Reliability and cost reduction are vital to the growth of the wind industry, especially offshore,
and to realise the UK's targets for 2020 and beyond. A recent study by Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI) shows that a reduction of 67% can be achieved in the maintenance
costs of offshore wind turbines (WTs) if preventive maintenance is adopted, enabled by
condition monitoring systems (CMSs). Reliawind, spun out from Cambridge University
Engineering Department, has developed a novel and patent-pending CMS technology for WT
drivetrains, which is 60% cheaper and substantially easier to install than its rival products in
the market, and has greater fault detection precision and diagnosis.
The unique feature of ReliaWind is the use of electrical measurements, already available in
WTs, to detect and diagnose mechanical and electrical faults in WT drivetrains. Hence, the
hardware and its installation are significantly simpler than existing CMS products. In addition,
Reliawind algorithms are based on the analysis of complex electro-magnetic (EM) fields in
the generator, derived from the voltage and current measurements, which have shown to give
enhanced precision in fault detection. The technology is proven on laboratory-scale prototypes
and is being developed for site testing in real wind turbines. This project aims to study, assess
and prove the commercial feasibility of Reliawind for on- and offshore wind applications and
set the foundation for commercialisation operation to move to the next phase