Operating wind power stations with high availability

When it comes to high availability and reliability of wind energy systems, the plant operator has just one objective - to avoid any unexpected downtime or problems with everyday operation. For an ungrounded asynchronous generator with squirrel cage rotor, a blind performance compensation device is installed in parallel to the generator. For modern systems, the generator speed is disconnected from the network frequency by means of an alternating current inverter. Electrical safety plays a decisive role. An undetected isolation fault is just as significant as unexpected system downtime or can increase the fire risk. At the same time, unplanned service interventions can be expensive and time-consuming.

The energy that the wind energy system requires for operation is fed in as control voltage from outside and must be monitored for electrical safety. After all, an undetected electrical fault is as significant as unexpected system downtime and also significantly increases the fire risk. At the same, unplanned service interventions can be expensive and time-consuming. Wind energy plant insurers also demand effective condition monitoring systems. The Bender Condition Monitoring System gives you a clear overview of all the relevant data for your system.

Before internal generation systems (photovoltaics, water power, CHP, biogas, etc.) can feed electrical energy into the public grid, an automatic switching point must be installed between the generation system and the low voltage network. This checks whether the frequency and voltage fed in are within the specified range. The VMD three-phase voltage monitoring relay is used to pre-configure numerous standard specifications at the touch of a button.

Unexpected shutdowns of safety-critical systems and downtime for wind energy plants are avoided using a controller which monitors the pitch based on ground-fault monitoring (RCMS residual current monitoring) systems. 

The monitoring of the azimuth control by RCMA or RCMS (ground-fault monitoring) enables early detection of creeping insulation deterioration. Shutdowns are avoided and the product safety of your system is improved. 

The decentralized wind energy systems (WES) are monitored centrally by a control center. The necessary data and information is provided by Bender gateways and condition monitoring systems. Using a gateway or condition monitor from the COMTRAXX® range, the insulation resistance or any residual current occurring is reported to the higher level monitoring systems or a control center.