ORE Catapult Launch Academy Award

It has been nine months since Ventus was announced as one of the winning solutions for the technology challenge “Wind Turbine Sensors”, facilitated through the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s National Launch Academy and evaluated by ORE Catapult and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE). Since then, we have successfully completed the programme and, working together, have attained new business and research achievements for our sensor technology. At a ceremony celebrating the successful achievements of the Launch Academy’s first cohort, SGRE’s Regional Innovation Manager, Chris Briggs says 

“it’s been great to see Ventus participate fully in the Launch Academy programme, establish a UK presence, and develop a test programme at ORE Catapults Levenmouth turbine, and we look forward to continuing our collaborative discussions over the coming months.”

Since the early beginnings of the project in 2017, ambitious goals have been set to develop a next generation condition monitoring solution that aims to blaze the trail for converting the rotor and the entire swept area into a measuring instrument for all existing and future wind turbines. It was the beginning of a journey that represented the foundation of Ventus and R&D TripleCMAS™ solution - Critical Components Condition Monitoring, Fault Detection and instant Alarm System designed and patented by Ventus.

Years later, we are proud of our achievement in the development of the TripleCMAS™ solution that started with establishing the basic principles and proof of concepts, conducting laboratory and real environment tests. Winning a place in The Launch Academy has validated our research and testing efforts and has launched us into the UK market, thus establishing Ventus Wind Services UK subsidiary. During the programme, we encountered brilliant experts from the wind sector, mentors and industry partners who supported the Ventus team by bringing the technology and business under one roof. 

By the end of 2020 we had installed almost 200 sensors in multiple wind turbine models of different sizes, types and generations in three different countries. We have conducted ongoing validation in a blade test facility and are soon to start demonstration projects on an offshore wind turbine model. 

Looking forward, installation of the TripleCMAS™ technology on ORE Catapult’s 7 MW Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine is planned - the world’s largest and most advanced open-access offshore wind turbine dedicated to research and demonstration. Alongside, we are working on new efficient prototypes and continue validating them in both laboratory and real environment facilities. During our research, we recognised an essential industry lack of monitoring solutions for wind turbine grounding systems. By the end of the last year, to cover the gap in the market, a new project LEDS™ was born as a continuous, real time, autonomous monitoring of grounding as well as the health and alarm system​. Moreover, the new grounding monitoring solution will be utilised as energy harvester for extracting ambient energy from electrostatic charges on blades to power the sensor nodes of TripleCMAS™ system. 

About Ventus Group

Ventus Group is a global wind turbine service provider enabling off and onshore wind farm owners to increase asset production and returns while driving down the risk and cost of energy.

The multi-national team of highly specialised professionals from over 16 countries can identify and analyse possible scenarios to recommend the best solution unique to meet client objectives.

The wide range of innovative products and services includes Autonomous Drone Inspections, LiDAR Measurements, Static and Dynamic Blade Pitch Verification, End-of-Warranty & Taking-Over inspections (EOW & TO) and Dissolved Gas Analysis. 

About Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult – Launch Academy programme

ORE Catapult was established in 2013 by the UK Government and is part of a network of Catapults set up by Innovate UK in high growth industries. It is the UK’s leading innovation centre for offshore renewable energy and helps to reduce the cost of offshore renewable energy, supporting the growth of the industry and creating UK benefit.

The Launch Academy is ORE Catapult’s national technology accelerator programme for the offshore wind industry, focusing on near-to-market solutions.

The programme provides the complete ecosystem to support the commercialization of ambitious companies launching new products and services in the sector. ORE Catapult has brought technology development and business support under one roof, allowing companies to access their own in-house technical capability alongside a range of business growth expertise from our partners.