When everyone else is looking is going to go bigger – with larger rotor diameters and power capacities – you cannot forget about quality, says Mr. Yong Yu. “Without quality control to keep the turbine reliable and stable, any measure taken to reduce cost and increase efficiency is meaningless.”
Windey’s own quality standards are maintained by the OEM’s digital twin technology. It integrates machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data to digitally replicate active wind farms, in real-time and in the exact conditions they’re in, to pre-emptively troubleshoot operational faults. The system boasts a warning accuracy rate exceeding 80%, which according to Windey, “sets a new benchmark within the industry.” The OEM reports that its technology has “proven its cost-effectiveness by successfully reducing maintenance costs by up to 15%, demonstrating tangible economic benefits for its users.” It’s not just for O&M that the technology is being used but throughout the whole wind farm lifecycle.
Speaking at the Windey stand during this year’s WindEnergy Hamburg – the international renewable energy trade fair – Mr Yong Yu says the OEM plans to take its quality-first approach further afield. It already has overseas branches in Singapore, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, UAE, Serbia and the UK, but Yong Yu says Windey wants to establish itself further in Europe and Latin America.
“To be honest, every region presents an opportunity for Windey,” says Yong Yu, “and it’s about finding out how Windey fits.” He uses the Middle East and central Asia as an example: “Where in these regions the LCOE is quite low, it means there is a need for leading technology to reduce cost and increase efficiency. And as a result, these are key and major markets for Windey.”
Happily the OEM is already seeing some positive results of its overseas efforts: Yong Yu reports that Windey has got 2GW worth of overseas orders this year with 18GW in total. But more collaboration is needed, and at the fair, Windey formally invited WINDEY global partners to work with them.
To find out more about the international strategy and ambitions of China’s oldest OEM, watch the video below.
