CEDER-CIEMAT’s Wind Energy Unit boasts five sites and has the capacity to house 15 test rigs, for conducting field tests on low-power wind turbines. These facilities enable the Unit to comply with all of the requirements stipulated by the different testing regulations. Three of these test rigs are sited under strong wind conditions (class I/II, in accordance with the IEC 61400-2 standard). The Unit also has a building that is used as a laboratory for testing wind turbine components, in addition to facilities for the testing of blades and electric generators, as well as enabling the mounting of low-power wind turbines on the roof for the purposes of studying wind technology in urban/semi-urban environments. There is also a laboratory that produces and tests flywheels.

 

LE2 wind-testing laboratory

The protocols governing this laboratory are in line with the stipulations of the ISO 17025 standard on the requirements for testing and calibration laboratories. It is used for conducting tests on wind turbine power curves, in accordance with the UNE/EN 61400-12-1 standard (see document: pdf 1,9 MB), tests on acoustic noise emissions, in accordance with the 61400-11 standard (see document: pdf 192 KB) and tests on duration (see document: pdf 1.8 MB) and safety and operation, in accordance with the 61400-2 standard  (see document: pdf 1,7 MB).

The purpose of the LE2 wind-testing laboratory is to provide full certification for low-power wind turbines, in order to achieve improved quality and safety for the products sold (at both the domestic and international level).

 

Wind turbine test plants

Testing and monitoring of small wind turbines with the aim of improving the technology for both vertical-axis and horizontal-axis wind turbines.

Research on the monitoring of wind resources and wind turbine behaviour, including in settings with a highly turbulent wind flow and in urban and semi-urban environments.

Blade test rig

The blade test rig makes it possible to conduct a variety of structural tests (including property tests, static tests and fatigue tests) on blades up to 11 metres long (see document: pdf 1,1 MB), in accordance with the IEC TS 61400-23 and IEC 61400-2 standards.

The full-scale blade tests provide information that can be used to optimize and validate manufacturers’ designs. Additionally, some of these tests are obligatory in order to obtain certification for a wind turbine.

 

Electric-generator test rig

There are two test rigs for electric generators: one with the capacity to test generators with a power rating of up to 10 kW and rotational speeds of up to 3,000 rpm; and another for generators with a power rating of up to 120 kW and a range of rotational speeds, owing to the presence of a multi-stage multiplier. The tests are conducted in accordance with the IEC-60034 standard. 

 

Flywheel production and test laboratory

This facility makes it possible to produce flywheels from composite materials (carbon fibre and epoxy resins) and subsequently test them at speeds of up to 6,300 rpm, in order to study the behaviour of different designs and materials.

 

Wind blade production laboratory

Thanks to this laboratory, the stall can make blades for small wind turbines from new materials and test them later in the blade test rig. The aim is to study the behaviour of different designs and materials. In addition, it is also possible to produce wind blades moulds through 3D printing.