Research « Renewbl – renewable energy blog

Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

UK wave and tidal industry get a boost from the SEA

March 5th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

From the SEA report - map showing wave energy potential around the UK.

Tidal and wave energy in England and Wales are have received a push forward as the first full wave and tidal assessment document was released – the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report.

According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the report will additionally clear the way for carbon dioxide storage, as well as offshore wind and oil and gas activities in the country, at the same time ensuring environmental concerns have been answered with progress of UK offshore development.

DECC hopes the new document will help identify opportunities for new development with respect to the environment. Having included wave and tidal energy in the assessment for the first time, the government is supporting commercial deployment of these technologies. The SEA document, together with another forthcoming document – the Marine Action Plan – are hoped to be able to generate the kind of safe investment environment that will attract investors to put their money into UK renewable energy projects.

England and Wales will be getting the most benefit from SEA. Both regions are welcoming new wave and tidal developments, both for the many megawatts of clean electricity that will come with them, but also for the fact that these projects will bring many jobs.

Wave and tidal energy have already begun their course in the UK, with the establishment of research and development centers, such as the one in Orkney, Scotland. The SEA document, and the upcoming Marine Action Plan, will add significant momentum for the development of marine energy in the UK.

You can read the entire SEA report here.

[source: DECC]

NOVA turbine design looks promising

February 26th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | Comments (2)

As part of an effort to support innovative achievement in the field of renewable energy, four projects have been financed by the UK government. The goal is to develop new technologies that will help UK reduce carbon emissions and reach the set renewable energy targets.

Project NOVA (Novel Offshore Vertical Axis) is one of these projects. NOVA is basically a huge V-shaped vertical axis setup with blades that cause the rotor to spin and convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. One could see the new prototype as an evolution of the purely vertical axis turbine whose blades are vertical as well. The NOVA concept however, is scalable to reach as high as 120 meters in height. It was invented by David Sharpe, and further developed by Wind Power Limited. The next step in the project is to install a working protoype somewhere offshore within six years, with the general goal to achieve 1 GW of generated power by vertical axis turbines by 2020.

The technology for the NOVA turbine has been developed in collaboration with a consortium of companies, all from the UK. Aeronautic structural and materials design will be provided by Cranfield University, as well as offshore support structure design. Sheffield and Strathclyde Universities will provide the drive train and power systems, while private tech solutions provider QinetiQ will model and optimize the prototype's aerodynamic performance. Environmental impact and issues will be looked after by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS). James Ingram & Associates will provide offshore wind farm development know how.

Once fully developed, the NOVA will be commercially offered and developed by Wind Power Limited. The initial demo installation will happen over three phases in the next six years – concept selection and feasibility, testing and detailed design, and offshore demonstrator construction, installation and testing.

[source: Project NOVA, via: The Guardian]

Risø DTU announces successful wind tunnel test of rubber trailing edge flap for wind turbine blades

February 17th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Risø DTU's Wind Energy Division has been working on developing an innovative way to increase the efficiency of wind turbines by adding flexible rubber trailing edge flaps on the blades. The research institute has recently announced success in a wind tunnel test using the concept, which we initially covered back in March 2009. Basically, the new technology allows for better control of the load on the blades. The flexible trailing rubber edge flap is made of elastic material which is controllable through the use of compressed air or hydraulics. The new technology dubbed Controllable Rubber Trailing Edge Flap (CRTEF), has shown promising results in the wind tunnel test.

Currently used wind turbine blades can be up to 60 meters in length, and can flex as much as 4-6 meters when hit by strong gusts. This puts the blades under enormous stress, which contributes to shorter blade life and shorter service intervals. Since the blades can be quite long, there is a difference between the stress exerted on the blade in the lower part, near the hub, and the outer part, near the blade's tip. This is why Risø is currently exploring different types of sensors and plastic, rather than rubber, flaps along the blade's edge.

