Keep Your Plant Competitive With High-Speed Wind Data

Your wind plant's data hides valuable insights which, when unlocked, can be used to improve annual energy production (AEP) and drive revenue increases.

Traditionally, 10-minute average data (e.g. mean wind speed, mean power, etc.) is used to summarize wind plant performance. This type of analysis is sufficient for general asset management and monitoring. However, 10-minute average data conceals major issues that keep wind plants from achieving maximum performance efficiency.

Analysis of high-speed wind data using advanced analytics (including artificial intelligence, like machine learning) can unlock valuable insights into turbine performance that are often hidden in 10-minute data, including:

• How yaw error and other turbine control anomalies impact power production
• How turbine controls respond to complexities in the turbine inflow
• Whether underperformance is due to fast and transient control issues

WindESCo emphasizes using high-speed data in combination with Find, Fix, Measure proprietary analytics to provide a 1-2% increase in site AEP. 

What is Your Plant Missing Out On?

Despite the costs of data storage diminishing over the years, some wind plant operators have yet to begin archiving high-speed operational turbine data. As a result, these wind plants are at a commercial disadvantage and continue to miss out on readily recoverable AEP. 

Alternatively, forward-thinking wind plant operators are switching to the benefits of high-speed wind data and advanced analytics as demonstrated by WindESCo’s Find, Fix, Measure solution. This approach is able to highlight performance anomalies (otherwise hidden in 10-min average data) related to wind turbine yaw, pitch, and power systems. It also detects other abnormal turbine behaviors adversely impacting turbine performance. Analysis of high-speed data furthermore enables root cause analysis, increasing the likelihood that actionable corrections can be provided to fix performance anomalies and recover lost AEP. 

Wind plant operators and businesses that are quicker to adapt will soon leave their rivals behind as they fully utilize cloud technology and advanced analytics to make the most of the data at their disposal.

Could You Use Your Data Better? 

It’s difficult to tell exactly how many wind plant operators are failing to reap the commercial benefits of high-speed data. But those who do not use high-speed data are certainly losing out to competitors who use it to unlock hidden insights and drive enhanced profitability. 

Paradoxically,  even some of the wind plant operators that are not utilizing high-speed data are, in fact,  producing it. However, they lack the tools and knowledge to properly leverage it.

WindESCo Turns Data into Actions

For many wind farm operators, analyzing data falls down the list of priorities and is superseded by concerns about keeping turbines running, responding to faults and repairing equipment. Working with WindESCo allows you play offense to improve AEP in a game that can too often be bogged down by defensive reactions. 

We help turn your SCADA data into insights and actions. To learn more, download our guide to WindESCo Find, Fix, Measure.

Talk to us. If you want to improve AEP and the overall value of your fleet, get in touch. With a few details, we can summarize the ROI potential of improving your plant's AEP.