EAWE Test Wind Turbines Committee (TWTC)

Motivation and objectives

Experimental experience is extremely important when it comes to understanding the behaviour of wind and wind turbines in research and in education. To be useful for experimental work, simulation model validation, controller design research and more, it is important to know the characteristics of the wind turbine (structural and aerodynamic properties, power electronics, the control design etc.). To have direct access to measurements is also a must. To fulfil all these conditions, it is almost necessary to own and operate a wind turbine by the university or research institute where data can be shared without commercial of competitive interest. It is also good if as many actors as possible can get access to these wind turbines to increase the quality of the research. A good network of operators and users of active test wind turbine can help in exchange of ideas, experiences, and increased visibility.

The objectives of the working group:

  • Increased experience of wind turbine operation by academic partners, including students.
  • Collect information of test wind turbines within in the academy.
  • Make information exchange possible between academy test wind turbines operators and users.
  • Increase the visibility and inter-university access to the test wind turbines.
  • Provide measurement data that can be used for simulation model validation and benchmarking.

Current Activities

The work within the test turbine working group should consist of the following:
Collect and present information about:

  • Available wind turbines, overview as well as available documentation of the turbine.
  • Measurement possibilities, sensors, and sample time.
  • Possibilities to make changes in the control of the wind turbine.
  • Access conditions, supporting technician, time and costs.

Facilities

The following shows a list of facilities of members of the Test Wind Turbine Committee

Facilities Overview

Download Facilities Overview PDF

Facility Name Location Turbine testing 0-10 kW Turbine testing 11-100 kW Turbine testing 101-1000 kW Turbine testing > 1000 kW Component testing Meteorological data Turbine data Open numerical model(s) Open controller model Turbine access Data availability Keywords Link to pdf
alpha ventus In the North Sea, north-northw 2 x 5MW (Senvion)
2 x 5MW (Adwen)
Yes from measurment mast off https://offshore.de/en/data.html PDF
Center for Wind Power Drives (CWD) Aachen University, Germany 4 MW nacelle test bench, grid emulator FVA Nacelle on request/project based YES FVA Nacelle on request/project based 4 MW nacelle test, 20 MVA grid emulator PDF
Chalmers test wind turbine Björkö, Sweden 45 kW since 1986 from 2021 Sims, FAST YES YES Data on request open control porgram, blade data PDF
ECN Wind Turbine Test Facility Wieringermeer Wieringermeer, the Netherlands 5 turbines of 2.5 MW blade and rotor loads, power and meteorological data YES In PHATAS No but measured rotor speed and pitch angle are provided 7 years of data, 10 minute averaged data but time series are available as well (Very) flat polderland PDF
Flatirons Campus NREL, L Boulder, Colorado, USA 600 kW 1.5 MW 2.3 MW 2.0 MW nacelle test bench, grid emulator YES YES OpenFast BHawC wakes, aeroelastic stability, aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, wildlife, drivetrain PDF
IET & NCEPU wind turbine at Zhangbei China 100 kW from 2014 in 2018 Bladed, Ansys Fluent 10 min met data, 50 Hz turbine data in short term wind turbine aerodynamics PDF
Saint Hilaire de Chaléons, Pays-de-la-Loire, France 2.0 MW YES YES YES By NDA noise reduction, life time extension PDF
The ETH Aventa research wind turbine facility Winterthur, Switzerland 6.5 KW Blade Experimental Modal Analysis LiDAR (Dec. 2021 - May 2022) OpenFast YES https://zenodo.org/record/4972789#.YlfiKIvP271 numerical aerodynamic and structural models PDF
The OST test turbine Winterthur, Switzerland 6.5 kW YES OpenFast YES 1 Hz data testing measurement technology PDF
WEICan Wind R&D Park Prince Edward Island, Canada 5 x 2.0 MW since 1987 YES YES 1 Hz data wind farm, flat terrain PDF
WINSENT Stöttener Berg, Germany 2 x 750 kW since 2018 from 2023 ff. YES YES YES 10 min met data, turbine data on request complex terrain PDF
WiValdi Research Wind Farm Krummendeich, Germany 500 kW 2 x 4,26 MW since 11/2020 YES tbc tbc YES YES research wind farm, research on and with WTG and beyond PDF

Membership

The member list can be found on EAWE webpage, which is updated annually.