A new law gives wind park owners better use of data

21.5.2026 – Granlund’s unique data analysis service helps wind park operators better understand and optimize their assets.

Themes

Maintenance

Late in 2025 the Data Act came into effect in Europe, making more industrial data available for relevant parties. For wind park owners and operators, this means they now have access to new information which they can use to improve their operations.

“In the past, only Original Equipment Manufacturers had access to some of the data generated by wind turbines,” explains Azin Farahani, Data Scientist at Granlund. “The Data Act opens the door for other parties to access and use this information, particularly those who operate wind parks.”

Farahani earned her Doctor of Science in Energy Technology by determining how extreme weather events impacted buildings in the colder Nordic environment. Now she is driving Granlund’s development of data-based solutions for wind parks.

Predictive maintenance can lower costs

The data gives insights into the past, present and potential future of the wind park which can be used to make important decisions.

“We analyze the data so owners can take a more proactive approach,” Farahani explains. “Instead of using a fixed schedule for maintenance or waiting until something breaks, for example, we can access historical operating data, analyze it with AI and other deep learning models, and identify and detect potential fails in advance.”

Unplanned and unscheduled maintenance costs can take up a significant portion of a wind farm’s maintenance budget. It is better to use predictive maintenance, identifying and repairing at-risk components at your time of choosing.

Real-time data can give the operator warning of resonance, ice accumulation and lightning strikes.

Instead of using a fixed schedule for maintenance or waiting until something breaks, for example, we can access historical operating data, analyze it with AI and other deep learning models, and identify and detect potential fails in advance.
Azin Farahani, Data Scientist, Granlund Oy

“Damage from lightning strikes might not be visible with the naked eye, so when a strike is suspected you need to schedule an inspection,” says Farahani. “Yet reliable data can show if a strike occurred or not. If there was no strike, you don’t need to waste resources on an inspection. If a strike did happen, you know the specific blade you need to check.”

Using AI and SCADA to optimize reserve market participation

The SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) data generated by wind farms can be quite messy, so expert analysis is critical to understand it well enough so it can be used to make decisions.

“You might have 50 parameters with the SCADA data, and this can be integrated with other data like the reserve market, spot prices or information from weather stations,” says Farahani.

One example she gives is a customer who wanted to understand how participation in the reserve market affects the health of their turbines. A careful analysis determined that participating in the reserve market resulted in a greater number and severity of high-stress events.

“They had twice as many thermal stress events and the events could be extreme, with a sudden 15-degree temperature change,” says Farahani. “Participation in the reserve market can provide good revenue, so now they can compare that revenue with the costs caused by the extra stress their equipment is under. They can be proactive with that information, such as predictive maintenance for the turbines participating in the reserve market will be different compared to the turbines only on the spot market.”

Variety of service levels based on need

Farahani says that one of the biggest advantages of working with Granlund is that the company already has a proven real estate management platform in Granlund Manager. The platform combines predictive intelligence and maintenance workflow in one place. Wind park operators get clear visualizations and indications based on data.

Granlund offers wind park operators with service levels based upon their needs. This can include translating raw data into statistical analyses, comparing historical data to see how and why assets change, predictive and real-time fault analysis, and market optimization. Granlund’s use of AI can quickly clean and process massive datasets and uncover complex patterns which wind park operators can use to lower downtime and improve profitability.

“We try to provide exactly what a specific customer needs,” Farahani explains. “This analysis is not only for new parks, but also for mature ones. Many of the Nordic region’s first wind parks are aging and could use technical health monitoring plus market optimization to boost their profit margin.”

Results can be impressive. Azin believes that Granlund can help wind park operators to reduce maintenance costs, cut unnecessary inspections and maintenance visits, improve up-time and even lower management hours, potentially improving profits by hundreds of thousands of euros annually. “Wind park operators now have access to this important and valuable data,” says Farahani. “By making use of it, they not only improve their bottom line but they also do a service to society, making our energy to be more secure and environmentally sustainable.”