RES and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have partnered to license and deploy a technology aimed at optimizing the performance of wind turbines.
Dynamic Yaw focuses on the yaw system of wind turbines, the component responsible for the orientation of a turbine toward the wind, to maximize the overall performance and efficiency of turbines in a project.
Traditionally, a single wind turbine is designed to work in isolation and self-orient in a manner that optimizes its own performance. This technology hopes to take a systems approach to consider how each individual turbine on a wind farm can share data and work together to increase the overall performance of the group of turbines.
The company says this approach has the effect of improving overall energy efficiency by adding the equivalent of one to three wind turbines to a 100 turbine-strong wind farm through enhanced management and controls.
“The renewables industry is on the cusp of widespread digitalization,” says RES’ Alex Bamberger.
“The Dynamic Yaw technology will help wind asset owners optimize the overall output of their assets through better utilization of their data and subsequent autonomous action of the asset. By sharing farm-wide data and transforming the yaw optimization strategy of a wind farm to maximize overall performance, the Dynamic Yaw transforms a collection of individual turbines into a team.”
Developed, installed and maintained by RES, and incorporating IP licensed from NREL, the technology has been trial tested by RES for seven years across turbines at wind farms in the U.K. The technology the NREL and RES collaboration unlocks will initially target customers in the Americas, but the technology is meant to be installed worldwide.
