ForWind

What ForWind does

ForWind is the joint Center for Wind Energy Research of the Universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Bremen, founded in 2003 and based in Oldenburg, Germany. It functions as a publicly funded academic research consortium bundling 30 institutes and working groups across the three partner universities to cover the wind energy value chain — from atmospheric physics, turbulence modeling, and meteorology through rotor aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and support-structure testing to grid integration and production technology.

Its service portfolio comprises three layers. First, research infrastructure including the WindLab wind tunnels (Oldenburg), the GWK+ large wave-current flume (Hannover), the Test Centre for Support Structures (TTH), high-performance computing clusters for atmospheric flow simulation, and offshore measurement equipment at sites such as Amrumbank West and WiValdi. Second, collaborative research projects with industry and academic partners — among them Nordex, Siemens Gamesa, WRD Wobben R&D, TPI Composites, RWE, Deutsche WindGuard, energy & meteo systems, DLR, and Fraunhofer IWES — covering digital twins (WindIO), rotor blade reliability (ReliaBlade2), floating wind wake dynamics (FLORIDA), wake-effect modeling (EuroWindWakes), offshore power forecasting (WindRamp II), and non-destructive blade testing (ElMaR). Third, education and training through the Windstudium continuing education program and the Erasmus Mundus European Wind Energy Master (EWEM).

ForWind's business model is non-commercial: it operates as a university coordination office funded through institutional support from the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture (MWK) and project-based grants from federal bodies (DFG, BMWK/BMWE) and European programs (Horizon Europe). Technology transfer to industry occurs through collaborative research contracts rather than product sales; it has no disclosed commercial revenue, no pricing model, and no conventional go-to-market motion. Its go-to-market is event- and community-led: scientific symposia, public lectures, industry-facing conferences, and direct partnership development with OEMs, utilities, and federal research institutes.

Name

ForWind

Legal name

ForWind - Zentrum für Windenergieforschung der Universitäten Bremen, Hannover und Oldenburg

Website

https://forwind.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ForWind is the joint wind energy research center of the Universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Bremen, coordinating 30 institutes across three campuses to conduct atmospheric, rotor, structural, and grid-integration research funded by German federal and EU grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wind Energy Research

NAICS

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Advanced Wind Technology R&D (Floating Offshore, Airborne Wind, New Rotor/Blade Concepts) (EUAMAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wind Resource Assessment & Energy Yield Analytics (Met Masts, LiDAR, Modeling) (EUAMACAJ), Wind Blades, Towers & Foundations Manufacturing (EUAMACAD), Wind Operations, Maintenance & Asset Management (Scheduled/Unscheduled) (EUAMACAH), Wind Grid Interconnection & Power Systems (Transformers, Reactive Power, SCADA) (EUAMACAK)

Keywords

• Wind energy research
• Wind turbine testing
• Atmospheric flow modeling
• Offshore wind engineering
• Renewable energy education

Headquarters

HQ city

Oldenburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding (DFG, BMWK/BMWi, BMWE, Federal States): ForWind receives ongoing funding from the Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK) and project-specific grants from national and European funding bodies including Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK/BMWE), and the Horizon Europe / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Funding supports both basic research and applied collaborative projects with industry partners.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ForWind is a non-commercial university research consortium that bundles wind energy research across the Universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Bremen. It conducts collaborative R&D projects, operates specialized research infrastructure (wind tunnels, wave-current basins, HPC clusters, support-structure testing centres), and offers academic continuing-education programmes in wind energy technology and management.

Product overview

ForWind is a university-based wind energy research consortium (Zentrum für Windenergieforschung) comprising the Universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Bremen. Rather than offering commercial products, ForWind provides research infrastructure, educational programs, and collaborative research projects. Its service portfolio includes the Windstudium continuing education program (Germany's first academic program specifically for wind energy), the European Wind Energy Master (EWEM) transnational degree program, and access to research facilities including WindLab with wind tunnels, HPC clusters for atmospheric simulations, and the GWK+ wave-current testing facility. ForWind conducts applied research through collaborative projects including WindIO (digital twins), FLORIDA (floating wind wake dynamics), AptWind (atmospheric physics doctoral network), EuroWindWakes (wake effect modeling), ElMaR (non-destructive testing), and ReliaBlade2 (rotor blade design), working with industry partners to transfer findings into practical applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Windstudium (Continuing Education in Wind Energy Technology and Management)

