Alstom will develop the research project in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Lab National Wind Technology Center (NREL NWTC), Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Ships and Platforms Flow (MIT LSPF), and Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center (TTU-WISE).
The five-year project will be conducted at Alstom offices in Richmond, Virginia, NWTC’s facility in Boulder, Colorado, MIT’s laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and TTU’s research facility in Lubbock, Texas.
The research will be focused on development and integration of new paradigms in offshore wind turbine control strategies and the integration of innovative technologies in an advanced floating foundation.
Alstom North America wind power business vice president and general manager Andy Geissbuehler said the new generation of 6MW offshore wind turbines, whether using fixed or floating foundations, will require advanced control algorithms able to optimize their performance in terms of energy yield, reduce ultimate and fatigue loads and stabilize the full system dynamic behavior.
