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Smarter Asset Management for Renewable Energy
            B.P. Hanley, Asset Management Consultant at IBM, UK, ben.hanley@uk.ibm.com;

              R.J. Clayton, Asset Management Consultant at IBM, UK, r.clayton@uk.ibm.com

                                                                      Asset management solutions provide opportunities across the
Keywords: “Renewable”; “Energy”; “Asset Management”;
                                                                      renewable energy lifecycle for faster deployment, reduced
“Smarter Planet”; “Lifecycle”
                                                                      costs, improved performance / ROI and safer working.

1    Abstract                                                         This paper begins by introducing the policy and fiscal
                                                                      backdrop against which renewable energy is being stimulated
By 2020, 30% of the UK’s electricity is targeted to come              in the UK (Sections 3.1 and 3.2). It will then outline the
from renewable sources – an increase from 9.5% in 2011. As            UK’s growth projections (Section 3.3) and the challenges
the industry grows, it must make critical decisions regarding         facing the industry (Section 4). How asset management
the deployment of capital investment, how projects and                solutions can add significant value across the renewable
resources are planned and managed, and how the operations             energy lifecycle and supply chain will then be considered
and maintenance strategy will optimise performance and                (Section 5).
Return on Investment (ROI) across the lifecycle. This paper
outlines how smarter asset management solutions, applied              2.1    Scope
across the renewable energy project lifecycle, can lead to:
accelerated construction time, reduced downtime, increased            This paper focuses on how smart asset management solutions
reliability and enhanced ROI.                                         can support renewable electricity.       Asset management
                                                                      solutions can be broadly applied to other forms of renewable
                                                                      energy (e.g. heating), however, these are not covered within
2    Introduction
                                                                      this paper. References and case studies are biased towards
The UK Government has set target that by 2020, 15% of all             wind power, which will represent the significant majority of
energy will come from renewables. Electricity generation              the UK’s renewable energy by 2020. The asset management
plays a major part in this, with a target to generate 30% of          solutions discussed can, however, be applied across the full
electricity from renewable resources by 2020. The Scottish            range of renewable energy platforms. The challenges and
Government set a target of 100% electricity from renewable            opportunities around renewable energy and smart grids are
resources by 2020. The UK is progressing towards the                  inextricably linked. Whilst asset management solutions have
renewable electricity target and in 2011 renewable energy             a significant role to play in delivering smart grids, this is
provided 9.5% of the UK’s electricity generation, an increase         outside the scope of this paper.
from 6.8% in 2010 [1]. Wind power represents the largest
share of the UK’s renewable electricity, accounting for over
50% in 2011 (Table 1).                                                3     Background
    Renewable         2011        %         2011     %                3.1    UK Renewable Energy Policy
    Electricity    Capacity change Output change
    Generation       (GW)      on 2010      TWh on 2010               UK Renewable energy policy is influenced by three critical
Onshore wind              4.7     +15%        10.4 +45.9%             factors:
Offshore wind             1.8     +37%         5.1 +67.9%
Hydro                     1.7      +2%         5.7 +58.0%             i) The threat of climate change
Solar PV                    1 +1169%           0.3 +658%              The UK Government recognises that climate change “is one
Thermal*                  3.5      46%        13.3 +11.4%             of the most serious environmental threats facing the world. Its
All                      12.7      33%        34.8 +35.1%             impacts are likely to be felt globally as temperatures increase,
Table 1: UK Renewable Electricity Capacity and Generation             sea levels rise and patterns of drought and flooding change”
(2011) [1] & [2](*Thermal includes co-firing)                         [3]. In response to this threat, renewable energy policy has
To encourage investment in renewable energy, Government               been developed, underpinned by the Climate Change Act
introduced fiscal schemes to bring parity between                     2008, which sets legally binding targets for an 80% cut in
conventional and renewable energy technologies. Theses                greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with interim reduction in
fiscal schemes have been instrumental in delivering                   emissions of at least 34% by 2020 (relative to 1990) [4].
significant growth in renewable energy. The sector, however,
faces numerous challenges around how it achieves rapid and            ii) Managing the security of energy supplies
efficient growth, whilst delivering a stable transmission grid,       The UK faces diminishing fossil fuel reserves, which when
with an intermittent and unplannable load.                            combined with the projected growth in energy demand,



                                                                  1
threatens the security of our energy supply. A drive to               carbon electricity generation, particularly by organisations,
“increase the proportion of energy we obtain from renewable           communities and individuals that have not traditionally
sources will not only increase the security of energy supplies        engaged in the electricity market [9]. Unlike ROCs, which
in the UK; it will also provide opportunities for investment in       are market traded, the value of FITs is fixed by Government,
new industries and new technologies. The Government will              with the value for each technology based on the type of
help business develop in this area to put the UK at the               technology and its associated economic viability. FITs
forefront of new renewable technologies and skills” [5].              provide benefits at 3 levels:
                                                                       • Generation tariff – the electricity supplier will pay the
iii) wealth of the UK’s renewable energy resources.
                                                                         FIT for each unit (kilowatt) of electricity generated;
The scale of opportunity in the UK is informed by the UK
having some of the richest wind and marine resources in                • Export tariff – energy not used can be exported back to
Europe. Wind and marine resource alone could deliver a                   the grid, with an additional payment; and
significant proportion of the UK’s electricity demand, with            • Energy bill savings – less electricity will be procured
scale to export to the EU.                                               from the supplier impacting the electricity bill.

3.2     Financial Mechanisms for Renewable Electricity                3.3    Renewable Electricity Growth Projections
Achieving the renewable electricity target of 30% will require        In order to achieve its 2020 targets there needs to be a three-
investment within the UK of £100bn [6]. Without fiscal                fold increase in renewable capacity (from 12.7GW in 2011).
drivers parity with conventional fossil fuel technologies will        Figure 1 illustrates the growth in renewable electricity by
not be achieved and the associated investment in renewable            technology between 2008 and 2020. By 2020, more than
electricity will not happen [7]. A number of fiscal drivers are       70% of the UK’s renewable electricity will be provided by
therefore in place to incentivise investment and growth. The          wind power, which represents the more mature form of
schemes cover a range of scales from domestic micro-                  renewable electricity technology.
generation through to offshore windfarms that will rival
nuclear power stations in capacity. These fiscal schemes are
outlined below. It should be noted that the schemes are
subject to ongoing review, which has informed a degree of
uncertainty and inertia amongst developers.

