Leading to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)
2011 Conference


Even before the 2011 European Wind Energy Association  Conference trouble was brewing in the wind industry. A dedicated EWEA Working Group eventually launched a proposal for a structural harmonization of grid code requirements all over Europe to be presented at the 2010 convention held in Warsaw.

When the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 2011 conference was held in Brussels starting on March 17, it lived up to the expectation as being one of Europe’s biggest renewable energy events. I attended the event and listened as David R. Jones, editor of the fortnightly Renewable Energy Report, presented his remarks, entitled “Wind Farm Advertising Wars in the UK.” Based on his reporting, false-advertising complaints filed with the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which regulates all types of advertising in the country, including magazine and television ads, leaflets and Internet advertising, had increased enormously.

David R. Jones has said: “Regulators have cited both wind farm proponents – primarily project developers and utilities – and critics, most of them local community organizations, for advertising that ASA said failed to meet advertising standards, such as truthfulness, substantiation and environmental claims, but anti-wind farm campaigners are far more likely to run afoul of industry regulators than wind energy proponents.”

This website was created to promote the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 2011 conference. The issues that were presented and the discussions that followed are as timely today and they were in 2011. When this site’s domain became available to buy, I immediately snatched it up with the goal of restoring some of its 2011 archived content.

The EWEA's objective to facilitate national and international policies and initiatives that strengthen the development of European and global wind energy markets, infrastructure and technology. The message to achieve a more sustainable and cleaner energy future via effective communication and engagement in the political decision-making processes with wind energy is important. These issues need to remain visible on the WWW if we truly want to transform our global energy supply structure towards a truly sustainable energy future that is based on indigenous, non-polluting and competitive renewable technologies.

 



 

Reflecting on the recent EWEC2010 Proceedings and the build-up to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 2011 Conference, as a wind energy expert, I find myself both impressed and humbled by the massive collective effort put forth to advance our industry. The initiative to propose a harmonization of grid code requirements across Europe, as presented at the 2010 convention in Warsaw, is particularly noteworthy. Such efforts are critical in overcoming the bureaucratic and technical obstacles that often hinder the rapid deployment of wind energy projects.

The focus on issues like the advertisement wars in the UK, as highlighted by David R. Jones, and the extensive discussions on wind farm development, resource assessment, and the future of renewable energies, underscores the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the challenges we face. As professionals in this field, we're all too familiar with the labyrinth of regulations, the technical hurdles, and the significant coordination required among various stakeholders to bring a wind energy project to fruition.

In celebrating the successes of our colleagues and the advancements in our field, the suggestion of rewarding the Herculean efforts with Superman trophies, or at least Superman Tees, is a delightful one. It’s a symbolic gesture, yet it speaks volumes about the recognition of the extraordinary efforts required to make significant strides in wind energy development. It’s these small acknowledgments that can boost morale and encourage a sense of camaraderie and achievement within the community.

This conference and others like it are indeed eye-openers, showcasing the latest technological advances, discussing regulatory challenges, and sharing insights into the future of wind energy. The collaboration, discussion, and exchange of ideas they foster are crucial for propelling us towards our common goal of a sustainable, carbon-neutral future. As we continue to navigate the complexities of our industry, let's take a moment to applaud those who have achieved success against all odds and continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in wind energy. Jonathan Taylor Greene

 



++++

 

2011 OPENING SESSION

Theme: Plenary and panel sessions
Monday, 14 March 2011, 10:00 - 12:00
Room: Auditorium 2000

Session description
Leading political figures from the European institutions and national governments will open the conference with visionary speeches. Setting the scene for the days ahead, the speakers will share their views on the future of the renewables and wind energy industries at the Member State and European levels. They will also provide the delegates with an insight into their organisation’s recent and planned activities in the fields of energy and environment.

