Reactive Power Monitoring (RPM)
Reactive Power Monitoring is East-West Digital's operational intelligence for wind farm operators, enabled by AI. It monitors, predicts and actively reduces reactive power penalties, so control rooms act on avoidable events before they cost money.
Outcomes
Up to 70% reduction in avoidable penalties
25% better compliance performance
75% less time and workload on penalty analysis
The challenge
Paying for penalties you could have avoided
Wind farms are penalised when their reactive power or power factor falls outside what the grid operator requires. Many of those penalties can be avoided operationally, but without a repeatable way to spot the conditions behind them, teams can't respond in time.
What it does
Built for regulated utilities
Designed from the start for the compliance demands of regulated utility environments.
Made for renewable operations
Tailored to the way wind and other renewable assets are run day to day.
Higher asset profitability
Fewer reactive power penalties means more of the revenue stays with the asset.
Stronger compliance
Helps your sites follow grid operator requirements and instructions more closely.
Less manual analysis
Penalty prediction and validation are automated, so your team spends less time working out what went wrong.
Bridges fragmented systems
Brings varied data from separate operational systems together in one place.
How it works
RPM watches your wind sites every day and passes on only what your team can do something about.
Step 1
Bring the data together
RPM continuously compares SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and PI historian data with settlement measurements, in near real time.
Step 2
Separate avoidable from unavoidable
Machine learning models classify each penalty as avoidable or unavoidable and predict the conditions that lead to them.
Step 3
Filter out the noise
Intelligent alarm management screens out alarm noise, so only actionable alerts reach your control room.
Step 4
Your team acts in time
Operators decide how to respond while a penalty can still be avoided, and compliance teams spend less time on manual validation.
Use case · Measured in pilot
A reactive power compliance pilot on two wind sites
Identifying which reactive power penalties were avoidable across two operating wind sites (33.2 MW combined).
- Sites
- 2 operating wind farms
- Capacity
- 33.2 MW
- Data
- 2 years
Most penalties were avoidable
More than 90% of penalty hours were identified as potentially avoidable.
A conservative business case
Even after the conservative assumption, the pilot indicated annual savings of about €32,000 to €33,000, roughly 76.5% of total penalty cost in each year reviewed.
Consistent year on year
Results held across both years reviewed, supporting the case for broader deployment.
Who it's for
- Control centre operators
- Plant managers
- Grid compliance teams
- Wind farm owners and operators
How to start
- 1
Discovery
We talk through your wind sites, your penalty history and the operational data you already collect.
- 2
Pilot
We analyse your historical penalty and operating data to show which penalties were avoidable and build a conservative business case.
- 3
Subscription
RPM monitors your sites every day and sends your team actionable alerts before avoidable penalties land.
Frequently asked questions
What causes reactive power penalties at a wind farm?
Reactive power penalties arise when a wind farm's reactive power or power factor falls outside the requirements and instructions set by the grid operator. Reactive Power Monitoring (RPM) tracks these conditions every day and helps your team act before an avoidable event becomes a penalty.
How does RPM tell avoidable penalties from unavoidable ones?
RPM uses machine learning models to classify each penalty as avoidable or unavoidable. It compares SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and PI data with settlement measurements in near real time, so your team can focus on the events it can actually influence.
Will RPM flood our control room with more alarms?
No. RPM uses intelligent alarm management to filter out noise, so only actionable alerts reach your operators. The aim is fewer, better alerts, not more of them.
What data does RPM need?
RPM works with operational data that wind operators already collect. It uses SCADA and PI historian data in near real time, plus settlement measurements. It is designed to bridge fragmented systems and handle varied data.
Has RPM been tested on operating wind farms?
Yes. A pilot on two operating wind sites, with a combined installed capacity of 33.2 MW, reviewed two years of historical penalty and operating data. It found that most penalty hours were potentially avoidable, and the results were consistent across both years.
See RPM on your own data
Book a demo and we'll walk through your use case with our team.