Østerild Wind Turbine Test Field (alternatively Risø) is a facility managed by the DTU Risø Campus of the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fir ...

(DTU) for testing of offshore

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s with a pinnacle height up to near

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

History

The area was plagued by flying sand from about 1450, and a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

was started from 1889 to keep the sand in check. The international

IEC 61400 IEC 61400 is an international standard published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) regarding wind turbines. Purpose and function IEC 61400 is a set of design requirements made to ensure that wind turbines are appropriately e ...

standard specifies how to design and validate wind turbines to gain commercial value.International Standard IEC 61400-1, Third Edition
'' International Electrotechnical Commission'', August 2005. Accessed: 12 March 2011. A suitable area for testing wind turbines must have good wind, a specific surface roughness, a clear area around the site, and not be in an EU

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

. After investigating 17 areas and drawing criticism, the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

decided in June 2010 to establish a wind turbine test center at Østerild. It was inaugurated in 2012, and is popular among tourists. A

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

opened in 2017, and had 50,000 visitors in 2020. There is a 50kW charging station. The current turbines reached a height of 240 metres in 2020, but future turbines up to 400 metres cannot be accommodated. New ponds and open areas have improved conditions for bats. The first sea eagles came to the area in 2015. On October 10, 2022, the prototype of the offshore wind turbine SG 14-222 DD produced up to 359 MWh of electricity in 24 hours, beating a new world record. In December 2022, a 15 MW prototype was installed.

Description

There are 9 test stands, and each test stand has its own meteorological mast due west. Some of the first 7 stands were not yet put in use in 2015. In 2016, the wind turbine industry requested more stands to fulfill future test requirements. The turbines are not permanent, but spend some months in test at the site before being replaced by the next turbines. At the northern and the southern end of the test field, there are two 250 metre tall guyed masts equipped with lamps to warn aircraft. The masts are situated at and at .

List of sites

Test sites as of December 2015 :

Gallery

File:GE–Alstom 150-6MW at Østerild, 2017.jpg,

GE Wind (offshore) GE Offshore Wind is a joint venture with Alstom and a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, created in 2015 when most of that company's other electrical power and generation assets were acquired. GE's stake in the joint venture is 50 % plus 1 share. ...

, 6MW File:Vestas V126-3.45 MW guyed tower at Østerild, 2017.jpg, Vestas V126-3.45 MW guyed tower File:Siemens 7MW at Østerild, 2017.jpg, Siemens 7MW

References

External links

Østerild - National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines
DTU page
National Testing Centre for Large Wind Turbines in Østerild
tourist page
Environmental papers

Brochure

Current weather measurements
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterild Wind Turbine Test Field Wind farms in Denmark Wind turbines