About WEC
The Wind Energy and Control (WEC) is a research group at the University of Strathclyde focused on advancing wind energy technology from concept to deployment. We combine validated modelling, advanced control, reliability engineering and experimental validation to produce decision-ready evidence for industry and research partners — with a particular strength in novel wind turbine concepts.
How to think about WEC: we act as an academic pitstop to de-risk wind technology. Bring us the hard part — the uncertainty — and we’ll help you turn it into evidence.
Who we are
WEC brings together expertise in wind turbine and wind farm control, modelling and simulation, optimisation, power systems integration, condition monitoring and reliability — supported by experimental and rapid prototyping capability through the MERINO Lab.
- Research: turbine dynamics, farm-level control, wake interaction, grid support and reliability.
- Methods: validated models, loads analysis, controller design, digital twins, experimental validation.
- Translation: independent technical due diligence, risk registers, and scale-up roadmaps.
We’re comfortable being technical. When we present work, we talk in terms of control architectures, dynamic response, load spectra, wake interactions, and validation — because credibility in wind requires engineering detail.
Where we are
History & heritage
WEC builds on a long-standing Strathclyde tradition in control engineering and wind energy systems. The group’s research spans the dynamics, modelling and control of wind turbines and wind farms, alongside optimisation, resource assessment and condition monitoring — with a consistent focus on practical algorithms that can be deployed in real systems.
Control engineering roots
The centre has deep capability in control engineering applied to wind energy systems, including conceptual turbine design and both turbine- and farm-level control system design.
Wind farm control evolution
WEC’s wind farm control work includes hierarchical approaches and turbine-level augmentation strategies (e.g., “power adjusting” concepts) developed to enable flexible and accurate plant-level behaviour.
Designed to collaborate
A consistent theme is collaboration: building platforms and methods that partners can use to develop, test and validate controllers, and to quantify performance vs loads trade-offs.
Why this matters: in modern wind, performance claims without validation pathways are cheap. WEC focuses on methods and evidence that allow novel ideas to survive real-world scrutiny.
Bring your hardest wind problem.
If you’re developing a new turbine concept, a wind plant controller, or a grid integration strategy, we can help you define the key uncertainties, design the right validation plan, and generate credible engineering evidence.
© Wind Energy and Control (WEC) · University of Strathclyde · Royal College Building, Room 3.10 · 204 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1XW