Wind turbines - Part 1: Design requirements

Specifies essential design requirements to ensure the engineering integrity of wind turbines. Provides an appropriate level of protection against damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime. Is concerned with all subsystems of wind turbines such as control and protection mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and support structures. Applies to wind turbines of all sizes. See IEC 61400-2 for small wind turbines.
This publication is of high relevance for Smart Grid.

Eoliennes - Partie 1: Exigences de conception

Spécifie les exigences de conception essentielles pour assurer l'intégrité technique des éoliennes. A pour objet de fournir un niveau de protection approprié contre les dommages causés par tous les risques pendant la durée de vie prévue. Concerne tous les sous-systèmes des éoliennes tels que les mécanismes de commande et de protection, les systèmes électriques internes, les systèmes mécaniques et les structures de soutien. Pour les petites éoliennes, la CEI 61400-2 s'applique.

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
30-Aug-2005
Drafting Committee
Current Stage
DELPUB - Deleted Publication
Start Date
08-Feb-2019
Completion Date
26-Oct-2025
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Standards Content (Sample)


INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD 61400-1
Third edition
2005-08
Wind turbines –
Part 1:
Design requirements
Reference number
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edition numbers 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 refer, respectively, to the base publication, the

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INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD 61400-1
Third edition
2005-08
Wind turbines –
Part 1:
Design requirements
 IEC 2005  Copyright - all rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Telephone: +41 22 919 02 11 Telefax: +41 22 919 03 00 E-mail: inmail@iec.ch Web: www.iec.ch
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– 2 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.5

INTRODUCTION.7

1 Scope.8

2 Normative references.8

3 Terms and definitions .9

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms .17
4.1 Symbols and units .17
4.2 Abbreviations.19
5 Principal elements .19
5.1 General .19
5.2 Design methods.19
5.3 Safety classes .20
5.4 Quality assurance.20
5.5 Wind turbine markings .20
6 External conditions .21
6.1 General .21
6.2 Wind turbine classes .21
6.3 Wind conditions .22
6.4 Other environmental conditions.31
6.5 Electrical power network conditions.32
7 Structural design.33
7.1 General .33
7.2 Design methodology .33
7.3 Loads .33
7.4 Design situations and load cases .34
7.5 Load calculations.39
7.6 Ultimate limit state analysis.39
8 Control and protection system.45
8.1 General .45
8.2 Control functions .45

8.3 Protection functions .46
8.4 Braking system .47
9 Mechanical systems.47
9.1 General .47
9.2 Errors of fitting.48
9.3 Hydraulic or pneumatic systems.48
9.4 Main gearbox.48
9.5 Yaw system .49
9.6 Pitch system .49
9.7 Protection function mechanical brakes .49
9.8 Rolling bearings.49

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 3 −
10 Electrical system.50

10.1 General .50

10.2 General requirements for the electrical system .50

10.3 Protective devices.50

10.4 Disconnect devices .50

10.5 Earth system.50

10.6 Lightning protection.51

10.7 Electrical cables.51

10.8 Self-excitation.51

10.9 Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse .51
10.10 Power quality .51
10.11 Electromagnetic compatibility.51
11 Assessment of a wind turbine for site-specific conditions.52
11.1 General .52
11.2 Assessment of the topographical complexity of the site .52
11.3 Wind conditions required for assessment .52
11.4 Assessment of wake effects from neighbouring wind turbines.53
11.5 Assessment of other environmental conditions .54
11.6 Assessment of earthquake conditions .54
11.7 Assessment of electrical network conditions.55
11.8 Assessment of soil conditions .55
11.9 Assessment of structural integrity by reference to wind data .56
11.10 Assessment of structural integrity by load calculations with reference to site
specific conditions .57
12 Assembly, installation and erection .57
12.1 General .57
12.2 Planning .58
12.3 Installation conditions.58
12.4 Site access .58
12.5 Environmental conditions .58
12.6 Documentation.59
12.7 Receiving, handling and storage.59
12.8 Foundation/anchor systems.59
12.9 Assembly of wind turbine .59

12.10 Erection of wind turbine.59
12.11 Fasteners and attachments .59
12.12 Cranes, hoists and lifting equipment.60
13 Commissioning, operation and maintenance .60
13.1 General .60
13.2 Design requirements for safe operation, inspection and maintenance .60
13.3 Instructions concerning commissioning .61
13.4 Operator’s instruction manual.62
13.5 Maintenance manual.63

– 4 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
Annex A (normative) Design parameters for describing wind turbine class S .65

Annex B (informative) Turbulence models .66

Annex C (informative) Assessment of earthquake loading.72

Annex D (informative) Wake and wind farm turbulence .73

Annex E (informative) Prediction of wind distribution for wind turbine sites by measure-
correlate-predict (MCP) methods.76

Annex F (informative) Statistical extrapolation of loads for ultimate strength analysis .78

Annex G (informative) Fatigue analysis using Miner’s rule with load extrapolation .81

Bibliography .85

Figure 1a –Turbulence standard deviation for the Normal Turbulence Model (NTM) .25
Figure 1b – Turbulence intensity for the Normal Turbulence Model (NTM).25
Figure 2 – Example of extreme operating gust.27
Figure 3 – Example of extreme direction change magnitude .28
Figure 4 – Example of extreme direction change .28
Figure 5 – Example of extreme coherent gust amplitude for ECD.29
Figure 6 –Direction change for ECD .30
Figure 7 – Example of direction change transient.30
Figure 8 – Examples of extreme positive and negative vertical wind shear, wind profile
before onset (t = 0, dashed line) and at maximum shear (t = 6 s, full line). .31
Figure 9 – Example of wind speeds at rotor top and bottom, respectively, illustrate the

transient positive wind shear .31
Figure D.1 – Configuration – Inside a wind farm with more than 2 rows.75
Figure F.1 – Exceedance probability for largest out-of-plane blade bending load in 10 min
(normalized by mean bending load at rated wind speed). .80

Table 1 – Basic parameters for wind turbine classes.22
Table 2 – Design load cases .35
Table 3 – Partial safety factors for loads γ .42
f
Table 4 – Terrain complexity indicators .52
Table B.1 – Turbulence spectral parameters for the Kaimal model.70

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 5 −
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

___________
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

International Standard IEC 61400-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 88: Wind
turbines.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 1999. It constitutes a
technical revision.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below:
– the title has been changed to “Design requirements” in order to reflect that the standard
presents safety requirements rather than requirements for safety or protection of personnel;
– wind turbine class designations have been adjusted and now refer to reference wind speed
and expected value of turbulence intensities only;
– turbulence models have been expanded and include an extreme turbulence model;
– gust models have been adjusted and simplified;

– 6 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
– design load cases have been rearranged and amended;

– the inclusion of turbulence simulations in the load calculations is emphasised and a scheme
for extreme load extrapolation has been specified;

– the partial safety factors for loads have been adjusted and simplified;

– the partial safety factors for materials have been amended and specified in terms of

material types and component classes;

– the requirements for the control and protection system have been amended and clarified in

terms of functional characteristics;

– a new clause on assessment of structural and electrical compatibility has been introduced

with detailed requirements for assessment, including information on complex terrain,
earthquakes and wind farm wake effects.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
88/228/FDIS 88/232/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
IEC 61400 consists of the following parts under the general title Wind turbine generator
systems:
Part 1: Design requirements
Part 2: Design requirements for small wind turbines
Part 11: Acoustic noise measurement techniques
Part 12: Wind turbine power performance testing
Part 13: Measurement of mechanical loads
Part 14: Declaration of apparent sound power level and tonality values
Part 21: Measurement and assessment of power quality characteristics of grid connected
wind turbines
Part 23: Full-scale structural testing of rotor blades
Part 24: Lightning protection

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until the
maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 7 −
INTRODUCTION
This part of IEC 61400 outlines minimum design requirements for wind turbines and is not

intended for use as a complete design specification or instruction manual.

Any of the requirements of this standard may be altered if it can be suitably demonstrated that
the safety of the system is not compromised. This provision, however, does not apply to the

classification and the associated definitions of external conditions in Clause 6.Compliance with

this standard does not relieve any person, organization, or corporation from the responsibility

of observing other applicable regulations.

The standard is not intended to give requirements for wind turbines installed offshore, in
particular for the support structure. A future document dealing with offshore installations is
under consideration.
– 8 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
1 Scope
This part of IEC 61400 specifies essential design requirements to ensure the engineering

integrity of wind turbines. Its purpose is to provide an appropriate level of protection against
damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime.
This standard is concerned with all subsystems of wind turbines such as control and protection
mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and support structures.
This standard applies to wind turbines of all sizes. For small wind turbines IEC 61400-2 may be
applied.
This standard should be used together with the appropriate IEC and ISO standards mentioned
in Clause 2.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For
dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of
the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60204-1:1997, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General
requirements
IEC 60204-11:2000, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 11:
Requirements for HV equipment for voltages above 1 000 V a.c. or 1 500 V d.c. and not
exceeding 36 kV
IEC 60364 (all parts), Electrical installations of buildings
IEC 60721-2-1:1982, Classification of environmental conditions – Part 2: Environmental
conditions appearing in nature. Temperature and humidity

IEC 61000-6-1:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 1: Immunity for residential, commercial and light-industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-2:1999, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 2: Immunity for industrial environments 15
IEC 61000-6-4:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 4: Emission standard for industrial environments
IEC 61024-1:1990, Protection of structures against lightning – Part 1: General principles
IEC 61312-1:1995, Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse – Part 1: General
principle
IEC 61400-21:2001, Wind turbine generator systems – Part 21: Measurement and assessment
of power quality characteristics of grid connected wind turbines

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 9 −
IEC 61400-24: 2002, Wind turbine generator systems – Part 24: Lightning protection

ISO 76:1987, Rolling bearings – Static load ratings

ISO 281:1990, Rolling bearings – Dynamic load ratings and rating life

ISO 2394:1998, General principles on reliability for structures

ISO 2533:1975, Standard Atmosphere

ISO 4354:1997, Wind actions on structures

ISO 6336 (all parts), Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears
ISO 9001:2000, Quality management systems – Requirements
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
annual average
mean value of a set of measured data of sufficient size and duration to serve as an estimate of
the expected value of the quantity. The averaging time interval should be a whole number of
years to average out non-stationary effects such as seasonality
3.2
annual average wind speed
V
ave
wind speed averaged according to the definition of annual average
3.3
auto-reclosing cycle
event with a time period, varying from approximately 0,01 s to a few seconds, during which a
breaker released after a grid fault is automatically reclosed and the line is reconnected to the
network
3.4
blocking (wind turbines)
use of a mechanical pin or other device (other than the ordinary mechanical brake) that cannot
be released accidentally to prevent movement, for instance of the rotor shaft or yaw

mechanism
3.5
brake (wind turbines)
device capable of reducing the rotor speed or stopping rotation
NOTE The brake may operate on, for example, aerodynamic, mechanical or electrical principles.
3.6
characteristic value
value having a prescribed probability of not being attained (i.e. an exceedance probability of
less than or equal to a prescribed amount)

