Wind power is a mainstay of low-CO2 and sustainable energy generation in many countries. Further increasing yields and reducing maintenance costs is therefore of great importance.

A key technology for this is the Digital Twin, the potential of which the industry is far from exploiting. The ideal image of future wind turbines and wind farms is one of continuously and automatically optimizing elements. Experts refer to these as smart cybertronic systems. They should automatically adapt to site-specific and constantly changing weather conditions. In addition, they are to use their system status, the currently available service resources and the operator model for optimal operational management.

The Wind IO joint project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, brings together well-known partners from the wind industry. The project uses CONTACT Elements for IoT with its data models and methods for Digital Twins to explore specific use cases.

One example is connecting the wear models of sensitive components with the Digital Twin to improve the overall lifetime as well as the timing for preventive maintenance.

The consortium

Institute for Integrated Product Development BIK of the University of Bremen (consortium leader), Institute for Electrical Drives, Power Electronics and Devices IALB of the University of Bremen, CONTACT Software and seven industrial companies.