Masterclass

(Offshore) wind energy basics and state of the art for starting professionals

This masterclass is aimed at newly-graduated engineers and other new employees of your company who do not yet have enough knowledge of (offshore) wind turbines to fully participate in your organisation. It would also be a valuable experience for your more experienced employees or for companies that have insufficient or no relevant knowledge in-house but wish to get acquainted with this sector and technology.

In this '1-day ramp-up course' for starting professionals, we give the participants a helicopter view from which we zoom in on some specific aspects of a wind turbine (at sea), such as the substrate, the foundations, aerodynamics and the (offshore) wind turbine technology itself. We consider points of attention and critical components in the development and operational phases, and we examine the basic principles involved. We conclude with an overview of the state of the art and latest innovations and market trends in the sector.

The course modules are:
1)   Wind resource and blades
2)   Essential electro-mechanical components
3)   Foundations & structures
4)   Geotechnics
5)   Innovations & emerging market trends

We use a logical flow during this course, starting with the renewable energy source itself - the wind. The ‘resources assessment and siting’ and how the turbine blades are designed to harvest the wind source most effectively is the first stop through the course. After the conversion of the wind energy, we focus on the most important electro-mechanical components for converting this into electrical energy, such as the drive train, converter and transformer. We then zoom in on the structural parts (tower, foundations) and how they should be designed to withstand wind and sea loads throughout its entire life-cycle. The substrate also plays an important role in this, which required some attention. Finally, we look at examples of innovations from the sector that contribute to cost reduction in the design and in the operation & maintenance (O&M) phase, how people try to solve the intermittent nature of wind energy through, for example, energy storage, and we give an insight into innovations relating to sustainability aspects. We then conclude with the current innovation status and market trends in the sector.

At the end of the event, the participants will be fully aware of what’s happening in the rapidly evolving, booming sector that is offshore wind energy today.

Programme

	Topic	Speaker(s)
8h30	Registration & coffee
9h00	Session 1 - Wind resources & blades + Q&A	Wim Munters, VKI
10h30	Session 2 - Overview of important electro-mechanical components + Q&A	Pieter Jan Jordaens & Bram Cloet – Sirris
12h00	Lunch break (light lunch)
13h00	Session 3 - Offshore wind turbine foundations & offshore structures + Q&A	Christof Devriendt, VUB
14h30	Session 4 - Geotechnics and soil-structure interaction + Q&A	Bruno Stuyts, VUB
15h30	Coffee break
15h45	Session 5 - Technology innovations and market trends in the (offshore) wind sector + Q&A	Pieter Jan Jordaens, Sirris
17h30	Closing of seminar

For whom?

This masterclass gives recently graduated engineers and other starting employees in your company, and - more generally - all other interested parties who want to get acquainted with (offshore) wind energy, a 'kick-start insight' into the basics and the state-of-the-art of (offshore) wind turbines.

Price

Thanks to the support provided by Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) under the Industry Partnership, the participation fee for this masterclass is only € 402 (excl. VAT) for companies established in Flanders. Participants from outside Flanders pay € 1341.

This masterclass is organised under the 'Industry partnership’ programme.