DEKRA expertise at WindEnergy 2022

Focus on Safer Wind Energy

Sep 22, 2022

International expert organization DEKRA will be attending WindEnergy 2022, the leading trade fair taking place in Hamburg from September 27 – 30, 2022, where they will be sharing solutions that span the entire lifecycle of the wind turbine. This year, they will also be turning the spotlight on special services for condition assessment, along with the measures taken to ensure the continued safe and economically viable operation of existing turbines.

Wind turbines and their technology are playing a key role in the clean energy revolution by producing electricity that can also be used for the production of climate-neutral fuels, such as hydrogen for example. The talk here is of ‘sector coupling’. In day-to-day use, the high-tech systems must withstand high, alternating loads while remaining safe and commercially viable. Failures and accidents cause serious economic damage.

The focus now is more on the continued operation of wind turbines beyond the original time frame. Operators are supported here by DEKRA experts when it comes to the legal and engineering challenges involved. As an accredited certification body, DEKRA carries out both the on-site inspections and performance analyses, in relation to load level and reserve capacity, for example, required to allow operations continue.

DEKRA also supports investors and operators in the planning, design, and approval of new projects. Responsibility is taken for safety at work, such as safety coordination on the building site for example, during the construction phase, with risk assessments and technical inspections also carried out by experts.

During the operating phase, DEKRA is responsible for carrying out periodic inspections – in accordance with German industrial safety regulations (BetrSichV), among others – as well as further compulsory inspections involving, for example, the inspection of access systems, cranes, pressure vessels, and electrical equipment. After longer periods of operation, DEKRA experts also perform a number of special services to assess economic viability and condition, such as vibration measurements, drive train and blade angle measurement, endoscopic inspections, or oil and grease analyses.

DEKRA experts provide due diligence reports for insurance companies or courts in the event of damage or a change of operator. They are also responsible for providing operating personnel with further instruction and safety training.

DEKRA provides a number of safety-related services for sector coupling with hydrogen as an energy source: for example in its role as accredited inspection body for explosion protection according to the German industrial safety regulations (BetrSichV) and accredited inspection body for hydrogen tank pressure. Add to this is an entire wealth of expertise relating to the containment of dangerous goods and hydrogen filling equipment according to ADR/TPED. DEKRA also carries out feasibility studies and compiles reports on the repurposing of gas pipelines and new pipelines. Furthermore, DEKRA has testing concepts for fittings, along with a tester for the inspection and “H2 readiness” of existing equipment.

DEKRA’s commitment to the wind energy sector is part of its ambitious Sustainability Strategy 2025. DEKRA supports the vision of a sustainable world economy and pledges to observe the basic principles of the UN Global Compact. It is aiming to be a net-zero business by 2025. DEKRA is also a member of the industry association Hydrogen Europe and represented in working groups of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association.