The contract will see Onyx InSight monitor the project’s 8.3 MW MHI Vestas V164 turbines - some of the largest installed turbines in the world – throughout the first three years of their operation. Turbine technology is increasing rapidly in scale as the offshore wind sector aims to boost generation capacity and efficiency in order to bring down the levelised cost of energy. The V164 8.3MW turbine is set for widespread deployment in upcoming rounds of offshore wind development, while even larger 10MW+ turbines are on the horizon.
“Turbines of this size will soon become the standard in offshore wind, which means operators need to have a good understanding of how they perform” said Fraser Morris, Business Development Manager at Onyx InSight. “With energy production on this scale, the stakes are inevitably raised, and the business case for investing in robust and accurate predictive analytics is clear.”
The increasing scale brings with it increased complexity. Any downtime has a greater proportional impact on production and revenues as the contribution of each individual turbine to overall generation grows. This means it is crucial to stay on top of performance and effective predictive analytics is necessary to mitigate the risk of costly equipment failure and other interruptions.
There are also challenges involved in monitoring such large machines. With a high number and great variety of sensors on the MHI Vestas V164, the sheer volume of SCADA and condition data produced places unprecedented demands on monitoring systems.
“The ability of a predictive maintenance platform to handle large quantities of data – from a diverse range of sensors – will be a key differentiator when it comes to mitigating the risk of downtime for these 8MW+ machines over the long term” added Fraser Morris.
Onyx InSight is using Fleet Monitor at Blyth. This is a technology-agnostic predictive analytics platform that pulls data from all of these sensors into one place. It will enable effective monitoring and analysis of all sensor data in order to keep tabs on turbine condition and performance. Onyx InSight’s monitoring team will also detect, diagnose and mitigate failures before they occur. The company is a joint venture combining Romax Technology’s expertise in software services and data analytics for gearbox, bearings and rotating machinery with Castrol’s knowledge of wind turbine lubrication.
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