RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
FEATURE SPONSOR
RGF WIND INNOVATION PROGRAMME HELPS TO DRIVE THE OFFSHORE WIND SUPPLY CHAIN FORWARD
The National Renewable Energy Centre, Narec, following its successful second round Regional Growth Fund (RGF), Wind Innovation Programme bid, is helping to sustain the UK’s leading position in the offshore wind sector by bringing together offshore market leaders with world-class technology providers and academia in the UK to develop and commercialise new technologies.
R&D PROGRAMME
The £11 million R&D programme, which includes match funding from the private sector to the order of £5 million has established six new research and development collaborations (Romax Technology Ltd, University of Sheffield, TwI, HVPD, David Brown Gear Systems Ltd and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd).
All the projects, which are being managed by Narec, address key technical challenges associated with the offshore wind supply chain and will directly create or safeguard around 750 jobs with further employment opportunities expected to follow.
Tony Ikwue, Innovation and Corporate Developer Director at Narec, said: “Narec was thrilled that its RGF bid was successful and is now involved in the operation and management of these six projects.
“We created this programme to bring together the strengths of engineering expertise and academic institutions in the North of England, helping to create economic growth and employment. The six projects selected will see innovative new products being developed helping to provide solutions to technology challenges and cost reduction for the deployment of offshore renewable energy. The wider supply chain is also set to benefit from these projects; knowhow and technology transfer opportunities for SMEs looking to enter the offshore renewable energy sector will also result.”
PROJECT DETAILS
The projects are expected to be completed by the end of March 2014, the six projects underway are…
1. ADVANCED WIND TURBINE DRIVETRAIN CONCEPTS FOR IMPROVED RELIABILITY
Romax Technology is collaborating with Sheffield University to expand and deepen its knowledge and understanding of the complete electro-mechanical drive train. A research facility within the University of Sheffield Electrical Machines and Drives Group has been established to focus on the development of its mechanical and electrical machine design toolset and analysis. This project will improve the simulation and analysis in the electrical and mechanical system helping to optimise efficiency, improve reliability and reduce costs associated with wind turbine drive trains.
The research facility was officially opened on the 13th June 2013.
2. FULL SCALE PERMANENT MAGNET WIND POWER GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES WITH HIGH RELIABILITY, EFFICIENCY AND POWER DENSITY
The University of Sheffield and Siemens are investigating techniques and developing the technologies required to implement a full-scale multi-megawatt permanent magnet wind power generation system. This project will address key issues involved with scaling the technology to full-scale and investigate solutions to these technical challenges. A number of smaller scale prototype machines have been developed and tested to date and Siemens plan to build a full-scale prototype generator informed by the outcomes from this project. This project will also help to enhance the capability and track record associated with the Sheffield-Siemens wind Power Research Centre (S2WP) and will lead to the widespread adoption of highly efficient and reliable power dense offshore wind turbine generation systems.
3. HOLISTIC HV PLANT CONDITION MONITORING (HHPCM) SYSTEM
HVPD are developing a new ‘Holistic’ HV Plant Condition Monitoring (HHPCM) system to cover all electrical condition monitoring aspects for offshore renewable energy high voltage plant including; cables, switchgear and transformers.
The HHPCM system will also include, a specific monitoring module to enable both the electrical and mechanical condition monitoring of the new generation of high voltage (11kV) 8-10MW of offshore wind turbine generators which are presently being trialed by the offshore wind farm operators.
The rotating HV machine monitoring module will include sensors and a remote- access monitor which will be located at the switchgear/transformer at the base of the turbine tower. This combination of; Partial Discharge (PD), Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA), Power Quality Monitoring (PQM) and Vibration Monitoring will cover up to 90% of the failure modes for rotating HV machines.
4. DEVELOPMENT OF A BEARING TEST RIG FACILITY
There is currently a significant number of bearing failures in wind turbine gearboxes. David Brown Gear Systems Ltd and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne will employ an industrial scale test rig to perform a programme of industrial research and development. This will allow them to carry out a detailed investigation of running conditions to better understand the failure nodes experienced within a bearing, allowing the correct selection of bearings and inform the design requirements for reliable bearing performance when installed within a wind turbine gearbox. David Brown Gear Systems Ltd will implement these findings in the supply of new wind turbine gearboxes and when conducting operation and maintenance inspections on existing gearboxes to provide enhanced reliability and performance.
52
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116