In this uncertain year in these uncertain times, The US Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition organizers have focused this year’s competition on the most promising and emerging area of wind energy – offshore wind.  This is in response to a US Wind Industry that is poised to install several large-scale wind farms off of US coasts in the next several years.

“I was delighted to see this shift”, says project advisor Dr. Tom Nordenholz (Mechanical Engineering).  “The growth of offshore wind in the United States – on east as well as west coasts -  is going to be the big story of the next decade for energy transition and climate mitigation in the United States.  Cal Maritime and its students have great potential to play a leading role in this industry as it grows.”

In Turbine Design, students will still – as in previous years - have to design and build a small-scale wind turbine to be operated in a wind tunnel under a series of tests.  However, instead of fixing the wind turbine to the base of the wind tunnel, they will have to design a foundation structure in sand at the bottom of a tank of water – simulating shallow offshore installations off some East Coast locations.

The Cal Maritime team has built a tank (See photo below), devised a structure to be embedded in the sand, and built and tested some prototype anchors for it.  Some ideas for these anchors were inspired by a visit to the solar foundation company Ojjo in san Rafael, CA.  For the turbine, the team will be employing the basic architecture of the 2021 turbine – a variable pitch system with a resistive load and passive yaw.  However, there are still a few improvements to make for this design to reach its full potential in performance.  Meanwhile in a continuing tradition, the team will build a custom generator based on designs from the ET and ME 350 project fair in December.

In Project Development, this year’s competition requires teams to design a farm (also known as a project) that could be installed in a wind lease auction area in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Cal Maritime team has selected a location near the Texas coast based on wind resource, bathymetry, geotechnical characteristics, shipping lanes, and other environmental and regulatory issues.  A preliminary design has been developed including turbine selection, foundation type, coastal interconnection, and plans for installation and operation and maintenance. This plan was presented to the entire team in December (See photo) The team has also been transitioning to a new siting software – Furow – developed by Spanish company Solute.   This spring, they will refine the details of their siting and project plan, develop a financial analysis, and iterate their design to develop a project that will be as attractive as possible to developers, utilities and the many other stakeholders (citizens, environmentalists, fishermen, and others).

Project Development Team members William Tucker (GSMA,’22) and Andrew Cavinta (GSMA’22) present their siting plan to a CWC meeting in December 2021.

In the third area of the Competition, called Connection Creation, the Team has interviewed four professionals in the wind industry.  These professionals do a range of jobs in the wind industry, from testing and maintaining large wind turbines, to developing offshore wind farms and the port infrastructure to install them, to engaging with various stakeholders to ensure project success.  This area of the project is designed to teach students about careers in the wind industry – and several students have indicated interest in pursuing such careers.

Continuing in the spring, the team will be making presentations about wind energy to high school environmental science classes and conducting hands-on exercises on wind turbine design.  

Says Andrew Cavinta, GSMA major and Project Development Team Lead, "The Collegiate Wind team has exposed me to a field I have grown very passionate in. The connection creation contest has led to meaningful conversations with industry professionals that have prepared the project development team to present our plan for an offshore project at the competition in San Antonio”

The Competition is planned to occur May 16-19, 2022 in San Antonio, TX at the American Clean Power Association Conference.  The teams and organizers are hoping for an in-person event for the first time since 2019!