STEP4WIND — Novel deSign, producTion and opEration aPproaches for floating WIND turbine farms

Results in brief

Novel deSign, producTion and opEration aPproaches for floating WIND turbine farms

STEP4WIND is a European Industrial Doctorate programme whose main objective is to address both technological and economical challenges related to the development of floating offshore wind farms. Specifically, STEP4WIND aims at increasing the commercial readiness level of floating offshore wind energy through technological innovations across the supply chain. Floating wind turbines (FOWTs) could be a game changer to further decrease the cost of offshore wind energy and unlock new markets. Wind turbines placed on a floating support and moored to the seabed can harness energy in areas with much higher wind speeds, at a reduced installation cost. The SET-Plan stresses that Europe needs to move fast in deploying FOWTs. It also highlights the urgency to widen the basic knowledge of early-stage researchers (ESRs) towards the design of FOWTs. This European Industrial Doctorate programme achieves this by delivering 10 doctoral degrees jointly supervised by the public and private sectors. The ESRs are being supervised by 3 universities with a track-record in wind energy research and 4 companies leading the deployment of floating wind farms and heavily involved in policy-making bodies. Scientifically, STEP4WIND will develop floating-specific tools, methods and infrastructures to tackle the technological and economical challenges of FOWTs, from design to deployment, operation and scaling up. The innovations from each ESR are systematically integrated in a multi-disciplinary design and optimization tool to assess their impact on cost, risk and the environment. STEP4WIND is working towards delivering guidelines for large farm deployments, with a clear roadmap to commercialization. The results are being disseminated openly in a series of innovative ways, including an online game and a design competition.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

STEP4WIND aims at increasing the commercial readiness level of floating offshore wind energy through technological innovations across the supply chain. Floating wind turbines (FOWTs) could be a game changer to further decrease the cost of offshore wind energy and unlock new markets. Wind turbines placed on a floating support and moored to the seabed can harness energy in areas with much higher wind speeds, at a reduced installation cost. It also gives the opportunity to countries with deep water to enter the offshore wind industry. The SET-Plan stresses that Europe needs to move fast in deploying FOWTs. It also highlights the urgency to widen the basic knowledge of early-stage researchers (ESRs) towards the design of FOWTs and match it with industrial needs. This European Industrial Doctorate programme will achieve this by delivering 10 doctoral degrees jointly supervised by the public and private sectors. The ESRs will be supervised by 3 universities with a track-record in wind energy research and 5 companies leading the deployment of floating wind farms and heavily involved in policy-making bodies. A mentoring scheme will be tailored to the needs of each ESR, with the involvement of several female senior staff. Scientifically, STEP4WIND will develop floating-specific tools, methods and infrastructures to tackle the technological and economical challenges of FOWTs, from design to deployment, operation and scaling up. The innovations from each ESR will be systematically integrated in a common multi-disciplinary design and optimisation tool to assess their impact on cost, risk and the environment. STEP4WIND will also deliver guidelines for large farm deployments, with a clear roadmap to commercialisation. The results will be disseminated openly in a series of innovative ways, including an online game and a design competition. STEP4WIND will also take part in large outreach initiatives, such as the TORQUE2020 outreach events organised by the Coordinator in May 2020.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT · DelftCoordinatorNetherlands
EIRECOMPOSITES TEORANTA · InverinIreland
MARIN ACADEMY BV · WAGENINGENNetherlands
OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY CATAPULT · BLYTH NORTHUMBERLANDUnited Kingdom
POLITECNICO DI MILANO · MilanoItaly
PRINCIPLE POWER FRANCE · Aix-En-ProvenceFrance
SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS · BrandeDenmark
SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY SAS · CourbevoieFrance
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK · CorkIreland

STEP4WIND · Novel deSign, producTion and opEration aPproaches for floating WIND turbine farms

Results in brief

Novel deSign, producTion and opEration aPproaches for floating WIND turbine farms

Project objective

Participants

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