UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network
UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network
UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network
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SPONSORS OF SERVICING OFFSHORE WINDFARMS<br />
Reducing maintenance costs<br />
High Voltage Partial Discharge (HVPD)<br />
are experts in the field of on-line<br />
partial discharge (OLPD) condition<br />
monitoring.They supply onshore<br />
and offshore renewable customers<br />
in the UK and overseas with OLPD<br />
solutions for the condition monitoring<br />
of in-service high voltage (HV) cables,<br />
switchgear and transformers.<br />
Case study<br />
A recent PD test, monitoring and<br />
preventative cable repair project for<br />
a major offshore wind farm in the UK<br />
illustrated how the OLPD insulation<br />
condition monitoring can lead to<br />
significant maintenance and operation<br />
cost reductions.<br />
Testing and diagnostics<br />
Initial on-line PD testing to assess the<br />
insulation condition of two 33 kV export<br />
cables connecting the offshore wind<br />
farm to shore, indicated high PD activity<br />
levels in one of the cables. Additional<br />
diagnostic and cable mapping tests<br />
identified the source of PD activity at<br />
one of the land section cable joints.<br />
The wind farm operator decided to<br />
replace the unreliable joint during a<br />
planned maintenance outage and<br />
the cable was re-tested. The post<br />
repair PD measurement results<br />
were acceptable and the weak<br />
point (the ‘incipient fault’) in the<br />
cable’s HV insulation had been<br />
removed.<br />
Cost benefit analysis<br />
The total cost of this planned, preventative<br />
maintenance repair was around £10,000<br />
whilst the estimated cost of a previous<br />
unplanned outage was £127,000.<br />
According to UK Government’s<br />
Department of Environmental and Climate<br />
Change (DECC), such cost reductions are<br />
essential to drive down the operational<br />
costs of offshore windfarms.<br />
Cost reduction target<br />
DECC have put a target of reducing the<br />
total cost of offshore wind generation by<br />
25% from the present ‘typical’ lifecycle<br />
cost of £135/MWh (for a 500MW<br />
windfarm) to below £100/MWh by<br />
2020. HVPD believe that these cost<br />
reductions will only be achievable through<br />
the application of condition monitoring<br />
technology such as the HVPD OLPD<br />
monitoring.<br />
HVPD<br />
www.hvpd.co.uk<br />
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk<br />
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