Improved reliability and optimised operations and maintenance for wind energy systems

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Limit the risks related to wind energy systems (e.g., operational, financial, climate) and thus reduce the wind energy projects’ uncertainties;
• The European wind energy supply chain strengthens its strategic autonomy, technology leadership, competitiveness, and technology export potential.

Scope:

Proposals are expected to address at least four of the following aspects:

• Develop and validate solutions to increase the reliability of wind energy systems and their components, thus ensuring security of supply and further reducing the environmental impacts;
• Develop new methods, computational techniques and tools to analyse and predict the reliability of wind energy systems, considering the analysis of the failure modes of existing systems and including a focus on new analytical approaches, technologies and materials;
• Develop new methods and tools for condition and health monitoring of wind energy systems and their components;
• Develop and validate solutions to optimise the operation and maintenance of wind energy systems and their components, for example through improved scheduling and predictive maintenance, autonomous tools, robots and vehicles, semi-automated inspection methods or advanced repair methods;
• Develop and validate new components to be incorporated in structures’ designs to improve the safety and efficiency on-site during maintenance activities in wind farms;
• Develop and validate innovative digital tools to facilitate wind farm operation and maintenance, for instance through improved interoperability, decision-making support tools, condition and health monitoring techniques and innovative sensors, while ensuring increased cybersecurity and data sharing.

The solutions proposed have to provide solid evidence to support the choice of the sub-systems and components in focus. They have to be critical for the overall reliability of the wind energy systems. For instance, in the case of floating offshore wind, these could be dynamic cables, moorings and connection systems (electrical and mechanical) and their interaction with complex ocean flows.

Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

Digitalisation plays a prominent role under various perspectives, for instance in terms of improved predictive maintenance activities and advanced sensors technologies for diagnostics, condition and health monitoring of the power electronics, and structural health assessment and monitoring.

Projects should aim at reducing downtime and operational costs, enhancing safety protocols for maintenance crews, and increasing the overall lifespan and efficiency of wind energy assets.

These solutions should be easily standardised and/or should take into account current standardisation efforts, notwithstanding the TRL level envisaged for the projects developed under this topic.