Optimizing Wind Power Performance Conference & Exhibition

Introduction

The 2nd annual Optimizing Wind Power Performance conference and exhibition will be held in Houston, Texas from September 28-29 2010 and will provide a clear roadmap for improving and boosting wind farm operational efficiency and economics.

GWEC estimates that wind power production will grow by 160% over the next 5 years and that the US will be one of the leaders in global expansion.

Analysts have suggested that 10% of the annual cost to generate wind power is directly attributable to maintenance and repair. The operation and maintenance of wind turbines is a primary concern for wind plant owners and operators. Towards the end of 2010, more wind turbines in the US will be operating out of warranty than will be covered and this trend will continue through the decade, causing maintenance and repair to become larger issues for project owners.

Key reasons to attend

GPC’s Optimizing Wind Power Performance content-led conference will examine in-depth; end of warranties, service contracts and costs and best practice for maintenance and repair, plus:

• Discover how best to achieve cost-effective operations and O&M strategies
• Discuss project operations life cycle costs
• Explore how to maximize critical grid connection time
• Understand the importance of advanced condition monitoring, wind forecasting technologies and data analysis for better efficiency
• Learn how to utilize battery storage to increase wind production
• Discover how to reduce wind turbine capital costs through technology advancement and improved manufacturing capabilities
• Discuss advanced concepts and innovative models to improve the performance and reliability of wind turbines

Confirmed speakers include:

Eduardo Perez Jr., Vice President, Operations, Wind Capital Group
Marty Crotty, Chief Executive Officer, Upwind Solutions - Read 60 Second Interview
Gonzalo Stabile, Chief Engineer, enXco
John D. White, Managing Director, The Wind Alliance
Harm Toren, Managing Director, Operations Services, Iberdrola USA
Will Hayes, Director, O&M, Acciona Energy North America
Thomas Siegel, Vice President, Transmission, FirstWind
Jean Lemaire, Chief Operating Officer, Akuo Energy
Lawrence D. Willey, , Vice President, Delivery Assurance, Clipper Windpower
Richard Hammill, Vice President, Head of Services, North America, Gamesa
Dan Morrison, Vice President Services and Project Management, Nordex USA
James Maughan, General Manager, Product Services and Warranty, GE Wind
Jacob Norgaard Andersen, Director, Wind Service Americas, Siemens Energy
Douglas Adams, Professor, Purdue University
Keith Plantier, Program Director, Texas Wind Energy Institute
William Mahoney, Program Director, Research Applications Laboratory, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research)
Bridget McKenney, Wind Reliability & Analysis Database Lead, Wind & Water Power Technologies, Sandia National Laboratories
Eric Achtmann, LEC-Laboratory for Energy Conversion, ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Dr Kevin Roughen, Executive Vice President of Engineering, M4 Wind Services and M4 Engineering
Fred Belen, Senior Technical Advisor, Catch the Wind
Richard Pettifor, Commercial Director – Americas, LM Wind Power Inc

 

 

Feedback from Optimizing Wind Power Performance 2009:

“Engaged, high profile speakers” (PV, Sandia National Laboratories, Optimizing Wind Power Performance, Houston, September 2009)

“Presentations were excellent and relevant”  (LK, OptoAtmospherics,  Optimizing Wind Power Performance, Houston, September 2009)

“Very well organized and well attended”  (RA, Gamesa Technology Corporation, Optimizing Wind Power Performance, Houston, September 2009)

Who will you meet?

• Wind farm owners/operators
• Wind project developers
• Wind power integrators and installers
• Wind technology developers and manufacturers – wind turbine manufacturers, OEMs, wind component manufacturers
• O&M technical and service providers
• Utilities
• Transmission system operators, planners, and reliability authorities
• Finance sector – finance directors and venture capitalists
• Government and regulators - state/provincial and national
• Energy analysts, environmental and engineering consultants and industry press
• Wind power technology research and development companies
• Law firms

Pre Conference training course

27 September 2010, Houston, USA

Wind Power 101

This one-day course brings you up-to-speed with the key, fundamental aspects of wind power. You will learn about the scale, availability and variability of wind energy resources, how wind turbines operate – including their methods and limitations in harnessing the wind's energy - plus the regulatory, planning, construction and operational factors which will decide the commercial success
or failure of wind as a power source.

