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IBM Wind Power Suite
Optimizing wind farm management
A typical wind farm today has multiple vendors. Each supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system has its own protocol and representation. Data is typically conveyed as flat tags that have little semantic meaning. As the number of turbine controller and SCADA systems increases, the ability to understand the notations of the aggregate becomes overly complicated. Sometimes the same type of measurement, provided by different systems, has different units of measure, which further complicates integration and the overall business process.
Smarter farming by design
In virtual and real-world wind farms, IBM has demonstrated how an asset management solution can turn a conventional wind farm into a smart farm that runs more efficiently and profitably. The IBM Wind Power Suite utilizes proprietary and IBM Business Partner solutions to accomplish this goal.
First, the turbines are instrumented with sensors so the components can be monitored. Field data from the instrumented turbines is brought together, or interconnected, into a comprehensive data repository. An abnormal reading causes an alert to be directed immediately to operators.
Following investigation and troubleshooting, notification is directed to the wind farm maintenance team. Next, a technician is notified of the service request and a work order is created and planned to correct the problem. Using a global positioning system (GPS)-equipped field device, the technician can find the correct turbine, diagnose the trouble condition, repair it and coordinate with operations to return the turbine to service.
Gaining control with improved visibility
On a macro scale, the planet stands to rid itself of billions of tons of carbon emissions with the clean, renewable energy source of wind. And at the farm level, the wind power business can become more profitable once you implement a wind asset management solution. Newfound efficiencies in wind farm management can help you:
- Lower costs through increased predictive maintenance.
- Minimize downtime and unplanned repairs.
- Improve visibility and control of wind operations by applying industry standards to aggregate data from multiple turbines into a single view.
- Increase revenue through improved turbine availability and wind farm production.
As a result, inventory visibility improves, along with warehouse productivity. Based on extensive studies, IBM estimates that when all the labor and cost benefits are added up, wind farms deploying an effective asset management solution stand to realize a 20 percent cost reduction in operations and maintenance. 1
Smarter farms to power a smarter planet
The instrumentation and interconnectedness of the IBM Wind Power Suite generates the data for proactive alerts and work orders. Advanced analytics and insight can enable better asset management decisions in near or real time. In turn, the whole system becomes more efficient, reliable, adaptive—in a word, smart. Here's how:
- IBM® Cognos® Now!—this dashboard gives operators a single view of the health of the farm at a glance.
- SISCO Utility Integration Bus (UIB) Adapter—using SISCO's UIB adapter, field data is interconnected into a comprehensive data repository.
- OSIsoft PI System Infrastructure—should any abnormal reading be detected, an alert can be directed immediately to operators, who utilize the OSIsoft PI System to investigate and begin a troubleshooting process that results in a notification directed to the wind farm maintenance team.
- SmartSignal—monitors the PI data and adds capability to the solution allowing operators to predict failures before they occur.
- IBM Tivoli® Maximo®—next, using Tivoli Maximo asset management software, a technician is notified of the service request, and a work order is created and planned to correct the trouble condition.
- @hand Field Mobility System—@hand field mobility software then allows the technician to use a GPS-equipped field device to find and repair the correct turbine, and return it to service quickly.
1 IBM Business Value Analysis, February 11, 2009
