Extreme gusts and their role in wind turbine design

Wind turbines are the largest rotating machines on the planet, operating in some of the most remote and hostile areas. During a lifespan of several decades, they have to withstand storms, waves, and gusts (and preferably produce electricity in the process). Yet, designers cannot make them too strong. Every additional kilogram of mass has to be...

Centralized electricity generation in offshore wind farms using hydraulic networks

The work presented in this thesis explores a new way of generation, collection and transmission of wind energy inside a wind farm, in which the electrical conversion does not occur during any intermediate conversion step before the energy has reached the offshore central platform. A centralized approach for electricity generation is considered...

Far offshore wind conditions in scope of wind energy

Far offshore atmospheric conditions are favourable for wind energy purposes since mean wind speeds are relatively high (i.e., high power production) while turbulence levels are relatively low (i.e., less fatigue loads) compared to onshore conditions. Offshore wind energy, however, is still expensive compared to onshore wind energy. There is...

Scenarios for offshore wind development in the Netherlands: An agent-based modelling approach

The aim of this study is to develop a method to identify the barriers to and opportunities in the development of large-scale offshore wind energy in the Netherlands, taking into account the uncertainties of the future and consequences of decisions, from technological, economical, social, political and environmental perspectives. The research...

Great expectations for offshore wind turbines: Emulation of wind farm design to anticipate their value for customers

To date, the technical feasibility of making electricity from offshore wind energy has been convincingly proven. However, the current challenge is to reduce the costs of this form of energy. One of the aspects playing a role in cost reduction is the optimisation of the wind turbine. The wind turbine influences the costs of various elements of an...

The near wake of the VAWT: 2D and 3D views of the VAWT aerodynamics

The analysis, modeling and design of the lift-driven Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) has challenged the wind energy community for many decades; this limited progress in knowledge has severely impaired the development of the VAWT, giving rise to the myth that the VAWT rotor is inherently inefficient (in comparison with the more conventional...

Constrained stochastic simulation of wind gusts for wind turbine design

Wind energy in the built environment: Concentrator effects of buildings

This thesis deals with wind energy conversion in the built environment. It gives a description of the wind resources in the built environment that can be converted into energy by a wind turbine. With a focus on maximum energy yield of the wind turbine, it especially deals with the integration of wind turbine and building in such a way that the...