The Back-to-Back Test Bench is now ready for Operation

On December 6th, 2021 – after months of planning and construction – the advanced back-to-back test bench of Ingenieurbüro Hoffmann GmbH was successfully put into operation in the test laboratory in Halle/Peißen. Together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Günter Eckel from the University of Rostock (Chair of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives), who accompanied the commissioning, we were able to take the first measurements for the targeted optimization of frequency converters in modern onshore wind turbines.

„The commissioning of another test bench is an important milestone for us,” says Dr.-Ing. Nils Hoffmann, CEO of Ingenieurbüro Hoffmann GmbH and Head of R&D Department in the field of power electronics, electrical drive and regenerative energy technology. „Our back-to-back test bench complements our established electrical drive test bench and our modern semiconductor- and power stack- test bench. Now we can test frequency converters with up to 1.000 V”.

Frequency converters are the focus of the new back-to-back test bench. Frequency converters as electrical components in modern wind turbines are used to adjust the frequency between the variable-frequency generator and the fixed-frequency supply network. An optimization of the frequency converter, for example by increasing the connected load per wind turbine, is a must for the future development of high-performance onshore wind turbines: „With our back-to-back test bench, we can make a contribution to exploiting the potential of wind energy in the best possible way and increasing the energy yield, for example by measuring under dynamic load conditions.”, according to Dr. Nils Hoffman.