Abstract
Condition monitoring systems are deployed in various industries for decades contributing to optimizing operational performance and maintenance efforts. Several publications address this potential for application in the offshore wind energy industry; however, none attempts to quantify the impact that longer warning times ahead of a failure would have on asset availability. The aim of this paper is to bridge this gap by considering particularly the access restrictions for offshore operations through a probabilistic model which simulates existence of different condition monitoring systems on offshore wind turbines in the time domain. Results of this study quantify the positive impact that a longer warning time of potential-to-functional failure (P-F interval) has on availability, highlighting that variation of maintenance strategy through transformation of unplanned activities into planned interventions that can be conducted during a suitable weather window ahead of a component failure can lead to reduced operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.
Highlights
Achieving high asset availability in the operation of offshore wind power plants has been a challenge for many years
Several publications address this potential for application in the offshore wind energy industry; none attempts to quantify the impact that longer warning times ahead of a failure would have on asset availability
Results of this study quantify the positive impact that a longer warning time of potential-to-functional failure (P-F interval) has on availability, highlighting that variation of maintenance strategy through transformation of unplanned activities into planned interventions that can be conducted during a suitable weather window ahead of a component failure can lead to reduced operation and maintenance (O&M) costs
Summary
Achieving high asset availability in the operation of offshore wind power plants has been a challenge for many years. The efforts made to achieve these availability figures are considerable [3] They include preventive maintenance measures such as the scheduled replacement of wearing parts, oil or grease and the response to unforeseen scenarios such as wind turbine failures, for example by providing appropriate access for different types of vessels and/or helicopters, spare parts, tools and technicians [4]. One approach that reduces the need for (i) holding means of access available even when not needed, (ii) preventive replacement of parts when their effective life has not yet been reached by (iii) continuing to ensure that the asset is fully functional is the application of conditionbased maintenance (CBM) strategies [7,8,9,10,45]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
