Productivity and development issues of global wind turbine industry

The use of wind energy reduces CO₂ emission and increases new employment opportunities. The positive impacts of wind energy on the mitigation of climate change as well as opportunity to diminish energy dependency are indisputable. Wind energy helps decreasing import dependency, diversifying sources of production, and contributes to a sustainable development in many countries. This article explores the importance of global wind turbine development and other relevant issues which are important. In this energy scenario, global installed wind turbines, energy potential and employment issues were discussed. Wind energy deployment creates a significant number of jobs, and does so at a time when other energy sectors are shrinking. Global wind turbine installation for recent years (2006–2008) was thoroughly discussed along with employment issues regarding wind industry in the world. The wind energy sector has grown exponentially since the end of the 1990s, especially within many countries, and this has affected the employment levels of countries involved.     

Estimating global hydrogen production from wind

It is likely that intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar will provide the greatest opportunity for future large-scale hydrogen production. Here, on-shore wind is examined. Global wind energy is estimated by placing one 2 MW turbine/km² over the surface of the earth. Wind energy production is based on monthly mean wind speed data. Wind turbines are grouped to form arrays that are linked to local hydrogen generation and transmission networks. Hydrogen generation is done via low-pressure electrolysis and transmission via high-pressure gas pipelines. The wind/hydrogen system is considered within a global energy system that must not only provide hydrogen, but also energy for electricity consumption at the local generation site. The technical potential of the hydrogen produced is estimated to be 116 EJ. Uneven distribution of the hydrogen-rich sites results in the need to export much of the hydrogen produced to energy-poor regions. To overcome system losses, a combined wind/HVDC/hydrogen system is considered.     

A review of wind energy technologies

Energy is an essential ingredient of socio-economic development and economic growth. Renewable energy sources like wind energy is indigenous and can help in reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Wind is the indirect form of solar energy and is always being replenished by the sun. Wind is caused by differential heating of the earth's surface by the sun. It has been estimated that roughly 10 million MW of energy are continuously available in the earth's wind. Wind energy provides a variable and environmental friendly option and national energy security at a time when decreasing global reserves of fossil fuels threatens the long-term sustainability of global economy. This paper reviews the wind resources assessment models, site selection models and aerodynamic models including wake effect. The different existing performance and reliability evaluation models, various problems related to wind turbine components (blade, gearbox, generator and transformer) and grid for wind energy system have been discussed. This paper also reviews different techniques and loads for design, control systems and economics of wind energy conversion system.     

Estimation of wind energy production in various sites in Australia for different wind turbine classes: A comparative technical and economic assessment

This study examines the effect of different wind turbine classes on the electricity production of wind farms in three areas of Australia, which present low, low to medium, and medium to high wind potential: Gingin, Armidale, and Gold Coast Seaway. Wind turbine classes determine the suitability of installing a wind turbine in a particulate site. Wind turbine data from six different manufacturers have been used. For each manufacturer, at lest two wind turbines with identical rated power (in the range of 1.5 MW–3 MW) and different wind turbine classes (IEC I, IEC II and/or IEC III) are compared. The results show the superiority of wind turbines that are designed for lower wind speeds (higher IEC class) in all three locations, in terms of energy production. This improvement is higher for the locations with lower and medium wind potential (Gingin and Armidale), and varies from 5% to 55%. Moreover, this study investigates the economical feasibility of a 30 MW wind farm, for all combinations of site locations and wind turbine models.     

Wind energy and assessment of wind energy potential in Turkey

In this study, the potential of wind energy and assessment of wind energy systems in Turkey were studied. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the wind energy potential and future wind conversion systems project in Turkey. The wind energy potential of various regions was investigated; and the exploitation of the wind energy in Turkey was discussed. Various regions were analyzed taking into account the wind data measured as hourly time series in the windy locations. The wind data used in this study were taken from Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIEI) for the year 2010. This paper reviews the assessment of wind energy in Turkey as of the end of May 2010 including wind energy applications. Turkey's total theoretically available potential for wind power is around 131,756.40 MW and sea wind power 17,393.20 MW annually, according to TUREB (TWEA). When Turkey has 1.5 MW nominal installed wind energy capacity in 1998, then this capacity has increased to 1522.20 MW in 2010. Wind power plant with a total capacity of 1522.20 MW will be commissioned 2166.65 MW in December 2011.     

A Review of UK Wind Energy Activities

Wind energy activities in the UK have so far concentrated on comprehensive studies of system integration aspects and a detailed assessment of offshore wind energy systems. There is particular interest in offshore systems, which could provide a significant proportion of Britain's electricity needs. Many small wind turbines have been built and tested, but the design and construction of large wind turbines has proceeded more slowly. However, two industrial groups are developing large wind turbines, one horizontal axis and one a novel vertical axis design, with Department of Energy support. The first UK multi-megawatt wind turbine (3 MW rated, 60-metres diameter, horizontal axis) will be operational in 1984/85, with several medium-sized wind turbines (20–25-metres diameter), due for completion in 1982 and 1983. Electricity utilities in the UK are showing considerable interest in the use of wind energy and are participating actively in developments.     

