How to Check Wind Turbine Certification: From IEC 61400-22 to IECRE and GB/T 35792, the 2014 NEA Type-Certification Requirement, What a Chinese Certification Body's Rule Covers (Design Evaluation, Type Tests, 2.5-Year Series-Production Surveillance, Generally Five-Year Certificates), and the Standards Behind the Reports

Short answer. A wind turbine type certificate records that a certification body has evaluated a turbine model against named standards. The international framework was IEC 61400-22:2010, which the IEC withdrew on 31 August 2018 in favour of the IECRE conformity-assessment system; China's GB/T 35792-2018, which the national standards platform marks as adopting an international standard, is current, while the older guidance document GB/Z 25458-2010 is marked abolished. In 2014 the NEA required turbines and their key components used in new grid-connected projects to be type-certified by bodies approved by the national certification authority from 1 July 2015, and required tenders to demand certified products. One certification body's public rule (CGC-R46001:2022, revised 2026) shows what the certificate covers: design-basis evaluation, design evaluation, type tests (safety and function, power curve, loads, full-scale blade tests), manufacturing-capability evaluation and surveillance, with one model per certification unit, surveillance of series production at least every 2.5 years, a certificate generally valid five years, and provisional certificates with open items capped at three years in total. The standards named on the certificate tell you what was assessed; the guide summarises IEC 61400-1, -12-1, -23 and -21-1 and the Chinese GB/T test standards. This guide walks through each layer and ends with a reading checklist.

1. The framework: IEC 61400-22, IECRE, GB/T 35792

IEC 61400-22:2010 defined rules and procedures for a certification system comprising type certification and project certification of turbines onshore and offshore, covering safety, reliability, performance, testing and grid interaction. The IEC webstore marks it withdrawn on 31 August 2018 and replaced by the wind-sector deliverables of the IECRE conformity-assessment system. The IECRE scheme documents themselves could not be retrieved for this guide and are not described.

In China, GB/T 35792-2018 风力发电机组 合格测试及认证 was published on 6 February 2018 and took effect on 1 September 2018; it is current, administered by the China Machinery Industry Federation, and marked on the national standards platform as adopting an international standard. The earlier guidance document GB/Z 25458-2010 风力发电机组 合格认证规则及程序 (published 10 November 2010) is listed as abolished; the two pages do not state that one replaced the other. CNWattHub reading: a certificate that cites only GB/Z 25458-2010 is citing a document now marked abolished; GB/T 35792-2018 and IEC 61400-22:2010 are both on the optional list of bases in CGC's 2026 rule, although the IEC text itself is withdrawn.

2. The 2014 requirement

The NEA's notice of 5 September 2014 (国能新能[2014]412号) required turbines and their key components — blades, gearboxes, generators, converters, controllers and bearings — used in new wind projects connected to the public grid, including distributed projects, to obtain type certification per GB/Z 25458-2010 from certification bodies approved by the national certification authority, effective 1 July 2015. Developers must require type-certified products in tenders, uncertified turbines may not bid, and certified equipment may not be subjected to repeat testing. The same notice provisionally (暂按) set warranty-period acceptance to follow the CNCA-filed specification CNCA/CTS 0004-2014, to be completed before the contractual warranty ends, with either party able to commission an independent third party in a dispute, and commissioned a national wind-equipment quality monitoring and evaluation system through which developers and manufacturers report quality issues. This guide quotes the notice as issued; it does not assess how it is enforced today.

3. What a Chinese body's rule covers

CGC-R46001:2022, the turbine certification rule of 北京鉴衡认证中心 (issued 4 March 2022, revised and effective 25 June 2026), is cited here as one certification body's public rule, not as a government requirement.

Scope and mode. The rule applies to turbines and rotor-nacelle assemblies (RNA) in onshore, offshore, low-temperature, high-altitude and typhoon categories. Its certification mode is design-basis evaluation + design evaluation + type testing + manufacturing-capability evaluation + post-certification surveillance. Its optional list of certification bases includes GB/T 35792-2018, IEC 61400-22:2010, IEC 61400-1 (the 2005 edition with its 2010 amendment and the 2019 edition), IEC 61400-3 and -3-1, -12-1, -13, -4, -23 and -24, GB/T 18451.1-2022 and TCEEIA 804-2024 for grid-forming turbines; the bases actually used are chosen per object and applicant. CNWattHub reading: because the list is optional, the certificate's own 'standards and technical requirements' line is what counts.

