DNV GL Awards Best 2015 PhD Thesis in Renewable Energy

DNV GL today announced Nikola Vasiljević, Ph.D from DTU Wind Energy, the Technical University of Denmark, as the winner of the 2015 PhD Award in Renewable Energy. He was awarded a €5000 cash prize for his winning thesis, “A time-space synchronisation of coherent Doppler scanning lidars for 3D measurements of wind fields”.

The judging process required each thesis to be scored on a scale of 1-10 according to Innovation and potential to reduce the Cost of Energy. The winning thesis stood out to judges with its potential for wind farm operation and its ability to help move the renewable energy industry forward. The thesis focused on the development of a system of three time-space synchronised pulsed coherent Doppler scanning lidars, which are coordinated by a remote ‘master computer’.

The whole system is known as the WindScanner. This system’s unique capability to measure a complete 3D flow field allows wind speed to be accurately measured at any given point across an entire wind farm. This significantly deepens understanding of the flow in and around a wind farm, enabling the development of more accurate models but also ensuring operational efficiency and real-time monitoring.

Commenting on his award win Vasiljević said: “I was encouraged to enter the competition by my Head of Section as he felt strongly that industry experts would see the value in the clear and practical solutions my thesis presented. The DNV GL PhD Award in Renewable Energy is an exceptional award which has only served to further highlight the importance of the four years I spent dedicated to the development of the new instrumentation for wind energy. It also encourages me to use my skills and knowledge to achieve great results and to simplify usage of new instrumentations as well as extending applicability across wind energy.”

Lars Landberg, Group Leader Renewables, Strategic Research and Innovation, at DNV GL commented: “We were presented with 11 fantastic theses from applicants all over the world, covering a wide range of topics. Our aim with this award was to further promote higher education, and bring the innovators of the future to the fore. As a company, learning and knowledge is held at the heart of the business and we’ve been amazed at the quality and innovation present throughout the work we reviewed. Nikola’s entry particularly stood out to us in terms of the opportunity it presented for future model evaluation and the potential for wind farm operation.”

The competition and prize was first initiated in 2012 to support research & development, education, the creation of new knowledge and to encourage the development of advanced technology and processes for renewable energy. The competition has been promoted through DNV GL’s network of universities, and scientific conferences globally.

Image: DNV GL