At the Test center for small wind turbines, which Nordic Folkecenter operates at Hundborg, the blades of a Viking Wind turbine spin diligently in the Thy wind. The turbine is in the process of being certified so that Danish Viking Wind, which is based in Randers, can gain access to the Japanese market.
– In Japan there is a limit of 20 kilowatts for small turbines. The turbine here is designed for 25 kilowatts, so we must have a power curve on it, which shows that we can keep it below 20 kilowatts, as part of getting the turbine certified, says Ulrich Høgenhaven, who is CEO of Viking Wind.
The test and knowledge center for small wind turbines has been in operation since 2019, and Viking Wind is one of the companies that has made extensive use of the facilities.
– It’s really nice that we have a place here in Denmark with the wind resources that exist, so that we don’t have to spend too much time getting the data in the box. We have a reasonably good average wind up here, and then we also need to have above 16 meters per second many times to be able to get the peak loads on as well. We can do that here, says Ulrich Høgenhaven.
The companies that test at the center at Hundborg can constantly monitor the turbines and download test data for use in development and certifications. The Folkecenter subsequently anonymises the test data and passes it on to Aalborg University for teaching and research use.
You can see more about Viking Wind’s test in Thy in the video here, which was recorded a few days after the storm, Otto – which the test turbine by the way passed with flying colors.