Renewable Energy Resources

2008

WIND ENERGY
Antnio F. O. Falco

Origins and characterization of wind

Sun

WIND: from uneven heating of Earth surface by solar

radiation.
Depends on:
latitude
time of year (summer, winter)
time of day (day, night)
type of surface (sea, land)
presence of clouds

Earth rotation Coriolis acceleration curvature of wind streamlines

Global wind pattern

Presence of continents and large islands: largescale modifications to the Global wind pattern

Smaller scale modifications: presence of hills

and mountains

Daily cycles: local or regional thermal wind systems

Temperature of Earth surface depends on balance between (1) solar radiation
(during day), and (2) the heat lost by long-wave radiation into space.
Earth surface warms up during the day and cools down during the night.

Sea and land breezes at interface of land and sea:

Land heats up and cools down faster than the sea.

Daytime
development of
sea breeze
circulation

Nightime
development of land
breeze circulation

Sea Breeze Circulation

DAY

NIGHT

Daytime
development of
valey breeze
circulation

Nightime
development of
mountain breeze
circulation

Wind depends on many factors. Its variation is chaotic.

Wind prediction is important (also for wind energy
utilization) but is difficult beyond a few days time.
Seasonal (summer-winter) and daily (day-night) variations
are easier to predict.
Annual-averaged wind velocity may vary significantly from
year-to-year. Minimum of five years is required to
characterize a wind-energy site (not as long as for hydro).
The atmosphere operates on many time scales and
space scales, from seconds and fractions of a meter to
years and thousands of km.

Time-scales and space-scales of wind variation

Atmospheric turbulence: the smalest time- and space-scale

At a given point in space, wind velocity vector can be decomposed into:

U(t ) U u(t )
U(t) = instantaneous velocity vector

U = time-average over 10 min to 1 hour

u(t) = turbulent fluctuation

I
= turbulence intensity
U

( rms of u(t ) )

I depends on distance to ground and on roughness of ground

(presence of buildings, trees, etc.).

Energy spectrum of wind speed fluctuations in the atmosphere

Turbulence

European
Wind
Atlas

Wind Energy
resource
in Europe
50m above
groundlevel

Wind resources at 50 m above ground for five different

topographic conditions

Wind Energy Atlas for Portugal

Velocities 60m above ground

Atmospheric boundary layer

Air is a viscous flow (although of small viscosity).
Velocity at a wall e.g at the ground is zero.
Velocity increases with distance to ground in the boundary layer.

U (z )

velocity profile
boundary layer

Velocity profile may depend on:

velocity above boundary layer (geostrofic wind)
thermal effects (resulting from surface heating or cooling)
surface orography (hills, mountains, valleys, etc.)

Abnormal
profile

surface roughness (buildings, trees, etc.)

(m(s)

It is important to know the wind speed at level z of turbine axis.

Most times the information is available for z1 z .
There are several (more or less empirical) expressions for the
velocity profile in the boundary layer.
Power profile U constant z
depends on surface type; typically = 1/7

Logarithmic profile

z
U ( z ) constant ln
r

Type of terrain

Roughness length r (m)

Cities, forrests

0.7

Suburbs, wooded countryside

0.3

Villages, countryside with trees and hedges

0.1

Open farmland, few trees and buildings

0.03

Flat grassy plains

0.01

Flat desert, rough sea

0.001

Example
Type of velocity profile
z 100 m, z1 60 m Logarithmic, with r = 0.1 m

U ( z ) U ( z1 )

1.080

Logarithmic, with r = 0.03 m

1.067

Logarithmic, with r = 0.01 m

1.059

Power, with = 1/7

1.076

Effect of change in surface roughness from smooth to rough

If the ground is not flat (a plain) the velocity profile in the

boundary layer may be substantially modified by the
orography (presence of hills, mountains, valleys, etc.).
Even if the fluid has no viscosity (perfect fluid), the presence
of an obstacle modifies the flow
higher velocity
at top

Low velocity
separated flow

Real viscous flow

Low velocity
separated flow

Effect of ridge orientation and shape on site suitability

Increased wind speeds due to channeling by mountains

Statistical analysis of wind velocity variations

A good characterization of the wind energy potential at a given site
requires a long (several years) time-series of measured velocity records at
the site.
This information is frequently not available.
Statistical analysis may be used instead, provided that we know:
the annual-mean wind velocity (averaged over one or more years);
the overall wind climate characteristics of the region.
The analysis is based on the hourly mean wind velocity U, which is a
time-averaged value, over time-intervals of about 1 hour.
This will be regarded as an instantaneous velocity (1 hour << 1 year).

Introduce the cumulative

distribution function

F (U )
as fraction of time for which the
(hourly-mean) wind velocity
exceeds U

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

F (U )

dF (U )
dU
is the probability density function.
Derivative p (U )

p (U ) dU is the probability of the

hourly-mean wind velocity being
between U and U + dU .

p(U ) dU 1
0

0.1
0.08

f (U )

U U p(U ) dU
0

0.06
0.04
0.02
0

10

15

20

25

The Weibull distribution gives a good representation of

the variation of the hourly wind speed over a year (or
several years) at many typical sites.

