NERC GADS Wind
Data Reporting Workshop
G. Michael Curley
Manager of GADS Services
October 28, 2010
Who is NERC?
 NERC was selected at the Electric Reliability
Organization (ERO) under section 215 of the
Electric Policy Act of 2005.
 We are responsible for the reliability of the
electric bulk power supply of the US and 6 of the
providences of Canada.
2
What is GADS?
 GADS has been collecting data from electric
utilities since 1982. Prior to that, data was
collected by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for
many years.
 In 2008, GADS collected power plant information
on 5,800 generating units (786,000 MW) in
North America.
 Most unique and largest database in the world.
3
Why collect data on wind turbines?
 Growth of industry and need for new, clean
sources of power require that GADS investigate
and provide performance data for wind turbines.
• ISO requirements
• Reliability assessments
 Industry interest and request for data for making
wind turbines a part of their power portfolio.
• Benchmarking
• Measure of reliability and dependability
4
Since the last presentation …
 Started work in June 2006.
 88 members of the Wind Turbine Working Group
• Owners/operators
• ISO
• PUC
• Wind organizations (UWIG, AWEA)
5
New Wind Data Reporting Instructions
6
Wind DRI
 Parts to the Wind DRI
• Description of hierarchy (plants, groups and subgroups)
• Terms and definitions of outage types (performance
reporting)
• Categories of equipment associated with outages
(component outage reporting)
• Equations for performance measures
• Examples of outage reporting
7
Description of WTG Hierarchy
8
Description of WTG Hierarchy
Plant (Farm or Park)  Group  Subgroup
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
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Utility/Wind Farm or Wind Park
 A plant is defined as a collection of wind turbine groups at
a single physical location. Plant ID is a unique ID for the plant
that you are reporting. This ID is referenced in all groups,
sub-groups, performance, and component data existing under
the plant.
 Plant Name is the name used to identify the farm or park.
Utility XYZ
Big Wind
Wind Farm #1
Canyon Breeze
Wind Farm #2
Cool Wind
Wind Farm #3
Early Morning
Wind Farm #4
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WTG Group Identification
Early Morning Wind Farm #4
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
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WTG Group Identification
 A group is one or more sub-groups that are
connected to a common revenue meter. There
may be any number of groups per wind plant.
Each group has a unique number that identifies
it as part of a particular wind plant. Each group
will have a unique turbine group ID that will be
associated with its child sub-group. This ID is
assigned by the reporting utility.
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WTG Group Identification
Wind Turbine Groups
• Associated Plant Identifier
• Turbine Group ID
• Turbine Group Name
• NERC Utility Code
• NERC Unit Code
• Installed Capacity in MW
• Auxiliary Capacity
• Commercial Date
• Nearest City, State
• Location Longitude and Latitude
• Elevation
• Wind Regime (topography)
• SCADA Type
• SCADA Manufacturer
• SCADA Model
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WTG Group Design Details
 Plant ID - a unique ID to the plant that you are reporting. This ID
is referenced in all groups, sub-groups, performance, and
component data existing under the plant.
 Group ID - Enter a unique ID to the group that you are reporting.
This ID is referenced in all sub-groups, performance data, and
hours’ data existing under the group.
 Group Name - the name given to the group that you are reporting.
 NERC Utility Code - the three character alpha-numeric code NERC
assigned to your utility. Appendix B contains a complete list of the
utilities participating in GADS and their assigned utility codes.
 NERC Unit Code - the three character alpha-numeric code your
utility assigned for the unit that you are reporting. This code
distinguishes one unit from another in your utility. Appendix B
contains a guide for selecting unit codes.
 ISO Resource ID - the unique identifier given to the group by the
ISO.
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WTG Group Design Details
 Capacity - the total capacity for the entire group,
measured in megawatts (MW).
 Auxiliary Capacity - the combined capacities for all the
auxiliary turbines not normally connected, and not part of
GIC, measured in megawatts (MW).
 Commercial Date - the date (MM/DD/YYYY), that the
group came online and entered into active status.
 Country - the two-letter country abbreviation where the
group is located
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WTG Group Design Details
 Nearest City - the name of the city closest in proximity
to the group.
 State /Province - the two-letter state/province
abbreviation where the group is located.
 Longitude - the degrees of longitude of the physical
location of the group.
 Latitude - the degrees of latitude of the physical location
of the group.
 Elevation - the elevation of the physical location of the
group, given in meters.
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WTG Group Design Details
 Wind Regime - the average topography of the
area in which the group is located
 Annual Average Wind Speed - the annual
average wind speed (AAWS) at 80m, measured
in meters per second
 SCADA Type - the type of SCADA system being
used.
 SCADA Manufacturer
 SCADA Model
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WTG Sub-Group Identification
Wind Turbine Sub-Group

