Decreased Cost of Energy (CoE) from wind turbines by reducing pitch system faults

This project aims to improve the up-time in wind turbines by improving the reliability of the hydraulic system. The goal is to increase the up-time by >15% in the hydraulic system, thereby increasing the energy production from new turbines with hydraulic pitch by >5330 GWh/year by 2027. This will result in a lower price on the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) and positively affect the CO2-emission in the range of 2.53 Mio tons/year.

This is obtained by developing and improving methods to predict when and why a component is failing. The knowledge generated will be used to more accurately predict the remaining lifetime, when a system needs servicing, for online monitoring of the systems to plan preventive service (so-called predictive maintenance), and for lifetime design optimization.

For the involved partners, Danfoss Power Solutions, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Hine, and CC Jensen, the project's benefits will pose a combined value of >2.1 mia DKK over a five year period. Besides this, there will be a very substantial benefit for the project partner Vattenfall, whose long-term benefit far exceeds that of the other partners combined in terms of net value. However, for Vattenfall and other operators, the main value comes after the initial five-year warranty period, by minimizing scheduled and non-scheduled exchange of components and oil during the continued operational time of additional +30 years.