TransWind research project

Project title: TransWind – Transdisciplinary end-of-life analysis of wind turbines for the development of technically and economically optimal after-use strategies

Summary:

Wind energy represents an important cornerstone for achieving the energy turnaround in Germany. The electricity production costs are still high in relation to the market remuneration, so that there is a need for development here. Against this background, the end-of-life issue of wind turbines ‘ i.e. the analysis and design of the time after the end of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) subsidy or after the design lifetime has been exceeded ‘ is currently of particular interest.

Content and Methodology:

In order to develop technically and economically sustainable strategies for post-EEG WTs, a joint and at least unilaterally coupled consideration of the most diverse aspects of structural dynamics, process technology, logistics, spatial planning and business management is indispensable. For example, it only makes sense to analyze the economic feasibility of continued operation through retrofitting if this is also technically possible. Therefore, within the framework of TransWind, a probabilistic, structural-dynamic model of a WT will be combined with site-specific wind simulations, spatial planning tools, and economic analyses in an interlocked modeling approach. In order to enable the automated application of this transdisciplinary approach, the modeling approach will also be implemented in a software solution, thereby taking advantage of the increasing digitization in the energy industry. The focus at the University of Hanover is on structural dynamics, probabilistic lifetime calculation and economic modeling.