This project aims to usher in a new era in offshore wind energy through the creation of a digital twin.
A European consortium of 13 entities is on the verge of transforming wind farm management in the energy sector. With an investment of 6 million euros and a 3-years duration, the WindTwin project will create a digital twin of an offshore wind farm, a virtual replica that will enable highly accurate prediction of energy production and anticipation of consumer demand.
The companies that make up the consortium come from 7 different countries and specialize in various fields and areas of expertise. To successfully complete this ambitious project, the experience and diversity of all these companies will be combined, forming a versatile and multidisciplinary partnership.
The rapid development of the renewable energy industry in recent years, combined with the need to optimize micrositing and the efficiency of increasingly larger onshore and offshore wind farms, presents a series of challenges that must be addressed to usher in a new era in the energy sector.
In this context, this initiative aims to revolutionize decision-making in the wind energy sector with an innovative tool that will provide wind operators with a comprehensive and real-time view of their installations, through access to various resources (models, scenarios, virtualizations…), thus optimizing production and reducing costs.
Contribution of SOLUTE
SOLUTE’s multidisciplinary philosophy is reflected in the contributions it will make to this project:
- Improved wind and weather forecasting: SOLUTE will develop models to predict wind and energy production with high accuracy for the operation of offshore wind farms.
- Integration of demand and price models: Predictive models of electricity demand and price will be developed, which, when integrated with generation models, will allow the optimization of wind farm operation according to market conditions.
- Atmospheric modeling: Through the application of advanced numerical models, wind flow will be simulated in offshore scenarios, providing a detailed understanding of atmospheric conditions and their impact on energy production.
- Wind resource optimization: SOLUTE, with the help of Furow, our in-house developed WRA software, we will develop a calculation engine and a wind resource optimization tool for offshore wind farms.
- Digital Twin development: SOLUTE will leverage its software and virtualization capabilities to collaborate in the design of the Digital Twin and in the interaction of the various components of the tool, as well as the development of the code and interface of the working blocks in which SOLUTE participates.
The project kick-off meeting took place on June 20-21 at the BSC headquarters. This meeting allowed the consortium members to get to know each other and organize and structure the work ahead.
For more information about the project, check out the resources below:
