Currently, rotor blades with a length of up to 90 meters can be tested for correct functioning at the independent test bed at Fraunhofer IWES. With the aim of further increasing the power output however, the wind industry is already developing rotor blades of a length of 100 metres and more. The project "Zukunftskonzept Betriebsfestigkeit Rotorblätter Phase II" (In English: “Future concept, operational stability of rotor blades, phase II”), funded among others by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), seeks to cope with these developments.

By the end of 2021, the plan is to enable manufacturers to test rotor blades with lengths of up to 115 metres. With the predecessor project having confirmed the executability of new test procedures, construction work for the new test bed in Bremerhaven is about to start. From the end of 2019, a large test field for whole blade tests will be set up, while at the same time, structures for segment and component tests will be erected.

The latter will enable a more detailed study of all areas of a rotor blade compared to whole blade tests, and will therefore allow a more detailed analysis of weak points. Furthermore, tests on segments of blades present a distinguished cost advantage over tests of entire blades. As a result, several tests could be implemented and statistically more relevant results obtained due to higher piece numbers. This in turn will effect the development of rotor blades in a very beneficial way since they will be constructed in a more precise, weight-saving and cost-saving way in the future. The reduction in the amount of time needed for the tests also means shorter innovation cycles for the manufacturers.