Design Tools & Modelling Improvement

◀ Back to projects overview P201101-015-ECN

Project description

ECN will make the ECN design-simulation models applicable for calculation of (dynamic) loads by wind and waves in more severe far-offshore conditions, which will result that the integral construction can be designed with smaller uncertainties.

Public summary

Wind energy has to compete with other sources of energy, therefore the costs of the energy (CoE) that is produced is an important factor to enable this competition. The main aim of wind energy research will therefore usually be focussing on further reduction of the CoE. To get the costs down, there are different options, reducing the costs of the wind farm, reducing the costs of the maintenance or increasing the output of the wind farm. As a wind turbine has to withstand high alternating loads, the load analysis of a turbine in the design phase is crucial to ensure that a turbine will not require more maintenance than planned and does not require unexpected replacements of components, but also to get a turbine design that is not more expensive than required.

The current status of the load analysis of wind turbines can be further improved to enable either cheaper designs (because loads were overestimated with the current tools) or primarily more reliable designs (when loads were underestimated using the current tools). This under- and overestimation of loads is especially expected in some of the mechanical components in the turbine, e.g. the drive train, the pitch system and the yaw system. The main objective of this project and the linked follow-up projects is to: enable further cost reductions by efficient improved design analysis of a wind turbine with focus on pitch system, yaw system and drive-train. The effects of offshore conditions, improved controls and more detailed aerodynamics will also be taken into account.