This coming Friday, 16 June, 150 pupils from Technasium ‘t Streek in Ede and the Ichthus Lyceum in Driehuis will visit the Maritiem Research Instituut Nederland (MARIN) in Wageningen to test their wind turbine prototypes.
Wind turbines are often mounted on pillars in the North Sea but at greater depths this is not feasible. In order to harvest energy from the wind in these regions floating wind turbines could possibly be a solution.
The students from ’t Streek and the Ichthus Lyceum have researched how floating wind turbines move above waves and how they can be most stable in the wind at sea.
Tested under extreme conditions
Over the past few weeks these students have developed and constructed the wind turbines at school. Wind turbines at sea produce more energy on average than what is generated in the interior simply because the wind is stronger there.
Their ideas are being tested at the institute in the concept basin (Concept Bassin in Dutch) which is equipped with a wave creator that simulates conditions at sea, to scale. The basin is purely used to research and test new and innovative concepts.
The design of the models as well as its practical execution will be tested. The turbines will be tested in extreme storm conditions which occur at sea. In addition, these turbines are designed to be installed behind the horizon so that they are not an eyesore or an obstruction to nature.
