Support for the European Academy of Wind Energy's Seminar to be held in Durham University 29th Sept-1st Oct 2009

The European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE) is an academic consortium of European Universities in which the UK's Supergen Wind Consortium members are partners.The EAWE runs a PhD Seminar to increase understanding and interaction between research students working in the field of wind energy coming from > 7 countries in Europe. In 2009 the EPSRC Supergen Wind Consortium in UK is hosting the EAWE PhD Seminar at Durham University, the location of the Principal Investigator of Supergen Wind.We expect 70 plus students and their Supervisors to attend, with up to 20 students coming from the UK.The Seminar will include keynote educational talks from leading wind energy authorities in the UK, including Andrew Garrad of Garrad Hassan, leaders of the Supergen Wind Consortium, and an educational visit to the New & Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) wind turbine blade testing facilities at Blyth in Northumberland.This application is to fund the educational aspects of the Seminar, steps are being taken to secure matched funds from industrial sources. The application is made more than 12 weeks before the planned event as requested in the EPSRC website.

Wind energy forms a major part of the UK Government's strategy for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and combating climate change. However, the technology is still rapidly evolving. The academic community in UK has reduced its commitment to wind power research over a number of years until the development of the Supergen programme. Research on wind has continued in Europe. However, the growing effectiveness of wind to deliver significant tranches of low carbon power, the acknowledgement throughout Europe that it can be a significant contributor to our renewable energy needs but the recognition that there are still important research challenges to the deployment of large wind energy resource has revived research activity throughout Europe. As part of Supergen Wind's strategy the Consortium has joined the EAWE to join forces with its European partners in this research activity. The EAWE PhD Seminar is a major initiative by EAWE to increase the interaction between young European researchers in wind power to accelerate the progress of this research. The hosting of this Seminar in UK will have an important impact on the progress of this research in UK.