RKDF INSTITUTE OF

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

A
PROJECT REPORT
ON

“ADVANCES IN WIND ENERGY”

SUBMITTED FOR THE FULFILMENT OF

THE MINOR PROJECT OF
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
[BRANCH – MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, VI SEM]
UNDER THE KIND GUIDANCE OF
PROF. M.K. CHOPRA
HOD (MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT)

SUBMITTED BY:-
BALRAM PANDEY
DEVENDRA LODHI
MANMOHAN SINGH
 CONTENTS

TOPICS PAGE NO

INTRODUCTION TO WIND ENERGY

INTRODUCTION TO WIND ENERGY

Wind Energy and Wind Power

The earth’s surface is made up of land and water, which absorbs heat from the sun at different
rates .. 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..
Wind energy is renewable, clean and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The Earth is unevenly heated by the sun, such that the poles receive less energy from the sun
than the equator; along with this, dry land heats up (and cools down) more quickly than the
seas do. The differential heating drives a global atmospheric convection system reaching
from the Earth's surface to the stratosphere which acts as a virtual ceiling. Most of the energy
stored in these wind movements can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds
of over 160 km/h (99 mph) occur. Eventually, the wind energy is converted through friction
into diffuse heat throughout the Earth's surface and the atmosphere

WIND POWER GENERATION

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.

.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 turbines today are up to the task of producing serious amounts of
electricity. Turbines vary in size from small 1 kW structures to large machines rated at 1.6
MW. A popular sized machine in the U.S. today is a state-of-the-art 750 kW turbine that
stands as tall as a 20-story building. With a good wind resource, this size turbine can produce
2 million kWh of electricity each year. That's enough energy to run 200 average American
households.

Wind energy could theoretically meet global demand yet it provides just about two percent of
power consumption. The sector started slowly, but is now one of the most mature of
renewable energies.
Worldwide Importance and Future Prospects
Growth in wind power is tremendous, with capacity more than doubling every three years. In
2009, global installed wind capacity reached around 160 Gigawatts, rising 40 GW on the
previous year, according to the World Wind Energy Association, which estimates that by
2020 global capacity could reach 1900 GW. Since 2007, annual wind power additions in
Europe have exceeded growth of any other power source.

In terms of actual electricity output, global wind power in 2009 generated 340 Terawatt hours
per annum, equivalent to the total electricity demand of Italy and equaling two percent of
global electricity consumption. Nine percent of Europe’s electricity demand is now being met
by wind power, compared to just two percent in 2000.

But Europe no longer leads the market. Recent growth has been driven by Asia, which
accounted for 40 percent of new additions in 2009, with China the main locomotive for the
international wind industry followed by the United States. Even so, wind energy still
accounts for less than one percent of China’s electricity supply.

Further growth will be driven mostly by other rapidly developing countries such as India,
Brazil, and Mexico. At the same time, Europe and North America are accelerating offshore
wind park development: eight new offshore wind farms were connected to the grid in Europe
in 2009.
TIME TRAVEL WITH WIND ENERGY
Wind Power's Beginnings
(1000 B.C. - 1300 A.D.)
The history of wind power shows a general evolution from the use of simple, light devices driven by
aerodynamic drag forces; to heavy, material-intensive drag devices; to the increased use of light,
material-efficient aerodynamic lift devices in the modern era. But it shouldn't be imagined that
aerodynamic lift (the force that makes airplanes fly) is a modern concept that was unknown to the
ancients. The earliest known use of wind power, of course, is the sail boat, and this technology had
an important impact on the later development of sail-type windmills. Ancient sailors understood lift
and used it every day, even though they didn't have the physics to explain how or why it worked.

The first windmills were developed to automate the tasks of grain-grinding and water-pumping and
the earliest-known design is the vertical axis system developed in Persia about 500-900 A.D. The
first use was apparently water pumping, but the exact method of water transport is not known
because no drawings or designs -- only verbal accounts -- are available. The first known documented
design is also of a Persian windmill, this one with vertical sails made of bundles of reeds or wood
which were attached to the central vertical shaft by horizontal struts.

Grain grinding was the first documented wind mill application and was very straightforward. The
grinding stone was affixed to the same vertical shaft. The mill machinery was commonly enclosed in
a building, which also featured a wall or shield to block the incoming wind from slowing the side of
the drag-type rotor that advanced toward the wind.

Vertical-axis windmills were also used in China, which is often claimed as their birthplace. While
the belief that the windmill was invented in China more than 2000 years ago is widespread and may
be accurate, the earliest actual documentation of a Chinese windmill was in 1219 A.D. by the
Chinese statesman Yehlu Chhu-Tshai. Here also, the primary applications were apparently grain
grinding and water pumping.

One of the most scenic and successful applications of windpower (and one that still exists), is the
extensive use of water pumping machines on the island of Crete. Here, literally hundreds of sail

rotor windmills pump water for crops and livestock.

An early sail-wing horizontal-axis mill on the Mediterranean coast.

Windmills in the Western World
(1300 - 1875 A.D.)

The first windmills to appear in western Europe were of the horizontal-axis configuration. The
reason for the sudden evolution from the vertical-axis Persian design approach is unknown, but the
fact that European water wheels also had a horizontal-axis configuration -- and apparently served as
the technological model for the early windmills -- may provide part of the answer. Another reason
may have been the higher structural efficiency of drag-type horizontal machines over drag-type
vertical machines, which lose up to half of their rotor collection area due to shielding requirements.
The first illustrations (1270 A.D.) show a four- bladed mill mounted on a central post (thus, a
"postmill") which was already fairly technologically advanced relative to the Persian mills. These
mills used wooden cog-and-ring gears to translate the motion of the horizontal shaft to vertical
movement to turn a grindstone. This gear was apparently adapted for use on post mills from the
horizontal-axis water wheel developed by Vitruvius.

As early as 1390, the Dutch set out to refine the tower mill design, which had appeared somewhat
earlier along the Mediterranean Sea. The Dutch essentially affixed the standard post mill to the top
of a multi-story tower, with separate floors devoted to grinding  grain, removing chaff, storing grain,
and (on the bottom) living quarters for the windsmith and his family. Both the post mill and the later
tower mill design had to be oriented into the wind manually, by pushing a large lever at the back of
the mill. Optimizing windmill energy and power output and protecting the mill from damage by
furling the rotor sails during storms were among the windsmith's primary jobs.

While continuing well into the 19th century, the use of large tower mills declined with the increased
use of steam engines. The next spurt of wind power development occurred many thousands of miles
to the west.

A steel-bladed water pumping windmill in the American Midwest (late 1800's)

Role of Smaller Systems

For hundreds of years, the most important application of windmills at the subsistence level has been
mechanical water pumping using relatively small systems with rotor diameters of one to several
meters. These systems were perfected in the United States during the19th century, beginning with
the Halladay windmill in 1854, and continuing to the Aermotor and Dempster designs, which are
still in use today.

The first mills had four paddle-like wooden blades. They were followed by mills with thin wooden
slats nailed to wooden rims. Most of these mills had tails to orient them into the wind, but some were
weather-vaning mills that operated downwind of the tower. Speed control of some models was
provided by hinging sections of blades, so that they would fold back like an umbrella in high winds,
an action which reduced the rotor capture area to reduce thrust. The most important refinement of
the American fan-type windmill was the development of steel blades in 1870 (Figure 4). Steel blades
could be made lighter and worked into more efficient shapes. They worked so well, in fact, that their
high speed required a reduction (slow-down) gear to turn the standard reciprocal pumps at the
required speed.

In the United States, the development of the “water-pumping windmill” was the major factor in
allowing the farming and ranching of vast areas otherwise devoid of readily accessible water.
Windpumps contributed to the expansion of rail transport systems throughout the world, by pumping
water from water wells for the steam locomotives.]The multi-bladed wind turbine atop a lattice tower
made of wood or steel was, for many years, a fixture of the landscape throughout rural America.
When fitted with generators and battery banks, small wind machines provided electricity to isolated
farms.
First Use of Wind for "Large-Scale" Generation of
Electricity
(1875 -1977 A.D.)

The first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was a system built in Cleveland, Ohio, in
1888 by Charles F. Brush. The Brush machine was a postmill with a multiple-bladed "picket-fence"
rotor 17 meters in diameter, featuring a large tail hinged to turn the rotor out of the wind. It was the
first windmill to incorporate a step-up gearbox (with a ratio of 50:1) in order to turn a direct current
generator at its required operational speed (in this case, 500 RPM.)

Despite its relative success in operating for 20 years, the Brush windmill demonstrated the
limitations of the low-speed, high-solidity rotor for electricity production applications. The 12
kilowatts produced by its 17-meter rotor pales beside the 70-100 kilowatts produced by a
comparably-sized, modern, lift-type rotor.

In 1891, the Dane Poul La Cour developed the first electrical output wind machine to incorporate the
aerodynamic design principles (low-solidity, four-bladed rotors incorporating primitive airfoil
shapes) used in the best European tower mills. The higher speed of the La Cour rotor made these
mills quite practical for electricity generation. By the close of World War I, the use of 25 kilowatt
electrical output machines had spread throughout Denmark, but cheaper and larger fossil-fuel steam
plants soon put the operators of these mills out of business.

The Brush postmill in Cleveland, Ohio, 1888. The first use of a large windmill to generate
electricity.

By 1920, the two dominant rotor configurations (fan-type and sail) had both been tried and
found to be inadequate for generating appreciable amounts of electricity. The further
development of wind generator electrical systems in the United States was inspired by the design
of airplane propellers and (later) monoplane wings.
Small System Pioneers
The first small electrical-output wind turbines simply used modified propellers to drive direct
current generators. By the mid-1920's, 1 to 3-kilowatt wind generators developed by companies like
Parris-Dunn and Jacobs Wind-electric found widespread use in the rural areas of the midwestern
Great Plains. (A 3-kilowatt Jacobs unit is shown, being adjusted by a cigarette-puffing M.L. Jacobs
at Rocky Flats, Colorado in 1977.) These systems were installed at first to provide lighting for farms
and to charge batteries used to power crystal radio sets. But their use was extended to an entire array
of direct-current motor-driven appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, and
power tools. But the more appliances were powered by the early wind generators, the more their
intermittent operation became a problem.

The demise of these systems was hastened during the late 1930s and the 1940s by two factors: the
demand of farmsteads for ever larger amounts of power on demand, and the Great Depression,
which spurred the U.S. federal government to stimulate the depressed rural economies by extending
the electrical grid throughout those areas.

A lot is made of this development and how horrible it was for the government to intervene. But the
farmers who were helped by the new electrical grids would share this feeling. And the growing
demand for electrical power created by the wind generator, combined with the inability of the
technology to adapt, helped make the situation inevitable. The early success of the Midwest wind
turbines actually set the stage for the possibility of more extensive wind energy development in the
future.

While the market for new small wind machines of any type had been largely eroded in the United
States by 1950, the use of mechanical and electrical system continued throughout Europe and in
windy, arid climates such as those found in parts of Africa and Australia.

M.L. Jacobs adjusting the spring-actuated pitch change mechanism on a Jacobs Wind-
electric in 1977.
"Bulk" Power from Wind
The development of bulk-power, utility-scale wind energy conversion systems was first undertaken
in Russia in 1931 with the 100kW Balaclava wind generator. This machine operated for about two
years on the shore of the Caspian Sea, generating 200,000 kWh of electricity. Subsequent
experimental wind plants in the United States, Denmark, France, Germany, and Great Britain during
the period 1935-1970 showed that large-scale wind turbines would work, but failed to result in a
practical large electrical wind turbine.

The largest was the 1.25 megawatt Smith-Putnam machine, installed in Vermont in 1941. This
horizontal-axis design featured a two-bladed, 175-foot diameter rotor oriented down-wind of the
tower. The 16-ton stainless steel rotor used full-span blade pitch control to maintain operation at 28
RPM. In 1945, after only several hundred hours of intermittent operation, one of the blades broke off
near the hub, apparently as a result of metal fatigue. This is not surprising considering the huge loads
that must have been generated in a structure that had a lot in common with a gigantic rotating erector
set.

Figure 7. Palmer Putnam's 1.25-megawatt wind turbine was one of the engineering
marvels of the late 1930's, but the jump in scale was too great for available materials .

The modern wind power industry began in 1979 with the serial production of wind turbines by
Danish manufacturers Kuriant,Vestas, Nordtank, and Bonus. These early turbines were small by
today's standards, with capacities of 20–30 kW each. Since then, they have increased greatly in size,
with the Enercon E-126 capable of delivering up to 7 MW, while wind turbine production has
expanded to many countries.

Between 1850 and 1970, over six million mostly small (1 horsepower or less) mechanical output
wind machines were installed in the U.S. alone. The primary use was water-pumping and the main
applications were stock watering and farm home water needs. Very large windmills, with rotors up
to 18 meters in diameter, were used to pump water for the steam railroad trains that provided the
primary source of commercial transportation in areas where there were no navigable rivers.
European Development
European developments continued after World War II, when temporary shortages of fossil fuels led
to higher energy costs. As in the United States, the primary application for these systems was
interconnection to the electric power grid.