Group ID

Turbine Sub-Group ID

Sub-Group Name

Commissioning Year

Typical Turbine Capacity

Total Turbines

Manufacturer

Make

Model

Rotor Height and Diameter

Cut-in and Cut-out Wind Speed

Turbine Wind Class

Turbulence

Wind Speed Range

Wind Shear
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WTG Sub-Group Identification
 A sub-group is a collection of wind turbine
machines with the same manufacturer, designs,
model number, and phase of construction. This
data collection is a one-time event and it is
strongly encouraged to follow the recommended
guidelines mentioned. Each sub-group will have
a unique identifier and be associated with its
parent group. Component outage and
performance data will be collected at this level.
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WTG Sub-Group ID Details
 Plant ID - a unique ID to the plant that you are reporting. This ID is
referenced in all groups, sub-groups, performance, and component
data existing under the plant.
 Group ID - a unique ID to the group that you are reporting. This ID
is referenced in all sub-groups, performance data, and hours data
existing under the group.
 Sub-Group ID - a unique ID to the sub-group that you are reporting.
This ID is referenced in all performance and component data
existing under the sub-group.
 NERC Utility Code - the three character alpha-numeric code NERC
assigned to your utility. Appendix B contains a complete list of the
utilities participating in GADS and their assigned utility codes.
 NERC Unit Code - the three character alpha-numeric code your
utility assigned for the unit that you are reporting. This code
distinguishes one unit from another in your utility. Appendix B
contains a guide for selecting unit codes.
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WTG Sub-Group ID Details
 Sub-Group Number - The sub-group number identifies all the
individual sub-groups within a parent group. Each sub-group is
assigned a unique code as they are entered starting with 1 through
999. If you have two groups, Group A having 2 sub-groups and
Group B having 3 sub-groups, the sub-groups associated with
Group A would be numbered 1 and 2, while the sub-groups
associated with Group B would be numbered 1, 2, and 3.
 Sub-Group Name - the name given to the sub-group that you are
reporting.
 Commissioning Year - the year (YYYY), that the sub-group was
commissioned.
 Typical Nameplate Capacity - the individual turbine capacity, or
megawatt (MW) rating, of the typical wind turbine in the group. For
example, if your subgroup is made up of twenty 1.5 MW turbines
you would enter 1.5 MW.
 Total Number of Turbines - the actual number of physical turbines
that exist in the sub-group. For example, if your subgroup is made 21
of twenty turbines you would enter 20.
WTG Sub-Group Design Details
 Manufacturer - the name of the manufacturer of the
turbines in the sub-group. See Appendix F.
 Make - the name of the make of the turbines in the subgroup.
 Model - the model name of the turbines in the subgroup.
 Rotor Height - the height of the rotor hub, given in
meters.
 Rotor Diameter - the diameter of the rotor, given in
meters.
 Cut-in Wind Speed - the lowest wind speed that the
turbine will start to generate power, in meters per
second.
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WTG Sub-Group Design Details
 Low Cut-out Wind Speed - the lowest wind
speed that the turbine can continue to generate
power before cutting out, in meters per second
 High Cut-out Wind Speed - the highest wind
speed at which the turbine is capable of
generating power before cutting out, in meters
per second.
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WTG Sub-Group Turbine Wind Class Details
 Turbulence
 Wind Speed Range - the average range of wind
speed where the sub-group is located,
measured in meters per second
 Wind Shear - the average strength of the
difference between wind speeds from the tip of
the rotor at its lowest point and its highest point.
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Design Specs
Wind Speed Range
From the table below, select the average range of wind speed where
the sub-group is located, measured in meters per second.
Wind Speed
Entry
0-3 m/s
1
4-7 m/s
2
8-10 m/s
3
11-13 m/s
4
14-16 m/s
5
17-20 m/s
6
21-24 m/s
7
24-29 m/s
8
30-32 m/s
9
>32 m/s
10
25
States of Operation
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States of Operation
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Time Spent in Various Unit States
Calendar
Hours
(CalTH)
Inactive
Hours
(ITH)
Inactive
Reserve
(IRTH)
Mothballed
(MBTH)
Period Hours
(PDTH)
Retired
(RTH)
Available
(SATH or
EATH)
Contact
(CTH)
Unavailable
(SUTH or
EUTH)
Reserve
Shutdown
(RSTH)
Planned
Outage
(PTH)
Resource
Unavailable
(RUTH)
Unplanned
Outage
Forced
Outage
(FTH)
Maintenance
Outage
(MTH)
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What Are “Turbine-hours”?
 Turbine-Hours are equal to the number of turbines in
the group or sub-group times the number of Calendar
Hours in the period. TH for any given condition for a