– 10 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
3.7
complex terrain
surrounding terrain that features significant variations in topography and terrain obstacles that

may cause flow distortion
3.8
control functions (wind turbines)

functions of the control and protection system that based on information about the condition of

the wind turbine and/or its environment, adjust the turbine in order to maintain it within its

operating limits
3.9
cut-in wind speed
V
in
lowest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine starts to produce power in the case
of steady wind without turbulence
3.10
cut-out wind speed
V
out
highest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine is designed to produce power in the
case of steady wind without turbulence
3.11
design limits
maximum or minimum values used in a design
3.12
dormant failure
failure of a component or system which remains undetected during normal operation
3.13
downwind
in the direction of the main wind vector
3.14
electrical power network
particular installations, substations, lines or cables for the transmission and distribution of
electricity
NOTE The boundaries of the different parts of this network are defined by appropriate criteria, such as

geographical situation, ownership, voltage, etc.
3.15
emergency shutdown (wind turbines)
rapid shutdown of the wind turbine triggered by a protection function or by manual intervention
3.16
environmental conditions
characteristics of the environment (wind, altitude, temperature, humidity, etc.) which may affect
the wind turbine behaviour
3.17
external conditions (wind turbines)
factors affecting operation of a wind turbine, including the environmental conditions
(temperature, snow, ice, etc.) and the electrical network conditions

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 11 −
3.18
extreme wind speed
value of the highest wind speed, averaged over t s, with an annual probability of exceedance of

1/N ("recurrence period": N years)

NOTE In this standard recurrence periods of N = 50 years and N = 1 year and averaging time intervals of t = 3 s
and t = 10 min are used. In popular language, the less precise term survival wind speed is often used. In this

standard, however, the turbine is designed using extreme wind speeds for design load cases.

3.19
fail-safe
design property of an item which prevents its failures from resulting in critical faults

3.20
gust
temporary change in the wind speed
NOTE A gust may be characterised by its rise-time, its magnitude and its duration.
3.21
horizontal axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is substantially horizontal
3.22
hub (wind turbines)
fixture for attaching the blades or blade assembly to the rotor shaft
3.23
hub height (wind turbines)
z
hub
height of the centre of the swept area of the wind turbine rotor above the terrain surface. (see
3.51, swept area)
3.24
idling (wind turbines)
condition of a wind turbine that is rotating slowly and not producing power
3.25
inertial sub-range
frequency interval of the turbulence spectrum, where eddies – after attaining isotropy –
undergo successive break-up with negligible energy dissipation
NOTE At a typical 10 m/s wind speed, the inertial sub-range is roughly from 0, 2 Hz to 1 kHz.

3.26
limit state
state of a structure and the loads acting upon it, beyond which the structure no longer satisfies
the design requirement
[ISO 2394, modified]
NOTE The purpose of design calculations (i.e. the design requirement for the limit state) is to keep the probability
of a limit state being reached below a certain value prescribed for the type of structure in question (see ISO 2394).
3.27
logarithmic wind shear law
see 3.62
– 12 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
3.28
mean wind speed
statistical mean of the instantaneous value of the wind speed averaged over a given time

period which can vary from a few seconds to many years

3.29
nacelle
housing which contains the drive-train and other elements on top of a horizontal axis wind

turbine tower
3.30
network connection point (wind turbines)
cable terminals of a single wind turbine or, for a wind power station, the connection point to the
electrical bus of the site power collection system
3.31
network loss
loss of network for period exceeding any ride through provision in the turbine control system
3.32
normal shutdown (wind turbines)
shutdown in which all stages are under the control of the control system
3.33
operating limits
set of conditions defined by the wind turbine designer that govern the activation of the control
and protection system
3.34
parked wind turbine
depending on the design of the wind turbine, parked refers to the turbine being either in a
standstill or an idling condition
3.35
power collection system (wind turbines)
electric system that collects the power from one or more wind turbines. It includes all electrical
equipment connected between the wind turbine terminals and the network connection point
3.36
power law for wind shear
see 3.62
3.37
power output
power delivered by a device in a specific form and for a specific purpose
NOTE (wind turbines) The electric power delivered by a wind turbine
3.38
protection functions (wind turbine)
functions of the control and protection system which ensure that a wind turbine remains within
the design limits
61400-1  IEC:2005 − 13 −
3.39
rated power
quantity of power assigned, generally by a manufacturer, for a specified operating condition of

a component, device or equipment

NOTE (wind turbines) Maximum continuous electrical power output which a wind turbine is designed to achieve

under normal operating and external conditions.

3.40
rated wind speed
V
r
minimum wind speed at hub height at which a wind turbine's rated power is achieved in the

case of steady wind without turbulence
3.41
Rayleigh distribution
P
R
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.42
reference wind speed
V
ref
basic parameter for wind speed used for defining wind turbine classes. Other design related
climatic parameters are derived from the reference wind speed and other basic wind turbine
class parameters (see Clause 6)
NOTE A turbine designed for a wind turbine class with a reference wind speed V , is designed to withstand
ref
climates for which the extreme 10 min average wind speed with a recurrence period of 50 years at turbine hub
height is lower than or equal to V .
ref
3.43
rotationally sampled wind velocity
wind velocity experienced at a fixed point of the rotating wind turbine rotor
NOTE The turbulence spectrum of a rotationally sampled wind velocity is distinctly different from the normal
turbulence spectrum. While rotating, the blade cuts through a wind flow that varies in space. Therefore, the
resulting turbulence spectrum will contain sizeable amounts of variance at the frequency of rotation and harmonics
of the same.
3.44
rotor speed (wind turbines)
rotational speed of a wind turbine rotor about its axis
3.45
roughness length
z
extrapolated height at which the mean wind speed becomes zero if the vertical wind profile is
assumed to have a logarithmic variation with height
3.46
scheduled maintenance
preventive maintenance carried out in accordance with an established time schedule
3.47
site data
environmental, seismic, soil and electrical network data for the wind turbine site. Wind data
shall be the statistics of 10 min samples unless otherwise stated

– 14 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
3.48
standstill
condition of a wind turbine that is stopped

3.49
support structure (wind turbines)
part of a wind turbine comprising the tower and foundation

3.50
survival wind speed
popular name for the maximum wind speed that a construction is designed to withstand

NOTE In this standard, the expression is not used. Design conditions instead refer to extreme wind speed
(see 3.18).
3.51
swept area
projected area perpendicular to the wind direction that a rotor will describe during one complete
rotation
3.52
turbulence intensity
I
ratio of the wind speed standard deviation to the mean wind speed, determined from the same
set of measured data samples of wind speed, and taken over a specified period of time
3.53
turbulence scale parameter
Λ
wavelength where the non-dimensional, longitudinal power spectral density is equal to 0,05
NOTE The wavelength is thus defined as Λ =V /f , where f S (f )/σ = 0,05
1 hub 0 0 1 0 1
3.54
turbulence standard deviation
σ
standard deviation of the longitudinal component of the turbulent wind velocity at hub height
3.55
ultimate limit state
limit states which generally correspond to maximum load carrying capacity

[ISO 2394, modified]
3.56
unscheduled maintenance
maintenance carried out, not in accordance with an established time schedule, but after
reception of an indication regarding the state of an item
3.57
upwind
in the direction opposite to the main wind vector
3.58
vertical axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is vertical

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 15 −
3.59
Weibull distribution
P
W
probability distribution function, see 3.63

3.60
wind farm
see 3.61
3.61
wind power station
group or groups of wind turbines, commonly called a wind farm
3.62
wind profile – wind shear law
mathematical expression for assumed wind speed variation with height above ground
NOTE Commonly used profiles are the logarithmic profile (equation 1) or the power law profile (equation 2).
ln(z/ )
z 0
V(z) = V(z ). (1)
r
ln(/ )
z z
r0
z
α
V(z)= V( ).( ) (2)
z
r
z
r
where
V(z) is the wind speed at height z;
z is the height above ground;
z is a reference height above ground used for fitting the profile;
r
z is the roughness length;
α is the wind shear (or power law) exponent
3.63
wind speed distribution
probability distribution function, used to describe the distribution of wind speeds over an
extended period of time
NOTE Often used distribution functions are the Rayleigh, P (V ), and the Weibull, P (V ), functions.
R o W o

PV()=−1 exp −π V/2V
()
R0 0 ave

(3)
k

PV()1=−exp −()V/C
W0 0

 1 
C Γ(1+ )
 
with  = k (4)
V  
ave
 
C π /2, if k = 2
 
where
P(V ) is the cumulative probability function, i.e. the probability that V 0 o
V is the wind speed (limit);
V is the average value of V;
ave
– 16 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
C is the scale parameter of the Weibull function;

k is the shape parameter of the Weibull function;

Γ is the gamma function.
Both C and k can be evaluated from real data. The Rayleigh function is identical to the Weibull

function if k = 2 is chosen and C and V satisfy the condition stated in (equation 4) for k = 2.
ave
The distribution functions express the cumulative probability that the wind speed is lower than

V . Thus (P(V ) – P(V )), if evaluated between the specified limits V and V , will indicate the
0 1 2 1 2
fraction of time that the wind speed is within these limits. Differentiating the distribution

functions yield the corresponding probability density functions
3.64
wind shear
variation of wind speed across a plane perpendicular to the wind direction
3.65
wind shear exponent
α
also commonly known as power law exponent, see 3.62
3.66
wind speed
V
at a specified point in space it is the speed of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding the
specified point
NOTE It is also the magnitude of the local wind velocity (vector) (see 3.69).
3.67
wind turbine generator system (wind turbine)
system which converts kinetic energy in the wind into electrical energy
3.68
wind turbine site
the location of an individual wind turbine either alone or within a wind farm
3.69
wind velocity
vector pointing in the direction of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding the point of
consideration, the magnitude of the vector being equal to the speed of motion of this air

"parcel" (i.e. the local wind speed)
NOTE The vector at any point is thus the time derivative of the position vector of the air "parcel" moving through
the point.
3.70
wind turbine electrical system
all electrical equipment internal to the wind turbine, up to and including the wind turbine
terminals, including equipment for earthing, bonding and communications. Conductors local to
the wind turbine, which are intended to provide an earth termination network specifically for the
wind turbine, are included
3.71
wind turbine terminals
point or points identified by the wind turbine supplier at which the wind turbine may be
connected to the power collection system. This includes connection for the purposes of
transferring energy and communications

61400-1  IEC:2005 − 17 −
3.72
yawing
rotation of the rotor axis about a vertical axis (for horizontal axis wind turbines only)

3.73
yaw misalignment
horizontal deviation of the wind turbine rotor axis from the wind direction

