GE (NYSE: GE) announced that it has expanded its wind services portfolio to include production based availability (PBA) guarantees as an option for new and existing operations and maintenance contracts on all GE 1.5 and 2.5 megawatt series wind turbines. Available later this year, GE’s production guarantees have been designed with the goals of its customers in mind; ensuring that wind turbines are available during the high wind periods which can be the most profitable for turbine owners.
GE’s installed base of 17,000 wind turbines has been an industry leader in availability over the last several years. In 2010, GE’s North American 1.5 megawatt wind turbines achieved 98.6 percent fleet-wide time-based availability, with a global average of more than 98 percent. Wind turbine availability is an important measurement of how well a wind farm is operating and is representative of the amount of time a turbine is able to produce power.
GE’s PBA guarantee takes into consideration availability, while at the same time balancing peak production on turbines wind-farm wide. While keeping time-based availability high will continue to be important, factoring in key performance trends gives GE’s wind services team a better perspective on how to best operate a site.
“GE is at the forefront of providing customer value by allowing turbine owners and operators an option that focuses on production in addition to availability,” said Diarmaid Mulholland, general manager of wind services for GE. “Our production-based availability solution is another example of our evolving portfolio of flexible solutions designed to meet our customers’ unique needs.”
In addition, the performance formula employed by GE’s highly-trained technicians allows flexibility to intelligently schedule turbine maintenance. GE can tailor site services, such as routine maintenance, troubleshooting and repair, based on owner/operator profitability goals.