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- Category: Articles
New Market Requirements
Large offshore wind farms are a potential source to supplement the power generation portfolio in Europe. The offshore environment and the high investment demand a professional approach throughout project development, the contracting and the operational phase. The investment for the electrical transmission system amounts to around 25% and is therefore an essential part of the total project. This article addresses the numerous new market requirements on the electrical transmission system for large offshore wind farms caused by the project structure, the electrical system design and the commercial and contractual conditions.
By Juergen Bernauer, Vice-President, ABB Wind Power Integration, GermanyLarge offshore wind farms are a potential source to supplement the power generation portfolio in Europe. The offshore environment and the high investment demand a professional approach throughout project development, the contracting and the operational phase. The investment for the electrical transmission system amounts to around 25% and is therefore an essential part of the total project. This article addresses the numerous new market requirements on the electrical transmission system for large offshore wind farms caused by the project structure, the electrical system design and the commercial and contractual conditions.
- Category: Articles
Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance
The rapidly growing number of wind turbines, providing an increasingly credible alternative to the use of polluting fossil fuels, brings with it a rising need for quality maintenance programmes if production targets are to be met and reliability standards raised. Manufacturers and operators alike face not only the obvious issues associated with the amortisation of initial capital costs but also the need to maintain levels of production above the ‘penalty zone’. Simple business economics prescribe that minimising downtime optimises availability and maximises profitability. By Don Wootton and Chris Morton, Spectro Oil Analysis, UK
- Category: Articles
Harsher Conditions and Larger Turbines Require Enhanced Validation,
Monitoring and Control
Every day wind energy is being pushed to new limits, both in terms of operating conditions and in terms of size. To meet these challenges turbine designers and wind park developers need new tools to ensure their products will meet goals of operating cost and availability. Recent innovations in fibre-optic load sensing have created such a tool; it will expand the options for advanced monitoring and control of turbines that are pushing the envelope, and will open up possibilities for huge gains in availability and operating cost.
Monitoring and Control
Every day wind energy is being pushed to new limits, both in terms of operating conditions and in terms of size. To meet these challenges turbine designers and wind park developers need new tools to ensure their products will meet goals of operating cost and availability. Recent innovations in fibre-optic load sensing have created such a tool; it will expand the options for advanced monitoring and control of turbines that are pushing the envelope, and will open up possibilities for huge gains in availability and operating cost.- Category: Articles
Can SiteWind lower uncertainty and costs?
Conventional micrositing models such as WAsP (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program) are equilibrium models that create a wind map and climatology of a region using data from a single reference mast. The models typically assume a constant, homogeneous, neutrally stratified, externally determined wind flow; the terrain acts as a perturbation on this flow. In contrast, SiteWind, a new micrositing tool introduced by AWS Truewind, resolves the dynamic forces within the region affecting the flow caused by temperature gradients, non-neutral stability and other factors. In this article the authors present the results of case studies and discuss their implications for uncertainty analysis. They also show how the demonstrated accuracy improvements can translate into lower uncertainty of energy output estimates.By Rebecca Reed, Michael Brower and Jason Kreiselman, AWS Truewind, USA
- Category: Articles
A Clear Picture?
In the early 1990s a number of test wind turbines were installed in Denmark and Sweden. The turbines were small compared to the current size and output of turbines, and the waters in which they were installed were relatively quiet. The installation could easily be managed using existing floating cranes and barges. Now that large-scale wind power plants are being installed offshore in more exposed areas such as the North and Irish Seas, more ‘rugged’ methods are needed in order to install large quantities of high megawatt turbines in a short season. In this article, Kurt Thomsen from A2SEA A/S gives his views on this matter.
In the early 1990s a number of test wind turbines were installed in Denmark and Sweden. The turbines were small compared to the current size and output of turbines, and the waters in which they were installed were relatively quiet. The installation could easily be managed using existing floating cranes and barges. Now that large-scale wind power plants are being installed offshore in more exposed areas such as the North and Irish Seas, more ‘rugged’ methods are needed in order to install large quantities of high megawatt turbines in a short season. In this article, Kurt Thomsen from A2SEA A/S gives his views on this matter.By Kurt Thomsen, Business Development Manager, A2SEA A/S, Denmark
- Category: Articles
Te Apiti Wind Farm Proves Wind Energy can be Mainstream Generation
Using an abundant wind resource, New Zealand’s largest electricity generating company, Meridian Energy, has constructed its first wind farm in the North Island and plans to repeat the experience. The wind farm, at Te Apiti, is expected to be completed and fully commissioned by the end of 2004, demonstrating that the wind generation industry has begun to mature in New Zealand.
By Adam Muldoon, NZ Wind Development Manager, Meridian Energy, New Zealand
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Using an abundant wind resource, New Zealand’s largest electricity generating company, Meridian Energy, has constructed its first wind farm in the North Island and plans to repeat the experience. The wind farm, at Te Apiti, is expected to be completed and fully commissioned by the end of 2004, demonstrating that the wind generation industry has begun to mature in New Zealand.By Adam Muldoon, NZ Wind Development Manager, Meridian Energy, New Zealand
- Category: Articles
Laser Radar (lidar) – a Revolutionary Method of Wind Resource Measurement
Optimal siting of wind farms and positioning of turbines requires a thorough understanding of local wind flow and turbulence conditions. But these can be difficult to quantify and time-averaged measurements at a few selected locations may not be fully representative. Complex sites present particular difficulties, as cliffs, buildings and trees all serve to modify the wind flow. With turbine hub heights now reaching over 100m, conventional met-masts of 50m or so cannot always provide the confidence needed to predict future wind farm productivity. A new, ground-based, remote wind lidar (light detection and ranging) system has been developed to overcome the cost and deployability issues associated with conventional laser radar systems. It has been shown to operate reliably in remote locations, and in independent tests has demonstrated accuracy comparable to the best calibrated cup anemometers in use today.By David A. Smith, Qinetiq, UK
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