Protecting the Renewable Energy Grid with Fischer Block

Maintaining renewable energy assets such as wind turbines can be a costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive task. Technicians may need to climb 300 feet to the top of the turbines and work in tight quarters to perform diagnostics or repairs. If major repairs are needed—if an entire gearbox or generator needs to be replaced, for example—then the roof of the turbine will need to be removed so a crane can take out the damaged equipment. Such repairs can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and involve taking assets offline for a significant amount of time.

Catching problems early, however, allows technicians to make repairs before minor problems grow into major ones. This can extend the life of the assets—potentially by years.

As the energy industry is reshaped by decarbonization, decentralization, and digitization, National Grid Partners is working to help National Grid’s core businesses stay on the leading edge. The company is increasing its investments in wind, solar, and other forms of renewable energy. Being proactive about maintaining and replacing this equipment can save time and money and lead to more carbon-free renewable energy for customers.

To help monitor and diagnose problems with renewable generation assets, National Grid is working with Fischer Block, Inc. Founded in 2015, the Pennsylvania company develops  sensors and software that monitor and analyze electrical signals, such as those produced by renewable energy sources like wind turbines. This provides new insights into the health of those assets and helps energy companies address any problems early on.

Companies have monitored electrical signals on the grid for decades, but traditional data-recording techniques (primarily focused on usage) can only go so far toward optimizing performance and predicting failure. Fischer Block’s high-resolution monitoring—which looks not just at how much electrical current is flowing but at the way in which it’s flowing, to identify distortions in the current’s frequency on a microscopic basis—provides new datasets for a far more accurate level of insight than has been previously attainable.

“AI is beginning to be applied in the power world on traditional datasets,” said Greg Wolfe, president and CEO of Fischer Block. “However, we're extending its capabilities in entirely new ways.”

In a proof-of-concept project, National Grid installed Fischer Block’s monitoring devices (called SMART Blocks®) on a small number of turbines at one of its wind farms. The farm’s turbines were older, and a few were showing signs of wear and tear. Fischer Block’s recording devices, installed down-tower, continuously monitored the electrical signals emanating from each wind tower generator, sending “conditions of interest” to the company’s AI-based software platform (wave iQ®).  Fischer Block was able to pinpoint not just which turbines were experiencing problems, but exactly where the problems were occurring (e.g., which bearing, which gear stage, etc.).That made it easy for technicians to verify and address the issues.

Following the success of the pilot project, National Grid is exploring ways to use this early detection technology on other parts of the renewable energy grid like solar.

Currently, ground faults at solar facilities prevent a significant portion of the system from producing clean energy. These faults can be caused by something as small as an exposed wire or cracked panel. Trying to identify the source of the issue using current tools can be an intensive process that keeps assets offline for a significant amount of time.

National Grid is working directly with Fischer Block to prove out new solutions that can detect these types of faults early, saving time and resources. “That's going to be a game changer for the industry,” says Melsha.