The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Levenmouth turbine hailed as offshore wind game-changer
Levenmouth offshore wind demonstration turbine is an imposing structure.
It measures 196 metres from blade tip to sea level – taller than London’s Gherkin building.
Electricity generated is fed into the National Grid and is enough to power 4,800 homes.
Standing on the east Fife shore, it is described as the world’s most advanced, open-access, offshore wind turbine dedicated to research.
It was acquired by technology innovation and research centre Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult from Samsung Heavy Industries in December.
The 7MW turbine offers industry and academia a chance to better understand a range of technologies, as well as operations and maintenance aspects of offshore wind turbines, with the ultimate goal of reducing the cost of energy.
“Offshore wind has made tremendous strides in its journey to drive down costs and become cost-competitive with other sources of energy generation,” Andrew Jamieson, chief executive of ORE Catapult, said.
“However, there are still huge improvements that can be made in the design, installation and operations and maintenance of an offshore windfarm that will help to bring forward new ideas, technologies and ways of working.
“This, in turn, will generate significant economic benefit for the UK through high-tech job creation and export opportunities.
“Our turbine is a real gamechanger for offshore wind research and development.
“It aims to bring together the best Scottish and UK universities with high-growth potential companies to develop and demonstrate innovative new technologies – putting UK industry and academia right at the heart of European wind research, funding opportunities and technology development.
“For example, one of our first key projects, supported by the Scottish Government, will be to create a digital ‘clone’ of the turbine, which will use sensor instrumentation on the turbine’s blades, tower and substructure to monitor its behaviour in real world conditions.
“This will advance industry’s understanding of how large megawatt turbines behave, identifying cost-reduction opportunities through reducing design inefficiencies and flaws.”
Funds generated from the turbine’s electricity generation enable ORE Catapult to work with partners to develop and deliver educational and training programmes.
Meanwhile, the Catapult is sponsoring a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) engagement officer role at the new Levenmouth Academy and the turbine has already hosted visits from students studying as part of the turbine and technician course at Fife College.
Mr Jamieson added: “The Levenmouth demonstration turbine is set to play a major part in the development of future technologies to lower the cost of offshore wind.
“It offers opportunities for UK supply chain and technology development and, sitting so prominently at the heart of the Levenmouth communities, it is vital that the turbine also plays a role in locally developing and supporting the next generation of Scottish engineers, who will ensure that Fife enjoys a bright future thanks to renewable energy.”