WP5 Current Use Cases

Introduction

Two initial use cases, currently under investigation, were selected to highlight points on the spectrum of O&M issues and decisions. Use case one reflects a high-level topic spanning a proportion of the O&M lifecycle stage, while use case two focusses on the optimization of a common O&M activity.

Use Case One: The Value of Data

A recurring question in wind O&M, as in other industries, is "what data should be collected, how frequently and how much?" This use case aims to examine this question in the context of a financial transaction on a fleet of wind assets. Be it a change of ownership, re-insurance or other transaction, ready access to the correct historical data should enhance the value and/or minimize risk associated with the assets. The team launched the use case by deploying a survey to assess the importance of a range of data sets. Further plans will consider the development of an O&M data "service book". Take the survey here.

Preliminary Survey Results on the Criticality of Project, Operations and Maintenance Data.

Use Case Two: Risk-Based Maintenance

Reducing the overall cost of many maintenance activities involves a tradeoff between carrying out ongoing inspections and scheduling servicing or repairs. This use case explores ways to model and optimize this tradeoff in relation to blade inspection and repair and encompasses key topics such as structure of inspection data, damage modelling and data-driven decision support. The team will investigate data requirements, damage representation, decision model methodology and cost optimization by building and integrating these into a demonstration model.

Overview of Blade Inspection and Repair Optimization Model