How big do you think the wind O&M market will get over the next 12 months in the USA?
As service providers come to terms with the fact that large owners are moving to self-perform, the wind O&M market is evolving in response and expanding rapidly.
With some 60%-70% of US wind turbines coming off their warranties, service provider’s question who is the new customer and owner/operators question how will you adapt to what we need?
We put these questions to over 300 O&M specialists to identify key themes, new trends and latest solutions in the developing wind O&M market.
Exploring the snake evolution (wild's gravity).pdf
2015 Wind O&M Market Survey: Key Trends and Growth Areas for North America
1. 7th Annual
Wind Energy Operations
& Maintenance Dallas Summit
Produced in association with:
Texas, USA
14-15 April 2015
Key Wind O&M Themes, Trends
and Growth Areas for 2015
2. Key Wind O&M Themes, Trends and Growth Areas for 2015
As the wind O&M industry matures, owners are becoming more educated and
wiser to their options post warranty. As a result, competition within the industry
is growing and owners are starting to take more responsibility. This has created
a clear shift in the O&M market where OEMs and ISPs will need to re-define their
role and demonstrate new strategies to meet with the increasing demands of
owners and operators.
However, whilst clearly a large number of owners are moving to a self-per-
form model for scheduled maintenances and small correctives, many are not
planning to take on major components straight away. So although they will
eventually, at this point there is still a huge market to be an expert at changing
generators, gearboxes, transformers, blades etc. as it is a whole new level of
expertise for operators.
With this in mind we asked over 350 wind O&M experts to take part in a survey
to outline new trends and challenges, define key growth areas, assess how the
industry is evolving and understand the biggest challenges facing the North
American market.
We asked owner/operators one set of questions and asked OEMs/ISPs/Service
Providers another set of questions and have compared the results.
The emphasis is on taking an old asset, making it run better, lowering the cost
of maintenance and increasing power output through new tech and data anal-
ysis. Easier said than done – both parties are clearly trying to reach the same
end goal, but with quite different ideas of how to get there. The results from the
survey have provided some food for thought.
Elizabeth Demestiha
Project Director | Wind Energy Update
elizabeth@windenergyupdate.com
3. Title
Wind Energy Update took a cross section of the industry to ensure a fair forecast
of industry movements and developments of Operations & Maintenance across
the USA.
The survey was completed by companies with capabilities across the entirety
of the US to ensure a fair representation of industry movements and develop-
ments in the region.
What best describes your job function? In which region are you based?
What best describes your company type?
Project Management 7.7%
Strategy 3.8%
Research & Development 8.3%
Asset Management 8.3%
Operations 10.9%
Technician/Engineer 9.6%
Business Development/Sales 17.3%
Marketing 3.8%
Consultant 14.7%
Finance/Investment 3.2%
Insurance/Legal 1.3%
Other (please specify) 10.9%
Owner/Utility 16.1%
Operator 13.8%
IPP 4.5%
OEM/ISP 19.9%
T2 / T3 4.3%
R&D 5.1%
Consultancy 21.2%
Finance/Investment 6.2%
Insurance 1.3%
Other (please specify) 7.6%
Other (please specify) 1.9%
Europe 5.1%
Latin America 12.2%
Canada 13.5%
North America 67.3%
4. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being the most important and 5 being the least)
how important are the following challenges to you in 2015 and beyond?
What the sellers of O&M services say about key market challenges:
Adapting to the
changing market & the
OEM/ISP power
struggle
Losing market share
due to increased
competition in the O&M
market
Ensuring that key
components last longer
& become more efficient
Reducing costs &
increasing quality whilst
remaining profitable
Keeping skilled workers
& not losing them to
other energy sectors or
owner/operators
1
2
3
4
5
Getting the right O&M
strategy (OEM/ISP/
Hybrid/in-house)
Ensuring main
components last longer
& operate more
efficiently
Getting the right
maintenance/data
analysis strategy
(preventative/proactive/
reactive)
Finding skilled
engineers and training
them in house
Sourcing & managing
spare parts
1
2
3
4
5
What the buyers of O&M services say about key market challenges:
We asked the service providers what they rated as their most import-
ant challenges - they replied that ensuring key components last
longer & become more efficient, as well as reducing costs & increasing
quality whilst remaining profitable were the highest ranking priorities.
