Aerospace Technology for Offshore Wind Energy

Dear Colleagues,

The last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports show that a rapid, radical change of direction is necessary to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change. This can be achieved by reaching at least net zero CO₂ emissions, a complex task requiring a shift toward renewable energies. In addition, photovoltaic wind energy is considered the most mature solution with sufficient potential. In the hypothesized net zero scenario, wind energy production must grow at an impressive 18% rate between 2022 and 2030. However, onshore wind energy is affected by numerous constraints, which limits its diffusion.

On the contrary, the exploitation of seas is considered advantageous from many points of view, notably the minor conflict with other human activities and more abundant and reliable energy production. Fixed-foundation, offshore wind energy is a consolidated technology that allows for electric power production in windy sites near densely populated areas. The emerging floating offshore technology also enables the exploitation of deep-sea regions, allowing for a much higher diffusion of offshore wind energy around the globe. Although offshore wind energy has already reached a good competitiveness level with respect to fossil fuels, a further reduction in the Levelized Cost Of Energy (especially for the floating turbines) and improved capacity factor are necessary to meet the expected growth trend. Research and Development have played and will play a fundamental role in pursuing this goal. The fields of study most involved are: structural dynamics, aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, materials, manufacturing, maintenance, control, stability and aeroacoustics. Since the aerospace community has widely studied these fields, the scope of this Special Issue on offshore wind turbines is to transfer your knowledge into the wind energy sector, achieving a virtuous cross-fertilization between the two research areas.

Applications may range from, but are not limited to, new blade structural design and manufacturing processes, augmentation systems for blade aerodynamics, advanced control algorithms for power production and vibration control, advanced materials, innovative wind turbine and farm design, interactional aerodynamic modelling of wind farms and among farms, and innovative platforms for offshore wind turbines.

Dr. Jacopo Serafini
Dr. Luca Pustina
Guest Editors

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• advanced modelling
• innovative design
• advanced materials
• controls