U
F (U ) exp

U
dF (U ) kU k 1
p(U )

exp

k
dU
c
c

c = scale parameter,

k = shape parameter,

U c(1 k 1 )

0.14
0.12

k = 2.8
2.4

pU ms 1

0.1

0.08

2.0

0.06

1.6

Larger k for smaller seasonal

variation.

1.2

0.04
0.02
0

U 8 m/s

10

15

U ms

k = 1.6 could be acceptable

for Portugal.
20

25

Example of frequency of occurrence of wind classes

WIND TURBINES
Windmills used since ancient times

La Mancha, Spain

Dutch windmill

Mid-19th century: the American

windmill for pumping water (six
million were built until 1930).
Compared with modern wind
turbines:
Large bladed area
Low rotational speed

Denmark, 1956-57,
200 kW
The Giant Brush Windmill in
Cleveland, Ohio, 1887-88
Rotor diameter: 17m, 12 kW

Denmark, during WW II

The Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine

Invented in 1925 by F.M. Darrieus (France). Usually 2 or 3 rotor blades.
Developped in USA and Canada 1970s to 1990s in competition with the
horizontal-axis wind turbine.

The modern horizontalaxis wind turbine

Blade

Gearbox of large
wind turbine

Most large wind turbines have a gearbox.

The German manufacturer Enercon opted
for a very low rotational speed electrical
generator with a large number of poles,
and no gearbox.

CONTROL
Most modern large wind turbines are automatically controlled
by acting on both:
the blade pitch
and the rotational speed (8.6-18.4 rpm for
the large Vestas V90-3MW)

Blade pitch control

mechanism

Basic wind turbine

aerodynamics

The actuator disc theory of the wind turbine

(Rankine-Froude)
U

Disc

Slipstream
pressure

D 2
Disc area A
4

Disc

Air flow rate through disc:

no turbine present AU
in presence of turbine <AU

Slipstream
pressure

Available power (from wind

kinetic energy
Pavail ( AU )

U
1
AU 3
2
2

Theoretical maximum limit

(Albert Betz, 1926)

Power coefficient C P

CP , max

Pabsorbed
Pavail

16

0.593
27

Disc

Why
Betz
limit ?

Slipstream
pressure

velocity
area

UU

(1 a)U

(1 2a)U

1 a
A
1 2a

(1 a) A

Absorbed kinetic energy/unit mass

Mass flow rate A(1 a )U

U2
1 (1 2a ) 2
2

(a 1)

U2
1 (1 2a ) 2
Absorbed power A(1 a)U
2

1
16
CP
0.593
Maximum absorbed power a
3
27

Rotor blade aerodynamics

force
velocity

blade velocity
Aerodynamic
force

blade

Performance of real wind turbines

C P of real turbines does not exceed about 0.45 (Betz limit = 0.593)
Other losses (of real turbines):
Viscous (aerodynamic) losses on blades
Exit kinetic energy lost by wake rotation
Losses in bearings and gear box
Electrical losses

Blade-tip-speed ratio:

blade tip speed

wind speed

Modern wind turbines are designed with 7

Performance
curves of a large
modern wind
turbine
(Vestas V90-3MW)
cut-in

CP

P
1
2

AU 3

Rotor diameter D = 90 m
Air density 1.25 kg/m3

cut-out

Example calculation of
the annual energy
production and the
capacity factor of a
wind turbine
Classes of wind

ENERGIA ELICA: Impacto ambiental

Rudo: praticamente insignificante com mquinas modernas.
Coliso de aves: provavelmente muito menos mortes do que por
outras causas.
Impacto visual: de difcil julgamento; subjectivo; pode ser
incompatvel com certas paisagens protegidas. Pode levar
utilizao de zonas offshore.

ENERGIA ELICA OFFSHORE

Vantagens:
Reduo do impacto visual.
Grandes reas potencialmente disponveis.
Recurso energtico mais abundante, mais regular no tempo
(factor de utilizao pode exceder 0,30), menor turbulncia.
Possibilidade de instalar maiores turbinas.
Desvantagens:
Maiores custos:
- de instalao (fundao submarina, etc.).
- maior exigncia em materiais resistentes corroso.
- de transporte de energia para terra (cabos submarinos).
- de manuteno (acesso).
Interferncia com outras actividades (transportes martimos,
pescas)

ENERGIA ELICA OFFSHORE EM PORTUGAL

Em geral o que bom para a energia das ondas offshore mau para
elica offshore, e vice-versa.
Plataforma continental estreita (em relao a outros locais europeus,
Dinamarca, Esccia, etc.) maiores profundidades a mais de 3 km
da costa maiores custos de fundaes.
Mar mais agitado maiores custos de instalao e manuteno.
Parques seriam de maior dimenso (> 100 MW).
Custos de cerca de 1,5 M/MW ? (onshore: 1.0-1.1 M/MW).
Estudo da Comisso Estratgica dos Oceanos para Portugal:
condies para a instalao de:
20 000 MW em profundidades at 35 m.
3 600 MW em profundidade at 20 m.
Provavelmente interessante apenas aps "saturar" em terra.

World Wind Energy: total installed capacity (MW) 1997-2007

Source: World Wind Energy Association, February 2008

New capacity installed 2007

(difference 2007-2006)
Total capacity installed end 2007

Source: World Wind Energy Association, February 2008

Wind Energy in Europe end of 2007

Installed power (MW)