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Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

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O&MGridWindturbineSubstructureFigure 4: Example life-cycle cost of energy distribution <strong>for</strong> offshore wind farm (SINTEF<strong>Energy</strong> Research)Emerging technologiesMost of <strong>the</strong> development ef<strong>for</strong>t so far has been dedicated to an evolutionary process ofscaling up <strong>and</strong> optimising <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>-based three-bladed st<strong>and</strong>ard wind turbines which firstemerged as commercial products at <strong>the</strong> beginning of <strong>the</strong> 1980s.To <strong>the</strong> original design have since been added individual blade pitch control, variablespeed <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r refinements to match <strong>the</strong> increasing size of turbines; increasinglystringent requirements <strong>for</strong> per<strong>for</strong>mance <strong>and</strong> reliability; <strong>and</strong> adaptations <strong>for</strong> use offshore.One example of a technical development is “negative coning”, in which <strong>the</strong> blades pointslightly <strong>for</strong>ward; this increases <strong>the</strong> clearance between <strong>the</strong> blades <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> tower, <strong>and</strong> alsoimproves stability <strong>for</strong> very flexible blades. Such improvements are only possible whenturbine engineering goes h<strong>and</strong> in h<strong>and</strong> with <strong>the</strong> development <strong>and</strong> application of advancedsimulation <strong>and</strong> design tools. Without such tools, it would not have been possible toincrease <strong>the</strong> size of wind turbines by a factor of 100 in 30 years.Offshore wind power brings new opportunities, since offshore winds are generallystronger <strong>and</strong> steadier, but represents an even bigger challenge <strong>for</strong> turbine development,operation <strong>and</strong> cost optimisation. Operating conditions offshore are very different, sowhat is most cost-effective onshore may need a radical re-think <strong>for</strong> use out at sea. Figure5 shows how future offshore turbines might diverge from <strong>the</strong>ir l<strong>and</strong>-based counterparts.Risø International <strong>Energy</strong> Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 210

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