Operation of Wind Power Plants in Cold Climate

Atmospheric icing has a significant impact on the development and the operation of wind turbines. Ice on the rotor blades disturbs the aerodynamics and thus causes production losses and increased noise emissions. Moreover, the additional ice loads may lead to extreme loads and increased fatigue. Depending on the requirements from local authorities wind turbine operators have to prevent ice throw from the turbines leading to additional downtimes and production losses. Thus, an optimized and efficient operation of wind turbines under icing conditions has become a very important topic over the last couple of years.

The main topics of the VGB conference "Operation of Wind Power Plants in Cold Climate" will deal with the optimization of wind turbine operation under cold climate conditions. The aim is to increase operational safety and reliability as well as to reduce production losses due to icing. Operational concepts will be presented by the manufacturers of wind power plants and wind turbine operators. Manufacturers of rotor blade based ice detectors will present there technologies for a reliable ice and “no ice” detection. The conference will be completed by presentations about ice throw and ice forecasting.

The conference will mainly highlight the following topics:

• Operational optimization concepts
  • Manufacturer of wind power plants
  • Manufacturer of ice detection systems
  • Operators of wind turbines
• Ice throw
• Ice forecasting

The programme will leave enough time for extensive discussions and answering your questions.

The conference addresses operators of wind power plants and all persons and institutions that are directly or indirectly involved in the installation or operation of wind power plants.