In Denmark, the 200 kW Gedser Mill wind turbine operated successfully until the early 1960s, when
declining fossil-fuel prices once again made wind energy made uncompetitive with steam-powered
generating plants. This machine featured a three-bladed upwind rotor with fixed pitch blades that
used mechanical windmill technology augmented with an airframe support structure. The design was
much less mechanically complex than the Smith-Putnam design. In fact, it was not that far removed
from Poul La Cour's 1920-era windmill (a fact that worked to its advantage.)

An airframe holding together the three blades of the "Gedser Mollen." Fiberglass later
eliminated this design requirement.

In Germany, Professor Ulrich Hutter developed a series of advanced, horizontal-axis designs of

intermediate size that utilized modern, airfoil-type fiberglass and plastic blades with variable pitch to
provide light weight and high efficiencies. This design approach sought to reduce bearing and
structural failures by "shedding" aerodynamic loads, rather than "withstanding" them as did the
Danish approach. One of the most innovative load-shedding design features was the use of a bearing
at the rotor hub that allowed the rotor to "teeter" in response to wind gusts and vertical wind shear.
Hutter's advanced designs achieved over 4000 hours of operation before the experiments were ended
in 1968.
Post war activity in Denmark and Germany largely dictated the two major horizontal-axis design
approaches that would emerge when attention returned to wind turbine development in the early
1970s. The Danes refined the simple, fixed pitch, Gedser Mill design, utilizing advanced materials,
improved aerodynamic design, and aerodynamic controls to reduce some of its shortcomings. The
engineering innovations of the light-weight, higher efficiency German machines, such as a teeter
hinge at the rotor hub, were used later by U.S. designers.
The development of modern vertical-axis rotors was begun in France by G.J.M. Darrieus in the
1920s. Of the several rotors Darrieus designed, the most important one is a rotor comprising slender,
curved, airfoil-section blades attached at the top and bottom of a rotating vertical tube. Major
development work on this concept did not begin until the concept was reinvented in the late 1960s
by two Canadian researchers.
U.S. efforts with the Darrieus concept at SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES began after the
1973 oil embargo, with the entry of the U.S. Federal Wind Energy Program into the cycle of wind
energy development.

Hutter's wind turbines, like other German devices of the mid-20th century, were
advanced for th

An operating Dutch windmill (1994) that features leading edge airfoil sections (at top
right). The mechanism used to turn the rotor into the wind and the windows of the first-
floor living quarters are easily seen.
A primary improvement of the European mills was their designer's use of sails that generated
aerodynamic lift. This feature provided improved rotor efficiency compared with the Persian mills
by allowing an increase in rotor speed, which also allowed for superior grinding and pumping action.

The process of perfecting the windmill sail, making incremental improvements in efficiency, took
500 years. By the time the process was completed, windmill sails had all the major features
recognized by modern designers as being crucial to the performance of modern wind turbine blades,
including
1) camber along the leading edge,
2) placement of the blade spar at the quarter chord position (25% of the way back from the leading
edge toward the trailing edge),
3) center of gravity at the same 1/4 chord position, and 4) nonlinear twist of the blade from root to
tip (Drees, 1977). Some models also featured aerodynamic brakes, spoilers, and flaps. The machine
shown in Figure 10 (which was operating with two of its buddies pumping water about one meter up
from one irrigation pond to another in the Netherlands in 1994) features leading edge airfoil sections.

These mills were the "electrical motor" of pre-industrial Europe. Applications were diverse, ranging
from the common waterwell, irrigation, or drainage pumping using a scoop wheel (single or
tandem), grain-grinding (again, using single or multiple stones), saw-milling of timber, and the
processing of other commodities such as spices, cocoa, paints and dyes, and tobacco.
Finally Time for Wind?
(1977 – TILL NOW)

During the years 1977-1986, the commercial wind turbine market evolved from domestic and
agricultural applications of small machines in the 1 to 25 kilowatt size range to utility interconnected
wind farm applications of intermediate-scale machines of 50 to 600 kilowatts. Wind farms in
California made up the majority of wind turbine installations until the early 1990s. In California,
over 17,000 machines, ranging in output from 20 to 350 kilowatts, were installed in wind farms
between 1981 and 1990. At the height of development, these turbines had a collected rating of over
1,700 megawatts and produced over 3 million megawatt hours of electricity, enough (at peak output)
to power a city of 300,000.

The World Market Catches Up

In northern Europe and Asia, on the other hand, wind turbine installations increased steadily through
the 1980s and 90s. The higher cost of electricity and excellent wind resources in northern Europe
created a small, but stable, market for single, cooperative-owned wind turbines and small clusters of
machines. After 1990, most market activity shifted to Europe and Asia. Driven by high utility power
purchase rates, the installation of 50-kW, then 100-kW, then 200-kW, then 500-kW and now 1.5
megawatt wind turbines by cooperatives and private landowners in the Netherlands, Denmark, and
Germany has been particularly impressive. The installation of over 10,000 megawatts of European
wind capacity has helped support a thriving private wind turbine development and manufacturing
industry. Until recently, this contrasted with the United States where low utility rates (primarily due
to abundant, under-priced natural gas imported from Canada) and threatened deregulation of the
utility industry virtually strangled wind energy development. 

A large international market has long been predicted for small village power or "wind-hybrid"
installations. Despite some promising pilot projects, the apparent interest of many countries and of
many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and significant commitments from several wind
turbine manufacturers and U.S. research laboratories (including SANDIA NATIONAL
LABORATORIES and the NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORIES) this market
has yet to emerge.

In the 1990s, the California wind farm market began to be affected by the expiration or forced re-
negotiation of attractive power purchase contracts with the major California utilities: Southern
California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric. And much of the existing inventory of 1980's wind
turbines were really an albatross around the wind industry's neck.

Renewal was needed, and -- bouyed by "green power" initiatives in Colorado, Texas and elsewhere
-- U.S. wind energy development resumed in 1999, with a much broader geographical base.

A variety of new wind projects were installed in the U.S. in the late '90s, including a cluster of
ZOND Z-40 TURBINES operated for a utility in southwest Texas, a wind plant of 46 Vestas
machines planned for Big Spring, Texas, a 10-megawatt wind plant in Northern Colorado, a number
of plants in the upper midwest, and the "re-powering" of some projects in California. Some of these
involve foreign machines manufactured in the U.S. There's a sense that the industry is finally on the
move again, with over 2000 megawatts of new capacity planned for 2001 in the U.S. alone. Existing
and planned U.S. projects can be explored using the wind project map maintained by the American
Wind Energy Association. 
The cost of energy from larger electrical output wind turbines used in utility-interconnected or wind
farm applications has dropped from more than $1.00 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 1978 to under $0.05
per kWh in 1998, and is projected to plummet to $0.025 per kWh when new large wind plants come
on line in 2001 and 2002. The hardware costs of these wind turbines have dropped below $800 per
installed kilowatt in the past five years, underpricing the capital costs of almost every other type of
power plant.

It's difficult to accurately compare the costs of wind plants and fossil fuel plants because the cost
drivers are so different. Low installed-cost-per-kilowatt figures for wind turbines are somewhat
misleading because of the low capacity factor of wind turbines relative to coal and other fossil-
fueled power plants. ( "Capacity factor" is simply the ratio of actual energy produced by a power
plant to the energy that would be produced if it operated at rated capacity for an entire year.)
Capacity factors of successful wind farm operations range from 0.20 to 0.35. These can be compared
with factors of more than 0.50 for fossil-fuel power plants and over 0.60 for some of the new gas
turbines.

However, the use of "capacity factor" is also misleading because wind has a "rubber" capacity
factor that varies with the density of the wind resource. But that wind resource is constant for the life
of the machine and is not subject to manipulation or cost increases. One reason why fossil fuels are
so popular with investors is that many of the risks are passed on to consumers. Fossil fuel shortages
result in an increase in revenues for investors, who are actually rewarded for:

1) speeding the depletion of a nonrenewable resource or

2) not investing enough of their profits in support infrastructure, which (as we have seen in 2000-
2001) drives up prices.

If a big oil coal or gas company could start charging for the wind, they would make sure that wind
power development happened. In late 1996, with the purchase of Zond Systems by Enron (a now-
defunct gas mining and distribution company), the possibility of this happening became very real.
(Even though Enron proved to be a poor steward for the Zond technology, the subsequent purchase
of what was one of the only viable Enron divisions by GE Energy in 2003 maintained U.S. visibility
in the large wind turbine market.)

Lowering the Cost-of-Energy Bar

Since the late 1970's the U.S. cost goals for wind power has continued to be about $0.04 per kilowatt
hour, despite inflation. Wind turbines have consistently been able to arrive at that level, but by the
time they get there, another reduction in the cost of non-renewable fossil fuels has taken place and
the bar is lowered further.

Cost per kilowatt hour figures of $0.04 or less (in 1998 dollars) are now commonly projected for
advanced U.S. wind turbines in 17 mph or better wind regimes, where capacity factors of over 0.40
can be achieved. That means that the wind energy cost goals of 1980 --which seemed daunting or
impossible at the time--have been met many times over. (This fact should be remembered by those
doubting the achievability of recently refigured cost goals--which are now closer to $0.025/kWh.)

The lower cost of energy from these advanced turbines is partly a result of higher efficiencies and
rotor loading made possible by improved rotor design, shedding of fatigue loads provided by
teetered hubs and flexible structures, and other innovations such as variable speed operation. But
reduced weight and material usage and high reliability are perhaps more important factors in the cost
equation.
Costs of smaller systems vary widely, with installed costs from $2000 to $3000 per installed
kilowatt. Energy costs for small turbines of $0.12 to $0.20 are still the norm in the U.S. market.

The German Enercon features a huge, low speed "ring" generator

Worldwide, there are 10 to 12 manufacturers of large, utility-scale systems, marketing 200kW to

3.0 MW systems of various configurations, including three-bladed machines with full-span pitch
control and two-bladed, stall control machines with teetering hubs. News on these developments is
available from the major industry magazine,THE WINDPOWER MONTHLY. 

The more advanced configurations (from an aerodynamic standpoint at least) have been developed
under the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Turbine Program. 

European manufacturers like Tacke, Micon, Vestas, and Enercon have commercialized turbines
with more conventional rotors, but featuring such important innovations as low speed generators and
complete variable speed systems incorporating advanced power electronics. Recently, GE Energy
(which purchased the wind division of defunct Enron) has adopted the European design philosophy
in the U.S., with its merger of the technical expertise of Zond and Tacke. 
One of the latest innovations being investigated in the U.S. and Europe is the addition of a hinge at
the nacelle-tower attachment, allowing the turbine to "nod" up and down in response to turbulence
and wind shear (the difference in wind speed at the top and bottom of the  rotor disk). This
configuration has been tested at Riso and promises substantial reductions in rotor and drive-train
loads and in control system costs. A model intended for commercial development operated in
California for several years and has been investigated by the National Wind Technology Center.
However, such innovations may not be necessary for wind to meet its cost goals for several years. 

The result of recent mergers is that, in 2001, there is a virtual internationalization of the wind
turbine industry and research community. As recent as 1995, pundits like Paul Gipe could claim that
the Europeans' use of smaller machines with conventional aircraft airfoils meant that low tech had
beaten high tech in the wind business. In 2001, with European wind turbine power ratings pushing 2
megawatts, Denmark's Riso Laboratories touting its new wind turbine airfoil designs (modeled
closely after pioneering activities in the U.S.), and the U.S. company Enron marketing machines
from both the U.S. and Europe, there is really very little difference between European and U.S.
technology. The last remaining major area of controversy is the issue of two versus three blades for
large wind turbines. Theoretically, a two-bladed machine should be less expensive and more
efficient than a three-bladed one. But considerable refinements are still needed to offset the greater
stability and lower per-blade loads of three-bladed designs. And the optical illusion of speed
fluctuations and out-of-plane rotation associated with two-bladed machines makes them less
attractive to some onlookers. Time will tell if one design will win out or if both will be able to exist
in specific applications.

Based on the mid-1980's ESI-80, the 2-bladed, AWT 26-meter machine was a
contemporary expression and
refinement of the Hutter design philosophy. Whether or not such designs will ever be
widely commercialized is uncertain.

The Future Is Now

In the near future, wind energy will be the most cost effective source of electrical power. In fact, a
good case can be made for saying that it already has achieved this status. The actual life cycle cost of
fossil fuels (from mining and extraction to transport to use technology to environmental impact to
political costs and impacts, etc.) is not really known, but it is certainly far more than the current
wholesale rates. The eventual depletion of these energy sources will entail rapid escalations in price
which -- averaged over the brief period of their use -- will result in postponed actual costs that would
be unacceptable by present standards. And this doesn't even consider the environmental and political
costs of fossil fuels use that are silently and not-so-silently mounting every day.

