Offshore wind resource is very rich but the cost of offshore wind energy is rather expensive compared to onshore wind energy. Moreover, offshore wind conditions in China are different from in other places. One typical condition is the tropical cyclone typhoon. The present Sino-Danish collaborative project focuses to reduce the cost of offshore wind energy by designing optimal wind turbines under offshore wind conditions in China. This requires the extension of the existing computational aerodynamic and structural design tools and control techniques, especially by including compressibility effects, tip loss effects and noise effects. The idea of this research collaboration between Danish and Chinese experts in wind turbine aerodynamics, optimization and control, is to develop an integrated approach for optimally capture offshore wind energy.
The project concerns the improvements and further developments of some existing computational wind turbine design tools. As the project involves atmospheric offshore wind characteristics in China, wind turbine aerodynamics, blade structural dynamics, wind turbine control and wind tunnel measurements, it will require new knowledge in different disciplines and its interactions. This step is essential in the development of optimal and cost-efficient offshore wind turbines. The project is divided into five work-packages (WPs): offshore wind conditions in China, aerodynamic optimization for wind turbines under offshore conditions in China, structural blade optimization, control of wind turbines under offshore conditions in China, and wind tunnel verification. The physical outcome of the research collaboration will build a set of reliable knowledge and tools in designing optimal wind turbine rotors under offshore wind conditions in China. This will help Denmark to stand in a leading position for developing wind energy in the future energy market.
The project started in 2013 and ran for two years.