Quantifiable outcome

• EuroWindWakes aims to reduce wake/power prediction uncertainty from 20–30% to below 10% for the entire North Sea
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ReliaBlade2 Consortium (Fraunhofer IWES, Nordex SE, WRD Wobben Research and Development GmbH, TPI Composites GmbH, BAM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ReliaBlade2 (2025–2028) is a collaborative project developing new fatigue design philosophies and probabilistic digital twins for rotor blades. ForWind Hannover's sub-project focuses on fatigue damage models and AI-based model updating. Industrial partners include Nordex, WRD, TPI Composites, and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM).
• ElMaR Project (University Hannover / ForWind Hannover)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ElMaR (2025–2026, BMWK funded) develops non-destructive methods for determining spatially varying material parameters in rotor blade components, combining imaging, machine learning, and high-resolution simulation. Research partners are ForWind Hannover groups. The project aims to improve probabilistic models and partial safety factors for rotor blade structural reliability.
• FME NorthWind (Norway)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ForWind became an associated research partner of FME NorthWind (Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research), Norway's research center for wind energy, in April 2024. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 2023. This strengthens the relationship with NorthWind and pools research resources across Norway and Germany.
• German Marine Research Alliance (DAM)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024The German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) was formed by merging the DAM and KDM organizations. ForWind board member Torsten Schlurmann was elected to the five-member board of the new DAM, strengthening ForWind's role in combined marine research — especially for current and future offshore wind energy projects.
• Powerhouse NordminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ForWind became a supporter of Powerhouse Nord in August 2024, an initiative aimed at strengthening wind energy research and development in Northern Germany.
• École Centrale de NantesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024École Centrale de Nantes is the international research partner in the FLORIDA project (2024–2027, DFG funded), which investigates wake dynamics of floating offshore wind turbines through wind tunnel experiments and numerical modeling. The partnership brings French expertise in hydrodynamics and floating platform motion to the consortium.
• AptWind Doctoral Network Partners (Fraunhofer IWES, DTU, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and others)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023The AptWind project (2023–2027), funded by Horizon Europe MSCA, is a doctoral network training scientists in atmospheric flow physics and turbulence for wind energy applications. Research partners include Fraunhofer IWES, DTU, and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. ForWind coordinates the network and ensures industry application of research findings.
• WindIO Consortium (BIK, IALB, CONTACT Software, Pumacy Technologies, fibretech composites, Deutsche WindGuard, SWMS Consulting, Windrad Engineering, energy & meteo systems, Deutsche Windtechnik Service)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020WindIO (2020–2023, €3.1M total budget, €2.1M funded by BMWi) developed a cyber-physical system and digital twin for wind turbines. Coordinated by ForWind's Bremen office, with eight partners including BIK and IALB (research), and five companies as development/application partners. Used a 3.4 MW Deutsche WindGuard turbine and the Krogmann 15-50 research turbine.
• European Wind Energy Master (EWEM)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012ForWind co-initiated the European Wind Energy Master (EWEM), a transnational Master program with double degrees, funded as an Erasmus Mundus Master course by the European Commission from 2012 to 2018. EWEM was jointly offered by TU Delft, TU Berlin, and DTU, with ForWind involvement.
• Energie-Forschungszentrum Niedersachsen (EFZN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2003ForWind represents the EFZN research line on Wind within the EFZN, a joint scientific center of the universities of Braunschweig, Clausthal, Göttingen, Hannover, and Oldenburg. This provides ForWind with a broader Lower Saxony research network beyond its three core universities.
• Forschungsverbund Windenergie (FVWE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES), ForWind constitutes the Forschungsverbund Windenergie (Wind Energy Research Alliance) — a national flagship consortium for wind energy research in Germany.
• European Energy Research Alliance Joint Programme Wind (EERA JP Wind)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForWind is a member of EERA JP Wind, an association of major European public research institutions dedicated to coordinated wind energy research. Dr. Stephan Barth (ForWind Managing Director) was elected as coordinator of EERA JP Wind. ForWind participates in the emerging European Center of Excellence for Wind Energy (EuCoE) initiative under EERA JP Wind.
• European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerForWind maintains collaborations with members of the European Academy of Wind Energy, including joint symposia, researcher exchanges, and shared events.
• EuroWindWakes Consortium (Fraunhofer IWES, DTU, TU Delft, German Weather Service, Pondera Consult, EMD International, DHI A/S)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuroWindWakes (funded by BMWK, CETP) is a multinational project involving ForWind, Fraunhofer IWES, DTU, TU Delft, German Weather Service, Pondera Consult, EMD International, and DHI A/S. The project aims to reduce wake/prediction uncertainty from 20–30% to below 10% for the entire North Sea, contributing to the European Center of Excellence for Wind Energy.
• WindRamp II Consortium (energy & meteo systems, DLR, RWE, METEK, Abacus Laser, Tennet)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWindRamp II (2023–2027, funded by BMWE) uses long-range scanning lidar technology to improve short-term power forecasts for offshore wind farm clusters, targeting 30 GW by 2030 and 70 GW by 2045 German offshore targets. Project partners include energy & meteo systems, DLR, RWE, METEK, Abacus Laser, and Tennet. OranjeWind offshore wind farm is also participating in the demonstration.
• WiValdi Research Wind Farm (DLR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe WiValdi research wind farm in Krummendeich (near the Elbe mouth, opened August 2023) is planned and operated by DLR. ForWind has direct access to WiValdi for control experiments and other research on two utility-scale wind turbines. WiValdi is also used for detailed wind measurements in support of the PASTA project.
• Offshore Megastructures Collaborative Research Centre (SFB1463)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1463 on Offshore Megastructures received a second funding period from the German Research Foundation (DFG) starting 2024. ForWind researchers (particularly from Hannover and ISD) are key contributors, focusing on multifunctional, lightweight, and durable structures for offshore wind applications.
• C²-Wakes Project (RWE, Fraunhofer Hereon, Fraunhofer IWES)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe C²-Wakes project focuses on wake optimization in offshore wind farms, with the measurement campaign conducted at RWE's offshore wind farm. Partners include RWE, ForWind (University of Oldenburg – Institute of Physics), Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, and Fraunhofer IWES.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• TU Delft Faculty of Aerospace Engineering - Wind Energy section: Co-founder of the EWEM European Master and EuroWindWakes partner. Comparable academic wind research group with strong rotor aerodynamics focus, industry partnerships, and shared membership in EERA JP Wind.
• Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES): Germany's largest applied wind energy research institute, partner in the Forschungsverbund Windenergie alongside ForWind. Directly comparable as a publicly funded wind R&D organization conducting collaborative projects with the same OEMs (Nordex, Siemens Gamesa) and targeting overlapping research priorities including wake effects, rotor blade reliability, and offshore wind.
• German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute for Wind Energy: Federal aerospace research center with a dedicated wind energy division and operator of the WiValdi research wind farm used by ForWind. Peer through joint Forschungsverbund Windenergie membership and co-participation in projects including WindRamp II and PASTA.
• DTU Wind Energy and Energy Systems (Technical University of Denmark): Leading European wind energy research department at DTU, partner in AptWind and EuroWindWakes. Directly comparable multi-disciplinary academic wind research center with strong industry partnerships (including in ForWind's partner network) and a similar consortia-based research infrastructure model.

