Big Data in wind energy – how digitalization can make wind power more cost-efficient
Within the project WiSA big data, scientists and partners from industry are analyzing large amounts of high-resolution operating data of wind turbines.
Research project aimed at boosting the grid compatibility of offshore wind turbines launched
The Fraunhofer IWES’ mobile test facility for grid compliance tests research project, also known as “Mobil-Grid-CoP” in German, is being launched with the aim of developing and commissioning a mobile grid simulator.
BSH and Fraunhofer IWES Launch a Mobile Measuring Buoy
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (BSH) and the Fraunhofer IWES have installed a monitoring measuring buoy to the west of the FINO 3 research platform with the aid of the Cuxhaven Waterways and Shipping office’s “Neuwerk” multipurpose vessel. The buoy will collect meteorological and oceanographic data there.
Frazer-Nash Consultancy and Fraunhofer IWES set to deliver joint expertise
UK systems and engineering consultancy, Frazer-Nash, and German wind energy research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Bremerhaven to work together to provide their complementary expertise to the wind energy market.
November 1, 2019, saw the start of the X-Wakes “Interaction Between the Wakes of Large Offshore Wind Farms and Wind Farm Clusters With the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer” research project, which is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to the tune of € 3.4 million over a period of three years.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
€ 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.
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.
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.
Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems