Offshore, Act Two: New owner repowers 20-year-old wind farm off Swedish coast

Enlarge / Scroby Sands offshore wind farm, Caister, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. (credit: Photo by: Geography Photos/UIG via Getty Images)
In November, a Danish asset management group called Momentum Gruppen recommissioned five turbines at a 20-year-old offshore wind farm located 4km (2.5 mi) off the coast of Sweden. Momentum purchased the wind farm and upgraded the nacelles, blades, and control systems while leaving the towers, foundations, and transmission equipment. The turbines were originally rated to produce 500 kilowatts (kW) apiece. The upgrades were done with 600 kW turbine replacement equipment.
According to GreenTechMedia, it's the first such repowering of an old offshore wind farm. As Europe's first offshore turbines age, it represents a possible long-term future for Europe's clean-energy fleet. Although onshore wind farm owners have been repowering their equipment for years, offshore repowering comes with its own technical challenges.
In 2017, Dong Energy dismantled the first-ever modern offshore wind farm, built in 1991 off the coast of Denmark. It had been in operation for 25 years. (One turbine was preserved for display at the Danish Museum of Energy.)
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