Sensitivity of Risk-Based Maintenance Planning of Offshore Wind Turbine Farms

Simon Ambühl and John Dalsgaard Sørensen
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Simon Ambühl: Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
John Dalsgaard Sørensen: Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Inspection and maintenance expenses cover a considerable part of the cost of energy from offshore wind turbines. Risk-based maintenance planning approaches are a powerful tool to optimize maintenance and inspection actions and decrease the total maintenance expenses. Risk-based planning is based on many input parameters, which are in reality often not completely known. This paper will assess the cost impact of this incomplete knowledge based on a case study following risk-based maintenance planning. The sensitivity study focuses on weather forecast uncertainties, incomplete knowledge about the needed repair time on the site as well as uncertainties about the operational range of the boat and helicopter used to access the broken wind turbine. The cost saving potential is estimated by running Crude Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, corrective and preventive (scheduled and condition-based) maintenance strategies are implemented. The considered case study focuses on a wind farm consisting of ten 6 MW turbines placed 30 km off the Danish North Sea coast. The results show that the weather forecast is the uncertainty source dominating the maintenance expenses increase when considering risk-based decision-making uncertainties. The overall maintenance expenses increased by 70% to 140% when considering uncertainties directly related with risk-based maintenance planning.

Keywords: offshore wind turbines; operation and maintenance; risk-based maintenance planning; sensitivity analysis; wind turbine farms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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