Section 1 Introduction

1.1.1 The International Standard IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification defines rules and procedures for conformity testing and certification of wind turbines (WTs) with respect to standards and technical requirements for WTs and wind farms. It is widely used throughout the wind energy industry, and operates within the scope of the IEC 61400 standard series of standards and technical specifications for WTs. IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification was withdrawn in August 2018, although national implementations of this are still in circulation, and it is still an effective standard for existing projects or if requested by the applicant.

1.1.2 The operational document IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme was published in October 2018 and it is effectively a replacement for the project certification (part 9) of the International Standard IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification. It therefore does not address the WT certification aspects which are addressed in IECRE OD-501 Type and Component Certification Scheme, and are not part of this document.

1.1.3 Under the IECRE scheme a peer assessed and approved certification body is referred to as RECB. In this document references to 'certification body' shall mean both an accredited certification body, through a national accreditation body, and an approved IECRE RECB.

1.1.4 The standard and operational document are intended to assist the applicant for certification by providing a structured approach to the certification process, explaining the requirements for obtaining certification. It also provides guidance to certification bodies for undertaking their evaluations as part of the certification process.

1.1.6 The certificate types listed above are generally independent of each other, however under IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification and IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme WTs must be type-certified in order for an overall project certificate to be issued. In the event that a provisional certificate has been issued for the WT, it may be permissible to issue a provisional project certificate, with a maximum validity of one year, provided the certification body evaluates the impact of outstanding matters relating to the type certificate and incorporates changes as necessary to the project certification scope.

1.1.7 The developments in the wind energy sector are continuous and therefore the IECRE, under the wind energy sector working group (WE-SWG), may publish additional OD documents (such as sub OD-502 documents, e.g. OD-502-X) in the future that may need to be considered for the execution of the project certification activities. When these are published their applicability to these Guidance Notes should be considered and applied as required on a project-specific basis. The Guidance Notes will be revised at appropriate regular intervals to incorporate these new requirements and references as required.

1.2.1 This document outlines Lloyd’s Register’s (LR’s) approach to certification of offshore wind farm projects. It uses the IEC 61400 standard series as a basis and in particular IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification, as well as the operational document IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme, and applicable IECRE clarification sheets.

1.2.2 LR’s approach to the evaluations required for certification of offshore wind farm projects, as documented in Ch 2 Project Certification Modules, is based on the minimum requirements to achieve project certification in accordance with IEC 61400-22 Wind turbines – Part 22: Conformity testing and certification; and IECRE OD-502 Project Certification Scheme additional evaluations may be required, to be determined on the characteristics of each project (e.g. complexity, degree of novelty or risk) or as requested by the applicant (e.g. contractual requirement).