The major technology developments enabling wind power commercialization have already been
made. There will be infinite refinements and improvements, of course. One can guess (based on
experience with other technologies) that the eventual push to full commercialization and deployment
of the technology will happen in a manner that no one can imagine today. There will be a "weather
change" in the marketplace, or a "killer application" somewhere that will put several key companies
or financial organizations in a position to profit. They will take advantage of public interest, the
political and economic climate, and emotional or marketing factors to position wind energy
technology (developed in a long lineage from the Chinese and the Persians to the present wind
energy researchers and developers) for its next round of development.
 TYPES OF WIND TURBINE
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.

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines: (HAWT)

Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top
of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane,
while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox,
which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an
electrical generator.

Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually positioned upwind of its
supporting tower. Turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the
tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable distance in front of the tower
and are sometimes tilted forward into the wind a small amount.

Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence (mast wake), because they
don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high
winds the blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind
resistance. Since cyclical (that is repetitive) turbulence may lead to fatigue failures, most HAWTs
are of upwind design.

11 x 7,5 MW E126 Estinnes Windfarm, Belgium, July 2010, one month before
completion, with unique 2 part blades.

Modern wind turbines

Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of electric power are usually three-bladed
and pointed into the wind by computer-controlled motors. These have high tip speeds of over
320 kilometres per hour (200 mph), high efficiency, and low torque ripple, which contribute to good
reliability. The blades are usually colored light gray to blend in with the clouds and range in length
from 20 to 40 metres (66 to 130 ft) or more. The tubular steel towers range from 60 to 90 metres
(200 to 300 ft) tall. The blades rotate at 10-22 revolutions per minute. At 22 rotations per minute the
tip speed exceeds 300 feet per second (91 m/s). A gear box is commonly used for stepping up the
speed of the generator, although designs may also use direct drive of an annular generator. Some
models operate at constant speed, but more energy can be collected by variable-speed turbines which
use a solid-state power converter to interface to the transmission system. All turbines are equipped
with protective features to avoid damage at high wind speeds, by feathering the blades into the wind
which ceases their rotation, supplemented by brakes.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines: (VAWT)
Vertical axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. Key
advantages of this arrangement are that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind to be
effective. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable, for example
when integrated into buildings. The key disadvantages include the low rotational speed with the
consequential higher torque and hence higher cost of the drive train, the inherently lower power
coefficient, the 360 degree rotation of the aerofoil within the wind flow during each cycle and hence
the highly dynamic loading on the blade, the pulsating torque generated by some rotor designs on the
drive train, and the difficulty of modelling the wind flow accurately and hence the challenges of
analysing and designing the rotor prior to fabricating a prototype.

With a vertical axis, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, hence avoiding the
need of a tower and improving accessibility for maintenance. Drawbacks of this configuration
include
(i) wind speeds are lower close to the ground, so less wind energy is available for a given size
turbine, and
(ii) wind shear is more severe close to the ground, so the rotor experiences higher loads.

Air flow near the ground and other objects can create turbulent flow, which can introduce
problems associated with vibration, such as noise and bearing wear which may increase the
maintenance or shorten the service life. However, when a turbine is mounted on a rooftop, the
building generally redirects wind over the roof and this can double the wind speed at the
turbine. If the height of the rooftop mounted turbine tower is approximately 50% of the
building height, this is near the optimum for maximum wind energy and minimum wind
turbulence. It should be borne in mind that wind speeds within the built environment are
generally much lower than at exposed rural sites.

Features:
 No massive tower required so construction costs are lower.
 No Yaw device required.
 Less noise than HAWT models.
 Higher airfoil pitch angle improves aerodynamics.
 Lower wind startup speeds.
 Larger swept area than HAWT's with the same radius.
 No turning to face the wind so VAWT's are ideal for turbulent
conditions.
SUBTYPES
Darrieus wind turbine 
"Eggbeater" turbines, or Darrieus turbines, were named after the French inventor, Georges Darrieus.
They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclical stress on the tower, which
contributes to poor reliability. They also generally require some external power source, or an
additional Savonius rotor to start turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque ripple is
reduced by using three or more blades which results in greater solidity of the rotor. Solidity is
measured by blade area divided by the rotor area. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by
guy-wires but have an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.

Giromill
A subtype of Darrieus turbine with straight, as opposed to curved, blades. The cycloturbine variety has
variable pitch to reduce the torque pulsation and is self-starting. The advantages of variable pitch are: high
starting torque; a wide, relatively flat torque curve; a lower blade speed ratio; a higher coefficient of
performance; more efficient operation in turbulent winds; and a lower blade speed ratio which lowers blade
bending stresses. Straight, V, or curved blades may be used.

Savonius wind turbine 

These are drag-type devices with two (or more) scoops that are used in anemometers, Flettner vents
(commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some high-reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are
always self-starting if there are at least three scoops. They sometimes have long helical scoops to give a
smooth torque.
Darrieus wind turbine of 30 m in the magdalen Islands.

Advantages of Vertical axis turbine

 Omni directional—accepts wind from any direction.

 Components can be mounted at ground level providing ease in service and

establishing lighter weight towers.

 Can theoretically use less material to capture the same amount of wind.

Disadvantages of Vertical axis turbine

 Rotors generally near ground where wind is poorer.

 Centrifugal force stresses blades.
 Poor self starting capabilities.
 Requires support at top of turbine rotor.
 Requires entire rotor to be removed to change the bearings.

 Overall poor performance.

TURBINE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Wind turbines are designed to exploit the wind energy that exists at a location. Aerodynamic
modeling is used to determine the optimum tower height, control systems, number of blades and
blade shape.

Wind turbines convert wind energy to electricity for distribution. Conventional horizontal axis
turbines can be divided into three components.

 The rotor component, which is approximately 20% of the wind turbine cost, includes
the blades for converting wind energy to low speed rotational energy.
 The generator component, which is approximately 34% of the wind turbine cost,
includes the electrical generator, the control electronics, and most likely a gearbox
(e.g.planetory gearbox,adjustable-speed drive or continuously variable transmission)
component for converting the low speed incoming rotation to high speed rotation
suitable for generating electricity.
 The structural support component, which is approximately 15% of the wind turbine
cost, includes the tower and rotor yaw mechanism.

A 1.5 MW wind turbine of a type frequently seen in the United States has a tower 80 meters high.
The rotor assembly (blades and hub) weighs 48,000 pounds (22,000 kg). The nacelle, which contains
the generator component, weighs 115,000 pounds (52,000 kg). The concrete base for the tower is
constructed using 58,000 pounds (26,000 kg) of reinforcing steel and contains 250 cubic yards of
concrete. The base is 50 feet (15 m) in diameter and 8 feet (2.4 m) thick near the center.

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.

Wind Turbine diagram

Turbine Configurations

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.

Unconventional wind turbines

One E-66 wind turbine at Windpark Holtriesm, Germany, carries an observation deck, open for visitors.
Another turbine of the same type, with an observation deck, is located in Swffam, England. Airborne wind
turbines have been investigated many times but have yet to produce significant energy. Conceptually, wind
turbines may also be used in conjunction with a large vertical solar updraft tower to extract the energy due
to air heated by the sun.

Wind turbines which utilise the Magnus effect have been developed.

Small wind turbines

A small wind turbine being used in Australia.

 Small wind turbines may be as small as a fifty-watt generator for boat or caravan use. Small
units often have direct drive generators, dirct current output, aeroelastic blades, lifetime
bearings and use a vane to point into the wind.

 Larger, more costly turbines generally have geared power trains, alternating current output,
flaps and are actively pointed into the wind. Direct drive generators and aeroelastic blades for
large wind turbines are being researched.
Wind turbine spacing

Wind turbines are best spaced 15 to 25 times the rotor diameter apart. This has been concluded by
research conducted by Charles Meneveau of the Johns Hopkins University. On most windturbine
farms, a spacing of 7 times the rotor diameter is often upheld, but this has been shown to be too
little.

Electricity generation
Typical components of a wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into
position

In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (often 34.5 kV), power
collection system and communications network. At a substation, this medium-voltage electric
current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the high voltage electric power
transmisssion system.

The surplus power produced by domestic microgenerators can, in some jurisdictions, be fed into the
network and sold to the utility company, producing a retail credit for the microgenerators' owners to
offset their energy costs.

Grid management

Induction generators, often used for wind power, require reactive power for excitation so substations
used in wind-power collection systems include substantial capacitor banks for power factor
correction. Different types of wind turbine generators behave differently during transmission grid
disturbances, so extensive modelling of the dynamic electromechanical characteristics of a new wind
farm is required by transmission system operators to ensure predictable stable behaviour during
system faults. In particular, induction generators cannot support the system voltage during faults,
unlike steam or hydro turbine-driven synchronous generators. Doubly-fed machines generally have
more desirable properties for grid interconnection. Transmission systems operators will supply a
wind farm developer with a grid code to specify the requirements for interconnection to the
transmission grid. This will include power factor, constancy of frequency and dynamic behavior of
the wind farm turbines during a system fault.

Capacity factor

Since wind speed is not constant, a wind farm’s annual energy production is never as much as the
sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The ratio of actual
productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor. Typical capacity
factors are 20–40%, with values at the upper end of the range in particularly favourable sites. For
example, a 1 MW turbine with a capacity factor of 35% will not produce 8,760 MW·h in a year
(1 × 24 × 365), but only 1 × 0.35 × 24 × 365 = 3,066 MW·h, averaging to 0.35 MW. Online data is
available for some locations and the capacity factor can be calculated from the yearly output.

Unlike fueled generating plants, the capacity factor is limited by the inherent properties of wind.
Capacity factors of other types of power plant are based mostly on fuel cost, with a small amount of
downtime for maintenance. Nuclear plants have low incremental fuel cost, and so are run at full
output and achieve a 90% capacity factor. Plants with higher fuel cost are throttled back to follow
load. Gas turbine plants using natural gas as fuel may be very expensive to operate and may be run
only to meet peak power demand. A gas turbine plant may have an annual capacity factor of 5–25%
due to relatively high energy production cost.
In a 2008 study released by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, the capacity factor achieved by the wind turbine fleet is shown to be increasing
as the technology improves. The capacity factor achieved by new wind turbines in 2004 and 2005
reached 36%.

Penetration

Wind energy "penetration" refers to the fraction of energy produced by wind compared with the total
available generation capacity. There is no generally accepted "maximum" level of wind penetration.
The limit for a particular grid will depend on the existing generating plants, pricing mechanisms,
capacity for storage or demand management, and other factors. An interconnected electricity grid
will already include reserve generating and transmission capacity to allow for equipment failures;
this reserve capacity can also serve to regulate for the varying power generation by wind plants.
Studies have indicated that 20% of the total electrical energy consumption may be incorporated with
minimal difficulty.These studies have been for locations with geographically dispersed wind farms,
some degree of dispatchable energy, or hydropower with storage capacity, demand management, and
interconnection to a large grid area export of electricity when needed. Beyond this level, there are
few technical limits, but the economic implications become more significant. Electrical utilities
continue to study the effects of large (20% or more) scale penetration of wind generation on system
stability and economics.

At present, a few grid systems have penetration of wind energy above 5%: Denmark (values over
19%), Spain and Portugal (values over 11%), Germany and the Republic of Ireland (values over
6%). But even with a modest level of penetration, there can be times where wind power provides a
substantial percentage of the power on a grid. For example, in the morning hours of 8 November
2009, wind energy produced covered more than half the electricity demand in Spain, setting a new
record. This was an instance where demand was very low but wind power generation was very high.

Variability and intermittency

Electricity generated from wind power can be highly variable at several different timescales: from
hour to hour, daily, and seasonally. Annual variation also exists, but is not as significant. Related to
variability is the short-term (hourly or daily) predictability of wind plant output. Like other
electricity sources, wind energy must be "scheduled". Wind power forecasting methods are used, but
predictability of wind plant output remains low for short-term operation.

Because instantaneous electrical generation and consumption must remain in balance to maintain
grid stability, this variability can present substantial challenges to incorporating large amounts of
wind power into a grid system. Intermittency and the non-dispatcable nature of wind energy
production can raise costs for regulation, incremental operating reserve, and (at high penetration
levels) could require an increase in the already existing energy demend management, load shedding,
or storage solutions or system interconnection with HVDC cables. At low levels of wind penetration,
fluctuations in load and allowance for failure of large generating units requires reserve capacity that
can also regulate for variability of wind generation. Wind power can be replaced by other power
stations during low wind periods. Transmission networks must already cope with outages of
generation plant and daily changes in electrical demand. Systems with large wind capacity
components may need more spinning reserve (plants operating at less than full load).

Pumped-storage hydroelecticity or other forms of grid energy storage can store energy developed by
high-wind periods and release it when needed. Stored energy increases the economic value of wind
energy since it can be shifted to displace higher cost generation during peak demand periods. The
potential revenue from this arbitrage can offset the cost and losses of storage; the cost of storage may
add 25% to the cost of any wind energy stored, but it is not envisaged that this would apply to a large
proportion of wind energy generated. The 2 GW Dinorwig pumped storage plant in Wales evens out
electrical demand peaks, and allows base-load suppliers to run their plant more efficiently. Although
pumped storage power systems are only about 75% efficient, and have high installation costs, their

low running costs and ability to reduce the required electrical base-load can save both fuel and total
electrical generation costs.

