JAMSTEC and University of Tokyo Concluded Joint Research Agreement
-To Develop Performance Evaluation Technology of
Wind Turbine Generator using Earth Simulator-

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC; Mr. Yasuhiro Kato, President) and the University of Tokyo (Mr. Hiroshi Komiyama, President) have concluded joint research agreement today, in order to establish a new performance evaluation technology of wind turbine generators by integrating both simulation models.

Performance evaluations of wind turbine generators had been conducted experimentally at prescribed set-up sites, enevitably consuming a huge amount of money and time. Generating power, sensitive to generator set-up distribution especially in complex topography with so many mountains and valleys as in Japan, is significantly affected by a slight distribution difference. It has hardly been clarified yet how the complex topography affects power generation, as it is difficult to obtain detailed data on performance of wind turbine generators in such a situation.

The University of Tokyo is highly valued for its achievement of wind turbine simulation and performance evaluation of wind turbine generators. In this collaboration, the Wind Turbine Model (*1) developed by the University of Tokyo, which reproduces wind turbine performances is integrated with the simulation program developed by the JAMSTEC, which predicts local wind, on the ultra-high resolution Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Model (*2). This joint research makes it possible to predict the performance of wind turbine generators set up on complex topography.

Results of this research contribute toward a reduction of cost and time for design / installation of wind turbine generator facilities, and hopefully it will be the international standard on performance evaluation technology of wind turbine generators. And Japan-launched valuable and unique simulation data considering climate conditions of Japanese territory in Asia or Japanese local area will be provided both domestically and internationally. It is expected that the simulation technology earned from this research will be widely-applied for various fields of industries such as turbine control technology.

Details of Agreement

1. Title :

Technology development of performance evaluation for wind turbine generators in consideration of site characteristics by numerical simulation analysis

2. Concluded between :

JAMSTEC        Executive Director, Tsutomu Imamura

The University of Tokyo        President, Hiroshi Komiyama

Representative: Graduate School of Engineering / Information Science and Technology Corporative Secretary, Tsurumoto Eiichi

3. Details :

(1) Integration and advancement of Wind Turbine Model and ultra-high resolution Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Model which is capable of local area wind prediction.

(2) Wind observation at the projected turbine height on the set-up location of wind turbine generators.

(3) Verification of simulation results using actual observation results. Simulation and analysis / evaluation of the results, which is necessary for international standardization.

4. Period :

December 1, 2006 through March 31, 2009

(Figure)

(*1) Wind Turbine Model

The model reproduces wind turbine movement by calculating air volume and direction hitting the wind turbine. The model to be used this time is developed by the University of Tokyo.

(*2) Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Model

The model is able to elucidate the motion of atmosphere and ocean in an integrated manner. The model to be used this time is developed by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.