Product Pick of the Week - SmartSignal EPI*Center Predictive Analytic software

Horizon Wind Energy's fleet includes more than 20 wind farms across the U.S., over 1600 wind turbines responsible for approximately 3400 megawatts of wind power.

SmartSignal Corporation announced that it has been selected by Horizon Wind Energy LLC to install SmartSignal EPI*Center Predictive Analytic software to protect Horizon’s entire North American fleet. The fleet includes more than 20 wind farms across the U.S., over 1600 wind turbines responsible for approximately 3400 megawatts of wind power.

Horizon will be monitoring its wind turbines using SmartSignal technology in Horizon’s own centralized monitoring center, where SmartSignal will be deployed on top of Horizon’s new OSIsoft PI System™ data infrastructure. Target is to be live with complete implementation by the end of 2010.

The agreement comes after a successful six-month trial of over 100 wind turbines of multiple varieties in wind farms across the U.S. The trial proved to Horizon that SmartSignal provides value and is the best alternative on the market to protect Horizon’s equipment -- to avoid surprises and eliminate equipment failure.

Jim Gagnard, President and CEO of SmartSignal, said, “Now is the time to plan for ways to increase ROI by accurately forecasting O&M costs. With SmartSignal EPI*Center software, Horizon will do just that, by reducing maintenance costs across its fleet. Horizon will be able to prioritize tower inspections and optimize crane usage. We are delighted to add Horizon as a customer. SmartSignal now is monitoring approximately 4900 MW of wind energy and 3000 wind turbines, helping to keep the wind farm industry safe, reliable, and efficient.”

Tim Hertel, Senior Manager - Performance Management, Horizon Wind Energy, added, “Major component repair costs are a primary driver of overall project operating expenses so we are always looking for ways to minimize them. The SmartSignal solution is attractive to us because it can be quickly and affordably implemented across multiple turbine technologies. We are really looking forward to expanding the use of EPI*Center across all of our North American wind power plants.”

Interested parties can learn more about Horizon’s innovations at the Windpower Monthly conference in Dallas on November 30, 2010, which is focused on this very issue: how to successfully interpret wind plant data to improve the O&M bottom line. Mr. Hertel will be a featured speaker in a session entitled “Examine how operators and owners are using collected data to assess and inform their O&M strategies.” The conference will focus on how to reduce downtime and make well-informed business decisions based on real experience. www.windpowermonthlyusa.com

SmartSignal EPI*Center software detects, diagnoses, and prioritizes developing mechanical and instrumentation turbine failures for SmartSignal’s wind customers. SmartSignal develops personalized empirical models for all turbines, each of which is composed of a sophisticated combination of interrelationships of all related sensors that affect turbine performance. These unique turbine models automatically adapt to fluctuations in wind speed, direction, shear, turbulence from ambient conditions, and equipment performance. SmartSignal analyzes in real time all the data collected in the nacelle—literally tens of thousands of data points daily on a typical wind farm—and detects and notifies wind farms of impending problems, allowing owners to focus on fixing problems early and efficiently.

SmartSignal and EPI*Center are registered trademarks of SmartSignal Corporation.

About Horizon Wind Energy:
Horizon Wind Energy LLC (“Horizon”) and its subsidiaries and affiliates develop, construct, own and operate wind farms throughout North America. Based in Houston, Texas with over 20 offices across the United States, Horizon has developed more than 3,600 megawatts (MW) and operates over 3,400 MW of wind farms. Horizon is owned by EDP Renewables (“EDPR”), a global leader in the renewable energy sector that designs, develops, manages and operates power plants that generate electricity from renewable energy sources. EDPR has a total installed capacity of 6,259 MW. With a sound development pipeline, first class assets and market-leading operating capacity, EDPR has undergone exceptional growth in recent years. Energias de Portugal, S.A. (“EDP”), the parent company of EDPR, is a vertically-integrated utility company, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Through its various constituent businesses, EDP holds significant electricity and gas operations in Europe, Brazil, and the United States.

About SmartSignal:
SmartSignal is the leading provider of Predictive Diagnostic software and services used to anticipate and avoid surprise equipment failure. SmartSignal customers detect equipment problems with enough advanced timing to optimize maintenance resources, reduce risks, and eliminate failure. With over 40 patents and tens of thousands of prevented impending equipment failures and operational errors, SmartSignal technology has won over twenty-five awards for excellence, including an international Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award.

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