Statkraft installs Kongsberg Digital's EmPower at Smøla

Statkraft has chosen Kongsberg Digital’s EmPower for real-time condition monitoring and prediction of remaining useful lifetime of critical components for wind turbines at Smøla wind farm.

The project’s goal is to use Kongsberg EmPower to achieve increased operational performance and reduce maintenance cost at Smøla.

Statkraft’s first wind farm opened at Smøla in 2002. Smøla was Norway’s first major wind farm, and with the expansion in 2005, it became Europe’s largest onshore wind farm at the time. 

“Kongsberg EmPower enables Statkraft to better utilize and turn the enormous amounts of data generated from the wind turbines into real-time information of turbine performance and condition, providing early detection of degradation and failure prediction. Predictive information will provide better planning of maintenance, and reduce maintenance cost and downtime ", says Hege Skryseth, President of Kongsberg Digital.

Strategically important

The installation of Kongsberg EmPower at Smøla Wind Farm is supported by Enova, and will be performed during early autumn 2016. For Kongsberg Digital this new contract with Statkraft is of significant importance.

"This contract with Statkraft is strategically important for Kongsberg Digital and for our focus within the renewables and utilities area. We recently signed an agreement with Statoil for delivery of EmPower to their offshore wind turbine Hywind. By signing the new contract with Statkraft we are taking one step of becoming a major player in the European renewable energy market with clear ambitions related to optimizing performance and reducing operational cost for wind farms. The project with Statkraft is a perfect match for EmPower”, says Skryseth.

Statkraft – major international player in wind

Statkraft currently operates onshore and offshore wind farms in Norway, Sweden and the UK with a total installed capacity of around 1.2 GW. Together with partners in Fosen Vind, Statkraft is realising Europe's largest onshore wind power project located in Central-Norway, comprising of six wind farms with a combined capacity of 1000 MW scheduled for commissioning by 2020. 

“We are happy to take part in this project. If this technology succeeds, there will be potential for an increase in the energy production from the Smøla Wind Farm, as well as other wind farms in the future“, says Audhild Kvam, Marketing Director of Enova

Kongsberg EmPower is a turbine independent decision support system based on KONGSBERG's broad experience within automation and decision support systems for the defence and maritime sectors as well as offshore oil and gas. Kongsberg EmPower integrates all important operational information about the wind farms in the portfolio into one unified system, and empowers the user to take full control of the production, operation and maintenance planning in each farm.

For further information, please contact: Eirik Skare, Vice President Sales & Marketing Renewables and Utilities, Kongsberg Digital, Tel: (+47) 913 02 327, eirik.skare@kdi.kongsberg.com