The workshop, held on March 10 at the Laulagun factory in Idiazabal, brought together the project partners to present the main results obtained to the Advisory Committee and other Basque component‑manufacturing companies in the wind sector. Among the registered participants were Erreka, Hine Renovables, Nabla Wind Hub, Labekoa (Riza Group) and Laulagun. The aim was to promote collaboration opportunities and facilitate technological transfer.
Strengthening resilience in the design and operational phases of wind‑turbine components is becoming a key requirement for the long‑term sustainability of wind farms, even if it is not yet a formal design criterion. The Elkartek MEEVCE II project, “Evolutionary methodology for the design of resilient wind rotor/drivetrain components,” has addressed this challenge by analysing the evolutionary behaviour of critical components: MONDRAGON UNIBERTSITATEA (MGEP) focuses on the blade, BEARINN on the pitch bearing, CEIT on the shaft, and IKERLAN on the gearbox. Although each entity has worked on a different component, they all share degradation mechanisms and common research lines. BASQUE ENERGY Cluster, as coordinator of communication, dissemination, and transfer activities, is responsible for organising and carrying out actions to promote collaboration, including the Transfer Workshop.
The first part of the workshop focused on presenting the most relevant technological results obtained after two years of research to companies in the wind‑energy value chain, with the aim of exploring potential transfer opportunities. These results are summarised below.
IKERLAN has developed decision‑support tools for the design and maintenance of gear systems, with special attention to the pitch system pinion. It has created a digital twin capable of analysing wear under different operating conditions, including climate‑change scenarios and global system degradation. The model evaluates static equilibrium, contact, energy, and wear to predict the geometric evolution of the teeth. In a 3.4 MW turbine, results show wear concentrated on two teeth, but well below the hardened layer thickness, ensuring their integrity.
MGEP has focused on blades, developing methods to predict future wind resources and assess their long‑term aeroelastic and structural behaviour. It has also developed a “health‑aware” wind‑farm model that improves monitoring, fault detection, and lifetime estimation. In addition, it has created an experimentally calibrated probabilistic surface‑degradation model that quantifies the impact of erosion and roughness on aerodynamic performance, energy production, and structural loads.
CEIT has developed a methodology to model shaft lifetime, linking heat‑treatment design with variable service conditions. Its integrated crack‑growth model, calibrated for 42CrMo4 steel, incorporates microstructural heterogeneity and advanced testing. The combination of process simulation (Q&TSim®), crack modelling (CrackLive®), and a finite‑element model enables fast and accurate predictions.
BEARINN has developed and validated an advanced methodology to assess the fatigue integrity of pitch‑bearing cages. Given the scarcity of studies and the lack of clarity regarding failure mechanisms, it has adopted a hybrid analytical‑numerical approach integrating a global bearing model, an analytical load‑transfer model, and a specific FEM model. Analyses show that friction critically increases stresses under poor lubrication. Experimental validation confirms the robustness of the method for predicting cage integrity and improving future designs.
After a coffee break and networking session, attendees enjoyed a visit to the Laulagun factory facilities in Idiazabal, guided by BEARINN, the R&D unit of the host company.