Planning of operation & maintenance using risk and reliability based methods

Operation and maintenance (OM) of offshore wind turbines contributes with a substantial part of the total levelized cost of energy (LCOE). The objective of this paper is to present an application of risk-and reliability-based methods for planning of OM. The theoretical basis is presented and illustrated by an example, namely for planning of inspections and maintenance of wind turbine blades. A life-cycle approach is used where the total expected cost in the remaining lifetime is minimized. This maintenance plan is continuously updated during the lifetime using information from previous inspections and from condition monitoring with time intervals between inspections and maintenance / repair options as the decision parameters. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.