Speakers
Christian Kjaer
CEO, European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), Belgium
Herman Van Rompuy
President, European Council (video message)
Jerzy Buzek
President, European Parliament (video message)
Christos Doulkéridis
Ministre-Président du Gouvernement francophone bruxellois, responsible for Tourism, Education and Budget
Lykke Friis
Minister for Climate and Energy, Denmark;
Peter Olajos
Green Economy and Climate Change Deputy State Secretary, Hungary
José Carlos das Dores Zorrinho
Secretary of State for Energy and Innovation, Portugal 
Arthouros Zervos
President, European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)

INTERVIEW with Claude Turmes, Member of the European Parliament by Jim Gibbons, Quadrant Media & Communications

 

++++

 

ABSTRACT ID:  583

Track: WIND RESOURCE  Topic: WIN02 Offshore wind resource assessment

OFFSHORE WIND RESOURCE SITE CHARACTERIZATION USING WRF MODEL, RESULTS FROM FIRST VALIDATION TEST

Wind turbine technology has achieved a challenging development in the last years towards a real offshore wind power penetration. The engineering barriers have been overcome and now it is required a more specific and detailed spatial planning of the offshore resource to support the foreseen role of the wind power production coming from the seas. Offshore wind resource characterization is dramatically constrained by the enormous cost of obtaining on-site windmast data. On the other hand, satellite derived information provides wide spatial  estimation of surface variables but can not fulfill the resource information demand due to height,  spatial resolution and time sampling limitations.

Atmospheric numerical modelling is the main and effective technique to map resource up to very near offshore wind farm scale. This work will show different improvements to adapt WRF regional atmospheric model for real offshore turbulence and bottom boundaries conditions for different regions.

Main focus will be given to atmospheric stability mechanism and adaptation of turbulence schemes via drag adjustment to surface topology.  Enhancement of boundaries conditions will also benefit of  satellite data assimilation and wind wave models coupling. An innovative semi-LES approach is also presented here. This work will also cover extreme wind characterization on the sea/ocean climatic context based the gained experience on onshore extreme conditions mapping. WRF improvement features for offshore wind modelling are part of the seamless modeling approach of the global wind resource conditions carried out by Vortex during the last 3 year whit special emphasis on a intensive on-going validation exercise against offshore data measured by developers and manufacturers. The verification of WRF offshore  results were made in collaboration with  Vestas and  Natural Power

++++

REMOTE SENSING

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Monday, 14 March 2011, 16:00 - 17:30
Room: Auditorium 700

Session description
The use of LIDAR for wind speed measurements is still increasing and therefore competing with cup anemometry. Through experiments, experience is being built up in various conditions and will be presented in this session. LIDAR is important especially for project developers and wind turbine manufacturers but in fact for all who use wind measurements. The session will provide the state of the art of LIDAR in different circumstances.

Experimental results based on a comparison of onshore and offshore measurements will be presented for floating LIDAR. The uncertainty of LIDAR measurements in complex terrain will be investigated by comparing measurement results in different terrain types against mast data. Finally, in an interactive discussion, three presenters will go into the use of a nacelle-based LIDAR for power curve measurements and share their experiences.

Lead chair:
Jan Coelingh, Ecofys, The Netherlands

Speakers
INVESTIGATING THE EFFICACY OF FLOATING LIDAR MOTION COMPENSATION ALGORITHMS FOR OFFSHORE WIND RESOURCE ASSESSMENT APPLICATIONS 
Lars Landberg
GL Garrad Hassan, United Kingdom
INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES FOR LIDAR UNCERTAINTY IN FLAT AND COMPLEX TERRAIN 
Fernando Borbon Guillen
Centro Nacional de Energias Renovables (CENER), Spain
DETERMINATION OF POWER CURVES BASED ON WIND FIELD MEASUREMENTS USING A NACELLE-BASED LIDAR SCANNER 
Andreas Rettenmeier
University of Stuttgart, Germany
FIRST TEST OF A NACELLE-MOUNTED TWO-BEAMS LIDAR SYSTEM UNDER OFFSHORE CONDITIONS 
Thomas Neumann
DEWI GmbH, Germany
POWER PERFORMANCE MEASURED USING A NACELLE-BASED LIDAR 
Rozenn Wagner
Risø DTU, Denmark 

++++

WAKES

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 09:00 - 10:30
Room: Auditorium 700

Session description
Reducing the uncertainty in the prediction of wake effects is of vital importance for large wind farm developments. Wakes not only impact the energy production but also increase the loading a wind turbine will experience. In the offshore environment evidence suggests that wakes persist far more than they do on land and as a consequence are a major design driver.

