It is hard to believe that this stunning photo from a 65-meter-high offshore wind turbine was actually taken by me! Until that moment, I have never had an opportunity to climb onto a real operating wind turbine. I thought only certified engineers could do that, not academics. Surprisingly, this summer I got the opportunity to climb onto a turbine as part of a research conference in Copenhagen.
The week-long event took place at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and brought together several major power system research projects, namely G-PST (Global Power System Transformation Consortium) and EPICS (Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society). Having recently joined EPICS as a research associate, I travelled to Copenhagen to present the ongoing work of our team.
Located outside the city, DTU campus was a quiet and peaceful place in the summer:
Yet, the meetings were not quiet! Around 130 academics and industrial partners have been invited to discuss the most urgent problems of power systems development. In one room, heads of system operators from the US, UK, Australia, and Denmark were arguing with the famous professors leading power system research. The main goal was finding real problems and proposing tools that both academic and industrial partners would be interested in.
Project leaders Prof. Mark O’Malley (left) and Prof. Benjamin Hobbs (right) discussing the G-PST objectives:
The cherry on top of this world-class research event was an optional tour to an offshore wind farm near Copenhagen. Of course, I could not miss it!
The tour boat taking us to the wind farm:
Approaching the turbines:
Inside the turbine. There are in total 8 ladder compartments, which is quite demanding to climb:
View from the top of the turbine:
The turbine was stopped for our visit:
It was pretty scary at the top. The wind was noisy and the nacelle was swaying slightly. We were told it was an old 2 MW turbine built almost 20 years ago. Modern turbines are much higher and more powerful.
Shortly after, the storm began. We had to leave the farm in clouds and rain:
I definitely enjoyed the research event and the tour! It feels like a new achievement and a story to remember.
At the end, I can’t help but show some prominent Danish architecture:
Andrey Churkin (Андрей Чуркин) 2024
