New wind turbine certification process now in place

Developed and driven by a range of industry stakeholders including Vestas, the new certification system creates a clearer, more harmonised, and less costly process to certify wind turbines and other renewable energy equipment. Customers and official bodies require certifications in almost all markets, and with the increasingly broad adoption of the new IECRE certificates, customers will be able to bring wind power projects online more quickly and less expensively.

Harmonising certificates across multiple markets will reduce the costly and time-consuming need to repeat tests as well as create greater clarity for end-users on what exactly is being certified.  Industry stakeholders including equipment manufacturers, power producers, insurance companies, test laboratories and certifying bodies have led the effort to create the first stakeholder-driven set of certification rules.  The IECRE certificates have now been approved for use in many of the world’s largest wind power markets, including China, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere.

Vestas’ Chief Technology Officer Anders Vedel notes, “What is unique about the IECRE system is that end-users, mainly our customers, together with equipment manufacturers and other stakeholders have substantially contributed to defining the new standards against which wind turbines are evaluated. Vestas began work in 2012 with other stakeholder to create such a system, so we are especially pleased that the first certificate has been issued for a Vestas turbine”.

The first wind turbine certificate under the new system was issued on 27 October 2016 by certification body DNV GL, for the Vestas 2 MW platform’s V100-2.0 MW mark 10 version. Christer Eriksson, DNV GL’s Service Line Leader for Type Certification and an active member of the IECRE committees, comments, “We are happy to present Vestas with the first IECRE wind turbine type certificate in the industry. For more than 30 years DNV GL is committed to drive the renewable energy industry forward by taking a leading role in developing and revising international standards through involvement in a number of IEC committees and by developing our own service documents together with the industry.”

For more information, please contact:
Michael Zarin
Head of Communications
Tel: +45 4084 1526
Mail: MIZAR@vestas.com

About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on wind power solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 76 GW of wind turbines in 75 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled 63 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 21,700 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.

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About IECRE
The IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications (IECRE System) aims to facilitate international trade in equipment and services for use in Renewable Energy Sectors while maintaining the required level of safety.

In order to achieve this it:

• operates a single, global certification system;
• aims for acceptance by local/national authorities or other bodies requiring and benefiting from certification; and,
• will make use of high quality International Standards and allow for continuous improvement.

Its goal is to offer a harmonized application around the globe, which ensures a uniform:

• implementation and mutual recognition between certification bodies and test labs;
• implementation and delivery of information by suppliers, sub-suppliers, end users and others providing documentation for certification; and,
• implementation and clear understanding of all suppliers, sub-suppliers, end users and other applicants for the elements and modules as well as reports, statements and certificates of the certification processes.

For more information, visit the IECRE website at http://www.iecre.org/.