This session brings together a number of papers which present numerical wake models of varying complexity ranging from CFD to “engineering” models. Experimental data will be presented to assess the accuracy of the models. The session will also explore a novel technique for measuring wakes using separated non-aligned LIDARs.

Lead chair:
Mike Anderson, Renewable Energy Systems (RES), United Kingdom
Co-chair:
Andrew Tindal, GL Garrad Hassan, United Kingdom

Speakers
WIND FARM WAKE EFFECTS ESTIMATIONS BY A MOSAIC TILE WAKE MODEL. 
Ole Steen Rathmann
Risø DTU, Denmark  
OFFSHORE WIND ACCELERATOR: WAKE MODELLING USING CFD 
Christiane Montavon
ANSYS UK Ltd, United Kingdom
NUMERICAL ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE OF LIDAR WINDSCANNERS FOR WAKE MEASUREMENTS 
Davide Trabucchi
Oldenburg University, Germany 
TOPFARM - PHILOSOPHY, RESULTS AND OUTLOOK 
Gunner C. Larsen Larsen
Risø DTU, Denmark 

++++

MESOSCALE MODELLING

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 11:00 - 12:30
Room: Auditorium 2000

Session description
Mesoscale models are beginning to be used in the wind energy sector for wind resource assessment purposes. The advantages of using these atmospheric models to study the wind potential are clear: simulation of the wind field (plus many other atmospheric parameters) with a spatial resolution in kilometre-scale covering big domains of more than 1000 km x 1000 km, the possibility to simulate any region of the world without local measurements, etc. However, there is a need to understand the uncertainties of such models, especially when dealing with wind energy.

During this session, mesoscale model users, wind resource assessment and prospective staff will provide an overview of the state of the art and innovative applications of mesoscale models in wind energy, together with information about challenges, uncertainty and integration examples of the data generated by these atmospheric models.

Lead chair:
Ignacio Marti, Centro Nacional de Energias Renovables (CENER), Spain
Co-chair:
Lueder Von Bremen, ForWind, Germany

Speakers
COMPREHENSIVE UTILIZATION OF MESOSCALE MODELLING FOR WIND ENERGY APPLICATIONS 
Jake Badger
Risø DTU, Denmark  
MESOSCALE MODELS IN WIND ENERGY: A QUICK GUIDE 
Adrea Hahmann
Risø DTU, Denmark  
MODELLING OF WIND SPEED FIELDS OVER EUROPE AND POWER CORRELATIONS IN A 400 GW SCENARIO 
Jens Tambke
ForWind - University of Oldenburg, Germany  
ANALYSIS OF THE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS FOR OFFSHORE WIND POWER IN NORWEGIAN WATERS 
Erik Berge
Kjeller Vindteknikk AS, Norway
VALUE MAPPING - IDENTIFYING OFFSHORE WIND FARM AREAS WITH 'COST OF ENERGY' MAPS BASED ON WIND RESOURCE AND PROJECT COSTS 
Anthony Crockford
Ecofys, The Netherlands 

++++

 

FORECASTING PREDICTION

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 16:00 - 17:30
Room: Auditorium 2000

Session description
Wind power forecasting has reached a mature stage in the last years. This session will showcase what can be called the ‘third generation’ prediction models, which go further than the deterministic forecast of power production over the coming days. Concerning meteorology, the benefits of ensemble forecasts in Europe will be demonstrated, showing the potential of this source of probabilistic predictions and the expected accuracy.

