Nordex Wind Turbines

Purpose

This plugin will read from the Nordex OPC XML DA Server.

Configuration of the Ardexa Edge Device

Ensure you have read a copy of the manufacturer's operating and safety manual. Please review the manual for safety instructions. This plugin takes about 5 seconds per turbine/grid. You MUST ensure that the frequency allows enough time to read all the data. For example, trying to read 7 turbines every 30s WILL FAIL

Ardexa uses the Nordex OPC DA XML server to read live and historical data. The XML Server uses a SOAP-based web server to provide access to the data. It is available from a default TCP Port 8080 on the IP address for which the XML Server is located. Ardexa needs to know the IP address of the OPC XML DA server for the plant. Once the Ardexa edge device is installed on the plant's network, verify that it can "ping" the XML Server using the following command in the REMOTE SHELL (replace the IP address with the IP address of your XML Server):

ping -c 1 192.168.1.2

Also, check that the TCP Port for XML Server is open. You can do this using the REMOTE SHELL, using the nmap command as follows. You can also use curl to check you get a valid XML response.

nmap -sS -p 8080 192.168.1.2

At the Wind park, Nordex may set up the Ardexa devices in the following way. Use the ifconfig or ip a command to check the interfaces.

1. LAN A: Internet with an IP address allocated by DHCP

2. LAN B: Direct connection to the OPC server, via a static IP address provided by the plant technicians

The static address needs to be applied to the interface LAN B above. Please check the correct interface since it is possible that the interfaces may appear to be swapped. The OPC server address is almost always located at IP address 192.168.1.2/29. To check which interface is being used for Internet access, run the route command. It will respond with something like...

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         192.168.0.1     0.0.0.0         UG    203    0        0 enp2s0
172.17.0.0      0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 docker0
192.168.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     203    0        0 enp2s0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.248 U     0      0        0 enp1s0

The Iface column in the line with Destination default tells you which interface is used for Internet access. Please don't forget to send to Ardexa:

1. Clear photographs of the installation

2. The IP address of the OPC DA XML Server

3. The IP address for the Ardexa edge device (to talk to the OPC Server)

4. The quantity and model numbers of all wind turbines at the park

Usage

Nordex wind farm data can be analysed online and control values can be transmitted to the wind farm without having to use the Nordex SCADA Remote software. This Ardexa plugin will read the Nordex data in real time, and send it to the Ardexa cloud. The plugin will read live data and send it to the windlive or the logbook tables. It is recommended that only 1 scenario be created, with a collection frequency of 30 seconds. Note again: This plugin takes about 5s per turbine/grid. You MUST ensure that the frequency allows enough time to read all the data. For example, trying to read 7 turbines every 30s WILL FAIL. Running a discover will show the data that is to be collected to the tables. The plugin will read 3 different types of dataset as follows: analog, counter, timer.

Important Note on Missing Variables

Sometimes a message may appear when doing a discover that details missing variables. This will appear as follows...

 * missing: analog:ANA43
 * missing: analog:ANA56
 * missing: analog:ANA58
 * missing: analog:ANA96
 * missing: analog:ANA182
 * missing: analog:ANA188
 * missing: analog:ANA190
 * missing: analog:ANA193
 * missing: analog:ANA196

This means that there are variables which were read, but which Ardexa has no documentation. These variables will not be collected. Ardexa must be given the latest documentation on how to read these variables. Sometimes, Nordex may include or define these variables for specific plants. In these cases, it is important that the owner or operator of the plant supply Ardexa with the updated documentation for the plant, so these variables can be read.

Arguments

• IP Address This is the IP address of the OPC XML DA server (Mandatory) ..something like: 192.168.1.2

• Base Path This is a default of nordex/services/nordex_opc. Do not change it unless advised.

• Port The TCP Port to talk to the OPC XML server, with a default of 8080

Debug Commands

There are also some debug commands that can be run from the remote shell. If the port is different than 8080, then use the option --port, For example:

nordex_opcxml browse 192.168.1.10 "01WEA00000" --port 1410

These are the browse commands to the query the XML tree. Examples...

nordex_opcxml browse 192.168.1.10 ""
nordex_opcxml browse 192.168.1.10 "01WEA00000"
nordex_opcxml browse 192.168.1.10 "01WEA00000/analog"

To read a particular end point value, then use the following command.

nordex_opcxml read 192.168.1.10 "01WEA00000/analog/TurError"