The Wind Energy Project 2023

Renewable energy is an increasingly essential aspect of our modern world, with sustainable and efficient sources of energy becoming crucial due to climate change and environmental concerns. In this regard, wind energy is of great importance and that's why the annual wind energy project is such a critical initiative, made possible by the support of industry sponsors RS Grass Roots, RES and SSE.

This windfarm design project is a week-long partnership between students and industry leaders, providing the students with knowledge of the technical, business, and social aspects of designing wind farms, along with the use of industry-standard software called WASP.

The students gain an understanding of the technical aspects of designing a wind farm, including the layout of the turbines, the environmental impact, and the feasibility of the project. They also learn about the business and social aspects of constructing a wind farm, such as securing funding, negotiating contracts, and engaging with local communities. At the end of the program, the students present their wind farm proposals, which are judged by industry professionals from RES, SSE, K2 Management and ExxonMobil.

This project is completely student lead, run by participants from the FemEng society from the University of Glasgow and from the Strathclyde Equate Society from Strathclyde University, a part of Equate Scotland.

FemEng: Empowering Women in Engineering is a student-led society at the University of Glasgow who exist to support female and non-binary people in engineering. We host networking and skills development events for our student members, as well as running school outreach events locally and internationally. The annual wind energy project is an important part of FemEng's calendar, offering the opportunity to reach students from multiple universities with practical experience and the opportunity to build connections with industry.

Strathclyde Equate is a society at Strathclyde University which is a part of the country-wide organisation Equate Scotland and is run for women in STEM, by women in STEM. Strath Equate aim to enable female students from a variety of STEM disciplines to connect with each other, network with our industry links, and boost their professional skills. Strath Equate is always delighted to be part of the wind energy project every year where students get the chance to learn from and connect with industry professionals and put their new-found expertise to the test to try and win prizes.

The competition at the end of the program is an opportunity for the students to put their newly acquired knowledge and skills to the test. They must present a wind farm proposal to a panel of judges, which includes industry professionals from RS Grass Roots, RES and SSE. The competition is an excellent opportunity for the students to showcase their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. There are exciting prizes to be won as a thank you for participating and engaging in the project.

The students can also win a prize with our kind sponsor RS Grass Roots! Each team can make an article detailing and showcasing their proposal to be uploaded to the platform DesignSpark. The DesignSpark community will then vote on the best one and the winning team will receive a £500 voucher to use in the RS shop online.

DesignSpark community - join in and support the project by helping select the winning team!

Check the Equate Windfarm Hub between 2^nd and 9^th June 2023 to vote for your favourite windfarm proposal. 

Voting is easy, simply “Like” your favourite entry with a Thumbs-up.