Operation and maintenance
XEMC Darwind's design philosophy
The roots of XEMC Darwind lay in the design of the XD115 wind turbine. This robust designed wind turbine is dedicated for the offshore environment.
The main characteristic of robust design is that external sources and forces (such as the harsh off shore environment) have minimal impact.
This approach aims for high Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) over full turbine life time, “the machine is made for its purpose and its environment”.
XEMC Darwind's wind turbine maintenance
The robust design minimizes the use of maintenance intensive systems and improves the failure rate of subsystems significantly. The design has also been optimized for maintenance visits in terms of “short stay” and “easy access”. For instance, as the main bearing has been integrated with the generator, there is no space claiming and maintenance intensive drive train. Other examples which clearly limit maintenance times are the easy accessible area of nacelle + hub + blade roots and the provision of an internal service crane and a service elevator.
The preventive maintenance plan primarily aims for reduction of unplanned corrective maintenance during the windy production period. This can be accomplished by planned preventive maintenance during windless days, not interfering with production. Consequently, the overall need for maintenance is less frequent, requires less effort, is better manageable, and has less impact on the production. The effect of robust design is that it will increase the productivity and decrease the operational cost, both over the turbine life time.
Any turbine of XEMC Darwind will lower the cost of energy, starting from the first turbine.
XEMC Darwind offers a full range of O&M services, varying from maintenance on request to the full service concept.