By Rikki Stancich in Paris

WindEnergyUpdate: Until now, 2-B Energy has kept under the radar, developing a new turbine optimised for offshore conditions. Can you provide some background on 2-B Energy’s project?

Mikael Jakobsson: 2-B Energy is an energy company comprised of people who have been working in offshore wind for many years.

Our focus is the design of offshore wind turbines. The majority of ‘state-of-the-art’ wind turbines being installed offshore today are ‘marinised’ on-shore turbines being 3 bladed upwind machines on tubular towers, more or less tweaked for offshore conditions.

What we have aimed to do is to design a turbine from scratch for operation offshore. In other words, each choice made has optimized the turbine for offshore application.

WindEnergyUpdate: What are the advantages of 2-B Energy’s two-blade, full jacket structure?

Mikael Jakobsson: It is a 2-blade downwind turbine on a full jacket structure, which optimizes the installation process and avoids the complexity of having a rotor that needs to be installed separately. This way, we expect to install the turbine and machine head in one piece, in higher wind speeds (up to 13 m/s).

WindEnergyUpdate: Why is a full structure more appropriate for offshore installation purposes?

Mikael Jakobsson: Tubular towers used on turbines adapted for offshore use require a separate foundation design, which normally becomes the developers responsibility.

With our strategy, this is not the case. 2-B have an integrated structure, from machine head to seabed. This means that the machine head and full structure are designed together in integrated design.

WindEnergyUpdate: With regard to risk and reliability, what is 2-B energy’s strategy? 

Mikael Jakobsson: With offshore wind, in order to maintain a low-risk model, one way is to stay with one product over longer time. This makes the turbine increasingly reliable and avoids the situation where you introduce new risk elements  before old risks has been fully dealt with. Here the industry by tradition has been a little bit quick jumping to larger sizes before solving the problems.

WindEnergyUpdate: Last week, 2-B Energy was awarded a test site by the Crown Estate. What are the next steps with regards to this site?

Mikael Jakobsson: The next steps will be to develop the site. The initial tests, however, will occur either at an onshore or near-shore location, as one will need unlimited access to a new design for appropriate and efficient testing.

WindEnergyUpdate: When can we expect to see 2-B Energy’s prototype?

Mikael Jakobsson: The prototype is aimed for 2011/2012. Our goal is obviously to be ready for Round 3 supply.

WindEnergyUpdate: Which markets will 2-B Energy target initially?

Mikael Jakobsson: Our main market is Europe. We recognize there is a market in China and in the US, but at this point we are focusing on first realizing a prototype, which will lead to next steps and further planning in this regard.

To respond to this article, plesae write to the editor:

Rikki Stancich: rstancich@gmail.com