WIND ENERGY

Abundant and economical energy is the life blood of modern civilizations. Coal,
nuclear and hydro are used primarily to make electricity. Natural gas is widely
used for heating. Biomass, which usually means wood or dried dung, is used for
heating and cooking. Oil powers almost all machines that move and that makes oil
uniquely versatile. Oil powered airplanes carry 500 people across the widest
oceans at nearly the speed of sound. Oil powered machines produce and transport
food. In North America there are many more seats in oil powered vehicles than
there are people. Oil powered machines are ubiquitous. Clearly, we live in the age
of oil, but the age of oil is drawing to a close.

If oil production remains constant until it's gone, there is enough to last 42 years.
Oil wells produce less as they become depleted which will make it impossible to
keep production constant. Similarly, there is enough natural gas to last 61 years
and there is enough coal to last 133 years. Nearly everyone realizes oil and gas will
become scarce and expensive within the life times of living humans. Inevitably,
there will be a transition to sustainable energy sources. The transition may be
willy-nilly or planned-the choice is ours.

The bargraph shows oil, coal and natural gas together supplying 85 percent of the
world's energy supply in 2008.

The red sliver is wind and solar power, primarily. The red sliver may be small, but
it is the future because wind and solar power are sustainable.

Although technology has made oil extraction more efficient, the world is having to
struggle to provide oil by using increasingly costly and less productive methods
such as deep sea drilling, and developing environmentally sensitive areas such as
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The world's population continues to grow at a quarter of a million people per day,
increasing the consumption of energy. Although far less from people in developing
countries, especially USA, the per capita energy consumption of China, India and
other developing nations continues to increase as the people living in these
countries adopt more energy intensive lifestyles. At present a small part of
the world's population consumes a large part of its resources, with the United
States and its population of 300 million people consuming far more oil than China
with its population of 1.3 billion people.
So there is a urgent need for the human civilization to
develop alternative source of energy which is sustainable,
low in cost and also ecofriendly.
Wind power can be an effective solution to the energy
crisis in the world. It is totally safe, low cost, and totally
ecofriendly i.e it’s a source of clean and green energy.
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a
useful form of energy, such as electricity, using wind
turbines. Humans have been using wind power for at least
5,500 years to propel sailboats and sailing ships, and architects have used wind-
driven natural ventilation in buildings since similarly ancient times.
Windmills have been used for irrigation pumping and for milling grain since the
7th century AD. The first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was a
system built in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 by Charles F. Brush. The Brush machine
(shown at right) was a postmill with a multiple-bladed "picket-fence" rotor 17
meters in diameter, featuring a large tail hinged to turn the rotor out of the wind. It
was the first windmill to incorporate a step-up gearbox (with a ratio of 50:1) in
order to turn a direct current generator at its required operational speed . The
development of modern vertical-axis rotors was begun in France by G.J.M.
Darrieus in the 1920s. Of the several rotors Darrieus designed, the most important
one is a rotor comprising slender, curved, airfoil-section blades attached at the top
and bottom of a rotating vertical tube. Major development work on this concept did
not begin until the concept was reinvented in the late 1960s by two Canadian
researchers.

Wind energy as a power source is attractive as an alternative to fossil fuels,

because it is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces
no greenhouse gas emissions. At the end of 2008, worldwide capacity of wind-
powered generators was 121.2 gigawatts (GW). In 2008, wind power produced
about 1.5% of worldwide electricity usage and is growing rapidly, having doubled
in the three years between 2005 and 2008. Several countries have achieved
relatively high levels of wind power penetration, such as 19% of stationary
electricity production in Denmark, 11% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany
and the Republic of Ireland in 2008. As of May 2009, eighty countries around the
world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

Basic technology of wind power

Wind electric generator converts kinetic energy available in wind to electrical
energy by using rotor, gearbox and generator.

Main components of a wind electric generator are:

1. Tower
2. Nacelle
3. Rotor
4. Gearbox
5. Generator
6. Braking System.
7. Yaw System.
8. Controllers.
9. Sensors.

The Basic Process

The wind turns the blades of a windmill-like
machine. The rotating blades turn the shaft to which
they are attached. The turning shaft typically can either power a pump or turn a
generator, which produces electricity.

