NedPower’s 264MW Mount Storm wind farm in West Virginia, USA comprises 132 of Gamesa’s G80 2MW turbines.

The deal serves as an extension to the current agreement, which has seen Gamesa providing O&M services for the past five years, and comes to an end on June 30, 2013. The new service agreement takes effect July 1, 2013, and takes the total US capacity under service from Gamesa to 2GW.

Included in Gamesa’ s O&M services is the Gamesa Premium Availability (GPA) programme, which aims to increase reliability, reduce risk and lower the cost of energy generation. Launched two years ago, the GPA aims for “continuous improvement” in turbine performance. The programme includes a full range of turbine platform upgrades, from operational and software improvements to small correctives, logistics optimisation for large correctives and preventive maintenance.

According to Gamesa, these design and service process improvements maximise turbine availability and can reduce operational expenditures at a wind farm by as much as 10%.

"Wind farm owners and operators understand the value of Gamesa's O&M services. Increasing long-term turbine optimisation reduces risk, generates real cost savings and helps drive profitability for the customer," said Philippe Delleville, Gamesa’s North American vice president of services. "With nearly two decades of O&M experience, Gamesa remains committed to helping our customers meet and exceed their power production goals by ensuring the turbines are reliable and well maintained."

The agreement also guarantees “run time availability" in line with NedPower's energy production goals, keeping the turbines online and getting them back into full service quickly after any maintenance.

Gamesa and NedPower have also been working together to develop safety management at the wind farm, jointly engineering a fall arrest system.

"This project had its challenges, but working together with NedPower and with the introduction of GPA, we developed a solid track record which enabled us to achieve production and service goals," Delleville said.