Wind electric power in the world and perspectives of its development in India

The global market for wind power is expanding faster than any other source of renewable energy. From just 4,800 MW in 1995 raise to fifteen-fold to reach 73,904 MW at the end of 2006. Top five wind electric power generating countries at the end of 2006 were Germany, Spain, United States of America (USA), India and Denmark. Since 1980s, when the first commercial wind turbine was deployed, their capacity, efficiency and visual design have all improved a lot. A modern wind turbine annually produces 180 times more electricity at less than half the cost per unit (kWh) than its equivalent twenty years ago. The largest turbines being manufactured now are of rated power of 5 MW capacity and a rotor diameter of 126 m. Modern turbines are modular and quick to install, whilst wind farms vary in size from a few MW to several hundred MW. Keeping these factors in view, an attempt has been made in this paper to present current advances in wind turbine generator technology. Wind energy scenario in the world in general and in India in particular have been presented. Further the cost components of wind turbine electric generation system have been included.     

Willingness to pay for reduced visual disamenities from offshore wind farms in Denmark

Expansion of offshore wind power plays a significant role in the energy policies of many EU countries. However, offshore wind farms create visual disamenities. These disamenities can be reduced by siting wind farms at larger distances from the coast—and accepting higher costs per kWh produced. In this paper willingness to pay for reducing the visual disamenities from future offshore wind farms is elicited using the economic valuation method Choice Experiments. The valuation scenario comprises the location of 720 offshore wind turbines (equivalent to 3600 MW) in farms at distances equal to: 12, 18 or 50 km from the shore, relative to an 8 km baseline. Using a fixed effect logit model average willingness to pay amounts were estimated as: 46, 96 and 122 Euros/household/year for having the wind farms located at 12, 18 and 50 km from the coast as opposed to 8 km. The results also reveal that WTP deviates significantly depending on the age of respondents and their experiences with offshore wind farms.     

Renewable energy potential on brownfield sites: A case study of Michigan

Federal priorities are increasingly favoring the replacement of conventional sources of energy with renewable energy. With the potential for a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) legislation, many states are seeking to intensify their renewable energy generation. The demand for wind, solar, geothermal and bio-fuels-based energy is likely to be rapidly expressed on the landscape. However, local zoning and NIMBYism constraints slow down the placement of renewable energy projects. One area where land constraints may be lower is brownfields; whose development is currently constrained by diminished housing, commercial, and industrial property demand. Brownfield sites have the potential for rapid renewable energy deployment if state and national interests in this area materialize. This study investigates the application of renewable energy production on brownfield sites using Michigan as a case study. Wind and solar resource maps of Michigan were overlaid with the brownfield locations based on estimates of brownfield land capacity. The total estimated energy potential available on Michigan’s brownfield sites is 4320 megawatts (MW) of plate capacity for wind and 1535for solar, equating to 43% of Michigan’s residential electricity consumption (using 30% capacity factor). Estimated economic impacts include over $15 billion in investments and 17,500 in construction and long-term jobs.     

Performance evaluation of Jepirachi Wind Park

This paper presents some technical details, operational experiences, and lessons learnt by the Colombian public utility – Empresas Públicas de Medellín – with a recently installed 19.5 MW wind park in the northern region of Colombia – province of La Guajira. This is the first ever wind park feeding to the electricity network in Colombia. The Jepirachi Wind Park was commissioned in April 2004 and it has to date accumulated nearly 180,000 h of operation. During that time 15 NORDEX N60/1.3 MW turbines have fed electricity to the Colombian main electricity grid. This work describes the park layout, including meteorological stations installed in the surroundings and the wind regime prevailing in the zone. Details are also given about remote monitoring of the Wind Park and individual turbines, through the Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA Nordex Control 2). Since July 2004, Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EEPPM) and Universidad de Los Andes-Bogotá, Colombia have been working together in a wind park performance monitoring programme. This has permitted both institutions to learn more rapidly matters relating to evaluation, planning and operation of wind parks exposed to extreme climatic conditions like those present in the semi-desert region of the Guajira. This work describes the wind park operation, where individual wind turbines have yielded monthly production capacity factors as high as 65–75%; values which are high when compared to similar turbines installed elsewhere. Accordingly, levels of electrical energy production of up to 1750 kWh/m²-year per turbine have been measured, exceeding typical values reported in the wind energy literature. A series of operational and technical troubles have become evident, which are related to some of the particular features of the climate and the wind regime at the site of the Jepirachi Wind Park. Because of these local features it is suggested that a greater level of uncertainty (limiting the validity of methods and hypotheses) may exist in the study and planning of future wind parks in regions such as La Guajira.     