given sub-group is equal to the total number of Calendar
Hours that each wind turbine (WTG) in the sub-group
spent in the given condition.
 All of the following time/condition classifications are
considered to be in turbine-hours.
• For example, the number of TH for a group of 12 WTG in
January (with 744 hours in January) would be 12 x 744 or 8,928
TH.
• If one of those turbines were mothballed, the Period TurbineHours (PTH) would be 11 x 744 or 8,184 PTH with 744 Inactive
Turbine-Hours.
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WTG Inactive Hours
 Inactive Reserve Turbine-Hours – IRTH - Total number of turbinehours for the period being reported that turbines within the subgroup are in the inactive reserve state.
 Mothballed Turbine-Hours – MBTH - Total number of turbinehours for the period being reported that turbines within the subgroup are in the mothballed state.
 Retired Unit Turbine-Hours – RTH - Total number of turbine-hours
for the period being reported that turbines within the sub-group are
in the retired state.
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WTG Active States
Period Hours
(PDTH)
Available
(SATH or
EATH)
Contact
(CTH)
Unavailable
(SUTH or
EUTH)
Reserve
Shutdown
(RSTH)
Planned
Outage
(PTH)
Resource
Unavailable
(RUTH)
Unplanned
Outage
Forced
Outage
(FTH)
Maintenance
Outage
(MTH)
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WTG Available Turbine Hours
 Period Turbine-Hours – PDTH - the number of hours that
turbines within the sub-group are in the active state. PDTH
can vary in output reports (month, year, etc.) but for GADS
reporting purposes, data is collected on the number of
turbine-hours in a month.
 Contact Turbine-Hours – CTH - the number of hours that
turbines within the sub-group are synchronized to the system.
It is the turbine-hours that the contactors are closed without
regard to the grid connection.
 Reserve Shutdown Turbine-Hours – RSTH - the sum of all
hours that turbines within the sub-group are available to the
system at a reduced capacity for economic reasons. There
are no equipment problems and the turbines are ready for
service. Do not include RSTH in the same equations with
CTH because this would double count turbine-hours
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WTG Unavailable Turbine Hours
 Forced Turbine-Hours (FTH) - FTH is the sum of all the
hours that turbines within the sub-group are off-line due
to forced events. FTH are all forced events where the
WTG must be removed from service for repairs before
the next Sunday at 2400 (just before Sunday becomes
Monday).
 A few examples of forced events:
• LS Generator identified as bad, but fails before it can be
replaced
• Underground Cable Failure
• A turbine fails a hydraulic motor. There is no wind anywhere in
the area. In fact, no power has been made on any turbine for
over a week.
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WTG Unavailable Turbine Hours
 Maintenance Turbine-Hour (MTH) - MTH is the sum of all the
hours that turbines within the sub-group are off-line due to a
maintenance event.
 A maintenance event is an event that can be deferred beyond the
end of the next weekend (Sunday at 2400), but requires that a wind
turbine be removed from service, another outage state, or Reserve
Shutdown state before the next Planned event. Characteristically, a
maintenance event can occur at any time during the year, has a
flexible start date, may or may not have a predetermined duration,
and is usually much shorter than a Planned Event.
 If an event occurs before Friday at 2400, the above definition
applies. If the event occurs after Friday at 2400 and before Sunday
at 2400, the Maintenance event will only apply if the event can be
delayed past the next, not current, weekend. If the event cannot be
deferred, the event shall be a Forced Event.
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WTG Unavailable Turbine Hours
 Maintenance Turbine-Hour (MTH) –
 A few examples of maintenance events:
• Brand X manufacturer has developed a new
operating program for their WTG and all turbines are
scheduled for installation of the update.
• Gases are slightly high in transformer. The
transformer is monitored and replaced when
convenient.
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WTG Unavailable Turbine Hours
 Planned Turbine-Hour (PTH) - PTH is the sum
of all the hours that turbines in the sub-group are
off-line due to a planned event. A Planned
Event is scheduled well in advance and is of
predetermined duration and can occur several
times a year.
 A few examples of planned events:
• Substation maintenance
• WTG preventative maintenance
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Time Spent in Various Unit States
Calendar
Hours
(CalTH)
Inactive
Hours
(ITH)
Inactive
Reserve
(IRTH)
Mothballed
(MBTH)
Period Hours
(PDTH)
Retired
(RTH)
Available
(SATH or
EATH)
Contact
(CTH)
Unavailable
(SUTH or
EUTH)
Reserve
Shutdown
(RSTH)
Planned
Outage
(PTH)
Resource
Unavailable
(RUTH)
Unplanned
Outage
Forced
Outage
(FTH)
Maintenance
Outage
(MTH)
37
Site vs. Equipment Views