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms

4.1 Symbols and units
C scale parameter of the Weibull distribution function [m/s]
C turbulence structure correction parameter
CT
C  thrust coefficient
T
Coh coherence function
D rotor diameter [m]
–1
f frequency [s ]
f design value for material strength [-]
d
f characteristic value for material strength [-]
k
F design value for loads [-]
d
F characteristic value for loads [-]
k
I expected value of hub-height turbulence intensity at a 10 min average
ref
wind speed of 15 m/s [-]
I effective turbulence intensity [-]
eff
k shape parameter of the Weibull distribution function [-]
K modified Bessel function [-]
L isotropic turbulence integral scale parameter [m]
L coherence scale parameter [m]
e
L velocity component integral scale parameter [m]
k
m Wöhler curve exponent [-]
n counted number of fatigue cycles in load bin i [-]
i
N(.) is the number of cycles to failure as a function of the stress (or strain)
indicated by the argument (i.e. the characteristic S-N curve) [-]
N recurrence period for extreme situations [years]
p survival probability [-]
P (V ) Rayleigh probability distribution, i.e. the probability that V R 0 0
P (V ) Weibull probability distribution [-]
W 0
r magnitude of separation vector projection [m]
s the stress (or strain) level associated with the counted number of
i
cycles in bin i [-]
S (f) power spectral density function for the longitudinal wind velocity
component [m /s]
S one-sided velocity component spectrum [m /s]
k
– 18 – 61400-1  IEC:2005
T  gust characteristic time [s]

t time [s]
V  wind speed [m/s]
V(z) wind speed at height z [m/s]

V annual average wind speed at hub height [m/s]
ave
V extreme coherent gust magnitude over the whole rotor swept area [m/s]
cg
V expected extreme wind speed (averaged over three seconds), with a
eN
recurrence time interval of N years. V and V for 1 year and
e1 e50
50 years, respectively [m/s]
V largest gust magnitude with an expected recurrence period of 50 years
gust
[m/s]
V wind speed at hub height [m/s]
hub
V cut-in wind speed [m/s]
in
V limit wind speed in wind speed distribution model [m/s]
V cut-out wind speed [m/s]
out
V rated wind speed [m/s]
r
V reference wind speed [m/s]
ref
V(y,z,t) longitudinal wind velocity component to describe transient horizontal
wind shear [m/s]
V(z,t) longitudinal wind velocity component to describe transient variation for
extreme gust and shear conditions [m/s]
x, y, z co-ordinate system used for the wind field description; along wind
(longitudinal), across wind (lateral) and height respectively [m]
z hub height of the wind turbine [
...


IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
CONSOLIDATED
VERSION
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
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IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
CONSOLIDATED
VERSION
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.180 ISBN 978-2-8322-1525-8

IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
REDLINE VERSION
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
– 2 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 5

INTRODUCTION . 7

1 Scope . 8

2 Normative references . 8

3 Terms and definitions . 9

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 17

4.1 Symbols and units . 17
4.2 Abbreviations . 19
5 Principal elements . 20
5.1 General . 20
5.2 Design methods . 20
5.3 Safety classes . 20
5.4 Quality assurance . 20
5.5 Wind turbine markings . 21
6 External conditions . 21
6.1 General . 21
6.2 Wind turbine classes . 21
6.3 Wind conditions . 23
6.4 Other environmental conditions . 31
6.5 Electrical power network conditions . 33
7 Structural design . 33
7.1 General . 33
7.2 Design methodology . 33
7.3 Loads . 33
7.4 Design situations and load cases . 34
7.5 Load calculations . 39
7.6 Ultimate limit state analysis . 40
8 Control and protection system . 47
8.1 General . 47
8.2 Control functions . 47

8.3 Protection functions . 48
8.4 Braking system . 49
9 Mechanical systems . 49
9.1 General . 49
9.2 Errors of fitting . 49
9.3 Hydraulic or pneumatic systems . 50
9.4 Main gearbox . 50
9.5 Yaw system . 50
9.6 Pitch system . 51
9.7 Protection function mechanical brakes . 51
9.8 Rolling bearings . 51

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
10 Electrical system . 52

10.1 General . 52

10.2 General requirements for the electrical system . 52

10.3 Protective devices . 52

10.4 Disconnect devices . 52

10.5 Earth system . 53

10.6 Lightning protection . 53

10.7 Electrical cables . 53

10.8 Self-excitation . 53

10.9 Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse . 53
10.10 Power quality . 53
10.11 Electromagnetic compatibility . 54
11 Assessment of a wind turbine for site-specific conditions . 54
11.1 General . 54
11.2 Assessment of the topographical complexity of the site . 54
11.3 Wind conditions required for assessment . 55
11.4 Assessment of wake effects from neighbouring wind turbines . 56
11.5 Assessment of other environmental conditions . 56
11.6 Assessment of earthquake conditions . 57
11.7 Assessment of electrical network conditions . 58
11.8 Assessment of soil conditions . 58
11.9 Assessment of structural integrity by reference to wind data . 58
11.10 Assessment of structural integrity by load calculations with reference to
site specific conditions . 60
12 Assembly, installation and erection . 60
12.1 General . 60
12.2 Planning . 61
12.3 Installation conditions . 61
12.4 Site access . 61
12.5 Environmental conditions . 61
12.6 Documentation . 62
12.7 Receiving, handling and storage . 62
12.8 Foundation/anchor systems . 62
12.9 Assembly of wind turbine . 62

12.10 Erection of wind turbine . 62
12.11 Fasteners and attachments . 62
12.12 Cranes, hoists and lifting equipment . 63
13 Commissioning, operation and maintenance . 63
13.1 General . 63
13.2 Design requirements for safe operation, inspection and maintenance . 63
13.3 Instructions concerning commissioning . 64
13.4 Operator’s instruction manual . 65
13.5 Maintenance manual . 66

– 4 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
Annex A (normative) Design parameters for describing wind turbine class S . 68

Annex B (informative) Turbulence models . 69

Annex C (informative) Assessment of earthquake loading . 74

Annex D (informative) Wake and wind farm turbulence . 75

Annex E (informative) Prediction of wind distribution for wind turbine sites by
measure-correlate-predict (MCP) methods . 78

Annex F (informative) Statistical extrapolation of loads for ultimate strength analysis. 80

Annex G (informative) Fatigue analysis using Miner’s rule with load extrapolation . 91

Annex H (informative) Contemporaneous loads . 94

Bibliography . 99

Figure 1 – Normal turbulence model (NTM) . 26
Figure 2 – Example of extreme operating gust. 28
Figure 3 – Example of extreme direction change magnitude . 29
Figure 4 – Example of extreme direction change . 29
Figure 5 – Example of extreme coherent gust amplitude for ECD . 29
Figure 6 – Direction change for ECD . 30
Figure 7 – Example of direction change transient . 30
Figure 8 – Examples of extreme positive and negative vertical wind shear, wind profile
before onset (t = 0, dashed line) and at maximum shear (t = 6 s, full line). . 31
Figure 9 – Example of wind speeds at rotor top and bottom, respectively, illustrate the
transient positive wind shear . 31
Figure D.1 – Configuration – Inside a wind farm with more than 2 rows . 77
Figure F.1 – Exceedance probability for largest out-of-plane blade bending load in 10
min (normalized by mean bending load at rated wind speed). .

Table 1 – Basic parameters for wind turbine classes . 22
Table 2 – Design load cases . 35
Table 3 – Partial safety factors for loads γ . 43
f
Table 4 – Terrain complexity indicators . 55
Table 5 – Minimum required safety factor S and S for the yaw gear system . 51
H F
Table B.1 – Turbulence spectral parameters for the Kaimal model . 73
Table D.1 – Number of nearest wind turbine to be considered . 75
Table F.1 – Parameters needed to establish binomial-based confidence intervals . 86
Table F.2 – Short-term load exceedance probabilities as a function of hub-height wind
speed for different wind turbine classes for use with the IFORM procedure . 88
Table H.1 – Extreme loading matrix . 94

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

___________
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an
international consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation
from all interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of

patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This Consolidated version of IEC 61400-1 bears the edition number 3.1. It consists of
the third edition (2005-08) [documents 88/228/FDIS and 88/232/RVD] and its amendment
1 (2010-10) [documents 88/374/FDIS and 88/378/RVD]. The technical content is identical
to the base edition and its amendment.
In this Redline version, a vertical line in the margin shows where the technical content
is modified by amendment 1. Additions and deletions are displayed in red, with
deletions being struck through. A separate Final version with all changes accepted is
available in this publication.
This publication has been prepared for user convenience.

– 6 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV © IEC 2014
International Standard IEC 61400-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 88: Wind
turbines.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below:

– the title has been changed to “Design requirements” in order to reflect that the standard

presents safety requirements rather than requirements for safety or protection of personnel;

– wind turbine class designations have been adjusted and now refer to reference wind speed

and expected value of turbulence intensities only;

– turbulence models have been expanded and include an extreme turbulence model;

– gust models have been adjusted and simplified;
– design load cases have been rearranged and amended;
– the inclusion of turbulence simulations in the load calculations is emphasised and a scheme
for extreme load extrapolation has been specified;
– the partial safety factors for loads have been adjusted and simplified;
– the partial safety factors for materials have been amended and specified in terms of
material types and component classes;
– the requirements for the control and protection system have been amended and clarified in
terms of functional characteristics;
– a new clause on assessment of structural and electrical compatibility has been introduced
with detailed requirements for assessment, including information on complex terrain,
earthquakes and wind farm wake effects.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of IEC 61400 series, under the general title Wind turbine generator systems,
can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of the base publication and its amendment will
remain unchanged until the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under
"http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the
publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
The contents of the corrigendum of February 2016 have been included in this copy.

IMPORTANT – The “colour inside” logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this publication using a colour printer.

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
INTRODUCTION
This part of IEC 61400 outlines minimum design requirements for wind turbines and is not

intended for use as a complete design specification or instruction manual.

Any of the requirements of this standard may be altered if it can be suitably demonstrated
that the safety of the system is not compromised. This provision, however, does not apply to

the classification and the associated definitions of external conditions in Clause 6.

Compliance with this standard does not relieve any person, organization, or corporation from

the responsibility of observing other applicable regulations.

