Infigen case study

Customer Case Study
Case Study: Infigen Energy
Industry: Wind Farm Owner & Operator
Location: Texas, USA
Customer: Infigen Energy
Challenge: Reduce O&M costs and maintenance predictability
Solutions: InSight, Monitoring
Infigen Energy chooses InSight from
Romax to take control of O&M spend
Infigen Energy owns and operates 24 wind farms across USA and Australia. In order to better control and predict
operation and maintenance (O&M) and reduce downtime costs, Infigen chose the Romax InSight Health
Management solution to provide early warning of upcoming problems, take control of its fleet maintenance and
ensure maximum uptime and revenue with minimum cost. InSight allows Infigen a complete and independent
view of its fleet condition at all times.
Overview
Up to 75% of the operational expenditure for a large wind farm is
typically related to the site’s O&M function. To be competitive in
terms of the commercial cost per kilowatt hour of electric power
generated, every detail of O&M needs to be made as efficient as
possible.
The most challenging aspect for many wind farm operators – and
one that adds very significantly to their cost of operations – is
the unpredictability of turbine failures. As a result, O&M activities
are highly reactive and production downtime inevitably results
when replacement parts, maintenance crews and site access are
unavailable when required.
For this reason, wind farm operators are seeking to generate
additional value through the efficiencies and reduced costs of
operation that health monitoring solutions can bring; enabling a
more proactive and planned approach to wind farm O&M.
Infigen selects Romax: knowledge is power
James Snelson is senior mechanical engineer for Infigen Energy
“We own and operate a mixed fleet including GE, Vestas and
Gamesa turbines in addition to the 81 Siemens units that we
have chosen to work on with Romax in order to provide a fully
transparent, third-party condition monitoring solution. These
turbines achieved first commercial operation in 2007 and are now
post-warranty.”
“My approach to condition monitoring is that it’s not always an
opportune time to take a turbine off-line and do a component
change-out. Our goal is to identify these failures before they
happen, monitor them and manage demand to extend life where
necessary. We can then proactively manage maintenance by
having cranes and crews ready at a convenient time. This saves
turbine downtime and reduces asset management costs. You can
only do this with a good knowledge of turbine health across your
fleet and Romax have really helped us achieve that.”
Romax
TECHNOLOGY
“We can then proactively manage
maintenance by having cranes and crews
ready at a convenient time. This saves
turbine downtime and reduces asset
management costs.”
James Snelson
Senior Mechanical Engineer, Infigen Energy
Supplier selection: Romax excellence
Infigen evaluated a number of third party external suppliers before
choosing Romax. James Snelson: “I selected Romax because I
felt very confident that they could do the job best. They clearly
had expertise and a knowledge base head and shoulders above
other potential suppliers. Another major plus was their level
of communication, openness, willingness to collaborate and
enthusiasm to drill down to the root cause of any problems.
Romax has done a lot on its own dime to show to us that they can
add value.”
Proof of concept
In order to build confidence, Infigen requested that Romax carry
out a sweep of its Siemens fleet in order to identify any insipient
problems. During this work which was carried out in early 2012,
one of the turbines was identified as having a failing main bearing.
The advanced notification provided Infigen with the opportunity
to monitor and manage its operational strategy for the turbine,
and plan for the maintenance rather than reacting to the failure,
as Snelson recalls: “We were able to schedule this work with other
work being performed on the site to help reduce downtime and
costs associated with the main bearing change out.”
“They clearly had expertise and a
knowledge base head and shoulders
above other potential suppliers.”
“Romax has been key in helping us gain
control of our data.”
“I know the quality of people that Romax
has working on this project – they’re
great engineers”
James Snelson
Senior Mechanical Engineer, Infigen Energy
Data transparency: OEM versus third party
monitoring
Largely due to the age of its turbine fleet, Infigen has relied on
the OEM for data and in some cases the transparency was not
adequate. Snelson believes that monitoring capability delivered
from the turbine OEM does not always provide the transparency
of data required for truly efficient wind farm maintenance. “There
is real value in being able to access and manage condition
monitoring data ourselves with an independent solution. This
gives us much better visibility of the health of our turbines than
when under manufacturer warranty. While OEMs are becoming
more open in their approach, the ability to carry out root cause
analysis and cross-fleet predictive maintenance is more limited
than when you have control over your own data. Romax has been
key in helping us gain this control.”
Next steps with Romax
In addition to providing predictive health monitoring of their
turbine fleet, the InSight health management solution will help
Infigen Energy assess the comparative performance of the wind
farm, allowing production outliers to be identified. This will help
Infigen to both resolve operational issues and manage turbine
demand and loading, so for example, protecting those positioned
in regions of more intense wind from excessive loading and wear.
Snelson has high hopes of the relationship with Romax and of
the potential benefits that large-scale turbine health monitoring
will bring for Infigen. “My expectations will continue to be very
high, especially on the technical front because I know the quality
of people that Romax has working on this project – they’re great
engineers and the bar has been set high for them; but it’s been
set mainly by Romax.”
To find out more
Romax
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contact us via sales@romaxtech.com
or visit www.romaxtech.com
Infigen Energy: www.infigenenergy.com
© Copyright Romax Technology Limited 2013. This document is for information only & is subject to change without notice.
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