UniTTe will deliver a new paradigm for wind turbine power performance and loads testing, where a measuring mast is no longer needed and the same universal procedure can be used to test wind turbines in all types of terrain. This will both reduce the costs of wind measurement and enhance the quality of wind energy projects.
Instead of using mast mounted instruments measuring the free-stream wind speed far upstream, we propose to use modern, nacelle-mounted wind lidars (remote sensing laser anemometers), measuring the wind field a short distance ahead of the rotor. With these measurements, the correlation between the wind and the turbine response (loads and power) will be increased and the influence of the terrain on the measurements will be minimized, allowing the same procedures to be used both offshore and in mountainous terrain. Testing without the need for a mast will have a major impact on prototype testing, contractual tests, and operational tests offshore and onshore, since it will allow performing more and considerably cheaper power and load verifications.
This project will require fundamental research into how the approaching flow is modified by the wind turbine for different control strategies, terrain types and climatological conditions, in order to correct for it. Substantial research will also be conducted into how well the wind lidars are able to characterise the turbulent fluctuations in the inflow wind field. UniTTe, performed by a consortium of 11 partners, covering a broad spectrum of international players in the wind industry, will deliver the future industrial procedures for loads and power verification that will also form the basis of new international standards.