Powerful, Flexible Computer-controlled Maintenance Systems Are In Demand

The operation and maintenance of wind turbines (WT) are complex tasks that have to be managed with the necessary care and efficiency. Most of the time, there is no way around CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems), where powerful and modular IT solutions are required. Such solutions can be adapted very flexibly to specific wind farm locations, provide a wealth of centralized data on the technical availability of plants and also support their targeted analysis and evaluation.

An example of such a solution is the maintenance planning and control system (IPSS) SI / PAM from Steag Energy Services, which is based on decades of experience in the operation and maintenance of complex systems for energy generation. One of the newest locations for SI / PAM in the field of renewable energies is the Süloglu wind farm in northwest Turkey. The IPSS has been in use in the 66 MW wind farm with a total of 20 Vestas V126 turbines since March of this year.

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Central platform for all information

Due to regional legal regulations, system monitoring for the wind farm is only permitted directly at the site. Therefore, an operator must always be present in an on-site control room, who may a. the maintenance measures are coordinated with the help of SI / PAM. In this context, all relevant data on the technical availability of the wind turbine is also stored and merged in the CMMS as a higher-level, central platform.

A special feature of SI / PAM is the modular system structure, so that the IT solution can be used and expanded very specifically. In this application, a. The operating system error messages recorded via an interface to the SCADA system of the wind farm, the corresponding responsibilities and the measures required to rectify the errors are logged by the operator in the "Shift Book" module of the IPSS.

Targeted planning and complete documentation

If a service assignment in a wind turbine is required, he creates a work order in advance in the "Tasks" module of SI / PAM and gives the service technician the corresponding work permit in paper-based form. After completing the required work, the operator receives the work permit back from the technician and records the time and execution of the work in SI / PAM. The operator obtains more detailed information about the completed work in the plants from a download portal of the plant manufacturer. This information is saved in the "Document management" module. The information stored in a structured form in the central IPSS (e.g. the designation of the wind turbine components on which service operations were carried out, the description of the work, the spare parts,that were required for the repair, etc.) form a crucial database for regular analyzes and evaluations of the technical availability of the individual systems or the entire wind farm. Such data as well as all other relevant information about the wind farm are evaluated in the Steag wind center in Essen. a. for monthly reports to various institutions.

Classifications for a more targeted data analysis

With a view to high data consistency, also in terms of targeted traceability of special availability-relevant events, it is important that a CMMS is able to provide systematics to reduce the wealth of information and data that can accumulate in a wind farm in a very short time, to manage something. SI / PAM also offers a concrete solution for this. The operator of the Süloglu wind farm can already mark shift book entries and / or entries in the "Tasks" module in the central IPPS on site in order to mark them as relevant for later evaluations.

Detailed data on technical availability

Shortly after implementing the CMMS, SI / PAM made the daily work of all those responsible in the wind farm easier thanks to optimized processes. As in the Süloglu wind farm, the IPSS provided data on the technical availability of all wind turbines right from the start. In this way, it was possible to determine at an early stage of wind farm operation whether specific faults in wind turbines occur more frequently and whether they are of comparable origin in order to be able to react to them in a very concrete manner. (br)

Wind Energy Hamburg 2016: Hall B2.EG, booth 216