The Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES has successfully completed a boulder detection campaign off the coast of the island of Rügen in the German Baltic Sea on behalf of 50Hertz.

In collaboration with the Institute for Energy, Recycling and Environmental Protection (IEkrW) at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES is developing comprehensive concepts aimed at making it possible to recycle and reuse rotor blades considerably better in the future.

Fraunhofer IWES to test Vestas’ XXL rotor blade on new test bench

Vestas will be the first customer for the Fraunhofer IWES’ new rotor blade test bench.

Wind turbines with integrated electrolyzer demonstrate sustainable hydrogen production at sea

H2Mare flagship project is supposed to receive more than €100 million funding from the BMBF

Progress in realization of Hydrogen Lab Bremerhaven

Large component layout confirmed

Fraunhofer IWES puts further bearing test rig into operation

The Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES has put the new BEAT1.1 (Bearing Endurance and Acceptance Test) facility into operation now.

Construction begins on superlative rotor blade test bench

The Fraunhofer IWES is now starting construction work on a third rotor blade test bench at its Großer Westring site in Bremerhaven, Germany.

How does climate change impact wind farm yields?

Fraunhofer IWES and GERICS are launching a new research project to investigate climatic changes in wind and their influence on wind energy site assessment.

In the first phase of the planned expansion, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES is officially putting into operation a new test bench in Bremerhaven in the scope of the Hil-GridCoP project together with the Lord Mayor of the City of Bremerhaven, Melf Grantz, Timo Haase from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), and the project partners Vestas Nacelles Deutschland GmbH and Nordex Energy GmbH.

Germany’s first offshore wind farm alpha ventus was inaugurated in spring 2010. Since then, it operates not only as a commercial find warm, but also functions as a research platform for the further development of the offshore wind energy sector.

The aim of the research project EWiNo has been to examine the use of new technologies for the improvement of wind modeling and optimization of wind farms in complex terrain. Under the management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, ENERTRAG, GEO-NET, and other well-known industrial partners are working together to put new ideas and research approaches into practice with the aim of not only being able to harness wind energy in the North in the future.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES’ mobile test facility for grid compliance tests research project, also known as “Mobil-Grid-CoP” in German, is being launched with the aim of developing and commissioning a mobile grid simulator.

How do offshore wind farms change the wind?

Start of a new research project on wind energy utilization in the German Bight

Fraunhofer IWES Celebrates 10th Birthday

The Fraunhofer IWES was founded in 2009 and, since then, has developed into an internationally highly regarded research institute in the wind energy sector.

Worldwide First Validation of Aerodynamics of Large Wind Turbines

For the very first time in the world, Fraunhofer IWES is measuring the aerodynamics of wind turbines with a rated power of more than five megawatts (MW).

Bearing Test Bench Now Fully Functional

Over the past months, the first blade bearings have been tested in Hamburg on the new BEAT 6.1 test bench using a highly simplified yet customary setup.

During a two-month test campaign, the scientists from Fraunhofer IWES will be determining in the Dynamic Nacelle Testing Laboratory (DyNaLab) how the nacelle of a 3 MW wind turbine from ENERCON reacts to grid faults.

Fraunhofer's test bench for rotor blade bearings of up to 6.5 meters in diameter has been successfully commissioned at the institute’s Hamburg facility, paving the way for automated continuous operation.

Experimental testing should remain economically viable for manufacturers despite the increasing lengths of rotor blades - either in the form of full-scale blade testing or the testing of segment or blade components. That's why the Fraunhofer IWES will build a new test bench at the end of the year.

Better Protection for Power Converters

More reliable wind turbine components improve profitability

Three innovative 20 meter long rotor blades from the SmartBlades2 project will be assessed under natural weather and wind conditions in Boulder, Colorado (USA), over the next four months.

RELIABLADE project: Increased Reliability of Rotor Blades

Strategic collaboration in the field of rotor blade research

Together with 14 project partners, Fraunhofer IWES, in the role of coordinator, launched the BladeFactory project at the beginning of October. The research project, which has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to the tune of € 7 million, is set to last 3.5 years.

Fraunhofer IWES has now extended its index for the German Bight for the year 2017. The index provides information on how high the maximum available natural energy yield was compared to previous years.

Work recently got under way on the Institute’s latest construction project with digging a whole for the heavy-duty foundations of a 250 m2 hall in the direct vicinity of IWES´s nacelle test bench.

Compact design, low tower head mass, and good transportability: The generator developed in the EcoSwing research project, is to be used in the next generation of multi-megawatt turbines.

Fraunhofer IWES tested two large-scale suction buckets in a 1:5 scale in early 2018. The physical experiments at the Test Center for Support Structures in Hanover (TTH) are the first of their kind in Germany.

In accordance with the German Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG), preliminary assessment of soil conditions must be performed before contracts can be awarded for new offshore wind farm clusters in the North and Baltic Sea.

Compared with other rotor blade prototypes measuring more than 80 m in length from industrial customers, this test object is small, nevertheless it is certainly keeping IWES´ scientists on their toes: for the very first time, a rotor blade with bend-twist coupling was tested whose design was developed by Fraunhofer IWES in a previous project.

Within an hour, the steel cylinder of the bucket foundation had sunk down into the soil. This installation method for the foundations of offshore wind turbines is both fast and avoids pile driving noise, meaning it can also be employed for sites in regions subject to noise restrictions.