Dr. Claas Fischer interview for Wind Turbine Towers 2023

See how TÜV NORD EnSys GmbH & Co. KG is contributing to the Wind Turbine Towers 2024 conference in our conference agenda!

Hi Class, thank you for taking the time to talk to us! What could be an impediment in calculating tower capacity and fatigue strength for turbine towers?

New tower concepts – e.g. advanced materials, new geometrical design, new detail design, etc. – may make the need for advanced analysis by finite elements or even testing. The common approaches include some portion of conservative assumptions. In order to identify those, advanced computation or testing may be necessary as well.

Could you give us a brief insight into the digitalisation aspect you will get into in your presentation?

I aim to focus on aspects, which could be implemented in short term and relates to the certification process. I think certification body and applicant could both win if more data are shared and available electronically. That could be basic information like tower geometry but also submitting finite element analysis. That data would reduce the “trash” work at certification body and speed up the evaluation process. Of course, high-level aspects like design evaluation supported by artificial intelligence or certification of newly composed components, which is supported by a data base, belong to digitalisation as well. They, however, need more effort to be implemented.

Where do you see the industry growing into in 5 years from now?

The world demands for more CO2-neutral energy. Therefore, I believe that wind turbine are designed and installed at location with higher demands like lower average wind speed or offshore with relatively high water depths. Secondly, sustainability gets more weight. Recycling or re-use of e.g. rotor blades or towers and using alternative materials could create wider acceptance of wind energy power.

Want to know who will be present at the Wind Turbine Towers 2024? Check our speaker panel out!