Clearly OEMs and ISPs are working to meet the increasing demands of
operators as competition grows and they work to re-define their role
and maintain presence within the market.
We also asked owner/operators of wind farms what they rated as their biggest
challenges - they replied that getting the right O&M strategy, ensuring main
components last longer and operate more efficiently, as well as getting the
right data analysis strategy were the highest ranking priorities.
The transition from end of warranty into the next phase of O&M is a critical one.
The operators of wind farms around the US are increasingly assessing which
O&M model to opt for, taking more control of their assets than ever before.
The results indicate that the focus for O&M in 2015 will be on upgrading key
components to ensure they operate more efficiently and finding a way to
interpret and benchmark data more accurately for optimized performance.
5. What the sellers say about O&M market growth: What the buyers say about O&M market growth:
The O&M market is predicted to grow significantly over the next 12 months –
what will account for the most market growth?
Gearboxes
Blades
Generators
Energy storage solutions
Condition Monitoring Systems
Balance of Plant (substations & cabling)
Health & Safety
Retrofits & upgrades
Control systems
Data analysis
Staffing & Training
Other (please specify)
37.1%
27.8%
20.6%
22.7%
36.1%
6.2%
10.3%
40.2%
17.5%
27.8%
18.6%
9.3%
Gearboxes
Blades
Generators
Energy storage solutions
Condition Monitoring Systems
Balance of Plant (substations & cabling)
Health & Safety
Retrofits & upgrades
Control systems
Data analysis
Staffing & Training
Other (please specify)
32.5%
22.5%
17.5%
15.0%
25.0%
17.5%
10.0%
37.5%
20.0%
35.0%
20.0%
5.0%
When asked what would account for the most market growth both buyers and
sellers highlighted retrofits and upgrades as the number 1 factor.
Other key areas for O&M growth were identified as gearboxes, blades, CMS and
data analysis.
6. What the sellers say about condition monitoring:
Condition monitoring is a key part of a successful O&M strategy,
how could it be used more effectively?
Implementing a standard for condition
monitoring across the wind sector
Finding a better way
to interpret and
analyze the data
Ensuring more
transparency across wind
farms to benchmark data
Developing more
accurate condition
monitoring systems
Bringing more
data specialists/
analysts in house
Improving the
warranty inspection
process
45.2% 51.6% 31.2% 33.3% 23.7% 16.1%
What the buyers say about condition monitoring:
Implementing a standard for condition
monitoring across the wind sector
Finding a better way
to interpret and
analyze the data
Ensuring more
transparency across wind
farms to benchmark data
Developing more
accurate condition
monitoring systems
Bringing more
data specialists/
analysts in house
Improving the
warranty inspection
process
45% 42.5% 35% 20% 17.5% 15%
CMS took the O&M industry by storm when it was first introduced as
an innovative way to more accurately predict catastrophic failures and
measure the performance of turbines. Now the majority of wind farms
have CMS installed and the question arises how can it be used more
effectively?
Over 51% of sellers state that it is about finding a better way to
interpret and analyze the data. 45% of buyers say that it is about imple-
menting a standard for condition monitoring across the wind sector.
7. In recent years we have witnessed continuous and rapid development of wind
power across the United States.
As the industry matures an increasing number of turbines are
coming out of warranty, and their maintenance comes at the
operator’s own cost. Therefore, besides the productivity of a
wind turbine, wind farm operators are increasingly interested
in reducing their life cycle costs through new services and
equipment.