Emerging players

• University of Strathclyde - Wind Energy and Control Centre: University-based wind research center with a similar academic consortia model and industry partnerships. Comparable as a multi-disciplinary wind research group, though smaller in scale and more focused on control systems.
• École Centrale de Nantes - LHEEA Laboratory: French engineering school with leading floating wind and hydrodynamic research. Comparable as ForWind's research partner in the FLORIDA project and a complementary academic wind research center with strong industry partnerships in offshore wind.

Regional players

• Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN part of TNO) - Wind Energy: Dutch national wind research organization now part of TNO. Comparable as a publicly funded national wind research institute working on similar topics including wake modeling, blade design, and offshore wind, with overlap through EERA JP Wind membership.
• Forschungszentrum Jülich - Wind Energy Research: German national research center with growing wind energy research capacity. Comparable as a publicly funded German research organization, though with a broader energy focus rather than ForWind's wind-exclusive mandate.

Others

• Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA): Industry-led collaborative R&D program for offshore wind cost reduction. Comparable as a multi-stakeholder wind energy research and innovation vehicle, though industry-funded rather than academic, and complementary rather than directly competing with ForWind.

Broad incumbents

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - Wind Energy Technologies: U.S. national lab with the largest publicly funded wind energy research portfolio worldwide. Comparable as a flagship government-funded wind research institution covering meteorology, turbine design, and grid integration, although significantly larger in scale and U.S.-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/11200386
• Xx.com/ForWind_DE

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ForWind