3.2.1    Renewable Obligation Certificates for large scale
         renewable electricity
The Renewable Obligation (RO) is presently the UK’s
mechanism for ensuring that large scale renewable generation
projects have grid parity with non-renewable generation.
Through the RO, developers receive a subsidy in the form of
Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), which are
allocated for each megawatt hour of electricity generated. The
number of ROCs awarded varies between technologies – for              Figure 1: Renewable electricity technology capacities –
example in 2012, 2 ROCs / MW were awarded for offshore                comparison between 2008 and projected to 2020 [6]
wind farms and 1 ROC / MW for onshore. This reflects the
                                                                      As the UK moves towards 2020, the size of renewable energy
difference in costs between developing onshore and offshore
                                                                      projects is forecast to increase significantly. By 2020 some of
wind farms. ROCs can be sold to electricity suppliers, who
                                                                      the planned wind farms will be more than 10 times bigger
are legally obligated to supply a determined minimum level
                                                                      than the UK’s largest operating windfarm today, matching
of green power in the UK. During 2012, ROCs have been
                                                                      and even exceeding nuclear power stations in output. As a
trading at around £45 [8].
                                                                      consequence of the FITs, we will also see around 10% of our
The number of ROCs is set to reduce between 2013 and 2017,            renewable electricity coming from small-scale (micro-
after which, a “Feed in Tariff Contract for Difference”               generation), including domestic installations.
approach will apply. Projects already subject to the RO
                                                                      Renewable energy growth is not just dependent on
system are to be “grandfathered”; therefore, the levels of RO
                                                                      Government Policy and capital investment decisions.
support will remain critical for the lifetime of those projects
                                                                      Successful negotiation of the planning system is also critical.
accredited to the scheme before it closes.
                                                                      Whilst Government Policy and a generalised support for
                                                                      renewables from the British community [10] meant that the
3.2.2    Feed in Tariffs for Micro-generation                         significant majority of projects have been approved, localised
                                                                      challenges have prevented many projects from progressing.
Feed in Tariffs (FITs) were introduced to encourage
deployment of additional small-scale (less than 5MW) low-



                                                                  2
4     Challenges                                                     the wind generation capacity” [14]. The grid therefore needs
                                                                     to be able to accommodate the new projects whilst ensuring
4.1    Rapid growth in renewable electricity to 2020                 that the wind power supply is channelled to demand.

Whilst growth in renewable electricity has been strong, a            On an international scale, the European supergrid would
three-fold increase is still required by 2020. For Scotland to       enable a wider distribution of electricity across Northern
meet its target of 100% renewable electricity by 2020, will          Europe, such that when the wind is blowing and UK supply
require a sustained annual renewable deployment rate of more         exceeds demand, the energy can be exported to areas where
than twice ever experienced in Scotland is required [11].            renewable electricity supply is weaker [15]. The technology
Achieving this growth requires the rapid deployment of               and standards for high voltage underwater supergrid requires
renewable energy projects, which are being developed with            considerable development.
increasing scale.                                                    Key to the efficient management of the UK’s energy is
Major renewable energy projects involve significant capital          accurate weather forecasting, which optimises the amount of
costs, complex supply chains and complex challenging paths.          renewable electricity that is used by balancing other
This presents challenges to developers / operators in                traditional forms of electricity generation.
achieving the efficiencies that will drive ROI. Those that can
optimise their project plans and resources will deploy faster        4.4    Operating and maintaining remote assets
and with lower costs.                                                How renewable electricity assets are managed has a profound
Whilst subsidies (e.g. ROCs) have been instrumental in               impact on productivity. Wind farms typically operate with an
driving growth in renewable energy, there has been                   availability factor of approximately 95%. The challenge
continuing uncertainty around the ongoing Renewable                  facing the industry is to optimise the availability factor, such
Obligations reviews. This has undermined the confidence of           that failures and outages are kept to a minimum and that
investors and renewable energy’s growth potential,                   maintenance activities take place when the wind is not
particularly given the long lead times in planning and               blowing.
building major projects such as offshore wind farms [12].            Data management is critical to an optimised operations and
                                                                     maintenance programme. Data collected from the hundreds
4.2    Managing the intermittency of supply                          of sensors, combined with weather data and maintenance
Most forms of renewable electricity are subject to degrees of        team management information provides the basis for
intermittency in supply. In the case of wind farms, the              intelligent analysis that can drive operational improvement.
capacity factor (which describes the average output as a             In maturity terms the industry is increasingly recognising the
percentage of capacity) is approximately 30% of maximum              value of data mining and analytics. In many cases, however,
capacity (37% for offshore and 27% for onshore) [13].                the full opportunities are not being realised, with
Whilst wind power outputs are predictable over aggregated            organisations operating with ad hoc systems that are not fully
time periods, power outputs can vary significantly between           integrated let alone configured to exploit data to its potential.
one hour and the next. Such intermittency has to be managed.         Renewable electricity assets need to be maintained in
If there’s no wind, no electricity is generated and demand           potentially dangerous environments. The largest offshore
must be satisfied from elsewhere, unless it can be curtailed.        wind farms will feature hundreds of turbines. Maintaining the
On the other hand, what happens with the surplus renewable           turbines over their life will require crews working full-time in
energy? How and where will it be stored and by whom? Can             some of Britain’s harshest marine environments. The
it be used productively? Can it be exported – is it either           challenge is minimising the exposure of workers to these risks
technically feasible or economically viable? Do the inter-           whilst securing efficient maintenance of the assets.
connectors with sufficient capacity exist? At what price can
power be imported and exported, if those that are being              4.5    Collaborating within complex supply chains
trading with are facing the same intermittency challenges?           How the supply chain is configured can have significant
Intermittent output also means there will be a need for              implications for project success. Major renewable energy
generation from other – typically non-renewable –                    projects are characterised by their complex consortia and
technologies, such as gas generation. This in turn raises            supply chains, which are collectively working with
questions about capital spending, managing waste and dealing         challenging critical paths and a significant capital cost base.
with CO2 emissions.                                                  Some of the largest wind farms involve partnership across
                                                                     both the supply chain and amongst competitors. This presents
4.3    Upgrading the grid and managing supply                        challenges around how the consortia operates, how
The national grid was not designed to support the UK’s               information is shared quickly and effectively without
current growth in renewable electricity. “Wind turbines are          compromising confidentiality and security.
usually located in rural or upland areas, where the electrical
connection to the nearest electricity substation can be weak,
and where local demand for electricity may be much less than



