Available, or not available: how to define, measure and

guarantee the performance of offshore wind turbines

PO.
17

Jens Goesswein, Ulrich Beyer

KEMA Consulting GmbH

Abstract
A sufficient performance of the wind turbines is the key factor for the successful
operation of offshore wind. As more offshore wind farms are installed in
European waters and some of them project financed, the performance factors
such as power curve and technical availability become more important.
There are mainly two reasons, why there is usually a dispute about the technical
availability: one is the different formulas for the calculation and one is the
difficulty to measure it for the satisfaction of both the operator and the OEM (or
service provider).
This poster will highlight some typical contractual definitions for the performance
of wind turbines and show how the availability, the wind conditions, the power
curve and other parameters influence the energy yield.
As a conclusion, new approaches for the contractual definition and the
measurement of the performance of offshore wind farms will be shown and their
advantages and disadvantages indicated.
Calculation of Technical Availability Show Case
Figure 1: Return on equity against availability for a typical offshore wind farm

In a typical contract the technical availability is defined using a formula such as

this:

Methods
There are mainly two options to overcome the mentioned problems connected to
the normal guarantee of the technical availability:

with:
A

= Technical Availability (guaranteed is for example a value of 95%)

1. Guarantee of Energy Yield

Tt

= Total time (usually one year with 8760 h)

TD

= Total Downtime per year (in hours)

PD

= Permitted Downtime per year (in hours)

Instead of the availability, it is possible to guarantee a certain energy yield in

dependency of the wind conditions. For this the wind conditions in the wind farm
are measured by means of at least one, better two met masts and a potential
energy yield for a certain period (usually one year) is calculated, based on a model
for the wind farm efficiency. From this potential energy yield a factor is deducted
(i.e. 10-20%) and the remaining sum is guaranteed.

It is crucial to have a close look on the list of Permitted Downtimes, which is

shown in an example in the table 1 below.

Permitted Downtime

Number of hours /a
(example values)
Permitted downtime due
438
to failures
Preventive maintenance
120
Retrofits
24
Automatic cable
12
unwinding
Ice formation on rotor
24
blades
No access due to bad
192
weather
No jack-up barge
96
Grid losses
12
Customer / expert visits
48
Total downtime
966
Table 1:

Reduction of actual
availability
5%
(95% guarantee)
1.37%
0.27%
0.14%
0.27%
2.19%
1.10%
0.14%
0.55%
11%

Example for permitted down times in offshore wind farms

This example shows, that with such definition of the technical availability and the
permitted downtimes, a guaranteed availability of 95% can result in a much lower
actual availability of 89%, or further losses of 6% according to the typical values
above.
In addition to these high losses, it is also quite complex to calculate the actual
technical availability and to estimate the energy yield to be expected. In addition, a
loss of 1% technical availability does not automatically lead to a reduction of 1% of
the annual energy yield, as a standstill can occur during low wind speed
conditions.
Figure 1 gives an impression of the dependency between the return on equity of
an offshore wind farm and the overall wind farm availability.

This model has got the advantages, that the operator has a guaranteed energy
yield of a certain value (which eases the negotiations with banks and allows project
finance) and an additional guarantee and check of the power curve is not so
important. The disadvantages are the high costs for the met masts and the
complexity of finding and agreeing on an appropriate wind farm efficiency.
2. Wind Speed Corrected Technical Availability
A second approach is the calculation of the current technical availability as a
function of the current wind speed. The wind speed can be measured with the
WTG anemometers and the corresponding standstills are corrected based on the
power curve. For example, a day of standstill at an average wind speed measured
at or above rated wind speed (and below cut out) would be counted as one full day
of standstill. A day of standstill with an average wind speed at 50% of rated power
would be counted as half a day of standstill.
For this model, no extra equipment needs to be installed, as the accuracy of the
wind turbine anemometers should be sufficient. The wind data can be extracted
from the monitoring system of the wind farm and the power curve is part of the
specifications from the wind turbine manufacturer.
However, the problem with the definition and monitoring of the permitted downtime
remains with this method, which needs to be taken into account during contract
negotiations and during the whole operation phase of the wind farm. In addition,
the guarantee and check of the power curve is much more important.
Conclusions
It has been shown, that the extra losses with a guaranteed technical guarantee,
together with permitted downtimes can be significant. This is often not considered
in the financial model and the contract negotiations with the service provider.
The author identified two alternative options for the performance guarantee,
together with their advantages and disadvantages. A suitable performance
guarantee, together with sufficient contracts for maintenance, repair and operation
is absolutely vital for the business case and a successful operation of offshore
wind farms.
Contact: Jens Gwein, Principal Consultant, KEMA Consulting GmbH, Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 8,
DE-53113 Bonn, T +49 228 446 90 77, jens.goesswein@kema.com, www.kema.com

EWEA OFFSHORE 2011, 29 November 1 December 2011 , Amsterdam, The Netherlands