Issue

03/2003

WIND BLATT
The ENERCON Magazine

On solid
foundations
Report on page 10

Pages 4/5: Luxembourg

Municipal wind farm in the Ardennes
Pages 6/7: More power
Replacing old converters
Page 11: Stress test
Deep foundations for the new E-112
 2 WIND BLATT 3/2003

Editorial
Dear Readers,

I am pleased to inform you that the

preparations for series production
of our 4.5 megawatt E-112 converter
are making rapid progress. We
recently upgraded a factory hall
complex in Magdeburg-Rothensee to
meet the job requirements. Moulds
and other working equipment for
production of the rotor blades are
now ready to manufacture the first
E-112 blade in June. Series production
of the nacelle components will also
begin there next year.

This is another demonstration of

ENERCON’s close relationship with
Magdeburg and the Saxony-Anhalt
region. Following the development
of a large number of wind energy
production facilities and the erection
of the world’s largest converter last
year, wind energy is making a vital
Technology
contribution to a federal region where
unemployment is still high.
Graphite and
Yet more service and quality for ENERCON
We are looking forward, with confi-
dence, to good future cooperation
There was plenty of ENERCON’s production manager, Klaus
with the region’s political leaders
Peters, was visibly pleased as he an-
in matters concerning the further innovation to find out about and to
nounced that Meuselwitz Guss from
development of wind energy in admire on the ENERCON stand Thuringia, amongst others, would in
Saxony-Anhalt and by these means
at the Hanover Fair. future be supplying cast main carriers for
hope to be able to create many more
the E-66. This relegates welded seams
jobs in the Saxony-Anhalt region. to the past, and an even stress distribu-

Yours,
C ustomers and interested visi-
tors crowded onto ENERCON’s
stand at the Hanover Fair. They did not
just take the opportunity for a look inside
the two converters on display, an E-30
(300 kW) (see photograph above) and an
E-40 (600 kW), but also listened to a
Aloys Wobben variety of talks about the technological
Managing Director of ENERCON GmbH innovations at ENERCON.
tion is achieved in cast parts (see diagram
above right). This was also achieved in
the past, thanks to ENERCON’s high
demands for quality, but only at the
cost of extensive work on the welded
seams. The new process now makes this
work superfluous. Suppliers have been
working for a long time on the imple-
 3/2003 WIND BLATT 3

Presented at the Hanover Fair: the new cast main carrier. The even stress distribution can be seen here with
a computer simulation.

responsible for the electrical power
supply at the rotor. Carbon brushes
were formerly used to slide on the
slipring casing, but have now been
replaced by gold spring wire. About
200 wires, each 60 mm long, ensure
that DC current is supplied to the rotor’s
pole shoes at the tip of the axle journal,
and that data transfer can take place.
The portal is currently being tested,
and is expected to be available to
customers in 2004. It will then not only
be possible to call up yields, availabi-
lities, usage data and analyses, but
also to present them in individually de-
signed formats. Customers and other
interested visitors at the Hanover Fair
had the chance to try out the portal on

of Carbon brushes wear out after a few

years, which means that the slipring
a remote monitoring computer for the
first time.

Gold casing has to be regularly cleaned. The

customers
mentation of the cast main carrier, using
computer simulations provided by
ENERCON’s Research Department. The
use of spheroidal graphite cast iron was
a crucial point in making the manu-
facture possible. One of the material’s
properties that makes it particularly
suitable for safety-relevant components
is its high tensile strength. For ENERCON
the new E-66 main carriers therefore
represent a further step forward in the
optimisation of production processes.
Yet another component will look diffe-
rent in future: the slipring casing. It is
new material, however, is subject to
hardly any wear. Gold has a number
of advantages here: it does not wear
easily, giving it a long service life,
and, at the same time, is a good con-
ductor.
The E-66 has also passed the inspection.
It is not only available as a 1.8 MW
converter, but also with a rated power
of 2 MW. Optimum yield can therefore be
achieved in combination with the new
114 m prefabricated towers.
Operators can look forward to a new
innovative converter servicing field:
“Service Information Portal”. An inter-
net, which permits the analysis and
statistical processing of converter data. The new slipring casing with gold spring wire.
4 WIND BLATT 3/2003
Municipal wind farm
in the Ardennes
Three E-66 converters for the best wind region in Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s largest wind
energy converters have now
been set up in Ösling,
in the Luxembourg Ardennes.
Construction of Luxembourg’s largest wind energy converters
T he trucks had a tough job. Laden
with tower sections, they ground
their way up through the Eifel region’s
mountain landscape. But it was not
just Luxembourg’s terrain that made life
difficult for the ENERCON transport team.
amongst blooming mountain meadows.
A tough time was also crossing the
bureaucratic landscape before the three
E-66 (1.8 MW) converters could be
erected. The 99 trucks did not take
the simplest route through Belgium to
Luxembourg, but travelled all the way
 3/2003 WIND BLATT 5

through Germany to reach their desti-

nation, since the Belgian authorities
require an individual approval procedure
for every single heavy transport. A
process which is always associated
with costs and waiting times. “Only
the nacelles and rotor blades reached
their destination through Belgium. They
could not have been driven through
the narrow, winding roads”, explains
ENERCON project manager, Dipl.-Ing.
Peter Köppel.

