Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems

Media Relations

Press releases

9.10.2019

Fraunhofer IWES Celebrates 10th Birthday

Fraunhofer IWES was founded in 2009 and has since developed into an internationally renowned research institute for the wind energy industry. The IWES celebrated its birthday in Bremerhaven with high-ranking guests from Germany and abroad.

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25.9.2019

Worldwide First Validation of Aerodynamics of Large Wind Turbines

Fraunhofer IWES is measuring the aerodynamics of wind turbines with a rated power of more than five megawatts. This way it shall be assessed whether the model calculations used to date are also valid for large wind turbines, which will primarily be built offshore in the future.

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2.7.2019

New European Wind Atlas published

Researchers developed and validated new methods for assessing the relevant wind resources. One central aim of the wind atlas project was the development of standardized online maps for site assessment. Information about the long-term wind climate at each grid point in the EU can be accessed via a web interface.

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6.5.2019

Bearing Test Bench Now Fully Functional

Over the past months, the first blade bearings have been tested in Hamburg on the new BEAT 6.1 test bench using a highly simplified yet customary setup.

The installation of specially manufactured hybrid components means that, with immediate effect, dynamic loads can also be applied to the bearing, which, in turn, produces particularly realistic test conditions.

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9.4.2019

How accurately can system test benches simulate field tests?

Two system test bench campaigns are part of the research project „CertBench“. They are carried out with the nacelle of a 3 MW wind turbine which is already certified. Therefore, the test bench results can be compared directly to electrical porperties determined during field measurements. The target of the project is to accelerate the certification process.

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GE Renewable Energy to Test Cypress Onshore Wind Turbine Platform at IWES Lab in Germany

- Tests will validate the Cypress platform by subjecting the machine head to loading consistent with real world conditions

- Testing demonstrates GE's commitment to drive rigorous validation as turbines scale in size

- IWES Lab can validate prototypes up to 10 MW

read full press release on GE´s website, media section

27.2.2019

Large bearing test bench starts continuous operation

Fraunhofer´s test bench for rotor blade bearings of up to 6.5 meters in diameter has been successfully commissioned at the institute’s Hamburg facility, paving the way for automated continuous operation. A bearing can be validated on the test bench long before it is installed in a wind turbine. The aim is to lower development costs and reduce yield loss.

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11.2.2019

Cost-Efficient Testing Methods for XXL Blades

€ 12 million for testing rotor blades measuring up to 115 meters in length: in Bremerhaven, a test bench is set to be constructed that offers not only new testing opportunities for full-scale blade testing, but also rigs for segment and component tests. The predecessor project investigated the viability of new test procedures; now they will come under scrutiny on a larger scale within the new project.

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7.1.2019

Better Protection for Power Converters

Gaining a better understanding of power converter failure is vital in order to develop more effective protective measures and thus improve the profitability of turbine operation. For this purpose, field data from various sites and turbine types are being analyzed, damage models derived, and experimental tests performed on components.

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10.12.2018

SmartBlades2: Field measurement campaign in Colorado begins

Three 20 meter long rotor blades that were developed within the context of the SmartBlades2 project will be assessed under natural weather and wind conditions in Boulder, Colorado (USA), over the next four months. The measuring campaign with the SmartBlades2 research project aims to clarify how well the rotor blades with bend-twist coupling are able to effectively dampen peak loads during strongly variable wind speeds.

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