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INSPECTION, REPAIR & MAINTENANCE FEATURE SPONSOR


PREDICTIVE AND REACTIVE MAINTENANCE


Paying Dividends


Inspection, repair and maintenance services are key to the performance of wind turbine generators. Having state- of-the-art technology is no guarantee for optimum functionality and efficient processes.


It is just as important to have a new wind turbine properly installed and assembled, as it is to have the product inspected and repairs or maintenance services carried out efficiently and properly.


Two components of the cost of operation and maintenance of wind turbines are vitally important and need to be minimised: those for predictive maintenance and for reactive/ scheduled maintenance.


If breakdowns lead to unscheduled downtime, then the additional cost of loss of electricity sales is introduced. This is why massive efforts are being made to control and predict the failures.


For example, according to the German Wind Energy Measurement Programme, gearboxes, with well-publicised failures, only account for about 1.5 breakdowns every ten machine years, but when a gearbox fails, the downtime is generally much longer, at over ten days.


PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE So what is predictive maintenance? It can be broadly described as a batch of equipment tests based on the use of sensors and monitoring.


The idea of these predictive activities is to generate an equipment condition assessment. This allows the plant owner/ operator to plan in advance for ordering spares, scheduling maintenance and forward planning for repair works.


A well-organised predictive maintenance strategy combined with state-of-the-art sensors and tests will minimise unplanned turbine downtime and increase output and revenue generation.


REACTIVE MAINTENANCE One of the problems with conventional maintenance contracts is that maintenance teams on site may be left stood down on ‘windy’ days. Instead reactive/scheduled maintenance monitors the weather two weeks ahead and maintenance teams are scheduled to undertake work when wind speeds are predicted to be low.


The impact on man-hours of high wind periods on site can cause unnecessary costs for the operator/owner when maintenance staff are weathered off.


SUMMARY In conclusion, close monitoring of the windfarm using sophisticated sensor technology and tests combined with a flexible service provider and approach to maintenance scheduling can pay dividends for the windfarm owner.


Phil Turner Managing Director Windtex Engineering Limited Click to view more info


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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk


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