In particular geographic regions, peak wind speeds may not coincide with peak demand for electrical
power. In the US states of California and Texas, for example, hot days in summer may have low
wind speed and high electrical demand due to air conditioning. Some utilities subsidize the purchase
of geothemalheat pumps by their customers, to reduce electricity demand during the summer months
by making air conditioning up to 70% more efficient; widespread adoption of this technology would
better match electricity demand to wind availability in areas with hot summers and low summer
winds. Another option is to interconnect widely dispersed geographic areas with an HVDC “Super
grid”. In the USA it is estimated that to upgrade the transmission system to take in planned or
potential renewables would cost at least $60 billion.

In the UK, demand for electricity is higher in winter than in summer, and so are wind speeds.Solar
power tends to be complementary to wind. On daily to weekly timescales, high pressure areas tend
to bring clear skies and low surface winds, whereas low pressure areas tend to be windier and
cloudier. On seasonal timescales, solar energy typically peaks in summer, whereas in many areas
wind energy is lower in summer and higher in winter. Thus the intermittencies of wind and solar
power tend to cancel each other somewhat. The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the
Uneversity of Kassel pilot-tested a combined power plant linking solar, wind, biogas and
hydrostorage to provide load-following power around the clock, entirely from renewable sources.

A report on Denmark's wind power noted that their wind power network provided less than 1% of
average demand 54 days during the year 2002. Wind power advocates argue that these periods of
low wind can be dealt with by simply restarting existing power stations that have been held in
readiness or interlinking with HVDC. Electrical grids with slow-responding thermal power plants
and without ties to networks with hydroelectric generation may have to limit the use of wind power.

Three reports on the wind variability in the UK issued in 2009, generally agree that variability of
wind needs to be taken into account, but it does not make the grid unmanageable; and the additional
costs, which are modest, can be quantified

Capacity credit and fuel saving

Many commentators concentrate on whether or not wind has any "capacity credit" without defining
what they mean by this and its relevance. Wind does have a capacity credit, using a widely accepted
and meaningful definition, equal to about 20% of its rated output (but this figure varies depending on
actual circumstances). This means that reserve capacity on a system equal in MW to 20% of added
wind could be retired when such wind is added without affecting system security or robustness. But
the precise value is irrelevant since the main value of wind (in the UK, worth 5 times the capacity
credit value) is its fuel and CO2 savings.

According to a 2007 Stanford University study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and
Climatology, interconnecting ten or more wind farms can allow an average of 33% of the total
energy produced to be used as reliable, baseload electric power, as long as minimum criteria are met
for wind speed and turbine height.
 THE AERODYNAMICS OF THE
WIND TURBINE

The three bladed rotor is the most important and most visible part of the wind turbine. It is through the rotor
that the energy of the wind is transformed into mechanical energy that turns the main shaft of the wind turbine.

BASIC THEORY
Aerodynamics is the science and study of the physical laws of the behavior of objects in an air flow
and the forces that are produced by air flows.The front and rear sides of a wind turbine rotor blade
have a shape roughly similar to that of a long rectangle, with the edges bounded by the leading edge,
the trailing edge, the blade tip and the blade root. The blade root is bolted to the hub. The radius of
the blade is the distance from the rotor shaft to the outer edge of the blade tip. Some wind turbine
blade have moveable blade tips as air brakes, and one can often see the distinct line separating the
blade tip component from the blade itself. If a blade were sawn in half, one would see that the cross
section has a streamlined asymmetrical shape, with the flattest side facing the oncoming air flow or
wind. This shape is called the blade’s aerodynamic profile.
THE AERODYNAMIC PROFILE

The shape of the aerodynamic profile is decisive for blade performance. Even minor alterations in
the shape of the profile can greatly alter the power curve and noise level. Therefore a blade designer
does not merely sit down and outline the shape when designing a new blade. The shape must be
chosen with great care on the basis of past experience. For this reason blade profiles were previously
chosen from a widely used catalogue of airfoil profiles developed in wind tunnel research by NACA
(The United States National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) around the time of the Second
World War. The NACA 44 series profiles were used on older Bonus wind turbines (up to and
including the 95 kW models).

This profile was developed during the 1930’s, and has good all-round properties, giving a good
power curve and a good stall. The blade is tolerant of minor surface imperfections, such as dirt on
the blade profile surface. The LM blades used on newer Bonus wind turbines (from the 150 kW
models) use the NACA 63 profiles developed during the 1940’s. These have slightly different
properties than the NACA 44 series. The power curve is better in the low and medium wind speed
ranges, but drops under operation at higher wind speeds. Likewise this profile is more sensitive with
regard to surface dirt. This is not so important in Denmark, but in certain climate zones with little
rain, accumulated dirt, grime and insect deposits may impair and reduce performance for longer
periods. The LM 19 blades, specifically developed for wind turbines, used on the Bonus 500 kW,
have completely new aerodynamic profiles and are therefore not found in the NACA catalogue.
These blades were developed in a joint LM and Bonus research project some years ago, and further
developed and wind tunnel tested by FFA (The Aerodynamic Research Institute of The Swedish
Ministry of Defence).

THE AERODYNAMICS OF A MAN ON A BICYCLE

To fully describe the aerodynamics of a wind turbine blade could appear to be rather complicated
and difficult to understand. It is not easy to fully understand how the direction of the air flow around
the blade is dependent on the rotation of the blade. Fortunately for us, air constantly flows around
everyday objects following these very same aerodynamic laws. Therefore we can start with the
aerodynamics of an air flow that most of us are much more familiar with: A cyclist on a windy day.
 The diagrams (next page) show a cyclist as seen from above. The diagrams are perhaps rather
sketchy, but with a good will one can visualize what they represent. The diagram (A) on the left,
illustrates a situation, during which a cyclist is stationary and can feel a side wind “v” of 10 meters
per second (m/s) or roughly 22 mph (this is known as a fresh breeze). The wind pressure will attempt
to overturn the cyclist. We can calculate the pressure of the wind on the windward side of the cyclist
as roughly 80 Newton per square meter of the total side area presented by the cyclist against the
wind. Newton, or N for short, is the unit for force used in technical calculation. 10 N is about
1kg/force (Multiply by 0.2248 to obtain lbf.). The direction of the force of the wind pressure is in
line with the wind flow. If we consider that a normal sized cyclist has a side area facing the wind of
about 0.6 square meters, then the force F from the pressure of the wind will be 0.6 x 80 N =app. 50
N/m2.
In the center drawing (B) our cyclist has started out and is traveling at a speed “u” of 20 km/hour,
equivalent to about 6 meters/second, still with a side wind ‘v” of 10 m/s. We can therefore calculate
the speed of the resulting wind “w” striking the cyclist, either mathematically or by measurement on
the diagram as 12 m/s. This gives a total wind pressure of 100 N/m2. The direction of the wind
pressure is now in line with the resulting wind, and this will give a force “F’ on the cyclist of about
60 N/m2. In the right hand drawing (C) the force of the wind pressure “F” is now separated into a
component along the direction of the cyclist’s travel and into another component at a right angle to
the direction of travel. The right angled force “Fv" will attempt to overturn the cyclist, and the force
“Fm” along the axis of travel gives a resistance that slows down the cyclist’s forward motion. The
size of “Fm” is about 30 N/m2. This is the resistance force that the cyclist must overcome. A
beginner, unused to cycling, may wonder why the wind has changed direction and a head wind is felt
on reaching speed. This beginner might well ask “ How can it be that I felt a side wind when I was at
rest and standing still, could the wind have possibly changed its direction? “ But no, as any
experienced cyclist unfortunately knows, head wind is an integral component of movement itself.
The wind itself has not turned. The head wind is a result of speed, the faster one travels the more
wind resistance one experiences. Perhaps, as a famous Danish politician once promised his voters,
that if elected he would insure favorable tailwinds on the cycle-paths, things may change in the
future. However we others have learnt to live with the head winds resulting from our own forward
movement, whether we run, cycle or go skiing.
WIND TURBINE BLADES BEHAVE IN THE SAME WAY
Returning to the wind turbine blade, just as in the situation for the cyclist, we can observe the
aerodynamic and force diagrams in two different situations.
,

when the wind turbine is stationary and when it is running at a normal operational speed. We will
use as an example the cross section near the blade tip of a Bonus 450 kW Mk III operating in a wind
speed “v” of 10 m/s. When the rotor is stationary, as shown in drawing (A) below, the wind has a
direction towards the blade, at a right angle to the plane of rotation, which is the area swept by the
rotor during the rotation of the blades. The wind speed of 10 m/s will produce a wind pressure of 80
N/m2 of blade surface, just like the effect on our cyclist. The wind pressure is roughly in the same
direction as the wind and is also roughly perpendicular to the flat side of the blade profile. The part
of the wind pressure blowing in the direction of the rotor shaft attempts to bend the blades and
tower, while the smaller part of the wind pressure blowing in the direction of the rotation of the
blades produces a torque that attempts to start the wind turbine. Once the turbine is in operation and
the rotor is turning, as is shown in the center diagram (B), the blade encounters a head wind from its
own forward movement in exactly the same way as the cyclist does. The strength of head wind “u”
at any specific place on the blade depends partly on just how fast the wind turbine blade is rotating,
and partly how far out on the blade one is from the shaft. In our example, at the normal operating
speed of 30 rpm, the head wind “u” near the tip of the 450 kW wind turbine is about 50 m/s. The
“meteorological” wind “v” of 10 m/s will thus give a resulting wind over the profile of about 51 m/s.
This resulting wind will have an effect on the blade surface with a force of 1500 N/m2. The force
“F” will not be in the direction of the resulting wind, but almost at a right angle to the resulting wind.

In the drawing on the right (C) the force of the wind pressure “F” is again split up into a component
in the direction of rotation and another component at a right angle to this direction. The force “Fa” at
a right angle to the plane of rotation attempts to bend the blade back against the tower, while the
force “Fd” points in the direction of rotation and provides the driving torque. We may notice two
very important differences between the forces on the blade in these two different situations and
forces on the cyclist in the two corresponding situations. One difference is that the forces on the
blade become very large during rotation. If vector arrows illustrating the forces in the diagrams were
drawn in a scale that was indicative of the sizes of the different forces, then these vector arrows of a
wind turbine in operation would have been 20 times the size of the vector arrows of the same wind
turbine at rest. This large difference is due to the resulting wind speed of 51 m/s striking a blade
during operation, many times the wind speed of 10 m/s when the wind turbine is at rest. Just like the
cyclist, the blade encounters head wind resulting from its own movement, however head wind is of
far greater importance on a wind turbine blade than for a cyclist in motion. The other important
difference between a wind turbine blade and a cyclist is that the force on the blade is almost at a
right angle to the resulting wind striking the profile. This force is known as the lift and also
produces a small resistance or drag. The direction of this lift force is of great importance.
 A cyclist only feels the wind resistance as a burden, requiring him to push down extra hard on the
pedals. However with a wind turbine blade this extra wind resistance will act as a kind of power
booster, at least in the normal blade rotational speed range. The reason for this difference is due to
the blades streamlined profile, which behaves aerodynamically completely differently as compared
to the irregular shaped profile of a man on a bicycle. The wind turbine blade experiences both lift
and drag, while a cyclist only experiences drag.

LIFT
Lift is primary due to the physical phenomena known as Bernoulli’s Law. This physical law states
that when the speed of an air flow over a surface is increased the pressure will then drop. This law is
counter to what most people experience from walking or cycling in a head wind, where normally one
feels that the pressure increases when the wind also increases. This is also true when one sees an air
flow blowing directly against a surface, but it is not the case when air is flowing over a surface.

One can easily convince oneself that this is so by making a small experiment. Take two small pieces
of paper and bend them slightly in the middle. Then hold them as shown in the diagram and blow in
between them. The speed of the air is higher in between these two pieces of paper than outside
(where of course the air speed is about zero), so therefore the pressure inside is lower and according
to Bernoulli’s Law the papers will be sucked in towards each other. One would expect that they
would be blown away from each other, but in reality the opposite occurs. This is an interesting little
experiment, that clearly demonstrates a physical phenomenon that has a completely different result
than what one would expect. Just try for yourself and see.

The aerodynamic profile is formed with a rear side, that is much more curved than the front side
facing the wind. Two portions of air molecules side by side in the air flow moving towards the
profile at point A will separate and pass around the profile and will once again be side by side at
point B after passing the

Profile’s trailing edge. As the rear side is more curved than the front side on a wind turbine blade,
this means that the air flowing over the rear side has to travel a longer distance from point A to B
than the air flowing over the front side. Therefore this air flow over the rear side must have a higher
velocity if these two different portions of air shall be reunited at point B. Greater velocity produces a
pressure drop on the rear side of the blade, and it is this pressure drop that produces the lift. The
highest speed is obtained at the rounded front edge of the blade. The blade is almost sucked forward
by the pressure drop resulting from this greater front edge speed. There is also a contribution
resulting from a small over-pressure on the front side of the blade.

