Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-04-15

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVANCED LOW-COST ONE MEGAWATT WIND TURBINE

Objective

THE AIM OF THE PROJECT IS TO EXTEND THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHTWEIGHT, WOODEN ROTORS UPWARDS TO THE MEGAWATT RANGE, BUILDING ON THE EXPERIENCE GAINED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RANGE OF SMALLER MACHINES, BETWEEN 60 AND 750 KW.

THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A 55 M, 1 MW WIND TURBINE IS BEING UNDERTAKEN AS A JOINT VENTURE BY THE CENTRAL ELECTRICITY GENERATING BOARD, THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, THE UK DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND THE MANUFACTURER, JAMES HOWDEN AND COMPANY LIMITED OF GLASGOW.

THE 1 MW TURBINE INCORPORATES SIMILAR DESIGN PRINCIPLES, INCLUDING : -

- THE USE OF PROPRIETARY COMPONENTS WHEREVER POSSIBLE.

- A THREE-BLADE ROTOR CONSTRUCTED OF WOOD/EPOXY LAMINATES, WHICH IS LIGHT IN WEIGHT, ECONOMICAL AND ENABLES THE TOWER HEAD WEIGHT TO BE KEPT TO A MINIMUM.

THE MACHINE WILL BE LOCATED AT RICHBOROUGH IN KENT AND, WITH A SITE MEAN WIND OF 6.8 M/S (HUB HEIGHT), IS EXPECTED TO GENERATE 2280 MWH/YR. THE DESIGN IS INTENDED TO ACHIEVE SIMPLICITY, RELIABILITY AND HIGH EFFICIENCY SO AS TO MINIMIZE GENERATION COSTS. THE FEASIBILITY OF CERTAIN NOVEL FEATURES WERE CAREFULLY EVALUATED AND, AS A RESULT, THICK TRUNCATED AEROFOIL SECTIONS WILL BE USED TOWARDS THE BLADE ROOT TO EFFECT WEIGHT SAVINGS WITH NEGLIGIBLE LOSS OF EFFICIENCY. THE BLADES WILL BE VACUUM FORMED OF WOOD/EPOXY LAMINATIONS WHICH PRODUCES A STRONG BUT LIGHT SECTION. THE MAIN BLADE SECTIONS ARE FIXED RIGIDLY TO A STEEL HUB AND THE STEP-UP GEARBOX INCLUDES ONE EPICYCLIC STAGE. POWER IS GENERATED IN A 3 PHASE INDUCTION GENERATOR AND FED TO THE BASE OF THE CYLINDRICAL STEEL TOWER THROUGH TWISTING CABLES.

MOST OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE MACHINE HAVE NOW BEEN MANUFACTURED AND ASSEMBLY IS IN PROGRESS. ON SITE THE FOUNDATIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED AND ERECTION OF THE TOWER WILL START IN FEBRUARY 1989. ERECTION OF THE NACELLE AND ROTOR IS SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION BY MAY 1989.

FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF ACCEPTANCE TESTS THE MACHINE WILL BE OPERATED FOR A ONE YEAR PERIOD DURING WHICH A DETAILED PROGRAMME OF MEASUREMENTS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN AND REPORTED IN A FORMAT DEVISED BY THE CEC. SIMILAR REPORTING PROCEDURES WILL BE USED BY THE CEC-FUNDED WIND TURBINES AT ESBJERG, DENMARK AND CABO VILLANO IN NORTHERN SPAIN.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Data not available

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

Data not available

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

E.ON UK PLC
EU contribution
No data
Address
RATCLIFFE-ON-SOAR
NG11 0EE NOTTINGHAM
United Kingdom

See on map

Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Participants (1)

My booklet 0 0