EoW July 2011

Testing, measuring...

Partial discharge detection in offshore wind farms Partial Discharge (PD) is a pre-breakdown phenomenon that occurs in cables and switchgear. IPEC has pioneered PD monitoring technology as a tool for use in asset management over the last eight years, largely in collaboration with EDF Energy on its London and South East based distribution network. As the technology has developed and markets evolved, it has become apparent that the most compelling business case for installation of permanent monitoring is on high criticality circuits where a failure would pose safety concerns or have a high financial impact. As a result, IPEC’s strongest sales have been in the industrial sector and in particular process. In order to do this, the company has developed sophisticated data acquisition and analysis algorithms that can detect the small PD signals in very high background noise. Much of IPEC’s business has been overseas into regions investing in manufacturing.

▲ ▲ Monitoring technology from IPEC

With the high and rapidly increasing investment in offshore wind farms around the UK, IPEC has identified an opportunity to bring the benefits of PD monitoring to offshore asset management. The working environment of the high voltage network connecting wind turbines is harsh, increasing the likelihood of defects and failure. In addition, the cost of repairing a failed component and the consequential damages are very high. By permanently monitoring the network of subsea cables and switchgear that interconnect the turbines, the asset operators will be able to identify and very accurately locate defects before a failure occurs. In many cases this will allow preventative maintenance to be carried out, avoiding failure altogether. Offshore wind farms generally have a 20-year design lifetime and it is estimated that the cost of this monitoring technology would be offset by avoiding just two failures over this period. IPEC Ltd – UK Fax : +44 161 226 0046 Email : carl.eastham@ipec.co.uk Website : www.ipec.co.uk

45

EuroWire – July 2011