Future wind turbines battle it out in technology contest at OFFSHORE 2011

I’m really looking forward to the ‘new big turbine concepts’ session at OFFSHORE 2011 which I’ll co-chair with Jan van der Tempel from TU Delft. Our session is designed to be a nail-biting contest: six turbine manufacturers will give short pitches on why their new turbine design is the best.

Vestas will argue for bigger wind turbines, Gamesa are expected to explore lighter wind turbine concepts, while Alstom are looking into magnets. Siemens will highlight the benefits of direct drive offshore wind turbines and Nordex will fight their corner for greater efficiency.

Contestants’ pitches will be questioned by an expert panel including developers, scientists, designers and certifiers and the audience will be invited to vote for the most promising turbine. The floor will then be thrown open to questions from the experts and the audience. After that, no doubt heated discussion, the audience will be given a chance to vote again: will the winner change after the questions session?

By Athanasia Arapogianni, Research Officer, EWEA, blog.ewea.org/