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Future Developments in Wind Energy Technology

From offshore logistics to installation

More and more multi-national companies have discovered wind energy as a growth market and are getting involved in the production of wind turbines as well as the development and operation of on- and offshore wind farms. By the end of 2010, wind farms all over the world with a total installed power of 200 GW will generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. The predicted further annual growth of 20 % shows that wind energy has already become an indispensable energy source for humankind.

In Germany, the construction of deepwater offshore wind farms has started, a much higher technical challenge than the nearshore wind farms erected in northern Europe so far. The offshore test site „alpha ventus“ is the German pioneer of these deepwater wind farms, and the experience gained there, along with the German research projects focussing on offshore applications, will be an important contribution towards improving the reliability of this technology.

What can be done to reduce the weather-related problems of offshore logistics, what methods can be implemented to automate the rotor blade production and how can the foundation structures subject to extreme dynamical load be designed for 20 years of safe operation? What are the options for grid connection and what is the best way to distribute the energy flows in a North Sea grid and to bring them ashore?

The latest findings of research and development in these and many other subjects will be presented on 17/18 November at the 10th German Wind Energy Conference (DEWEK 2010) in Bremen. 105 papers and over 80 posters will be presented to the 700 participants who will also have the opportunity to visit the exhibition during session breaks for information about wind energy technology and networking with colleagues and exhibitors. On the day after the conference, the participants can visit in a one-day excursion the production plant of a 5 MW offshore wind turbine and a 5 MW wind turbine in operation in Bremerhaven as well as two manufacturing plants for offshore foundations in Cuxhaven.

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