Certification by an Accredited Body

It is a very confusing situation that any certification body can certify the design but not all certification bodies are accredited for certification to all standards

The process of accreditation by a certification body for accreditation to test to a standard is a long, involved and expensive process.  Accreditation is however a very important consideration for both customers and manufacturers as it is an independent endorsement that the certification body has the skills, equipment and experience to test exactly according to the standard.

Non accredited certification bodies may be able to offer a reduced price because they have not been required to go through the involved and expensive process of accreditation which guarantees the standard of their work. However, recent experience is that many financial lenders will not accept certification by non accredited organisations – a fully justified position in consideration of the failure of some turbines which have been certified to national standards rather than the international 61400-2 standard by non accredited certification bodies.

Certification By SGS

The Canary Islands International Test Site is working in co operation with SGS and a 17025 accredited MEASNET test laboratory.

SGS – the World’s Largest Certification Agency – are accredited to test to all 61400 standards relevant to wind including 61400-1, 61400-2, 61400-3, 61400-22 and GL guidelines for onshore and offshore.

For customers requiring only national certification (eg MCS or AWEA) this can also be provided but it is strongly recommended that full 61400-2 certification should be undertaken considering that MCS will end in 2018 and that after this date UK tariffs require that a turbine has full IEC 61400-2 certification.