But the difficult journey paid off: the des-

tination, Heinerscheid, is the best wind
region in Luxembourg. A wind speed of
more than 5 m/s is measured here at a
height of 30 m. An ideal combination of
nature and technology, because the three
E-66 converters, with their hub height of
98 m, are the largest and most powerful
in this small country. In purely arithmetic
terms, each of these new converters
provides enough power to supply all
the domestic and small business con-
sumption of the public grid for 1 1/2 days
a year.
And there was another unusual feature.
The “Heinerscheid Windpark” project, run
by Wandpark Gemeng Hengischt S.A.,
does not have a single opponent in the
Heinerscheid community. In Luxembourg
it is known exactly whether residents are
for or against a project because the local
inhabitants are informed by the respon-
sible initiators about any planned projects
at a public meeting. Following this they
can express any doubts or reservations
in the course of the approval procedure,
either in writing, or in a personal dis-
cussion with the local council. Pierre
Heinen, a local landowner, joins the
collected spectators to watch the con-
struction team. “My children convinced
me about the green idea”, he explained.
For that reason he was happy to lease
some of his land to the wind farm opera-
tors. “The community was involved in this
project from the very beginning”, is the
explanation Charles Offermann, from the
Eagerly following the construction of the wind energy converters at Heinerscheid (l. to r.): Paul Schockmel
(SEO), Änder Schanck (President of Wandpark Gemeng Hengischt) and Charles Offermann (SEO).
planning office of the electricity supply
company SEO and gives for the positive
mood in Heinerscheid. A further possible
reason could be that rights to obtain
shares were granted to residents in the
community. “Hëpperdanger Wandenergie
s.à.r.l.”, an association of local wind
energy interests, owns the lion’s share of
25 per cent of the project. One of its
shareholders, Mr Änder Schanck, is also
the president of the wind project’s ope-
rating company. He explained: “I am an
organic farmer, and I wanted a small wind
energy converter as an ecological source
of energy. The mayor convinced me about
the construction of larger converters. And,
of course, I am now happy about that.”
The second largest share, at 22.5 per
cent, is owned by the Heinerscheid mu-
nicipality. It presently holds the shares in
trust, and proposes to transfer 20 per
cent of the company’s share capital to
the community’s residents, and retains
2.5 per cent for itself. The remaining share
is distributed amongst four other groups.
The public grid in Luxembourg supplies
customers with electric power amounting
to 4 billion kWh a year. 89 per cent of the
necessary energy is imported, a high
proportion of it coming from the RWE
grid. At present, renewable energy repre-
sents about 3.4 per cent of Luxembourg’s
electric power. The remuneration for wind
energy converters with a rated power
above 500 kW is composed of the tariff
to be paid by the consumer (the day
tariff is 6.4 euro cents per kilowatt
hour, the night tariff 3.3 euro cents) and
a power premium that depends on
the contribution to covering peak load
in Luxembourg’s grid. For converters
with a rated power of less than 500 kW
7.88 euro cents for each kilowatt hour is
paid. On top of these prices, the state
pays a premium, based on ecological
considerations, of 2.5 euro cents per
kilowatt hour. This arrangement is
based on regulations passed in the
Grand Duchy in 1994, and is currently
being revised.
6 WIND BLATT 3/2003

The small one goes

the big one comes
Time for a new generation of converters in Schleswig-Holstein

Large picture: An idyllic view of Hans-Reimer Thiessen’s E-66

converter that has taken the place of two Nordtank units.
Small picture: Operator Thiessen (left) and ENERCON
marketing representative Jan Hanssen in Kronprinzenkoog.

