ONYX InSight will monitor the Blyth Offshore windfarm project’s 8.3MW MHI Vestas V164 wind turbines Photo: ONYX InSight
A predictive maintenance provider has signed a three-year contract with EDF Renewables at Blyth Offshore Demonstrator windfarm to monitor the largest operational wind turbines.
The contract will see ONYX InSight monitor the project’s 8.3MW MHI Vestas V164 wind turbines – some of the largest installed turbines in the world – throughout the first three years of their operation.
“Turbines of this size will soon become the standard in offshore wind, which means operators need to have a good understanding of how they perform,” said Fraser Morris, business development manager at ONYX InSight.
“With energy production on this scale, the stakes are inevitably raised, and the business case for investing in robust and accurate predictive analytics is clear.”
Boosting efficiency
As the offshore wind sector aims to boost generation capacity and efficiency to bring down the levelised cost of energy, turbine technology is increasing rapidly in scale.
This increase in scale brings with it increased complexity and any downtime has a greater proportional impact on production and revenues. Effective predictive analytics becomes necessary to mitigate the risk of costly equipment failure and other interruptions.
ONYX InSight said there are, in turn, challenges involved in monitoring such large machines. At Blyth, ONYX InSight is using Fleet Monitor – a technology-agnostic predictive analytics platform that pulls data from all of these sensors into one place.
Fleet Monitor will enable effective monitoring and analysis of all sensor data and keep tabs on turbine condition. In turn, ONYX InSight’s monitoring team will detect, diagnose and mitigate failures before they occur.
ONYX InSight is a joint venture, combining Romax Technology’s 30 years of expertise in software and data analytics with Castrol’s knowledge of wind turbine lubrication.
By Anne-Marie Causer