A brand new hardware-free platform for maximising wind turbine well being and availability – Windscope – launched on 10 October, following a profitable 9-month beta testing part.
The platform, developed by the information science and engineering workforce behind industrial AI firm Ada Mode, is designed to deliver superior well being monitoring know-how to asset managers and engineers within the wind vitality sector, empowering them to rapidly scale up their predictive upkeep methods and not using a requirement for {hardware} set up.
Turbine monitoring and AI-driven predictive upkeep usually are not new ideas for wind farm homeowners and operators as they search to minimise downtime, maximise manufacturing and lengthen the operational lifetime of their property. Nevertheless, quite a few obstacles proceed to frustrate the ambitions of asset managers to roll out superior well being monitoring approaches throughout their fleets.
“One of many primary complications for operators lies in integrating a wide selection of disparate information streams to realize a full oversight of their generators’ situation and efficiency,” stated Joe Donnelly, CEO, Windscope. “That is significantly difficult in multi-technology portfolios, the place bodily Situation Monitoring Programs (CMS) have both been put in as a part of a earlier marketing campaign or should be put in to help the deployment of a brand new software program platform.”
“One other large hurdle lies in the best way key efficiency information could be siloed between the turbine producer (OEM), the Unbiased Service Supplier (ISP) and the asset supervisor. Lack of collaboration between stakeholders within the O&M course of places a spanner within the works on the subject of performing preventative upkeep earlier than failures happen, growing turbine availability, and supporting protected planning of upkeep actions.”
Windscope, constructed by engineers with first-hand expertise managing upkeep programmes throughout each wind and nuclear energy, goals to put the inspiration for a profitable, scalable predictive O&M technique.
The intuitive software program platform requires no extra {hardware}, eliminating the downtime and expense concerned in putting in monitoring gear, whereas being able to making use of AI to present SCADA and CMS programs. Equally, the place work order administration programs exist, Windscope information could be rapidly built-in into present software program programs and interfaces.
As such, the platform could be up and operating in as little as 2 weeks, giving asset administration groups entry to granular insights that allow them to establish rising points, prioritise upkeep actions and report again to their inner and exterior stakeholders. In flip, this enhanced information entry can empower extra collaborative and clear relationships between the asset supervisor, the OEM and the ISP.
For beta person Ventient Vitality, Windscope proved profitable in figuring out quite a lot of points together with Gearbox, Convertor/Transformer and Sensor faults, a few of which might not in any other case have been caught earlier than failure. Windscope additionally proved invaluable as a method of reporting turbine situation in day-to-day communication with the engineering workforce and ISP – finally lowering the general burden on the asset supervisor.
Following these profitable trials, Ventient Vitality is now utilizing Windscope on a long-term foundation to help its preventative upkeep actions at quite a lot of UK wind farms.
“Managing an unlimited and technologically various wind turbine fleet calls for a dynamic strategy to asset administration. Because of this, we’re persistently enhancing our upkeep methods to optimise our time and sources,” acknowledged John Morris, Head of Asset Administration (UK) at Ventient Vitality. “We’ve been significantly impressed by Windscope’s component-level monitoring strategy, which has confirmed very helpful in figuring out and addressing numerous rising faults. Moreover, the system has performed an important function in promptly escalating these points to our engineering workforce and ISP.”