Compared to an idling blade the aerodynamic forces on the blade under operational conditions are
very large. Most wind turbine owners have surely noticed these forces during a start-up in good wind
conditions. The wind turbine will start to rotate very slowly at first, but as it gathers speed it begins
to accelerate faster and faster. The change from slow to fast acceleration is a sign that the blade’s
aerodynamic shape comes into play, and that the lift greatly increases when the blade meets the head
wind of its own movement.
The fast acceleration, near the wind turbine’s operational rotational speed places great demands on
the electrical cut-in system that must “capture and engage “ the wind turbine without releasing
excessive peak electrical loads to the grid.

THE CHANGE OF FORCES ALONG THE BLADE

The drawings previously studied, mainly illustrate the air flow situation near the blade tip. In
principle these same conditions apply all over the blade, however the size of the forces and their
direction change according to their distance to the tip. If we once again look at a 450 kW blade in a
wind speed of 10 m/s, but this time study the situation near the blade root, we will obtain slightly
different results as shown in the drawing above.

In the stationary situation (A) in the left hand drawing, wind pressure is still 80 N/m2 . The force “F”
becomes slightly larger than the force at the tip, as the blade is wider at the root. The pressure is once
again roughly at a right angle to the flat side of the blade profile, and as the blade is more twisted at
the root, more of the force will be directed in the direction of rotation, than was the case at the tip.
On the other hand the force at the root has not so great a torque-arm effect in relation to the rotor
axis and therefore it will contribute about the same force to the starting torque as the force at the tip.

During the operational situation as shown in the center drawing (B), the wind approaching the
profile is once again the sum of the free wind “v” of 10 m/s and the head wind “u” from the blade
rotational movement through the air. The head wind near the blade root of a 450 kW wind turbine is
about 15 m/s and this produces a resulting wind “w” over the profile of 19 m/s. This resulting wind
will act on the blade section with a force of about 500 N/m2.

In the drawing on the right (C) fore is broken down into wind pressure against the tower “Fa”, and
the blade driving force “Fd” in the direction of rotation. In comparison with the blade tip the root
section produces less aerodynamic forces during operation, however more of these forces are aligned
in the correct direction, that is, in the direction of rotation. The change of the size and direction of
these forces from the tip in towards the root, determine the form and shape of the blade.

Head wind is not so strong at the blade root, so therefore the pressure is likewise not so high and the
blade must be made wider in order that the forces should be large enough. The resulting wind has a
greater angle in relation to the plane of rotation at the root, so the blade must likewise have a greater
angle of twist at the root.
It is important that the sections of the blade near the hub are able to resist forces and stresses from
the rest of the blade. Therefore the root profile is both thick and wide, partly because the thick broad
profile gives a strong and rigid blade and partly because greater width, as previously mentioned, is
necessary on account of the resulting lower wind speed across the blade. On the other hand, the
aerodynamic behavior of a thick profile is not so effective.
Further out along the blade, the profile must be made thinner in order to produce acceptable
aerodynamic properties, and therefore the shape of the profile at any given place on the blade is a
compromise between the desire for strength (the thick wide profile) and the desire for good
aerodynamic properties (the thin profile) with the need to avoid high aerodynamic stresses (the
narrow profile).

As previously mentioned, the blade is twisted so that it may follow the change in direction of the
resulting wind. The angle between the plane of rotation and the profile chord, an imaginary line
drawn between the leading edge and the trailing edge, is called the setting angle, sometimes referred
to as “Pitch”.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WIND SPEED CHANGES?

The description so far was made with reference to a couple of examples where wind speed was at a
constant 10 m/s.We will now examine what happens during alterations in the wind speed. In order to
understand blade behavior at different wind speeds, it is necessary to understand a little about how
lift and drag change with a different angle of attack. This is the angle between the resulting wind
“w” and the profile chord. In the drawing below the angle of attack is called “a” and the setting angle
is called “b”. The setting angle has a fixed value at any one given place on the blade, but the angle of
attack will grow as the wind speed increases.
The aerodynamic properties of the profile will change when the angle of attack “a” changes. These
changes of lift and drag with increasing angles of attack, are illustrated in the diagram above used to
calculate the strength of these two forces, the lift coefficient “CL” and the drag coefficient “CD”.
Lift will always be at a right angle to the resulting wind, while drag will always follow in the
direction of the resulting wind.
We will not enter into the formulas necessary to calculate these forces, it is enough to know that
there is a direct connection between the size of “CL” and the amount of lift. Both lift and drag
abruptly change when the angle of attack exceeds 15-20 degrees. One can say that the profile stalls.
After this stalling point is reached, lift falls and drag increases. The angle of attack changes when the
wind speed changes.

To further study these changes, we can draw diagrams, shown to the right, illustrating three different
wind speeds “v” (5, 15 and 25 m/s) from our previous cross section, this time near the blade tip of a
450 kW wind turbine. This situation is rather convenient as the setting angle “b” near the wing tip is
normally 0 degrees.
The head wind from the movement “u” is always the same, as the wind turbine has a constant
rotational speed controlled by the grid connected generator (in these situations we do not consider
the small generator used on certain small wind turbines). The free air flow “v” has three different
values and this gives three different values of the resulting wind “w” across the profile. The size of
“w” does not change very much, from 50 m/s at a wind speed of 5 m/s to 52 m/s in a 25 m/s wind.
The reason for this relatively minor change is due to the dominating effect of the head wind.
However, the angle of attack “a” between the resulting wind and the chord of the blade changes from
6 degrees at a wind speed of 5 m/s to 16 degrees at 15 m/s to 27 degrees at 25 m/s. These changes
are of great importance for determining the strength of the aerodynamic forces.
Studying the diagram showing the lift coefficient “CL” and the drag coefficient “CD” we may note
the following:
 At a wind speed of 5 m/s (A), the angle of attack is 6 degrees. The lift coefficient is
0.9 and the coefficient of drag is 0.01. Lift is therefore 90 times greater than drag, and
the resultant force “F” points almost vertically at a right angle to the mean relative
wind “w”
 At a wind speed of 15 m/s (B), the profile is almost about to stall. The angle of attack
is 16 degrees. The lift coefficient is 1.4 and the coefficient of drag is 0.07. Lift is now
20 times drag.
 At a wind speed of 25 m/s (C), the profile is now deeply stalled, the angle of attack is
27 degrees, the lift component is 1.0 and the component of lift is 0.35. Lift is now 3
times greater than drag. We can therefore note the following:
 During the change of wind speed from 5 to 15 m/s there is a significant increase in
lift, and this increase is directed in the direction of rotation. Therefore power output
of the wind turbine is greatly increased from 15 kW to 475 kW.
 During the change of wind speed from 15 to 25 m/s, there is a drop in lift
accompanied by an increase in drag. This lift is even more directed in the direction of
rotation, but it is opposed by drag and therefore output will fall slightly to 425 kW.
THE STALL PHENOMENA
The diagrams showing the components of lift and drag illustrate the result of stall.
Lift diminishes and drag increases at angles of attack over 15 degrees. The diagrams however do not
illustrate the reasons for this stall phenomena. A stall is understood as a situation during which an
angle of attack becomes so large that the air flow no can longer flow smoothly, or laminar, across the
profile. Air looses contact with the rear side of the blade, and strong turbulence occurs. This
separation of air masses normally commences progressively from the trailing edge, so the profile
gradually becomes semi-stalled at a certain angle of attack, but a full stall is first achieved at a
somewhat higher angle. From the diagram showing the lift and drag components, one can estimate
that the separation at the trailing edge starts at about 12 degrees, where the curve illustrating lift
starts to fall. The profile is fully stalled, and the air flow is separated all over the rear side of the
blade at about 20 degrees. These figures can greatly vary from profile to profile and also between
different thicknesses of the same profile.

When the stall phenomena is used to restrict power output, as in all Bonus wind turbines, it is
important that blades are trimmed correctly. With the steep lift curve, the angle of attack cannot be
altered very much, before maximum output also changes, therefore it is essential that the angle of the
blade is set at the correct value.

One cannot alter the different angles on the blade itself, once the form, shape and blade molding has
been decided upon and fabricated. So we normally talk about calibrating the tip angle. Not because
the blade tip has any special magical properties, but we can place a template at the tip, which allows
us to make measurements using a theodolite. Adjusting of the tip angle can therefore be understood
as an example of how the angle of the total blade is adjusted.
Of importance for power output limitation is also the fact that in practice lift and drag normally
behave exactly as would be expected from the theoretical calculations. However this is not always
the case. Separation can often occur before expected, for instance due to dirt on the leading edges, or
it can be delayed if the air flow over the profile for some reason or other, is smoother than usual.
When separation occurs before expected, the maximum obtainable lift is not as high as otherwise
expected and therefore maximum output is lower. On the other hand, delayed separation can cause
continuous excessive power production output.

Accordingly profile types chosen for our blades have stable stall characteristics with little tendency
to unforeseen changes. From time to time, however, it is sometimes necessary to actively alter the
stall process. This is normally done by alteration to the leading edge, so that a small well-defined
extra turbulence across the profile is induced. This extra turbulence gives a smoother stall process.
Turbulence can be created by an area of rougher blade surface, or a triangular strip, fixed on the
leading edge.
 This stall strip acts as a trigger for the stall so that separation occurs simultaneously all over the rear
side. On a wind turbine blade, different air flows over the different profile shapes, interact with each
other out along the blade and therefore, as a rule, it is only necessary to alter the leading edge on a
small section of the blade. This altered section will then produce a stall over the greater part of the
blade. For example, the Bonus 450 kW Mk III turbine, is usually equipped with a 0.5 meter stall
strib, which controls the stall process all over the 17 meter long blade.

SUMMARY
The main points as described in this article can be shortly stated in the following:
 The air flow around a wind turbine blade is completely dominated by the head wind
from the rotational movement of the blade through the air.
 The blade aerodynamic profile produces lift because of its streamlined shape. The
rear side is more curved than the front side.
 The lift effect on the blade aerodynamic profile causes the forces of the air to point in
the correct direction.The blade width, thickness, and twist is a compromise between
the need for streamlining and the need for strength.
 At constant shaft speed, in step with the grid, the angle of attack increases with
increasing wind speed. The blade stalls when the angle of attack exceeds 15 degrees.
In a stall condition the air can no longer flow smoothly or laminar over the rear side
of the blade, lift therefore falls and drag increases.
 PROS AND CONS OF WIND
ENERGY

With the rising costs of traditional energy, alternate sources of energy are being looked into. Wind
Energy is one such alternative source of energy. Here are some pros and cons of Wind Energy.

Advantages

 Wind energy is fueled by the wind, so it's a clean fuel source. Wind energy doesn't
pollute the air like power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or
natural gas. Wind turbines don't produce atmospheric emissions that cause acid rain or
greenhouse gasses.

 Wind energy relies on the renewable power of the wind, which can't be used up. Wind
is actually a form of solar energy; winds are caused by the heating of the atmosphere
by the sun, the rotation of the earth, and the earth's surface irregularities.

 Wind energy is one of the lowest-priced renewable energy technologies available

today, costing between 4 and 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending upon the wind
resource and project financing of the particular project.

 Wind turbines can be built on farms or ranches, thus benefiting the economy in rural
areas, where most of the best wind sites are found. Farmers and ranchers can continue
to work the land because the wind turbines use only a fraction of the land. Wind
power plant owners make rent payment.

 The greatest advantages of Wind Energy are that it is widely distributed, cheap, and
also reducing toxic gas emissions. Wind Energy is also advantageous over traditional
methods of creating energy, in the sense that it is getting cheaper and cheaper to
produce wind energy. Wind Energy may soon be the cheapest way to produce energy
on a large scale.

 Along with economy, Wind Energy is also said to diminish the greenhouse effect.

 Also, wind energy generates no pollution. Wind Energy is also a more permanent type
of energy. The wind will exist till the time the sun exists, which is roughly another
four billion years. Theoretically, if all the wind power available to humankind is
harnessed, there can be ten times of energy we use, readily available.

 One other advantage of wind energy that it is readily available around the globe, and
therefore there would be no need of dependence for energy for any country. Wind
energy may be the answer to the globe's question of energy in the face of the rising
petroleum and gas prices.

 Wind costs are much more competitive with other generating technologies because
there is no fuel to purchase and minimal operating expenses.
Disadvantages

 However, there are some disadvantages for wind energy, which may put a dampener
in its popularity. Though the costs of creating wind energy is going down, even today
a large number of turbines have to be built to generate a proper amount of wind
energy.

 Wind can never be predicted. Even the most advanced machinery may come out a
cropper while predicting weather and wind conditions. Since wind energy will require
knowledge of the weather and wind conditions on long term basis, it may be a bit
impractical. 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). Therefore, in areas where a large amount of wind
energy is needed, one cannot depend completely on wind.

 Many potential wind farms, places where wind energy can be produced on a large
scale, are far away from places for which wind energy is best suited. Therefore, the
economical nature of wind energy may take a beating in terms of costs of new
substations and transmission lines.

