DELTARES, JANUARY 2014
5
Wind turbines at sea could be much cheaper. The members
of the Joint Industry Project Wave Impact on Fixed Turbines
(
JIP WiFi) are convinced that cost reductions are achievable.
The design rules currently used to determine the impact of
breaking waves on the turbines are very conservative. The
thinking is that improving design guidelines and establishing a
clearer picture of the interaction between the turbines and the
maximum wave load can cut material costs by 10 per cent.
Deltares has organised scale tests to study this idea, with
researchers taking a highly detailed look at the impact of steep
and breaking waves on the pile structure. The study will also
involve an examination of the role played by currents and
bed morphology. The information generated by the study will
make a better assessment of the risks possible, and allow for
improvements in the design rules so that designers and builders
of offshore wind turbines can optimise their designs.
The results will be made available to the participants during the
course of 2014. The data will be made public two years after
the JIP finishes.
REDUCING
CONSTRUCTION
COSTS FOR OFFSHORE
WIND PARKS
HELPING WITH
CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Government authorities, community
organisations and commercial parties are
anticipating the impacts of climate change.
They often do this by developing adaptive
strategies and interventions. However, this is
just half the story: implementation is the next
step. In practice, all sorts of organisational
difficulties can emerge. That is why Deltares
has teamed up with Alterra and Deltaplan
Hoge Zandgronden as part of the ‘Knowledge
for climate’ research programme to develop a
method that will support the implementation
of climate adaptation measures. Flexibil-
ity, adaptive programming, participative
monitoring and policy arrangements are the
key words here.
DELTA MODEL 1.1
AVAILABLE
December saw the release of the new version
(1.1)
of the Delta Model developed by Deltares
for use in the Delta Programme. The Delta
Model can be used to calculate the impact of
long-term policy strategies in the field of water
management and to study the effects in other
areas such as agriculture, shipping and nature.
In this way, it helps policymakers to take the
right long-term decisions in the context of the
Delta Programme.
A number of new functionalities have been
added to version 1.0, such as the generation
of extra model output for effect modules and
a workflow for the accelerated simulation of
time series.
PHOTO: DELTARES
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