Most wind machines have blades attached to a horizontal shaft. This shaft
transmits power through a series of gears, which provide power to a water pump or
electric generator. These are called horizontal axis wind turbines.

There are also vertical axis machines, such as the Darrieus wind machine, which
has two, three, or four long curved blades on a vertical shaft and resembles a giant
eggbeater in shape.

The amount of energy produced by a wind machine depends upon the wind speed
and the size of the blades in the machine. In general, when the wind speed doubles,
the power produced increases eight times. Larger blades capture more wind. As the
diameter of the circle formed by the blades doubles, the power increases four
times.

Why Wind Energy

• The project is environment friendly.

• Good wind potential to harness wind energy.
• A permanent shield against ever increasing power prices. The cost
per kwh reduces over a period of time as against rising cost for
conventional power projects.
• The cheapest source of electrical energy. (on a levelled cost over 20
years.)
• Least equity participation required, as well as low cost debt is
easily available to wind energy projects.
• A project with the fastest payback period.
• A real fast track power project, with the lowest gestation period;
and a modular concept.
• Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs are low.
• No marketing risks, as the product is electrical energy.
• A project with no investment in manpower.

Essential requirements for setting up a wind farm

An area where a number of wind electric generators are installed is known as
 a wind farm. The essential requirements for establishment of a wind farm for
optimal exploitation of the wind are

1. High wind resource at particular site.

2. Adequate land availability.
3. Suitable terrain and good soil condition.
4. Proper approach to site.
5. Suitable power grid nearby.
6. Techno-economic selection of WEGs.
7. Scientifically prepared layout.

Wind power and India

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990 and showed a
significant increase in it in the last few years. The worldwide installed capacity
of wind power reached 12,078 MW by the end of 2008. USA (25,170 MW),
Germany (23,903 MW), Spain (16,754 MW) and China (12,210 MW) are ahead of
India in fifth position. As of November 2008 the installed capacity of wind power
in India was 9587.14 MW. Suzlon, an Indian-owned company, emerged on the
global scene in the past decade, and by 2006 had captured almost 8 percent of
market share in global wind turbine sales. Suzlon is currently the leading
manufacturer of wind turbines for the Indian market, holding some 52.4 percent of
market share in India. Suzlon’s success has made India the developing country
leader in advanced wind turbine technology.
Capacity of the various wind turbines installed in India
1. Tamil Nadu is the state with most wind generating capacity: 4132.72 MW
at the end of 2008. the Muppandal wind farm which the largest in Asia is
located near the once impoverished village of Muppandal, supplying the
villagers with electricity for work. The village had been selected as the
showcase for India's $2 billion clean energy program which provides foreign
companies with tax breaks for establishing fields of wind turbines in the
area.
 2. Maharashtra produces around 1837-85 mw and is second only to Tamil
Nadu in terms of generating capacity. Suzlon has been heavily
involved.Suzlon operates what was once Asia's largest wind farm,
the Vankusawade Wind Park (201 MW), near the Koyna reservoir
in Satara district of Maharashtra.
3. Gujarat occupy the third position in terms of generation of power through
wind power and has a capacity of 1432.71 mw. Samana in Rajkot district is
set to host energy companies like China Light Power (CLP) and Tata Power
have pledged to invest up to Rs.8.15 billion ($189.5 million) in different
projects in the area. CLP, through its India subsidiary CLP India, is
investing close to Rs.5 billion for installing 126 wind turbines in Samana
that will generate 100.8 MW power. Tata Power has installed wind turbines
in the same area for generating 50 MW power at a cost of Rs.3.15 billion.
ONGC Ltd has commissioned its first wind power project. The 51 MW
project is located at Motisindholi in Kutch district of Gujarat.
4. Karnataka produces around 1184.45 MW. There are many small wind
farms in Karnataka, making it one of the states in India which has a high
number of wind mill farms.
Other states such as Madhya Pradesh(187.69 MW), Kerala(23MW), West
Bengal(1.10 MW) etc are also engaged in producing power through wind
energy.
Future prospects of wind energy in India
Despite the high installed capacity, the actual utilization of wind power in India is
low because policy incentives are geared towards installation rather than operation
of the plants. This is why only 1.6% of actual power production in India comes
from wind although the installed capacity is 6%. The government is considering
the addition of incentives for ongoing operation of installed wind power plants.[4]
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has fixed a target of
10,500 MW between 2007-12, but an additional generation capacity of only about
6,000 MW might be available for commercial use by 2012.
Recent developments in Wind power worldwide
In the near future, wind energy will be the most cost effective source of electrical
power. Research is going all around the world to develop more cost effective and
efficient wind turbines. In fact, a good case can be made for saying that it already
has achieved this status. The actual life cycle cost of fossil fuels (from mining and
extraction to transport to use technology to environmental impact to political costs
and impacts, etc.) is not really known, but it is certainly far more than the current
wholesale rates. The eventual depletion of these energy sources will entail rapid
escalations in price which -- averaged over the brief period of their use -- will
result in postponed actual costs that would be unacceptable by present standards.
And this doesn't even consider the environmental and political costs of fossil fuels
use that are silently and not-so-silently mounting every day.
One of the advanced researches done by WhalePower, based in Toronto, Ontario,
is testing this wind-turbine blade at a wind-testing facility in Prince Edward Island.
The bumps, or "tubercles," on the blade's leading edge reduce noise, increase its
stability, and enable it to capture more energy from the wind. Prototypes of wind-
turbine blades have shown that the delayed stall doubles the performance of the
turbines at wind speeds of about 17 miles per hour and allows the turbine to
capture more energy out of lower-speed winds. For example, the turbines
generate the same amount of power at 10 miles per hour that conventional turbines
generate at 17 miles per hour. The tubercles effectively channel the air flow across
the blades and create swirling vortices that enhance lift.