An E-66 has now taken the place of a Tacke (now GE) installation.
The name “Koog” refers to reclaimed
land, obtained by draining the water
from between two dykes. Wind-free
days are unknown in these regions of
Schleswig-Holstein’s west coast.
he prevailing wind conditions are
T so ideal here that the local inhabi-
tants set up the first 55 kW wind energy
converters in the middle of the 1980s. A
wide variety of converter types were in-
stalled here over the years. Some of them
have now been in place for nearly 20 years.
So it is no surprise that operators here,
more than in any other region of Germany,
are thinking in terms of replacing old wind
energy converters with new and more
powerful models. Farmer Hans-Reimer
Thiessen’s converters were amongst the
first in Kronprinzenkoog. “If I was still
just a farmer today, then I would have to be
looking for a new job”, he says, watching
pensively as a tractor passes by, white
cabbages rolling around its trailer. And
now Mr Thiessen, though he might
modestly deny it, is again amongst the
first. This time, it is in the replacement of
old converters with a new generation: at
the end of 2001 an E-66 (1.8 MW) arrived
in order to replace two of his Nordtank con-
verters, each of which provides 300 kW.
The project was implemented quickly and
without any difficulty, especially because
the E-66 was being set up within an
existing wind farm. Only noise and turbu-
lence reports were required. Mr Thiessen
was lucky that his converters are located
in a wind energy precedence area, desig-
nated some years ago by the regional
authorities. Replacing converters outside
these areas, on the other hand, is only
possible if the municipality concerned
agrees to a corresponding development
plan. There is, furthermore, the question of
whether the necessary grid capacity is
available when the replacement converters
are of high capacity. “I decided in favour of
an ENERCON converter, because at that
time I did not know for definite whether I
would be allowed to feed the full power into
the grid. And because it is possible to limit
the output of ENERCON converters to any
desired power, this was the best option”,
recalls Mr Thiessen. It has now, however,
become clear that the converter can be
operated at its rated power. Last year, the
65 m high E-66 yielded 4.5 million kWh.
Like Mr Thiessen, a large number of “wind-
mill” operators in the Koog have filed
applications for similar projects.
In the neighbouring Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog,
at a wind farm belonging to the Windtest
firm, the large “Growian” converter drew a
lot of attention in the 1980s. Dipl.-Ing. Jan
Hanssen, from ENERCON’s marketing
department in Marne, grew up at Dith-
marschen in Schleswig-Holstein. “I was
familiar with the 3 MW converter”, he re-
members. Close to the test field, in the
Westküste wind energy farm, small con-
verters from Tacke (now GE), HSW and
Adler had to make way for an ENERCON
E-66 converter. A little further on, there is
a 600 kW Vestas V 42 that is presently
being replaced by an E-66.
As the German Wind Energy Institute
(Deutsche Windenergie-Institut, DEWI) in
Wilhelmshaven wrote in its report in March
of 2003, the installed capacity in 2002 was
22 per cent more than the figure for 2001.
Each new converter, with an average power
of almost 1.4 MW, is nine percent more
powerful than the average converter power
installed in 2001. According to the DEWI
report, in 2002, 8 new wind energy con-
verters, with a total power of 12.7 MW, re-
placed 16 old units totalling 5.4 MW.
Wilfried Voigt, state secretary in Schleswig-
Holstein’s Ministry for Industry, Work and
Traffic, has no objections to the plan of
3/2003 WIND BLATT 7
This Vestas converter is now being
replaced by an E-66.
replacing old converters by new ones:
“It is an excellent opportunity because it
encourages further development of the
wind sector while helping to reduce pres-
sure on the appearance of the landscape.
The new converters also reinforce the
leading role that wind energy must play in
the necessary changes to energy policy.”
And Voigt already knows how forceful these
changes will be: “The first estimates indi-
cate that by 2010 something like 1,000 MW
of additional power can be installed in
Schleswig-Holstein in this way, without
having to assign any new suitable areas.”
Hermann Albers, chairman of Schleswig-
Holstein’s Regional Association for Wind
Energy, nevertheless fears that the govern-
ment may place obstacles in the path of
wind energy converter operators. Regional
guidelines for wind energy are at present
being revised. Amongst other rules, they
place a limit of 100 m on the total height of
wind energy converters. But Hermann
Albers takes a different view. “We natural-
ly want to exploit the latest developments
in technology, for instance higher towers
and larger rotor diameters.” The govern-
ment has, however, made concessions,
and tolerates converters up to 150 m. In
compensation, however, the distance that
the guidelines specify to be maintained
from residential areas is to be increased.
Whereas in the past converters could be
erected within 1 km of the nearest village,
a distance of 1.5 km will in future have to
be maintained. Hermann Albers does not
think that is right: “With this requirement,
the regional government is no longer
sailing full ahead. Those in power seem
to have forgotten that we can do more
for climate protection by using more wind
power.“
8 WIND BLATT 3/2003

Pure copper
from Hamburg
Suppliers purchase from Norddeutsche Affinerie

Europe’s leading copper producer is at the same

time the world’s largest copper recycler:
Norddeutsche Affinerie (NA), with headquarters in
Hamburg, supplies the raw copper used for ENERCON
generators. In 2002 alone, ENERCON used 8,000 t
of copper in the form of enamel-insulated wire
for the windings of stators and pole shoes.

A copper-coloured Smart takes us

across the huge site of the com-
pany’s refinery in Hamburg-Veddel. Past
mountains of wire, some of it brown and
thick as a finger, while other is bright red
and extremely fine. Compressed water
pipes and pressed blocks of copper plate
are stacked house-high in front of red-
brick buildings.
Europe’s leading copper producer is at
the same time the world’s largest copper
recycler. Chairman of the Board, Dr.
Werner Marnette, sets the record straight:
“Copper is not consumed”. It is simply
employed for a certain purpose for a
certain time. For the ENERCON ring
generator, for instance: 8,000 t of pro-
cessed copper wire is purchased by
ENERCON each year from a number of
different suppliers for the generator
windings. ENERCON’s suppliers process
the copper obtained from Norddeutsche
Affinerie, converting it to lacquered wire
with an insulating coating. It possesses a
particularly high long-term temperature
resistance of 200 degrees Celsius. The
lacquer is applied to the wire in a number
of layers, and has a total thickness of
between 98 and 104 µm.
All of ENERCON’s supply companies buy
their raw copper in Hamburg. And it is
very probable that after many thousands
of hours of operation in a wind energy
converter, the copper will return to the
very same place. The “red gold” might
then find its way into a coin. And so it
goes on. Because copper can be recycled
any number of times without any loss of
value or quality.
Norddeutsche Affinerie processed a total
of 1.3 million tons of raw materials last
year, with a copper content of 554,000 t.
Nearly one million tons of this were
copper concentrates from ores imported
from Chile, Peru or Argentina. 355,000 t
of copper from scrap and recycled mate-
rials comes almost entirely from Western
Europe.
If we now leave behind the mounds of
cable ground to fine dust we reach the
part of the company’s site that is domi-
nated by enormous, intertwined pipes
and conveyor belts. As the finely ground
composite materials glide past on con-
veyor belts, natural gas, oxygen and
cooling water are supplied through the
pipes, while exhaust fumes travel in the
opposite direction.
It is hot in the copper works, and fumes
rise here and there above splashing
streams of copper. Anyone who works
here soon starts to sweat. Before the pure
metal is obtained, both used copper and
copper concentrates obtained from ores
must pass through a variety of processes.
They are melted, together with sand
to assist slag formation, in the flash
smelting furnace at above 1,200 degrees,
forming crude copper and iron silicate
slag.
Blister copper, as it is known, is formed in
the converter; the oxygen will later be
withdrawn from this in the furnace.
Orange-glowing anode plates, containing
99.5 per cent copper, are cast from this
copper. In a final step, the anode plates
are submerged in an electrolytic tank.
The copper separates here to create

