LTi REEnergy supplies first German offshore windpark Alpha Ventus with 5 MW PITCH systems
The Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm off the North Sea Island of Borkum is the first German pilot project with 12 wind turbines to be built by 2009. PROKON Nord GmbH has filed the application for the construction of the ”Windpark Borkum-West“ in 1999 which was approved in 2001.
The wind park will require an area of 4 square kilometres and is intended for the commercial use of wind energy in the future. The test farm will be used to gain fundamental knowledge in the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm.
The project is to be carried out by the consortium Deutsche Offshore Testfeld- und Infrastruktur-Gesellschaft (DOTI GmbH & Co. KG) consisting of the well-known power companies E.ON Energie Projects GmbH, EWE AG and Vattenfall Europe New Energy GmbH by summer 2008. According to the current planning status, the first wind turbines are to be put into operation by summer 2008.
DOTI will advance the project by investing a total of 180 million euros.
It will be the first time that 5 MW wind turbines are erected 45 kilometres offshore at a water depth of up to 30 metres with an average wind speed of 10 metres per second.
LTi REEnergy GmbH is a leading provider of complete systems for the electrical rotor blade control of wind and marine current turbines. The company is known for its high technology products and many years of experience in the field of renewable energies.
With the construction of all 5 MW offshore prototypes, LTi REEnergy has successfully demonstrated its expertise in the area of offshore and multi-megawatt turbine systems.
These prototypes have been developed and put into operation in close co-operation with the customer.
LTi REEnergy develops systems that are customised to the special hardware and software requirements of the customers. The Alpha Ventus offshore wind farm is likely to be equipped with six 5M-installations from REpower Systems AG and six M5000-installations from Multibrid Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH.
Hence, all wind turbines will be equipped with PITCH systems from LTi REEnergy.
The LTi REEnergy PITCH systems are optimised for the use in harsh offshore environmental conditions. PITCH systems are characterised by their resistance to salt fog, heat and cold as well as a high resistance to vibration, shock and permanent shock. In order to meet the special requirements at sea, the tried and tested systems have been optimised for offshore applications.
The condition monitoring functions of the PITCH system, the internal battery management system and the access to the redundant PITCH system via Ethernet for remote maintenance purposes provide the crucial added value.
The PITCH system permanently provides information on the state of the individual components. These data can be made available to the service personnel via an integrated webserver. The software allows to detect and prevent possible failures of individual components in time. The continuous availability of the measured data allows for the minimisation of maintenance times and optimisation of maintenance cycles. This is especially important for the Alpha Ventus wind farm as the time frame for the maintenance of the farm is limited.
The Alpha Ventus test farm is an important project for the development and use of offshore wind energy with future potential that not least will be beneficial for the climate protection in Germany.
Source: www.alpha-ventus.de, 24.10.2007.