WhalePower turbines
WhalePower can rapidly develop precise designs for retrofit leading edges or fully
integrated tubercle technology blades for any turbine.

-Retrofit blades are stronger than the original unmodified blades.

-Integrated blades meet or exceed all required performance criteria.

Another most interesting and recent developed by HELIX WIND

CORPORATION. Helix Wind Corporation (OTCBB: HLXW), a global renewable
energy company, has come up with a new way to provide cost-effective renewable
energy solutions to telecommunications companies. It’s a wind turbine that could
sit on a cell phone tower and generate everything the cell tower needs to operate,
replacing the dirty, nasty diesel usually used. Specifically, Helix’s wind turbines
are ideal ways to lower the costs of operating expenses associated with cell phone
towers in remote locations. These solutions are ideal for telecom infrastructure
providers worldwide dealing with cell towers that are remote or off-grid and utilize
unreliable or expensive energy sources. Depending on the configuration, Helix
turbines can produce enough power to pay for themselves in as little as six
months.

Helix has delivered its first test wind turbines to Eltek Network Solutions Group
for installation of the wind turbines in Nigeria at two different test sites. The
company is also planning to test the turbines on cell towers in the United States as
well. Pending successful testing and subsequent rollout to several operators in the
region, including Zain and MTI, Helix’s relationship with Eltek NSG could
potentially mean several hundred sites over the
next few years and eventual implementation in
other African nations.
“Currently such towers are powered by diesel
generators, which are bad for
the environment and extremely expensive to
operate. This proof-of-concept and the minimal
operating costs make the Helix system ideal for
remote locations.

Another futuristic development in windpower

technology is designing a building which had its
own wind turbines in each corners, to make sure it
captures the wind at its highest
velocity as it accelerates around the
tower. At the apex, where wind
speeds are at a maximum, a domed
double roof cavity directs the wind
towards an array of wind turbines.
The negative pressure created by the
turbines will be used to ventilate
interior spaces. The dome itself is
shaded by solar cells that capture the
southern sun. These systems provide
both comfort and energy to the
space. Building on principles of
biomimicry, Clean Technology Tower utilizes advanced technologies and climate-
appropriate building systems to foster a symbiotic relationship with its local
environment. The tower is easily accessible via both public and private transportation.
Hotel and office lobbies have dedicated street entrances and vehicle pick-up and drop-
off locations. Service access to the building and parking are available below grade.