Wind power is increasingly becoming a more established source of energy. High oil prices, global warming concerns and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima have all contributed to more people looking at renewable energy sources such as wind power. Germany, for example, has decided to gradually phase-out nuclear power by 2022. Wind power will be the backbone of this energy transition – by the year 2050 it should cover about half of German electricity.
The energy transition in Germany shows that the successful integration of renewable energy into utility portfolios is increasing. Still, owners and operators of wind farms face many business challenges: optimizing operations, effective maintenance and increasing the accuracy and timeliness of decisions all affect the bottom line. Other critical issues include utility integration, accurate data analysis as well as forecasting and scheduling energy output. All these business aspects require reliable real time data for making effective decisions.
How challenges like these can be overcome by using OPC is well demonstrated in the example of a wind farm in Spain which is operated by a major energy company.
¿Habla Español? Empresa Energética utiliza OPC para el funcionamiento de sus parques eólicos en España (en español)
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Energieversorger setzt für die Verwaltung seiner Windparks in Spanien auf MatrikonOPC (Deutsch)