                                                                 3
5     Asset Management Solutions across the                             plans, concurrent development phases and managing the
      Renewable Energy Asset Lifecycle                                  complex supply chains. This can accelerate build time,
                                                                        eliminate wasted costs and inform early revenue generation.
The challenges associated within planning, designing,                   In addition to optimizing the location and array of turbines of
building, operating and maintaining large scale renewable               wind farms, analytics can be used to model operations,
energy projects across complex supply chains necessitates               maintenance profiles and supply chains before wind farms are
smart asset management solutions. By Smart, we mean                     built. Designers can run “what-if” scenarios to model wind
solutions – business processes and information systems – that           farms before they are built – which can reduce lifecycle costs
create better outcomes by applying data-driven insight to               and risks whilst improving productivity and aesthetics.
orchestrate the management of the interconnected component              Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a new approach to
parts. Smart solutions can help integrate renewable energy              building design that takes advantage of the wealth of
into the UK energy mix, allowing developers, operators and              available information, to generate 3D digital representations
policy-makers to plan and build the right sort of generating            of physical and functional building characteristics. Once the
capacity, at the right price and in the right locations. The            data has been stored in the BIM it can then be migrated
following sections provide an overview of how smart asset               through the life of the asset and used to inform more efficient
management solutions can, and are optimising all stages of              operation and maintenance programmes.
the renewable electricity project lifecycle.
                                                                        Offshore wind farms need to be maintained in some of
5.1    Plan and design                                                  Britain’s harshest marine environments.           The scale of
                                                                        maintenance operations is likely to involve full time crews
The optimisation of project strategies requires information             and ships working in often challenging conditions. Managing
management systems that can bring together disparate pieces             these risks, and operational costs requires early integration of
of data and information from across complex supply chains,              reliability and fault resistance, including predictive operation
which often include partners working across the supply chain            and maintenance. Design will be crucial – both to create very
and alliances between competitors. Added to which, projects             high levels of reliability and building in smart operations.
must operate with flexibility to scale up and down as the
project evolves. How the project is managed and how the
information is shared across the lifecycle is therefore critical.       5.1.1    Case Study: Integrating solutions between
Collaborative information management systems enable data                         renewable electricity and renewable transport
sharing across organisations, such that the right people can
                                                                        IBM is a partner within Denmark’s “Electric Vehicles in a
see the right information at the right time, and without
                                                                        Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy
security or commercial confidence being breached.
                                                                        and Open Networks” (EDISON) consortium. The purpose is
With information management systems, energy demand and                  to use a critical mass of electric vehicles as a “virtual power
supply can be modelled with a range of options for                      station” to supply electrical power during periods when
optimisation. Having all of this information available                  renewable electricity supply is low and to absorb electrical
supports the detailed planning processes that developers must           power when renewable electricity supply exceeds demand. To
go through.                                                             make this work, a new breed of metering, analysing, and
                                                                        controlling infrastructure is being developed so that electric
When a one percentage point improvement in wind capacity                cars can communicate intelligently with the grid to
(the average output that can be expected as a percentage of             dynamically determine when charging or discharging can take
total capacity) can increase the revenue of 1GW wind farms              place. IBM is similarly working with the Isle of White
by £10m per annum, ensuring the best location and turbine               “ecoisland” Hydrogen Vehicle Refuller project. Through the
array is critical to delivering sustained ROI. Lifecycle Asset          project, hydrogen will be produced for the purpose of fuelling
Management (LCAM) ensures that assets create value at                   hydrogen vehicles, with production taking place when there is
every stage of their operation.                                         excess renewable electricity generation.
Analytics make sense of “big data” to better design wind
farms, such that marginal improvements to the wind farm
                                                                        5.1.2    Case Study: Vestas
design’s efficiency can lead to significant improvements to
revenues. Weather and topography data shows us the                      Given the intermittency of wind power, wind farm owners are
locations that will generate optimal power; in the case of wind         increasing pressure on manufacturers to guarantee wind
farms, turbine data shows us how the slipstream of one                  outputs from their turbines before they commit to purchases.
turbine affects the other, historic performance information             Each percentage point improvement in wind capacity can
provides statistics on the reliability of different turbine             generate additional revenues of millions of pounds, and the
options and site information provides us with information on            power generated from different locations and different
ease of accessibility to build and maintain the operation.              configurations of machines can vary considerably. Getting it
Once planning permission has been granted, information                  right from the start is therefore critical. To meet this need
management systems can support lean planning of the                     IBM and Vestas are utilising the biggest High Performance
construction processes through: the optimisation of project             Computer (HPC) in Denmark. The HPC is analysing complex