 Wind Energy is non-dispatchable. This may also put a spanner in depending upon
wind power as a primary energy supplier. Wind energy depends upon the wind in an
area and therefore is a variable source of energy. The amount of wind supplied to a
place and the amount of energy produced from it will depend on various factors like
wind speeds and the turbine characteristics. Some critics also wonder whether wind
energy can be used in areas of high demand.

 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),

 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.
CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS

Challenges
Wind power must compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis. Depending on how
energetic a wind site is, the wind farm may or may not be cost competitive. 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.

Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed.
Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city.

Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those alternative uses
may be more highly valued than electricity generation.

Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to other
conventional power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades,
aesthetic (visual) impacts, and sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of
these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by
properly siting wind plants.

Limitations
The limitations are both theoretical and technological. Of all the wind energy that a wind turbine
sees, the theoretical maximum amount of energy that can be converted into electricity is 60%. For
100% efficiency, the wind speed behind the turbine blades would have to be zero. Other limitations
include the amount of power output a wind turbine can have. The power produced by a turbine is
proportional to the wind velocity cubed. This means, at low wind speeds (i.e. 4 m/s), there is a
significant drop-off in the power produced versus moderate wind speeds (i.e. 7 m/s). Also, the
power produced is proportional to the swept area, or another way of saying the same thing, is its
proportional to the blade length squared. Clearly, infinite length blades are unrealistic. Therefore
finite blade lengths have to be used, which gets into the technological limitations. Some of the
technological limitations are:

Limitations on Blades: Additional limitations involve the wind turbine blades. The most common
method for producing wind turbine blades is fiberglass. This involves cutting multiple sheets of
fiberglass to the shape of the blade and molding them with resin between each fiberglass layer.
Small imperfections develop in the surface of the blade as the resin cures which can lead to
premature failure during operation.

Limitations on Structure: At high wind speeds, the turbines become unsafe to operate. One of the
main reasons for this is the vibrations caused by the high velocities. Because of this, the power
output of a turbine must be limited to keep the turbine from being overloaded and/or from a
catastrophic failure.
Limitations on Transmission: The modern electricity transmission grid is not so modern. Built for the
energy needs 100 years ago, the grid is not suited to transport electricity for long distances, which
are usually required for wind turbines since high wind speeds are often found in less populated areas.
The problem is that transmission lines and the connections between them are too small for the
amount of power companies want to squeeze through them.

Limitations on Energy Storage: Since wind turbines rely on wind to generate electricity, a calm day is
a bad thing. Currently the capability to store extra electricity when it's not needed is virtually zero.
This severely limits the practically of wind turbines as main stream power producers since they
cannot provide a constant source of electricity.
 WIND POWER FORECASTING

A wind power forecast corresponds to an estimate of the expected production of one or more wind
turbines (referred to as a wind farm) in the near future. By production is often meant available power
for wind farm considered (with units kW or MW depending on the wind farm nominal capacity).
Forecasts can also be expressed in terms of energy, by integrating power production over each time
interval. Forecasting of the wind power generation may be considered at different time scales,
depending on the intended application:

• from milliseconds up to a few minutes, forecasts can be used for the turbine active control.
Such type of forecasts are usually referred to as very short-term forecasts

• for the following 48–72 hours, forecasts are needed for the power system management or energy
trading. They may serve for deciding on the use of conventional power plants and for the
optimization of the scheduling of these plants. Regarding the trading application, bids are usually
required during the morning of day d for day d+1 from midnight to midnight. These forecasts are
called short-term forecasts

• for longer time scales (up to 5–7 days ahead), forecasts may be considered for planning the
maintenance of wind farms, or conventional power plants or transmission lines. For the specific case
of offshore wind farms maintenance costs may be prohibitive, and thus an optimal planning of
maintenance operations is of particular importance.

For the last two possibilities, the temporal resolution of wind power predictions ranges between 10
minutes and few hours (depending on the forecast length). Lately, most of the works for improving
wind power forecasting solutions have focused on using more and more data as input to the models
involved, or alternatively on the providing of reliable uncertainty estimates along with the
traditionally provided predictions.

Reason for wind power forecasts

In the electricity grid at any moment balance must be maintained between electricity consumption
and generation - otherwise disturbances in power quality or supply may occur. Wind generation is a
direct function of wind speed and, in contrast to conventional generation systems, is not easily
dispatchable. Fluctuations of wind generation thus receive a great amount of attention. Variability of
wind generation can be regarded at various time scales. First, wind power production is subject to
seasonal variations, i.e. it may be higher in winter in Northern Europe due to low-pressure
meteorological systems or it may be higher in summer in the Mediterranean regions owing to strong
summer breezes. There are also daily cycles which may be substantial, mainly due to daily
temperature changes. Finally, fluctuations are observed at the very short-term scale (at the minute or
intra-minute scale). The variations are not of the same order for these three different timescales.
Managing the variability of wind generation is the key aspect associated to the optimal integration of
that renewable energy into electricity grids.
The challenges to face when wind generation is injected in a power system depend on the share of
that renewable energy. It is a basic concept, the wind penetration which allows one to describe the
share of wind generation in the electricity mix of a given power system. For Denmark, which is a
country with one of the highest shares of wind power in the electricity mix, the average wind power
penetration over the year is of 16-20% (meaning that 16-20% of the electricity consumption is met
wind energy), while the instantaneous penetration (that is, the instantaneous wind power production
compared to the consumption to be met at a given time) may be above 100%.

The Transmission System Operator (TSO) is responsible for managing the electricity balance on the
grid: at any time, electricity production has to match consumption. Therefore, the use of production
means is scheduled in advance in order to respond to load profiles. The load corresponds to the total
electricity consumption over the area of interest. Load profiles are usually given by load forecasts
which are of high accuracy. For making up the daily schedule, TSOs may consider their own power
production means, if they have any, and/or they can purchase power generation from Independent
Power Producers (IPPs) and utilities, via bilateral contracts or electricity pools. In the context of
deregulation, more and more players appear on the market, thus breaking the traditional situation of
vertically-integrated utilities with quasi local monopolies. Two main mechanisms compose
electricity markets. The first one is the spot market where participants propose quantities of energy
for the following day at a given production cost. An auction system permits to settle the electricity
spot price for the various periods depending on the different bids. The second mechanism is the
balancing of power generation, which is coordinated by the TSO. Depending on the energy lacks and
surplus (e.g. due to power plant failures or to intermittence in the case of wind power installations),
the TSO determines the penalties that will be paid by IPPs who missed in their obligations. In some
cases, an intra-day market is also present, in order to take corrective actions.

General methodology
There exists today a wealth of methods for short-term prediction of wind generation. The simplest
ones are based on climatology or averages of past production values. They may be considered as
reference forecasting methods since they are easy to implement, as well as benchmark when
evaluating more advanced approaches. The most popular of these reference methods is certainly
persistence. This naive predictor — commonly referred to as ‘what you see is what you get’ —
states that the future wind generation will be the same as the last measured value. Despite its
apparent simplicity, this naive method might be hard to beat for look-ahead times up to 4–6 hours
ahead

Advanced approaches for short-term wind power forecasting necessitate predictions of

meteorological variables as input. Then, they differ in the way predictions of meteorological
variables are converted to predictions of wind power production, through the so-called power curve.
Such advanced methods are traditionally divided into two groups. The first group, referred to as
physical approach, focuses on the description of the wind flow around and inside the wind farm, and
use the manufacturer's power curve, for proposing an estimation of the wind power output. In
parallel the second group, referred to as statistical approach, concentrates on capturing the relation
between meteorological predictions (and possibly historical measurements) and power output
through statistical models whose parameters have to be estimated from data, without making any
assumption on the physical phenomena.
Prediction of meteorological variables
Wind power generation is directly linked to weather conditions and thus the first aspect of wind
power forecasting is the prediction of future values of the necessary weather variables at the level of
the wind farm. This is done by using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. Such models
are based on equations governing the motions and forces affecting motion of fluids. From the
knowledge of the actual state of the atmosphere, the system of equations allows to estimate what the
evolution of state variables, e.g. temperature, velocity, humidity and pressure, will be at a series of
grid points. The meteorological variables that are needed as input for wind power prediction
obviously include wind speed and direction, but also possibly temperature, pressure and humidity.
The distance between grid points is called the spatial resolution of the NWPs. The mesh typically
has spacing that varies between few kilometers and up to 50 kilometers for mesoscale models.
Regarding the time axis, the forecast length of most of the operational models today is between 48
and 172 hours ahead, which is in adequacy with the requirements for the wind power application.
The temporal resolution is usually between 1 and 3 hours. NWP models impose their temporal
resolution to short-term wind power forecasting methods since they are used as a direct input.

Predictions of meteorological variables are provided by meteorological institutes. Meteorologists

employ atmospheric models for weather forecasts on short and medium term periods. An
atmospheric model is a numerical approximation of the physical description of the state of the
atmosphere in the near future, and usually is run on a supercomputer. Each computation starts with
initial conditions originating from recent measurements. The output consists of the expected average
value of physical quantities at various vertical levels in a horizontal grid and stepping in time up to
several hours after initiation. There are several reasons why atmospheric models only approximate
reality. First of all, not all relevant atmospheric processes are included in the model. Also, the initial
conditions may contain errors (which in a worse case propagate), and the output is only available for
discrete points in space (horizontal as well as vertical) and time. Finally, the initial conditions age
with time - they are already old when the computation starts let alone when the output is published.
Predictions of meteorological variables are issued several times per day (commonly between 2 and 4
times per day), and are available few hours after the beginning of the forecast period. This is because
some time is needed for acquiring and analyzing the wealth of measurements used as input to NWP
models, then run the model and checks and distribute the output forecast series. This gap is a blind
spot in the forecasts from an atmospheric model. As an example in the Netherlands, KNMI publishes
4 times per day expected values of wind speed, wind direction, temperature and pressure for the
period the between 0 and 48 hours after initialization of the atmospheric model Hirlam with
measured data, and then the period before forecast delivery is of 4 hours.

Many different atmospheric models are available, ranging from academic research tools to fully
operational instruments. Besides for the very nature of the model (physical processes or numerical
schemes) there are some clear distinctive differences between them: time domain (from several
hours to 6 days ahead), area (several 10.000 km² to an area covering half the planet), horizontal
resolution (1 km to 100 km) and temporal resolution (1 hour to several hours).

One of the atmospheric models is the High Resolution Limited Area Model, abbreviated HiRLAM,
which is frequently used in Europe. HiRLAM comes in many versions, that’s why it is better to
speak about "a" HiRLAM rather than "the" HiRLAM. Each version is maintained by a national
institute such as the Dutch KNMI, the Danish DMI or Finnish FMI. And each institute has several
versions under her wing, divided into categories such as: operational, pre-operational, semi
operational and for research purposes.
Other atmospheric models are UKMO in the UK, Lokalmodell in Germany, Alladin in France
(Alladin and Lokalmodell are also used by some other country’s within Europe), and MM5 in the
USA.

Here is an example of wind forecasting done in Denmark.

Physical approach to wind power forecasting

Meteorological forecasts are given at specific nodes of a grid covering an area. Since wind farms are
not situated on these nodes, it is then needed to extrapolate these forecasts at the desired location and
at turbine hub height. Physical-based forecasting methods consist of several sub-models which
altogether deliver the translation from the wind forecast at a certain grid point and model level, to
power forecast at the site considered. Every sub-model contains the mathematical description of the
physical processes relevant to the translation. Knowledge of all relevant processes is therefore
crucial when developing a purely physical prediction method (such as the early versions of the
Danish Prediktor). The core idea of physical approaches is to refine the NWPs by using physical
considerations about the terrain such as the roughness, orography and obstacles, and by modeling the
local wind profile possibly accounting for atmospheric stability. The two main alternatives to do so
are:

(i) to combine the modeling of the wind profile (with a logarithmic assumption in most of
the cases) and the geostrophic drag law for obtaining surface winds;
(ii) to use a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code that allows one to accurately
compute the wind field that the farm will see, considering a full description of the
terrain.
When the wind at the level of the wind farm and at hub height is known, the second step consists in
converting wind speed to power. Usually, that task is carried out with theoretical power curves.
However, since several studies have shown the interest of using empirically derived power curve
instead of theoretical ones, theoretical power curves are less and less considered. When applying a
physical methodology, the modeling of the function which gives the wind generation from NWPs at
given locations around the wind farm is done once for all. Then, the estimated transfer function is
consequently applied to the available weather predictions at a given moment. In order to account for
systematic forecasting errors that may be due to the NWP model or to their modeling approach,
physical modelers often integrate Model Output Statistics (MOS) for post-processing power
forecasts.

A company is using wind sensors on 300 cell phone towers to predict 95% of the 9GW wind power
in Texas with an accuracy of 10 minutes.

Statistical approach to wind power forecasting

Statistical prediction methods are based on one or several models that establish the relation between
historical values of power, as well as historical and forecast values of meteorological variables, and
wind power measurements. The physical phenomena are not decomposed and accounted for, even if
expertise of the problem is crucial for choosing the right meteorological variables and designing
suitable models. Model parameters are estimated from a set of past available data, and they are
regularly updated during online operation by accounting for any newly available information (i.e.
meteorological forecasts and power measurements).

