Gamesa and Ecotècnia head up consortium

Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica and wind turbine manufacturer Ecotècnia said they are heading up the Windlider 2015 consortium to manage an industrial research project in the wind energy sector. The consortium is completed by manufacturers of wind power components and several small firms in the sector. Windlider 2015 will produce the first model of its kind for the comprehensive simulation of a large wind turbine, reproducing its performance in conjunction with the wind, the terrain and the power grid. The model will be validated and fine-tuned by testing complete wind turbines and critical components (generators, gear-boxes, converters, housings, yaw system, etc.) with power outputs of 5 MW. This will allow for extrapolating their performance to outputs exceeding 10 MW. The main aim of this research scheme is to understand the design of large wind turbines, shortening the time required for their market launch and raising the preparedness of the first series- vital considerations for heading the market from 2015 onwards.The total investment in Windlider 2015 is €40 million over four years.