Wind power pioneers win QEPrize
The 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is awarded to Denmark’s Henrik Stiesdal and Britain’s Andrew Garrad CBE for their advancements in the design, manufacture and deployment of high-performance wind turbines
Stiesdal and Garrard won the QEPrize for their early technology and critical advances as the wind power industry has evolved, each pioneering a system that is present in almost all modern wind turbines operating both onshore and offshore in the market today.
Now in its eleventh year, the QEPrize has honoured 24 engineers including the inventors of LED lighting, PERC solar cell technology and photodiode image sensors. The 2024 Laureates, who share the reduced £500,000 prize, will be formally honoured at the QEPrize Presentation Ceremony,
- PERC solar technology wins 2023 QEPrize
- Image sensor inventors win £1m 2017 QEPrize prize
- LED lighting inventors wins £1m 2021 QEPrize
- First King’s Award for Innovation in 2023 for SiC and GaN
Stiesdal is credited for the design of a three-blade turbine in 1978 that represents what is sometimes described as the Danish concept. Leading notable developments in proprietary blade manufacturing technology throughout the 90s, Stiesdal’s innovation operates upwind of the tower and allows twisting of the blades about their own axis (pitch control) has significantly enhanced scale and efficiency of modern turbines.
Further developments pioneered by Stiesdal include direct-drive generators for offshore wind turbines, eliminating the need for gearboxes.
The BLADED computational design tool, pioneered by Andrew Garrad, allows engineers to model a complicated turbine system in its entirety and to predict its behaviour with the confidence needed to permit manufacture of these huge machines.
The tool has been used all over the world and through the consultancy company he co-founded, which supported the industry through design consultancy, testing, measurements, energy evaluation and technical due diligence, has allowed the rapid expansion of the global manufacturing base. A similar analytical approach to wind farm yield pioneered widespread project finance by providing rigorous risk assessments of potential wind farm investment.
“Over the past four decades, Henrik Stiesdal and Andrew Garrad have advanced the design, manufacturing and deployment of wind turbines, enabling wind energy to fulfil a crucial role in today’s electricity generation mix. Their impact on the energy landscape showcases a commitment that resonates with the core values of engineering excellence, to problem-solve for a better society.” – Professor Dame Lynn Gladden, Chair of the Judges, Queen Elizabeth Prize
In December of last year, wind power accounted for 41.2% of the overall share of the UK energy mix, its highest ever level.
“It is an honour to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside Andrew. To me, it represents much more than personal recognition; it is a tribute to the collective efforts of pioneers and engineers in wind power. Since the late 1970s they embodied the essence of this Prize, creating bold, groundbreaking innovations delivering sustainable and competitive energy, addressing climate change and providing global benefits for humanity. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to this development, and I look forward with eagerness to the future growth of wind power, driven by the dedication of new generations of engineers,” said Henrik Stiesdal.
“Wind energy has been with us for millennia, but in the last 50 years, it entered a new era. The 10m diameter turbines of my early professional life have become the 250m giants of today – simply amazing! What could possibly be more exciting for an engineer? I count myself as extraordinarily lucky to have been part of that transition. To be awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a wonderful bonus to an already fascinating career. I am personally, immensely proud, but Henrik and I see ourselves as representatives of a much bigger group of people who have made wind energy an essential part of our zero-carbon future and we have, all of us together, earned this Prize,” said Andrew Garrad CBE
“This year we applaud the ingenuity of Henrik Stiesdal and Andrew Garrad for advancing the design, manufacture and deployment of high-performance wind turbines. The technological advances they spearheaded are changing the world for the good on an enormous scale. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Henrik and Andrew, who have propelled global progress towards a net-zero future and have now taken their rightful place among the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Laureates,” said Lord Browne of Madingley, Chairman, Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation.
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