NEXT generation of over 25MW offshore wind Turbine rotor design

The rated capacity of Offshore Wind Turbine (OWT) will increase continuously exceeding 25MW (over 300m rotor diameter) in the next ten years based on the current OWT industry design trends.

However, there are no extant studies investigating the limits of current technologies and theories to design and analyse very large OWT systems. Furthermore, it requires further development of simulation tools, control concepts, and design and operation methods. Another important aspect of designing very large OWT rotor is the need for highly skilled human resources.

For this transition, in-depth knowledge and cross-platform training are needed to train a pipeline of young engineers for the high-value jobs supporting the wind turbine system Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and wind farm development and operating industry.

It is the main reason we design a doctoral training network (NEXTgenT) consists of world-leading academic beneficiaries and world-leading wind industries and research institutions as associated partners from different countries to provide the highly trained 11 PhD fellows with both continuous and discrete customized training activities through network-wide and JTN training events.

The training program will be completed by secondments to encourage complementary technical exchanges and human mobility.

NEXTgenT focuses on the four most important elements to design over 25MW (25+MW) OWT rotor systems: 1) wind characteristics and resources, 2) aerodynamics, 3) structures, and 4) aeroelasticity. The fellows will undertake individual projects in these areas. All the research questions in the project reflect industry needs.

Academic novelty and innovation will be reflected in the methodologies and solutions. The research results will be disseminated directly to the public and scientific community.

The outcomes are both technologies and a talent pool to accelerate the next generation of large-scale offshore wind power.