Who should attend?
No prior knowledge is required, making this course ideal for those in non-engineering roles or new to the industry, plus those from investment, marketing. legal, management and other job functions.

What will be covered?

1. Wind Power Concepts:

• Key measures and concepts in wind energy and power
• How wind energy varies with speed, height and other factors
• “Average” wind speed measurements and what these really mean
• Wind resources: wind power maps and resources; onshore and offshore

2. Wind Turbines and Farms

• How turbines collect wind energy
• Wind turbine power curves and the basics of operation and control
• Other system components that make up turbines and wind farms
• Challenges in building and operating wind farms, onshore and offshore
• Operational issues: what experience shows about what works and what can go wrong

3. Wind Power Competitiveness

• Wind power variability and solutions to integrate wind into the grid
• Key factors in the commercial viability of wind as a power resource
• Capital and operating cost contributions, including planning and project pitfalls and risks
• The role of policy and regulatory positions on the wind industry

The Green Power Academy exists to provide the quality, impartial, informative and enjoyable training needed to increase and distribute knowledge and skills to green energy industry professionals.

Please visit www.greenpoweracademy.com to see all our upcoming courses.

Agenda outline

Conference Day One, Tuesday 28 September 2010

Keynote Session:  Improving Wind Power Project Performance, Reliability and Profitability

• Evaluating and understanding performance, boosting plant productivity and detecting power losses
• How best to achieve cost-effective operations
• Optimizing wind power generation and increasing profitability
• The need for a coherent asset management strategy
• Maximizing long-term productivity with a higher ROI

Managing Project Operations Life Cycle Costs

• Managing operating costs from start-up to ongoing operations
• The importance of system flexibility and stability, whilst also taking into account LCC (lifecycle costs) performance

Session:  A Strategic Approach to Successful, Cost-Effective O&M Strategies

• Successful O&M planning and scheduling
• Is a full service contract the best option?
• Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing vs in-house O&M approach
• Increasing operating efficiency and customizing O&M strategies for the long-term to help cut total operating costs
• Reducing the cost of O&M

Session:  Real-Time Grid and Generation Management and Wind Variability Issues

Maximizing Critical Grid Connection Time

• Increasing wind plant energy yields and integration into the grid
• Protecting critical integration points to utility’s electric systems
• Use of forecasting systems to ensure all potential generated power can be effectively used by operators
• The need for an increase in transmission capacity technology

Utilizing Battery Storage to Increase Wind Production

• The challenges of wind intermittency and variable output
• Delivering predictable power to the grid at a low cost
• Maximizing wind project efficiency by smoothing output and providing energy at off-peak times 

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Conference Day Two, Wednesday 29 September 2010

Session:  Best Practice for Component Maintenance, Parts Management and End of Warranty Service

Component Maintenance, Parts Management and Inventory Control

• Parts procurement and component lifecycle
• Turbine components maintenance vs replacement (new vs repair)
• Costs of parts, labor and repair time
• The need for  a component repair strategy and inventory management systems

End of Warranties, Costs and Inspection Cycles
Towards the end of 2010, more wind turbines will be operating out of warranty than will be covered. This trend will continue through the decade, causing maintenance and repair to become larger issues for project owners.

• Many projects operate with OEM support during the warranty period - once this is over what options are there? 
• How are warranties going to change?
• Reducing inspection and repair costs

Session:  Improving Wind Power Performance with Cost-Effective Condition Monitoring and Data Analysis

Case Study:  Active Load Monitoring for Revenue Maximization

• Review of study program where rotor loads and real-time wind conditions were measured
• Identifying actual wind condition variations that affect performance and equipment
• Identifying mechanical conditions attributing to inefficiency and equipment degradation

Optimizing Wind Power Performance using Remote Laser Wind Sensing

• Measuring the wind 200 to 300 meters in front of the wind turbine enables proactive yaw and pitch control for wind turbines
• Improving power output performance and reducing stress loading
• Data from extended trial results

