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Tuesday, 27 September 2016
14:30 - 16:00 Wind energy in a digitised world

Research & Innovation  
Onshore      Offshore    

Room: Hall D

The world economy is going digital, and the wind power sector is no exception. Major manufacturers and operators are all rolling out industrial internet solutions to improve the performance and reliability of their turbines while bringing assembly and maintenance costs down. Digitisation is key to integrate even larger amounts of wind energy into the grid. The combination of unprecedented data collection and computing power opens a wide range of new possibilities to make wind power ever more competitive. However, when it comes to digitisation, the wind energy sector is still in its infancy compared to other industrial sectors.

This session will look at the digitisation of the wind energy sector and ask the following questions: What are the challenges and bottlenecks? Which success stories look promising? What can be learned from other, more advanced, industries? Where should R&I efforts focus and in which area should the collaboration be encouraged?

ETIPWind activities are funded by the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014–2015
Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy, B. 2.15. contract number: PP-03041-2014.

 

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This session will be chaired by:
Aidan Cronin, Chairman of the Steering Committee, ETIP Wind / Advisory Specialist to the CTO, Siemens Wind Power A/S, Denmark

Presenter

Ward Thomas
Sentient Science, , United States

Presenter's biography

Biographies are supplied directly by presenters at WindEurope Summit 2016 and are published here unedited

Ward Thomas is the CEO and president of Sentient Science, a trusted third party to wind operators, OEMs and suppliers, that provides digitalization solutions to extend wind turbine life to reduce the cost of energy by as much as $10/MWh.

Mr. Thomas is on the board of WindEurope. He is also member of the American Helicopter Association International, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, the Society for Tribology and Lubrication Engineers and others.

Mr. Thomas is Canadian, lives and works in NY with this family. He’s a graduate of Ivey Business School at Western University and McMaster University.

Abstract

Sentient Science, a New York-based technology company, provides life extension solutions for wind turbines through digitalization of wind assets specifically to reach the goal of reducing the cost of energy by $10/MWh.

Sentient has been providing life extension solutions through a unique approach using materials sciences of components and systems as the basis of a “small data” solution. This solution uses no sensors, no “big data”, and can provide forward visibility of asset life and health as much as 10 years into the future. The solution is being applied to the meet the EUs goals of 20% reduction in the cost of energy.

Sentient was born through a $30 million grant by the US government to provide digitalization solutions to the largest operators in the U.S. – the U.S. Army, Navy and Airforce, to reduce the service cost of major military systems including Blackhawk, Apache, Osprey and Hubble Telescope. Sentient has already gone through the process of working with government agencies to get suppliers funding to reduce operators’ O&M costs and will discuss these experiences during the forum.

As part of making Europe an attractive infrastructure investment hub, the European Commission launched in 2015 the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). EFSI is a financial instrument that aims to bridge existing market gaps by driving €315 bn into the European economy over the next three years (in part to expand renewable energy and resource efficiency). It is backed by the EIB and additional EU guarantees amounting to €21 bn. Sentient is already experienced with leveraging these kinds of government investments to drive efficiencies into the market and is expecting to do similar programs throughout the EU.

The key to Sentient’s solution is providing forward visibility of asset health not only for O&M cost reduction, but also to work directly with suppliers to replace problem components known to have material defects limiting asset life.

In this forum Mr. Thomas will discuss strategies for cost reduction through digitalization, the impact on supply chain and risk management and also discuss specific examples where watch lists are expanded to include actions for healthier turbines to keep them from operational failure. He will also discuss opportunities for collaboration on digitalization programs where the company and its customers require the data to help make business decisions.