Turbine performance

Turbine production intervals record, for each turbine and period, the energy produced in kilowatt-hours, the wind speed in metres per second and the minutes the turbine was available. Put together, they answer the question owners ask most: when the wind was there, was the turbine there too? A turbine with high wind speed and low energy over the same interval has a problem. A turbine with low wind speed and low energy had a quiet day.

Intervals are recorded by the operations engineer and submitted as evidence to the performance reviewer. The original interval is kept. A correction is added as later evidence linked to the same turbine, not written over the first figure, so the record shows both what was first reported and what was corrected, and when.

Production is recorded per turbine and per period, and reviewed before it is used in performance reporting.

• Attributed records. Each interval is recorded by a named person through their linked user account, so a question about a figure goes to the person who entered it.
• Corrections add, never overwrite. A wrong interval is corrected with new evidence; the original stays.
• Availability next to energy. Available minutes sit beside energy and wind speed, so lost production can be split into “not available” and “available but not producing”.

Agree the interval length you report on, and whether intervals come from the turbine controller system or are entered from shift reports. Agree who reviews production evidence and how quickly. Decide how availability is counted for a curtailed turbine, since it is available but held back. Prepare examples of a normal interval, an interval during a curtailment, an interval with a wind speed sensor fault and a corrected interval.

During a windy afternoon one turbine shows normal wind speed but only half the energy of its neighbours. The operations engineer records the intervals as reported and logs an alarm event on the site. The performance reviewer sees the low energy against the wind speed and the open event in the same period, and holds the intervals for follow-up instead of approving them into the monthly figures.

The technician later finds a pitch fault. Corrected availability is added as later evidence for those intervals, and the review outcome is recorded. The monthly availability report shows the reduced available minutes for that turbine and that day, with the event that explains it.

• Turbine production intervals — Energy, wind speed and available minutes per turbine and period.
• Turbine status board — Current operating state for every turbine.

• Turbine production review: From a recorded interval to a reviewed one.

See the reports built on production intervals.