On April 16 and 17, the LIGHTWIND consortium gathered in Barcelona for its offshore wind consortium meeting. We marked the halfway point of the project with two days of work, conversation, and shared progress across eight partners from six countries.
It was only the second time the full team met in person. That alone made it worth the trip.
From Hamburg to Barcelona
LIGHTWIND kicked off in Hamburg on October 22-23, 2024. Back then, the consortium came together for the first time to align on the project’s vision and plan the work ahead. Since then, we have moved forward across borders and disciplines. We have worked through remote calls, shared documents, and the kind of steady, unglamorous effort that research projects are actually made of.
Eighteen months later, therefore, Barcelona was a chance to step back and take stock.
The M18 meeting was co-hosted by DIS/CREADIS and OptiGen at the CREADIS office in Barcelona. We want to thank both teams for the organisation and for welcoming the consortium so warmly. As a result, two intensive working days felt considerably less intense.
What we did and why it mattered
Over the two days, the consortium reviewed progress across LIGHTWIND’s work packages. We also assessed where the project stands against its objectives and discussed priorities for the second half.
However, if you have ever worked in a collaborative research project, you know the formal agenda is only part of what makes an in-person meeting valuable. The conversations in between are where a lot of the real alignment happens. Over lunch, at the end of a long session, on the way to dinner, people ask questions that would never make it into a meeting agenda. Moreover, you are reminded that behind every email signature there is a person who is genuinely invested in making the project work.
LIGHTWIND brings together researchers, engineers, and innovation professionals from eight organisations across Europe. In practice, the day-to-day collaboration happens remotely. Nevertheless, getting everyone in the same room changes the dynamic in ways that no screen can replicate. The M18 meeting was a good reminder of that.
Halfway there
Reaching M18 means LIGHTWIND is now entering its second half. The drive-train design work is progressing. In addition, testing and validation activities are underway, and the consortium is building towards the scaled prototype that will characterise the full system’s mechanical properties.
There is still significant work ahead. Still, two days in Barcelona gave the team the clarity, the energy, and the shared direction to move forward with confidence.
Follow LIGHTWIND’s progress on our LinkedIn and read about how it all started at our kick-off meeting in Hamburg.