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Annual Report 2014
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NOWITECH
Norwegian Research Centre for Offshore Wind Technology
JohnOlavGiæverTande,Director NOWITECH
2014 highlights
NOWITECH continues to deliver strong results In 2014 a strategy taskforce was initiated by the Board
enhancing the prioritization of the research activities and a new more efficient organization with fewer,
but larger work packages Industry participation increased with Fugro Oceanor re-joining at the end of
the year, and Norsk Automatisering AS is expecting to join in 2015
The educational programme provides for first-rate recruitment opportunities for the industry. A total
of ten PhDs successfully defended their theses at NTNU in 2014, of which five were fully funded by
NOWITECH and five by other sources, but carried out in alignment with NOWITECH. In addition, 28
master students graduated from NTNU with theses on offshore wind energy
The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) methodology is now well established
in NOWITECH for communicating results and shows excellent progress of
innovations The total number of innovations allocated a TRL has increased
from 24 in 2013 to 36 in 2014 (see Figure 2), and the innovations have
developed towards higher TRL with more results migrating to commercial
use and contributing to cost reductions Some example results from
NOWITECH are:
• The development of software tools for integrated numerical design of offshore wind turbines by
MARINTEK (SIMO/RIFLEX) and IFE (3DFloat) is progressing well with improved capabilities and
accuracy and being applied by the industry
• A new hybrid approach for model testing of offshore turbines in the ocean basin lab is in develop-
ment to overcome the inherent challenges of different scaling laws for wind and waves The method
combines the well-proven application of the ocean basin for imposing scaled waves and currents
on a physical model, while the wind loads are provided through real-time simulation A successful
development means a significant step forward in validating design tools and assessment of novel off-
shore wind turbines
• Tools for selecting operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies are made available to the industry,
including NOWIcob by SINTEF Energy Research The tools are now being further validated in
a collaborative effort between SINTEF Energy Research, MARINTEK, University of Strathclyde,
University of Stavanger, NREL and EDF with a set of reference cases for model benchmarking
• The patented process for thermally sprayed silicon carbide coating was developed as part of the PhD
study by Fahmi Mubarok successfully completed in 2014 It is now being developed as a commer-
cial product through the new spinout company Seram Coatings AS in which he is now employed
The process provides for an extremely hard, wear-resistant, low friction ceramic coating that can
be applied to rotating machinery like main bearings in large direct drive wind turbines; ultimately
increasing lifetime and reducing cost for maintenance
( ... ) the innovat ons
have developed towards
higher TRL with more
results migrating to
commercial use and
contributing to cost
reductions.