Because wind power will become the main source of electricity in an optimally interconnected Europe, the effects of spatial forecast error smoothing on a European scale will be quantified and visualised in this session. Moreover, specific extreme events and large errors, e.g. during ramps or icing, are of vital importance for the management of our electricity systems. The last two presentations will deal with the challenges related to forecasting those events.

Lead chair:
Jens Tambke, ForWind, Germany
Co-chair:
Athanasios Kyriazis, 3E, Belgium

Speakers
BENEFITS FROM THE INCREASED CONTRIBUTION OF THE EUROPEAN WEATHER FORECASTING COMMUNITY TO WIND POWER PREDICTION 
Pierre Pinson
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts, United Kingdom
INCREASING CERTAINTY: COMBINATION METHODS FOR RELIABLE PROBABILISTIC WIND PRODUCTION FORECASTS 
Jeremy Parkes
GL Garrad Hassan, United Kingdom  
STUDYING WIND POWER FORECAST ERRORS ON THE EUROPEAN SCALE 
Lueder von Bremen
ForWind - Center for Wind Energy Research, Germany 
WARNINGS FOR LARGE ERRORS IN WIND POWER FORECASTING 
Matthias Lange
Energy & Meteo Systems, Germany
ADVANCED RAMP FORECASTING FOR DIFFERENT TEMPORAL SCALES. 
Robin Girard
Mines Paristech, France   

++++

 

ADVANCED FLOW MODELING

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 09:00 - 10:30
Room: Auditorium 2000

Session description
In this session we will hear about the latest development of CFD models over complex terrain, including modelling of atmospheric stability and unsteady CFD solutions for capturing some of the terrain induced vortexes. The session will also include a 20 min discussion of what is gained by the implementation of atmospheric stability and the problems of including this in the CFD codes. The session will finish with an overview of the challenges of using CFD on real world wind farms.

 

Lead chair:
Hans Esjing Joergensen, Risø DTU, Denmark
Co-chair:
José Laginha Palma, FEUP/CEsA, Portugal

Speakers
INVESTIGATING WIND QUALITY FOR SITING OF WIND TURBINES IN COMPLEX TERRAIN USING AN UNSTEADY CFD METHOD 
Cheng-Hu Hu
Vestas Technology R&D, Denmark  
VALIDATION AND CHALLENGES OF CFD IN COMPLEX TERRAIN FOR REAL WORLD WIND FARMS. 
Lars Landberg
GL Garrad Hassan, United Kingdom 
CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE ROLE OF ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY IN CFD MODELS 
Christiane Montavon
ANSYS UK Ltd, United Kingdom  
INFLUENCE OF THERMAL STABILITY ON CFD SIMULATIONS
Arne R. Gravdahl
Windwsim, Norway 
APPROACHES TO MODELING ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY IN STAR-CCM+
Steve Evans
CD Adapco, United Kingdom 
NEW DEVELOPMENTS ABOUT THERMAL STABILITY IN METEODYN WT 
Karim Fahssis
Meteodyn, France 

 

++++

SITING CHALLENGES

Theme: WIND RESOURCE
Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 11:00 - 12:30
Room: Auditorium 700

Session description
This session will cover a wide range of challenging aspects of wind resource estimation. Firstly, two presentations – one from the theoretical perspective, the other from the practical - will address issues related to flow in and around forestry. The next part of the session will address the latest developments in understanding the vertical profile especially at higher heights. Finally, some hot and cold news: an icing atlas from Finland, and a paper on resource estimation in deserts. The session will be of interest to analysts as well as managers within wind resource estimation.

