ONYX InSight, a leading provider of data analytics and engineering expertise to the global wind industry, has been selected by Eurus to monitor and analyse the health and performance of 33 wind turbines at two wind farms in Japan. Following a competitive tender, ONYX InSight and Eurus have agreed a two-year predictive maintenance contract covering 59MW of the Japanese developer's portfolio. Under the contract, ONYX InSight began installing 33 ecoCMS monitoring systems in August 2019.

ONYX InSight's ecoCMS condition monitoring systems (CMS) will monitor drive train performance in multiple turbine models across the wind farms. The innovative system uses Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology to increase coverage of sensors on the drive train. Coupled with IoT technology, ONYX InSight's ecoCMS monitoring equipment empowers operators to re-evaluate the real-life costs of CMS and helps them reap the benefits of online monitoring and predictive maintenance.

The ecoCMS hardware will be coupled with fleetMONITOR, ONYX InSight's monitoring software, to analyse the performance and health data across the turbines. Cloud-based fleetMONITOR will enable Eurus to constantly track the health and performance of all the turbines with ecoCMS installed, and provide early failure detection to support strategic predictive maintenance decisions. 

By investing in robust and reliable predictive maintenance technology and monitoring services, Eurus strengthens its potential for O&M cost savings. By monitoring and analysing turbine data from the ecoCMS technology over 2 years, ONYX InSight will help Eurus to make significant O&M cost savings across the monitored wind turbines.

Japan is making strides towards nurturing the growth of wind energy in the region. The consultancy Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis identified in a 2017 report that there is the potential for 10GW of offshore wind in Japan by 2030. If the Japanese government maintains its commitment to support offshore wind, the country is set to become one of the most promising markets for the sector over the next decade.

This means that asset owners and operators will increasingly be looking to reduce O&M costs, whilst maximising asset availability and profitability, as investors look to optimise their return-on-investment (ROI) to reflect the profitability of the European Wind Industry.

Noah Myrent, Global Head of Monitoring, ONYX InSight, said "By adopting predictive maintenance technologies, Eurus has positioned itself as a market leader in Japanese wind. Eurus will benefit from being one step ahead in an increasingly digital market, allowing the company to better manage operational budgets and improve turbine performance."

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