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Latest Issue
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- Category: Articles
An Open-Source Tool for Optimising Renewable Energy Components within Mini-GridsHybrid mini-grids (HMGs) are an ideal solution for remote settlements without energy access. HMGs are typically sized and optimised with commercial software that comes with the usual limitations and is lacking in transparency. The Reiner Lemoine Institute has attempted to develop an open-source alternative to standard software for modelling and sizing HMGs.
By Sarah Berendes, Reiner Lemoine Institut, Germany
- Category: Articles
Innovative Floating Platform for Deploying XXL Turbines
The main focus on releasing the potential of deep-water wind is how to reduce costs to make it competitive with nearshore wind. Nearshore bottom-mounted wind is now generating at nearly half the cost of nuclear.
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One way to drive down costs is to go for bigger turbines where so-called XXL units with capacities of up to 20MW are being considered. But such large units demand very stable platforms to resist the large capsizing moments. Increased stability with a floating platform means increased size and this has implications for where they can be built, what facilities can be utilised for their build, and how they can be deployed to site. This article reviews the fundamental stability consideration and how it impacts the size of the established floating platform solution of ‘spar’ and ‘semi-submersible’. The author proposes an alternative solution combining the features and advantages of the ‘spar’ and ‘semi-submersible’ – termed a ‘multifloat-spar’ – and puts forward its advantages in helping to drive down the cost of deep-water wind.
By Graeme Mackie, Oceanflow Energy, UK
- Category: Articles
Ensuring Successful Wind Projects Requires Access to Optimised Resource DataInvestors and developers need high-quality wind resource data for financial modelling, and, with the decline in subsidy supports both in the UK and elsewhere, ensuring accurate measurements is critical. Much of the attention in this regard has focused on whether meteorological (met) masts or remote sensing devices will win out as the technology of choice in the coming years. However, with each possessing strengths and weaknesses, there are a range of other site and project considerations that developers must factor into early-stage site prospecting in order to reduce costs and maximise returns over the lifetime of a project.
By Alistair Marsden, Dulas, UK
- Category: Articles
Renewables and Block Chain Technology Unleash New Power StructuresWe’ve seen it in other industries—the disruption that occurs when new players with breakthrough technologies demolish old barriers. Remember when half the world’s population had never used a phone? For decades, telecommunication leaders were stymied, unable to imagine how to reach every village in the world. Then came wireless. Today a goat herder in Asia can have a mobile phone and instantaneous connection.
By Michael Lumbley, Michael Lumbley, Alternative Resource Group, USA
- Category: Articles
Easy Vertical-Axis Wind TurbinesHave you ever wanted to build a wind turbine yourself just for the fun of it or perhaps to generate power? Geodesic turbines have a mesmerising operational quality to them, easy enough to build and capable of performing work.
By Brandon Everhart, Geodesic Turbine, USA
- Category: Articles
Joining Up Observation and Simulation of Wind FarmsWhen assessing the monthly performance of wind farms post-construction, uncertainty in assumed wake losses contributes a substantial proportion of uncertainty in the production assessment. The operational data analysis software of Lindahl now integrates the cloud-based wake model, WakeBlaster, providing a simple interface for simulating wake climate over the project operating history of a wind farm.
By Staffan Lindahl and Dr Wolfgang Schlez, UK
- Category: Articles
A Comparison between Flow Complexity Recognition and Computational Fluid Dynamics
Lidar provides a widely accepted approach to wind speed measurement. With this technology, as with other forms of remote sensing, the usual assumption is that flow is homogeneous across the entire volume of measurement. However, in complex terrain this assumption can no longer be made, especially with respect to wind speeds at different heights (see Figure 1). This article considers two different approaches to wind speed measurement in moderately complex terrain and, by way of illustration, draws upon real-world examples.By Peter Spencer, Chief Marketing Officer, Leosphere, France
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