Major Wind Research Centre Kicks Off its Activities

The NorthWind research centre on wind energy launched its activities with its first General Assembly. 

The centre's research is divided into five work packages, whose leaders gave short presentations outlining their objectives for the next few years. The centre aims at making wind energy cheaper, more efficient, and more sustainable. One of its main areas of focus is offshore wind research.

Centre leader and chief scientist at SINTEF, John Olav Tande, says that large cost reductions are within reach for both bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind energy, but that these cost reductions will not come automatically. 

"The road to success in offshore wind depends on three factors: development, research and innovation. All three have to be present." 

NorthWind will guarantee progress on the research and innovation fronts. The development part of the equation received a welcome boost last week when the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced plans to enable the large-scale development of offshore wind.

50 partners

NorthWind brings together over 50 partners from research institutions and industry all around the world. It is led by the research institute SINTEF, with partners NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), NINA (The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), NGI (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute) and UiO (University of Oslo).

R&D Manager Kristian Steinsvik at HAV Design AS, says that we at HAV Design are pleased to be a part of this major investment. 

“Over time, we have positioned ourselves as a supplier of design and equipment aimed at ships that operate service and maintenance of wind turbines. It is crucial to have insight and total understanding of the entire value chain and across disciplines to develop the right solutions for the offshore wind industry of the future.To be part of a large research center for wind power (FME = Research centers for environmentally friendly energy) and contribute to developing the offshore wind area of the future where one has gathered both large industrial players and reputable research institutes, we see as very important and crucial for our further position towards renewable energy at sea.”

NorthWind is co-financed by its partners and by the Norwegian government through the Norwegian Research Council's Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research program.