Market situation
The demand for effective and efficient monitoring and maintenance solutions for wind turbines is on the increase as the adoption of wind energy continues to grow across the world. This has prompted the creation of a few software platforms with features for detecting potential issues before they escalate into serious problems. Wind energy operators and maintenance personnel need to stay informed about the performance of wind turbines, even when they are not physically on-site. It’s crucial to be able to keep an eye on asset activities across multiple devices (desktop, mobile, etc.) and receive immediate alerts when critical updates or problems arise.
Challenges faced in monitoring wind turbines
The need for effective and efficient monitoring of wind turbines is challenging. To ensure optimal wind turbine performance and to reduce downtime, it is critical to monitor these factors continuously and take proactive steps to address any potential issues. However, manually monitoring these factors can be time-consuming and it can be difficult to identify potential issues before they become major problems. The ability to receive warnings coming from the turbine and set custom alarms based on multiple signals and parameters allows for more sophisticated analysis and monitoring of the wind turbine performance.
The Solution
GPM Horizon Wind ́s New Feature – Event Notifications and Custom events
GPM Horizon was designed to help the wind energy operators, maintenance personnel and other users to quickly identify issues with their wind turbines and take appropriate action, thus reducing downtime and improving overall performance, which increases efficiency, productivity, and profitability. A new feature has been added to the multitechnogy platform that allows the users to be instantly alerted (via email, mobile push notifications and other means) about various situations that could occur with the wind turbines. The notifications are based on turbine codes that can indicate specific issues (e.g., fault with the rotor bearings, gearbox, etc.) and custom user-defined events based on SCADA signals (e.g., wind speed, wind direction, active power output, etc.).
Key differentiator
The flexibility in both defining the events that trigger notifications and the methods for the delivery of these notifications.
Benefits
Receiving instant notifications based on turbine codes and custom alarms set with SCADA signals has the following benefits.
- Identifying potential issues before they become major problems
- Ability to take proactive steps to address the issues
- Minimizing turbine downtime
- Improving overall efficiency of the turbine
- Reducing maintenance costs by streamlining maintenance operations
- Providing better understanding of how the turbines are performing
The new feature explained in detail
There are two parts to this new feature.
Event Notifications
Providing instant notifications to the users about what is currently happening to the turbines in their portfolio. There are 2 types of events available:
Turbine Events → triggered by codes received from the turbine.
These alarm codes can provide additional information about the specific issue that triggered the alarm, allowing operators and maintenance personnel to quickly diagnose and resolve the problem. For example, an alarm code might indicate a fault with a specific component, such as the gearbox or the generator.
E.g. If code 309 – Pause over Rcs, is received, the user will be notified. There is also an option to set up multiple codes at the same time.
Custom Events
User can set up custom events with 10-min signals coming from SCADA and set up an event for when the wind speed exceeds a certain threshold, and the active power output of the wind turbine falls below a specified level. The settings are flexible and can include multiple conditions.
E.g. If the wind speed exceeds 12 meters per second and the active power output falls below 80% of the rated power, it could indicate that there is an issue with the turbine components, such as the blades or generator.
For more information about the feature, Event Notifications and Custom Events, contact our wind experts.