Case Study: Wind Prospecting and Optimization

• Results of a study of >100 wind parks in the US and China done by the ETH showing underperformance of wind assets
• Explanation of results
• Using risk management tools to solve the key problems

Taking Advantage of Your Data to Increase Reliability

• Recommended practices in data collection
• How to collect the right data that will provide useful information
• SCADA vs. CMMS: “partners in crime” or providing an integrated story?
• Your role and value-returned in contributing to a national reliability database

Latest Technological Advances in Condition Monitoring, Wind Forecasting and Data Analysis for Better Efficiency

• Advanced technologies for wind forecasting, measurement and data analysis
• The importance of condition based monitoring to mitigate the costs of design defects
• Latest technological advances in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)  and impact on ROI
• Large-scale challenges and costs of condition monitoring – why should we use it?
• How can you effectively analyse and interpret data when dealing with multiple sites and turbines?

Predictive Maintenance Concepts for Turbine Condition Monitoring and Remote Data Analysis

• Reducing unscheduled service through diagnostics
• Applying predictive maintenance concepts to proactively manage unscheduled maintenance services, to optimize turbine reliability and power generation and increase wind farm profitability
• Detecting deviations in component performance and reducing operating costs

Session:  Advances in Wind Turbine Technology and Optimization Techniques

Innovations in Blade Technology, Gearbox Reliability and Advanced Drivetrain Technology
Gearbox Reliability

• Monitoring, maintaining and repair to reduce downtime and maximize output

Tracking Rotor Efficiency and Blade Reliability

• Improving wind turbine blade reliability

Latest Developments in Advanced Drivetrain R&D

• Ensuring performance, durability and reliability of turbine drivetrain systems

Speaking opportunities

If you are interested in speaking at this event please submit a speaking proposal (presentation title, 4-5 bullet points and brief synopsis) to Julia Goddard
Email: julia.goddard@greenpowerconferences.com

Sponsorship & exhibition opportunities

Gold sponsor:

M4 Wind Services, based Long Beach, CA started as an engineering services company with Masters and PHD's of Aerospace, Mechanical and Materials Engineering supporting aerospace companies, the DOD and NASA.  With our composites and structural expertise, M4 naturally migrated into the wind power industry by being the support company "Where Engineering Meets the Field".  Our first services were in designing/building blades and evaluating gearbox and blade field issues. These efforts have lead us to developing our specialized services of (1) providing failure analyses, (2) asset management and performance evaluations, (3) pre-warranty expiration inspections, (4) wind and load analyses through Rotor Redline and LIDAR/SODAR and (5) blade support services from design to manufacturing to conducting major field remediation. 

 

Silver sponsor:

Supporting sponsors:

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Connecting you with the right people
With a proven track record of delivering high calibre attendees this event provides the perfect environment for you to do business with project developers from across the region under one roof.

First class business opportunities
Our sponsorship and exhibition packages are designed to help you meet your business objectives. If you are looking to win prospective clients, strengthen existing relationships or enhance your company profile, we will help you do so in a cost effective manner.

Contact Nick Chantrell for further details:
Tel: +44(0)203 355 4203
Email: nick.chantrell@greenpowerconferences.com

Partners

Event supported by:

The Wind Alliance develops infrastructure, technology and workforce through pre-competitive collaborative projects between industry, academia and government within the U.S. The Wind Alliance is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization led by John D. White.

 

Media parters:

 

Official Offset Partner:

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Green Power Conferences consistently works in strategic partnership with industry leading organizations and trade publications. Our international and targeted marketing campaigns ensure excellent marketing exposure for our partners.

Contact Laura Proctor for further details:
Tel:   +44 (0)203 355 4207
Fax:  +44 (0)207 900 1853
Email: laura.proctor@greenpowerconferences.com

Venue

JW Marriott Hotel Houston
5150 Westheimer Houston
Texas
77056
USA
Phone:  1-713-961-1500
Fax:  1-713-961-5045
http://www.marriott.com