On 21 August 2018, the first of two N149/4.0-4.5 turbines with a nominal output of 4.5MW was installed at the Wennerstorf II wind farm located roughly 30 kilometres south of Hamburg.Originally, the Wennerstorf wind farm consisted of four turbines, each with a nominal output of 1.3MW, which had been producing electricity since 2003. In 2015 the developer ABO Wind decided to repower this site by replacing the old turbines with new ones. In doing so, it opted for the first turbine from the Delta4000 product series, the N149/4.0-4.5: With a total installed output of 9MW.
New turbines must undergo extensive independent testing to obtain all relevant certificates. The site meets the requirements of IEC 61400 and offers wind conditions of approximately 6.5 meters per second on average. Consequently, it offers a good possibility to carry out the planned measurements of power performance, sound and electrical characteristics as well as the validation of the mechanical loads in the power mode with the maximum output of 4.5MW.
The turbines are going to be equipped with radar-controlled aviation obstruction lighting due to their total construction height of 200 meters. The obstruction lights are only activated when an aircraft flying at an altitude of below 600 metres approaches the turbines within a radius of four kilometres. Produced by Nordex itself, the single-piece rotor blade of the N149/4.0-4.5 measures almost 73 meters in length and the rotor blades of the N149 are made of carbon and glass fibre. Nordex plans to commence series production of N149/4.0-4.5 in 2019.
