WIND POTENTIAL MEASUREMENTS The Laboratory for Wind Turbine Testing (LWTT) of CRES performs wind potential measurements using stand-alone stations capable of recording wind speed and direction, as well as supplementary meteorological parameters (atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity). A digital data acquisition system is used to collect measurements and store pre-processed data in both a buffer and…
Energy assessment and optimization of wind farms Assessment of the total energy yield of a wind farm, through the use of advanced numerical tools. The wind flow across a wind farm site is calculated taking into account terrain contours and roughness changes. The results of the wind flow calculation and the proposed wind turbines characteristics…
Power Quality measurements The connection of wind turbines (WTs) and wind farms (WFs) to the grid is subject to testing their electrical characteristics, including the assessment of several power quality related aspects. These are directly related to the correct operation of power networks. For example harmonics generated by the grid-side power converters, especially in case…
WIND TURBINE POWER CURVE MEASUREMENTS The accurate definition of the wind turbine power curve is crucial for the economics of any wind power project. For the definition of the power curve of a wind turbine the active electrical power produced by the wind turbine and the reference wind speed and direction at a height from…
WIND TURBINE NOISE MEASUREMENTS As the installed number of wind turbines grows, noise becomes one of the significant factors in the sitting and planning of wind farms. The emitted broadband sound-levels, as a function of wind speed, and sometimes the tonality of the noise, are crucial for the nearby dwellings. The Laboratory for Wind Turbine…
MECHANICAL LOAD MEASUREMENTS ON WIND TURBINES Exposed to difficult climatic and wind conditions, a wind turbine may experience considerable extreme and fatigue loading events. The information obtained from a load measurement campaign supports the optimization of a wind turbine model (low cost, greater life expectancy, safety) and supplements the documentation required for the type approval…
Wind shear monitoring using Lidar systems Among the major challenges, when designing wind farms with multi-MW wind turbines, is to measure the wind flow over the entire rotor disk. Nowadays, wind turbine towers reach the height of 100m and their upper blade tip can reach 180m height. Some years ago, a very high permanent meteorological…
COMPOSITE MATERIAL TESTING Advanced composite materials like those used for the manufacturing of wind turbine blades, differ from the conventional materials in two ways: They are highly anisotropic and their properties exhibit high variability due to their inhomogeneous nature. Different loading conditions lead to different failure mechanisms. Profound understanding and knowledge of the material properties…
FULL SCALE WIND TURBINE BLADE TESTING Blades are the most crucial parts in a wind turbine. The aerodynamic characteristics of a wind turbine’s blade determine its power performance. Their structural strength determines its life expectancy. Wind turbine blades are exposed to stochastic aerodynamic loading. The complexity of the load carrying capabilities of composite materials adds…
Anemometer calibration The anemometer is the most crucial instrument in wind energy related testing and measurements. Its calibration (the definition of the relation connecting anemometer output with the actual wind speed) is a prerequisite for reliable results. The Laboratory for Wind Turbine Testing (LWTT) performs anemometer calibration in a closed-loop wind tunnel facility located…