Clearly there will be an increase in new technology being
deployed to meet these demands that will have a major impact
in the sector – these are some of the results we found:
The outstanding response from operators was remote moni-
toring, new preventative maintenance models, better use of
condition monitoring, and improved data analysis. There was
a great deal of emphasis on condition based monitoring (CBM) as it allows for
timely maintenance before major failures occur and monitors the condition of
key components in an overall approach that relies on real-time data from the
turbine.
One thing that will really help this cause is operators sharing data and creating a
benchmark for industry standards to measure performance.
Yet, whilst there is a clear need for better co-operation among operators with
more sharing of information, there is also a need to for on-site failure diagnosis
and corrective action by suppliers/vendors.
Another key issue that was raised is the current reliance on
cranes to switch out main components and do repairs – oper-
ators want solutions for up tower repairs that do not require a
mobile crane – one of the proposed solutions by many was the
use of drones.
The main result from sellers was firstly surrounding better blade
maintenance and then a renewed process for gearbox repairs
and failure analysis. This can be achieved through reliability
centred maintenance and retrofits that extend the turbine life
and increase power output. The use of remote monitoring and
servicing was also the centre of focus with drones and the use
of crane-less options for repairs and exchanges.
We know that CMS is a central part of a successful O&M strategy, but prognos-
tics & health management systems need to have more of a focus, their ability
to predict the life as well as diagnose and prognose system degradation and
failure will enhance reliability and reduce downtime.
What service / equipment can or will revolutionize O&M in the future?
“There is a lot interest in
controls improvement and
upgrades, firstly to obtain
more energy from the wind
farm, but also because the
controls continue to be a
head ache for operators
and there is a need for
better controls as it means
increased reliability.”
8. With a number of the major owner/operators choosing to self-perform, who will become the new buyer in the O&M market?
The power struggle between OEMs and ISPs continues – and competition is increasing – what are you doing to change your business model to stay competitive?
Key Wind O&M Themes, Trends and Growth Areas for 2015: The Sellers Perspective
It will still be the major owner/
operators (fleets above 400MW)
Medium sized owner/operators
(fleets below 400MW)
Small sized owner/operators
(fleets below 200MW)
Investors Operators in the
European market
Operators in the
Canadian market
53.6% 38.1% 27.8% 15.5% 13.4% 9.3%
Operators in the
Asian market
Operators in the
LATAM market
12.4% 8.2%
Focusing on
increasing quality
Focusing on keeping &
training employees
Developing a strategy
to work with owners
more effectively
Focusing on driving
costs down
Investing in
advertising
and marketing
Introducing
new products
& services
34.4% 20.4% 43% 33.3% 47.3% 6.5%
Exploring
new markets
23.7%
As more wind farm owners choose to adopt an in-house O&M model,
service providers need to accept that large owners are becoming
more self-sufficient - meaning the question arises -‘who is the new
customer’?
Although the majority of service providers still identify the major
owner/operators to be the buyer - the majority of OEMs and ISPs cited
the smaller wind farm owners and international operators from the
Canadian, European and LATAM markets as the new buyers.
With the changing O&M market model what are the OEMs and ISPs doing
to stay in business? How will they adapt to what the owners need? As the
ISP business model becomes increasingly strained from a viability stand
point, a number of ISPs are staring to see‘the writing on the wall’and
trying to evolve with their role shifting to more of a partner role.
The majority of OEMs have opened up to the idea that they will need to
invest time working more closely and openly with owners, but a number
of them will introduce new equipment technology and services to try and
keep their existing customer base with the promise of optimized perfor-
mance, life extension, increased quality and reduced costs.
9. Key Wind O&M Themes, Trends and Growth Areas for 2015: The Buyers Perspective
What is more important to you? What are you doing to take advantage of the increasing competition in
the O&M market?
What is the single biggest focus for you over the next 12 months?
