EN Project Repository

Het project RAINBOW wil meer inzicht verwerven in de erosie van rotorbladen ten gevolge van neerslag en bliksem, want erosie brengt aanzienlijke productieverliezen met zich mee. Dit moet nieuwe mogelijkheden voor preventief onderhoud en verbeterde strategieën voor inspectie, onderhoud en herstelling opleveren.

De projectpartners zetten daarbij in op doorgedreven monitoring van de turbines en de energie-opbrengst enerzijds en geautomatiseerde inspectie van rotorbladen met drones anderzijds. Op basis van de resultaten zullen coatings en andere beschermingsmaterialen onder realistische Noordzee-omstandigheden getest en gevalideerd worden.

Dit alles maakt het ook mogelijk om de levensduur van windturbines beter te voorspellen en inspectievluchten met drones beter voor te bereiden en in te plannen. Uiteindelijk zal dit resulteren in een langere levensduur van de windturbines en een drastische afname van de inspectie-, onderhouds- en herstellingskosten.

Een betere risicobeheersing van erosie en schade aan de turbinebladen zal daarnaast bijdragen tot een hogere energieproductie en lagere en meer competitieve energieprijzen.

• Projectleider: von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI)
• Partners: Otary, Norther, Engie Laborelec, VKI, VUB, Sirris en SABCA
• Betrokken clusters: De Blauwe Cluster en SIM
• Met de steun van: VLAIO en Innoviris
• Projectduur: 1 januari 2021 – 31 december 2023

SeaFD  is a cluster cSBO project proposed by the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, VUB and SIRRIS, and resides under the SIM program Material Durability for Off-Shore (MaDurOS) of VLAIO (Vlaamse Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen), created in 2012. The SeaFD project aims to provide realistic wind load predictions for offshore wind turbines at extreme weather conditions. The Doppler-LiDAR will help to reach this goal and extend the lifetime of wind turbine drivetrain and its bearings.

SeaFD aims to:

1. Investigate the impact of weather conditions on the lifetime of the wind turbine drivetrain and its bearings.
2. Create a high-resolution weather model tuned to Belgian North Sea wind farms. To improve the understanding of extreme weather events in wind farms, global historical weather datasets from ECMWF and NCAR will be coupled to mesoscale weather forecasting modelling (WRF), and to Large Eddy Simulation (LES), to compute wind fields approaching wind turbines and within wind farms, at turbine scales. Once the best model settings have been found, the high-resolution weather model is ready to predict weather at long term, and to predict weather conditions at short term, i.e. 1.5 days ahead, thus helping to improve the risk management of offshore wind farms.
3. Predict real-time wind turbine loading using a  lower-order model for wind park operation. With the help of the weather prediction tool, CFD RANS simulations, SCADA 1 sec, LIDAR and wave buoy data, a  reduced-order modelling will be set up using a machine-learning approach. The resulting tool is aimed to be used for wind park operation.

A first milestone has been reached! The Doppler-LiDAR purchased by VKI is working and ready to perform testing. It currently measures the wind velocity on a vertical profile up to 400meter over the VKI buildings.

The two LiDAR sensors of VKI and VUB will be installed at the Northwind offshore wind farm for long term measurements, spanning over a large portion of the project duration. The collected data will provide crucial information on the local weather conditions upstream and within the farm for model validation. 

cSBO is short for strategic basic research for clusters. This type of project is for long term research, relatively far from market introduction, carried out by research institutes. A cSBO project concerns long term innovative research that offers a prospect for later economic and social applications in the event of scientific success. The research is relatively far from market and is carried out by research institutes. cSBO projects fit in a broader trajectory within the cluster and are not stand-alone projects.

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Belgium is one of the frontrunners of offshore wind energy in Europe, with 2.2 GW already installed and new wind energy zones planned. To make sure we keep this position and to support our industry with the latest technology trends, scientific advances and innovative ideas, we need a strong academic home base. This is exactly what the PhairywinD project is offering.

Our Belgian offshore wind zones are already well established, with the last zone (Seamade) currently under development. A second big zone is foreseen in the new Marine Spatial Plan, covering the Fairybank, Noordhinder Zuid & Noordhinder Noord, and is expected to be developed from 2024 onwards, putting Belgium even more on the European offshore wind map. The PhairywinD project will run for 5 years and sits exactly in the middle of these two big waves of Belgian offshore wind development.

Objectives of the PhairywinD project

The main object of PhairywinD is to establish a close community of 9 PhD researchers from different Belgian knowledge institutes in order to tackle the current and future challenges of the Belgian offshore wind energy sector. These nine researchers all study their own dedicated subjects ranging from legal issues to design optimisation and wind-wave prediction for vessel operations to high-spectral imaging for nondestructive testing and improved meteorology, and much more.

What sets this multi-disciplinary and intersectoral training and research project apart is its connectivity: connecting nine Belgian knowledge institutions on the topic of offshore wind on the one hand, and linking key industrial players with Belgian research partners on the other hand. This way, once the new Belgian offshore wind zones are underway, Belgian academic support, knowledge and input will be guaranteed.

Innovative training network

All researchers will be deployed in one Belgian knowledge institution. They will perform their research there, under the supervision of their promoter. However, different to a regular doctoral research, the PhairywinD researchers will be embedded in a larger, cross sectoral structure. The PhairywinD innovative training network, where both technological and non-technological disciplines will be represented, guarantees a holistic approach towards the offshore wind energy challenges. Furthermore, this training network will organise dedicated workshops, agility training and WindWeeks to immerse the researchers in the offshore wind energy world.

By the end of the project, these young researchers will have a strong network, within and beyond their domain of expertise, and will be ambassadors for offshore wind energy research within and outside there universities. They will also be able to place their own work in a larger, international framework and the general context of the sector.

We’re off to a great start

• The project officially started in March this year and despite Covid-19 measures some of our PhDs have already started their research.
• In September this group will be immersed in the world of offshore wind energy during our first WindWeek. This week-long training will be hosted in Ostend Science Park.

Project consortium

The ten Belgian knowledge partners in this project, including all Belgian universities (!), combine their extensive academic expertise on offshore wind energy, making a unique group of experts and a home-based network for the industry:

Ghent University is coordinating the project as lead partner. Sirris is responsible for data exchange and the international approach.

Subsidy

The PhairywinD project is financially supported by FPS Economy, as a fundamental research project within the Energy Transition Fund (project call 2019 - duration of project 01.03.20 – 28.02.2025)

More information on the PhairwinD website: www.phairywind.be. It will be a gateway to follow the progress and growth of our young researchers and their network