Repowering renewables

A recent successful re-powering of its Twin Ridges wind project in Pennsylvania by Exus Renewables illustrates the growing interest in repowerings—and their significant benefits.

By Paul MacDonald

While new wind power projects in the U.S. are facing challenges these days due to federal government policy changes, there continues to be growing interest in repowering existing wind power projects—essentially, blowing new life into wind power projects that have already been built.

Energy research firm Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR) has released a report looking at how onshore wind capacity additions in the U.S. have changed over time, and why repowering older projects is gaining momentum.

“In this environment of rising costs, a wind repower has significant upside over a new build and developers are starting to take notice,” said Scott Wilmot, Vice- President at EIR.

“More developers are opting to repower instead of building new wind plants in an effort to reduce CapEx and operations and maintenance costs, and boost power production. Repowering can often be done under existing premium-priced power purchase agreements (PPAs) that have remaining term,” explained Wilmot.

“Depending on PPA price, repower economics can be preferable to a new build if a five percent capacity factor gain can be realized,” said Wilmot. “This is a low benchmark to clear given the turbine efficiency gains and degradation we have observed. Projects older than 12 years (pre-2012 vintage) can realize capacity factor gains of 10 percent to 20 percent through a repower—this makes repowering an easy economic decision.”

The repowering of the Twin Ridges Wind Farm in Pennsylvania by Exus Renewables North America meant American jobs, with the project utilizing components manufactured in the U.S. by Vestas, and the project constructed on-site by Indiana-based White Construction LLC, using American labor.

Given the status of the aging wind fleet and the turbine efficiency gains that have been achieved, EIR expects the repowering momentum to continue in the U.S. going forward—and that means generating additional power, and creating jobs.

When asset manager and independent power producer Exus Renewables North America announced in July 2024 that it would be repowering its Twin Ridges Wind Farm in Pennsylvania, the American flag was flying over the project—and still is. The flag emphasizes the American jobs that  were created by the site’s repowering project, utilizing components manufactured in the U.S. by Vestas, and constructed on-site by Indiana-based White Construction LLC, a MasTec Company, using American labor. The project, which was completed earlier this year, created 150 union construction jobs.

In March 2024, Exus Renewables announced the acquisition of a 306 MW Pennsylvania wind portfolio, from Vitol and Oppidum Green Energy. The purchased wind farms include the Highland North, Patton and Twin Ridges projects, totaling 244 MW from Vitol, and the 62 MW Cambria wind farm from Oppidum. Exus said then that three of these wind farms would be repowered by 2027, which is expected to increase their capacity by 25 per cent. The firm’s repowerings will also help accelerate its evolution from asset manager to independent power producer.

“Pennsylvania’s natural wind resource coupled with a growing demand for renewables in the state make it an ideal location for us to further our ambitions of advancing highly productive renewable energy solutions in North America,” said Jim Spencer, President and CEO at Exus Renewables North America, of the acquisition.

Wind energy repowering involves upgrading older wind turbines or entire wind farms with the latest technology to increase their efficiency, capacity, and lifespan. This process typically includes replacing outdated components such as turbines, blades, and nacelles with more modern, efficient versions. Repowering can also involve updating control systems and other infrastructure to enhance performance.

Exus says the primary goals of repowering are to:

• Increase Energy Output: Newer technology generates more power from the same wind resource, thanks to improved design and efficiency.
• Extend Turbine Life: By replacing aging components, the operational life of the turbines can be extended, making the investment in wind farms more viable long-term.
• Reduce Maintenance Costs: Newer turbines require less maintenance, which can significantly lower operational costs.
• Enhance Reliability: Modern turbines are more reliable and less prone to breakdowns.
• Optimize Use of Existing Sites: Repowering allows for the continued use of sites that have proven wind resources, existing infrastructure, and grid connections, which can be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than developing new sites.

The Twin Ridges repowering, which involved replacing the nacelles and blades of the existing wind turbines while retaining the towers and foundations, will produce a 30 percent increase in energy generation for the project and residents of southwestern Pennsylvania, due to advances in wind turbine technology.

“As the wind energy industry faces increasingly complex obstacles to growth, including a nearly 3-gigawatt interconnection queue of renewable energy projects trying to connect to the grid, repowering has become a path to help meet clean energy goals,” said Exus CEO Spencer. “Thanks to these upgrades, the Twin Ridges project will generate clean, reliable and renewable power—and millions of dollars in community investment—to the region for decades to come.”

The repowering of the 139 MW Twin Ridges Wind Farm in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, is part of a planned $200 million investment by Exus.

It injected over $7.35 million into the local economy through the procurement of materials and services from local suppliers and anticipates that over the 30-year life of the project, more than $100 million will be invested in the community through tax and landowner payments.

“Exus Renewables believes that repowering wind projects is an expedited opportunity to bring energy to a power-hungry grid while also extending the benefits the project provides to the landowners, the community and the project’s operators for decades to come,” says Seth Wilmore, Exus Renewables North America Vice-President, Wind and Energy Transition.

“A repowering is the way to extend the life of an already successful project, and we are eager to take on more repowerings.”

Wilmore explained that Exus looks at each project carefully, to determine if a repowering will be beneficial, and makes financial sense.

	The Twin Ridges repowering, which involved replacing the nacelles and blades of the existing wind turbines while retaining the towers and foundations, will produce a 30 percent increase in energy generation for the project and residents of southwestern Pennsylvania, due to advances in wind turbine technology.