Statistical models include linear and non-linear models, but also structural and black-box types of
models. Structural models rely on the analyst’s expertise on the phenomenon of interest while black-
box models require little subject-matter knowledge and are constructed from data in a fairly
mechanical way. Concerning wind power forecasting, structural models would be those that include
a modeling of the diurnal wind speed variations, or an explicit function of meteorological variable
predictions. Black-box models include most of the artificial-intelligence-based models such as
Neural-Networks (NNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs). However, some models are ‘in-
between’ the two extremes of being completely black-box or structural. This is the case of expert
systems, which learn from experience (from a dataset), and for which prior knowledge can be
injected. We then talk about grey-box modeling. Statistical models are usually composed by an
autoregressive part, for seizing the persistent behavior of the wind, and by a ‘meteorological’ part,
which consists in the nonlinear transformation of meteorological variable forecasts. The
autoregressive part permits to significantly enhance forecast accuracy for horizons up to 6–10 hours
ahead, i.e. over a period during which the sole use of meteorological forecast information may not be
sufficient for outperforming persistence.

Today, major developments of statistical approaches to wind power prediction concentrate on the
use of multiple meteorological forecasts (from different meteorological offices) as input and forecast
combination, as well as on the optimal use of spatially distributed measurement data for prediction
error correction, or alternatively for issuing warnings on potentially large uncertainty.
Uncertainty of wind power forecasts
Predictions of wind power output are traditionally provided in the form of point forecasts, i.e. a
single value for each look-ahead time, which corresponds to the expectation or most-likely outcome.
They have the advantage of being easily understandable because this single value is expected to tell
everything about future power generation. Today, a major part of the research efforts on wind power
forecasting still focuses on point prediction only, with the aim of assimilating more and more
observations in the models or refining the resolution of physical models for better representing wind
fields at the very local scale for instance. These efforts may lead to a significant decrease of the level
of prediction error.

However, even by better understanding and modeling both the meteorological and power conversion
processes, there will always be an inherent and irreducible uncertainty in every prediction. This
epistemic uncertainty corresponds to the incomplete knowledge one has of the processes that
influence future events. Therefore, in complement to point forecasts of wind generation for the
coming hours or days, of major importance are to provide means for assessing online the accuracy of
these predictions. In practice today, uncertainty is expressed in the form of probabilistic forecasts or
with risk indices provided along with the traditional point predictions. It can be shown that any
decision related to wind power management and trading cannot be optimal without accounting for
prediction uncertainty. For the example of the trading application, studies have shown that reliable
estimation of prediction uncertainty allows wind power producer to significantly increase their
income in comparison to the sole use of an advanced point forecasting method. Other studies of this
type deal with optimal dynamic quantification of reserve requirements, optimal operation of
combined systems including wind, or multi-area multi-stage regulation. More and more research
efforts are expected on prediction uncertainty and related topics.
 WIND POWER IN INDIA
The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the
last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the
US, India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.In 2009-10 India's growth
rate is highest among the other top four countries.

As of 31 Dec 2010 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 13065.37 MW , mainly spread
across

Tamil Nadu (4906.74 MW),

Maharashtra (2077.70 MW),

Gujurat (1863.64 MW),

Karnataka (1472.75 MW),

Rajasthan (1088.37 MW),

Madhya Pradesh (229.39 MW),

Andhra Pradesh (136.05 MW),

Kerala (27.75 MW),

Orissa (2MW),

West Bengal (1.1 MW)

And other states (3.20 MW). It is estimated that 6,000 MW of additional wind power capacity
will be installed in India by 2012. Wind power accounts for 6% of India's total installed power
capacity, and it generates 1.6% of the country's power.
India is the world's fifth largest wind power producer, with an annual power production of 8,896
MW.

The worldwide installed capacity of wind power reached 157,899 MW by the end of 2009. USA
(35,159 MW), Germany (25,777 MW), Spain (19,149 MW) and China (25,104 MW) are ahead
of India in fifth position. The short gestation periods for installing wind turbines, and the
increasing reliability and performance of wind energy machines has made wind power a favored
choice for capacity addition in India.

Suzlon, as Indian-owned company, emerged on the global scene in the past decade, and by 2006
had captured almost 7.7 percent of market share in global wind turbine sales. Suzlon is currently
the leading manufacturer of wind turbines for the Indian market, holding some 52 percent of
market share in India. Suzlon’s success has made India the developing country leader in
advanced wind turbine technology.
State-level wind power
There is a growing wind energy installations in the number of the states across the India.

Tamil Nadu (4906.74 MW)

India is keen to decrease its reliance on fossil fuels to meet its energy demand. Shown here is a wind
farm in Muppandal, Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is the state with the most wind generating capacity: 4906.74 MW at the end of the
March 2010. Not far from Aralvaimozhi, the Muppandal wind farm, the largest in the subcontinent,
is located near the once impoverished village of Muppandal, supplying the villagers with electricity
for work. The village had been selected as the showcase for India's $2 billion clean energy program
which provides foreign companies with tax breaks for establishing fields of wind turbines in the
area.

Wind turbiness in Tamil Nadu

In february 2009, Shriram EPC bagged INR 700 million contract for setting up of 60 units of 250
KW (totaling 15 MW) wind turbines in Tirunelveli district by Cape Energy. Enercon is also playing
a major role in development of wind energy in India. In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore and Tiruppur
Districts having more wind Mills from 2002 onwards,specially, Chittipalayam, Kethanoor,
Gudimangalam, Poolavadi, Murungappatti (MGV Place), Sunkaramudaku, KongalNagaram,
Gomangalam, Anthiur are the high wind power production places in the both districts.
Maharashtra (2077.70 MW)

Maharashtra is second only to Tamil Nadu in terms of generating capacity. Suzlon has been heavily
involved. Suzlon operates what was once Asia's largest wind farm, the Vankusawade Wind Park
(201 MW), near the Koyna reservoir in Satara district of Maharashtra.

Gujarat (1863.64 MW)

Samana &sadodar in jamanagar district is set to host energy companies like China Light Power
(CLP) and Tata Power have pledged to invest up to 8.15 billion ($189.5 million) in different
projects in the area. CLP, through its India subsidiary CLP India, is investing close to 5 billion for
installing 126 wind turbines in Samana that will generate 100.8 MW power. Tata Power has installed
wind turbines in the same area for generating 50 MW power at a cost of 3.15 billion. Both projects
are expected to become operational by early next year, according to government sources. The
Gujarat government, which is banking heavily on wind power, has identified Samana as an ideal
location for installation of 450 turbines that can generate a total of 360 MW. To encourage
investment in wind energy development in the state, the government has introduced a raft of
incentives including a higher wind energy tariff. Samana has a high tension transmission grid and
electricity generated by wind turbines can be fed into it. For this purpose, a substation at Sadodar has
been installed. Both projects are being executed by Enercon Ltd, a joint venture between Enercon of
Germany and Mumbai-based Mehra group.

ONGC Ltd has commissioned its first wind power project. The 51 MW project is located at
Motisindholi in Kutch district of Gujarat. ONGC had placed the EPC order on Suzlon Energy in
January 2008, for setting up the wind farm comprising 34 turbines of 1.5 MW each. Work on the
project had begun in February 2008, and it is learnt that the first three turbines had begun production
within 43 days of starting construction work. Power from this 308 crore captive wind farm will be
wheeled to the Gujarat state grid for onward use by ONGC at its Ankleshwar, Ahmedabad, Mehsana
and Vadodara centres. ONGC has targeted to develop a captive wind power capacity of around 200
MW in the next two years.

Karnataka (1472.75 MW)

There are many small wind farms in Karnataka, making it one of the states in India which has a high
number of wind mill farms. Chitradurga, Gadag are some of the districts where there are a large
number of Windmills. Chitradurga alone has over 20000 wind turbines.

The 13.2 MW Arasinagundi (ARA) and 16.5 MW Anaburu (ANA) wind farms are ACCIONA’S
first in India. Located in the Davangere district (Karnataka State), they have a total installed capacity
of 29.7 MW and comprise a total 18 Vestas 1.65MW wind turbines supplied by Vestas Wind
Technology India Pvt. Ltd.

The ARA wind farm was commissioned in June 2008 and the ANA wind farm, in September 2008.
Each facility has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Bangalore Electricity
Supply Company (BESCOM) for off-take of 100% of the output. ARA and ANA are Acciona’s first
wind farms eligible for CER credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
ACCIONA is in talks with the World Bank for The Spanish Carbon Fund which is assessing
participation in the project as buyer for CERs likely to arise between 2010 and 2012. An
environmental and social assessment has been conducted as part of the procedure and related
documents have been provided. These are included below, consistent with the requirement of the
World Bank's disclosure policy.

Rajasthan (1088.37 MW)

Gurgaon-headquartered Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd is in an advanced stage of commissioning a

large wind farm in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. A senior official told Projectmonitor that out of the
total 31.5 mw capacity, 12 mw had been completed so far. The remaining capacity would come on
line shortly, he added. For the INOX Group company, this would be the largest wind farm. In 2006-
07, GFL commissioned a 23.1-mw wind power project at Gudhe village near Panchgani in Satara
district of Maharashtra. Both the wind farms will be grid-connected and will earn carbon credits for
the company, the official noted.] In an independent development, cement major ACC Ltd has
proposed to set up a new wind power project in Rajasthan with a capacity of around 11 mw.
Expected to cost around 60 crore, the wind farm will meet the power requirements of the company's
Lakheri cement unit where capacity was raised from 0.9 million tpa to 1.5 million tpa through a
modernisation plan. For ACC, this would be the second wind power project after the 9-mw farm at
Udayathoor in Tirunelvelli district of Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan is emerging as an important destination
for new wind farms, although it is currently not amongst the top five states in terms of installed
capacity. As of 2007 end, this northern state had a total of 496 mw, accounting for a 6.3 per cent
share in India's total capacity.

Madhya Pradesh (229.39 MW)

In consideration of unique concept, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has sanctioned another 15 MW project
to MPWL at Nagda Hills near Dewas. All the 25 WEGs have been commissioned on 31.03.2008 and
under successful operation.

Kerala (27.75 MW)

The first wind farm of the state was set up at Kanjikode in Palakkad district. It has a generating
capacity of 23.00 MW. A new wind farm project was launched with private participation at
Ramakkalmedu in Idukki district. The project, which was inaugurated by chief minister V. S.
Achuthanandan in April 2008, aims at generating 10.5 MW of electricity.

The Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), an autonomous body
under the Department of Power, Government of Kerala, is setting up wind farms on private land in
various parts of the state to generate a total of 600 mw of power. The agency has identified 16 sites
for setting up wind farms through private developers. To start with, ANERT will establish a
demonstration project to generate 2 mw of power at Ramakkalmedu in Idukki district in association
with the Kerala State Electricity Board. The project is slated to cost 21 crore. Other wind farm sites
include Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram districts. The contribution of non-conventional energy in
the total 6,095 mw power potential is just 5.5 per cent, a share the Kerala government wants to
increase by 30 per cent. ANERT is engaged in the field of development and promotion of renewable
sources of energy in Kerala. It is also the nodal agency for implementing renewable energy
programmes of the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources.
West Bengal (1.10MW)

The total installation in West Bengal is just 1.10 MW as there was only 0.5 MW addition in 2006-
2007 and none between 2007–2008 and 2008–2009

Bengal - Mega 50 MW wind energy project soon for country.

Suzlon Energy Ltd plans to set up a large wind-power project in West Bengal Suzlon Energy Ltd is
planning to set up a large wind-power project in West Bengal, for which it is looking at coastal
Midnapore and South 24-Parganas districts. According to SP Gon Chaudhuri, chairman of the West
Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, the 50 MW project would supply grid-quality
power. Gon Chaudhuri, who is also the principal secretary in the power department, said the project
would be the biggest in West Bengal using wind energy. At present, Suzlon experts are looking for
the best site. Suzlon aims to generate the power solely for commercial purpose and sell it to local
power distribution outfits like the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB).

Suzlon will invest around 250 crore initially, without taking recourse to the funding available from
the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (Ireda), said Gon Chaudhuri. He said there are
five wind-power units in West Bengal, at Frazerganj, generating a total of around 1 MW. At Sagar
Island, there is a composite wind-diesel plant generating 1 MW. In West Bengal, power companies
are being encouraged to buy power generated by units based on renewable energy. The generating
units are being offered special rates. S Banerjee, private secretary to the power minister, said this had
encouraged the private sector companies to invest in this field.

