Product Pick of the Week - WindBOOST from General Electric reaches a Milestone

GE has announced the 2,000^th installation of WindBOOST, a wind turbine controls system upgrade for GE’s 1.5 and 2.5 megawatt series that helps increase annual energy production of a wind farm by allowing for increased power output. Using WindBOOST, wind operators have increased their energy output by a total of 341,000 megawatt hours (MWh). The global wind-boosted fleet includes turbines from numerous GE customers including Invenergy, First Wind and EDPR.

“At Invenergy, we’re dedicated to optimizing our operating fleet economics, and WindBOOST is a product that provides exactly that opportunity,” said Alex George, senior vice president of operations and asset management, Invenergy. “WindBOOST is a prime example of GE leveraging the vast amount of data from its existing fleet and using it to innovate products which benefit our existing assets.”

“GE’s WindBOOST technology is providing meaningful return to us at First Wind,” said First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor. “Partnering with GE on emerging technologies has given us the opportunity to be at the front line of product enhancements for the wind industry. We are looking forward to working with GE on more technology projects in the future to generate maximum value at our projects and to deliver cost-effective cleaner energy to homes and businesses.”

“EDPR has opted to take a proactive approach to increasing wind turbine production across our fleet. Few products currently on the market can actually change the production budget of a wind farm; however, GE’s WindBOOST technology is exciting because it allows us to alter the economics of our projects. We have implemented WindBOOST on numerous turbines across our fleet with success,” said Brian Hayes, senior vice president of asset operations, EDPR.

WindBOOST works by monitoring the air density of the turbine in real time and accordingly increases the rotational speed of the generator. This results in an increased output of nearly 100-kilowatt hours (kW), enhancing productivity from 1,500 kW to 1,600 kW for a standard turbine.

WindBOOST is automatically activated depending on wind speed, weather and terrain conditions, increasing the energy produced by each wind turbine by up to 4 percent. The WindBOOST upgrade, equipped with remote power capabilities for added flexibility, was designed to maintain electrical and mechanical loading within the confines of the existing turbine design.

“WindBOOST enables the flexibility to extract maximum value from operators’ existing wind assets without decreasing life expectancy or making significant hardware or component changes,” said Andy Holt, general manager of wind services for GE’s renewable energy business. “This milestone is a testament to the proven ability of WindBOOST to enhance productivity and maximize revenue for customers in a wide array of wind and weather conditions, terrain configurations and ISO markets.”

WindBOOST is part of GE’s suite of wind service offerings that increase annual energy production. GE is harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet and using software and analytics to make its machines smarter and more efficient. In addition to WindBOOST, GE wind services provide value to customers through advanced software products such as WindCONTROL, Turbine Performance Optimization, Winter Ice Operation Mode and PulsePOINT.

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