Executive Viewpoint

Trail Blazers: How Baze took the lead on offshore wind

6 November 2009

WindEnergyUpdate talks tactics with Baze Technology’s Christian Rambech Dahl, vice president of strategy and markets.

By Tom Evans

Baze Technology recently rolled out a groundbreaking integrated operations management system (OMS) for multi-site wind farm operations.

The Bazefield solution, originally designed for the oil and gas sector, has been tailored for offshore wind and has been selected by StatoilHydro for implementation at Havøygavlen, where StatoilHydro is the part owner of 16 wind turbines.

This week, WindEnergyUpdate zooms in on Baze’s medium-term game plan, while Dahl ponders ideal partnerships and charts the future of offshore wind.

WindEnergyUpdate: Can you tell us a little bit about the projects that you’re working on currently? What are your current aims for the next 6 months?  

Christian Rambech Dahl: We are currently working with StatoilHydro to establish their operations centre for monitoring and collaboration with the wind farm sites Havøygavlen and Hywind offshore turbine. Using the IEC 62400-25 definitions Nordex and Siemens turbines are already hooked up and monitoring started. Next is training the personnel in way of working, as this is an important part of the concept. 

WindEnergyUpdate: What partnerships are you looking at, or whom would you like to work with?

Christian Rambech Dahl: Baze Technology has a strategy on focusing on developing software products, as opposed to project solution and we seek partners that can sell and install our products as an add-on to their own business. Turbine vendors and companies delivering wind farm operations or services are ideal candidates.

WindEnergyUpdate: Who has come up with the most exciting innovation that you’ve seen recently and why?

Christian Rambech Dahl: The most exiting innovation, or perhaps boldest step, is StatoilHydro’s Hywind, taking the first step into next generation wind farms. Also giving new challenges to O&M, it necessitates revised O&M strategies. 

WindEnergyUpdate: How do you think the current aims for wind energy expansion are reliant on new turbine O&M strategies & how do you see the industry changing over the next decade?

Christian Rambech Dahl: I think this industry is in a transition phase from relatively speaking smaller wind farms to large wind farms, several of them even offshore. I think this will lead to an industrialization of this business and a new set of farm owners who will operate the parks themselves. And new contract regimes between owners and OEMs will emerge. 

WindEnergyUpdate: You will be joining us at the Wind Energy Operations and Maintenance conference in Hamburg on 17-18 November. What will the audience learn about from your presentation?

Christian Rambech Dahl: They will learn how StatoilHydro takes the concepts from the offshore industry and together with Baze Technology experiences from other process industries applies this to wind farming.

They will also learn how Baze Technology as an IT systems provider helps StatoilHydro reach their goals. 

WindEnergyUpdate: Thanks for your time, finally given the chance, in your ideal world what would you be doing right now?

Christian Rambech Dahl: A nice move would probably be to prepare the boat for the winter season, building expectations for next year’s boating season and summer expedition. 

Christian Rambech Dahl is speaking at the upcoming ,Wind Operations and Maintenance conference in Hamburg on 17-18 November.

The Wind Operations and Maintenance conference in Hamburg will provide a unique opportunity for established operators to access the latest case studies and learn strategies for reducing costs on core turbine maintenance, as well as how to improve data analysis to ensure maximised power production. 

Christian will be joined by over 25 speakers from operators, contractors and services organizations including: Iberdrola, Acciona, RES Ltd, Imwind, GL Group, the Global Wind Alliance, Fraunhofer, RISO and Vattenfall AB at the Wind Energy Operations & Maintenance conference.  The event sponsors and exhibitors include the likes of the Met Office, Dantec Dynamics, ExxonMobil, Morgan Carbon and more.  

For more details, please visit:

http://www.windenergyupdate.com/omeu 

Or contact: 

Tom Evans, Director, Wind Energy Update

Tel: 00 44 (0) 207 375 7247

email: tom@windenergyupdate.com