Climate Change Issues
Today's wind turbines are designed to last for up to 30 years and operate in a limited operating region. In recent years, the wind sector has faced significant challenges due to climate change, altering the expected operating conditions for turbines. The reliability and resilience of these structures is directly linked to the stability of climate conditions, which are now subject to greater variability and extreme events are more frequent.
Review of the methodologies used in the design
The need to adapt to these new conditions involves a thorough review of the methodologies used in the design and operation of wind turbines and their critical components. Currently, components are designed with respect to the loads derived from existing wind records. Any event beyond these predictions must be absorbed during its lifetime by the safety coefficient defined in the design of the component.
Today it is unknown:
- whether these safety factors are well calibrated,
- whether the increase in frequency and energy of extreme events due to climate change modifies the reliability of components and
- whether the turbines are able to be functional after these overloads (level of resilience).
This is essential to address turbine reliability through design.