                                                                    4
sets of data including power data, topography data and                 maintenance (O&M) of assets over their lives is critical to
historic weather data to calculate the power that would be             maximising energy generation and the associated ROI.
generated in a potential wind farm, running millions of
                                                                       Life Cycle Asset Management (LCAM) solutions will help
scenarios to optimise design and layout and improve
                                                                       maximise availability. LCAM plays a critical part in
confidence levels in predicted generation.
                                                                       scheduling equipment downtime – ensuring planned shut-
                                                                       downs take place when the supply and / or demand is less;
5.2     Build
                                                                       when the parts and engineers are available; and when
The build process itself involves a complex supply chain,              downtime will have the least economic impact upon
with a web of risks that could delay the project and incur             operation. This involves reducing the reliance on fixed-
significant wasted costs.     How materials, people and                interval inspections and placing greater emphasis on
processes are resourced will influence the efficiency of the           condition-based maintenance, enabled by remote condition
project and the productivity of the assets once built.                 monitoring (RCM).
Information flow is an important element, ensuring that                RCM brings together sensor technologies with advanced
projects progress and that resources and inventory are                 communications software and sophisticated back-office
communicated in real-time to those that need to manage them.           systems to interpret and derive value from raw data collected
By looking at the full lifecycle of a project, expensive               from energy assets. In the case of wind farms, each turbine
resources can be better utilised – for example, the hiring of          has hundreds of individual sensed data points. At the
ships and cranes can be better scheduled with works to                 operational level, RCM can automatically generate
construct wind turbines and offshore platforms and install             predictions and prioritised alarms, pinpointing turbines where
electrical systems and cabling. The complex supply chain can           there are problems and highlighting issues before failures
be engaged more efficiently to ensure that work time is                occur.    This is providing operators with an accurate
maximised and the risks of failure on any of the critical paths        understanding of asset condition, allowing them to make
are minimised. Meanwhile an optimised delivery schedule                informed decisions on when it is most cost effective to
will ensure that the costly storage and transportation of heavy        conduct maintenance.
and bulky assets and equipment is kept to a minimum.                   Critically, advanced RCM solutions are not just about
Lean Sigma involves using “root cause analysis” to identify            monitoring. They provide tools to actively manage remote
opportunities to change how processes work. In so doing                assets - for example, by automatically deactivating equipment
areas of inefficiency and strategic misalignment can be                when or before the equipment enters a failure mode. With
identified which can inform change processes to improve                large generation single turbines on the horizon, proactive
productivity and better structure the processes. Lean Sigma            asset management is becoming essential - as turbine outputs
provides an "in-house" methodology tied to strategy through            increase, so does the revenue loss from a single turbine failure
improving operational performance and a focus on the                   or even planned outage.
customer and stakeholders.                                             Integrating asset management and RCM is becoming
                                                                       increasingly important with offshore renewable energy assets.
5.2.1    Case Study: Learning from aerospace; Airbus 380               Here, integrating asset management and RCM make it
                                                                       possible to organize supply chains and maintenance activities
As with many renewable electricity projects, the Airbus 380            to ensure the efficient deployment of staff, where exposure to
development was very aggressive. One of the most complex               hazards in hostile and remote offshore environments are
parts of the aircraft is the wing assembly, which was managed          minimized, and costly resources are best used. This could
by Airbus UK, who soon realised that new processes would               include, for example, the availability of specialized ocean
be needed to achieve the timescales. Working with IBM,                 going vessels, for which demand will be high, along with
Airbus UK implemented transformation programmes in                     predications about weather and sea conditions that could
business, financial and organisational disciplines, with a focus       hinder operations - it would be expensive and inefficient
on reducing cost of design and manufacture, improving                  spend over £100,000 leasing specialized ship and spending
collaborative working, and transforming how Airbus worked              over 12 hours getting to a wind turbine, only to discover that
with its many subcontractors. As an outcome, improvements              the weather and sea conditions are too dangerous to enable
in concurrent engineering reduced lead time on the wing by             maintenance to be conducted safely.
41 weeks (36% reduction). Similar approaches can be
adopted across the wind farm development project to                    Historic data can be fed back into the design process to yield
accelerate delivery and enhance ROI.                                   long-term improvements in turbine and generator design.
                                                                       Learning from past performance patterns can be fed into the
                                                                       real-time screening of data streams at the heart of RCM.
5.3     Operate and Maintain
                                                                       The intermittency of power output is a major characteristic of
When a one percentage point improvement in asset                       the UK’s renewable electricity portfolio.         Significant
availability can increase the revenue of 1GW capacity wind             variations in power output between one hour and the next
farms by £3m per annum, optimising the operations and                  means that other, non-renewable, energy systems must be
                                                                       kept on line to ensure continued supply. In China, wind



                                                                   5
power capacity now stands at 50GW (comparing with 6.5GW              [3] Department of Energy and Climate Change. “What are
in the UK). This has followed an annual growth rate of 87%           the Impacts of Climate Change.” (2012).
for the past six years. Through working with Chinese                 http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/explaining/i
operators, IBM has implemented solutions to enable better            mpacts/impacts.aspx
prediction of future power outputs, such that the energy mix         [4] UK Stationery Office Limited. “Climate Change Act
is optimised to use wind power when the wind blows – thus            2008.” (2008).
minimising both the use of non-renewable energy sources and          [5] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Renewable
the need for renewable energy curtailment. Day ahead power           Energy Policy.” (2012).
forecasting is in some cases forecasted with an error of just        http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/rene
8%, leading to increased wind power integration of 10%.              wable_ener/renewable_ener.aspx
                                                                     [6] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Renewable
                                                                     Energy Strategy.” (2009).
5.3.1     Case Study: Major European Energy Operator                 [7] Guardian Environment Network. “Crucial renewable
Through working with one of the largest renewable energy             energy subsidy decision could be delayed.” (2012).
operators in Europe, IBM implemented a solution for the real-        http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/17/renewabl
time monitoring, control, analysis and management of                 e-energy-subsidiy-decision-delayed
renewable energy assets across its European renewable                [8] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “The
energy portfolio. The solution collects, analyses and presents       Renewables Obligation.” (2012).
data from diverse sources such as real-time operation systems        http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/rene
(e.g. sensor data from SCADA systems) and business support           wable_ener/renew_obs/renew_obs.aspx
systems (e.g. ERP) to enable the operator to make faster and         [9] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Feed in
more effective business decisions.        The outputs from           Tarrifs”. (2012).
enhanced data visibility, integration and analytics have been        http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/Ren
significant improvements to operational effectiveness and            ewable_ener/feedin_tariff/feedin_tariff.aspx
cost savings. These have been derived through data driven            [10] Guardian. “Environment Blog: British public strong
benchmarking projects to replicate the optimal strategies used       support renewable energy, survey says”. (2011).
within the organisation, and new data insights that have             http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/dec/14/bri
enabled new KPIs on which the operator could enhance its             tish-public-support-renewable-energy
management at both a strategic and tactical level.                   [11] Scottish Government. “2020 Routemap for Renewable
                                                                     Energy in Scotland” (2011).
                                                                     http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0118802.pdf
6       Conclusion                                                   [12] BBC. “Commons energy committee criticises UK
By 2020 the Government has a target to deliver 30% of the            renewables plan” (2012) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
UK’s electricity from renewable sources. To achieve this, the        scotland-scotland-business-18948447
renewable sector, particularly in terms of wind power, is            [13] RenewableUK. “Wind power soars – nearly five million
growing considerably. This growth presents a number of               homes powered in 2011.” (2011).
challenges, including: the rapid growth in renewable                 http://www.bwea.com/media/news/articles/pr20120329.html
electricity; managing the intermittency of supply; upgrading         [14] RenewableUK. “Generating for the UK Electricity
the grid and managing supply; operating and maintaining              System.” (2012). http://www.bwea.com/ref/generating.html
remote assets; and collaborating within complex supply               [15] Earth Times. “European Supergrid – the Vision moves
chains. This paper has discussed how Smarter Asset                   forward”. (2012).
Management offers a solution to these challenges. Solutions          http://www.earthtimes.org/energy/european-supergrid-vision-
have been proposed within the different phases of a wind             forward/2070/
farm’s lifecycle. Case studies have been presented to
demonstrate how leading organisations are applying Smarter           Bibliography
Asset Management solutions to improve the performance of             Bentley, J., Hornsby, S., Hanley, B. & Gibbels, R.
their wind farm assets and maximise return on investment.            “Renewables: The winds of change”, IBM Smarter Energy,
                                                                     (2011)
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Steve Hornsby and Trevor Miles for their specialist
material expert support.

