Location & Layout

Wind energy research in mountainous and complex terrain

Drone image of the test site with its two wind turbines and four measuring masts in front of the Albtrauf ridge — Picture: ZSW | David Arzt

The WINSENT test site is located on Stöttener Berg at an altitude of around 670 meters above sea level, above a steep slope in the municipalities of Geislingen an der Steige and Donzdorf in Baden-Württemberg. The location is no coincidence, but the result of a search covering Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Just a stone’s throw away from the current site is the former Ulrich Hütter test site, where pioneering work on wind energy utilisation was carried out back in the 1980s.

At the heart of the WINSENT test site are its two wind turbines with a total height of around 100 meters and the four meteorological measuring masts of the same height, which are positioned in front of and behind the wind turbines in the main wind direction. The concept for the world’s only test site in complex mountainous terrain was developed between 2013 and 2015 as part of the KonTest project funded by the federal government.