Maintenance simulator for the sustainability of European wind farms Erasmus Project

Project Title

Maintenance simulator for the sustainability of European wind farms

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Energy and resources

Project Summary

Currently, Wind Energy accounts for 17% of Europe’s total installed generation capacity. During 2016 the 13.9 GW of wind power were installed globally, 12.5 GW of which in the European Union. This becomes Wind power in the energy technology with the highest capacity installations in 2016, reaching 51% of all new power capacities.

EU energy policies set to 2030 the ambitious goal of having 46% electricity consumption produced by renewable energies which means that big investments are needed in order to achieve that target.

For the wind industry meeting the expectations of 2030 horizon is translated into an increase of 175% of the wind generation since 2015 and having a share of 23% in electricity consumption which would mean an increase in onshore but mostly offshore wind power deployment, growing the latest by six times in 2030, reaching offshore installed capacity of nearly 70 GW.

Europe still leads the world in wind technology, representing this industry a major export for Europe. Moreover, all Wind turbines deployed in Europe are made in Europe, which explains why the wind energy employs 330000 skilled workers that could only grow.

Having in mind all the wind energy power installed in addition of the power which is to be deployed not only in Europe but all over the world, skilled personnel would be necessary along the supply chain with transferrable core skills that will allow them to adapt better to changing technologies and being flexible to work in different projects.

In this context, the background of the project is supported in three main issues:
– Wind farms are becoming older in the EU and therefore they will require more maintenance attentions, increasing the labor opportunities for young professionals.
– The progressive trend of the market to extend the life of the wind farms, with the challenge of maintaining the wind turbines availability.
– The multidisciplinary orientation of the maintenance in such a way that people trained in the wind sector can be also employed in other industrial and renewable energies sector.

The project partners have actively being involved in the development of training contents as well as giving directly courses in the area of maintenance and operation of wind farms. Those courses have been carried out in Spain and in different LATAM countries.

That experience has shown that it could be very useful to use simulation tools which, in combination with face to face and on-line courses, could give a more accurate idea about the main features of the operation of the wind farms in real conditions, as well as the maintenance procedures and an approach to the trouble soothing of the Wind Turbines.

The objective of this project was to develop a simulator that with capabilities to simulate the main faults and solutions that can be found in both wind turbines and wind farms.

The Project followed the present trend in the market for using digital tools to represent the equipment operation in an interactive environment to enhance the user experience in learning the different topics already developed in the several training courses.

According to the ambitious objectives and contents stated, the simulator has become the perfect tool to train the wind industry professionals in operation and maintenance being the most adequate mean to put in practice the theory learnt in a training course. This is especially relevant considering that most of the training offered in the wind energy sector does not include on farm practical training.

The project consortium was made of the following partners:
BZEE: BZEE ACADEMY GmbH (BZEE) a VET provider in the wind energy sector with more than 17 years of experience on the market.

AEE: The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) founded in 2002 promotes the use of wind energy in Spain, Europe and worldwide. It has more than 165 partners representing 80% of the sector in Spain.

SGS: SGS TECNOS is a leader in certification, regulation and also a recognising training company. It’s an organisation with an important experience in technical assistance in the HSE (health and safety of work) and Environment.

ANEV: ANEV – the Italian Wind Energy Association – is an Environmental Protection Association which brings together more than 70 companies operating in the field of the wind power and over 5,000 individuals.

WindEurope: WindEurope is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. It has over 450 members, active in over 50 countries.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 271116 Eur

Project Coordinator

Renewable Skills & Consultant GmbH & Country: DE

Project Partners

• cmc GmbH
• ASOCIACION EMPRESARIAL EOLICA
• SGS TECNOS SA
• ANEV associazione nazionale energia del vento
• WindEurope