Here's an illustration of what the rubber flaps concept looks like:

The relatively slow pitch regulation of the blade, to adjust it according to wind conditions, can be compensated with the use of rubber flaps.

Take a look at this video which explains the wind tunnel testing activities and the concept.

The institute will be working on a full-scale prototype that can be deployed on an actual industry size wind turbine blade.

[source: Risø DTU]

Gamesa and FEDIT launched new initiative for assessing most innovative sustainable projects

February 17th, 2010 | Posted in General | No Comments

Gamesa and the Spanish Federation of Technology Centers (FEDIT) have jointly launched an initiative that will allow Gamesa to assess the most innovative sustainable technology projects in the energy market. The initiative is hoped to return results between February and March this year.

The acitivities will be done as collaborative efforts between companies and researchers. Almost seventy Technology Centers, part of FEDIT, were called upon to participate and submit projects related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, mobility and waste to energy technology.

Gamesa will analyze the submitted projects later on, and assess which of the projects show the most promise. Selected projects will be developed further by their technology centers, with the help of Gamesa.

The company says this is the first time bets have been placed on the Spanish innovation capabilities, to produce innovative technologies for future development of the industry.

Participating technology centers will send FEDIT as many initiatives as they deem suitable, with emphasis on those aimed at for further development. The centers will also send market size estimates, the competitive edge the technologies would bring to companies, as well as business models to be developed for the solutions or products reach the market.

[source: Gamesa]

KEMA to perform wind farm study for 1200 MW of offshore capacity

February 16th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

After the completion of the open European tender for the Front End Engineering Study (FEED), it was announced recently that KEMA, the energy consulting and testing and certification company, has won the tender. KEMA is to the study on two offshore wind farms in the North Sea, totalling in 1200 MW capacity. The tender was issued by EnBW Baden-Württemberg AG.

The study is part of an overall effort by Germany which has set a renewable energy goal of up to 25 GW of offshore wind capacity installed by 2030. The results of the study are expected to make a major contribution to the offshore wind industr in areas such as wind farm layout design, foundation types, platform concepts, installation procedures and maritime logistics.

[source: KEMA]

Sway to develop a 10 MW offshore wind turbine with funding from Enova

February 15th, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

Enova has pledged to help finance an innovative offshore wind turbine being developed by Sway (Norway), with NOK 137 million. The new wind turbine, which is to have 10 MW of capacity, is going to help reduce the costs of producing electricity from wind energy. The funding provided by Enova will help Sway install the 10 MW unit in Øygarden, where the turbine will operate for two years on land, even though it is planned for offshore installation and operation. This period will be used to collect performance data, as well as assess the behavior of the new wind turbine in severe operating conditions.

The new mega-turbine will be 145 meters tall at the vertical most position of the rotor. As many as 35-40 engineers have been working on the concept that will soon undergo testing.

The wind energy industry is moving towards bigger and better, and that's only logical, because if various world regions are going to achieve a switch towards renewable energy, a very large amount of renewable energy capacity, in this case wind, will have to be installed in order to compensate for the reduction of fossil fuel power generating capacities. Big wind turbines, such as Sway's 10 MW unit, or Clipper Wind's Brittania, are going to help make this happen. We are sure things won't stop there, though.

[source: Sway, via: Renewable Energy Focus]

Acciona to lead a consortium of 17 European organizations in marine energy research

February 15th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro Wind | Comments (3)

Acciona is going to lead a consortium of some 17 organizations from 12 countries in Europe in a reasearch project called "The Marina Platform" (MARINA = marine Renewable Integration Application) which is to look into the various integration possibilities of marine energy sources into the power grid. The organizations include universities, technology centers and companies.

The Marina project comes into existence under the 7th Framework Program for research and development of the European Union. The EU Commission is contributing about EUR 8.7 million, with additional resources coming from all the other participants in the project.

The main goal of the project is to find ways to develop deepwater structures that can harness the energy from wind, wave, tidal and ocean current resources. Starting now, and until June 2014, the consortium will analyze various aspects of integration of wind and wave/tidal energy on platforms located in deep water (deeper than 40 meters), which are to be located several miles off the coast.

