UPWIND 1A2 Metrology. Final Report

The UpWind project is a European research project that focuses on the necessary up-scaling of wind energy in 2020. Among the problems that hinder the development of wind energy are measurement problems. For example: to experimentally confirm a theoretical improvement in energy production of a few percent of a new design by field experiments is very hard to almost impossible. As long as convincing field tests have not confirmed the actual improvement, the industry will not invest much to change the turbine design. This is an example that clarifies why the development of wind energy is hindered by metrology problems (measurement problems). Other examples are in the fields of: • Warranty performance measurements • Improvement of aerodynamic codes • Assessment of wind resources In general terms the uncertainties of the testing techniques and methods are typically much higher than the requirements. Since this problem covers many areas of wind energy, the work package is defined as a crosscutting activity. The objectives of the metrology work package are to develop metrology tools in wind energy to significantly enhance the quality of measurement and testing techniques. The first deliverable was to perform a state of the art assessment to identify all relevant measurands. The required accuracies and required sampling frequencies have been identified from the perspective of the users of the data (the other work packages in UpWind). This work led to the definition of the Metrology Database, which is a valuable tool for the further assessment and interest has been shown from other work packages, such as Training. This report describes the activities that have been carried out in the Work Package 1A2 Metrology of the UpWind project. Activities from Risø are described in a separate report: T.F. Pedersen and R. Wagner, ‘Advancements in Wind Energy Metrology UPWIND 1A2.3’, Risø-R-1752.