References

[1] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Statistical
press Release: UK Energy Statistics.” (2012).
[2] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Digest of
United Kingdom energy statistics (DUKES) for 2012” (2012).




                                                                 6

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Ibm smarter asset management for renewable energy final

  • 1. Smarter Asset Management for Renewable Energy B.P. Hanley, Asset Management Consultant at IBM, UK, ben.hanley@uk.ibm.com; R.J. Clayton, Asset Management Consultant at IBM, UK, r.clayton@uk.ibm.com Asset management solutions provide opportunities across the Keywords: “Renewable”; “Energy”; “Asset Management”; renewable energy lifecycle for faster deployment, reduced “Smarter Planet”; “Lifecycle” costs, improved performance / ROI and safer working. 1 Abstract This paper begins by introducing the policy and fiscal backdrop against which renewable energy is being stimulated By 2020, 30% of the UK’s electricity is targeted to come in the UK (Sections 3.1 and 3.2). It will then outline the from renewable sources – an increase from 9.5% in 2011. As UK’s growth projections (Section 3.3) and the challenges the industry grows, it must make critical decisions regarding facing the industry (Section 4). How asset management the deployment of capital investment, how projects and solutions can add significant value across the renewable resources are planned and managed, and how the operations energy lifecycle and supply chain will then be considered and maintenance strategy will optimise performance and (Section 5). Return on Investment (ROI) across the lifecycle. This paper outlines how smarter asset management solutions, applied 2.1 Scope across the renewable energy project lifecycle, can lead to: accelerated construction time, reduced downtime, increased This paper focuses on how smart asset management solutions reliability and enhanced ROI. can support renewable electricity. Asset management solutions can be broadly applied to other forms of renewable energy (e.g. heating), however, these are not covered within 2 Introduction this paper. References and case studies are biased towards The UK Government has set target that by 2020, 15% of all wind power, which will represent the significant majority of energy will come from renewables. Electricity generation the UK’s renewable energy by 2020. The asset management plays a major part in this, with a target to generate 30% of solutions discussed can, however, be applied across the full electricity from renewable resources by 2020. The Scottish range of renewable energy platforms. The challenges and Government set a target of 100% electricity from renewable opportunities around renewable energy and smart grids are resources by 2020. The UK is progressing towards the inextricably linked. Whilst asset management solutions have renewable electricity target and in 2011 renewable energy a significant role to play in delivering smart grids, this is provided 9.5% of the UK’s electricity generation, an increase outside the scope of this paper. from 6.8% in 2010 [1]. Wind power represents the largest share of the UK’s renewable electricity, accounting for over 50% in 2011 (Table 1). 3 Background Renewable 2011 % 2011 % 3.1 UK Renewable Energy Policy Electricity Capacity change Output change Generation (GW) on 2010 TWh on 2010 UK Renewable energy policy is influenced by three critical Onshore wind 4.7 +15% 10.4 +45.9% factors: Offshore wind 1.8 +37% 5.1 +67.9% Hydro 1.7 +2% 5.7 +58.0% i) The threat of climate change Solar PV 1 +1169% 0.3 +658% The UK Government recognises that climate change “is one Thermal* 3.5 46% 13.3 +11.4% of the most serious environmental threats facing the world. Its All 12.7 33% 34.8 +35.1% impacts are likely to be felt globally as temperatures increase, Table 1: UK Renewable Electricity Capacity and Generation sea levels rise and patterns of drought and flooding change” (2011) [1] & [2](*Thermal includes co-firing) [3]. In response to this threat, renewable energy policy has To encourage investment in renewable energy, Government been developed, underpinned by the Climate Change Act introduced fiscal schemes to bring parity between 2008, which sets legally binding targets for an 80% cut in conventional and renewable energy technologies. Theses greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with interim reduction in fiscal schemes have been instrumental in delivering emissions of at least 34% by 2020 (relative to 1990) [4]. significant growth in renewable energy. The sector, however, faces numerous challenges around how it achieves rapid and ii) Managing the security of energy supplies efficient growth, whilst delivering a stable transmission grid, The UK faces diminishing fossil fuel reserves, which when with an intermittent and unplannable load. combined with the projected growth in energy demand, 1
  • 2. threatens the security of our energy supply. A drive to carbon electricity generation, particularly by organisations, “increase the proportion of energy we obtain from renewable communities and individuals that have not traditionally sources will not only increase the security of energy supplies engaged in the electricity market [9]. Unlike ROCs, which in the UK; it will also provide opportunities for investment in are market traded, the value of FITs is fixed by Government, new industries and new technologies. The Government will with the value for each technology based on the type of help business develop in this area to put the UK at the technology and its associated economic viability. FITs forefront of new renewable technologies and skills” [5]. provide benefits at 3 levels: • Generation tariff – the electricity supplier will pay the iii) wealth of the UK’s renewable energy resources. FIT for each unit (kilowatt) of electricity generated; The scale of opportunity in the UK is informed by the UK having some of the richest wind and marine resources in • Export tariff – energy not used can be exported back to Europe. Wind and marine resource alone could deliver a the grid, with an additional payment; and significant proportion of the UK’s electricity demand, with • Energy bill savings – less electricity will be procured scale to export to the EU. from the supplier impacting the electricity bill. 3.2 Financial Mechanisms for Renewable Electricity 3.3 Renewable Electricity Growth Projections Achieving the renewable electricity target of 30% will require In order to achieve its 2020 targets there needs to be a three- investment within the UK of £100bn [6]. Without fiscal fold increase in renewable capacity (from 12.7GW in 2011). drivers parity with conventional fossil fuel technologies will Figure 1 illustrates the growth in renewable electricity by not be achieved and the associated investment in renewable technology between 2008 and 2020. By 2020, more than electricity will not happen [7]. A number of fiscal drivers are 70% of the UK’s renewable electricity will be provided by therefore in place to incentivise investment and growth. The wind power, which represents the more mature form of schemes cover a range of scales from domestic micro- renewable electricity technology. generation through to offshore windfarms that will rival nuclear power stations in capacity. These fiscal schemes are outlined below. It should be noted that the schemes are subject to ongoing review, which has informed a degree of uncertainty and inertia amongst developers. 