Energy efficiency is a vital tool for reducing energy consumption and thus the need for new power sources. This is also an important area for reducing greenhouse gas emissions when fossil fuels are the energy source. SINTEF conducts research on energy efficiency in industry, transportation and in the construction industry. An important research area is efficiency in Norway's power-intensive industries, and the utilization of waste heat.
Aerodynamic analysis of wind turbines and windfarms
Wind turbines are continuously growing in size, and with the increasing focus on offshore installations, accurately analysis of wind loads and intermittency is of great importance.Windfarms typically consists of a large number of such turbines, and the wind interaction between the turbines must be known to be able to optimize the windfarm with respect to electricity production and to low maintenance cost. Such optimization strongly relies on the control systems used to operate the windfarm.