Increase the power generated from wind turbines 34.1%
Lower the costs associated with O&M activity 65.9%
Optimizing performance 36.6%
Reducing gearbox (drive-train) failure 9.8%
Improving blades efficiency 4.9%
Asset life extension 17.1%
Improved asset management 17.1%
O&M options for post warranty 4.9%
Other (please specify) 9.8%
Drive down the
cost of extended
warranty agreements
Witnessing improved
quality of service
Get more information
from OEM/ISP to
bring in house
Other
35.0%
47.5%
35.0%
15.0%
In sum, optimizing performance, lowering the costs
associated with O&M activity and improving the
quality of service from sellers are the priorities for
wind farm owners.
It is clear that owners want some protection but do
not want to pay the high price associated with OEM
programs - who will step up to the challenge?
“1- increased
use of compet-
itive bidding
2- absorbing and
processing all
available infor-
mation 3- hard
negotiations”
10. Key Wind O&M Themes, Trends and Growth Areas for 2015: The Buyers Perspective
What is your total turbine and BOP O&M cost per MW?Do you think that the North American wind industry could benefit from
sharing O&M strategies, challenges and learnings?
<$5k
10%
$5k-$10k
12.5%
$10-$20k
37.5%
$20k-$30k
25%
$30k-$40k
7.5%
>$40k
7.5%
Banking the knowledge for transparent sharing between operators would be an
optimistic goal but clearly one that would help the industry greatly. A national lab
or university could aggregate actual, totally anonymous data as an industry bench-
mark, to help understand if we are under-performing and help spur innovation.
“Share major component service history by manufacturer
(not necessarily by turbine OEM), share grid coordination
and control strategies, share safety lessons-learned”
Naturally the majority of responses were surrounding the need to benchmark
industry data, analyse failure rates for specific components and share innovative
ways to repair damages. Perhaps this is unrealistic as owner/operators remain
reluctant to share data and lessons, but at least more information with regards
to major components and actual costs would be a good starting point.
Another issue was sharing strategies for spare part positioning (locating warehouses
and service centres, quantifying replacement parts, modelling service levels).
With the PTC still up in the air there are a lot of uncertainties and balls to juggle so
there will be a big impact on where operators are focussing. The need for a collab-
orative approach is critical for the O&M industry to reach the next level of maturity.
The maintenance of wind farms and whether it is run cost-effectively will depend
greatly on a good understanding of turbine performance. Something that until
recently the OEMs have had the most clarity on – although the vast majority of
turbines are equipped with data monitoring systems – quite often the data is not
interpreted in a way that will diagnose performance issues and reduce failures
most effectively. Therefore, it is critical that wind farm owners invest in the correct
analysis of available SCADA data to decreasing operating costs.
Despite the continuous evolution of the condition monitoring market, the
results here indicate that 40% of farm owners still have O&M costs above $20k
per MW, indicating that there is a need to better interpret data in order to effec-
tively reduce operating costs, reduce failures and increase reliability.
11. Many of the decision makers that took part in this survey will be attending the
leading Annual Wind O&M Dallas Summit (14-15 April, TX, USA) that is back for its
7th year and set to be a huge success with 3 dedicated tracks, loads more network-
ing and brand new features - get the date in your diary now!
With representation from Duke Energy, EDF, E.ON, Iberdrola, Infigen,
Romax, Gamesa, Make Consulting, DNV GL and many more of the industry’s
biggest operators, OEMs and ISPs - the summit is back again as North America’s
leading networking and business forum for those looking to optimize their O&M
strategy through life extension, improved asset management, optimized perfor-
mance and innovative cost reduction strategies.
“This conference provides a clear view of the trends,
challenges, and opportunities of the O&M spectrum”
Operations Manager, Siemens Energy
“The event is a great place to network and learn more about
what others in the industry are doing to operate their sites“
Vice President - Operations & Maintenance, E.ON
“My best commercial mission and show in years”
President, Collineo inc.
O&M Dallas attracts representatives from:
7th Annual
Wind Energy Operations & Maintenance Dallas Summit
Dallas, TX, USA | 14-15 April 2015
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