The nonlinear effect of combining uncertainties on the energy yield of an offshore wind farm

Offshore wind energy is expected to grow in the coming years: future plans for offshore wind farms total more than 98 GW. Financing is needed to realise these plans. Investment decisions partly depend on the uncertainty in energy yield predictions. It is therefore important that these energy yield predictions and their corresponding uncertainty...

Effects on support structure design due to wake-generated turbulence

As the world demands cleaner, sustainable and economical energy sources, the wind energy academia and industry battles to increase performance and reduce costs. One of the promising fields of study is wind turbine wakes in wind farms. The position of the turbines within the layout affects the intensity of their wake effects, such as reduced wind...

Modelling the manufacturing and installation costs of offshore wind farm substructures for a micro siting model

Offshore wind energy is expected to generate a large part of Europe’s sustainable electrical energy by the year 2020. In the design of an offshore wind farm a large number of components interact with each other, resulting in a certain cost of electricity. In order to reduce these costs of electricity the design of an offshore wind farm can be...

Root Blade Load Estimation by Measurement Database for the Implementation in a SCADA System

Offshore wind farm optimization, investigation of unconventional and random layouts

This project aims at investigating whether or not unconventional and/or random offshore wind farm layouts lead to better performance of the farm. The determination of each solution is based on the estimated value of the Levelized Production Cost, thus the cost per produced unit of energy (i.e., ecents/kWh). For the purposes of the current...

What is the ideal powercurve?: Optimizing the powercurve above rated wind speed for large offshore wind turbines

Current large offshore wind turbine design practice is using a powercurve that is flat above rated wind speed. The most important reason for this is generator and electric system costs, while another reason is that parts such as blades and tower are not designed for higher loads. In this report, it is investigated which other possibilities are...

Adhesive bonded towers for wind turbines: Design, Optimization and Cost Analysis

In an increasingly competitive energy market, the cost of a wind power plant has become more important. A tubular steel tower supporting a wind turbine can amount to up to 20% of the overall turbine costs and its optimization may lead to substantial savings with regard to the costs and the use of materials. One important aspect of the design is...

Design concepts for offshore wind turbines: a technical and economical study on the trade between stall and pitch controlled systems

Maintenance of offshore wind turbines is much more expensive than that of onshore machines. Several suggestions have been made in this respect to reduce operation and maintenance costs by employing simpler turbine concepts with higher reliability. Particularly, stall-controlled machines have been suggested as robust and reliable options that...

Design and experimental analysis of hat-stiffened panels for thermoplastic wind turbine blades

Developments in large wind turbine blades point towards a redesign of conventional blade structures into a rib-spar-skin design. Additionally research on thermoplastic glass fibre composites shows promising results, concerning material properties as well as manufacturing and assembly processes, for the application of thermoplastic composites in...

Development of a design tool for offshore wind farm layout optimization: Consideration of wake effects and electrical infrastructure costs and losses

A design tool has been developed with the aim of helping in the wind farm design process. The tool is able to handle rectangular layouts with any number of turbines. Wind farm power, as well as wind and site conditions can be specified by the user. The main tool models are described and the developing steps have been detailed. Results of tool...

Design aspects of integrated navigation for an unmanned Ballistocraft for Acceleration Research

For scientific experiments it is sometimes desirable to eliminate the earth gravity partially or entirely. It is possible to create this 'microgravity' with the use of a droptower, a spacevehicle or an aeroplane. Because the existing facilities for this kind of research are very expensive, have long waiting periods (space vehicle, aeroplane) or...

The reliability of carrier phase DGPS position solutions in a high-dynamical environment.: The truth reference, the whole truth reference and nothing but the truth reference?

In this report, some tests are described which have been used to determine the reliability of carrier-phase DGPS position solutions, especially in a dynamical environment, such as an aircraft. Research has been done to determine the reliability of the acceptance test, used to determine whether a carrier-phase DGPS position solution is the ’true’...