ORLANDO — General Electric (GE) is pushing its wind farms to
join the big data revolution with its new Digital Wind Farm, announced
this week at Windpower 2015 in Orlando, Fla. amidst talk that its $15
billion offer to buy Alstom’s power business is likely heading towards
fruition.
The Nerdiest Wind Farm
According to GE, the Digital Wind Farm technology uses what it calls
the “Industrial Internet” to crunch data and essentially make each
turbine, and ultimately each farm, super-smart. This data will help
boost energy production at each farm by up to 20 percent and integrate
variable renewable power into the grid more smoothly.
“Our digital wind farm essentially couples big wind with big data,”
said Anne McEntee, CEO of GE
Power & Water. “We’re going to optimize
the wind farm on day one, [which] enables us to customize every pad on
site.” It all starts with GE’s “brilliant” 2-MW wind turbines,
which were released in 2013. These turbines are equipped with sensors
that track wind speed, blade pitch, potential issues and other
conditions. This data is collected from each turbine and analyzed, and
the turbines are then able to “communicate” with one another over that
same Industrial Internet to control overall performance.
On the digital wind farm, all sensors are connected and the data is
analyzed in real time on GE’s Predix software. Operators will be able to
monitor performance at the turbine, farm, and multi-farm level and
pinpoint issues immediately. The more data that is collected and
analyzed over time, the more the software will be able to actually
predict performance, so operators can keep turbines running at optimal
performance for the system’s lifetime. This predictive software may also
reduce unnecessary maintenance costs.
According to GE, digital wind farms can save the industry billions. “If you have a 100-MW site, you’ll see up to $100 million in value
for the life of the wind farm,” said McEntee. Everyone is leaving money
on table, so it is important to use big data in real time throughout
lifetime of farm…to maximize energy and power on site."
Alstom Deal Fever
About one year ago, GE made waves when reports emerged
that it intended buy France-based Alstom SA’s power unit, which
includes turbine technology and a service business, for more than $13
billion. That number has since increased to $17 billion — GE’s biggest
acquisition ever.
Now nearing the completion of a 15-month review period that ends
August 21st, GE’s Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said he is confident that
the deal will be finalized, according to the Wall Street Journal.
To address fears that that the acquisition will monopolize the
industry, GE may have to give up some intellectual property rights in
the transaction.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/05/ge-introduces-digital-wind-farm-that-could-boost-production-20-percent-reignites-alstom-buyout-talk.html