On risk-based operation and maintenance of offshore wind turbine components

Operation and maintenance are significant contributors to the cost of energy for offshore wind turbines. Optimal planning could rationally be based on Bayesian pre-posterior decision theory, and all costs through the lifetime of the structures should be included. This paper contains a study of a generic case where the costs are evaluated for a single wind turbine with a single component. Costs due to inspections, repairs, and lost production are included in the model. The costs are compared for two distinct maintenance strategies, namely with and without inclusion of periodic imperfect inspections. Finally the influence of different important parameters, e.g. failure rate, reliability of inspections, inspection interval, and decision rule for repairs, is evaluated. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.