Research collaboration boosts output from offshore wind

The £7.7m partnership between the Universities of Sheffield, Durham, Hull and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Ørsted has developed ways to make wind turbines more reliable, efficient, lighter and cheaper.

A project at Sheffield’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering has made improvements to the direct-drive generator that enables wind turbines to run without a gearbox, which can be expensive to maintain and repair.

The Sheffield researchers are said to have made improvements to the materials used in many of its components, making the generator more reliable, efficient and lighter. The improvements have also reduced manufacturing costs by 20 per cent.

Academics in Sheffield’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, led by Professors Nikolaos Dervilis, Keith Worden, David Wagg and Elizabeth Cross, have created ways to monitor the health of components in wind turbines to help energy companies better predict issues and faults.