GE Energy Effective Operation and Maintenance of Wind Turbines Through Use of Advanced Services Technologies Philippe Kavafyan GE Energy February 2006 Athens, Greece

2 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February % Wind Project IRR is allocated to risks associated with variances in energy production and cost of O&M Unplanned ~70% Service Access Crane Cost Material Cost Labor Cost O&M Costs A Significant Portion of COE Large Variance Cost Variance Decreased Availability Decreased Production Decreased Revenue Planned ~30% Cost-of-Energy O&M WTG, BOP & Other … A Comprehensive O&M Strategy is Critical to Successful Project Economics

3 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 O&M Cost Variability Driven By Product Reliability Life-cycle Reliability Has Large Impact on O&M Costs Planned O&M can vary from 10% to 35% of total cost Offshore Access … jack up barge, weather, etc. add additional cost and variance Offshore Access Unplanned O&M Planned O&M Wind Turbine Reliability 14X10X Total O&M Cost … Unplanned O&M Cost Significantly Impacted by Component Reliability

4 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Production Impact from Unplanned Events … Accessibility Key to Managing Impact of Unplanned Events Wind Turbine Availability Event Availability (%) Event 1:Remote Resolution Event 2:Requires WTG visit & small component replacement Event 3:Requires WTG visit, major component replacement w/ jack upbarge Max Wave Height - by Month JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN Wave Height (m) Access Threshold Event 1 Event 3 Event 2 Unplanned Downtime Annual Energy Production Event MW-Hrs

5 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Reduce risks to revenue & costs from turbine failures Current Realistic Additional Costs after Warranty Expires Realistic Loss Revenue due to Increased Wear & Tear and Failure Rates, which results into reduced Availability Revenue Year 0 20 Customer View Revenue O&M Costs $ Year 0 Customer View 2 Profit

How is GE addressing this challenge?

7 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Apply Services Best Practices Power PlantMedical Equipment Industrial Equipment Aircraft EnginesLocomotives GE Services > 30,000 Major Equipment Under Service Worldwide > 100 Services- related patents Creating New Services Technologies For ~ 20 Years Equipment Services & Products Performance Optimization Services Smart Services Equipment Support Anomaly Detection Condition Assessment Diagnostics & Troubleshooting Repairs & Upgrades Contract Performance Parts Life Management Asset Management Performance & Availability Guarantees Equipment Upgrades Plant Energy Management Increasing Customer Value 

8 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Revenue  COE  Reliability  Availability  Production  Customer Benefits Enhanced Offshore Equipment Designs Advanced Controls for Load Mgmt & Performance Design for Serviceability Product Reliability (Prevention) Service Technologies for Effective O&M High Quality Planned & Unplanned Maintenance O&M Asset Management EHS Trained Field Services 24/7 Remote Operations, Monitoring and Diagnostics Predictive & Condition Based Maintenance Contractual Services/Warranty Mgmt Product / Customer Support Reliability & Performance Modifications & Upgrades Continuous Improvement … Multi Pronged Service Approach Required

9 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Goal: Design turbines to deliver very high availability …. Breaks Down Rarely Approach: Utilize “Design for Reliability” & Serviceability Extended FMEA analysis to define causal events and impacts of failures Physics-based Reliability Models to understand true design and operational limits Redundancy of selected components to reduce availability impact of failures Advanced Controls for Load Management & Performance enhancement Serviceability Product Reliability (Prevention) Physics-based Models Extended FMEAs Advanced Controls

