Certification Testing at the National Wind Technology Center

The International Electrotechnical Commission is developing a new standard that defines power performance measurement techniques. The standard will provide the basis for international recognition of a wind turbine's performance primarily for certification, but also for qualification for tax and investment incentives, and for contracts. According to the standard, the power performancecharacteristics are defined by a measured power curve and by projections of annual energy production for a range of wind conditions. The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) has adopted these power performance measurement techniques. This paper reviews the results of the NWTC' s first test conducted under the new protocol on the Atlantic Orient Corporation's AOC 15/50 wind turbine at the NWTC.The test required collecting sufficient data to establish a statistically significant database over a range of wind speeds and conditions. From the data, the power curve was calculated. Then the results from a site calibration procedure determined the flow distortion between winds measured at the turbine location and those measured at the meteorological tower. Finally, this paper discusses theuncertainty analysis that was performed in accordance with the standard. Use of these procedures resulted in the definition of the AOC 15/SO's power curve within about 3 kW.