Some of the largest wind turbine owners in the world have entered into a research sharing programme to openly exchange operational performance data to improve analytics and develop a ‘transparent global performance benchmark’.
By opening up their data, Enel, Engie and Equinor have confirmed today they will share information from over 10,000 turbines – both onshore and offshore – across their portfolios.
The programme is being coordinated by O2OWind – an online peer-to-peer networking site dedicated to operations and maintenance information.
The CEO of O2OWind Mårten Nilsson, said the latest announcement was a “truly ambitious programme that will put an end to the OEMs' superior position with regards to global performance data”.
He explained: “As it is today, only the OEMs can fully harvest the benefits of data analytics and benchmarking, which puts asset owners at a disadvantage. With this data-sharing collaboration, we are creating a baseline that OEMs always have to relate to.
“Since the strength of the baseline will be correlated to the amount of data that feeds our models, we strongly encourage all asset owners to attend the information seminars and join this exciting initiative.”
Nilsson and his team have said that the scheme is open to any turbine owner and expect a “significant” number of companies to join the project in the coming months.
It is hoped that developers will be able to use their insights to improve wind farm operations, as well as increase the success rate of claims related to lower than expected power production.
Thierry Kalfon, the managing director of renewables at Engie, said the data sharing initiative was “ground-breaking” and an “excellent opportunity for cross-industry win-win collaboration”.
Sverre Trollnes, head of asset management at Equinor, added: “Considering the short production series of turbines within offshore wind, sharing data among owners is a necessity to gain better control.
“We see the O2O data sharing initiative as a new tool to constantly improve our operation, by enabling our lead engineers to exchange with their peers and establish these much needed operational baselines.”
The complete legal framework of the program is set to be launched at O2OWind's next industry event in January.
