A new centre to develop and test offshore wind condition monitoring technologies is to be opened at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The Centre for Advanced Condition Monitoring, a partnership between the University, SgurrEnergy and David Brown Gear Systems, will develop innovative technologies to improve the availability of offshore wind farms and reduce the need for expensive reactive, offshore maintenance. The Centre is expected to set new standards in offshore wind technology condition monitoring design. It will draw on expertise from these internationally renowned companies and the University’s Faculty of Engineering, which is home to research expertise unrivalled in the UK.
Professor Jim McDonald, Principal of the University, said: “With its vast natural resources and engineering expertise, the UK, and Scotland in particular, are ideally positioned to be world-leading in renewable energy. However, to achieve our ambitious energy targets and realise the potential of offshore wind, it is critical that we bring together engineering expertise through research collaboration between academia, industry and the public sector.”
“The Centre for Advanced Condition Monitoring will play an important role in removing barriers to large scale offshore wind deployment by developing technology that is cost effective, robust and maximises the availability of offshore renewables installations.”
Strathclyde academics are also working closely with industrial partners to develop larger scale, more effective wind turbines for on and off-shore deployment, and to enable greater exploitation of our wind energy resources.
Dr Francis Quail, principal investigator said; “The University of Strathclyde has a long tradition of innovative applied research. I am delighted that this centre brings together leading global partners in the wind and transmission sectors. The new partnership will work alongside the University’s ESPRC funded Wind Energy Systems Doctoral Training Centre (DTC). ”
The University of Strathclyde is the strongest non-commercial centre for wind energy research in the UK. The EPSRC funded Wind Energy Systems Doctoral Training Centre, based within the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, brings together pioneering research and advanced skills training to help the UK meet its ambitious renewable energy targets and address the widely accepted skills shortage in this rapidly expanding sector.