As the number of operating wind projects around the globe increases, optimising performance and understanding maintenance requirements is receiving additional attention. DNV supports project owners and operators in managing their projects effectively in order to maximize the energy production, minimize downtime, reduce life-cycle operations and maintenance costs, and understand the condition of their equipment - onshore or offshore.
DNV offers a wide range of services to support wind energy projects during their operational stage. We apply a variety of methodologies, tools, and techniques to identify opportunities to optimise production and increase reliability without compromising safety and environmental requirements.
Information and data management
The first step toward improving performance is to make sure the right information is available to evaluate current project operations. DNV helps wind project owners plan and implement data collection to ensure that the necessary details are available to decision makers.
DNV is experienced in areas such as the design and implementation of enterprise SCADA systems that tie together a portfolio of wind projects, implementation and integration of condition monitoring systems, and design and implementation of systems for collection and reporting of upwind meteorological data to forecast project output.
Performance optimisation
DNV provides a suite of diagnostic services to help project owners and operators get more energy from their wind energy projects worldwide. We evaluate predicted and actual experience with regard to:
- Availability and downtime
- Turbine power performance
- Project meteorological conditions
- Operations and maintenance strategies
- Technical losses (such as wakes)
- Turbine operating settings and control parameters
- Force majeure events
- Revenue assumptions and power purchase terms and conditions.
We make recommendations based on our findings to increase and maintain performance. We also provide accurate forecasts for future performance and cash flow based on a comprehensive assessment of where performance can be improved, where there are problems that cannot be easily addressed, and the costs and benefits of changes to project operations.
End-of-warranty inspections
DNV conducts end-of-warranty inspections for wind project owners to assess the condition of their wind turbine equipment prior to the expiration of warranties or in conjunction with extended-service contract negotiations.
Our investigations include overall visual inspections and can include specialized assessments such as:
- Gearbox videoscope inspection
- Drive-train vibration analysis
- Detailed blade inspection and imaging
- Oil and grease analysis
- Corrosion assessment
- Operational record analysis
- SCADA data analysis
- Safety analysis
- Arc flash hazard analysis.
Setting the industry standard through detailed engineering analysis and correlation of assessment data, our comprehensive, independent reports maximize customer return on investment in the assessment.
In the event of warranty claims, DNV provides follow-up assessments to assist project owners track warranty remediation.
Failure analysis
DNV offers structured Root Cause Failure Analysis as a component in proactive maintenance and continuous improvement as well as technical and operational failure investigation of unexpected events. We work with owners, operators, and equipment manufacturers to understand failure mechanisms, recurrence probability, and risk exposure, and to develop cost-efficient solutions.
Overhaul and maintenance cost projections
DNV has developed comprehensive overhaul and maintenance (O&M) cost models based on extensive experience in tracking and benchmarking O&M experience on wind energy projects. Our O&M cost model combines component-level wear/failure statistics with current replacement costs, labour costs, and crane costs to generate estimates of expected future cost ranges.
Condition monitoring
DNV offers a range of drive-train condition monitoring services, including pilot evaluation of candidate systems, project installation support, and data analysis from existing systems.
DNV is actively researching new applications for condition monitoring and is a regular contributor to organizations developing industry best practices.
Other services
Other services include repowering analyses for aging wind projects and estimation of remaining useful life of wind turbines and components.
As offshore wind energy projects increase in number, reliable operation becomes a crucial factor in project success. Our services are designed to help our clients create an organisation that can maximise production output, and, at the same time, ensure that health, safety, and environmental risk are managed within acceptable levels.