California, USA – A small onshore wind farm near Rio Vista generates around 6 million kWh of electricity each year – enough to power around 1,500 households. The plants thus actively contribute to sustainable energy production.
The wind farm is owned by the energy group EDF Power Solutions, which generates low-carbon power worldwide and develops, builds and operates power transmission solutions. The energy corporation has generated over 700 MW of green power in the more than 20 years since it was founded.
Until now, EDF has been monitoring the rotor blades of its wind turbines using drones. In California, an H-shaped crack was discovered near the centre of gravity of a turbine – a critical fault that poses a risk of the rotor blades buckling or breaking.
To guarantee the security and availability of the plant, EDF shut down the affected turbine and consulted Weidmüller. Working together, the teams drew up a plan for the targeted analysis and monitoring of the damage.
The recommendation was for BLADEcontrol®, a condition monitoring system for rotor blades. It uses two-axis accelerometers to detect changes in rotor blade vibrations – an indicator of potential damage. The data is displayed in real-time via the WebVis platform, enabling continuous remote monitoring.
Once the installation was complete, the turbine was able to be brought back into operation. BLADEcontrol® monitored the vibrations over the course of a year, enabling EDF to continuously track the development of the crack and plan the repair in a targeted manner. Once the repair work had been completed, the system showed a significant reduction in vibrations – clear evidence of the success of the measure.
Thanks to BLADEcontrol®, EDF was able to monitor the wind power installation around the clock, which significantly improved operational reliability and maintenance efficiency.
Weidmüller supports the operational reliability of wind power installations with a comprehensive portfolio: in addition to BLADEcontrol®, this includes BOLTcontrol® for detecting bolt fractures and the TwinCap sensors, supplemented by high-performance electronic components and software solutions for the reliable operation of wind farms.
Dr. Daniel Schingnitz