cathodes with 99.99 per cent purity.
The refinery has been using this electro-
lysis procedure on a large industrial
scale since 1876. The refinery’s chemist,
Emil Wohlwill, carried out intensive re-
search in pursuit of this high level of
purity.
The copper comes onto the market in the
form of continuous cast and rolled wire,
continuous cast mouldings, billets, strip
and section wires. On top of this, all the
by-products that naturally occur in the
course of copper extraction are also sold,
from iron silicate stone, which will be
used to reinforce embankments, through
to gold and silver.
Copper processing, and electrolysis in
particular, is an energy-intensive under-
taking. 300 kWh of energy is required in
3/2003 WIND BLATT 9
the electrolytic tank for every ton of
copper. At an average production of about
1,000 tons of copper, this amounts to
300,000 kWh a day. No wonder Dr.
Marnette complains about high electrici-
ty prices: “They are damaging Germany’s
economy.” The blame for the high prices,
in his opinion, lies primarily with govern-
ment intervention, and with the near mo-
nopoly held by a small number of power
companies in what was once a liberalised
market. At the same time, Dr. Marnette
calls on the government for competitive
electricity prices to apply also to renew-
able energies. He acknowledges the con-
tribution of the largest German manufac-
turer of wind energy converters: “With
the aid of high-quality copper, the power
quality is optimised, and the converters
run efficiently. I think that ENERCON is
Dr. Werner Marnette, Chairman of the Board
pursuing the right policy.” of Norddeutsche Affinerie.
10 WIND BLATT 3/2003
Firmly rooted
ENERCON supports new foundation guidelines
A wind energy converter must
withstand the force of the wind for
many years. From the tip of the rotor
blades to the base of the tower,
its components are designed to
meet this demand. The foundations,
anchored deeply in the ground,
are now to be made even stronger.
n Germany, wind energy converters,
I like any other building from a light-
house to an advertising pillar, are in-
spected to ensure compliance with
building regulations. The tower and the
base, together with the foundations, are
subject to this inspection, although the
nacelle and the rotor blades are not –
these are inspected separately in the
context of the converter certification.
According to the definition in the building
regulations, the machine is supported by
a structure. The complex dynamics in-
volved are, however, scarcely considered
in the foundation calculations.
“Wind Energy Converters – Forces and
Stability Verification for Tower and Foun-
dations” is the guideline published by
the German Institute of Construction
Engineering (Deutsches Institut für Bau-
technik, DIBt), and has been the basis
for foundation calculations in the wind
energy sector according to German con-
struction regulations since 1993 (second,
revised edition, 1995). The guideline de-
scribes possible loading situations, wind
conditions and structural specifications
required to demonstrate that the compo-
nents satisfy the requirements. The DIBt
guideline takes particular account of spe-
cial conditions applying to wind energy
converters, and formulates additional
regulations.
By and large, the same rules are applied to
the foundations of wind energy converters,
with their special dynamic properties, as
apply to other structures. In other words,
safety specifications that have been de-
veloped for conventional, stationary struc-
tures are, in accordance with DIBt, trans-
ferred to the wind energy sector.
Under the currently applicable guidelines
and standards, an opening of the ground
joint is permissible both under dynamic
operating stresses and under rare ex-
treme loadings. This means that there can
be conditions under which the sole plate

