Managing Information for Total Asset Management

Introduction

As wind farm owners face an increasingly competitive future, both globally and specifically across Europe, there is significant pressure to decrease the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of operational wind energy projects.

By making better use of the information and data that is available to them, wind farm owners have the opportunity to decrease operational costs, improve production and increase reliability by implementing a total asset management (TAM) system.

By integrating data, information and knowledge with effective management systems, owners can achieve significant improvements in the financial performance of their projects.

This presentation will demonstrate methods and approaches that allow owners to release this value.

Approach

Wind farm owners and operators are faced with a growing and increasingly complex stream of information and data.

This includes wind farm production data, condition monitoring system outputs, wind farm control and access information, reports, financial analytics, wind field information, health and safety statistics and wind farm performance metrics.

The integration of this information and data holds the key to being in full control of the asset and therefore maximising the assets' value.




Main body of abstract

Wind farm owners typically receive data and information through a variety of disparate systems, including direct reports, turbine SCADA systems, financial summaries, internet based reports, written reports and third party services.

This is an extremely inefficient process, and one which requires the wind farm owner or operator to spend a significant portion of their time and resources on sourcing information, rather than expending their valuable resources on addressing higher-value issues and on making informed management decisions.

In this presentation Natural Power will present an integrated Total Asset Management system that is now applied on over 2 GW of wind energy capacity in Europe, including over 140 wind farms. the system is augmented by a web-based data and information portal that provides at a glance access to key management information and statistics.

The presentation will define how the system is setup and operated, and will provide insight into the advantages of such as system and how it can be utilised to improve wind farm performance and add asset value.

Conclusion

The industry is at a crucial point in its development, where it needs to demonstrate to society and Governments that we can continue to provide clean energy at a minimal price to consumers.

Furthermore, in an increasingly price driven market across Europe, owners must ensure that they are driving the LCOE of their projects in order to stay competitive with competitors.

It is therefore imperative that we take advantage of all opportunities to be more efficient and cost effective.

Natural Power's total asset management approach, augmented by an interactive data and information management portal, has been driven by our focus on addressing the levelised cost of energy of our clients wind farms and portfolios.



Learning objectives
This presentation will address a number very real issue that face owners today:

1. How to effectively and quickly improve asset value

2. How to make best use of data and analytics

3. How to combine management and data systems into an integrated process

4. How to reduce the levelised cost of energy from your operational wind farm