Wind energy development in west of Romania

The paper attempts the assessment of a part of design and erection activities in wind energy field, in western Romania, from Electromontaj S.A. one new 100 % private company.So I shall refer to achievements of construction and erection:First the 3 MW demonstrative wind farm in Banat Mountain, and second the programmes for erection of experimental small wind turbines for operation in isolated settlements, in the power range 0,5–10 KW, and erection PV/Wind Turbines/Battery Systems, in small villages where are many lonely houses, who haven't electricity, for first time in our country.     

Technological evolution of onshore wind turbines—a market‐based analysis

Wind energy technology is evolving towards larger machines (longer blades, taller towers and more powerful generators). Scaling up wind turbines is a challenging task, which requires innovative solutions as well as new configurations and designs. The size of wind turbines (in terms of rotor diameter, hub height and rated power) has increased extraordinary from 30 m rotor diameter, 30 m of hub height and 300 kW rated power, usual in the late 1980s, to 92.7 m rotor diameter, 87.7 m of height and 2.1 MW on average at the end of 2014. However, technological evolution has not only been focused on the scaling up process but also on developing innovative solutions that minimize costs at the same time as they deal with aspects of different nature, such as grid code requirements, reliability, quality of the wind resource or prices and availability of certain commodities, among others. This paper analyses the evolution of wind technology from a market‐based perspective by identifying trends in the most relevant technological indicators at the same time as stressing the key differentiating aspects between regions/markets. Evolution and trends in indicators such as rated power, rotor diameter, hub height, specific power, wind class, drive train configuration and power control systems are presented and analysed, showing an intense and fast technological development, which is enabling wind energy to reduce costs and becoming increasingly more competitive with conventional fuel‐based generating technologies. © 2016 The Authors Wind Energy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

世界风力发电现状与前景

风能是一种能量密度比较低、稳定性比较差的能源。但它突出的优势是清洁,用风能发电不会污染环境,而且电力成本比较便宜。从70年代开始,风电业不断发展,到1997年,世界约有7816MW风电得到利用。随着风电技术的日趋成熟和电力规模的扩大,风力发电机的功率在向大型化方向发展。今后的风电发展前景是乐观的。     

Improving the utilization factor of a PEM electrolyzer powered by a 15 MW PV park by combining wind power and battery storage – Feasibility study

So far, the biggest photovoltaic park in Belgium has been injecting all its energy into the electric distribution grid through a power purchase agreement with an electricity supplier. Due to decreasing and volatile wholesale electricity prices, the industrial partners/owners of the photovoltaic park are considering hydrogen storage in an attempt to increase the value proposition of their renewable energy installation. A major objective of the present work is to show how the utilization factor of the electrolyzer is affected by the design of the power supply system when the latter consists only of renewable energy sources instead of using the electric grid. Different hybrid designs were developed, by combining the existing photovoltaic source with wind power and state-of-the-art energy storage technologies (Vanadium Redox Flow or Lithium NMC). Finally, four scenarios were investigated, all considering a 1 MW PEM electrolyzer: A) 15 MW PV, B) 15 MW PV, 2MW Wind, C) 15 MW PV, 2 MW Wind, Battery, D) 15 MW PV, 15 MW Wind. The utilization factor was found as follows, for each scenario respectively: A) 41,5%, B) 65,5%, C) 66,0–86,0%, D) 82,0%. Furthermore, the analysis was extended to include economic evaluations (i.e. payback period, accumulated profit), specifically concerning scenario B and C. The results of this study lead to a number of conclusions such as: i) The utilization of the electrolyzer is limited when its power supply is intermittent. ii) Compared to PV, wind power makes larger contribution to the increase of the utilization factor, iii) 100% utilization can be achieved only if an energy storage system co-exists. iv) With a utilization factor at 65,5% scenario B can deliver a payback period in less than 8 years, if hydrogen is sold above 5€/kg. An analytic overview of all conclusions is presented in the last section of the paper.     

