Vestas Off-shore Wind Belgium streamlines statutory inspections with Digi-Tags

Discover how Vestas Offshore Wind Belgium implemented Vinçotte - a Kiwa company’s Digi-Tags solution to optimize and simplify the statutory inspection process across its wind farm operations.

The Challenge

Conducting statutory inspections on wind turbines is a complex and time-intensive task. Regulatory documentation can often be unclear and difficult to navigate, making it challenging to determine which components require inspection and when. In addition, ensuring a consistent inspection approach across multiple locations and inspectors presents an ongoing operational challenge.

To address these issues, Vestas Offshore Wind Belgium adopted Digi-Tags, a digital asset management and inspection solution designed to improve efficiency, transparency, and compliance.

Each wind turbine’s components were grouped under a single QR code, installed at the turbine entrance. By simply scanning the code, inspectors gain immediate access to all relevant inspection and asset information through the Digi-Tags digital platform.

Benefits for technicians

Grouping assets by turbine significantly simplifies the work of maintenance and inspection teams:

Technicians can instantly access a customized overview of all assets within a specific turbine.
Critical inspection information is available before entering the turbine, ensuring teams can safely proceed with maintenance activities.
The availability of accurate information helps prevent delays that previously occurred when maintenance teams could not access the required documentation.
Technicians can better prepare by bringing the appropriate tools and equipment needed for work at the top of the turbine.

Time savings

The Digi-Tags Dashboard centralizes inspection and asset information, reducing the time employees spend searching for documentation and coordinating with inspectors.

Simplified maintenance planning

Teams can easily filter and review comments, findings, and observations for each turbine, improving preparation for inspections and repair activities.

Consistent inspections

Standardized digital access to asset information ensures that all components are inspected consistently, regardless of the turbine location or the inspector performing the work.

The Digi-Tags dashboard works, is easy to use and does what it needs to do. This also fits perfectly with one of Vestas' core values: simplicity.

Stijn Van Hoorebeke

Service Manager Northern Offshore Service for Vestas

Interactive dashboard and PRO - Tools

In addition to providing on-site access to asset information through Digi-Tags, the solution also includes an interactive dashboard and PRO-Tools.

PRO-Tools enables inspectors’ findings and comments to be automatically converted into maintenance tasks, allowing technicians to quickly and efficiently address identified issues.

This creates a clear and streamlined follow-up process, ensuring that safety risks are tracked, managed, and resolved in a timely manner.

Health & Safety award

By improving collaboration between inspection and maintenance teams, Digi-Tags helps enhance the overall safety of the wind farm.

The successful synergy between Vinçotte - a Kiwa company and Vestas was recognized at the Belgian Offshore Cluster Awards in March 2024, where they received the Health & Safety Award for this innovative approach.