Since May 2024, VALEMO has been maintaining the Criel-sur-Mer wind farm on behalf of SPV Criel Energie. The start of this contract is the fruit of work that began when the wind farm was commissioned in 2011, and has been complemented by substantial work in terms of methods since VALEMO structured the service.
As a result, VALEMO is now in a position to meet SPV’s need to take over the maintenance of this wind farm from turbine manufacturer NORDEX-ACCIONA.
The context
Location : Criel-Sur-Mer 76910
Type of machine: Acciona AW 82 / 1500 (1st value = rotor diameter, 2nd = unit power of the machine)
Number of machine : 4
Commissioning date: September 2011
Our involvement
Since 2011, SPV has entrusted the maintenance of the park to Turbinier NORDEX/ACCIONA. Since commissioning, VALEMO has carried out routine preventive and corrective maintenance on behalf of the turbine manufacturer.
Since the maintenance contract with the turbine manufacturer expired on April 30, 2024, VALEMO has taken over the entire contract, adding 24/7 operation, spare parts supply and major component replacement services to the scope of the contract.
In order to meet the SPV’s obligations in terms of guaranteed availability, VALEMO has taken over the commitments under this contract. For VALEMO, this implies a considerable amount of preparatory work, both in technical and contractual terms.
On the technical side, the first steps consisted in analyzing the history of more than 200 interventions since the start of the Criel and Aunis contracts, whose AW1500 machine technology is similar. This analysis, based on operating data and the experience acquired on the maintenance side, enabled critical parts to be identified by priority level.
Coupled with the turbine manufacturer’s recommendations and any supply constraints, VALEMO was able to propose to SPV a list of stock parts to carry out the main troubleshooting operations.
In order to be as responsive as possible, a local maintenance branch has also been opened in the immediate vicinity of the park, on the premises of the CCI in Oust-Marest, where two of the team’s colleagues are based and where emergency parts are also stocked, currently representing around 15% of the total stock.
Over the duration of the contract, this will also involve the creation of a network of suppliers and service providers for the supply of preventive and corrective maintenance parts.
On the basis of the parts list, with their supplier references, several distributors of parts, tooling and service providers for major repairs were identified by VALEMO’s Methods department, then qualified and selected with the Purchasing department. Long-term contractualization work continues with the selected suppliers to ensure service quality and traceability of interventions on the park.
VALEMO’s Methods department also administers the documentation available from ACCIONA and associated OEMs; the existing document base has been cleaned, sorted, arranged and re-indexed to facilitate availability and access. As technical documentation is of vital importance for machine maintenance, VALEMO has enlisted the support of NORDEX-ACCIONA to obtain access to updated instructions and procedures.
NORDEX-ACCIONA is also responsible for machine SCADA maintenance, and provides support for special operations requiring a higher level of access to the machines.
The team in place therefore ensures a complementary presence on this contract, covering both :
- – real time, as close as possible to the site, with a remote antenna and easy access to emergency stock ;
- – in-depth actions coordinated by the Methods team with the various support departments to supply and contract with suppliers and service providers.
