Designing our future energy technology in DHI test facilities
DHI Denmark recently hosted the inaugural testing of a scale model offshore floating wind turbine in its compounds. The test was carried out by Technical University of Denmark (DTU)—who is coordinating the European Union (EU) INNWIND project—and partners from DHI, Stuttgart University and the National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain (CENER). The tests will be used by INNWIND project for validation of advanced numerical models by DHI, DTU, CENER and Stuttgart University.
The EU INNWIND project aims at developing the future standards for floating wind energy production. DHI’s deep sea test facility provides easy access to the most severe conditions. Our facilities enable tests at real conditions, taking into consideration multidirectional random waves and wind as well as deep and shallow water environments. This allowed the researchers and engineers to test the new 10MW turbine and assess its efficacy and usability when operated.
Offshore wind energy may be one of the key technologies in our future energy mix in order to reach the target set by the European Union for a minimum of 20% energy production from renewable energy resources by 2020. To optimise the design of a floating wind turbine platform to be suitable for production in deep waters, tests under realistic conditions are necessary.
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| Researchers testing out the wind turbine on DHI testing facilities © DHI |
‘We are testing the 10MW reference wind turbine for the first time here with active control. Very few experiments of this type have been carried out world-wide.’ – Henrik Bredmose, Associate Professor, DTU Wind Energy.
‘The results we generate in this unique facility are crucial for the validation of DHI’s advanced numerical models. The models may provide us with a better understanding of the complex processes and help us support a more efficient design of the energy production.’ – Dr. Ole Svenstrup Petersen, Head of Marine Research, DHI.
The tests are part of DHI’s multi-faceted support to offshore wind research and development.
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