Transparent and consistent information structure
Since late 2019, a close group of OEMs and utilities has worked on setting up a project to create a common ground for documentation and reference designation requirements between wind turbine manufacturers and operators to agree on further developing industry standards for the global wind industry.
TIM Wind was established as a collaboration between Vestas Wind Systems, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Nordex, GE Vernova Offshore Wind, Ørsted, and Vattenfall
Well assisted by information modeling experts from Statkraft's hydro department and TrønderEnergi. Since then, further companies like RWE, Equinor, and DNV have joined the initiative. Project participants are documentation experts from these companies who discuss how to structure documentation and categorize and code documents. APQP4Wind is the project host, and Energy Cluster Denmark is the project facilitator.
Transparent and consistent information structure
Directives and IEC/ISO standards set the overall framework for which information is to be delivered from turbine manufacturer to operator. But specific and detailed documentation may be created in any phase by the parties involved, resulting in inconsistent ways of creating and delivering the same information.
This creates uncertainty in the communication between turbine manufacturer and operator, resulting in large amounts of time and resources spent on alignment and clarification. Aligning methods for technical information structure and management can potentially deliver further reductions to LCoE.
The ambition of TIM Wind is to create a clear and unambiguous interpretation of the existing standards and to develop new standards that can be applied in the wind industry. Upon completion, the documents created in the TIM Wind work streams will be open source and available to the global wind sector.
Due to a common wish to simplify and strengthen the entire quality planning and product release process, TIM Wind started a collaboration with APQP4Wind with the purpose of aligning the methods for technical information structure and management in the global wind industry. From 2022, the documents created by TIM Wind will therefore be hosted by APQP4Wind and updated on a regular basis.
TIM Wind is yet another example of how the wind sector can work together on industry standardization processes that are not directly related to turbine design and wind farm operation. Previously, this has also been demonstrated in e.g. the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and APQ4Wind initiatives, both of which have adapted standards from other sectors to fit into a wind-specific standard that matures and improves the value chain.
TIM Wind ambitions
The full potential of TIM Wind is achieved when all major global turbine manufacturers and operators have adopted the TIM Wind guidelines. The manufacturer will meet all major operators' exact documentation requirements and avoid having to follow a different set of documentation protocols with every turbine order.
Similarly, regardless of the turbine brand, the operator can expect the same documentation package with the same overall content. The administrative cost reduction will be significant for both groups.
“The hope is that the guideline documents delivered by TIM Wind are used by all major players in the wind sector. Only then will we reach the full benefit of this crucial initiative,” Project Manager at Energy Cluster Denmark, Christian Munk Jensen concludes.
If you wish to know more about TIM Wind, please contact Christian Munk Jensen, Project Manager at Energy Cluster Denmark.