Østerild Wind Turbine Test Field

Østerild Wind Turbine Test Field (alternatively Risø) is a facility managed by the DTU Risø Campus of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) for testing of offshore wind turbines with a pinnacle height up to 330 m near Thisted-Østerild, Denmark.

History
The area was plagued by flying sand from about 1450, and a plantation was started from 1889 to keep the sand in check.

The international IEC 61400 standard specifies how to design and validate wind turbines to gain commercial value. A suitable area for testing wind turbines must have good wind, a specific surface roughness, a clear area around the site, and not be in an EU Special Protection Area. After investigating 17 areas and drawing criticism, the Folketing decided in June 2010 to establish a wind turbine test center at Østerild. It was inaugurated in 2012, and is popular among tourists. A visitor center opened in 2017, and had 50,000 visitors in 2020. There is a 50 kW charging station. The current turbines reached a height of 240 metres in 2020, but future turbines up to 400 metres cannot be accommodated.

New ponds and open areas have improved conditions for bats. The first sea eagles came to the area in 2015.

Several production records have been set here. On October 10, 2022, the prototype of the offshore wind turbine Siemens SG 14-222 DD produced up to 359 MWh of electricity in 24 hours, beating a new world record. In December 2022, a Vestas 15 MW offshore prototype was installed, also setting a record before being surpassed.

Although most of the prototypes are for offshore use, onshore turbines have also been tested there.

Description
There are 9 test stands, and each test stand has its own meteorological mast due west. Some of the first 7 stands were not yet put in use in 2015. In 2016, the wind turbine industry requested more stands to fulfill future test requirements. The turbines are not permanent, but spend some months in test at the site before being replaced by the next turbines.

At the northern and the southern end of the test field, there are two 250 metre tall guyed masts equipped with lamps to warn aircraft.

The masts are situated at 57.08706°N, 8.88067°W and at 57.04888°N, 8.8808°W.

List of sites
Test sites as of December 2015 :