science vale uk energy event renewable energy technology - wind
DESCRIPTION
The Energy of Science Vale UK - 26 May 2011. Wind Renewable Energy Technology presentation by Jim Halliday (Science and Technology Facilities Council). More details at www.sciencevale.comTRANSCRIPT
Wind Energy R&D at
the Energy Research Unit
at the STFC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory
Jim Halliday
• Background to the ERU and UK wind
energy
• Current projects
– Wind SUPERGEN
– PowerPredict
– UKERC
Introduction to the
Energy Research Unit
(ERU)
• Research areas : Long track record of applied research in renewables (esp. wind, energy storage, solar), hydrogen (systems, production, and Networking), energy sustainability
• Near market R&D – use of outdoor test site - collaboration with industry/HEI partners
ERU Test Site
Wind Energy – current status
• The wind power capacity installed by the end of 2009 will, in a normal
wind year, produce 4.8% of the EU’s electricity.
• In 2009, for the second year running, more wind power was installed
than any other power generating technology, accounting for 39% of
total new installations.
• Over 10 GW of wind power capacity was installed in 2009 - 23% more
than in 2008.
• In 2009, 2.8% of Europe’s total wind power was offshore.
• 192,000 people in the EU are employed by the wind industry
• Improving the design and layout of wind farms.
• Increasing the reliability, accessibility and efficiency of
wind turbines.
• Optimising the maintenance, assembly and installation of
offshore turbines and their substructures.
• Demonstrating large wind turbine prototypes and large,
interconnected offshore wind farms.
• New methods of grid management to allow high levels of
wind power in the system.
Key areas for wind energy research:
ERU’s Recent Research
Research Industrial
Prof W E Leithead, Strathclyde University
Prof P J Tavner, Durham University
Prof A Brown, Manchester University
Dr A G Dutton, STFC Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory
Dr P Hancock, University of Surrey
Prof P Hogg, University of Manchester
London
Mr C Mingham, Manchester Metropolitan
University
Dr S Watson, Loughborough University
Prof S Williamson, Manchester University
AMEC Wind Energy
Areva T&D UK Ltd.
Chell Instruments
Econnect Ltd.
E.ON UK Renewables Ltd.
ESR Network
Garrad Hassan & Partners Ltd.
HR Wallingford Ltd.
New & Renewable Energy Centre
Ltd.
ScottishPower Generation Ltd.
Smart Fibres Ltd.
Vestas Blades Ltd
SUPERGEN Wind
Theme Leader – Structural Loads
and Materials
Supergen Wind objective : To undertake research to
improve the cost-effective reliability & availability of existing
and future large-scale wind turbine systems in the UK
Structural Loads and Materials (1 of 4 Themes)
• Wind turbine component design
• Aerodynamic estimation for operational control
• Active load reduction
• Engineering large wind turbines
RAL working on blade model, new materials, and
“smart” blades
SUPERGEN Wind
Highlights of Theme (Structural
Loads and Materials)
• Control improvements to reduce wind turbine loads
• Single and array models produced for turbine wakes
• New composite materials tested to improve blade
strength/lifetime, reduce Radar Cross Section, and
improve lightning performance
• Parametric finite
element blade model
for the assessment of
innovative materials
and “smart” blade
performance
SUPERGEN Wind
Phase 2
2010-2014
The offshore wind farm as a power station:
Resource, Reliability, Scaling/Control, Lifetime costs
Wind power forecasting
• EPSRC & EU funded work
• Used daily in EirGrid’s Dublin Control Room
• Further developed in second EU project
• =>Spin-out company
• PowerPredict software
• =>Real-time trial
Superconducting Turbines > 5MW
Long-Life CryoCooling Critical
Technology gap to be Addressed
Cryogenic Coolers for Superconducting Wind Turbines
Cryox Spinout from MRI-Land
STFC Space Cooler Technology
Fund-Raising for SuperCooler
Planck :
Distance
from Earth:
1,4m km
Links
ERU : www.eru.rl.ac.uk
Cryox : http://www.cryox.co.uk/
PowerPredict : http://www.powerpredict.co.uk/
UK Energy Research Centre
• Energy Research Atlas – updated
annual Landscape reports, Research
Register, new Roadmaps
• Energy Research Data Centre – point to
existing data sources, curation of
recent data (Research Council, Carbon
Trust smart metering trial
Links
UKERC Research Atlas : http://ukerc.rl.ac.uk/ERA001.html
UKERC Energy Data Centre : http://ukedc.rl.ac.uk/index.html