of a raft foundation does not have to be in
ground contact over its whole surface
(see Fig. 1). In comparison with the other
components of the wind power converter,
the ground joint is very hard to inspect.
Repeated inspections do not allow its
condition to be assessed, and subsequent
improvements are to all intents and pur-
poses impossible.
Therefore the loading capacity of the foun-
dation according to the currently valid ver-
sion of the guideline is capable of further
optimisation. This is confirmed by Prof.
Horst Bellmer, a structural engineer with
the Bellmer Ingenieurgruppe in Bremen:
“I have indeed seen a few foundations in
Germany where the design was only
just adequate. Any construction mistakes
made at the bottom of such a structure
cannot be compensated for at the top.”
In the context of raising safety levels from
the tip of the blade to the foundation,
ENERCON has therefore tightened its own
requirements for the design of founda-
tions. ENERCON’s construction engineers
have given critical consideration in par-
ticular to the capacity of the building
ground to absorb dynamic loading, and
the special case of ground joints that
come open. For this reason, ENERCON
has modified the specifications for foun-
dation design so that components are not
overloaded. This will avoid both tilting of
the converter and the formation of a
“ground saddle” (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1: Ground compression resulting in a ground joint that is up to half open.
It is always possible that a ground saddle
will form if the building ground gives
way locally, so that the foundation then
wobbles on the remaining supporting
surface.
Some foundations for steel towers will, in
exceptional cases, require an increase in
the foundation mass of up to 50 per cent
under the modified requirements, where-
as the foundations for heavy concrete
towers, on the other hand, are generally
not going to be subject to any change.
“At present, the costs of a foundation
represent between three and five percent
of the project cost. The additional costs
required for this higher level of safety in
foundation construction are entirely rea-
sonable in relation to the total investment
involved in a wind farm project”, states
ENERCON construction engineer Torsten
Jepsen.
ENERCON is now aiming to introduce the
newly calculated foundations immediate-
ly for all future projects. Jepsen assumes
that other manufacturers and project
planners will follow this example. The
corresponding guidelines will probably be
adjusted in the near future.
Although the DIBt guideline only applies
to Germany, in the light of the higher
safety level ENERCON will also intro-
duce the new foundations for projects
abroad.
Fig. 2: Foundation on a ground saddle.
3/2003 WIND BLATT 11
Test loading
of the E-112
deep foundation
The second prototype of the 4.5 MW
E-112 converter will be erected this
year at the Jade wind farm near
Wilhelmshaven. The quality of the
ground calls for a deep foundation
consisting of 64 pillars, each of which
is 14.5 m long.
This type of pile foundation has not
been built before. In order to estimate
its loading capacity, therefore, the
construction company responsible has
now carried out trial loadings on two
piles of the type involved immediately
next to the site. The “Franki piles”, as
they are known, achieve particular
stability through a wide pile base.
The force of 1,800 kilonewtons
(corresponding to 180 t) on each pile
corresponds to the maximum working
load acting on the E-112. It is reached
at a wind velocity of about 58 m/s.
When the corresponding force was
applied hydraulically to the test piles,
they moved no more than 3.5 mm in
the ground. Doubling the force to
3,600 kilonewtons caused the piles
to sink by 9 mm. “That is an out-
standing result", was ENERCON pro-
ject manager Dipl.-Ing. Olaf Kunert’s
enthusiastic reaction.
12 WIND BLATT 3/2003
A question of safety
Interview with the manager of the Grid Operation Department, Siegfried Grochow
T he maintenance of transformer
and interconnection stations is
frequently offered nowadays by power
companies and specialist engineering
companies, sometimes at a very high
price. When considering such offers,
many operators of wind energy con-
verters simply forget that, provided the
stations were included in the company’s
overall scope of supply, this service is
already covered by ENERCON through a
servicing contract or the ENERCON Part-
nership Plan. Electrical engineer Sieg-
fried Grochow manages the Grid Ope-
ration Department. This department is
responsible for the technical operation of
the low, medium and high voltage com-
ponents required for the connection of
ENERCON converters to the grid, and
developed out of the electrical project
management area.
WIND BLATT Herr Grochow, is it real-
ly necessary for ENERCON to have a Grid
Operation Department? Can’t the opera-
tors look after the servicing of the elec-
trical stations themselves?
Grochow: This is first and foremost a
matter of safety. According to the
accident prevention regulations (UVV)
published by the employer’s liability in-
surance association, only trained per-
sonnel are allowed to enter transformer
or interconnection stations. This also in-
cludes the transformer stations inte-
grated into the tower, such as the
E-module. The law obliges us, as the
responsible electrical concern, to ensure
that the equipment operates properly, is
regularly serviced, and that neither the
customer nor our service staff are put at
risk. If an accident should happen, per-
haps from touching a live component, the
consequences can be physically severe
for the person concerned and legally
serious for those responsible. It is for this
reason that only trained ENERCON staff
work there.
WIND BLATT And what if the operator
wants to go into the transformer or inter-
connection station, say to to check the
supply meter?
Grochow: Then he can do so, accompa-
nied by an ENERCON service electrician.
Electrotechnical instruction, in conformi-
ty with the UVV, by specialist ENERCON
staff also gives the operator limited
Siegfried Grochow.
authorisation if he wants to enter the
stations alone. Because of the generally
high levels of risk, however, this pro-
cedure is exceptional, and the situa-
tion will be examined in each individual
case.
WIND BLATT What activities fall with-
in the scope of the Grid Operation De-
partment?
Grochow: We ensure the smooth and re-
liable operation of the grid connection
equipment supplied by ENERCON parallel
to the grid itself, both in Germany and
abroad. For that reason the process
always starts with assumption of respon-
sibility for the equipment in accordance
with DIN VDE 0105. All the switching
operations necessary in operating inter-
connection or transformer stations, e.g.
in the context of extensions, servicing
work or malfunctions, are coordinated
by our department. In fact this often
happens when a wind farm is first
commissioned, although this is usually
managed by the electrical engineers of
the project management team, and
agreed with us.
WIND BLATT Why is consultation
about these switching operations neces-
sary at all?
Grochow: It enables us to ensure safety
for the electricians and for the grid on
site. It is very much like opening a circuit
breaker at home because you want to
install a new lamp. The difference is that
here we are dealing with a 20,000 volt
supply grid instead of a 230 volt house-
hold supply, so that even a tiny mistake
can have enormous consequences.
WIND BLATT And what is the task of
the Grid Operation Department during a
service?
Grochow: The service electricians on site
are given instructions over the telephone
by the Grid Operation Department, telling
them how to proceed with the work with-
out putting themselves or the grid at
risk. The entire station, including the
switchgear and the transformer, is first
thoroughly cleaned. A visual check is
made to see, amongst other things,
whether there are any signs of oil or gas
loss. Functional checks of the switchgear,
for instance, are also included. So is in-
spection of the protective equipment,
when necessary, to ensure that the grid
protection is fully intact.

