This is according to around 81 percent of the asset and operations managers who attended the Onyx InSight event on 19th to 20th June. However, 79 percent of delegates also cited a need for higher-quality data to improve the reliability of their organisation’s assets, in addition to discussing the role of asset monitoring, early failure detection and advanced maintenance scheduling in increasing the efficiency of turbine fleets.
Onyx InSight is a joint venture between Romax Technology and Castrol and is a leading predictive analytics partner for wind asset owners and operators worldwide. Through the use of physics-based and data-driven predictive analytics it allows wind operators better control and reduced costs in their operations.
“A new generation of larger, more advanced turbines will mean more complex machinery, operating in harsher operating conditions around the world” said Evgenia Golysheva, Head of Consultancy at Onyx InSight. “But it’s a mistake to think that all of these new technologies will be more reliable than their predecessors thanks to lessons learned from older designs, or that operating costs will reduce naturally as the industry matures without increased understanding and streamlining of operations and maintenance processes. The complexity of new, larger turbine designs, combined with an increasingly short design and prototype stage and challenges to the supply chain, means that an optimised approach to operations and maintenance is required to ensure technicians can meet the challenges presented by new failure modes”.
Golysheva was speaking to more than 50 wind asset and operations managers at the symposium, held at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park. Discussions focused on the latest trends and challenges in wind farm operations and lifetime extension, with presentations and a panel discussion highlighting the relationship between optimised practices, understanding the root causes of failures, and asset value.
Attendees at the symposium agreed on the importance of being able to accurately predict when a gearbox component might fail, and of securing longer lead times to allow for proactive repair or replacement. Equally, more than half of those present said they thought owners and operators were failing to take advantage of the turbine data already available to them, either through lack of access or an inability to integrate the data into their organisation.
However, they also pointed to the significant advantages such data provides when used effectively. Eight in ten said they used data for failure detection and prediction, with a similar number using it to better analyse performance – acknowledging the role turbine life extension has to play in improving long-term financial returns.
Bruce Hall, CEO of Onyx InSight, added that the symposium proved an excellent forum to share the thoughts and experiences of the wind industry’s leading asset and operations managers and get their views on how the operational challenges they face can best be addressed.
“It’s clear that smarter, data-driven approaches to operational decisions will be crucial to extending asset lifetimes, reducing the LCOE and getting the most from the new turbine technologies that will come online over the next few years” he said.
Onyx InSight’s next Technical Symposium will take place in Denver, Colorado, USA on 18-19 September.
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