DNV has launched a joint industry project alongside wind farm owners, turbine manufacturers, and other sector experts, to increase confidence in innovative wind farm control (WFC) technology.
WFC covers the models and procedures required to control each turbine in a wind farm through approaches such as wake steering and induction control, in a way that optimises the wind farm’s total output or overall performance. It enables operators to extract additional energy and potentially optimise loading across turbines, and allows them to claw back some of the wake losses that reduce energy yield.
Companies involved in the JIP include EDF Renewables, ENEL Green Power, ENGIE, Equinor, GE Renewable Energy, Iberdrola, RWE, Shell, Vestas, Ørsted and others in the process of joining.
Ditlev Engel, CEO Energy Systems at DNV, commented: “DNV launches this joint industry project to demonstrate the value of this promising wind control technology, which may become as common as energy yield assessment and equally necessary to wind projects. It’s tremendous to see that many key players in the wind industry unite to further the development of technologies that will have an immense benefit for the sector, and society at large. The more we can optimise the output of wind farms, the faster we will achieve our global climate goals.”
Described by some as a ‘giant leap forward’ WFC is expected to enable operators to optimise asset performances and bring increased revenue from generation, reduction in operational turbine loading and extension of the life of turbines. The technology’s potential is all the more important given that DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook forecasts a rapid ramp-up of solar and wind, to the point that they will dominate the power mix in 2050 with a 69% combined share of global installed electricity capacity.
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