The result of this research is expected to be an increase of useable renewable energy coming from the sea, increasing its stake in the overall energy supply mix. At the same time, the project is hoped to achieve synergies between different types of energies in order to lower costs and help these technologies become economically viable.

The parties involved in the consortium come from a multidisciplinary background. Some of the bigger companies involved include DONG Energy (Denmark), a long time renewable energy developer, especially in the field of offshore wind energy. Then there is also Statoil (Norway), a leader in offshore oil and gas production, as well as being a pioneer in offshore wind having installed the first floating wind turbine. Some of the academic institution involved are the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and École Central de Nantes (France), as well as other universities from Portugal, Greece, Ireland. Among the technology centers are the well known Risoe DTU (Denmark), Fraunhofer IWES (Germany), Tecnalia Robotiker (Spain).

The Marina Platform is regarded as a strategic project for Europe, an important part in the overall effort to achieve 20% renewables by 2020, a goal set by the EU. Even though there are very large scale offshore wind energy projects in the pipeline, wind alone will not be able to supply all the renewable energy necessary to reach the RE goal for 2020, so integration with other offshore technologies is necessary. Deep water marine energy is going to play an important part in this quest, especially since there is a tremendous untapped marine energy potential at various locations in Europe.

[source: Acciona, image: Acciona]

DuPont opens Meyrin Photovoltaic Application Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland

February 5th, 2010 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

The Meyrin Photovoltaic Application Laboratory at the DuPont European Technical Center will add new capabilities to this leading R&D hub by developing the next generation of products for the fast growing photovoltaic market.

DuPont opened the Meyrin Photovoltaic Application Laboratory at its European Technical Center in Geneva, adding new capabilities to its R&D hub.

The new facility will operate as an open center, enabling technological exchanges and research collaborations between DuPont and customers, industrial partners, institutes and academia. In other words, it is designed to advance solar module design, accelerate time to market in PV innovation and deliver cost-effective, high-performance solutions for the industry.

A new innovative building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panel system that replaces tile or slate roofs is an example of open innovation. This new innovation was developed in collaboration with DuPont Building Innovations, DuPont Performance Polymers and industry partners to improve the ease and speed of installation, increase energy efficiency, and make sure the building doesn't look much uglier with the panels installed. The system was initially developed for the French market where it will be commercialized in Q1 2010. In a second phase, the product will be commercialized in other Southern European markets.

Finally, in case you care to know, the new facility has been opened with a presence of over 50 representatives from the PV industry and government leaders.

[source: DuPont]

Semprius, Siemens team-up to advance solar energy technology

February 1st, 2010 | Posted in Solar | Comments (1)

Semprius, Siemens Semprius and Siemens Industry have entered into an agreement to co-develop and deploy plug-and-play demonstration systems based on Semprius' Solar Module Arrays and Siemens' automation and control components. The systems are slated to be installed at numerous test sites around the world, including major utilities, commercial sites, international test locations and government facilities.

Semprius scalable Solar Module Arrays offer the benefits of low installed cost and high capacity factor which combined enable very low energy costs in sunny, dry climates. This in turn makes them applicable to a wide range of projects from distributed commercial and industrial to large scale utility installations.

Semprius hope that their PV module arrays will make the generation of solar power economically viable in clear, sunny climates found in many parts of the world.

[source: Semprius]

NREL study says 20% wind energy supply possible by 2024

January 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Wind | No Comments

eastern_study_region_300w According to the US DoE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) study called Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS), it could be quite possible to achieve 20% of wind energy supply on the Eastern Interconnection’s electrical load. The 2.5 year study looked at various economic, operational and technical implications.

According to the findings, multiple scenarios have been analyzed, all of which could lead to achieving this seemingly ambitious goal. All of the considered scenarios do, however, require upgrades to the existing transmission system, so it is recommended that planning for this starts immediately.