Innovation partnership to anchor UK’s sustainable offshore wind industry
02/12/2024
The University of Bristol (UoB) and National Composites Centre (NCC) have been announced as a Strategic University Partner for Vestas, a leader in sustainable energy solutions.
The Bristol Composites Institute (BCI) and National Composites Centre will innovate sustainable solutions in partnership with Vestas, which maintains the world’s largest wind turbine fleet with more than 182 GW of wind turbines installed in 88 countries.
More than 60% of all greenhouse gases currently emitted are linked to the energy sector1, making it the single most important sector to focus on to combat climate change.
Ambitious targets have been put in place for wind energy, which is set to play a critical role in plans to decarbonise the UK power system and make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
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| Anchoring the UK’s future offshore wind, the team behind the partnership (left to right): Simon Quinn, UoB; Allan Poulsen, Vestas; Kasper Jensen, Vestas; Phil Slack, NCC; Jo Dally, NCC; Henrik Thede, Vestas; Alberto Pirrera, UoB; and Pete Giddings, NCC |
The Bristol Composites Institute delivers sustainable composite solutions using fundamental and applied scientific excellence for the benefit of society and the global community. It is said to be the largest composites-focused UK university centre and has held a long-standing partnership with Vestas since 2009.
Professor Alberto Pirrera of the Bristol Composites Institute said: “We look forward to working closely with Vestas on pioneering research and technological innovations that will advance the wind energy sector and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
Composites are the only material that can be used to make large wind turbines due to their advanced lightweight and improved properties, yet there is a real challenge in meeting the scale of demand needed to achieve net-zero targets and
end-of-life solutions for used blades.
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| Offshore wind turbines Image courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems A/S |
The Strategic University Partnership is one of three global partnerships that will provide a multi-year collaboration programme to deliver a stream of Vestas-funded projects to support its technology leadership and industrial goals.
Kasper Roed Jensen, Vice President of New Concepts at Vestas R&D, said: “The National Composites Centre and Bristol Composites Institute bring together excellence in research and collaboration with industry, making them ideal partners for companies such as Vestas that depend on the newest composite material and manufacturing knowledge. NCC, BCI and Vestas have grown together and Vestas is excited to take the next step through a strategic R&D partnership. We look forward to working together through our UK and Danish R&D teams on the next generation of sustainable energy solutions.”
Richard Oldfield, Chief Executive, National Composites Centre, said: “We are delighted to be selected as a global technology partner of Vestas. The National Composites Centre is leading efforts to advance ‘green industry’ technologies, including for
next-generation wind applications. I look forward to continuing our work with Vestas to accelerate the path to net zero.”
This new collaboration will deliver mutually beneficial high-impact research that supports the University of Bristol’s commitment to sustainability through new partnerships.
1https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy
