Thursday, 13 June 2019
The University of Nottingham is leading a €2m High Performance Computing (HPC) project to optimise the sustainable exploitation of wind power in both the European and Brazilian energy markets.
The two-year project will involve 12 partners from across Europe and Brazil with a proven track record of HPC hardware, wind energy, numerical methods, software development and industrial applications.
Annual energy production by wind turbines reached around 10.4 per cent in the EU by the end of 2016. Brazil, meanwhile, has the ninth largest wind capacity in the world and is experiencing more than 10 per cent annual growth with nearly 500 wind farms already deployed.
HPC has been a must for each of these activities and is also essential to the supply change of wind energy, as well as other related industries, such as power systems, energy storage, etc.
Wind as a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels has become an increasingly important contributor to the energy portfolio of both Europe and Brazil. By 2025 the wind power market is expected to grow over $110bn. The HPC market is also a very important and growing market reaching total revenues of $11.4bn by 2015 alone
At almost every stage in wind energy exploitation ranging from wind turbine design, wind resource assessment and power prediction to wind farm layout and operations, the application of HPC is a must.
With €2m in Horizon 2020 funding, the ‘High Performance Computing for Wind Energy’ (HPCWE) project will deliver a step change in the application of HPC on wind flow simulations and reshape almost every stage of wind energy exploration.
The goal of HPCWE is to address the key open challenges in applying HPC on wind energy, including efficient use of HPC resources in wind turbine simulations, accurate integration of meso- and micro-scale simulations, and optimisation.
The consortium will develop novel algorithms, implement them in state-of-the-art codes and test the codes in academic and industrial cases to benefit the wind energy industry and research in both Europe and Brazil.
Wind energy, both onshore and offshore, has experienced rapid developments in Europe in the past 20 years and is flourishing in Brazil. Wind energy and the associated fluid flow simulations have been one of the biggest user of HPC resources in both Brazil and Europe.
HPCWE will have a direct impact on societal issues such as reduction of CO2 through promoting wind energy exploitation. The new HPC techniques will create job opportunities, particularly in consultancy in various aspects of wind energy such as wind resource assessment and wind farm optimisation.
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
More news…