Ashegoda wind farm in Ethiopia

Confirming the safety and reliability of turbines installed at one of Africa’s largest wind farms.

Client  French turbine manufacturer Vergnet

Project description
As part of the installation phase for one of Africa’s largest wind farms – at Ashegoda in Ethiopia – DNV inspected wind turbines supplied by French manufacturer Vergnet.
We confirmed that the installed turbines complied with our A-Design Assessment. The wind farm will help to reduce the occurrence of blackouts in Ethiopia. The country has some of the best wind resources in the world and has a fully developed plan to reach around 7 GW of wind energy by 2030.
“Certification and design validation are essential for technically reliable wind turbines,” explains Mersudin Bajric, Project Manager for Renewables Certification at DNV. “The A-Design Assessment comprises a thorough evaluation of the turbines, ensuring the turbines meet the safety, quality and engineering integrity requirements of the DNV standards. We also verify that the turbines comply with standards in terms of load assumptions and design.”

“Ethiopia has a basic infrastructure with a national electrical grid that is still in the build-up phase,” says Ludovic Dehondt, Project Manager at Vergnet. “Ashegoda is situated in complex terrain at 2,200 to 2,500 m above sea level. This combination presented significant organisational and technical challenges, which DNV helped to handle.“
The wind turbine inspections in Ethiopia took approximately two weeks and were accompanied by thorough investigation and assessment work. Vergnet’s 1 MW wind turbine is a two-bladed design with a patented system to lower the upwind part of the nacelle without an external crane. The turbine addresses the specific needs of complex sites, especially in cyclonic areas.