Offshore Wind Drivetrain Innovation Project Announced (UK)

The OWDIn (Offshore Wind Drivetrain Innovation) project was announced today by the Rt Hon Edward Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, speaking at the annual RenewableUK conference in Birmingham.

The Ricardo-led project takes a broad drivetrain approach to improving reliability through the development of sub-systems that will be applicable to a wide range of different drivetrain architectures.

The project will see the Ricardo MultiLife wind turbine bearing management system for gearbox planet bearings, deployed at a ScottishPower Renewables wind farm location that are known to experience aggressive wind conditions; a test bench environment has already demonstrated the system’s potential to extend bearing life by in the region of 500 percent. In addition, the project will involve the development of a Ricardo concept for a unique, dual-function coupling that avoids drivetrain overloads: the Torque-Only Coupling and Torque Truncation system will be applicable only to new offshore wind turbines but offers the prospect of enabling them to survive in the harshest conditions for their full 25 year operating life without major maintenance intervention.

Finally, the project aims to develop a next-generation condition monitoring and prognostics system targeted at Offshore Wind farms but capable of retrofit to existing wind farms. This system will use advanced sensors to provide early indications of potential fault development in order to enable preventative measures to be taken, hence avoiding the costs and lost production of enforced downtime through damage.

“These new Ricardo technologies offer the prospect of transformative improvements in wind power operational reliability, particularly in the offshore environment,” commented Paul Jordan, Ricardo’s global market sector head for clean energy & power generation.

He continued: “The award of funding for this project by the Department for Energy and Climate Change provides the opportunity for industry to make significant progress in developing and demonstrating them through practical deployment in challenging wind farm environments. Our broad solutions approach to improving reliability also ensures that a wide range of future wind turbine drivetrains stand to benefit from the reduction in cost of energy that these Ricardo innovations can provide. We look forward to working with our partners ScottishPower Renewables and the Universities of Sheffield and Strathclyde on this exciting project.” 

Press release, November 5, 2013; Image: secoastalwind