The standard is not intended to give requirements for wind turbines installed offshore, in
particular for the support structure. A future document dealing with offshore installations is
under consideration.
– 8 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
1 Scope
This part of IEC 61400 specifies essential design requirements to ensure the engineering

integrity of wind turbines. Its purpose is to provide an appropriate level of protection against
damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime.
This standard is concerned with all subsystems of wind turbines such as control and
protection mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and support
structures.
This standard applies to wind turbines of all sizes. For small wind turbines IEC 61400-2 may
be applied.
This standard should be used together with the appropriate IEC and ISO standards
mentioned in Clause 2.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60204-1:1997, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General
requirements
IEC 60204-11:2000, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 11:
Requirements for HV equipment for voltages above 1 000 V a.c. or 1 500 V d.c. and not
exceeding 36 kV
IEC 60364 (all parts), Low-voltage electrical installations of buildings
IEC 60364-5-54, Electrical installations of buildings – Part 5-54: Selection and erection of

electrical equipment – Earthing arrangements, protective conductors and protective bonding
conductors
IEC 60721-2-1:1982, Classification of environmental conditions – Part 2: Environmental
conditions appearing in nature. Temperature and humidity
IEC 61000-6-1:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-1: Generic standards –
Section 1: Immunity for residential, commercial and light-industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-2:1999, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-2: Generic standards –
Section 2: Immunity for industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-4:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-4: Generic standards –
Section 4: Emission standard for industrial environments
IEC 61024-1:1990, Protection of structures against lightning – Part 1: General principles

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
IEC 61312-1:1995, Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse – Part 1: General

principle
IEC 61400-2, Wind turbines – Part 2: Design requirements for small wind turbines

IEC 61400-21:2001, Wind turbines generator systems – Part 21: Measurement and

assessment of power quality characteristics of grid connected wind turbines

IEC 61400-24: 2002, Wind turbines generator systems – Part 24: Lightning protection

IEC 62305-3, Protection against lightning – Part 3: Physical damage to structures and life

hazard
IEC 62305-4, Protection against lightning – Part 4: Electrical and electronic systems within
structures
ISO 76:1987 2006, Rolling bearings – Static load ratings
ISO 281:1990, Rolling bearings – Dynamic load ratings and rating life
ISO 2394:1998, General principles on reliability for structures
ISO 2533:1975, Standard Atmosphere
ISO 4354:1997, Wind actions on structures
ISO 6336-2 (all parts), Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears –
Part 2: Calculation of surface durability (pitting)
ISO 9001:2000, Quality management systems – Requirements
ISO 6336-3:2006, Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears – Part 3: Calculation
of tooth bending strength
ISO 81400-4, Wind turbines – Part 4: Design and specification of gearboxes
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1
annual average
mean value of a set of measured data of sufficient size and duration to serve as an estimate
of the expected value of the quantity. The averaging time interval should be a whole number
of years to average out non-stationary effects such as seasonality
3.2
annual average wind speed
V
ave
wind speed averaged according to the definition of annual average
3.3
auto-reclosing cycle
event with a time period, varying from approximately 0,01 s to a few seconds, during which a
breaker released after a grid fault is automatically reclosed and the line is reconnected to the
network
– 10 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.4
blocking (wind turbines)
use of a mechanical pin or other device (other than the ordinary mechanical brake) that

cannot be released accidentally to prevent movement, for instance of the rotor shaft or yaw

mechanism
3.5
brake (wind turbines)
device capable of reducing the rotor speed or stopping rotation

NOTE The brake may operate on, for example, aerodynamic, mechanical or electrical principles.

3.6
characteristic value
value having a prescribed probability of not being attained (i.e. an exceedance probability of
less than or equal to a prescribed amount)
3.7
complex terrain
surrounding terrain that features significant variations in topography and terrain obstacles
that may cause flow distortion
3.8
control functions (wind turbines)
functions of the control and protection system that based on information about the condition
of the wind turbine and/or its environment, adjust the turbine in order to maintain it within its
operating limits
3.9
cut-in wind speed
V
in
lowest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine starts to produce power in the case
of steady wind without turbulence
3.10
cut-out wind speed
V
out
highest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine is designed to produce power in
the case of steady wind without turbulence
3.11
design limits
maximum or minimum values used in a design
3.12
dormant failure
failure of a component or system which remains undetected during normal operation
3.13
downwind
in the direction of the main wind vector
3.14
electrical power network
particular installations, substations, lines or cables for the transmission and distribution of
electricity
+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
NOTE The boundaries of the different parts of this network are defined by appropriate criteria, such as

geographical situation, ownership, voltage, etc.

3.15
emergency shutdown (wind turbines)

rapid shutdown of the wind turbine triggered by a protection function or by manual

intervention
3.16
environmental conditions
characteristics of the environment (wind, altitude, temperature, humidity, etc.) which may

affect the wind turbine behaviour

3.17
external conditions (wind turbines)
factors affecting operation of a wind turbine, including the environmental conditions
(temperature, snow, ice, etc.) and the electrical network conditions
3.18
extreme wind speed
value of the highest wind speed, averaged over t s, with an annual probability of exceedance
of 1/N ("recurrence period": N years)
NOTE In this standard recurrence periods of N = 50 years and N = 1 year and averaging time intervals of t = 3 s
and t = 10 min are used. In popular language, the less precise term survival wind speed is often used. In this
standard, however, the turbine is designed using extreme wind speeds for design load cases.
3.19
fail-safe
design property of an item which prevents its failures from resulting in critical faults
3.20
gust
temporary change in the wind speed
NOTE A gust may be characterised by its rise-time, its magnitude and its duration.
3.21
horizontal axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is substantially horizontal
3.22
hub (wind turbines)
fixture for attaching the blades or blade assembly to the rotor shaft
3.23
hub height (wind turbines)
z
hub
height of the centre of the swept area of the wind turbine rotor above the terrain surface (see
3.51, swept area)
3.24
idling (wind turbines)
condition of a wind turbine that is rotating slowly and not producing power

– 12 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.25
inertial sub-range
frequency interval of the turbulence spectrum, where eddies – after attaining isotropy –

undergo successive break-up with negligible energy dissipation

NOTE At a typical 10 m/s wind speed, the inertial sub-range is roughly from 0, 2 Hz to 1 kHz.

3.26
limit state
state of a structure and the loads acting upon it, beyond which the structure no longer

satisfies the design requirement

[ISO 2394, modified]
NOTE The purpose of design calculations (i.e. the design requirement for the limit state) is to keep the probability
of a limit state being reached below a certain value prescribed for the type of structure in question (see 2.2.9 of
ISO 2394).
3.27
logarithmic wind shear law
see 3.62
3.28
mean wind speed
statistical mean of the instantaneous value of the wind speed averaged over a given time
period which can vary from a few seconds to many years
3.29
nacelle
housing which contains the drive-train and other elements on top of a horizontal axis wind
turbine tower
3.30
network connection point (wind turbines)
cable terminals of a single wind turbine or, for a wind power station, the connection point to
the electrical bus of the site power collection system
3.31
network loss
loss of network for period exceeding any ride through provision in the turbine control system
3.32
normal shutdown (wind turbines)
shutdown in which all stages are under the control of the control system
3.33
operating limits
set of conditions defined by the wind turbine designer that govern the activation of the control
and protection system
3.34
parked wind turbine
depending on the design of the wind turbine, parked refers to the turbine being either in a
standstill or an idling condition

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.35
power collection system (wind turbines)

electric system that collects the power from one or more wind turbines. It includes all

electrical equipment connected between the wind turbine terminals and the network

connection point
3.36
power law for wind shear
see 3.62
3.37
power output
power delivered by a device in a specific form and for a specific purpose
NOTE (wind turbines) The electric power delivered by a wind turbine.
3.38
protection functions (wind turbine)
functions of the control and protection system which ensure that a wind turbine remains
within the design limits
3.39
rated power
quantity of power assigned, generally by a manufacturer, for a specified operating condition
of a component, device or equipment
NOTE (wind turbines) Maximum continuous electrical power output which a wind turbine is designed to achieve
under normal operating and external conditions.
3.40
rated wind speed
V
r
minimum wind speed at hub height at which a wind turbine's rated power is achieved in the
case of steady wind without turbulence
3.41
Rayleigh distribution
P
R
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.42
reference wind speed
V
ref
basic parameter for wind speed used for defining wind turbine classes. Other design related
climatic parameters are derived from the reference wind speed and other basic wind turbine
class parameters (see Clause 6)
NOTE A turbine designed for a wind turbine class with a reference wind speed V , is designed to withstand
ref
climates for which the extreme 10 min average wind speed with a recurrence period of 50 years at turbine hub
height is lower than or equal to V .
ref
3.43
rotationally sampled wind velocity
wind velocity experienced at a fixed point of the rotating wind turbine rotor
NOTE The turbulence spectrum of a rotationally sampled wind velocity is distinctly different from the normal
turbulence spectrum. While rotating, the blade cuts through a wind flow that varies in space. Therefore, the
resulting turbulence spectrum will contain sizeable amounts of variance at the frequency of rotation and harmonics
of the same.
– 14 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.44
rotor speed (wind turbines)
rotational speed of a wind turbine rotor about its axis

3.45
roughness length
z
extrapolated height at which the mean wind speed becomes zero if the vertical wind profile is

assumed to have a logarithmic variation with height

3.46
scheduled maintenance
preventive maintenance carried out in accordance with an established time schedule
3.47
site data
environmental, seismic, soil and electrical network data for the wind turbine site. Wind data
shall be the statistics of 10 min samples unless otherwise stated
3.48
standstill
condition of a wind turbine that is stopped
3.49
support structure (wind turbines)
part of a wind turbine comprising the tower and foundation
3.50
survival wind speed
popular name for the maximum wind speed that a construction is designed to withstand
NOTE In this standard, the expression is not used. Design conditions instead refer to extreme wind speed
(see 3.18).
3.51
swept area
projected area perpendicular to the wind direction that a rotor will describe during one
complete rotation
3.52
turbulence intensity
I
ratio of the wind speed standard deviation to the mean wind speed, determined from the
same set of measured data samples of wind speed, and taken over a specified period of time
3.53
turbulence scale parameter
Λ
wavelength where the non-dimensional, longitudinal power spectral density is equal to 0,05
NOTE The wavelength is thus defined as Λ =V /f , where f S (f )/σ = 0,05.
1 hub 0 0 1 0 1
3.54
turbulence standard deviation

standard deviation of the longitudinal component of the turbulent wind velocity at hub height

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.55
ultimate limit state
limit states which generally correspond to maximum load carrying capacity

[2.2.10 of ISO 2394, modified]

3.56
unscheduled maintenance
maintenance carried out, not in accordance with an established time schedule, but after

reception of an indication regarding the state of an item

3.57
upwind
in the direction opposite to the main wind vector
3.58
vertical axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is vertical
3.59
Weibull distribution
P
W
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.60
wind farm
see 3.61
3.61
wind power station
group or groups of wind turbines, commonly called a wind farm
3.62
wind profile – wind shear law
mathematical expression for assumed wind speed variation with height above ground
NOTE Commonly used profiles are the logarithmic profile (equation 1) or the power law profile (equation 2).
ln(z/ )
z 0
V(z) = V(z ). (1)
r
ln(/ )
zzr 0
z
α
V(z)= V( ).( ) (2)
zr
zr
where
V(z) is the wind speed at height z;
z is the height above ground;
z is a reference height above ground used for fitting the profile;
r
z is the roughness length;
α is the wind shear (or power law) exponent
3.63
wind speed distribution
probability distribution function, used to describe the distribution of wind speeds over an
extended period of time
NOTE Often used distribution functions are the Rayleigh, P (V ), and the Weibull, P (V ), functions.
R o W o
– 16 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014

