SKILLS GAP
TRAINING THE ENGINEERS FOR THE FUTURE OF SCOTLAND’S EAST COAST WIND INDUSTRY
The East Coast of Scotland is set to become a major centre for wind energy over the coming decade. To service this development the region will need a significant injection of highly trained and technically innovative engineers. Training these engineers is the task being undertaken by the Wind Energy Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
BEATRICE DEMONSTRATOR PROJECT Since the Beatrice demonstrator project in 2007, one of the world’s first truly deep water projects, the East of Scotland has been a leader in wind innovation. According to CDT Director, Professor Bill Leithead: “With the greatest offshore wind resource in Europe and the strength of its offshore sector, the East Coast of Scotland is ideally placed to benefit from the substantial economic and employment opportunities that will undoubtedly arise over the next decade.”
The research being carried out by the CDT is relevant to a number of test and development sites which have been marked off the East Coast. These include the site for Statoil’s latest floating turbine - Hywind 2.
FLOATING WIND TURBINES CDT student Roberts Proskovics has worked with Statoil and Lloyd’s Register on dynamic modelling of floating wind turbines. “Initially this involved looking at different types of floating wind turbine concepts and comparing them,” he says. “This work was followed by a more detailed analysis of unsteady aerodynamic and hydrodynamic effects associated with floating spar-type (Hywind) wind turbines.”
CENTRE FOR CHARTERED ENGINEER TRAINING
Engineers at the CDT are given the chance to develop their in-depth theoretical skills through a PhD project linked closely with an industrial partner. In addition they are expected to develop their professional and personal skills through a growing professional training scheme. This has been so successful that the Centre has become the first academic institution to be recognised by the IET and IMechE as a centre for Chartered Engineer training.
OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS The building and operation of offshore wind is an important area for research at the CDT. The knowledge and skills developed will be important for the three commercial scale wind farms proposed for the East coast: Neart na Gaoithe (420MW), Inch Cape (905MW) and the huge Firth of Forth Array (3.5GW).
RESEARCH
Iain Dinwoodie and Graeme Wilson are building models to inform the effect of wind and sea states on the reliability of
offshore turbines and consequently on the operation and maintenance of the fleet. Graeme says: “Little research to date has investigated how weather and site conditions affect wind turbine reliability. I am exploring how wind turbine failure modes are coupled to environmental conditions.”
LINKS WITH INDUSTRY
The Wind CDT has close industrial links with several companies related to East Coast developments. Gamesa funds a number of PhD students looking at the design of future wind turbine control systems. Among them is Saman Poushpas, who says: “Innovation in the control of turbines, and importantly in groups of turbines, will raise power outputs and can significantly reduce fatigue loading.” The proposed developments for offshore wind turbine manufacture at the Port of Leith and in Methil have the potential to offer further links between the CDT and the area.
The continued development of the wind industry across Scotland, and particularly on the East Coast, will be enhanced by the dozens of engineers expected to graduate from the CDT over the coming five years.
University of Strathclyde
www.strath.ac.uk
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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