The 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) has been awarded to Denmark’s Henrik Stiesdal and Britain’s Andrew Garrad for their achievements in advancing the design, manufacture and deployment of high-performance wind turbines.
These developments are recognised for having enabled wind energy to make a material contribution to global electricity generation and deliver transformational impact in diversifying the global energy mix.
Now in its second decade as the leading international accolade for engineering achievement, the 2024 QEPrize Laureates were announced by Lord Browne of Madingley, Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, during a reception at the Science Museum in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal, Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Over the past four decades, Stiesdal (pictured) and Garrad have made seminal engineering inputs that – from demonstration to full-scale implementation – have resulted in a phenomenal increase in the size of individual wind turbines and the scale of the wind farms in which they are sited, as well as in their engineering an economic performance.
Initially designed in 1978, Henrik Stiesdal is credited for a three-blade turbine that represents what is sometimes described as the Danish concept.
Leading notable developments in proprietary blade manufacturing technology throughout the 90s, Stiesdal’s elegant innovation that 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 wind turbine blades cast in one piece, and 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.
It 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.
“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 Stiesdal.
Garrad said: “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.”