Three ways to drive profitability for wind energy
ONYX Insight has released a new report providing recommendations on how the wind energy sector can remain successful and profitable for players.
The Decoding Wind’s Future study states that successful renewable energy operators will need to be responsive to pricing mechanisms and tailor their operations to improve profitability.
Three ways wind energy sector players can do so include:
l Eliminate silos: The study states that siloed data has over the past years prevented the wind energy industry from achieving operational excellence. Amongst the interviewed wind energy stakeholders, 62% highlighted that data integration is a significant barrier to digital advancement. This comes at a time the digital transformation of the utility sector is critical for optimised operations and to achieve the energy transition.
ONYX Insight urges wind energy plant owners and operators to consider an asset as a single power plant and make operational decisions that optimise output across the whole plant, not just individual turbines or modules. This will boost profitability on an asset level while unlocking sustainable competitiveness, greater investor confidence, and further industry growth, according to the study.
l Optimize complex, diverse portfolios: ONYX Insight calls for the deployment of platforms that can enable utilities to centralise management of distributed and integrated resources. For instance, with energy systems of the future expected to comprise various resources such as wind and solar, platforms that can enable utilities to operate hybrid systems will be vital. ONYX Insight’s research predicts that the total installed capacity in 2030 will encompass 902GW solar, 1114GW wind, and 87GW storage that means that a single tool to manage a single aspect of operation will not be sufficient.
l Move away from magic bullet digital tools: Keeping assets running, maximising power production and a focus on MWh has been the default strategy for many to date. ONYX Insight makes the case for moving away from MWh financial models to capital profitability models using metrics such as $/MWh, Climbs/WTG, MW/ tech and MTTR (Mean time to respond), as well as the adoption of flexible operating strategies, underpinned by market pricing, where turbines can be uprated or derated to maximize the value of energy sold.
Bruce Hall, CEO, ONYX InSight, said: “This is a pivotal time for renewable energy. As the sector scales up and prepares to be at the heart of global energy production, it must maintain a sharp focus on profitability.
“Make no mistake, building the centralised software platforms of the future is not a trivial task. It requires deep multidisciplinary expertise, combining analytics and data management as well as the latest engineering and operational knowledge.”
Evgenia Golysheva, Head of Engineering, ONYX InSight, adds: “Industry stakeholders will benefit from being open-minded — but not naïve — about technology and data. Using these powerful tools to become more agile in response to a changing landscape, both on a macro and micro level will open the door to continued success, in the short-term, and in the decades to come.”