“Exus examines the repower potential of a project from multiple standpoints including historical performance of the project, potential for increased revenues from a project based on the current power market and modeled power production and, in addition, any development risks that must be resolved before taking on the repowering of a project,” he said.

Some industry people hold the view that older wind projects might have a “tipping point”, when their age would make sense for a repowering. 

“Typically 10 years or more is when it is financially beneficial to repower a wind project,” said Wilmore. The Twin Ridges project in Pennsylvania had been in operation for almost 12 years when it was repowered.

Unlike new wind power projects, which often have to go through lengthy and detailed approval processes, the repowering of an existing wind project can be more straightforward, since the project is already in place. But, as Wilmore noted, there is still a process to go through.

“Repowered projects typically still have to go through permit approvals, for example, to amend their development permit to account for the longer lifespan of the project or obtain approval for ground disturbance.”

When a new wind project is being proposed, it’s important to get community buy-in. With existing projects, that buy-in has already been established. “In our experience, one important benefit of a repowering is that the community and landowners strongly support a repowered project because they have seen the positive impact of the project,” said Wilmore.

As noted, one of the big benefits of repowering is being able to utilize, in large part, the existing transmission of the project. New projects can face daunting grid timelines.
According to the Department of
Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the backlog of solar, wind, and battery projects now seeking to interconnect to U.S. grids has ballooned to nearly 2,600 gigawatts’ worth of generation capacity. That’s roughly twice the country’s existing generation capacity.

“One of the longest lead items for a new energy project regardless of the fuel source is the interconnection study process,” notes Wilmore. “This process can take three to four years in the PJM regional transmission territory, where Twin Ridges is located. 

“Repowering a project without exceeding the maximum generation capacity in accordance with the project’s interconnection agreement avoids this lengthy process. Twin Ridges went through an interconnection study process that took less than a year to amend its interconnection service agreement to update it for the new turbine technology.”

And despite the changes in federal policy from the Trump Administration, there are options for obtaining new tax credits for a wind project repower.

With the Twin Ridges project complete, Exus has moved on to other renewable energy projects to help meet the growing need for power in the U.S.

 While repowering a wind project is, of course, different in nature from a greenfield, from-scratch build, it has its own challenges that Exus is more than able to meet, says Wilmore.

“Repowering a project allows Exus to showcase the full breadth of its capabilities and team coordination,” he explained. “Repowering requires involvement of all the functional groups such as project management, permitting, real estate, environmental, interconnection, procurement, engineering and construction that a greenfield wind project would require—but it must be accomplished within a much shorter schedule than a greenfield project.”

Each repowering project is different, and may require different work and approaches, he noted.

“It really depends on the type of repowering, which can either involve utilizing existing turbine locations or decommissioning the entire project and building turbines at new turbine locations within the project area,” says Wilmore. “At Twin Ridges, the nacelles, hubs and blades were replaced while the tower sections and foundations were retained. The foundations are examined to confirm structural integrity and control systems and other infrastructure are updated to enhance performance.”

In addition to the increased power production, enhanced reliability and reduced maintenance costs are important benefits of a repower that result in lower operational costs.

As noted, White Construction was responsible for the overall construction management of the repower. Vestas American Wind Technology provided a “Made in America” order that domestically sourced nacelles, hubs, blades, and tower adaptors. The company supplied 68 V110-2.0 MW wind turbines to Twin Ridges. Exus also sourced a local survey and stormwater inspection support from Somerset Planning & Engineering, a Somerset County, Pennsylvania-based company.

Each wind project brings its own challenges, and transportation, not surprisingly, was one of the larger challenges. 

“The biggest development challenge for Twin Ridges was transportation logistics due to the longer—54 meter—turbine blades. This required determining new delivery routes and executing real estate agreements that weren’t required for the original project.”

Exus takes pride in repowering existing renewables assets, due to the lighter environmental footprint of repowerings.

“The Twin Ridges repower was accomplished using the existing turbine locations, which greatly minimized the environmental impact of the project because the construction could occur with minimal ground disturbance and tree clearing,” noted Wilmore.

With the Twin Ridges project complete, Exus has moved on to other renewable energy projects to help meet the growing need for power in the U.S. Earlier this year, Exus secured $312 million in financing for the TAG project, a 140-megawatt solar and 50-megawatt/200-megawatt-hour battery storage facility in Sandoval County, New Mexico.

And that power from the New Mexico project and Twin Ridges, will be needed. Electricity demand in the U.S. is projected to surge by an unprecedented amount over the coming decade, according to a report released earlier this year from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The firm’s U.S. National Power Demand Study describes a critical gap between the current energy supply and future needs. It predicts U.S. electricity demand will surge by 35 percent to 50 percent between 2024 and 2040. This is primarily due to AI data centers and new manufacturing activity in the short-term, whereas electric vehicles (EV), space-heating electrification, and broad economic growth underlie the long-term dynamics. 

This rapid growth, driven by a diverse set of factors, signals an extraordinary opportunity for the American economy and electricity sector: meeting this growing demand will require an all-of-the-above energy strategy featuring efficient, economic, reliable, and rapidly deployable energy resources, says the report.

So, repowering existing wind power projects such as Twin Ridges—as well as building new wind and solar power facilities—will be an important part of meeting this growing need for power, going forward.

Q4 2025