The high-performance electronics of wind turbines are exposed to a range of stresses. On the one hand, the systems must withstand varying electronic loads. On the other, they must operate trouble-free even when exposed to strong winds, enormous temperature fluctuations or in environments with high humidity. The maintenance of offshore wind farms is particularly challenging, and downtimes are expensive.

In the project “Multidimensional loads on high-performance electronics in wind turbines“ (abbreviated to HiPE-WiND), scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES and the University of Bremen, together with their partners from industry, are examining the factors influencing the life span of these systems and the precise causes for breakdowns. As part of the stress tests undertaken on the transformer systems of wind turbines of up to 10 MW, the weaknesses in the system hardware are to be identified and analysed in a climate chamber. The test facilities needed for carrying out the tests under realistic conditions will be set up in Bremen.

On conclusion of the project in September 2020, the results are to be passed on to industry. The aim is to develop robuster high-performance electronics for wind turbines. The project is receiving EUR 11.5 million in funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).