One model, one unit. Each product model is its own certification unit. A turbine counts as a different model when rotor diameter, rotor speed, safety-system design, power-limiting method, blade airfoil or rated power changes, or when a change increases the load spectrum. Type tests can usually be reduced or waived (减免) between models when rotor diameter and speed change by less than 2%, power output rises by less than 5%, the safety system, power-limiting method and airfoil are unchanged, no change significantly increases the load spectrum, and the main structure has no major design change. CNWattHub reading: a buyer offered a 'certified platform' with a different rotor or rating should ask which model the certificate names and whether tests were waived.

Type tests. The programme comprises safety and function tests, power-performance tests, load measurements, blade tests and other tests. The prototype is normally the first unit produced or the first unit installed and connected. Power-performance measurement follows IEC 61400-12-1 to obtain the power curve; load measurement verifies the design calculations; each new blade type undergoes full-scale structural testing (property, fatigue and static tests) per IEC 61400-23, with design-change evaluation referring to CGC's separate blade rule CGC-R46002.

After the certificate. The holder submits an annual report (installed turbines, abnormal operation, known faults, minor modifications) and reports major modifications. Once the product is in series production the surveillance interval may not exceed 2.5 years, and surveillance may be carried out on recently installed turbines or at the manufacturer; where the applicant has no GB 19001-based quality system, CGC verifies manufactured turbines yearly. A full type certificate is generally valid five years. A provisional certificate with open items is generally valid one year, extendable in steps of at most one year to at most three years from first issue, and open items may not have safety implications. Re-evaluation is applied for six months before expiry. Major quality or safety incidents must be reported immediately, after which the body decides whether to suspend or withdraw the certificate.

What the certificate must say. Client name and address; product name, model and specification; trademark and manufacturer; production site; the standards and technical requirements certified against; the certification mode; certificate number; issuing body, issue date and validity (which must be clearly marked); and other notes.

4. The standards behind the reports

Four IEC design and test standards relevant to certification are IEC 61400-1:2019 (essential design requirements for structural integrity, applicable to turbines of all sizes, protecting against damage from all hazards during the planned lifetime), IEC 61400-23:2014 (full-scale structural testing of blades and evaluation of results, for manufacturers and third parties), IEC 61400-12-1:2022 (power-performance measurement of a single turbine with an uncertainty assessment; a structural revision replacing 61400-12-1:2017 and 61400-12-2:2013 without technical change) and IEC 61400-21-1:2019 (measurement and assessment of electrical characteristics).

Chinese national standards a buyer will meet on test reports include GB/T 19960-2024 风能发电系统 风力发电机组通用技术条件和试验方法 (published 25 April 2024, in force 1 November 2024), GB/T 19963.1-2021 风电场接入电力系统技术规定 第1部分：陆上风电 (published 20 August 2021, in force 1 March 2022), the test procedures GB/T 36994-2018 (grid adaptability) and GB/T 36995-2018 (voltage fault ride-through), both published 28 December 2018, and GB/T 20319-2017 风力发电机组 验收规范 (published 12 July 2017, in force 1 February 2018).

At policy level, the 2025 guiding opinions on energy equipment (国能发科技〔2025〕78号) call for improving the national certification and accreditation system alongside metrology, standards and testing, for testing and evaluation of 'first (set)' major equipment, and state that a user buying first-set energy equipment covered by quality-guarantee insurance is not to collect quality retention money.

Reading table

Checklist

CNWattHub editorial method, not a sourced rule:

1. Read the certificate's standards line: GB/T 35792-2018 and IEC 61400-22:2010 are on CGC's optional list of bases; GB/Z 25458-2010 alone is a document now marked abolished.
2. Match the certified model to the offered turbine on rotor diameter, rotor speed, rated power, power-limiting method and airfoil; ask whether type tests were reduced or waived and on what differences.
3. Ask for the type-test reports (power curve to IEC 61400-12-1, load measurement, full-scale blade tests to IEC 61400-23, safety and function) and check the prototype was representative.
4. Check validity dates and whether the certificate is provisional; ask for the list of open items and confirm none has safety implications.
5. Ask for the latest surveillance record and the holder's annual report, and whether any incident report has been filed with the body.
6. For Chinese projects, collect the GB/T test reports (19960, 36994, 36995, 19963.1) and the warranty-acceptance documentation the 2014 notice refers to.

Scope limits

IEC and standards information pages, one NEA notice, one NEA guiding opinion and one certification body's public rule only. IECRE OD-501 and DNV-SE-0441 were not retrievable; no CNCA accreditation list, certificate database or enforcement record is quoted; CGC's rule is one body's practice. Not legal or engineering advice.