ETI invests £25m in offshore wind test facility
Green technology news – by GreenWise staff
8th July 2011
A state-of-the-art indoor test facility for offshore wind turbines has just been awarded £25 million of funding.
The
test rig, to be based at the
Narec centre in Blyth, Northumberland, has been granted the funding by the
Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). The investment will help pay for the design, development and commissioning of the
test rig that was due to open this year, but is now not expected to be operational until June 2013. The ETI is a UK company backed by global industrial groups including BP, EDF Energy and Shell, and the UK Government. Its investment follows £10 million worth of funding in the project from regional development agency One North East and £18.5 million from the Government.
"This is one of the biggest projects the ETI has been involved with to date and highlights the importance of ensuring offshore wind can be used as a sustainable and affordable energy source for the UK," said ETI chief executive Dr David Clarke.
The test rig, which was first announced over a year ago, will be open to any wind turbine manufacturer to use. It is being described as crucial for the further expansion of the UK’s offshore wind industry.
A number of manufacturers are developing new, bigger, turbines that will cut costs and increase efficiency of offshore wind power, but to date the UK has had no dedicated full turbine test facility. Others are either privately-owned or too small or inadequate for mimicking UK offshore conditions.
Testing capabilities
The Narec test rig will be capable of testing complete drive trains and nacelles up to 15 megawatts (MW). It will be larger and more complex than anything currently around and is being designed so the whole turbine nacelle – the structure that houses all the generating components, such as the gearbox and drive train –can be tested, in a purpose built, onshore test facility. This will reduce the technical and commercial risks of mass production and deployment, the ETI said.
Construction of the test rig is set to commence later this year and is being project managed by Converteam in partnership with MTS Global Wind Market.
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