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- Category: Articles
Can Wind Power Generators be Used to Smooth Out the Power Supply?
Three characteristics of wind energy (variability, uncertainty and asynchronism) can cause problems for maintaining a reliable and secure power system. Demand response, energy storage and improved wind power forecasting techniques have often been described as potential mitigation strategies. The focus of this article is on a mitigation strategy not often discussed and in some ways counterintuitive: the use of wind power to support power system reliability by providing active power control (APC) at fast timescales. APC is the adjustment of a resource’s active power in various response timeframes to assist in balancing the generation and load, thereby improving power system reliability.By Erik Ela, Yingchen Zhang, Paul Fleming and Vahan Gevorgian, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA
- Category: Articles
How to Extend the Life of Motors and Generators
On a wind turbine, or in any application for that matter, motors and generators are designed to fulfil a specific function for an expected time frame. In order to extend the life expectancy beyond the original design behaviours, it is critical to maintain the unit properly and to make improvements where weaknesses are exposed during service. All turbines have different operating requirements and all site locations offer different challenges. This article will introduce some of the actions that can be taken to improve both the reliability and longevity of the motors and the generator found in utility scale wind turbines.By Kevin Alewine, Director of Marketing, Shermco Industries, Texas, USA
- Category: Articles
Irish Engineering Propels a New Kind of Wind Turbine
Ireland-based Airsynergy’s new turbines can double the power output for less than a 20% increase in the capital cost. This revolutionary and award-winning technology changes the wind turbine sector because it produces more energy with less wind. Airsynergy’s turbines are the world’s most powerful (for their size) and perform much better than traditional turbines at lower wind speeds. They can work efficiently even in low-wind countries such as Germany, effectively expanding the market of economically viable sites for wind turbine installation. The doubling of the power output for a modest increase in capital cost also makes wind energy cheaper than fossil fuels. Historically, renewable energy technologies have needed subsidies in order to make them financially viable – at least in the short term. However, new technology such as Airsynergy’s will soon make this a thing of the past. Airsynergy’s turbines are also quieter and smaller than conventional wind turbines.By Adrian Kelly, Co-founder, Airsynergy, Ireland
- Category: Articles
Blade Inspection and Age Tracking Made Easy and Standard
Through more than 20 years of development, the wind industry has grown from a playground for ‘environmental freaks’ to an attractive business, with 44.8GW of new installations during the last year. Because of the long life cycle of turbines, stakeholders in these tremendous machines have to find a cost-effective way to inspect their most vulnerable part – the blades. However, current systems on offer, such as rope access and crane operation, are often postponed by weather conditions and are both time and money consuming. Seeing the requirements of the industry, Cornis, a high-tech start-up based in Paris, has come up with a ground-based visual inspection solution which combines its knowledge of dynamic system and imaging processing. Cornis’ solution also enables operators to trace the evolution of blade defects and therefore helps their learning process towards cost reduction.By Jing Chen LI, Business Analyst, Cornis, Paris, France
- Category: Articles
Feed-in Tariff and Other Incentives to Develop Wind Farms in Ukraine
Even though the wind energy sector started developing in Ukraine several decades ago, it was only in 2011 that the first privately owned wind farms were commissioned in the country. It should be noted that in 2011 the combined power capacity of all the wind farms in Ukraine increased by 73% (65.5MW of commissioned capacity). (The figures given here and in the rest of the article are according to the calculations of the Ukraine Wind Association.) The total capacity of wind farms in Ukraine in 2011 was 151MW. In 2012 the power capacity of all wind farms reached 276.76MW (small wind installations – 14.5MW). In other words, the power capacity had increased by 125.66MW and the number of commissioned wind power units had doubled when compared to 2011.
By Maksym Sysoiev, Counsel, Attorney-at-Law, Marchenko Danevych, Kiev, Ukraine
Even though the wind energy sector started developing in Ukraine several decades ago, it was only in 2011 that the first privately owned wind farms were commissioned in the country. It should be noted that in 2011 the combined power capacity of all the wind farms in Ukraine increased by 73% (65.5MW of commissioned capacity). (The figures given here and in the rest of the article are according to the calculations of the Ukraine Wind Association.) The total capacity of wind farms in Ukraine in 2011 was 151MW. In 2012 the power capacity of all wind farms reached 276.76MW (small wind installations – 14.5MW). In other words, the power capacity had increased by 125.66MW and the number of commissioned wind power units had doubled when compared to 2011.By Maksym Sysoiev, Counsel, Attorney-at-Law, Marchenko Danevych, Kiev, Ukraine
- Category: Articles
Demonstrating a New type of Gravity Foundation which Reduces Manufacturing, Logistics and Installation Costs
Since 2011 STX Finland has been leading the development of systematic ‘design-to-cost’ turnkey deliveries of foundations for offshore wind turbines, collaborating with offshore wind farm developers. The aim has been to develop new cost-effective foundations for offshore wind energy projects in the Northern Baltic Sea, where due to icy conditions monopiles are not very suitable except if blown into rock. To create a versatile structure for a variety of seabeds, STX has employed a gravity-based design that reduces manufacturing, logistics and installation costs and time. In August 2013, the first two of these innovative offshore foundations were produced and installed successfully in cooperation with Terramare Oy to serve as fairway marker substructures in Gävle, Sweden. This article describes the design approach used and the experiences gained in the Gävle project.By Dr Per Stenius, Jukka Mäkiranta, Juha Papinoja and Ilkka Rantanen, STX Finland Windenergy, Finland
- Category: Articles
Machine Learning Techniques Reduce Uncertainty in Long-Term Performance Reference
EWC Weather Consult, a German pioneer in the optimisation of weather data, has developed a long- term correction method for wind measurements giving far superior results. By using machine learning processes EWC has created a method that successfully minimises yield uncertainties. The new method makes it possible to use non-linear corrections, and by doing so the error in the yield estimates on a wind time-series can be reduced to only 3% on average, even for very complex sites. This is half the error level achieved using the matrix method and one-fifth of the error associated with sector-based linear regression in site assessments.
By Jon Meis, Managing Director, EWC Weather Consult, Germany
EWC Weather Consult, a German pioneer in the optimisation of weather data, has developed a long- term correction method for wind measurements giving far superior results. By using machine learning processes EWC has created a method that successfully minimises yield uncertainties. The new method makes it possible to use non-linear corrections, and by doing so the error in the yield estimates on a wind time-series can be reduced to only 3% on average, even for very complex sites. This is half the error level achieved using the matrix method and one-fifth of the error associated with sector-based linear regression in site assessments.By Jon Meis, Managing Director, EWC Weather Consult, Germany
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