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Wind energy is now the renewable energy generation technology of choice. This lecture will look at where the wind industry has come from and what it has learnt so far, before focussing on the challenges facing it in the future and the potential advances and benefits it can provide for society.

 

The wind industry has come on a dynamic journey over the last 25 years, characterised by finding cost-effective solutions to many significant engineering challenges. It is now the renewable energy generation technology of choice, globally, having experienced a doubling of installed capacity every 3 or 4 years in the last two decades. In front of it today is its biggest challenge yet - to continue this growth by combining next generation, very large wind turbine technology with the best that the marine and oil and gas sectors have to offer in exploiting the massive wind resource in the waters around our coast.

 

From a technical perspective, the lecture will look at where the wind industry has come from, what it has learnt so far and where it is today. It will then look at some of the areas where new solutions are required if it is to succeed in the future and paint a vision of what this success might look like in the next 10-20 years, both in terms of technology and benefits for society.

 

Bruce Valpy has been at the heart of the UK wind energy industry since 1987. A chartered engineer with a first class degree from Cambridge University, he has been worked hands-on in the design of a wide variety of different wind turbine technologies, from the early days of the UK's first commercial wind farms to some of the largest wind turbines operating today.

 

Having worked for British, German & Danish wind turbine manufacturers, in recent years, Bruce and his team at BVG Associates has been focussed on helping to birth the UK offshore wind industry, working with national and local government and enabling bodies. He has played a key role in bringing established players to the UK and starting to establish a confident manufacturing supply chain. At the same time, he has had an active role in many R&D initiatives in offshore wind technology in the UK, whether funded nationally via Carbon Trust, Energy Technologies Institute or regionally via initiatives such as the North of England's Northern Wind Innovation Programme.

 

With a deep commitment to the industry and almost unparallel independent insight into its technology and needs, Bruce will share his passion for the technology that he has spent all his working life involved in.