3.2.1 Renewable Obligation Certificates for large scale renewable electricity The Renewable Obligation (RO) is presently the UK’s mechanism for ensuring that large scale renewable generation projects have grid parity with non-renewable generation. Through the RO, developers receive a subsidy in the form of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), which are allocated for each megawatt hour of electricity generated. The number of ROCs awarded varies between technologies – for Figure 1: Renewable electricity technology capacities – example in 2012, 2 ROCs / MW were awarded for offshore comparison between 2008 and projected to 2020 [6] wind farms and 1 ROC / MW for onshore. This reflects the As the UK moves towards 2020, the size of renewable energy difference in costs between developing onshore and offshore projects is forecast to increase significantly. By 2020 some of wind farms. ROCs can be sold to electricity suppliers, who the planned wind farms will be more than 10 times bigger are legally obligated to supply a determined minimum level than the UK’s largest operating windfarm today, matching of green power in the UK. During 2012, ROCs have been and even exceeding nuclear power stations in output. As a trading at around £45 [8]. consequence of the FITs, we will also see around 10% of our The number of ROCs is set to reduce between 2013 and 2017, renewable electricity coming from small-scale (micro- after which, a “Feed in Tariff Contract for Difference” generation), including domestic installations. approach will apply. Projects already subject to the RO Renewable energy growth is not just dependent on system are to be “grandfathered”; therefore, the levels of RO Government Policy and capital investment decisions. support will remain critical for the lifetime of those projects Successful negotiation of the planning system is also critical. accredited to the scheme before it closes. Whilst Government Policy and a generalised support for renewables from the British community [10] meant that the 3.2.2 Feed in Tariffs for Micro-generation significant majority of projects have been approved, localised challenges have prevented many projects from progressing. Feed in Tariffs (FITs) were introduced to encourage deployment of additional small-scale (less than 5MW) low- 2
  • 3. 4 Challenges the wind generation capacity” [14]. The grid therefore needs to be able to accommodate the new projects whilst ensuring 4.1 Rapid growth in renewable electricity to 2020 that the wind power supply is channelled to demand. Whilst growth in renewable electricity has been strong, a On an international scale, the European supergrid would three-fold increase is still required by 2020. For Scotland to enable a wider distribution of electricity across Northern meet its target of 100% renewable electricity by 2020, will Europe, such that when the wind is blowing and UK supply require a sustained annual renewable deployment rate of more exceeds demand, the energy can be exported to areas where than twice ever experienced in Scotland is required [11]. renewable electricity supply is weaker [15]. The technology Achieving this growth requires the rapid deployment of and standards for high voltage underwater supergrid requires renewable energy projects, which are being developed with considerable development. increasing scale. Key to the efficient management of the UK’s energy is Major renewable energy projects involve significant capital accurate weather forecasting, which optimises the amount of costs, complex supply chains and complex challenging paths. renewable electricity that is used by balancing other This presents challenges to developers / operators in traditional forms of electricity generation. achieving the efficiencies that will drive ROI. Those that can optimise their project plans and resources will deploy faster 4.4 Operating and maintaining remote assets and with lower costs. How renewable electricity assets are managed has a profound Whilst subsidies (e.g. ROCs) have been instrumental in impact on productivity. Wind farms typically operate with an driving growth in renewable energy, there has been availability factor of approximately 95%. The challenge continuing uncertainty around the ongoing Renewable facing the industry is to optimise the availability factor, such Obligations reviews. This has undermined the confidence of that failures and outages are kept to a minimum and that investors and renewable energy’s growth potential, maintenance activities take place when the wind is not particularly given the long lead times in planning and blowing. building major projects such as offshore wind farms [12]. Data management is critical to an optimised operations and maintenance programme. Data collected from the hundreds 4.2 Managing the intermittency of supply of sensors, combined with weather data and maintenance Most forms of renewable electricity are subject to degrees of team management information provides the basis for intermittency in supply. In the case of wind farms, the intelligent analysis that can drive operational improvement. capacity factor (which describes the average output as a In maturity terms the industry is increasingly recognising the percentage of capacity) is approximately 30% of maximum value of data mining and analytics. In many cases, however, capacity (37% for offshore and 27% for onshore) [13]. the full opportunities are not being realised, with Whilst wind power outputs are predictable over aggregated organisations operating with ad hoc systems that are not fully time periods, power outputs can vary significantly between integrated let alone configured to exploit data to its potential. one hour and the next. Such intermittency has to be managed. Renewable electricity assets need to be maintained in If there’s no wind, no electricity is generated and demand potentially dangerous environments. The largest offshore must be satisfied from elsewhere, unless it can be curtailed. wind farms will feature hundreds of turbines. Maintaining the On the other hand, what happens with the surplus renewable turbines over their life will require crews working full-time in energy? How and where will it be stored and by whom? Can some of Britain’s harshest marine environments. The it be used productively? Can it be exported – is it either challenge is minimising the exposure of workers to these risks technically feasible or economically viable? Do the inter- whilst securing efficient maintenance of the assets. connectors with sufficient capacity exist? At what price can power be imported and exported, if those that are being 4.5 Collaborating within complex supply chains trading with are facing the same intermittency challenges? How the supply chain is configured can have significant Intermittent output also means there will be a need for implications for project success. Major renewable energy generation from other – typically non-renewable – projects are characterised by their complex consortia and technologies, such as gas generation. This in turn raises supply chains, which are collectively working with questions about capital spending, managing waste and dealing challenging critical paths and a significant capital cost base. with CO2 emissions. Some of the largest wind farms involve partnership across both the supply chain and amongst competitors. This presents 4.3 Upgrading the grid and managing supply challenges around how the consortia operates, how The national grid was not designed to support the UK’s information is shared quickly and effectively without current growth in renewable electricity. “Wind turbines are compromising confidentiality and security. usually located in rural or upland areas, where the electrical connection to the nearest electricity substation can be weak, and where local demand for electricity may be much less than 3