Site Available Turbine-Hours (SATH) - SATH is the number of active turbine
hours that the wind resource was available for generation. SATH is equal to the
Period Turbine-Hours (PDTH) minus the sum of Planned Turbine-Hours (PTH),
Forced Turbine-Hours (FTH), Maintenance Turbine-Hours (MTH) and Resource
Unavailable Turbine-Hours (RUTH).

Equipment Available Turbine-Hours (EATH) - EATH is the total active turbine
hours that the equipment is considered available for generation. It is equal to the
sum of the Contact Turbine-Hours (CTH), Reserve Shutdown Turbine Hours
and Resource Unavailable Turbine-Hours (RUTH).

Site Unavailable Turbine-Hours (SUTH) - SUTH is the total active turbine
hours where the site was unavailable for generation due to equipment outages
or unavailable resource. It is equal to the sum of Planned Turbine-Hours (PTH),
Forced Turbine-Hours (FTH), Maintenance Turbine- Hours (MTH) and Resource
Unavailable Turbine-Hours (RUTH).

Equipment Unavailable Turbine-Hours (EUTH) - EUTH is the total active
turbine hours where the equipment was unavailable for generation due to
equipment outages. It is equal to the sum of Planned Turbine-Hours (PTH),
Forced Turbine-Hours (FTH), and Maintenance Turbine-Hours (MTH).
38
Time Spent in Various Unit States
Calendar
Hours
(CalTH)
Inactive
Hours
(ITH)
Inactive
Reserve
(IRTH)
Mothballed
(MBTH)
Period Hours
(PDTH)
Retired
(RTH)
Available
(SATH or
EATH)
Contact
(CTH)
Unavailable
(SUTH or
EUTH)
Reserve
Shutdown
(RSTH)
Planned
Outage
(PTH)
Resource
Unavailable
(RUTH)
Unplanned
Outage
Forced
Outage
(FTH)
Maintenance
Outage
(MTH)
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RUTH – Available and Unavailable
 Resource Unavailable Turbine-Hours (RUTH)
• RUTH is the number of turbine-hours the turbines
within a sub-group is not producing electricity due to
the wind too low or too high or was outside
manufacturer’s operating specifications. For example,
if 10 turbines stopped generating because of wind
conditions for 3 hours each, RUTH would equal 30
turbine hours. RUTH is classified as Available
Turbine-Hours for equipment calculations and
Unavailable Turbine-Hours for site calculations.
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Outside Management Control
41
Outside Management Control
42
Outside Management Control
 OMC Forced Turbine-Hours – oFTH - oFTH is a subset of FTH that equals any forced turbine-hours that
were due to causes deemed to be outside of
management control.
 A few examples of forced OMC events:
• The Off-Taker calls and indicates that a truck has damaged a
pole on the line carrying power from the site. The repair cannot
wait and power will be down for a few hours.
• Safety shutdown due to an approaching storm.
• WTGs shedding ice on the local highway. The turbines were
shutdown due to safety concerns
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Outside Management Control
 OMC Maintenance Turbine-Hour (oMTH) oMTH is a sub-set of MTH that equals any
maintenance Turbine-Hours that were due to
causes deemed to be outside of management
control (OMC). For more information on OMC,
refer to Appendix G.
 A few examples of maintenance OMC events:
• A contractor off-site damages a high voltage (HV)
cable. Repairs are made 2 weeks later.
• Transmission line maintenance activities.
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Outside Management Control
 OMC Planned Turbine-Hour (oPTH) - oPTH is
a sub-set of PTH that equals any planned
Turbine-Hours that were due to causes deemed
to be outside of management control.
 A few examples of planned OMC events:
• Planned Off-Taker outages
• The Off-Taker is upgrading their system and power
reduction is required
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Priority of Outage Reporting
 In some instances, there may be more than one event
occurring at the same time. In such cases, the group
remains on the highest order of outage until it is cleared
and then moves to the next level of outage reporting. As
per the WTWG meeting, September 2008, the order of
outages is as follows:
1. Contact Turbine-Hours
2. Forced Turbine-Hours
3. Maintenance Turbine-Hours
4. Planned Turbine-Hours
5. Reserve Shutdown Turbine-Hours
6. Resource Unavailable Turbine-Hours
46
Equations for performance measures
47
106 Equations

