Remote Operation/Monitoring System and Video Monitoring Solution for Renewable Energies

Optimization of offshore wind turbines and onshore facilities for Japan’s largest wind farm

  • February 22, 2024
  • 685 views
  • Ishikari Bay New Port Offshore Wind Farm (Source: Green Power Investment Corporation)
    Ishikari Bay New Port Offshore Wind Farm (Source: Green Power Investment Corporation)

Yokogawa Electric announced that its subsidiary Yokogawa Solution Service Corporation has completed the design, supply and commissioning of a remote operation and monitoring system based on the OpreX™ Collaborative Information Server for the offshore wind turbines and onshore facilities at the Ishikari Bay New Port Offshore Wind Farm. The company is also contracted to provide maintenance services at this wind farm, which is operated by JERA Co., Inc. and Green Power Investment Corporation and owned by Green Power Ishikari GK, a special purpose company.

At the heart of this remote control and monitoring system is Yokogawa's Collaborative Information Server, a solution that centrally manages data from the offshore wind turbines, the substation's large storage batteries, and cameras installed on the wind turbines, storage batteries, and turbine maintenance yard. This video surveillance system uses the Edge Gateway AG 10 (for indoor use) solution provided by Yokogawa's subsidiary amnimo Inc.

Controls for the power distributon and storage

Wind is a renewable energy source and the amount of electricity produced varies depending on the weather conditions. Taking into account information on electricity demand provided by the transmission system operator, this remote control and monitoring system provides the data needed to control the amount of electricity stored by the battery storage system.

Proof-of concept test for optical monitoring of cables

In addition to the systems supplied for this project, Yokogawa Solution Service has also received orders from Green Power Investment Corporation for systems that will aggregate real-time information from wind farms across Japan and link it to cloud-based analysis tools. And together with Green Power Investment, Yokogawa Solution Service has begun proof-of-concept tests using the DTSX3000 fibre-optic temperature sensor, a product in the OpreX Field Instruments range, to detect signs of damage to submarine cables at the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm.

Yokogawa is firmly focused on developing the system of systems (SoS) concept, whereby systems work together as a whole while maintaining operational and management independence to achieve, in an emergent way, goals that cannot be achieved independently. While there are many types of equipment and system configurations at wind farms, Yokogawa possesses the operational technology (OT) know-how needed to interpret data from sensors and other devices and thereby identify how the equipment and systems should be linked to achieve optimization at the individual and collective levels. By leveraging this know-how to provide solutions that cover everything from operation to overall system maintenance, Yokogawa will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society.