Key performance indicators for wind farm operation and maintenance

Abstract

Key performance indicators (KPI) are tools for measuring the progress of a business towards its goals. Although wind energy is now a mature technology, there is a lack of well-defined best practices to asses the performance of a wind farm (WF) during the operation and maintenance (O&M) phase; processes and tools of asset management, such as KPIs, are not yet well-established. This paper presents a review of the major existing indicators used in the O&M of wind farms (WFs), as such information is not available in the literature so far. The different stakeholders involved in the O&M phase are identified and analysed together with their interests, grouped into five categories. A suggestion is made for the properties that KPIs should exhibit. For each category, major indicators that are currently in use are reviewed, discussed and verified against the properties defined. Finally, we propose a list of suitable KPIs that will allow stakeholders to have a better knowledge of an operating asset and make informed decisions. It is concluded that more detailed studies of specific KPIs and the issues of their implementation are probably needed.