  • 4. 5 Asset Management Solutions across the plans, concurrent development phases and managing the Renewable Energy Asset Lifecycle complex supply chains. This can accelerate build time, eliminate wasted costs and inform early revenue generation. The challenges associated within planning, designing, In addition to optimizing the location and array of turbines of building, operating and maintaining large scale renewable wind farms, analytics can be used to model operations, energy projects across complex supply chains necessitates maintenance profiles and supply chains before wind farms are smart asset management solutions. By Smart, we mean built. Designers can run “what-if” scenarios to model wind solutions – business processes and information systems – that farms before they are built – which can reduce lifecycle costs create better outcomes by applying data-driven insight to and risks whilst improving productivity and aesthetics. orchestrate the management of the interconnected component Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a new approach to parts. Smart solutions can help integrate renewable energy building design that takes advantage of the wealth of into the UK energy mix, allowing developers, operators and available information, to generate 3D digital representations policy-makers to plan and build the right sort of generating of physical and functional building characteristics. Once the capacity, at the right price and in the right locations. The data has been stored in the BIM it can then be migrated following sections provide an overview of how smart asset through the life of the asset and used to inform more efficient management solutions can, and are optimising all stages of operation and maintenance programmes. the renewable electricity project lifecycle. Offshore wind farms need to be maintained in some of 5.1 Plan and design Britain’s harshest marine environments. The scale of maintenance operations is likely to involve full time crews The optimisation of project strategies requires information and ships working in often challenging conditions. Managing management systems that can bring together disparate pieces these risks, and operational costs requires early integration of of data and information from across complex supply chains, reliability and fault resistance, including predictive operation which often include partners working across the supply chain and maintenance. Design will be crucial – both to create very and alliances between competitors. Added to which, projects high levels of reliability and building in smart operations. must operate with flexibility to scale up and down as the project evolves. How the project is managed and how the information is shared across the lifecycle is therefore critical. 5.1.1 Case Study: Integrating solutions between Collaborative information management systems enable data renewable electricity and renewable transport sharing across organisations, such that the right people can IBM is a partner within Denmark’s “Electric Vehicles in a see the right information at the right time, and without Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy security or commercial confidence being breached. and Open Networks” (EDISON) consortium. The purpose is With information management systems, energy demand and to use a critical mass of electric vehicles as a “virtual power supply can be modelled with a range of options for station” to supply electrical power during periods when optimisation. Having all of this information available renewable electricity supply is low and to absorb electrical supports the detailed planning processes that developers must power when renewable electricity supply exceeds demand. To go through. make this work, a new breed of metering, analysing, and controlling infrastructure is being developed so that electric When a one percentage point improvement in wind capacity cars can communicate intelligently with the grid to (the average output that can be expected as a percentage of dynamically determine when charging or discharging can take total capacity) can increase the revenue of 1GW wind farms place. IBM is similarly working with the Isle of White by £10m per annum, ensuring the best location and turbine “ecoisland” Hydrogen Vehicle Refuller project. Through the array is critical to delivering sustained ROI. Lifecycle Asset project, hydrogen will be produced for the purpose of fuelling Management (LCAM) ensures that assets create value at hydrogen vehicles, with production taking place when there is every stage of their operation. excess renewable electricity generation. Analytics make sense of “big data” to better design wind farms, such that marginal improvements to the wind farm 5.1.2 Case Study: Vestas design’s efficiency can lead to significant improvements to revenues. Weather and topography data shows us the Given the intermittency of wind power, wind farm owners are locations that will generate optimal power; in the case of wind increasing pressure on manufacturers to guarantee wind farms, turbine data shows us how the slipstream of one outputs from their turbines before they commit to purchases. turbine affects the other, historic performance information Each percentage point improvement in wind capacity can provides statistics on the reliability of different turbine generate additional revenues of millions of pounds, and the options and site information provides us with information on power generated from different locations and different ease of accessibility to build and maintain the operation. configurations of machines can vary considerably. Getting it Once planning permission has been granted, information right from the start is therefore critical. To meet this need management systems can support lean planning of the IBM and Vestas are utilising the biggest High Performance construction processes through: the optimisation of project Computer (HPC) in Denmark. The HPC is analysing complex 4
  • 5. sets of data including power data, topography data and maintenance (O&M) of assets over their lives is critical to historic weather data to calculate the power that would be maximising energy generation and the associated ROI. generated in a potential wind farm, running millions of Life Cycle Asset Management (LCAM) solutions will help scenarios to optimise design and layout and improve maximise availability. LCAM plays a critical part in confidence levels in predicted generation. scheduling equipment downtime – ensuring planned shut- downs take place when the supply and / or demand is less; 5.2 Build when the parts and engineers are available; and when The build process itself involves a complex supply chain, downtime will have the least economic impact upon with a web of risks that could delay the project and incur operation. This involves reducing the reliance on fixed- significant wasted costs. How materials, people and interval inspections and placing greater emphasis on processes are resourced will influence the efficiency of the condition-based maintenance, enabled by remote condition project and the productivity of the assets once built. monitoring (RCM). Information flow is an important element, ensuring that RCM brings together sensor technologies with advanced projects progress and that resources and inventory are communications software and sophisticated back-office communicated in real-time to those that need to manage them. systems to interpret and derive value from raw data collected By looking at the full lifecycle of a project, expensive from energy assets. In the case of wind farms, each turbine resources can be better utilised – for example, the hiring of has hundreds of individual sensed data points. At the ships and cranes can be better scheduled with works to operational level, RCM can automatically generate construct wind turbines and offshore platforms and install predictions and prioritised alarms, pinpointing turbines where electrical systems and cabling. The complex supply chain can there are problems and highlighting issues before failures be engaged more efficiently to ensure that work time is occur. This is providing operators with an accurate maximised and the risks of failure on any of the critical paths understanding of asset condition, allowing them to make are minimised. Meanwhile an optimised delivery schedule informed decisions on when it is most cost effective to will ensure that the costly storage and transportation of heavy conduct maintenance. and bulky assets and equipment is kept to a minimum. Critically, advanced RCM solutions are not just about Lean Sigma involves using “root cause analysis” to identify monitoring. They provide tools to actively manage remote opportunities to change how processes work. In so doing assets - for example, by automatically deactivating equipment areas of inefficiency and strategic misalignment can be when or before the equipment enters a failure mode. With identified which can inform change processes to improve large generation single turbines on the horizon, proactive productivity and better structure the processes. Lean Sigma asset management is becoming essential - as turbine outputs provides an "in-house" methodology tied to strategy through increase, so does the revenue loss from a single turbine failure improving operational performance and a focus on the or even planned outage. customer and stakeholders. Integrating asset management and RCM is becoming increasingly important with offshore renewable energy assets. 