K2 Management has collaborated with Emerson’s business Mita-Teknik, a control automation business for wind power generation, to launch P50 Booster, a tool aimed at helping wind and solar project owners and operators enhance operations and maintenance (O&M) strategies.
The solution, which is based on Emerson’s multi-brand renewable SCADA system, supports over 750 different turbine types, and provides analytical, predictive maintenance and forecasting tools to effectively optimize the performance of wind and solar farms.
As aging wind turbine fleets begin to add cost pressures – driven by the need to repair and replace equipment – wind farm owners and operators are in urgent need of programs and technical support to help reduce the burden of rising OPEX. With turbine repair costs reaching 20% of all operations and maintenance investment worldwide over the decade, solutions that provide project owners with clarity on when to budget for maintenance, alongside opportunities to incrementally increase project revenues, are in high demand.
The new system, which when paired with K2M’s in-house engineering expertise can further optimize asset performance, is already being used on a 50 MW+ onshore wind project on the U.S.’ west coast.
“Many of our clients are facing a perfect storm of wind projects with legacy equipment, which requires greater investment in maintenance as the turbine assets age,” says Niels Bitsch, senior consultant of asset management at K2 Management. “Data monitoring, forecasting and predictive maintenance is going to play an increasingly pivotal role in ensuring owners and operators maximize revenues and turbine uptime to deliver the very best returns on investment. Digital tools that offer flexibility and customizable dashboards, as P50 Booster does, will provide the best and most cost-efficient solution for our clients as they navigate the market, seeking to optimize operations and increase profitability.
K2M’s experts monitor turbine performance data on a monthly basis, report the findings and propose solutions to issues as they arise.
“When coupled with our existing suite of expertise, P50 Booster will enable us to deliver even greater value to clients,” adds Bitsch. “We don’t just hand the client a report and leave it to them to fix any issues. We have in-house engineering specialists who propose real fixes – which leads to genuine optimisation, reduced down-time and more cost-effective operations for wind and solar projects all over the world.”
“Cooperating with K2 Management in the field of renewable asset management is a significant opportunity for both businesses,” states Jens B. Jensen, leader of Mita-Teknik’s digital solutions at Emerson. “We provide K2M’s clients with the latest digitization software and technology to provide real granularity on project performance, while truly leveraging this intelligence with decades of operational wind farm knowledge and experience from K2M.”
