Objective This project is for the development and industrialization of a novel medium-speed wind turbine drivetrain (WTDT) designed to have an intrinsically higher reliability than the current most widely used high-speed WTDT, which employs a 3-stage gearbox and doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) with partially-rated converter. The reason that this existing WTDT is so widely employed is that it is cost-effective because it makes use of widely available industrial components and adopts a low-cost partially-rated converter. The proposed medium-speed WTDT leverages the advantages of the existing DFIG WTDT, but also improves upon the intrinsic reliability by adopting: a) Medium-speed Brushless DFIG, excluding brush-gear and slip-rings, known to be the highest failure rate components in the generator; b) Partially-rated converter, identical to the high-speed WTDT; c) 2-stage gearbox, excluding the third high-speed stage, known to be the highest failure rate section of the gearbox. The project aims to move the Brushless DFIG technology from being a promising and proven concept, demonstrated in small-scale, to an optimized industrial-scale drivetrain for multi-MW wind turbines. The Brushless DFIG has been demonstrated on a 20 kW wind turbine and most recently, a 250 kW prototype generator on a test bed. However, in order to make the generator commercially attractive, its performance must be optimized to industrial levels and be demonstrated on a real size drivetrain. Further, its mechanical and electrical integration within a wind turbine system must be optimized with respect to cost, weight and size, including converter, generator, gearbox, controller and associated Condition Monitoring System (CMS). The project will study several aspects of the Brushless DFIG including its design, operation, grid connection, control and condition monitoring with an aim to optimize and improve the drivetrain performance for wind generation. Furthermore, its integration into a WTDT and optimization on a system-level will be carried out. A 3 MW medium-speed Brushless DFIG drivetrain will be designed which will be utilized the follow-on exploitation phase to build and test a 3 MW prototype system. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energywind power Programme(s) FP7-SME - Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs Topic(s) SME-2012-1 - Research for SMEs Call for proposal FP7-SME-2012 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme BSG-SME - Research for SMEs Coordinator WIND TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED EU contribution € 763 557,00 Address ST JOHN'S INNOVATION CENTRE - COWLEY ROAD CB4 0WS CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Ehsan Abdi (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (6) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ROMAX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED United Kingdom EU contribution € 400 072,00 Address CEDAR HOUSE, 78 PORTSMOUTH ROAD KT11 1HY Cobham See on map Region South East (England) Surrey, East and West Sussex West Surrey Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Andy Poon (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data MITA-TEKNIK AS Denmark EU contribution € 287 611,00 Address HANDVAERKERVEJ 1 8840 RODKAERSBRO See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Kristian Kjærholm (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data SPEEDGOAT GMBH Switzerland EU contribution € 135 758,00 Address LANGSTRASSE 13 1796 COURGEVAUX See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Martin Stoller (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Renata Schaeffer (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT Netherlands EU contribution No data Address STEVINWEG 1 2628 CN Delft See on map Region West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Delft en Westland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Nils Meijer (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data SENVION GMBH Germany EU contribution No data Address UBERSEERING 10 22297 Hamburg See on map Region Hamburg Hamburg Hamburg Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Jan Kruse (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data