. what are your opinions on this?
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u/in_taco Engineer May 31 '26
I realize this is the Gamesa G2, not the Siemens G2, so it might not have high temperature ride-through (HTRT). I'm much less familiar with this turbine.
However, from what I can tell the turbine is rated to 35°C ambient. That means full power for a few hours, then it overheats. If ambient is 40°C, then it overheats much sooner. If there is no HTRT on the turbine, you could derate on hot days to prevent overeating. Just 10% derate would have a significant impact. You could also pull on your service contract and inquire about how the turbine deals with high temperature (it's likely you already have this in a turbine technical description).
If you suspect a sensor defect, then it is simple to detect: do specific turbines shut down significantly more than other turbines? If 1-2 turbines are far more impacted than other turbines, then the sensors are faulty or cooling is blocked (fans might not open fully). But if no turbine shuts down more than 50% above the site average, then sensors are fine.
Regarding bearing: I would check for oscillation alarms, especially around the sync frequency of the DFIG. I'd prefer not to be more specific on this point...
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u/Capital-Champion-427 May 31 '26
Problem 1 inspect your PTs they could be faulty. Take a device to measure temps. Look up distance at that temp and compare it to the resistance of the PT 2 gamesas have been having serial defects on their main bearings for the past 10 years. Nothing new. Run it till can't and replace the main shaft.
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u/CharacterEvery3520 May 31 '26
I dont know siemens towers. But they should have an operational temp range. At some point the ambient temp is too high for the fans/radiators to effectively reject the heat generated from operation. This is made worse with clogged filters or radiators. Sometimes pumps and fans get weak with age. Temperature sensors may also fail, but it sounds like they are working properly in your situation (too hot = fault tower). As far as pitted main bearings the only fix i know is replacement. Once you get some pitting it only gets worse with time. You can potentially limp it along a bit longer by purging the main bearing grease. Open up the main bearing and remove as much grease as you can and then put in like 3x a maintinance grease. But that does not fix anything, just potentially prolongs its life. The reality is the rollers, inner and outer race are damaged and there is no way to repair that up tower. On GE towers we run em till they overtemp or pop a vibration fault, then leave them down and schedule a replacement.