Peter Schmidt explains to
the service team at the Neer-
moor wind farm what must
be borne in mind to connect
a wind energy converter.
A hotline to service
Peter Schmidt coordinates switching operations in grid operation
Peter Schmidt looks at the clock. It is 11.30, the time agreed
for the beginning of the “switching discussion”. In the course of
this telephone call, Mr Schmidt will talk to a service electrician
on site at a wind farm, giving instructions for switching off a
farm, an individual converter or an interconnection station,
connecting it to the grid, or switching it on again. Today the
two service engineers, Georg Fresenborg and Heinz-Wilhelm
Diekmann, are in front of the farm interconnection station at
the newly erected Neermoor wind farm in East Frisia. Wind energy
converter 6, an E-66 (1.8 MW), is to be switched on for commis-
sioning.
The switching discussion is the life assurance for the two
service engineers. A discussion gives them certainty that
nothing will happen to them while they are working with the
electrical power. Peter Schmidt is also informed as to whether
the medium-voltage cable has been properly inspected, in
what sequence the converters are switched on, and whether
perhaps a second service team is working at the same time in
another part of the wind farm, and therefore will have to be
informed.
Peter Schmidt has now called up the equivalent circuit diagram
of the Neermoor wind farm onto the screen of his PC. He now
sees precisely how the converters are connected to the farm
station, and how the current will have to be guided. Georg
Fresenborg dials Peter Schmidt’s number, and is able to say
hello a few moments later. The two service electricians have
3/2003 WIND BLATT 13
Following the switching discussion, service
electrician Heinz-Wilhelm Diekmann under-
takes connection of the wind energy converter.
His colleague, Georg Fresenborg, waits outside
the interconnection station during this time, for
reasons of safety.
already unlocked the door with its yellow “Warning – high-
voltage” sign, and are standing in front of a series of control
panels in the small green-painted concrete hut that houses the
farm interconnection station. Peter Schmidt now explains what
has to be done to carry out the service: “Visual check of the
cable connections.” (Are all the cables really properly con-
nected?) “Earth disconnection.” (In this way all the circuits are,
for safety reasons, to be considered as electrically live, and can
be approved for connection.) “Switch on the power switch.” Mr
Schmidt has given his instructions, and it is now the service
engineer’s job to repeat the instructions so that both sides are
certain that nothing has been forgotten or misunderstood. Then
it can start. Mr Schmidt says goodbye and leaves the service
engineers to their work.
Wearing a helmet, face protection and tightly closed protective
cotton clothing, Heinz-Wilhelm Diekmann enters the intercon-
nection station again, because he knows that the risk of a fault
arc is greatest at the time of initial commissioning. He uses two
different versions of the switching handles, specifically designed
for the particular switchgear, for the earth disconnection and for
the connection of the equipment. This prevents any possible con-
fusion. The drive mechanisms for the earthing switches are also
secured by padlocks, for which only the specially trained
ENERCON service team has a key. As the conclusion to the
switching discussion, the two engineers report execution of
the switching as planned to their colleague Mr Schmidt. Com-
missioning of converter 6 can now begin.
14 WIND BLATT 3/2003

