“Ingrid Control was the only solution making it possible to gather the power plant data (substation and wind turbines) and the DSO data on a single interface”
About Eurowatt
Eurowatt group is a renewable energy IPP.
Recognized player in France and Europe, the group ensures all phases of a project and masters all wind power businesses: Development, Construction and Operation.
With more than 10 years of experience, Eurowatt is now one of the top fifteen wind power IPPs in France, having more than 170 authorized wind turbines (380 MW) and 108 in operation (222 MW).
What were the issues that led you to consider using this solution ?
“The issues were multiple and of different nature: the obligation to integrate the DSO remote control device (“DEIE” from Enedis in France), the lack of responsiveness and the cost of human interventions to put the substations back into service after tripping of the main protection, the difficulties in quickly identifying the origin of malfunctions at the level of the turbines, the substation or the grid operator, the multiplication of turbines and substations SCADA interfaces, the absence of a device allowing the electricity metering data to be retrieved in advance and to verify them, and finally the need to have a solution able to adapt to regulatory changes ”explains Vincent Swaenepoel, head of electrical and maintenance dpt. of the Eurowatt group.
What are the 3 most relevant key features of Ingrid control ?
“We currently have around 20 people ranging from on-site operators to operation managers who use the tool. Aside from the “user friendly” aspect of the interface, the most popular features are:
1/ The quick and easy monitoring of the status of the devices of the power plant (substation and wind turbines), of the DEIE and of the DSO network, all on a single interface.
2/ Sending of alerts in the event of shutdown or curtailment of the power plant.
3/ Archiving of all measurements as well as the commands sent to the power plant”
Can you give us some benefits related to the use of the solution ?
“We conducted an analysis of the events that occurred in our wind farms in the first half of 2020, and valued 5 use cases out of 15 identified. The valuation of these 5 use cases represents an amount of 145k € / year corresponding to production losses and / or salary costs avoided. From an operational point of view, we have significantly reduced the time to diagnose plant malfunctions. Remote or automated reset of MV switch gears at the substation no longer requires systematically moving 2 technicians to the site. To get an order of magnitude, it is interesting to note that the loss of revenues for one day of plant shutdown can represent 4-5000 € / day.
In addition, the data collected by Ingrid control makes it possible to foster new discussions and explore new topics with our service providers: indicators on the wear of MV equipment (number of maneuvers), on monitoring the quality of the DSO services (number of unscheduled outages), monitoring of power plant production (electrical losses between the turbines and the substation, collation of production data transmitted by the DSO) but also of their consumption (monitoring over time of variations in turbine self consumption when they are in standstill)”.
Have these benefits enabled you to develop new tasks or new services ?
“Yes indeed, the deployment of Ingrid control in our wind farms has encouraged the internalization of the maintenance of the substations and intra-park networks. Our on-site plant operators are now trained to use the various equipment of a substation as well as in Ingrid control, which has become our unique operation interface.
We are now looking forward to using the new Ingrid Control Web (ICW) interface, which promises to make our daily routine easier with new services related to selling into the spot market and the flexibility of the production”, concludes Vincent Swaenepoel.
To find out about Eurowatt and their missions, visit their website: https://eurowatt-group.com/