Researchers from the UK and China will collaborate on five projects to develop the next generation of resilient offshore renewable energy (ORE) technologies to enable the safe, secure, cheap and efficient provision of clean energy.
The collaborative, multidisciplinary, three-year-long projects will include each a lead partner from the UK and China and multiple international project partners from industry, organisations and academia.
Led by: Dr Alasdair McDonald, University of Strathclyde, and Professor Li Ran, Chongqing University EPSRC funding: £799,386
The project aims to advance the use of virtual prototyping in the design and optimisation of ORE Power Takeoff (PTO) systems.
Advances in virtual prototyping, which involves the use of numerical, analytical and empirical models to create and validate designs before the creation of physical prototypes, can reduce the risks to offshore development through evaluation of difference performance metrics and interactions between separate system aspects. It can also address operating challenges such as availability by revealing stress characteristics and confirming the effectiveness of operational management strategies.
Led by: Professor Lars Johanning, University of Exeter, and Professor Bing Chen, Dalian University of Technology, EPSRC funding: £811,976
The vision of this multi-disciplinary project is to provide a foundation to develop and demonstrate an integrated approach to system resilience for ORE in China and the UK, improving energy security while reducing environmental impacts.
The proposal builds on environmental resource assessment techniques and data that enable enhanced characterisation methodologies with a focus towards localised environmental conditions and extremes. The engineering focus lies on the quantification and validation of the load reduction potential of novel floating offshore wind platform innovations.
Industrial Partners:
Led by: Dr Maurizio Collu, University of Strathclyde, and Dr Ke Sun, Harbin Engineering University EPSRC funding: £785,722
The project proposes a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling challenges facing the integration of different offshore technologies, such as renewable energy and aquaculture, in a Multi-Purpose Platform (MPP) system allowing for manufacturing, installation, operation and decommissioning and maintenance costs of different facilities to be shared. MPPs have the potential to save money, reduce overall impact and maximise socio-economic benefits.
It will develop approaches to assess the feasibility of an MPP system and showcase this potential through two case studies, one focusing on an island community in China and one in the UK.
Industrial Partners:
Led by: Professor Mike Graham, Imperial College London, and Professor Yonghua Song, University of Macau EPSRC funding: £797,054
The FENGBO-WIND project aims to utilise the newest developments in high-performance computing, physics-based modelling and data science, to create a new generation of predicting capabilities that support the design and operation of more economical offshore wind farms, while assessing and seeking to minimise their environmental impact.
Industrial Partners:
Led by: Professor Thomas Adcock, University of Oxford, and Professor Ye Li, Shanghai Jiao Tong University EPSRC funding: £799,386
The aim of this project is to improve the design methodology for offshore wind turbine farms, leading to a reduction in environmental impact, reduction in design uncertainties and ultimately reduced cost of energy.
Key themes that will be addressed include: the modelling of the ocean environment in typhoon conditions in potential candidate areas for offshore turbines in China; the creation of realistic environmental load time-histories on turbines; analysis of the structural and geotechnical design of turbines under ultimate state limit and fatigue loadings; and activities aimed at the establishment of long-term collaboration between the UK and China partners.
Industrial Partners:
A combined UK and China government initiative, the ORE International Impact Platform is a space where industry leaders and educational institutions’ shared knowledge is brought together from across the world.
The ultimate aim being to improve offshore renewable energy productivity and innovation, with the ultimate aim to have positive, environmental, social and economic impact.
