Many Industries already have some form of database where field O&M and failure data are recorded. A good example is the Offshore Reliability Data (OREDA) [19] for the oil & gas industry established in the 1980s, in which several companies record their safety, reliability and maintenance data in a unified and specialised way. In the wind industry some notable sources of failure data include: WindStats newsletter [20], WMEP [21], and EPRI [22]. However these are not good enough for detailed feedback for redesign since the failures recorded here are only
major sub-system failures i.e. failures of the main-shaft/bearing, gearbox, control system etc. and not of specific sub-component level damage. Hence it is difficult to accurately analyse the component reliabilities and their contributions to overall reliability which can be done if the functional failures of the critical components are known.