The First Test for Offshore Turbines

Abstract

The verification of the design requirements and the turbine operation were the priority areas of the RAVE Verification of Offshore Wind Turbines project. Due to the proximity to the Fino 1 measuring platform it was possible to analyse the dependence of the yields on the atmospheric constraints. Using a model chain it was possible to resolve the turbulent structures of the inflow relevant for the turbine aerodynamics and thus get detailed insights into the wakes. The simulation results obtained with CFD models show that wake effects still have an impact kilometres behind an offshore wind farm. The models developed for calculating the plant dynamics replicate the statistics of the measured loads very well. To calculate the load, an aero-elastic simulation model was combined with models for the load-bearing structure to create an integrated simulation tool. Load monitoring systems based on neural networks were also tested, which use and evaluate the regular operation and measurement data.