A d d r e s s e s
ENERCON International sales offices
ENERCON GmbH, International Dept.
Otto-Lilienthal-Str. 25
28199 Bremen · Germany
We need
Phone: +49 421 2441520
Fax: +49 421 2441539
e-mail: sales.international@enercon.de
AUSTRIA
Hauptstr. 19A · 2120 Wolkersdorf · Austria
Phone: +43 2245 82828
Fax : +43 2245 82838
e-mail: enercon@vienna.at
following
SWEDEN
c/o Energy Converter AB
Stenåldersgatan 19 · 21376 Malmö · Sweden
BWE president, Dr. Peter Ahmels, on the current
Phone: +46 40 143580
Fax: +46 40 222420
e-mail: mail@enercon.nu
GREAT BRITAIN
Axiom House, Station Road
Stroud, Glos. GL5 3AP · Great Britain
Phone: +44 1493 782018
Fax: +44 1493 789094 The developments in other countries show that
e-mail : info@enercon.co.uk
SPAIN
ENERCON Spain S.A.
this is by no means a foregone conclusion.
c/o València Parc Tecnològic
Av. Juan de la Cierva, 27
E-46980 Paterna Valencia · Spain
In Denmark, thanks to the installation of a
Phone: +34 961 3678-70
Fax : +34 961 3678-75 number of offshore wind farms and a govern-
PORTUGAL
c/o Gellweiler Lda.
Travessa do Alecrim, 3 - 2° ment-supported repowering programme in
1200 Lisbon · Portugal
Phone: +351 21 3420021
Fax : +351 21 3420026 2002, it was just possible to prevent the
e-mail: aesteves@gellweiler.pt
BENELUX
Van Karnebeekstraat 125
wind market from collapsing, while in the USA
8011 JE Zwolle · The Netherlands
Phone: +31 38 4228282
Fax: +31 38 4228010
there has, for years, been a stop-go situation
e-mail: sales@blx.enercon.de
TURKEY that does not allow the wind sector to develop
ENERCON Service Ltd. Sti.
PK.: 23 Kiziltoprak · Istanbul · Turkey
Phone: +90 216 4149202 continuously.
Fax: +90 216 3452959
e-mail: enercon@doruk.net.tr
DENMARK
Bredkaer Parkvej 62 · 8250 Egaa · Denmark
Phone: +45 87 430388 To get to the point, there is no other country
Fax: +45 87 430344
E-mail: kristensen@enercon.de
ITALY in the world that offers such good conditions
ENERCON Service Italia S.r.l.
Via G. Della Casa 7 · 82100 Benevento · Italy
Phone: +39 082 425257
for wind energy as Germany. With 12,000 MW
Fax: +39 082 4336883
e-mail: enerconitalia@tin.it installed, and with 40 per cent of the wind
GREECE
ENERCON S.A.
20, Pentelis Ave. · 15235 Vrilissia power that has been installed in the whole
Athens - Greece
Phone: +30 106838490
Fax: +30 106838489 world, we are in an undisputed number one
e-mail: enerconh@otenet.gr
AUSTRALIA
ENERCON Powercorporation Pty. Ltd.
position.
3406 Export Drive · Trade Development
Zone · Northern Territory
NT 0822 Darwin · Australia
Phone: +61 889470933
Fax: +61 889470925 But we should not fool ourselves: the more
e-mail: mail@pcorp.com.au
EGYPT
c/o Zaki International Trading successful we are, the stronger the headwind.
23 Kasr El-Nil StreetCairo 11111 · Egypt
Phone: +20 2 3923670
Fax: +20 2 4170023 BWE president, Dr. Peter Ahmels.
Industrial sectors that consume large amounts
e-mail: zit@starnet.com.eg
CANADA
Wind Power Inc.
of electrical power complain about the special
Suite # 222 Lebel Manison
696 Kettles Street, Pincher Creek burdens, particularly those created through the
Alberta TOK 1 WO · Canada
Phone: +1 403 6272923
Fax: +1 403 6273239 Dr. Peter Ahmels, president of the German Renewable Energy Law, although the
e-mail: wpi@windpower.ca
INDIA ecology tax and the excessive grid charges in
ENERCON (India) Ltd.
Kolsite House, Plot Nr. 31
Federal Wind Energy Association
Shah Industrial Estate
Veera · Desai Rd., Andheri (West)
fact play a much greater role.
Mumbai 400 053 · India
Phone: +91 22 56924848
(Bundesverband WindEnergie), speaks
Fax: + 91 22 26730085 / 26730089
e-mail: mktg@enerconindia.net
BRAZIL about the goals that have been achieved Particularly at this stage it is therefore important
Wobben Windpower
Industria e Comércio Lda.
Av. Fernando Stecca n° 100
that we clarify the reasons for high electrical
Distrito Industrial CEP and the growing significance of strong
18087450 Sorocaba · Sao Paulo · Brazil power prices. One of our strengths, which will
Phone: +55 15 2283737
Fax: +55 15 2283887
e-mail: wobben@splicenet.com.br representation in the wind energy sector. help to distribute our arguments as widely as
possible, is the decentralised structure of the
I m p r i n t
WINDBLATT MAGAZINE sector. There are a large number of political
Publisher: ENERCON GmbH
ho would have thought it a few years interfaces in the various regions, and these in
Dreekamp 5, 26605 Aurich
Phone: +49 4941 927-0
Fax: +49 4941 927-109
www.enercon.de/english/fs_windblatt_e.html
Editorial office:
ENERCON GmbH Aurich, Nicole Weinhold
W ago: the proportion of wind energy has
now reached almost five per cent of Germany’s
turn can take a positive image back to Berlin.

nicole.weinhold@enercon.de
Printed by: net electricity consumption. Thanks to the wide Altogether, the Federal Wind Energy Association
Steinbacher Druck GmbH, Osnabrück,
Phone: +49 541 95900-0 support for the exploitation of new energies, (BWE) now represents 14,200 companies, firms
The WINDBLATT magazine appears every two
months and is regularly included in the news-
paper “New Energy” – magazine of the
there was a strong enough following wind from and individuals. At this size, the association is
Federal Association for Wind Energy. Phone:
+49 541 350600 or Fax: +49 541 3506030 society for us to achieve a new installation now in a good position to put its ideas and aims
record year after year. into the public arena.