Reliability benefit analysis of adding WTG to a distribution system

Wind turbine generators (WTG) used as alternative supply in a distribution system have different impacts on the system reliability performance than conventional alternative supplies due to the variable wind speed. This paper investigates the system reliability benefits of adding WTG as alternative supply in a rural distribution system. The wind generation interrupted energy benefit (WGIEB), the wind generation interruption cost benefit (WGICB), the equivalent number of conventional generators (ENCG) and the equivalent conventional generator capacity (ECGC) of one MW WTG are introduced. These indices provide direct reliability benefit indicators on the addition of WTG, and are important information for system planners to make planning decisions such as the selection of a wind site and the number of WTG. A test rural distribution system is utilized to illustrate the proposed technique. The effects on the system reliability benefits of the wind site selection and the number of wind units are investigated     

Accounting for variation in wind deployment between Canadian provinces

Wind energy deployment varies widely across regions and this variation cannot be explained by differences in natural wind resources alone. Evidence suggests that institutional factors beyond physical wind resources can influence the deployment of wind energy systems. Building on the work of Toke et al. (2008), this study takes a historical institutionalist approach to examine the main factors influencing wind energy deployment across four Canadian provinces Canada: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia. Our case studies suggest that wind energy deployment depends upon a combination of indirect causal factors—landscape values, political and social movements, government electricity policy, provincial electricity market structure and incumbent generation technologies and direct causal factors—grid architecture, ownership patterns, renewable incentive programs, planning and approvals processes and stakeholder support and opposition.     

Wind energy resource assessment in Madrid region

The “Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid” (Autonomous Community of Madrid, in the following Madrid Region), is a region located at the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula. Its area is 8.028 km², and its population about five million people. The Department of Economy and Technological Innovation of the Madrid Region, together with some organizations dealing on energy saving and other research institutions have elaborated an Energy Plan for the 2004–12 period. As a part of this work, the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory of the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid has carried out the assessment of the wind energy resources [Crespo A, Migoya E, Gómez Elvira R. La energía eólica en Madrid. Potencialidad y prospectiva. Plan energético de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2004–2012. Madrid: Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid; 2004]; using for this task the WAsP program (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program), and the own codes, UPMORO (code to study orography effects) and UPMPARK (code to study wake effects in wind parks). Different kinds of data have been collected about climate, topography, roughness of the land, environmentally protected areas, town and village distribution, population density, main facilities and electric power supply. The Spanish National Meteorological Institute has nine wind measurement stations in the region, but only four of them have good and reliable temporary wind data, with time measurement periods that are long enough to provide representative correlations among stations. The Observed Wind Climates of the valid meteorological stations have been made. The Wind Atlas and the resource grid have been calculated, especially in the high wind resource areas, selecting appropriate measurements stations and using criteria based on proximity, similarity and ruggedness index. Some areas cannot be used as a wind energy resource mainly because they have environmental regulation or, in some cases, are very close to densely populated towns. In the finally selected areas, it is assumed that there are hypothetical wind farms, consisting of 2 MW turbines in appropriate configurations, in which the turbines are about 11 diameters apart. Its energy production will give an estimation of the wind energy potential of the Madrid Region.     

Multi-criteria assessment of offshore wind turbine support structures

Wind power, especially offshore, is considered one of the most promising sources of ‘clean’ energy towards meeting the EU and UK targets for 2020 and 2050. Deployment of wind turbines in constantly increasing water depths has raised the issue of the appropriate selection of the most suitable support structures’ options. Based on experience and technology from the offshore oil and gas industry, several different configurations have been proposed for different operational conditions. This paper presents a methodology for the systematic assessment of the selection of the most preferable, among the different configurations, support structures for offshore wind turbines, taking into consideration several attributes through the widely used multi-criteria decision making method TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) for the benchmarking of those candidate options. An application comparing a monopile, a tripod and a jacket, for a reference 5.5 MW wind turbine and a reference depth of 40 m, considering multiple engineering, economical and environmental attributes, will illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Contents

In India, grid connected wind power generation has gained a high level of attention and acceptability as compared to other renewable technologies available in the country. Wind energy installation in the country is around 1340 MW as of March 2001 and around 6.75 billion units of electricity have been fed to the state grids so far. India had undertaken one of the world's largest efforts for wind resource assessment, a program that covers 25 states comprising about 900 stations. The study has indicated a gross wind potential of around 45000 MW and the technical potential is currently estimated at 13000 MW. A notable feature of the Indian wind energy program has been the interest evinced by private investors/developers in setting up commercial wind power projects. A capacity of 1250 MW of commercial wind power projects has so far been installed, mainly in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The largest installation of wind turbines in the country so far is in the Muppandal and Perungudi area near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu with an aggregate installed capacity of about 500 MW. This represents one of the largest concentrations of wind farm capacity at any particular location. State-of-the-art technology is now available in India for manufacturing wind turbines of capacity up to 750 kW. Presently about 12 manufacturers are engaged in the production of wind electric generators. The annual production capacity of the domestic wind turbine industry is around 500 MW at present.     

Public attitudes of wind energy in Texas: Local communities in close proximity to wind farms and their effect on decision-making

Wind energy is now recognized as an important energy resource throughout the world. Within the United States, the state of Texas currently has the largest wind energy capacity with 8797 total megawatts and an additional 660 MW under construction. With this rapid growth, it is important to achieve a better understanding of how wind energy is being perceived by the public.