ECN has proof to make big savings on the maintenance of offshore wind farms. The secret lies in the strategic deployment of manpower, vessels and materials and they use current data to calculate the ideal maintenance plan.
About a quarter of the total energy costs of an offshore wind farm are associated with maintenance. Wind farm operators have just one aim: keep the turbines turning. Which turbines have developed faults in the past? What vessels were sent out to them? What was needed to get them working again? That information is usually available, but not in a structured way and often not in digital form. By providing clear data analyses, ECN helps wind farm operators to compile a strategic maintenance plan. That can save up to 5 per cent on those costs. The ECN O&M System and the Fleet Leader model have both proven their worth in a variety of tests. ECN uses Fleet Leader at its own Wieringermeer test site, and the O&M System has been tested and optimised in partnership with RWE.
