RENEWABLE ENERGY
The man is a true pioneer in the wind power industry . A
successful entrepreneur . A technician . And a visionary and a globetrotter . His second home is China – a big leap , and not just for someone headquartered in Rendsburg , Germany . With his Nezzy 2 , Sönke Siegfriedsen even leaves solid ground . This is because he and his team have been teaching the wind turbine how to swim .
These floating energy producers are known as “ floaters ” within the industry . And they enjoy a high level of attention . This attention is due to the fact that floaters could become an important element of global energy production . This is due to the limits of the concrete feet on stationary systems . Specifically , the need to compensate for the forces that pull on the entire system 200 meters above them through the use of a solid foundation .
The seabed cannot be deeper than about 50 meters , because beyond that the massive concrete foundations cannot be laid in the seabed .
The solution lies in the chain Sönke Siegfriedsen is a North German lad straight out of a storybook . Already comfortable on a sailboat by the age of three , he learned to sail at seven , and competed at age 14 in the Optimist dinghy world championships . Since studying physics in Lübeck , he has been addicted to energy and its production . And since visiting a pioneering wind turbine in Denmark in 1978 , he has been aware that wind will not only have an affect in his sailing world .
He built his first wind turbine on the roof of the University of Applied Sciences in Lübeck in 1979 . Since then , 50 patent families and 27 complete wind turbine generators have grown out of these early beginnings . “ Over 50,000 turbines are in operation in China based on our design , our development ,” says the head of aerodyn engineering gmbh proudly .
And he points casually over his shoulder with his thumb . “ And this is our latest escapade .” We are sitting on the shore of a quarry lake between Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven in Germany . The sun is shining and the clouds are playing merrygo-round in the sky . A double-headed monster floats on the mirror-smooth lake , stretching a total of six rotor blades up to 18 meters in height . If its inventor has his way , the solution for the offshore wind industry is floating right here .
Stable thanks to tension “ The system weighs around six tons ,” says Siegfriedsen , describing the dimensions of the floating wind turbine generator . Concrete weights are installed on the seabed to hold the hull of the wind turbine generator – a submersible buoy – in place using six anchor chains . This buoy is the
The heart and mind of Nezzy 2 – the control electronics are located in the hull of the system
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UPDATE 6 / 20 The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine