Dear WIND power Experts,
the Joint Research Centre is opening up a consultation in order to identify which are the most innovative technologies in the WIND power sector.
The ideal technologies we are interested in have the following characteristics:
• To be a radically new technology/concept, not achievable by incremental research. .
• To be in an early stage of development: Technology Readiness Level (TRL) possibly not more than 3
Thank you very much!
Alberto Moro
In my opinion there are two possible technologies related only to the wind energy. The first one is the vertical axis wind turbines, which actually are not new but the technology needs more research and development. The second one it the Airborne Wind Energy. This is quit new, innovative, promising and it is been developed very fast ind the last years.
I can only agree with Adrian: the answer is Vertical Axis Wind Turbines and Airborne Wind Energy. I work at Delft University of Technology in the section of Wind Energy at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering where we focus exactly on these two high potential future solutions. My colleague Carlos Ferreira deals with the VAWTs while I am responsible for AWE. According to our research pumping systems can generate at a fraction of the cost of current wind turbines. The entire support structure of the turbine, from blade root down to foundation, is replaced by a lightweight tensile structure and advanced control technology. There are still a number of hurdles to take, though, mainly related to automation, reliability, robustness and material durability. However, the scientific community is advancing. The latest status of development will be presented at the 8th international AIrborne Wind Energy Conference 2017 in Freiburg, Germany, starting on 4 October 2017 and ending on 6 October.
Book Airborne Wind Energy
Cover Page Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2017
To support what I wrote earlier I am attaching the DUWIND (TU Delft Wind Energy Institute) R&D Programme 2015-2020. On pages 12 and 13 you will find our plans to advance VAWT and AWE systems by systematic research and development.
I also believe that AWE is a promising concept which deserves investigation. According to the state-of-the-art knowledge and models it has breakthrough potential (low capex due to materials and installation savings, high capacity factor thanks to winds at higher altitude), however these claims need to be supported by extensive experimentation. I've been doing research on the topic since about 10 years now and I can clearly see that there is an evolution in the field, both in terms of built knowledge and number and size of startups and research groups. In specific operating modes, like power generation, the technology has been demonstrated. In other modes, like take-off and landing, there is still R&D to be done and the TRL is relatively low. Overall, fully autonomous operation over long periods is still a challenge for which more investments and activities are required. Also the number of different concepts is still rather broad and all have advantages and limitations, which probably make them more or less suitable for different markets.