Projects

As part of its technical activities, AEE participates in a series of national and European projects performing a variety of functions, always with the aim of contributing to the progress of the wind energy sector in key aspects of R&D.

AEE’s contribution to the projects is based on its extensive knowledge of the wind energy sector acquired over more than 15 years of operations. In the technical field, AEE plays an important role in projects related to the grid integration of renewable energies, the operation and maintenance of wind farms or Health & Safety issues.

AEE also assumes the role of coordinator in national and international consortiums, performing the role of Project Management, as well as working in communication and dissemination thanks to the transversality provided by the presence of companies that make up the entire chain of value in the wind industry.

The following projects count on the experience and participation of AEE:

Objective:

The WINDEXT project, which has a budget of one million euros and a duration of 3 years, has as main objective the standardizing training in maintenance of wind turbines and wind farms, as well as reinforcing the use of digital tools, both virtual reality and augmented reality. AEE is the coordinator of this initiative.

At the same time, WINDEXT is part of the current strategy of decarbonization of the economy, at the lowest possible cost for the consumer and in the best operating conditions of renewable facilities. Complementary to the main objective, the aim is to reinforce the integration between training centers, universities and companies, both through the development of different digital tools, and in their validation and practical use.

The project addresses specific maintenance tasks such as diagnosis of the facilities in operation, integration of predictive models such as condition monitoring with classic preventive maintenance tools, promotion of new metrics based on energy / economic availability and even new monitoring methods to extend service life beyond design life.

The exchange of knowledge at the European level will be essential for a rapid reduction of costs in the wind energy industry, so that wind energy will be able to play a leading role in the European generation mix. This international cooperation contributes to maintaining European leadership in wind energy.

Objective:

SIMULWIND came into being as a result of the training needs of new professionals in the wind energy sector to face the challenges posed by the digitalisation of wind farms in industry 4.0. The scope of the project consists of the development of a computer simulator designed for training in maintenance and risk prevention in wind farms, with the aim of reproducing the various maintenance operations and failure modes of a wind turbine in a virtual environment.

The simulator is designed to supplement the training programs for Wind Farm Maintenance Technicians, providing a practical component that until now did not exist in the sector, through the use of virtual reality technologies and human factors that make it possible to interact with the student. The resulting simulator will also be made available to industry so that interested companies can implement new models of wind turbines, as well as their specific maintenance procedures.

The function of AEE within SIMULWIND is eminently technical, as the partner responsible for the development of the simulator content and scripting.

Objective:

SKILLWIND was the result of the desire of several European countries to create a standardised training programme for the wind energy sector, with the aim of standardising training content and thus facilitating the mobility of workers between different countries. The result of the SKILLWIND project was an interactive game or ‘serious game’ for smartphones that constitutes an innovative training tool with which users can reinforce their knowledge of wind farm operation and maintenance. The application is available for smartphones running Android and iOS (Apple) operating systems and in several languages (Spanish, English, French and Italian), and incorporates a range of training modules, including general concepts of wind power, wind farm operation and maintenance and Occupational Risk Prevention. If you want to put your knowledge of the sector to the test, do not hesitate to download it.

Objective:

TOWERPOWER was focused on the development of a real-time remote monitoring system to diagnose the aging of the metal structure of offshore turbines. The ultimate goal was to reduce maintenance costs in offshore wind energy.

The project included the design of a sensor system based on acoustic emissions (AE) and guided waves capable of monitoring the vibrations and degradation of the towers and metallic structures of offshore wind turbines, as well as the necessary communication systems to implement remote monitoring of each turbine from a control centre. The project culminated in 2017 with field tests carried out on a real prototype installed at the Nenuphar wind farm in Fos-sur-Mer (France).

Objective:

WISEPOWER was a European project aimed at increasing the social acceptance of wind energy as one of the key drivers for increasing the role played by renewables in the energy transition. To this end, the project focused on proposing measures to promote the participation of local communities in new projects, obtain greater support from public institutions and seek new and innovative financing models. The most efficient way to increase social acceptance of new wind projects is for the different stakeholders to be involved in their development, to be well informed and aware of the direct and indirect benefits they can bring to local communities.

Objective:

The CMSWIND project consisted of the development of an advanced monitoring system for rotating components in wind turbines by means of the application of novel non-destructive testing techniques that were not previously being used in the wind sector. This new Condition Monitoring system improved component reliability by up to 50%, using a blend of vibration analysis (VA), motor current signature analysis (MCSA) and acoustic emission (AE) technologies to monitor operating conditions.

Objective:

The wind energy sector has traditionally had a strong preventive culture with regard to occupational risks, and for this reason and with a view to continuous improvement, this project was undertaken to establish a general management system for the coordination of business activities in the sector, which would allow companies to accelerate compliance with this legal requirement.

Within the project, standardised procedures and protocols were developed for business activities tailored to the various types of companies that exist in the wind sector.

Objective:

The WINDBARRIERS project developed a methodology to analyse and overcome the administrative and grid connection barriers that hinder the development of wind energy in countries in the European Union. In 2009, the average administrative processing time of an onshore wind farm in Europe was 42 months and involved on average direct contact with nine different national, regional and local administrations. The project identified and compared the existing problems in different European countries in order to propose concrete solutions and methodologies to streamline the processing of new parks.

Objective:

In 2005, AEE promoted a project related to the prediction of wind farm energy production, known as the Prediction Exercise. The project was financed by AEE and by companies that own the parks, as well as by a subsidy from the PROFIT programme of the Ministry of Education and Science.

The Prediction Exercise consisted of a comparative Round Robin of various wind resource prediction models, which were tested on seven wind farms. The main objectives were to analyse the principal limitations of the models, determine the factors involved in the deviations of wind resource predictions and propose solutions to minimise them.