Wind Energy Lecture & Networking 7 January 2020 0930 - 1130

The offshore wind industry began in 1991 in Denmark, with eleven 35-m rotor turbines (rated for 450 kW of power output) at the Vindeby Wind Farm.  Today, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being built in the UK, with 174 Siemens Gamesa 154-m rotor turbines (7 MW), with a total output of 1,218 MW—enough energy for 1 million homes. Even larger projects are planned, utilizing the industry’s biggest machine: the MHI Vestas 10 MW, 174-m rotor turbine. In the U.S. market, the latest projects off the East Coast are planning for even bigger machines utilizing the GE 12 MW, 220-m rotor turbine. So, as the industry continues to accelerate and larger machines with ever-increasing rotor sizes are developed, what will be the engineering challenges? What are the issues we will be revisiting?

Please join us for this exciting talk organized by the Wind Energy Technical Committee, which will discuss three decades of progress in the offshore wind industry. An informal networking hour will follow.