PV( )=1−−exp p V / 2V
( )
R 0 0 ave

(3)
k

PV( )=1−−exp V / C
( )
W0 0

 1 
C Γ(1+ )
 
k
with  =  (4)
V  
ave
 
C p /2, if k = 2
 
where
P(V ) is the cumulative probability function, i.e. the probability that V 0 o
V is the wind speed (limit);
V is the average value of V;
ave
C is the scale parameter of the Weibull function;
k is the shape parameter of the Weibull function;
Γ is the gamma function.
Both C and k can be evaluated from real data. The Rayleigh function is identical to the
Weibull function if k = 2 is chosen and C and V satisfy the condition stated in (equation 4)
ave
for k = 2.
The distribution functions express the cumulative probability that the wind speed is lower
than V . Thus (P(V ) – P(V )), if evaluated between the specified limits V and V , will
0 1 2 1 2
indicate the fraction of time that the wind speed is within these limits. Differentiating the
distribution functions yield the corresponding probability density functions
3.64
wind shear
variation of wind speed across a plane perpendicular to the wind direction
3.65
wind shear exponent
α
also commonly known as power law exponent, see 3.62
3.66
wind speed
V
at a specified point in space it is the speed of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding

the specified point
NOTE It is also the magnitude of the local wind velocity (vector) (see 3.69).
3.67
wind turbine generator system (wind turbine)
system which converts kinetic energy in the wind into electrical energy
3.68
wind turbine site
the location of an individual wind turbine either alone or within a wind farm
3.69
wind velocity
vector pointing in the direction of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding the point of
consideration, the magnitude of the vector being equal to the speed of motion of this air
"parcel" (i.e. the local wind speed)

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
NOTE The vector at any point is thus the time derivative of the position vector of the air "parcel" moving through

the point.
3.70
wind turbine electrical system

all electrical equipment internal to the wind turbine, up to and including the wind turbine

terminals, including equipment for earthing, bonding and communications. Conductors local

to the wind turbine, which are intended to provide an earth termination network specifically

for the wind turbine, are included

3.71
wind turbine terminals
point or points identified by the wind turbine supplier at which the wind turbine may be
connected to the power collection system. This includes connection for the purposes of
transferring energy and communications
3.72
yawing
rotation of the rotor axis about a vertical axis (for horizontal axis wind turbines only)
3.73
yaw misalignment
horizontal deviation of the wind turbine rotor axis from the wind direction
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
4.1 Symbols and units
C scale parameter of the Weibull distribution function [m/s]
C turbulence structure correction parameter
CT
C  thrust coefficient
T
Coh coherence function
D rotor dia
...


COR1:2016  IEC 2016
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

COMMISSION ÉLECTROTECHNIQUE INTERNATIONALE

____________
IEC 61400-1 IEC 61400-1
Edition 3.1  2014-04 Edition 3.1  2014-04

Wind turbines – Eoliennes –
Part 1: Design requirements Partie 1: Exigences de conception

CO RRI G ENDU M 1
NOTE This corrigendum concerns only NOTE Ce corrigendum ne concerne que
the Final version of IEC 61400-1 CSV, la Version finale de l’IEC 61400-1 CSV,
which was published in 2014-04. publiée en 2014-04.

7.6.2.1 Partial safety factors for loads 7.6.2.1 Facteurs de sécurité partielle
des charges
In the
...


IEC 61400-1
Edition 3.0 2005-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
Eoliennes –
Partie 1: Exigences de conception

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IEC 61400-1
Edition 3.0 2005-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
Eoliennes –
Partie 1: Exigences de conception

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
XC
CODE PRIX
ICS 27.180 ISBN 2-8318-8161-7
– 2 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.5

INTRODUCTION.7

1 Scope.8

2 Normative references.8

3 Terms and definitions .9

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms .17

4.1 Symbols and units .17
4.2 Abbreviations.19
5 Principal elements .20
5.1 General .20
5.2 Design methods.20
5.3 Safety classes .20
5.4 Quality assurance.21
5.5 Wind turbine markings .21
6 External conditions .21
6.1 General .21
6.2 Wind turbine classes .22
6.3 Wind conditions .23
6.4 Other environmental conditions.31
6.5 Electrical power network conditions.33
7 Structural design.33
7.1 General .33
7.2 Design methodology .34
7.3 Loads .34
7.4 Design situations and load cases .34
7.5 Load calculations.40
7.6 Ultimate limit state analysis.41
8 Control and protection system.47
8.1 General .47
8.2 Control functions .48

8.3 Protection functions .48
8.4 Braking system .49
9 Mechanical systems.50
9.1 General .50
9.2 Errors of fitting.50
9.3 Hydraulic or pneumatic systems.51
9.4 Main gearbox.51
9.5 Yaw system .51
9.6 Pitch system .52
9.7 Protection function mechanical brakes .52
9.8 Rolling bearings.52

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 3 –
10 Electrical system.53

10.1 General .53

10.2 General requirements for the electrical system .53

10.3 Protective devices.53

10.4 Disconnect devices .53

10.5 Earth system.53

10.6 Lightning protection.54

10.7 Electrical cables.54

10.8 Self-excitation.54

10.9 Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse .54
10.10 Power quality .54
10.11 Electromagnetic compatibility.55
11 Assessment of a wind turbine for site-specific conditions.55
11.1 General .55
11.2 Assessment of the topographical complexity of the site .55
11.3 Wind conditions required for assessment .56
11.4 Assessment of wake effects from neighbouring wind turbines.57
11.5 Assessment of other environmental conditions .57
11.6 Assessment of earthquake conditions .58
11.7 Assessment of electrical network conditions.59
11.8 Assessment of soil conditions .59
11.9 Assessment of structural integrity by reference to wind data .59
11.10 Assessment of structural integrity by load calculations with reference to site
specific conditions .60
12 Assembly, installation and erection .61
12.1 General .61
12.2 Planning .62
12.3 Installation conditions.62
12.4 Site access.62
12.5 Environmental conditions .62
12.6 Documentation.63
12.7 Receiving, handling and storage.63
12.8 Foundation/anchor systems.63
12.9 Assembly of wind turbine .63

12.10 Erection of wind turbine.63
12.11 Fasteners and attachments .63
12.12 Cranes, hoists and lifting equipment.64
13 Commissioning, operation and maintenance .64
13.1 General .64
13.2 Design requirements for safe operation, inspection and maintenance .64
13.3 Instructions concerning commissioning .65
13.4 Operator’s instruction manual.66
13.5 Maintenance manual.68

– 4 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
Annex A (normative) Design parameters for describing wind turbine class S .69

Annex B (informative) Turbulence models .70

Annex C (informative) Assessment of earthquake loading.76

Annex D (informative) Wake and wind farm turbulence .77

Annex E (informative) Prediction of wind distribution for wind turbine sites by measure-
correlate-predict (MCP) methods.80

Annex F (informative) Statistical extrapolation of loads for ultimate strength analysis .82

Annex G (informative) Fatigue analysis using Miner’s rule with load extrapolation .85

Bibliography .90

Figure 1 – Normal turbulence model (NTM) .26
Figure 2 – Example of extreme operating gust.28
Figure 3 – Example of extreme direction change magnitude .29
Figure 4 – Example of extreme direction change .29
Figure 5 – Example of extreme coherent gust amplitude for ECD.29
Figure 6 – Direction change for ECD .30
Figure 7 – Example of direction change transient.30
Figure 8 – Examples of extreme positive and negative vertical wind shear, wind profile
before onset (t = 0, dashed line) and at maximum shear (t = 6 s, full line). .31
Figure 9 – Example of wind speeds at rotor top and bottom, respectively, illustrate the
transient positive wind shear .31
Figure D.1 – Configuration – Inside a wind farm with more than 2 rows .79
Figure F.1 – Exceedance probability for largest out-of-plane blade bending load in 10
min (normalized by mean bending load at rated wind speed).84

Table 1 – Basic parameters for wind turbine classes.23
Table 2 – Design load cases .36
Table 3 – Partial safety factors for loads γ .44
f
Table 4 – Terrain complexity indicators .56

Table B.1 – Turbulence spectral parameters for the Kaimal model.74

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 5 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

___________
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

International Standard IEC 61400-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 88: Wind
turbines.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 1999. It constitutes a
technical revision.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below:
– the title has been changed to “Design requirements” in order to reflect that the standard
presents safety requirements rather than requirements for safety or protection of personnel;
– wind turbine class designations have been adjusted and now refer to reference wind speed
and expected value of turbulence intensities only;

– 6 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
– turbulence models have been expanded and include an extreme turbulence model;

– gust models have been adjusted and simplified;

– design load cases have been rearranged and amended;

– the inclusion of turbulence simulations in the load calculations is emphasised and a scheme

for extreme load extrapolation has been specified;

– the partial safety factors for loads have been adjusted and simplified;

– the partial safety factors for materials have been amended and specified in terms of

material types and component classes;

– the requirements for the control and protection system have been amended and clarified in

terms of functional characteristics;
– a new clause on assessment of structural and electrical compatibility has been introduced
with detailed requirements for assessment, including information on complex terrain,
earthquakes and wind farm wake effects.
This bilingual version, published in 2007-03, corresponds to the English version.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
88/228/FDIS 88/232/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
The French version of this standard has not been voted upon.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of IEC 61400 series, under the general title Wind turbine generator systems,
can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until the
maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 7 –
INTRODUCTION
This part of IEC 61400 outlines minimum design requirements for wind turbines and is not

intended for use as a complete design specification or instruction manual.

Any of the requirements of this standard may be altered if it can be suitably demonstrated that
the safety of the system is not compromised. This provision, however, does not apply to the

classification and the associated definitions of external conditions in Clause 6. Compliance with

this standard does not relieve any person, organization, or corporation from the responsibility

of observing other applicable regulations.

The standard is not intended to give requirements for wind turbines installed offshore, in
particular for the support structure. A future document dealing with offshore installations is
under consideration.
– 8 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
1 Scope
This part of IEC 61400 specifies essential design requirements to ensure the engineering

integrity of wind turbines. Its purpose is to provide an appropriate level of protection against
damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime.
This standard is concerned with all subsystems of wind turbines such as control and protection
mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and support structures.
This standard applies to wind turbines of all sizes. For small wind turbines IEC 61400-2 may be
applied.
This standard should be used together with the appropriate IEC and ISO standards mentioned
in Clause 2.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For
dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of
the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60204-1:1997, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General
requirements
IEC 60204-11:2000, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 11:
Requirements for HV equipment for voltages above 1 000 V a.c. or 1 500 V d.c. and not
exceeding 36 kV
IEC 60364 (all parts), Electrical installations of buildings
IEC 60721-2-1:1982, Classification of environmental conditions – Part 2: Environmental
conditions appearing in nature. Temperature and humidity

IEC 61000-6-1:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 1: Immunity for residential, commercial and light-industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-2:1999, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 2: Immunity for industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-4:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6: Generic standards –
Section 4: Emission standard for industrial environments
IEC 61024-1:1990, Protection of structures against lightning – Part 1: General principles

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 9 –
IEC 61312-1:1995, Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse – Part 1: General
principle
IEC 61400-21:2001, Wind turbine generator systems – Part 21: Measurement and assessment

of power quality characteristics of grid connected wind turbines

IEC 61400-24: 2002, Wind turbine generator systems – Part 24: Lightning protection

ISO 76:1987, Rolling bearings – Static load ratings

ISO 281:1990, Rolling bearings – Dynamic load ratings and rating life

ISO 2394:1998, General principles on reliability for structures
ISO 2533:1975, Standard Atmosphere
ISO 4354:1997, Wind actions on structures
ISO 6336 (all parts), Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears
ISO 9001:2000, Quality management systems – Requirements
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
annual average
mean value of a set of measured data of sufficient size and duration to serve as an estimate of
the expected value of the quantity. The averaging time interval should be a whole number of
years to average out non-stationary effects such as seasonality
3.2
annual average wind speed
V
ave
wind speed averaged according to the definition of annual average
3.3
auto-reclosing cycle
event with a time period, varying from approximately 0,01 s to a few seconds, during which a
breaker released after a grid fault is automatically reclosed and the line is reconnected to the

network
3.4
blocking (wind turbines)
use of a mechanical pin or other device (other than the ordinary mechanical brake) that cannot
be released accidentally to prevent movement, for instance of the rotor shaft or yaw
mechanism
– 10 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
3.5
brake (wind turbines)
device capable of reducing the rotor speed or stopping rotation

NOTE The brake may operate on, for example, aerodynamic, mechanical or electrical principles.

