Iberwind is an energy company based and operating in Portugal, where it promotes, develops and operates renewable energy projects. Since 1998, Iberwind has installed more than 300 wind turbines across the country, and is responsible for around 15% of the wind energy produced in Portugal – enough to run more than 550,000 households. Focused on the production of clean and renewable energy, the work done by Iberwind contributes a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than one million tonnes every year.
The Challenge
Iberwind’s wind portfolio had grown exponentially since the early days, and included more than thirty wind farms across Portugal, including two with more than 100MW of installed capacity.
However, their control system was dated, and had not kept up with the rapid growth of the business. Their view of the portfolio was fragmented, and they needed a system which would give them a cohesive overview of the whole portfolio. There was also no mobile capability, which meant attempts to modernize their way of working were stymied.
In a nutshell, Iberwind needed a modern system to match their business growth, while remaining flexible enough to accommodate future changes in the industry.
Our Solution
In order to comply with Iberwind’s operational management needs, it was vital to use a Level 2 SCADA system. This type of system gathers data from several data sources (with different manufacturers and communication protocols), and structures all information in a multi-feature platform that allows much more flexibility than a Level 1 system.Â
CGI’s Renewables Management System (RMS) is based on a Level 2 SCADA, and allows Iberwind to efficiently manage their portfolio of renewable power plants and enjoy superior understanding of asset performance. RMS uses a unified data model which normalizes the data sources from multiple manufacturers, thus ensuring that all Iberwind’s assets are incorporated into the system, whether they be manufactured by Enercon, GEWE, Nordex, Senvion or Vestas.
The RMS solution built for Iberwind revolved around the following main features:
- Global monitoring tools
- SMS alerts
- Mobile platform
- Performance management and analysis
The Success story
CGI built a solution which not only brought Iberwind’s systems up-to-date and introduced innovative new features, but also helped to improve the business in several key ways:
- Gave wind power plant supervisors the tools to react quickly to operational faults, leading to reduced downtime and increased production.
- Brought managers closer to the frontline of park operations.
- Streamlined operations through use of remote monitoring and a mobile platform.
- Improved the transparency and reliability of day-today operations.
