£25m for wind turbine drive train test rig

The indoor rig will be sited at Narec in Blyth, Northumberland and will be capable of testing complete drive trains and nacelles up to 15 MW. It should be available for commercial testing from June 2013.

The ETI is a UK based company formed from global industries and the UK Government to bring together projects and partnerships that create affordable, reliable, clean energy. Its six private sector members are BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell.

The ETI is investing £25m in the Narec facility, by providing funding to a consortium of Converteam and MTS Systems Corporation for the design, development and commissioning of the test rig, which will be a large scale engineering project. The UK has Europe’s biggest wind resource, but until now, has had no dedicated full turbine test facility.

The consortium will design and deliver the turbine test rig for the Narec site in Blyth, Northumberland, with Converteam, who have experience of developing test rigs, providing technical leadership and project management from their site in Rugby, Warwickshire.

The test rig is capable of providing 15MW of power, as well as creating the dynamic conditions that wind turbines would expect to see when installed offshore. It will be larger and more complex than anything currently available and will help manufacturers increase the reliability of their new turbines.

The rig has been designed to allow the whole turbine nacelle to be tested in a purpose built, onshore test facility before being exposed to the challenging offshore conditions. This will help reduce the technical and commercial risks of mass production and deployment.

The harsh operating conditions and logistics of operating and maintaining machines far from shore drives up the generating cost of offshore wind. Drive train failures have a significant impact on the economics of offshore installations

Preparatory construction and infrastructure works have already commenced at Narec in Blyth, ahead of the start of building construction later this year.

UK Business Secretary Vince Cable said, “Combined with our strong manufacturing and maritime heritage, the UK is well positioned to take advantage of the global shift to clean energy. To do that we need substantial investment, and today’s announcement of this state of the art test facility shows our determination to support the renewable energy sector that is helping to reshape the British economy for the future.”

Andrew Mill, CEO of Narec said, “Demand for the facility is high with a number of wind turbine manufacturers already having made a clear commitment to undertake accelerated lifetime testing of their prototype machines in the 5 to10MW range at Narec from 2013. Narec is providing the route to market for manufacturers looking to sell their wind turbines into the UK for Crown Estate Round 3 developments.

The test rig will be sited alongside Narec’s rapidly expanding facilities for testing wind turbine blades and marine energy systems.