3.6
characteristic value
value having a prescribed probability of not being attained (i.e. an exceedance probability of

less than or equal to a prescribed amount)

3.7
complex terrain
surrounding terrain that features significant variations in topography and terrain obstacles that
may cause flow distortion
3.8
control functions (wind turbines)
functions of the control and protection system that based on information about the condition of
the wind turbine and/or its environment, adjust the turbine in order to maintain it within its
operating limits
3.9
cut-in wind speed
V
in
lowest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine starts to produce power in the case
of steady wind without turbulence
3.10
cut-out wind speed
V
out
highest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine is designed to produce power in the
case of steady wind without turbulence
3.11
design limits
maximum or minimum values used in a design
3.12
dormant failure
failure of a component or system which remains undetected during normal operation

3.13
downwind
in the direction of the main wind vector
3.14
electrical power network
particular installations, substations, lines or cables for the transmission and distribution of
electricity
NOTE The boundaries of the different parts of this network are defined by appropriate criteria, such as
geographical situation, ownership, voltage, etc.

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 11 –
3.15
emergency shutdown (wind turbines)
rapid shutdown of the wind turbine triggered by a protection function or by manual intervention

3.16
environmental conditions
characteristics of the environment (wind, altitude, temperature, humidity, etc.) which may affect

the wind turbine behaviour
3.17
external conditions (wind turbines)

factors affecting operation of a wind turbine, including the environmental conditions
(temperature, snow, ice, etc.) and the electrical network conditions
3.18
extreme wind speed
value of the highest wind speed, averaged over t s, with an annual probability of exceedance of
1/N ("recurrence period": N years)
NOTE In this standard recurrence periods of N = 50 years and N = 1 year and averaging time intervals of t = 3 s
and t = 10 min are used. In popular language, the less precise term survival wind speed is often used. In this
standard, however, the turbine is designed using extreme wind speeds for design load cases.
3.19
fail-safe
design property of an item which prevents its failures from resulting in critical faults
3.20
gust
temporary change in the wind speed
NOTE A gust may be characterised by its rise-time, its magnitude and its duration.
3.21
horizontal axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is substantially horizontal
3.22
hub (wind turbines)
fixture for attaching the blades or blade assembly to the rotor shaft
3.23
hub height (wind turbines)
z
hub
height of the centre of the swept area of the wind turbine rotor above the terrain surface (see
3.51, swept area)
3.24
idling (wind turbines)
condition of a wind turbine that is rotating slowly and not producing power

– 12 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
3.25
inertial sub-range
frequency interval of the turbulence spectrum, where eddies – after attaining isotropy –

undergo successive break-up with negligible energy dissipation

NOTE At a typical 10 m/s wind speed, the inertial sub-range is roughly from 0, 2 Hz to 1 kHz.

3.26
limit state
state of a structure and the loads acting upon it, beyond which the structure no longer satisfies

the design requirement
[ISO 2394, modified]
NOTE The purpose of design calculations (i.e. the design requirement for the limit state) is to keep the probability
of a limit state being reached below a certain value prescribed for the type of structure in question (see ISO 2394).
3.27
logarithmic wind shear law
see 3.62
3.28
mean wind speed
statistical mean of the instantaneous value of the wind speed averaged over a given time
period which can vary from a few seconds to many years
3.29
nacelle
housing which contains the drive-train and other elements on top of a horizontal axis wind
turbine tower
3.30
network connection point (wind turbines)
cable terminals of a single wind turbine or, for a wind power station, the connection point to the
electrical bus of the site power collection system
3.31
network loss
loss of network for period exceeding any ride through provision in the turbine control system
3.32
normal shutdown (wind turbines)

shutdown in which all stages are under the control of the control system
3.33
operating limits
set of conditions defined by the wind turbine designer that govern the activation of the control
and protection system
3.34
parked wind turbine
depending on the design of the wind turbine, parked refers to the turbine being either in a
standstill or an idling condition

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 13 –
3.35
power collection system (wind turbines)
electric system that collects the power from one or more wind turbines. It includes all electrical

equipment connected between the wind turbine terminals and the network connection point

3.36
power law for wind shear
see 3.62
3.37
power output
power delivered by a device in a specific form and for a specific purpose
NOTE (wind turbines) The electric power delivered by a wind turbine.
3.38
protection functions (wind turbine)
functions of the control and protection system which ensure that a wind turbine remains within
the design limits
3.39
rated power
quantity of power assigned, generally by a manufacturer, for a specified operating condition of
a component, device or equipment
NOTE (wind turbines) Maximum continuous electrical power output which a wind turbine is designed to achieve
under normal operating and external conditions.
3.40
rated wind speed
V
r
minimum wind speed at hub height at which a wind turbine's rated power is achieved in the
case of steady wind without turbulence
3.41
Rayleigh distribution
P
R
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.42
reference wind speed
V
ref
basic parameter for wind speed used for defining wind turbine classes. Other design related
climatic parameters are derived from the reference wind speed and other basic wind turbine
class parameters (see Clause 6)
NOTE A turbine designed for a wind turbine class with a reference wind speed V , is designed to withstand
ref
climates for which the extreme 10 min average wind speed with a recurrence period of 50 years at turbine hub
height is lower than or equal to V .
ref
3.43
rotationally sampled wind velocity
wind velocity experienced at a fixed point of the rotating wind turbine rotor
NOTE The turbulence spectrum of a rotationally sampled wind velocity is distinctly different from the normal
turbulence spectrum. While rotating, the blade cuts through a wind flow that varies in space. Therefore, the
resulting turbulence spectrum will contain sizeable amounts of variance at the frequency of rotation and harmonics
of the same.
– 14 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
3.44
rotor speed (wind turbines)
rotational speed of a wind turbine rotor about its axis

3.45
roughness length
z
extrapolated height at which the mean wind speed becomes zero if the vertical wind profile is

assumed to have a logarithmic variation with height

3.46
scheduled maintenance
preventive maintenance carried out in accordance with an established time schedule
3.47
site data
environmental, seismic, soil and electrical network data for the wind turbine site. Wind data
shall be the statistics of 10 min samples unless otherwise stated
3.48
standstill
condition of a wind turbine that is stopped
3.49
support structure (wind turbines)
part of a wind turbine comprising the tower and foundation
3.50
survival wind speed
popular name for the maximum wind speed that a construction is designed to withstand
NOTE In this standard, the expression is not used. Design conditions instead refer to extreme wind speed
(see 3.18).
3.51
swept area
projected area perpendicular to the wind direction that a rotor will describe during one complete
rotation
3.52
turbulence intensity
I
ratio of the wind speed standard deviation to the mean wind speed, determined from the same
set of measured data samples of wind speed, and taken over a specified period of time
3.53
turbulence scale parameter
Λ
wavelength where the non-dimensional, longitudinal power spectral density is equal to 0,05
NOTE The wavelength is thus defined as Λ =V /f , where f S (f )/σ = 0,05.
1 hub 0 0 1 0 1
61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 15 –
3.54
turbulence standard deviation
σ
standard deviation of the longitudinal component of the turbulent wind velocity at hub height

3.55
ultimate limit state
limit states which generally correspond to maximum load carrying capacity

[ISO 2394, modified]
3.56
unscheduled maintenance
maintenance carried out, not in accordance with an established time schedule, but after
reception of an indication regarding the state of an item
3.57
upwind
in the direction opposite to the main wind vector
3.58
vertical axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is vertical
3.59
Weibull distribution
P
W
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.60
wind farm
see 3.61
3.61
wind power station
group or groups of wind turbines, commonly called a wind farm
3.62
wind profile – wind shear law
mathematical expression for assumed wind speed variation with height above ground

NOTE Commonly used profiles are the logarithmic profile (equation 1) or the power law profile (equation 2).
ln(z/ )
z 0
V(z) = V(z ). (1)
r
ln(/ )
z z
r0
z
α
V(z)= V( ).( ) (2)
z
r
zr
where
V(z) is the wind speed at height z;
z is the height above ground;
z is a reference height above ground used for fitting the profile;
r
z is the roughness length;
– 16 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
α is the wind shear (or power law) exponent

3.63
wind speed distribution
probability distribution function, used to describe the distribution of wind speeds over an

extended period of time
NOTE Often used distribution functions are the Rayleigh, P (V ), and the Weibull, P (V ), functions.
R o W o
⎡⎤
PV()=−1 exp −π V/2V
()
R0 0 ave
⎣⎦
(3)
k
⎡⎤
PV()1=−exp −()V/C
W0 0
⎣⎦
⎧ 1 ⎫
C Γ(1+ )
⎪ ⎪
with  = k (4)
V ⎨ ⎬
ave
⎪ ⎪
C π /2, if k = 2
⎩ ⎭
where
P(V ) is the cumulative probability function, i.e. the probability that V 0 o
V is the wind speed (limit);
V is the average value of V;
ave
C is the scale parameter of the Weibull function;
k is the shape parameter of the Weibull function;
Γ is the gamma function.
Both C and k can be evaluated from real data. The Rayleigh function is identical to the Weibull
function if k = 2 is chosen and C and V satisfy the condition stated in (equation 4) for k = 2.
ave
The distribution functions express the cumulative probability that the wind speed is lower than
V . Thus (P(V ) – P(V )), if evaluated between the specified limits V and V , will indicate the
0 1 2 1 2
fraction of time that the wind speed is within these limits. Differentiating the distribution
functions yield the corresponding probability density functions
3.64
wind shear
variation of wind speed across a plane perpendicular to the wind direction
3.65
wind shear exponent
α
also commonly known as power law exponent, see 3.62
3.66
wind speed
V
at a specified point in space it is the speed of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding the
specified point
NOTE It is also the magnitude of the local wind velocity (vector) (see 3.69).
3.67
wind turbine generator system (wind turbine)
system which converts kinetic energy in the wind into electrical energy

61400-1 © IEC:2005 – 17 –
3.68
wind turbine site
the location of an individual wind turbine either alone or within a wind farm