10 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Goal: Increase Availability….Minimize Field Costs…. Increase Customer Value Product / Customer Support Approach: Customer Support Centers 24/7 Remote Operations, Monitoring and Diagnostics Automated Fault Notification California Germany Shanghai Atlanta HQ Support Centers Next 21 Faults Rest Collective fault pitch controller Undervoltage Blade pitch control dev. 3 pitch controller faults Pitch Overrun 90° Wind Deviation Timeout pitch controller Error 180: „Wind deviation“ NO Remote Control Are the parameters 7.5 and 7.6 at the correct values? Remote Control Log the alarm in the Access database NO YES END NO Remote Control Need further investigation depending on the following errors Remote Control Change the parameters YES Remote Control Is the PLC software version recent? YES Remote Control Is there any of the non-resetable errors in the turbine status? Service Team Go on the site and change the PLC software. Remote Control Is the status OK in thewtg status? YES NO Remote Control Further investigation is needed (snapshot). There might be following errors in theturbine status. NO Major Faults Detailed Diagnosis Faults Handling Procedures Next 21 Faults Rest Collective fault pitch controller Undervoltage Blade pitch control dev. 3 pitch controller faults Pitch Overrun 90° Wind Deviation Timeout pitch controller Next 21 Faults Rest Collective fault pitch controller Undervoltage Blade pitch control dev. 3 pitch controller faults Pitch Overrun 90° Wind Deviation Timeout pitch controller Error 180: „Wind deviation“ NO Remote Control Are the parameters 7.5 and 7.6 at the correct values? Remote Control Log the alarm in the Access database NO YES END NO Remote Control Need further investigation depending on the following errors Remote Control Change the parameters YES Remote Control Is the PLC software version recent? YES Remote Control Is there any of the non-resetable errors in the turbine status? Service Team Go on the site and change the PLC software. Remote Control Is the status OK in thewtg status? YES NO Remote Control Further investigation is needed (snapshot). There might be following errors in theturbine status. NO Major Faults Detailed Diagnosis Faults Handling Procedures Major FaultsDetailed Diagnostics Expertise-based Fault Resolution Remote Communication Reliability

11 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Reliability-Based Preventive Maintenance Strategy Approach: Efficient Risk Allocation Contractual Services/Warranty Mgmt Predictive & Condition Based Maintenance Shift Planned Maintenance to Low Wind Period Use Reliability Models to Drive Maintenance Intervals for Optimal Performance Use Site-specific Maintenance Factors to Assess Damage Accumulation Goal: Reduce Unplanned Maintenance … Increase Production

12 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 measurementforecast Total Cumulated Number of Metallic Particles > 200 Microns in Gearbox Oil Approach: Gearbox Metallic Particle Monitoring total loss of gearbox Condition Based Maintenance Goal: Increase Damage Predictability planetary bearing inspection outer ring rollerrotor side bearing middle baring 11. Jun 04 June ‘04 rollerrotor side bearing middle bearing Oct ‘04 rotor side bearing Aug ‘05

13 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Offshore Access Systems Commissioning Regular O&M duties Overhaul tasks Access/Weather Modeling Jack-up Barge Logistics Service Friendly Equipment Asset Management Offshore Field Services Project% Wave Height > 2.0 Meters Project 148% Project 23.5% Project 38.1% Goal: Effective Access System & Logistics for rapid field response

14 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Product Continuous Improvement Approach: Identify Opportunities Fleet Reliability and Availability Metrics Goal: Increase Reliability & Production Capability Through Modifications and Upgrades z y x Adaptive Drive Train Damper Control Upgrade Power & Performance Uprate Fleet Faults & Root Cause Analysis Residual Life Prediction Tools Introduce Modifications and Upgrades from RCA & New Technology Development

15 GE Energy - PhilippeKavafyan February 2006 Why Services Agreement with OEM? More efficient risk allocation between the Owner and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)  Owner Keeps Commercial Risk (Wind Risk, Energy Pricing)  OEM takes on Equipment & Performance Related Risks OEM is in the best position to manage this risk in a cost effective manner  Design and Manufacturing expertise  Built-in incentives to maximize return on investment for the owner – a partnership arrangement  Benefits from new products & technology development

Effective O&M is Critical for Reducing Project Risks Unplanned Maintenance Drives Variation in Cost & Loss in Production GE focused on developing Services Technology … key to cost effectively managing O&M Summary

"Effective Operation and Maintenance of Wind Turbines Through Use of Advanced Services Technologies" GE Energy Philippe Kavafyan GE Energy February 2006 Athens, Greece