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Unit 2: Wind energy

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 Wind energy : an introduction
Wind Energy and Wind Power
• Wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the uneven
heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the
earth's surface, and rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns are
modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetative
cover. This wind flow, or motion energy, when "harvested" by
modern wind turbines, can be used to generate electricity.
How Wind Power Is Generated
• The terms "wind energy" or "wind power" describe the process
by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or
electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind
into mechanical power. This mechanical power can be used for
specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a
generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity to
power homes, businesses, schools, and the like.

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Wind Turbines
• Wind turbines, like aircraft propeller blades, turn in the
moving air and power an electric generator that
supplies an electric current. Simply stated, a wind turbine
is the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to
make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make
electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft,
which connects to a generator and makes electricity.
Wind Turbine Types
• Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups; the
horizontal-axis variety, like the traditional farm windmills
used for pumping water, and the vertical-axis design,
like the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its
French inventor. Most large modern wind turbines are
horizontal-axis turbines.
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Turbine Components
• Horizontal turbine components include:
• blade or rotor, which converts the energy in the wind to
rotational shaft energy;
• a drive train, usually including a gearbox and a
generator;
• a tower that supports the rotor and drive train; and
• other equipment, including controls, electrical cables,
ground support equipment, and interconnection
equipment.

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• Wind turbines are often grouped together into a single wind power
plant, also known as a wind farm, and generate bulk electrical
power. Electricity from these turbines is fed into a utility grid and
distributed to customers, just as with conventional power plants.
Wind Turbine Size and Power Ratings
• Wind turbines are available in a variety of sizes, and therefore power
ratings.
• The largest machine has blades that span more than the length of a
football field, stands 20 building stories high, and produces enough
electricity to power 1,400 homes.
• A small home-sized wind machine has rotors between 8 and 25 feet
in diameter and stands upwards of 30 feet and can supply the power
needs of an all-electric home or small business. Utility-scale
turbines range in size from 50 to 750 kilowatts.
• Single small turbines, below 50 kilowatts, are used for homes,
telecommunications dishes, or water pumping.

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• Wind Energy Resources in the United States
• Wind energy is very abundant in many parts of the
United States. Wind resources are characterized by
wind-power density classes, ranging from class 1 (the
lowest) to class 7 (the highest). Good wind resources
(e.g., class 3 and above, which have an average annual
wind speed of at least 13 miles per hour) are found in
many locations (see United States Wind Energy
Resource Map). Wind speed is a critical feature of wind
resources, because the energy in wind is proportional to
the cube of the wind speed. In other words, a stronger
wind means a lot more power.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind-Generated Electricity

A Renewable Non-Polluting Resource

• Wind energy is a free, renewable resource, so no matter how

much is used today, there will still be the same supply in the future.
Wind energy is also a source of clean, non-polluting, electricity.
Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants
or greenhouse gases.
• According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in 1990, California's
wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion
pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants
that would have otherwise been produced.
• It would take a forest of 90 million to 175 million trees to provide the
same air quality.

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Cost Issues
• Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past
10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil-
fueled generators.
• Roughly 80% of the cost is the machinery, with the balance being site
preparation and installation.
• If wind generating systems are compared with fossil-fueled systems on a
"life-cycle" cost basis (counting fuel and operating expenses for the life of
the generator), however, wind costs are much more competitive with other
generating technologies because there is no fuel to purchase and minimal
operating expenses.
Environmental Concerns
• Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment
compared to fossil fuel power plants, there is some concern over the noise
produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) impacts, and birds and
bats having been killed (avian/bat mortality) by flying into the rotors.
• Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through
technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

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Supply and Transport Issues

• The major challenge to using wind as a source of power is that it is

intermittent and does not always blow when electricity is needed.
• Wind cannot be stored (although wind-generated electricity can be
stored, if batteries are used), and not all winds can be harnessed to
meet the timing of electricity demands. Further, good wind sites are
often located in remote locations far from areas of electric power
demand (such as cities).
• Finally, wind resource development may compete with other uses
for the land, and those alternative uses may be more highly valued
than electricity generation.
• However, wind turbines can be located on land that is also used for
grazing or even farming.

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Features of wind energy

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Types of wind mills

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very low as compared to that for propellers.

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Power from the wind

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• https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-
wind-turbines-work
• https://nptel.ac.in/courses/108108078/pdf/
chap6/teach_slides06.pdf

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 Energy available and total power of wind
The kinetic energy of wind is give by the equation:

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 Performance of wind mills
• The wind turbine electricity production can be depending on the
following factors, namely wind speed, height of tower, air density and
area swept by the rotor blades.
• From the figure clearly understand, that the above mention factor
influencing the electricity production of the wind turbine

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Wind Speed
• Wind power is exponentially proportional to wind speed. If wind
speed doubles, power generation becomes eight times greater. So,
wind speed study of any proposed site is done extensively to ensure
good returns on investment. Typically wind speeds are measured for
a year at the site before any decision is taken.

Height of Tower
• Wind speed depends on height of the turbine from the ground. At
ground level, there are many obstructions in the form of buildings,
houses, trees, etc. They obstruct smooth flow of wind and hence
decrease its speed. Doubling the height of tower almost doubles
wind power output.