3.69
wind velocity
vector pointing in the direction of motion of a minute amount of air surrounding the point of

consideration, the magnitude of the vector being equal to the speed of motion of this air

"parcel" (i.e. the local wind speed)

NOTE The vector at any point is thus the time derivative of the position vector of the air "parcel" moving through

the point.
3.70
wind turbine electrical system
all electrical equipment internal to the wind turbine, up to and including the wind turbine
terminals, including equipment for earthing, bonding and communications. Conductors local to
the wind turbine, which are intended to provide an earth termination network specifically for the
wind turbine, are included
3.71
wind turbine terminals
point or points identified by the wind turbine supplier at which the wind turbine may be
connected to the power collection system. This includes connection for the purposes of
transferring energy and communications
3.72
yawing
rotation of the rotor axis about a vertical axis (for horizontal axis wind turbines only)
3.73
yaw misalignment
horizontal deviation of the wind turbine rotor axis from the wind direction
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
4.1 Symbols and units
C scale parameter of the Weibull distribution function [m/s]
C turbulence structure correction parameter
CT
C  thrust coefficient
T
Coh coherence function
D rotor diameter [m]
–1
f frequency [s ]
f design value for material strength [-]
d
f characteristic value for material strength [-]
k
F design value for loads [-]
d
F characteristic value for loads [-]
k
I expected value of hub-height turbulence intensity at a 10 min average
ref
wind speed of 15 m/s [-]
I effective turbulence intensity [-]
eff
– 18 – 61400-1 © IEC:2005
k shape parameter of the Weibull distribution function [-]

K modified Bessel function [-]

L isotropic turbulence integral scale parameter [m]

L coherence scale parameter [m]
e
L velocity component integral scale parameter [m]
k
m Wöhler curve exponent [-]
n counted number of fatigue cycles in load bin i [-]
i
N(.) is the number of cycles to failure as a function of the stress (or strain)

indicated by the argument (i.e. the characteristic S-N curve) [-]
N recurrence period for extreme situations [years]
p survival probability [-]
P (V
...


IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
CONSOLIDATED
VERSION
VERSION
CONSOLIDÉE
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
Eoliennes –
Partie 1: Exigences de conception

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IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
CONSOLIDATED
VERSION
VERSION
CONSOLIDÉE
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
Eoliennes –
Partie 1: Exigences de conception

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 27.180 ISBN 978-2-8322-2262-1

IEC 61400-1 ®
Edition 3.1 2014-04
REDLINE VERSION
VERSION REDLINE
colour
inside
Wind turbines –
Part 1: Design requirements
Eoliennes –
Partie 1: Exigences de conception

– 2 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 5

INTRODUCTION . 7

1 Scope . 8

2 Normative references . 8

3 Terms and definitions . 9

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 17

4.1 Symbols and units . 17
4.2 Abbreviations . 19
5 Principal elements . 20
5.1 General . 20
5.2 Design methods . 20
5.3 Safety classes . 20
5.4 Quality assurance . 20
5.5 Wind turbine markings . 21
6 External conditions . 21
6.1 General . 21
6.2 Wind turbine classes . 21
6.3 Wind conditions . 23
6.4 Other environmental conditions . 31
6.5 Electrical power network conditions . 33
7 Structural design . 33
7.1 General . 33
7.2 Design methodology . 33
7.3 Loads . 33
7.4 Design situations and load cases . 34
7.5 Load calculations . 39
7.6 Ultimate limit state analysis . 40
8 Control and protection system . 47
8.1 General . 47
8.2 Control functions . 47

8.3 Protection functions . 48
8.4 Braking system . 49
9 Mechanical systems . 49
9.1 General . 49
9.2 Errors of fitting . 49
9.3 Hydraulic or pneumatic systems . 50
9.4 Main gearbox . 50
9.5 Yaw system . 50
9.6 Pitch system . 51
9.7 Protection function mechanical brakes . 51
9.8 Rolling bearings . 51
10 Electrical system . 52
10.1 General . 52

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
10.2 General requirements for the electrical system. 52

10.3 Protective devices . 52

10.4 Disconnect devices . 52

10.5 Earth system . 53

10.6 Lightning protection . 53

10.7 Electrical cables . 53

10.8 Self-excitation . 53

10.9 Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse . 53

10.10 Power quality . 53

10.11 Electromagnetic compatibility . 54
11 Assessment of a wind turbine for site-specific conditions . 54
11.1 General . 54
11.2 Assessment of the topographical complexity of the site . 54
11.3 Wind conditions required for assessment . 55
11.4 Assessment of wake effects from neighbouring wind turbines . 56
11.5 Assessment of other environmental conditions . 56
11.6 Assessment of earthquake conditions . 57
11.7 Assessment of electrical network conditions . 58
11.8 Assessment of soil conditions . 58
11.9 Assessment of structural integrity by reference to wind data . 58
11.10 Assessment of structural integrity by load calculations with reference to site
specific conditions . 60
12 Assembly, installation and erection . 60
12.1 General . 60
12.2 Planning . 61
12.3 Installation conditions . 61
12.4 Site access . 61
12.5 Environmental conditions . 61
12.6 Documentation . 62
12.7 Receiving, handling and storage . 62
12.8 Foundation/anchor systems . 62
12.9 Assembly of wind turbine . 62
12.10 Erection of wind turbine . 62
12.11 Fasteners and attachments . 63

12.12 Cranes, hoists and lifting equipment . 63
13 Commissioning, operation and maintenance . 63
13.1 General . 63
13.2 Design requirements for safe operation, inspection and maintenance . 63
13.3 Instructions concerning commissioning . 64
13.4 Operator’s instruction manual . 65
13.5 Maintenance manual . 67

– 4 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
Annex A (normative)  Design parameters for describing wind turbine class S . 68

Annex B (informative)  Turbulence models . 69

Annex C (informative)  Assessment of earthquake loading . 74

Annex D (informative) Wake and wind farm turbulence . 75

Annex E (informative)  Prediction of wind distribution for wind turbine sites by
measure-correlate-predict (MCP) methods . 78

Annex F (informative)  Statistical extrapolation of loads for ultimate strength analysis. 80

Annex G (informative)  Fatigue analysis using Miner’s rule with load extrapolation . 92

Annex H (informative) Contemporaneous loads . 97
Bibliography . 100

Figure 1 – Normal turbulence model (NTM) . 26
Figure 2 – Example of extreme operating gust. 28
Figure 3 – Example of extreme direction change magnitude . 29
Figure 4 – Example of extreme direction change . 29
Figure 5 – Example of extreme coherent gust amplitude for ECD . 29
Figure 6 – Direction change for ECD . 30
Figure 7 – Example of direction change transient . 30
Figure 8 – Examples of extreme positive and negative vertical wind shear, wind profile
before onset (t = 0, dashed line) and at maximum shear (t = 6 s, full line). . 31
Figure 9 – Example of wind speeds at rotor top and bottom, respectively, illustrate the
transient positive wind shear . 31
Figure D.1 – Configuration – Inside a wind farm with more than 2 rows . 77
Figure F.1 – Exceedance probability for largest out-of-plane blade bending load in 10
min (normalized by mean bending load at rated wind speed) .

Table 1 – Basic parameters for wind turbine classes . 22
Table 2 – Design load cases . 35
Table 3 – Partial safety factors for loads γ . 43
f
Table 4 – Terrain complexity indicators . 55

Table 5 – Minimum required safety factor S and S for the yaw gear system . 51
H F
Table B.1 – Turbulence spectral parameters for the Kaimal model . 73
Table D.1 – Number of nearest wind turbine to be considered . 76
Table F.1 – Parameters needed to establish binomial-based confidence intervals . 88
Table F.2 – Short-term load exceedance probabilities as a function of hub-height wind
speed for different wind turbine classes for use with the IFORM procedure . 90
Table H.1 – Extreme loading matrix . 97

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

___________
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
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6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This Consolidated version of IEC 61400-1 bears the edition number 3.1. It consists of
the third edition (2005-08) [documents 88/228/FDIS and 88/232/RVD] and its amendment
1 (2010-10) [documents 88/374/FDIS and 88/378/RVD]. The technical content is identical
to the base edition and its amendment.
In this Redline version, a vertical line in the margin shows where the technical content
is modified by amendment 1. Additions and deletions are displayed in red, with
deletions being struck through. A separate Final version with all changes accepted is
available in this publication.
This publication has been prepared for user convenience.

– 6 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV © IEC 2014
International Standard IEC 61400-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 88: Wind
turbines.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below:

– the title has been changed to “Design requirements” in order to reflect that the standard

presents safety requirements rather than requirements for safety or protection of personnel;

– wind turbine class designations have been adjusted and now refer to reference wind speed

and expected value of turbulence intensities only;

– turbulence models have been expanded and include an extreme turbulence model;

– gust models have been adjusted and simplified;
– design load cases have been rearranged and amended;
– the inclusion of turbulence simulations in the load calculations is emphasised and a scheme
for extreme load extrapolation has been specified;
– the partial safety factors for loads have been adjusted and simplified;
– the partial safety factors for materials have been amended and specified in terms of
material types and component classes;
– the requirements for the control and protection system have been amended and clarified in
terms of functional characteristics;
– a new clause on assessment of structural and electrical compatibility has been introduced
with detailed requirements for assessment, including information on complex terrain,
earthquakes and wind farm wake effects.
The French version of this standard has not been voted upon.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of IEC 61400 series, under the general title Wind turbine generator systems,
can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of the base publication and its amendment will
remain unchanged until the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under
"http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the
publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
The contents of the corrigendum of February 2016 have been included in this copy.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
INTRODUCTION
This part of IEC 61400 outlines minimum design requirements for wind turbines and is not

intended for use as a complete design specification or instruction manual.

Any of the requirements of this standard may be altered if it can be suitably demonstrated
that the safety of the system is not compromised. This provision, however, does not apply to

the classification and the associated definitions of external conditions in Clause 6.

Compliance with this standard does not relieve any person, organization, or corporation from

the responsibility of observing other applicable regulations.