more
wind!
situation of the wind energy sector in Germany
Considering the over 200,000 people
who have participated in German wind
projects, and the 41,000 jobs in the
sector, the BWE is nevertheless still a
relatively small player.
The Federal Association is the crucial body
for matters of representation in the wind
energy field. The members of the BWE
benefit from a broad information exchange
taking place within the association. Wind
energy converter owners, planners, tech-
nical experts, legal specialists and manu-
facturers have got together within the BWE
to form committees and working groups,
in order to keep each other informed.
Well-informed
about wind energy
For many years now, it has been im-
possible to imagine school education
without the topic of environmental pro-
tection. Since the Kyoto conference, if
not before, the changes that human
activities are causing to the climate
have also taken a firm place in the
curriculum.
For this reason the Federal Wind Energy
Association (BWE) has now, with the
support of the Environment Ministry,
released a CD-ROM on the topic of
climate protection in science and poli-
tics, suitable for use in school education.
Starting from the current energy situa-
tion, considerations are presented in
both German and English as to how
energy supply may look in the future.
Energy experts such as Hermann Scheer
3/2003 WIND BLATT 15
Info Service
June/ July 2003
04- 05/06/ Key Account Management
2003
Berlin
in the Electricity Supply Company
Organiser, and information from:
Management Circle AG
Tel. +49 (0)6196 4722800
Fax +49 (0)6196 4722888
kundenservice@
The association’s magazine NEUE ENERGIE
managementcircle.de
(NEW ENERGY) keeps members informed www.managementcircle.de
on a monthly basis of what is going on in
the wind sector. It is also possible to 16-18/06/ Berlin Energy Days 2003
participate in events such as our semi- 2003 Organiser, and information from:
nars at a reduced price. Berlin Berliner ImpulsE-Management,
Thorsten Poppe
Tel. +49 (0)30 21752107
If the BWE is to continue to generate the Fax +49 (0)30 21752109
necessary following wind, it needs the poppe@eumb-poeschk.de
backing of a large membership. A www.berliner-energietage.de
free information pack is available by
16-19/06/ EWEC European Wind Energy
telephoning +49 (0)541 350600, faxing
2003 Conference
+49 (0)541 3506030 or by e-mailing Madrid Organiser, and information from:
info@wind-energie.de. There is also Spain European Wind Energy Association
more information on our website at (EWEA)
www.wind-energie.de. Tel. +32 2 5461940
info@ewea.org
www.ewea.org
25/06/2003 “Yield Improvement Through
Hamburg New Technology” Symposium
Organiser, and information from:
smart dolphin GmbH
present possible future scenarios. At the Martin Tschierschke
Tel. +49 (0)40 40171657
same time, the CD-ROM provides a rich
info@windmesse.de
resource on the topic of wind energy www.Windmesse.de
(technical and political aspects). Pre-
sentation slides ensure that the topics 02/07/2003 The Implementation of
are clearly presented. The CD-ROM Osnabrück Photovoltaic Installations
“Wissen Windenergie” (Wind Energy Organiser, and information from:
Otti-Energie-Kolleg
Knowledge) is available from the BWE
Tel. +49 (0)941 2968829
(tel. +49 541 350 600). Fax +49 (0)941 2968817
viola.janik@otti.de
www.otti.de
08-09/07/ “Introduction to the Energy
2003 Economy” Seminar
Munich Organiser, and information from:
Euroforum Deutschland GmbH
Daniela Molicki
Tel. +49 (0)211 96863434
Fax +49 (0)211 96864040
info@euroforum.com
www.euroforum.de
 WIND BLATT
Pop art with E-66
The wind energy converter as an object of light art
T he nacelle glows pink against the
black night sky. Its colour then
slowly changes, glowing in neon yellow,
and a little later in blue. The wind energy
Windblatt is printed on recycled paper. Printed with Ökoplus printing ink.
converter creates the effect of a piece of
pop art, and seems somehow not to be of
this world. This is also the impression
gathered by the spectators who have
collected around the unique piece of lumi-
nous art, attracted by the strange view.
Steffen Franzmann runs backwards and
forwards between four special 2,500 watt
lamps, shining up to the nacelle from the
foundation of the E-66. The 33 year-old
adjusts the lamps so that the nacelle is
The ENERCON Magazine
ideally illuminated from every point of
view. He then alters the colours from a
mixing desk. With the three primary
colours yellow, magenta and cyan he is
able to “mix” any desired colour. He lets
an arc of light like a rainbow curve around
the converter, and then plunges the
wind energy converter into uniform light,
changing from one colour to another.
Franzmann knows a lot about two things
in particular: wind energy converters and
designing with light. This combination
was the trigger for the light spectacle
staged on this cool April night. At the
same time it was also a very special
occasion for the wind pioneer and light
artist from Westphalia. “I think
that a wind energy converter
is a beautiful object in itself”,
he announces. “And, in its
usual colours, it fits harmo-
niously into the landscape.”
But once in a while it is also
possible to draw people’s
attention to it, and one way
is through the lighting tech-
nology provided by his com-
pany, Licht-Service. Franz-
mann states: “For me, light is a
form of representational art,
and light can also be used to
create a visual impact”. His
success proves his point: he il-
luminated the cinema complex
for the Harry Potter premiere,
and also turned the spotlight
on the Porsche Centre for the
launch of a new model.
Mr Franzmann is the director
of a number of different firms
grouped under the umbrella
of HWP-Verwaltung GmbH,
based in the village of
Hempsen near Höxter. In fact,
his family comes from near
Brunsbüttel, he explains, and
that is where his passion for renewable
energy began. “It was in 1992, when I was
still doing my community service, that I
saw a wind energy converter for the first
time, found out more about it, and
convinced my father that we should
implement a wind project ourselves”, he
remembers. The E-66 that is being lit
up in colour was finally installed, to-
gether with an E-58 (in the Harburg
wind farm), last year. Franzmann has
planned two more E-66 converters there.
He is also working with biomass and
photovoltaic energy. He has been inter-
ested in wind energy for 12 years, and in
light for 17.