Green energy is not only about technologies that are already known and available, but also their constant development. In fact, innovations are appearing all the time that improve the production of energy from RES, and on top of that, technologies are being developed that could completely revolutionize clean energy – especially in the area of wind farms, which are seen as the primary way to move away from traditional energy sources. So what’s new in the area of technologies needed to produce energy from wind?
Optimizing the performance of wind power plants
At present, scientists are primarily focused on preparing solutions to maximize the efficiency of turbines and extend their service life. One could point to many technological projects of various kinds aimed at achieving this goal. Among them, the ROMEO project, co-financed by the European Union, stands out. As part of it, an advanced system for monitoring the operation of wind farms is being developed, which will allow their ongoing maintenance – depending on emerging needs – and optimization of their operation.
Important in this context is the early detection of faults in the most important components of a wind turbine. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the downtime of the power plant – correct diagnosis of a defect at an early stage leads to significant savings in the time required for repair. And thus to maintaining the turbine’s high production capacity.
Floating wind farms – a breakthrough in energy?
There is also a lot going on in terms of innovations emerging in offshore wind energy. Among the most spectacular projects can be counted the development of floating wind farms. Intensive work on perfecting this type of technology is being carried out by Norwegian companies. Tests conducted in Norwegian and British waters have yielded remarkably good results. So much so that some experts estimate that by 2050 as much as more than half of the green energy produced in the UK will come from floating wind farms.
However, there is still a very long way to go to implement this assumption. According to available data, the UK currently has only 80 MW of capacity coming precisely from floating wind farms. In turn, according to forecasts, this volume is expected to increase to about 50 GW in the next several years. Currently, the entire British offshore wind power industry produces about 14 GW of power. The challenge, therefore, is enormous, though undoubtedly worth it.