The standard is not intended to give requirements for wind turbines installed offshore, in
particular for the support structure. A future document dealing with offshore installations is
under consideration.
– 8 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
WIND TURBINES –
Part 1: Design requirements
1 Scope
This part of IEC 61400 specifies essential design requirements to ensure the engineering

integrity of wind turbines. Its purpose is to provide an appropriate level of protection against
damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime.
This standard is concerned with all subsystems of wind turbines such as control and
protection mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and support
structures.
This standard applies to wind turbines of all sizes. For small wind turbines IEC 61400-2 may
be applied.
This standard should be used together with the appropriate IEC and ISO standards
mentioned in Clause 2.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60204-1:1997, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General
requirements
IEC 60204-11:2000, Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 11:
Requirements for HV equipment for voltages above 1 000 V a.c. or 1 500 V d.c. and not
exceeding 36 kV
IEC 60364 (all parts), Low-voltage electrical installations of buildings
IEC 60364-5-54, Electrical installations of buildings – Part 5-54: Selection and erection of

electrical equipment – Earthing arrangements, protective conductors and protective bonding
conductors
IEC 60721-2-1:1982, Classification of environmental conditions – Part 2: Environmental
conditions appearing in nature. Temperature and humidity
IEC 61000-6-1:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-1: Generic standards –
Section 1: Immunity for residential, commercial and light-industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-2:1999, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-2: Generic standards –
Section 2: Immunity for industrial environments
IEC 61000-6-4:1997, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-4: Generic standards –
Section 4: Emission standard for industrial environments
IEC 61024-1:1990, Protection of structures against lightning – Part 1: General principles

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
IEC 61312-1:1995, Protection against lightning electromagnetic impulse – Part 1: General

principle
IEC 61400-2, Wind turbines – Part 2: Design requirements for small wind turbines

IEC 61400-21:2001, Wind turbines generator systems – Part 21: Measurement and

assessment of power quality characteristics of grid connected wind turbines

IEC 61400-24: 2002, Wind turbines generator systems – Part 24: Lightning protection

IEC 62305-3, Protection against lightning – Part 3: Physical damage to structures and life

hazard
IEC 62305-4, Protection against lightning – Part 4: Electrical and electronic systems within
structures
ISO 76:1987 2006, Rolling bearings – Static load ratings
ISO 281:1990, Rolling bearings – Dynamic load ratings and rating life
ISO 2394:1998, General principles on reliability for structures
ISO 2533:1975, Standard Atmosphere
ISO 4354:1997, Wind actions on structures
ISO 6336-2 (all parts), Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears –
Part 2: Calculation of surface durability (pitting)
ISO 9001:2000, Quality management systems – Requirements
ISO 6336-3:2006, Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears – Part 3: Calculation
of tooth bending strength
ISO 81400-4, Wind turbines – Part 4: Design and specification of gearboxes
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1
annual average
mean value of a set of measured data of sufficient size and duration to serve as an estimate
of the expected value of the quantity. The averaging time interval should be a whole number
of years to average out non-stationary effects such as seasonality
3.2
annual average wind speed
V
ave
wind speed averaged according to the definition of annual average
3.3
auto-reclosing cycle
event with a time period, varying from approximately 0,01 s to a few seconds, during which a
breaker released after a grid fault is automatically reclosed and the line is reconnected to the
network
– 10 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.4
blocking (wind turbines)
use of a mechanical pin or other device (other than the ordinary mechanical brake) that

cannot be released accidentally to prevent movement, for instance of the rotor shaft or yaw

mechanism
3.5
brake (wind turbines)
device capable of reducing the rotor speed or stopping rotation

NOTE The brake may operate on, for example, aerodynamic, mechanical or electrical principles.

3.6
characteristic value
value having a prescribed probability of not being attained (i.e. an exceedance probability of
less than or equal to a prescribed amount)
3.7
complex terrain
surrounding terrain that features significant variations in topography and terrain obstacles
that may cause flow distortion
3.8
control functions (wind turbines)
functions of the control and protection system that based on information about the condition
of the wind turbine and/or its environment, adjust the turbine in order to maintain it within its
operating limits
3.9
cut-in wind speed
V
in
lowest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine starts to produce power in the case
of steady wind without turbulence
3.10
cut-out wind speed
V
out
highest wind speed at hub height at which the wind turbine is designed to produce power in
the case of steady wind without turbulence
3.11
design limits
maximum or minimum values used in a design
3.12
dormant failure
failure of a component or system which remains undetected during normal operation
3.13
downwind
in the direction of the main wind vector
3.14
electrical power network
particular installations, substations, lines or cables for the transmission and distribution of
electricity
+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
NOTE The boundaries of the different parts of this network are defined by appropriate criteria, such as

geographical situation, ownership, voltage, etc.

3.15
emergency shutdown (wind turbines)

rapid shutdown of the wind turbine triggered by a protection function or by manual

intervention
3.16
environmental conditions
characteristics of the environment (wind, altitude, temperature, humidity, etc.) which may

affect the wind turbine behaviour

3.17
external conditions (wind turbines)
factors affecting operation of a wind turbine, including the environmental conditions
(temperature, snow, ice, etc.) and the electrical network conditions
3.18
extreme wind speed
value of the highest wind speed, averaged over t s, with an annual probability of exceedance
of 1/N ("recurrence period": N years)
NOTE In this standard recurrence periods of N = 50 years and N = 1 year and averaging time intervals of t = 3 s
and t = 10 min are used. In popular language, the less precise term survival wind speed is often used. In this
standard, however, the turbine is designed using extreme wind speeds for design load cases.
3.19
fail-safe
design property of an item which prevents its failures from resulting in critical faults
3.20
gust
temporary change in the wind speed
NOTE A gust may be characterised by its rise-time, its magnitude and its duration.
3.21
horizontal axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is substantially horizontal
3.22
hub (wind turbines)
fixture for attaching the blades or blade assembly to the rotor shaft
3.23
hub height (wind turbines)
z
hub
height of the centre of the swept area of the wind turbine rotor above the terrain surface (see
3.51, swept area)
3.24
idling (wind turbines)
condition of a wind turbine that is rotating slowly and not producing power

– 12 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.25
inertial sub-range
frequency interval of the turbulence spectrum, where eddies – after attaining isotropy –

undergo successive break-up with negligible energy dissipation

NOTE At a typical 10 m/s wind speed, the inertial sub-range is roughly from 0, 2 Hz to 1 kHz.

3.26
limit state
state of a structure and the loads acting upon it, beyond which the structure no longer

satisfies the design requirement

[2.2.9 of ISO 2394, modified]
NOTE The purpose of design calculations (i.e. the design requirement for the limit state) is to keep the probability
of a limit state being reached below a certain value prescribed for the type of structure in question (see 2.2.9 of
ISO 2394).
3.27
logarithmic wind shear law
see 3.62
3.28
mean wind speed
statistical mean of the instantaneous value of the wind speed averaged over a given time
period which can vary from a few seconds to many years
3.29
nacelle
housing which contains the drive-train and other elements on top of a horizontal axis wind
turbine tower
3.30
network connection point (wind turbines)
cable terminals of a single wind turbine or, for a wind power station, the connection point to
the electrical bus of the site power collection system
3.31
network loss
loss of network for period exceeding any ride through provision in the turbine control system
3.32
normal shutdown (wind turbines)
shutdown in which all stages are under the control of the control system
3.33
operating limits
set of conditions defined by the wind turbine designer that govern the activation of the control
and protection system
3.34
parked wind turbine
depending on the design of the wind turbine, parked refers to the turbine being either in a
standstill or an idling condition

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.35
power collection system (wind turbines)

electric system that collects the power from one or more wind turbines. It includes all

electrical equipment connected between the wind turbine terminals and the network

connection point
3.36
power law for wind shear
see 3.62
3.37
power output
power delivered by a device in a specific form and for a specific purpose
NOTE (wind turbines) The electric power delivered by a wind turbine.
3.38
protection functions (wind turbine)
functions of the control and protection system which ensure that a wind turbine remains
within the design limits
3.39
rated power
quantity of power assigned, generally by a manufacturer, for a specified operating condition
of a component, device or equipment
NOTE (wind turbines) Maximum continuous electrical power output which a wind turbine is designed to achieve
under normal operating and external conditions.
3.40
rated wind speed
V
r
minimum wind speed at hub height at which a wind turbine's rated power is achieved in the
case of steady wind without turbulence
3.41
Rayleigh distribution
P
R
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.42
reference wind speed
V
ref
basic parameter for wind speed used for defining wind turbine classes. Other design related
climatic parameters are derived from the reference wind speed and other basic wind turbine
class parameters (see Clause 6)
NOTE A turbine designed for a wind turbine class with a reference wind speed V , is designed to withstand
ref
climates for which the extreme 10 min average wind speed with a recurrence period of 50 years at turbine hub
height is lower than or equal to V .
ref
3.43
rotationally sampled wind velocity
wind velocity experienced at a fixed point of the rotating wind turbine rotor
NOTE The turbulence spectrum of a rotationally sampled wind velocity is distinctly different from the normal
turbulence spectrum. While rotating, the blade cuts through a wind flow that varies in space. Therefore, the
resulting turbulence spectrum will contain sizeable amounts of variance at the frequency of rotation and harmonics
of the same.
– 14 – IEC 61400-1:2005
+AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.44
rotor speed (wind turbines)
rotational speed of a wind turbine rotor about its axis

3.45
roughness length
z
extrapolated height at which the mean wind speed becomes zero if the vertical wind profile is

assumed to have a logarithmic variation with height

3.46
scheduled maintenance
preventive maintenance carried out in accordance with an established time schedule
3.47
site data
environmental, seismic, soil and electrical network data for the wind turbine site. Wind data
shall be the statistics of 10 min samples unless otherwise stated
3.48
standstill
condition of a wind turbine that is stopped
3.49
support structure (wind turbines)
part of a wind turbine comprising the tower and foundation
3.50
survival wind speed
popular name for the maximum wind speed that a construction is designed to withstand
NOTE In this standard, the expression is not used. Design conditions instead refer to extreme wind speed
(see 3.18).
3.51
swept area
projected area perpendicular to the wind direction that a rotor will describe during one
complete rotation
3.52
turbulence intensity
I
ratio of the wind speed standard deviation to the mean wind speed, determined from the
same set of measured data samples of wind speed, and taken over a specified period of time
3.53
turbulence scale parameter
Λ
wavelength where the non-dimensional, longitudinal power spectral density is equal to 0,05
NOTE The wavelength is thus defined as Λ =V /f , where f S (f )/σ = 0,05.
1 hub 0 0 1 0 1
3.54
turbulence standard deviation

standard deviation of the longitudinal component of the turbulent wind velocity at hub height

+ AMD1:2010 CSV  IEC 2014
3.55
ultimate limit state
limit states which generally correspond to maximum load carrying capacity

[2.2.10 of ISO 2394, modified]

3.56
unscheduled maintenance
maintenance carried out, not in accordance with an established time schedule, but after

reception of an indication regarding the state of an item

3.57
upwind
in the direction opposite to the main wind vector
3.58
vertical axis wind turbine
wind turbine whose rotor axis is vertical
3.59
Weibull distribution
P
W
probability distribution function, see 3.63
3.60
wind farm
see 3.61
3.61
wind power station
group or groups of wind turbines, commonly called a wind farm
3.62
wind profile – wind shear law
mathematical expression for assumed wind speed variation with height above ground
NOTE Commonly used profiles are the logarithmic profile (equation 1) or the power law profile (equation 2).
ln(z/ )
z 0
V(z) = V(z ). (1)
r
ln(/ )
zzr 0
z
α
V(z)= V( ).( ) (2)
zr
zr
where
V(z) is the wind speed at height z;
z is the height above ground;
z is a reference height above ground used for fitting the profile;
r
z is the roughness length;
α is the wind shear (or power law) exponent
3.63
wind speed distribution
probability distribution function, used to describe the distribution of wind speeds over an
extended period of time
NOTE Often used distribution functions are the Rayleigh, P (V ), and the Weibull, P (V ), functions.
R o W o
...

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