Development of wind energy technology

The technical development of wind power plants in Germany in the last 20 years has mainly concentrated on the construction of ever larger plants. After the development from small (50 kW to 150 kW) to medium-sized wind turbines (500 kW and 600 kW) in the 80s and early 90s, the development of the megawatt class began in the early 2000s. This triggered a rapid technical development. The largest systems currently available on the market have generator outputs of over 7.5 MW. Such a system generates as much electricity in the course of a year as more than 5,700 households consume. As a result, the systems commonly used today produce many times more electricity than the systems 20 years ago. These high performances are currently still the exception, but make it clear which further developments are possible in the future. Current new systems usually have a capacity of around 3 MW on land, 5-6 MW are the standard offshore. However, these performance figures have grown significantly in recent years and will continue to grow in the future. Current new systems usually have a capacity of around 3 MW on land, 5-6 MW are the standard offshore. However, these performance figures have grown significantly in recent years and will continue to grow in the future. For the further expansion of wind power generation and repowering, i.e. The replacement of old systems means higher performance with fewer wind energy systems.

The conceptual innovations in recent years included e.g. the development of gearless wind turbines. In parallel, the technical availability, i.e. the trouble-free usage time of the system is constantly increasing. Standard wind turbines today achieve an average availability of 98 percent. The system manufacturers have made an important contribution to this by setting up regional service centers. Advances in the use of modern communication technology also contribute to this. They allow quick response times in the event of malfunctions and thus short downtimes.

In the further development of the wind turbine system, significant potential for improvement is expected. This affects both the individual components and the optimization of their interaction. In this way, the cost of materials can be significantly reduced with increasing practical experience. Slimmer wings promise improved aerodynamics and thus higher levels of efficiency New control methods can reduce the mechanical stress on system components. Early error detection systems reduce maintenance costs and downtimes. Intensive work is also being carried out on further reducing noise emissions.