Revisiting wind turbine test centres

Four years ago, we dedicated an article in this blog to the wind industry’s testing and validation centres where we marvelled at the facilities prepared for what, at that time, were the offshore giants: models of up to 12 MW with blades of more than 100m. Well, the irruption of Chinese manufacturers and their incredible speed of development has rendered that article obsolete, so we dive back into the world of wind testing centres to update sizes and capacities.

 

How the children have grown!

As explained in the original article, test and validation centres are a strategic and necessary asset to accompany technological development. They therefore have to adapt to the speed at which wind turbines are evolving. Four years ago, we saw capacities of around 15 MW on the test benches, dimensions that fitted very well with GE’s Haliade that was already launched and with the Vestas V236-15MW and SiemensGamesa SG14 that would be launched a few months later.

 

But in the last 2 years we have witnessed the unstoppable growth of turbine sizes by Chinese OEMs.

 

 

As can be seen in the table above, there are more than a dozen Chinese turbines announced with power ratings above 15 MW. And there are 4 models of 25 MW and rotors of more than 300m. But these are not just announcements; the speed of development of these manufacturers means that we will soon see prototypes of these sizes. In fact, Dongfang has already demonstrated its 26 MW nacelle (pictured below), Goldwind has also produced its 22 MW nacelle and Mingyang installed its 20 MW turbine a few months ago.

 

 

SiemensGamesa is also working on an offshore model of more than 20 MW, which according to industry rumours would be the SG21-276. Therefore, it is not only Chinese manufacturers that need validation and test facilities above 20 MW. In fact, Windletter has just published an exclusive showing the transportation of the giant nacelle and hub from the manufacturing facilities to the testing center in Osterild, Dnamark.

 

 

Sany: the unexpected leader in the size race

 

The Chinese heavy machinery giant is one of the Chinese wind turbine manufacturers that has been surprising the most lately with the size and speed of its latest launches. It began its journey in the wind sector in 2008, manufacturing 1.5 MW models under licence, and until 2019 it did not go beyond 2.5/3 MW in size and 100% for the local Chinese market. But since 2019, the evolution has been meteoric, installing a few weeks ago the largest onshore turbine in the world with 15 MW and 270m of rotor.

 

 

And Sany is also one of the most active OEMs in giving visibility to its testing capabilities, which undoubtedly helps to reduce the perceived risk of its technology. In October, they showcased their 35 MW capacity powertrain testbed, one of the largest in the world, on Linkedin.

 

 

Furthermore, in February it had already announced its test rig for blades longer than 100m, with, according to Sany, “The system has a maximum excitation force of 140kN for dual-axis testing, which can cover the verification requirements of 30MW wind turbines”.

 

On Sany’s youtube channel you can find videos about blade, yaw motor, main shaft and nacelle testing. Also on linkedin they publish a lot of information about their validation capabilities, as in this summary post.

 

Envision: the most high-tech of Chinese OEMs

 

Envision has always tried to differentiate itself in terms of technology, especially in its digital and software capabilities. But it is clear that it also wants to build muscle on the validation side and has announced in the video below new test facilities for blades, gearboxes and powertrains among others. 

 

 

 

And Chinese component manufacturers are joining the party.

 

Obviously, component manufacturers have to adapt to the roadmap of their customers and have to offer validated components of the size that OEMs demand. One example is gearbox manufacturer NGC, which has launched a medium-speed multi for +20 MW turbines and has a 24 MW test bench to validate the design.

 

 

Another example is blade manufacturer Sinoma, which claims to have 14 test benches for blades up to 180m.

 

 

And of course, the certification centres

 

CGC (China General Certification) is one of the largest certification and validation bodies in China. It has laboratories and validation centres all over the country. Probably the most spectacular is its blade validation centre as it claims to have the largest indoor testing facility in the world with the capacity to test up to 6 blades at the same time up to 150m long.

 

 

And what is the situation in Europe?

 

As mentioned above, SiemensGamesa is developing the new generation of its offshore turbine with more than 20 MW of power and +270m rotor, so there must be validation centres of this size.

 

Four years ago we talked about the Danish validation centre LORC (Lindo Offshore Renewable Center), which at that time was undergoing renovation. Well, it now has facilities for testing nacelles and power trains of up to 25 MW.

 

 

But apart from this case, there does not seem to have been much evolution in other centres. Narec in the UK, where the Haliade was validated, still has similar capacities to what it had in 2020. In Spain, Cener does not seem to have grown much either, given the lack of market demand.

 

Where there is movement is in floating wind turbines, where 5 of the most important test centres in Europe have signed a collaboration agreement, a very interesting step, as collaboration seems the only way to compete with the Chinese giant and try to put Europe back at the forefront of development, albeit in the niche of floating wind turbines.

 

And finally

 

Validation and test centres are a reflection of the technological evolution of wind turbine manufacturers. So it is not surprising that China is now the leader here too, and Europe has fallen somewhat behind in terms of size and capacity. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. If Europe focuses on making existing technology reliable, adding value to the installed fleet and collaborating on new technologies such as floating, it is certainly a less risky bet than the frenetic growth in size that China advocates. But in the meantime, we will continue to enjoy the technological marvels offered by our Chinese colleagues.