5.2.1 Case Study: Learning from aerospace; Airbus 380 Here, integrating asset management and RCM make it possible to organize supply chains and maintenance activities As with many renewable electricity projects, the Airbus 380 to ensure the efficient deployment of staff, where exposure to development was very aggressive. One of the most complex hazards in hostile and remote offshore environments are parts of the aircraft is the wing assembly, which was managed minimized, and costly resources are best used. This could by Airbus UK, who soon realised that new processes would include, for example, the availability of specialized ocean be needed to achieve the timescales. Working with IBM, going vessels, for which demand will be high, along with Airbus UK implemented transformation programmes in predications about weather and sea conditions that could business, financial and organisational disciplines, with a focus hinder operations - it would be expensive and inefficient on reducing cost of design and manufacture, improving spend over £100,000 leasing specialized ship and spending collaborative working, and transforming how Airbus worked over 12 hours getting to a wind turbine, only to discover that with its many subcontractors. As an outcome, improvements the weather and sea conditions are too dangerous to enable in concurrent engineering reduced lead time on the wing by maintenance to be conducted safely. 41 weeks (36% reduction). Similar approaches can be adopted across the wind farm development project to Historic data can be fed back into the design process to yield accelerate delivery and enhance ROI. long-term improvements in turbine and generator design. Learning from past performance patterns can be fed into the real-time screening of data streams at the heart of RCM. 5.3 Operate and Maintain The intermittency of power output is a major characteristic of When a one percentage point improvement in asset the UK’s renewable electricity portfolio. Significant availability can increase the revenue of 1GW capacity wind variations in power output between one hour and the next farms by £3m per annum, optimising the operations and means that other, non-renewable, energy systems must be kept on line to ensure continued supply. In China, wind 5
  • 6. power capacity now stands at 50GW (comparing with 6.5GW [3] Department of Energy and Climate Change. “What are in the UK). This has followed an annual growth rate of 87% the Impacts of Climate Change.” (2012). for the past six years. Through working with Chinese http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/explaining/i operators, IBM has implemented solutions to enable better mpacts/impacts.aspx prediction of future power outputs, such that the energy mix [4] UK Stationery Office Limited. “Climate Change Act is optimised to use wind power when the wind blows – thus 2008.” (2008). minimising both the use of non-renewable energy sources and [5] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Renewable the need for renewable energy curtailment. Day ahead power Energy Policy.” (2012). forecasting is in some cases forecasted with an error of just http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/rene 8%, leading to increased wind power integration of 10%. wable_ener/renewable_ener.aspx [6] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Renewable Energy Strategy.” (2009). 5.3.1 Case Study: Major European Energy Operator [7] Guardian Environment Network. “Crucial renewable Through working with one of the largest renewable energy energy subsidy decision could be delayed.” (2012). operators in Europe, IBM implemented a solution for the real- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/17/renewabl time monitoring, control, analysis and management of e-energy-subsidiy-decision-delayed renewable energy assets across its European renewable [8] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “The energy portfolio. The solution collects, analyses and presents Renewables Obligation.” (2012). data from diverse sources such as real-time operation systems http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/rene (e.g. sensor data from SCADA systems) and business support wable_ener/renew_obs/renew_obs.aspx systems (e.g. ERP) to enable the operator to make faster and [9] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Feed in more effective business decisions. The outputs from Tarrifs”. (2012). enhanced data visibility, integration and analytics have been http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/Ren significant improvements to operational effectiveness and ewable_ener/feedin_tariff/feedin_tariff.aspx cost savings. These have been derived through data driven [10] Guardian. “Environment Blog: British public strong benchmarking projects to replicate the optimal strategies used support renewable energy, survey says”. (2011). within the organisation, and new data insights that have http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/dec/14/bri enabled new KPIs on which the operator could enhance its tish-public-support-renewable-energy management at both a strategic and tactical level. [11] Scottish Government. “2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland” (2011). http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0118802.pdf 6 Conclusion [12] BBC. “Commons energy committee criticises UK By 2020 the Government has a target to deliver 30% of the renewables plan” (2012) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk- UK’s electricity from renewable sources. To achieve this, the scotland-scotland-business-18948447 renewable sector, particularly in terms of wind power, is [13] RenewableUK. “Wind power soars – nearly five million growing considerably. This growth presents a number of homes powered in 2011.” (2011). challenges, including: the rapid growth in renewable http://www.bwea.com/media/news/articles/pr20120329.html electricity; managing the intermittency of supply; upgrading [14] RenewableUK. “Generating for the UK Electricity the grid and managing supply; operating and maintaining System.” (2012). http://www.bwea.com/ref/generating.html remote assets; and collaborating within complex supply [15] Earth Times. “European Supergrid – the Vision moves chains. This paper has discussed how Smarter Asset forward”. (2012). Management offers a solution to these challenges. Solutions http://www.earthtimes.org/energy/european-supergrid-vision- have been proposed within the different phases of a wind forward/2070/ farm’s lifecycle. Case studies have been presented to demonstrate how leading organisations are applying Smarter Bibliography Asset Management solutions to improve the performance of Bentley, J., Hornsby, S., Hanley, B. & Gibbels, R. their wind farm assets and maximise return on investment. “Renewables: The winds of change”, IBM Smarter Energy, (2011) Acknowledgements Thanks to Steve Hornsby and Trevor Miles for their specialist material expert support. References [1] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Statistical press Release: UK Energy Statistics.” (2012). [2] Department for Energy and Climate Change. “Digest of United Kingdom energy statistics (DUKES) for 2012” (2012). 6