At a glance
Goodtech delivers a state-of-the-art SCADA system for offshore wind farms, reducing both costs and downtime. “Our system is so advanced that it is being used for the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Tampen,” says Nils Petter Lillebø, Product and Solution Manager at Goodtech.
Offshore wind farms generate huge amounts of data, which wind farm operators must make sense of. This runs the gamut from data on wind, waves and currents to power forecasting, personnel tracking, and hardware and network diagnostics. To add to the complexity, many different vendors are involved, and each has its own system.
“Wind farm operators don’t need to see all the data or each vendor’s details on a day-to-day basis. They need easy access to the most crucial information,” explains Lillebø.
Goodtech has developed Wind SCADA, a cutting-edge system designed specifically for offshore wind farms. Hywind Tampen, the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm, uses Goodtech’s Wind SCADA and Wind Control System. The Wind Control System is also implemented by Unitech Zephyros-One and Hywind Scotland, the world’s first commercial floating wind farm.
“Wind SCADA delivers essential information to the wind farm operator. It takes the wide variety of data being generated by various vendors about the wind turbines and pulls it altogether into a single, high-level system,” says Lillebø.
The system provides real-time data visualisation and control capabilities, as well as secure integration of third-party systems. It also monitors data from the offshore wind installations to the cloud, where errors can be detected quickly.
Vendor independent, Wind SCADA is capable of handling multiple interfaces. In the best case scenario, a wind farm will involve Goodtech at an early stage to help to evaluate and define how to securely integrate third-party systems into the SCADA and determine the preferred communication protocols. Such studies reduce the testing and implementation costs of integrating third-party systems.
Through its Managed Services concept for operation and maintenance and by increasing insight, Goodtech reduces technical and operational risks throughout the wind farm’s lifespan. As a result, engineering and implementation costs are reduced by 30 per cent and system downtime by 70 per cent.
At the same time, wind energy production gets a boost. “We have worked closely with Equinor (a major partner in Hywind Tampen) to optimise power production by continuously adjusting the wind turbines using key data,” says Lillebø.
The global offshore wind market is growing steadily. Over 30 GW of offshore wind capacity, across 32 markets, is projected to be added from 2023 to 2032. A total of 41 per cent of this growth is expected to come from Europe.
Goodtech is already a key player in this market. In addition to Wind SCADA, the company delivers a turnkey solution for the automated production of offshore wind substructures. Goodtech developed the solution for Aker Solutions, a global sustainable energy company headquartered in Norway.
In addition, the company is one of the largest independent system integrators in Scandinavia, and delivers a range of offshore wind solutions from studies to EPCI, implementation, support and after-market.
“We create value out of data complexity, which benefits everyone in the offshore wind supply chain,” he concludes.
Nils Petter Lillebø
Product & Solution Manager
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