DONG Energy Supports Wind Turbine PhD Research at Durham University

​DONG Energy will support two PhD research studentships at Durham University through the Durham Energy Institute (DEI). The PhDs will focus on the operation of wind turbines and helping to predict technical faults before they happen. 

This research could prove vital in improving the availability of offshore wind turbines, ultimately helping to further drive down the cost of energy, DONG Energy said.

The PhDs will bring together turbine maintenance data and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data, with a view to developing algorithms for predicting turbine malfunction. One student (Roger Cox) will focus on developing a method for analysing and categorising relevant maintenance issues from the maintenance database. This will feed into the work of the second student (Luke Payne), who will focus on developing advanced data methods to positively identify turbines that are developing faults before they become critical and require the turbine to be taken off line.

The PhDs will be supervised by Dr Peter Matthews and Dr Christopher Crabtree from Engineering at Durham University, and will be undertaken both in Durham and on site at DONG Energy’s offices. By including the students as part of the DONG Energy team, they will be able to rapidly gain deep understanding of the company’s key challenges and priorities. This will ensure that research remains highly relevant to DONG Energy, as well as enabling knowledge transfer between DONG Energy and Durham University, the offshore wind developer said.

The research is expected to be completed in December 2020.

DONG Energy is funding 66% of the two PhDs, with the remaining 34% funded by Durham University.

To remind, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) announced last week that it will support a new offshore wind partnership, including DONG Energy and Durham University, with GBP 3.2 million.