Wind turbine reliability : a database and analysis approach. Page: 17 of 72
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employed when using these numbers for analysis. It should also be noted that the environment
in which wind turbines operates is much more severe than typical plant applications. The
development of a similar database for wind turbine components will be described later in this
report.
The relationship between typical utility availability measures for traditional generation sources
and the availability of a variable resource are different. For utilities and systems where the
performance is expected to be continuous or on-demand, considerations of availability, and the
consequences of non-availability, are different than that for wind turbine systems. For a variable
resource such as wind, the emphasis is on maximizing output when wind is available, and
performing as much as is possible of the maintenance during periods of slight wind.
Until such a wind turbine National Reliability Database (NRD) can be populated with sufficient
data to form a statistically significant basis, estimates based on professional judgment values for
failures rates are being implemented. Global Energy Concepts7 has developed a table of over 40
wind turbine components included in an operations and maintenance cost model developed early
in 2007. The table identifies parts, characterizes failures rates as either constant or as a Weibull
function, and estimates repair/replacement costs with labor resources needed. Sandia has refined
these values through an interactive process that was described in the introduction (site visits,
O&M investigations, and telephone communications) and adjusted these values for input into our
baseline reliability models.
One final note about failure rates: The requirements, needs, and expectations operators have in
wind turbines O&M have mixed pedigrees. The power purchases generally are dominated by the
resource (which is uncertain) with a minor adjustment for assumed availability. The need is to
maintain the high availability without consuming the profits in O&M costs. The NRD is being
created to understand where components and systems failures occur and to understand their
consequences so that reliability can be improved.17
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Linsday, James; Briand, Daniel; Hill, Roger Ray; Stinebaugh, Jennifer A. & Benjamin, Allan S. Wind turbine reliability : a database and analysis approach., report, February 1, 2008; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc829792/m1/17/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.