Manufacturers of wind turbines now face the task of retaining maximum flexibility in face of the continually changing demands of the market in order to keep their products competitive. Beckhoff offers such flexibility with its PC-based control technology, which is today used in onshore and offshore wind turbines worldwide. The product range covers Industrial PCs, I/O and Fieldbus Components and automation software.

The openness of the Beckhoff automation solution in relation to the software and hardware interfaces enables the plant manufacturers to adapt their systems to varying demands both in the first draft design and also for later system expansion or modification at low cost.

Open and scalable TwinCAT automation software is a software PLC for PCs. Programming in accordance with the international IEC 61131-3 standard guarantees the turbine manufacturers high investment security. The utilisation of technological standards based on the Windows operating system opens up numerous expansion options and allows the user to benefit from the rapid development of the computer industry. It also enables the universal use of one technology for all types of turbines.

Data provision and data management in particular occupy a key position for control and evaluation of turbine performance both vertically (from the machine to the central control room) and horizontally (between the individual intelligent components and subsystems of the turbine and also between the turbines within a wind farm). Local data banks as a basis for the higher ranking data backup and data preparation do not pose any problems for the PC whatsoever. Porting all functions to PC hardware also simplifies data transfer – generally via Ethernet – to the production databases and ERP systems.

www.beckhoff.com/wind