Resource and Equipment Calculations – These equations
calculate the individual resource and equipment performance by
turbine sub-group(s) that have the same, or very similar,
capacities. These equations also include OMC hours.

Pooled Resource and Equipment Calculations – These
equations pool the resource and equipment performance of subgroups into collections of sub-groups, groups, or farms. These
equations also include OMC hours.

Resource and Equipment Calculations without OMC Hours –
These equations calculate the individual resource and equipment
performance by turbine sub-group(s) that have the same, or very
similar, capacities. These equations do not include OMC hours.

Multi-Resource and Multi-Equipment Calculations without
OMC Hours – These equations pool the resource and equipment
performance of sub-groups into collections of sub-groups, groups,
or farms. These equations do not include OMC hours.
48
Example of Single Group/Sub-group Equations
• Resource Equivalent Forced Outage Factor (REFOF) % of period that the plant was forced off line. Including
low and high winds.

FTH  RUTH 
REFOF 
100
PDTH
•
Equipment Equivalent Forced Outage Factor (EEFOF)
- % of period that the WTG equipment was forced off line.
Excluding low and high winds.
FTH
EEFOF 
 100
PDTH
49
Example of Pooled Equations
 Resource Equivalent Forced Outage Factor (REFOF)
% of period that the plant was forced off line.
Including low and high winds.
FTH  RUTH 

REFOF 
 100
 PDTH
 Equipment Equivalent Forced Outage Factor (EEFOF)
% of period that the WTG equipment was forced off line.
FTH

EEFOF 
100
 PDTH
50
Example of performance measures
51
Example of Performance Report
Based on 1,266 WTG Reporting in 2009
52
Categories of Equipment Associated
With Outages
System
Control System
Component
Entry
General
672
Cabinet Cooling/Heating
648
Cold Weather Control
647
Control Com Links Top and Bottom
644
Low Voltage Control Wiring
638
Processor
645
Processor Cooling
646
Reactive Power Control
640
Sensors
642
Software
643
Voltage Regulation
639
VRCC
641
Wind Vane and Anemometer
649
53
Categories of Equipment Associated
With Outages
54
Monthly Calculations of Operation
55
Monthly Calculations of Operation
56
Example of Performance Report
Based on 1,266 WTG Reporting in 2009
57
Example of Performance Report
Based on 1,266 WTG Reporting in 2009
Resource Indicators
Equipment Indicators
58
Example of Performance Report
Based on 1,266 WTG Reporting in 2009
59
Conclusion
 GADS wind collection database is operational.
 Data Reporting Instructions are available on line
at http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=4|43|45.
 Data collection software available online and
free at the same link.
60
For More Information
 Copy of Wind Data Reporting Instructions
 Copy of software and layout for creating your
own software:
• http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=4|43|45
61
Question & Answer
Contact:
Mike Curley
Manager of GADS Services
mike.curley@nerc.net
801.756.0972
62