Lead chair:
Lars Landberg, GL Garrad Hassan, United Kingdom
Co-chair:
Oisin Brady, Natural Power, France

Speakers
TALL WIND PROFILES AND RELATED ISSUES
Mark Kelly
Risø DTU, Denmark 
BETTER WIND RESOURCE ESTIMATION THROUGH DETAILED FOREST CHARACTERIZATION
Jens Madsen
Vattenfall, Sweden 
MICRO- AND MESO-SCALE EFFECTS OF FORESTED TERRAIN 
Ebba Dellwik
Risø DTU, Denmark  
WIND RESOURCE ASSESSMENT IN DESERT AREAS 
Erik Holtslag
Ecofys, The Netherlands 
FINNISH ICING ATLAS 
Karoliina Ljungberg
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland 

 

++++

Calendar of Events

 

Time Sunday, 13 March 2011 
09:30 Pre-event seminar: ‘Wind Energy - The Facts’
Time Monday, 14 March 2011 
08:00 Registration
09:00 Welcome coffee
10:00 Opening session
Room: Auditorium 2000
12:00 Press conference
12:30 Lunch
14:00 EU Energy policy: what happens after 2020? (Panel)
Room: Auditorium 2000
15:30 Coffee break
16:00  17:30 Offshore wind energy: challenges and opportunities
Room: Auditorium 2000
Aerodynamics
Room: Auditorium 600
Drive train components and power electronics
Room: Auditorium 500
Remote sensing
Room: Auditorium 700
17:00 Hansen/CG Power beer reception
19:00 Conference Reception
 
Time Tuesday, 15 March 2011 
08:00 Registration and Welcome coffee
09:00 Finance: Recovering, maturing and advancing (Panel)
Room: Auditorium 2000
Wakes
Room: Auditorium 700
Active and passive load alleviation
Room: Auditorium 500
09:30 Belgian day
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Financing green growth in times of a financial crisis
Room: Auditorium 700
Mesoscale modelling
Room: Auditorium 2000
Floating concepts for offshore wind parks
Room: Auditorium 600
Loads control and safety
Room: Auditorium 500
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Wind power technology 2020? (Panel)
Room: Auditorium 2000
Financing offshore wind in 2011
Room: Auditorium 600
WWW (World Wide Wind)
Room: Auditorium 700
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Equity finance in today’s wind industry
Room: Auditorium 700
Forecasting prediction
Room: Auditorium 2000
rid connection and grid integration
Room: Auditorium 600
Reliability and operation and maintenance
Room: Auditorium 500
17:30  19:00 Exhibition Reception – sponsored by Gamesa
 
Wednesday, 16 March 2011 
08:00 Registration & Welcome coffee
09:00 Advanced flow modelling
Room: Auditorium 2000
Reliability
Room: Auditorium 700
The HVDC supergrid
Room: Auditorium 600
Innovative concepts and support structures for offshore
Room: Auditorium 500
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Siting challenges
Room: Auditorium 700
European markets
Room: Auditorium 2000
Towards wind turbines supporting power systems
Room: Auditorium 600
Structural design, probabilistic design
Room: Auditorium 500
12:30 Lunch
14:00 100% renewable electricity in the EU by 2050? (Panel)
Room: Auditorium 2000
Offshore structures
Room: Auditorium 700
Assessment of Microscale Wind
Room: Auditorium 500
15:30 Coffee break
16:00   17:30 Poster session
17:00 WinWinD 3 product launch reception EWEA networking event
19:30 Conference Dinner
Time
Thursday, 17 March 2011 
08:00 Registration & Welcome coffee
09:00 Social and environmental acceptance
Room: Auditorium 600
New control concepts
Room: Auditorium 2000
Operation of electricity systems with large amounts of wind power
Room: Auditorium 700
Rotor aerodynamics
Room: Auditorium 500
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Supply chain: challenges and opportunities for a growing industry
Room: Auditorium 700
Condition monitoring systems
Room: Auditorium 2000
Electricity market integration
Room: Auditorium 600
Predictability of wind conditions
Room: Auditorium 500
12:30 Lunch
14:00  16:00 Exhibition visiting time

 


EWEC2010Proceedings.info