Three LIGHTWIND partner organisations took part in the Torque 2026 wind energy conference. The event took place in Bruges, Belgium, from 3 to 5 June. For a research-heavy project like LIGHTWIND, conferences like this offer a direct line to the wider wind energy community.
About the Torque 2026 wind energy conference
Torque is one of the two flagship conferences of the European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE). The event runs every two years, alternating with the Wind Energy Science Conference. The first edition took place in 2004 at TU Delft, which makes Torque 2026 the eleventh in the series.
This year, KU Leuven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University jointly organised the conference. The conference took place at the Concertgebouw, a modern concert hall next to Bruges’ historic centre, itself a UNESCO World Heritage site. For the 2026 edition, the organisers received 627 abstracts. Independent experts reviewed each one at least twice before accepting it as an oral or poster presentation. Full details are available on the Torque 2026 website.
The scientific programme covers eight themes. These range from wind resource assessment and wake modelling to structural integrity, floating wind and emerging technologies such as airborne wind energy. Turbine technology and drivetrains, the area most relevant to LIGHTWIND, make up one of these eight themes.
Presenting the OptiGen drivetrain concept
Vinit Dighe gave the project’s main presentation at the conference. He prepared it together with Blai Pié i Valls, LIGHTWIND’s project coordinator, along with Santiago Canedo, Stefan Keller and Yichao Liu.
The presentation examined how the OptiGen drivetrain concept might perform once installed in a real turbine. Specifically, it looked at financial and environmental performance during operation, rather than only in simulation. After the talk, Stefan answered several questions from the audience.
Beyond the formal Q&A, Vinit was also approached with further questions on drivetrain technology, including the use of rare earth elements, an issue that comes up regularly across the wind energy sector. It’s a topic LIGHTWIND expects to return to in more detail as the project’s results develop.
The full paper is now available online: Evaluating cost and environmental impacts of offshore wind drivetrain technologies.
A programme leaning towards aerodynamics
Drivetrain technology made up only one of Torque’s eight themes. As a result, this year’s discussions focused mainly on aerodynamic performance, blade behaviour and meteorology, according to Stefan.
That balance says something about where the wind energy research community is putting its attention right now. It also shows where LIGHTWIND’s drivetrain work fits within a much wider field.
What’s next for LIGHTWIND
LIGHTWIND plans to keep using conferences such as Torque to share results as the project progresses. You can follow the project’s other activities on the LIGHTWIND website.