RUN25+

Project´s Motivation, Methods and Measurement Program

Motivation

The expansion of offshore wind energy is a key component of the energy transition. Germany and the EU are pursuing ambitious expansion targets of 70 GW by 2045 (Germany) and 340 GW by 2050 (EU). Building up the supply chains required for this total capacity takes time. It will therefore be necessary to operate existing wind farms for longer than the planned 25 years. In economic and business terms, it is not so much the total installed capacity that matters, but rather the amount of electricity produced.

Methods and Measuring Program

In order to ensure the economic operation of a wind farm fleet consisting of older and new wind farms, special attention must therefore be paid to reliability and yield forecasts in the operating phase, which take into account the real site conditions. This is where the RUN25+ research project comes in. The aim is to create an improved decision-making basis for the continued operation of wind farms beyond 25 years in order to help implement the energy transition as quickly and cost-effectively as possible while also protecting the environment and conserving resources. In order to achieve this, topics that were previously considered and researched separately in research and technology will be linked in a new way.

Realisation

Therefore, time-dependent wind turbine reliability models are developed in RUN25+, which integrate operational and environmental conditions and are linked to improved models for the assessment of site quality. Finally, a time-series-based total cost model for estimating the future yield potential of wind farms will be developed.