Service portfolio: applied research for our customers

Continuously growing offshore wind turbines are pushing existing test facilities for testing their grid properties to their limits. The IWES has therefore developed a mobile grid emulator with an installed converter capacity of 88 MVA to determine electrical properties in the multi-megawatt range. IWES also operates the HiPE-LAB in cooperation with the University of Bremen. This unique facility is used to test converters of up to ten MVA under superimposed climatic and electrical loads.

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IWES operates technology-independent test platforms (hydrogen labs) for the qualification and optimization of electrolyzers – from the cell to the industry stack right up to full system level – with a total connection power of up to 26 MW. In addition to electrolyzers, hydrogen-consuming units and parts of the peripheral infrastructure are also tested here. Among other things, the long-term stability of materials and components in the dynamic operation of electrolyzers coupled with wind turbines is being tested.

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Reliable statements on the efficiency, functionality and service life of wind turbines are essential for their realization. To this end, IWES performs measurements on turbines in operation, tests mechanical loads and determines their performance behaviour at the Application Center for Wind Energy Field Measurements (AWF). To research the aero-servo-hydro-elastic simulation of wind turbines, IWES programs the MoWiT simulation model for load calculation and real-time simulation. MoWiT is used to optimize wind energy systems and develop AI models. IWES is also promoting the development of sustainable shipping. In cooperation with the Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences, the focus is on wind propulsion systems, design concepts, and emission reduction.

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In cooperation with other stakeholders, Fraunhofer IWES has already been responsible for the installation and operation of numerous wind turbines. In addition to unique experience in this sector, this has also resulted in an unrivaled collection of field data. This collection makes a major contribution to boosting the reliability of wind turbine components significantly, reducing costs and risks effectively, performing OPEX modeling and cost-benefit analyses, and implementing solutions and analyses for early failure detection. In addition, IWES runs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for the protection of flexible rotor blades, which make it possible to identify and reduce the blades’ susceptibility to vibrations – for example when the turbine is at a standstill or in trundle mode. For highly efficient project and risk management, IWES also offers project plan and weather risk analyses in order to assess potential risks at an early stage. IWES evaluates the performance and efficiency of existing offshore wind farms by means of post-construction and performance analyses. The portfolio also encompasses optimized maintenance concepts, the assessment of existing concepts, and the optimization of the O&M logistics, in order to develop tailored, cost-efficient solutions.

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The rotor blades of large offshore wind turbines have now surpassed the 100-meter mark and continue to increase in size. This growth is pushing the structural load-bearing capabilities to their limits, rendering a thorough understanding of the complex mechanical behavior of composite materials under fatigue loading indispensable. At the same time, the reliable and efficient production of wind turbine blades of this scale is a task which demands advances in production techniques and in automation. With its unique research infrastructure, Fraunhofer IWES is in a position to support the wind industry across scales and in all technical domains.

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The planning and installation of foundations for offshore wind turbines account for a significant proportion of the total costs of wind farms. A detailed understanding of the offshore subsurface is the basis for the choice of foundation type, design, and installation planning of the foundations. The optimal mapping of the geological structures in the top 100–200 m below the sea floor using geophysical technologies is the first priority. Geotechnical sampling of the strata is then employed to create an integrated ground model by linking seismic and geotechnical data. The identification of the installation risks, for example due to boulders in glacial deposits, is also crucial for the installation.

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Stochastic loads, varying speeds, interfaces with complex stiffness profiles: the service life of rolling bearings in wind turbines depends on numerous influences. With the Large Bearing Laboratory (LBL), Fraunhofer IWES has unique methodological expertise as well as testing and research infrastructure for increasing the reliability of bearings. IWES develops and realizes validation strategies, test concepts, test rigs, measurement methods, test campaigns, CAE models and much more to ensure the product characteristics of mechanical wind turbine drive trains. To ensure the structural stability of the turbine, the design and manufacturing of the wind turbine support structures – e.g., tower, foundations and necessary attachments – must be optimized in line with the increasing operating loads. IWES is developing proposals to reduce the economic and technical risks of future support structures.

For large-scale wind turbine nacelle testing, IWES has a test rig, the Dynamic Nacelle Laboratory (DyNaLab), which is the only one of its kind in the whole world. It contains a powerful load application system (LAS), which is equipped as a hexapod with a large moment bearing and offers a realistic test environment in the multi-megawatt range for meaningful laboratory tests.

Failures of wind turbine drive trains are one of the main causes of downtimes. Virtual tests using simulation models and validated measurement data allow loads to be identified as early as during the development process. IWES has exceptional experience in the collection and processing of corresponding measurement data.

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Wind turbines are exposed to complex conditions both onshore and offshore. The challenges for the numerical simulation and assessment of potential sites are correspondingly different, making precise modeling of wind fields indispensable. IWES is active in the optimization of numerical methods and data sets on all relevant scales in order to meet the industry’s requirements. For example, during the construction of offshore wind farms, the wind parameters influence the design and layout of the turbines as well as their components, including the foundations and towers. IWES conducts offshore lidar surveys in order to customize the numerical models for the sites. To this end, it has developed lidar measuring buoys, which record meteorological and oceanographic measurement data on the high seas. IWES employs innovative measurement concepts – using a variety of remote sensing technologies – to document the wind conditions. 

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