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Air Density

• Wind power is directly proportional to air density. Air density is

maximum at sea level. That is the reason why we have so many
wind farms near or in seas or oceans. At higher altitude, air density
decreases significantly, so wind farms cannot be made in the
mountains. Also, making the turbine taller and taller will not give
more power.

• The more dense the air, the more energy received by the turbine. Air
density varies with elevation and temperature. Air is less dense at
higher elevations than at sea level, and warm air is less dense than
cold air. All else being equal, turbines will produce more power at
lower elevations and in locations with cooler average temperatures.

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Rotor Area (Swept area of the turbine)
• Wind power output is directly proportional to rotor area. If rotor area
is doubled, turbine output also doubles. Rotor area is the area swept
by the blades of the wind turbine. So, the larger the turbine blades,
the greater is the power output.
• The larger the swept area (the size of the area through which the
rotor spins), the more power the turbine can capture from the wind.
Since swept area is πD2/4, where D = diameter of the rotor, a small
increase in blade length results in a larger increase in the power
available to the turbine

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Modern wind energy generators

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 Wind power farm
• A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location
used to produce electricity. A large wind farm may consist of
several hundred individual wind turbines and cover an
extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land
between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other
purposes. A wind farm can also be located offshore.
• Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are
located in China, India, and the United States. For example,
the largest wind farm in the world, Gansu Wind Farm in China
has a capacity of over 6,000 MW as of 2012 with a goal of
20,000 MW by 2020. As of April 2013, the 630 MW London
Array in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

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Design and location
• As a general rule, economic wind generators require wind
speed of 4.5 m/s (16 km/h) or greater. An ideal location would
have a near constant flow of non-turbulent wind throughout
the year, with a minimum likelihood of sudden powerful bursts
of wind. An important factor of turbine siting is also access to
local demand or transmission capacity.
• Usually sites are screened on the basis of a wind atlas, and
validated with wind measurements. Meteorological wind data
alone is usually not sufficient for accurate siting of a large
wind power project. Collection of site specific data for wind
speed and direction is crucial to determining site potential in
order to finance the project. Local winds are often monitored
for a year or more, and detailed wind maps constructed
before wind generators are installed. 69
• The wind blows faster at higher altitudes because of the
reduced influence of drag. The increase in velocity with
altitude is most dramatic near the surface and is affected by
topography, surface roughness, and upwind obstacles such
as trees or buildings.
• How closely to space the turbines together is a major factor in
wind farm design. The closer the turbines are together the
more the upwind turbines block wind from their neighbors.
However spacing turbines far apart increases the costs of
roads and cables, and raises the amount of land needed to
install a specific capacity of turbines.
• As a result of these factors, turbine spacing varies by site.
Generally speaking manufacturers require 3.5 times the rotor
diameter of the turbine between turbines as a minimum.
Closer spacing is possible depending on the turbine model,
the conditions at the site, and how the site will be operated
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• Scotland owns the world's first floating
wind farm. The large turbines are floating
in the North Sea, 15 miles off the coast of
the town of Petershead.
• The farm consists of five enormous wind
turbines that stand about 830 feet tall (256
feet of that bobs beneath the water's
surface).

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• Wind turbines have been constructed in water since the
1990s, but they can only be fastened to the ground in water
depths of about 200 feet. The floating turbines in Scotland,
however, are anchored at 255 feet, and they can be rigged at
depths of over 2,600 feet.
• Once upright and operating, cables then connect the turbines
to the town's energy grid. The turbines are capable of
powering 20,000 homes.
• Each turbine is capable of pumping 6 megawatts of energy
into the grid, meaning the project can contribute 30
megawatts in total. When not used, all this power is stored in
lithium batteries, which have a capacity of more than two
million iPhones.
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• The cost of production, however, is still high.
• Installing the five turbines in Scotland cost 200 million British
pounds—that's about 263 million U.S. dollars.
• The U.K. has a Renewable Energy Directive that dictates 30
percent of the country's electricity must come from
renewables by 2020. According to a report by the Scottish
government, more than half that region's energy already
comes from renewables.

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• Tuppadahalli onshore wind farm is a 56.1MW power project
being built in Karnataka, India
• The wind farm is located about 55km from Chitradurga and
260km from Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka.
• The $79m project is owned, operated and developed by
ACCIONA Energy, a Spanish company. Its construction was
started in October 2010 and was fully completed by second
quarter of 2011. It is ACCIONA’s third wind farm in India. The
company operates two more wind farms in the state, which
include the Arasinagundi (13.2MW) and Anabaru (16.5MW)
wind parks, which were opened in 2007 and 2008
respectively.
• The Tuppadahalli wind farm produces 140GWh of clean
energy per annum, which is sufficient to power around 35,000
Indian homes. It reduces some 129,000t of CO2 emissions
annually.
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• The Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM),
state-owned and operated distribution utility, purchases the
power generated by the project under a 20-year power
purchase agreement (PPA).
• The project was built to comply with the clean development
mechanism (CDM) system under the Kyoto Protocol. The
CDM registered projects enjoy financial benefits through
trading of certified emission reduction (CER) units.
• The Tuppadahalli wind farm comprises 34 Vestas V82
wind turbines rated at 1.65MW each. The Vestas V82 is
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) certified to meet the wind
industry requirements. Each turbine has a rotor diameter
of 82m and hub height of 78m. The simple design of the
turbine enables easy and affordable operations and
maintenance.
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END

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