the partners

• Denmark
  • University of Denmark, DTU
  • DHI Water & Environment
  • Aalborg University
• Germany
  • ISET
  • University of Hannover
  • University of Kassel
  • University of Magdeburg
  • Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
  • University of Stuttgart
• Greece
  • University of Patras
  • CRES
  • National Technical University of Athens
• Netherlands
  • Delft University of Technology
  • ECN
• Norway
  • SINTEF, IFE and NTNU - Centre for Renewable Energy (SFFE)
• Spain
  • CENER
  • Instituto de Investigación de Energías Renovables (IIER)
  • Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M)
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
  • Universidad Pública de Navarra
• United Kingdom
  • CREST
  • Durham University
  • Imperial College London
  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
  • University of Manchester
  • The ICC at the University of Strathclyde
  • University of Surrey
  • Queen Mary

Delft University of Technology

Contact DUWIND, Delft University Wind Energy Research Institute Kluyverweg 1 2629 HS Delft, the Netherlands phone: +31 15 2785170 fax: +31 15 27853437 e-mail: duwind@tudelft.nl web: www.duwind.tudelft.nl

Research on wind energy at the Delft University began 30 years ago, starting with an aerodynamic project at Aerospace Engineering. Nowadays the research programme (later program) covers almost all aspects of modern wind turbine technology, and is undertaken across 5 faculties, see below. Each of the research groups at these faculties has its own specific expertise, but an increasing number of research problems require a multi-disciplinary approach. Duwind is the wind energy organisation at the Delft University of Technology. The focus of Duwind is on long term, pioneering research, which implies that PhD research, is the core of Duwind. Duwind comprises approximately 45 (full time equivalent) researchers, of which about 30 PhD candidates. The focus of Duwind's program is on the development of turbine and wind power station technology, ranging from fundamental aerodynamic research to development of design methodologies, and anything in between. Duwind offers a MSc curriculum in wind energy, and provides courses for professionals in the wind energy industry.

Research groups involved

Duwind encompasses 10 research sections. The Wind Energy Section at Aerospace Engineering is the only one fully dedicated to wind energy, all others use wind energy as a challenging application of their expertise. Key-words of the research are: Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
Aerofoil and blade design, rotor aerodynamics (experimental, analysis, CFD), fluid-structure-interaction, rotor dynamics, aeroelastic stability, design of turbines and of offshore wind power stations, design methodology, wind field description, structural reliability, composite materials, component testing, production techniques, smart structures, urban wind turbines Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Offshore design tools, support structure, access systems, offshore availability and reliability.
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.
Electric conversion systems, direct drive generators, configuration of offshore wind parks.
Wind as part of renewable energy systems, integration of renewable energy in the grid, stand-alone systems. Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Fault-tolerant control. Nonlinear analysis, control and identification. System identification, design and testing of turbine control systems, analysis of turbine dynamics, reliability based design methods.
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.
Introduction of new infrastructures in society, scenario development for large scale Dutch offshore windpower.

Facilities & Advanced Research Tools

Low speed, low turbulence tunnel	High quality closed loop wind tunnel, up to 120 m/s wind, turbulence ranges from 0.015% at 20 m/s to 0.07% at 75 m/s. The 10 interchangeable octagonal test sections are 1.80 m wide, 1.25 m high and 2.60 meters long.
Open Jet Facility	The OJF is an open jet tunnel specifically for wind energy. The test section is 3m Ø, max windspeed is 30 m/s. The tunnel will be operational early 2008.
Several small wind tunnels	Ideal for small scale test, as preparation for experiments in the large tunnels.
Structures and Material Laboratory	Laboratory for composite material development and coupon testing, testing of structures, development of manufacturing processes.
Wave basin, towing tank	The towing tank has a length of 145 m, width of 4.22m, equipped with a wave generator. The wave basin is 25*25m, with wave generators in three directions
Aerofoils	A series of DU aerofoils have been designed, tested and used by industry. The aerofoils are in the public domain
WimSim	In-house developed Matlab based turbine design tool, for quick and easy preliminary design and load calculations
Contofax	In-house developed tool for O&M simulation of offshore wind farms
Aerofoil and blade design tools	In-house developed codes, can be transferred to users after in-house training
Design tools and design support for	controllers support structures direct drive generators blade material and manufacturing processes

R&D Strategy

Duwind cooperates closely with ECN, the Dutch Energy Research Institute. The research program and expertises are adapted to each other, keeping the character of each institution in mind: Duwind focuses on long-term, fundamental R&D while ECN focuses on applied R&D, with enough overlap to cooperate and compete. Duwind and ECN share a common international Advisory Board.

The research programme of DUWind is driven by the following three objectives:

	To maximise the reliability of wind turbine and wind farm operation
	To minimise the loads on the structures (on both the rotors and support structure)
	To optimise the entire energy supply chain (wind, wind turbines, grid layout and onshore connection, integration into the main grid)

The Duwind research program is divided into 5 program lines. These five major areas are:

	unsteady aerodynamic loads
	smart dynamic control (smart structures)
	offshore design aspects
	design methodology
	electric conversion and large scale electricity supply

The majority of the research is done by PhD researchers (in the Netherlands a PhD takes 4 years full-time research). The first objective is knowledge and understanding, with design tools and guidelines at the second place. This implies that almost all work is considered to be long-term research. However, whenever possible, knowledge is transferred to the market either by direct contact and training of industry, or by design projects together with ECN.

Education and training activities

Duwind offers a specialization on wind energy in many Delft MSc degrees, supported by dedicated MSc student courses on wind turbine design, rotor aerodynamics, wind and site conditions, offshore wind farm design, blade materials and construction. Students choosing to specialize in e.g. control of wind turbines follow the control MSc track at the faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and include some of the mentioned courses in their portfolio. Students preferring to specialize in rotor aerodynamics do the same at Aerospace Engineering. The overall turbine design and systems engineering approach is offered at Aerospace Engineering. Duwind welcomes international students to do a MSc at Delft, or a traineeship. The same holds for the PhD research: Duwind stimulates PhD students to work for some time at another university of institute, and welcomes other PhD’s to come to Delft.
Duwind also takes care of the wind energy education at the other Dutch Technical Universities in the framework of the joint MSc in Sustainable energy Technology, and contributes to the EUREC MSc.
On request Duwind offers post-academic courses for industry, and courses on advanced topics.