The measurements required for the certification were conducted on a REpower MM82 turbine located at the Dollerup wind farm near Flensburg in the north of the country. “The unit certification for the wind turbine REpower MM82 is one of the first which has been issued by us under the new ordinance SDLWindV”, said Dr. Uwe Jönck, Germanischer Lloyd (GL), department Engineering and Safety Technology.
In order to obtain the certification, simulation models for the characteristics of the wind turbine on the grid needed to be further developed and then validated by comprehensive tests in real operation. Matthias Schubert, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of REpower Systems AG, emphasizes the importance of the unit certificate for the company’s business on the German market: “With this certificate, we demonstrate, to our customers as well, our capability in matters of grid conformity. Our turbines serve to stabilize the grid even during critical disruptions. Of course, this certificate is very important for our German business – but also for our activities in the international markets, where similarly demanding requirements apply, such as in Australia or Great Britain, for example.”
The unit certificate is required for new generator systems in conformance with the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the System Service Ordinance (SDLWindV) which went into effect last year. Both regulations establish wide-ranging technical and operational requirements for wind turbines. The unit certificate demonstrates that the turbine type installed in Dollerup fulfills the criteria of the SDLWindV in terms of a generation unit.
In the coming weeks, REpower is already expecting further unit certificates for the MM series. For the new generation units of the 3.XM series, for which prototype testing will soon be carried out, unit certificates should be available in the fourth quarter of 2010 at the latest. Due to the prototyping regulation, the wind turbines of this series can be connected to the grid until the end of January 2011 without requiring a unit certificate and an expert's opinion.
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