Utilization
Despite the high installed capacity, the actual utilization of wind power in India is low because
policy incentives are geared towards installation rather than operation of the plants. This is why only
1.6% of actual power production in India comes from wind although the installed capacity is 6%.
The government is considering the addition of incentives for ongoing operation of installed wind
power plants.
Projects in India
India's Largest Wind power production facilities (10MW and greater)

Total
Power Plant Producer Location State Capacity
(MWe)
Vankusawade Wind
Suzlon Energy Ltd. Satara Dist. Maharashtra 259
Park
Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore
Cape Comorin Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu 33
Ltd.
Kayathar Subhash Subhash Ltd. Kayathar Tamil Nadu 30
Ramakkalmedu Subhash Ltd. Ramakkalmedu Kerala 25
Muppandal Wind Muppandal Wind Farm Muppandal Tamil Nadu 22
Gudimangalam Gudimangalam Wind Farm Gudimangalam Tamil Nadu 21
Andhra
Puthlur RCI Wescare (India) Ltd. Puthlur 20
Pradesh
Lamda Danida Danida India Ltd. Lamda Gujarat 15
Mohan Breweries &
Chennai Mohan Chennai Tamil Nadu 15
Distilleries Ltd.
Madhya
Jamgudrani MP MP Windfarms Ltd. Dewas 14
Pradesh
Chitradurga
Jogmatti BSES BSES Ltd. Karnataka 14
Dist
Perungudi Newam Newam Power Company Ltd. Perungudi Tamil Nadu 12
Kethanur Wind Farm Kethanur Wind Farm Kethanur Tamil Nadu 11
Andhra Pradesh State Road Andhra
Hyderabad APSRTC Hyderabad 10
Transport Corp. Pradesh
Muppandal Madras Madras Cements Ltd. Muppandal Tamil Nadu 10
Poolavadi Chettinad Chettinad Cement Corp. Ltd. Poolavadi Tamil Nadu 10
Shalivahana Green Energy.
Shalivahana Wind Tirupur Tamil Nadu 20.4
Ltd.
 *…..WIND FARMS…..*
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power.
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 may also be located offshore.

Design

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power.
Individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (usually 34.5 kV) power collection
system and communications network. At a substation, this medium-voltage electrical current is
increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the high voltage transmission system.

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 may be located offshore to take advantage of strong winds blowing
over the surface of an ocean or lake.

As a general rule, wind generators are able to be used better if wind speed is 10 mph (16 km/h or
4.5 m/s) 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 preselected on 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.

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. Typically, the increase of wind speeds
with increasing height follows a wind profile power law, which predicts that wind speed rises
proportionally to the seventh root of altitude. Doubling the altitude of a turbine, then, increases the
expected wind speeds by 10% and the expected power by 34%.

ONSHORE WIND FARMS

Onshore wind power refers to the construction of wind farms on land surfaces to generate electricity
from wind. The world's first wind farm – consisting of 20 wind turbines rated at 30 kilowatts each –
was installed on the shoulder of Crotched Mountain in southern New Hampshire in December, 1980.

Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in the USA. As of November 2010,
the Roscoe Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm in the world at 781.5 MW, followed by the
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center (735.5 MW). The largest wind farm under construction is the
800 MW Alta Wind Energy Center in the USA. The largest proposed project is the 20,000 MW
Gansu Wind Farm in China.
Onshore turbine installations in hilly or mountainous regions tend to be on ridgelines generally three
kilometers or more inland from the nearest shoreline. This is done to exploit the topographic
acceleration as the wind accelerates over a ridge. The additional wind speeds gained in this way can
increase the amount of energy produced because more wind is going through the turbines. Great
attention must be paid to the exact positions of the turbines (a process known as micro-siting)
because a difference of 30 m can sometimes mean a doubling in output.

World's largest onshore wind farms

Current
capacity

Wind farm Country

(MW)

Biglow Canyon Wind Farm 450 USA

Buffalo Gap Wind Farm 523.3 USA

Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm 662.5 USA

Dabancheng Wind Farm 500 China

Fowler Ridge Wind Farm 599.8 USA

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center 735.5 USA

Panther Creek Wind Farm 458 USA

Roscoe Wind Farm 781.5 USA

Sweetwater Wind Farm 585.3 USA

OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

Offshore wind power refers to the construction of wind farms in bodies of water to generate
electricity from wind. Better wind speeds are available offshore compared to on land, so offshore
wind power’s contribution in terms of electricity supplied is higher. Offshore wind turbines—which
generate electricity from the typically stronger winds that blow over the seas—figure prominently in
the ambitious long-term goals set forth by the German government and industry experts.

Offshore wind turbines are being used in a number of countries to harness the energy of the
moving air over the oceans and convert it to electricity. Offshore winds tend to flow at higher speeds
than onshore winds, thus allowing turbines to produce more electricity. Much of this potential
energy is near major population (and energy load) centers where energy costs are high and land-
based wind development opportunities are limited.
Because the potential energy produced from the wind is directly proportional to the cube of the wind
speed, increased wind speeds of only a few miles per hour can produce a significantly larger amount
of electricity. For instance, a turbine at a site with an average wind speed of 16 mph would produce
50% more electricity than at a site with the same turbine and average wind speeds of 14 mph.

Offshore wind facilities today are generally developed and operated as follows. Once a suitable
place for the wind facility is located, piles are driven into the seabed. For each turbine, a support
structure and a tower to support the turbine assembly, to house the remaining plant components, and
to provide sheltered access for personnel are attached to the piles. After the turbine (generally a
three-bladed rotor connected through the drive train to the generator) is assembled, wind direction
sensors turn the nacelle (a shell that encloses the gearbox, generator, and blade hub) to face into the
wind and maximize the amount of energy collected. Wind moving over the blades makes them rotate
around a horizontal hub connected to a shaft inside the nacelle. This shaft, via a gearbox, powers a
generator to convert the energy into electricity.

Offshore wind turbines are also bigger than onshore turbines (to take advantage of the steadier
offshore winds and economies of scale). A typical onshore turbine installed today has a tower height
of about 60 to 80 meters, and blades about 30 to 40 meters long; most offshore wind turbines are at
the top end of this range. Offshore turbines installed today are generally between 2 and 4 MW, with
tower heights greater than 200 feet and rotor diameters of 250 to 350 feet. Turbines of up to 5 MW
are being tested.

Transport of Wind-Generated Energy

Undersea collection cables connect multiple turbines in the wind facility and transport the electricity
from them to a transformer where the combined electricity is converted to a high voltage for
transmission via undersea cables to a substation. There the electricity is connected to the onshore
electricity grid. Alternative approaches, such as using the wind to produce hydrogen (through the
hydrolysis of desalinated seawater), which would be shipped to shore for later use, are also being
investigated.

Environmental Considerations

Potential impacts on the environment that may occur during construction, operations, and
decommissioning of offshore wind facilities are highlighted below.

 Marine life-- Foundations can act as artificial reefs with a resultant increase in fish
populations from the new food supply. These increases in fish population may also have
stimulating effects on bird populations in the area, which could cause collisions between
birds and towers or rotors.

 Migrating birds-- Besides potential collisions (bird strikes), it is possible that the birds would
need to consume more energy to avoid collisions and maintain their orientation when
navigating around the turbines. Tower illumination may also cause navigational
disorientation for birds.

 Interference with navigation for endangered and threatened species-- Electromagnetic fields
created by the electric cables running from the turbines and underwater noises and vibrations
could affect orientation and navigational ability.
 Potential alteration of natural environments and diminution of habitats-- Underwater support
pilings, anchoring devices, scour-protection materials, and electromagnetic fields could cause
a decrease in benthic communities, alter natural environments, and possibly affect migration
patterns.

 Emissions-- Each unit of electricity generated from the wind that saves a unit generated
from fossil fuels, which will help reduce greenhouses gases, pollutants, and waste products
that result from fossil fuel use.

 Marine traffic, recreation, and other sea space uses-- It is possible that wind turbine energy
plants may disrupt air traffic control and maritime radar systems, and that facilities siting
could affect recreation and other sea space uses.

 Visual impacts from towers, rotating turbine blades and navigation and aerial warning
lights.

 Noise impacts from rotating turbine blades

OFFSHORE WIND FARM.
ONSHORE WIND FARM
LATEST TECHNOLOGIES IN WIND
ENERGY

What’s happening right now?

Wind power has already made its way into the pantheon of renewable energy sources as it’s clearly
exhibited by the following numbers, which says that by the end of July, 2010, worldwide nameplate
capacity of wind-powered generators was 175 GW. Now compare this to total capacity in the year
2000, which was only 17.4 GW. Energy production was 340 TWh by 2010, which is about 2 percent
of worldwide electricity usage and has doubled in the past three years. Well, this is all well and
good, except for the fact that electricity generated from wind power can be highly variable at several
different timescales: from hour to hour, daily, and even seasonally. In response to this type of
variation, now we are looking forth to integrate systems that can harness winds at much higher
altitudes.

Trends:

1. MARS – A wind turbine that is up in air

At the first instance, it may look like a giant blimp, but in actuality MARS (Magenn Air Rotor
System) is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to
wind, generating clean electrical energy. The inflated system uses a three dimensional structure
(unlike the two dimensional blades of conventional turbines) kept afloat in the air by helium. The
mechanism can harness winds at a level of 600 ft to 1000ft and even nocturnal jet streams, while the
resultant energy captured is transferred down to earth by 1000ft long tether cables.
2. Joby Energy tests high-altitude wind turbine prototype

A prototype by Joby Energy epitomizes innovation at its best. Basically a flying platform with an
array of wind propellers (much like an aircraft without cockpit), the propellers lift up the contraption
to a certain level, and once steadily deployed in the air, the whole system moves in rapid circular
motion. This motion pattern maximizes the face exposure to wind streams, thus allowing it to collect
the energy and transmitting it back to the surface by use of cables. The system has a capacity of 30
KW, but if successful, the company could even manufacture a 100 KW version.

3. Energy starved New York could soon get powered by jet stream winds

Jet streams can be described as fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some
planets, including Earth. Now researchers from Carnegie Institution and California State University
have identified New York City as one of those locations that have the potential to immensely benefit
from harnessing energy from jet streams. Basically the system calls for energy harnessing kites to be
flown high up at an altitude of more than 30,000 ft, where they can transfer the collected energy
from the existing jet streams back to the earth by their tethered cables. If the system works
successfully, then according to the scientists it can produce ten times more energy as conventional
wind turbines, with more than 400 MW of electricity generation.
4. Kite farm offers parasailing while producing energy for the adventurous sort

Imagine you are parasailing over the deep blue sea, with your adrenaline pumping high and the
glorious wind waving at your visage, but on a different system, the whole world is benefiting from
your little tryst with adventure. Now that would be good feeling, and that is exactly what Colombian
landscape architecture studio Paisajes Emergentes plans on doing. The proposition calls for an
energy generating kite farm, on a public beach, in Abu Dhabi, under the Land Art Generator
Initiative. There would be around 200 kites tethered across a 60-meter grid of flexible posts, and
with an advanced wind belt generator, each of them (the kites) can produce roughly 6,200 kilowatt-
hours a year, which is enough to power three energy-efficient homes. So in a modest estimate, this
innovative ‘adventure’ wind farm can power around 600 homes!

5. Makani Power to develop energy harvesting kites

California-based high altitude wind company Makani Power wants to develop a 1MW prototype of
an energy-harvesting kite, which can be flown at high altitudes of more than 600 m (20,000 ft). Such
kites can make use of steadier wind velocities to generate more power than conventional wind
turbines. Moreover, to add to that ’sci-fi’ flavor, robots will fly these kites while enabling them to
keep afloat for a longer period.
6. NASA researchers envisions airborne wind turbines for renewable energy

In NASA’s reverie, wind turbines would not take up earth’s spaces, but rather ‘float’ in the free
space above earth. NASA aerospace engineer Mark Moore believes that the idea in itself has great
potential, as wind speed is more consistent and its velocity much higher and steadier at higher
altitudes. The resultant energy can be transmitted back to earth via nanotube cables.

The concept:
We have already talked about the variations in magnitude of wind energy that we can come across
while harnessing it at surface level. In order to counter these variations, many ingeniously conceived
technologies look forth to incorporate mechanisms that can harness winds at higher altitudes, as
wind at this height becomes steadier, more persistent, and of higher velocity. Moreover, theoretically
the power available in wind increases according to the cube of velocity (the velocity-cubed law),
hence assuming other parameters remaining the same, doubling a wind’s velocity gives us 2×2x2=8
times the power (or thrice velocity gives us 27 times the power). Known as high altitude wind power
(HAWP), the mechanisms involve capturing the power of winds high in the sky and transmitting it
back to earth surface by use of tether and cable technology.

The advantages:
We already know that the wind energy generated at high altitudes can be multiple times the
magnitude of the energy generated at ground level. However, other than that, such technologies
would totally forego the usage of comparatively costly, cumbersome and easily damageable ground
wind turbines. That in effect would also nullify the adverse conditions of noise pollution and even
the visual burden on natural landscaping, all of which are generally associated with conventional
wind turbines.

The impact:
Statistically, we have already seen the rise of the capacity of wind power by 10 times in the last 10
years. Now considering HAWP technologies are still at their nascent stage, and given their enormous
potential, we certainly have a great chance to witness an exponential increase in wind power output,
once the system advances beyond its present state. Like California-based HAWP company, Makani
Power believes that capturing a small fraction of the global high altitude wind energy would be
sufficient to power the entire planet!

7. WIND NEST

WindNest, designed by Trevor Lee and Clare Olsen, combines aesthetics with clean energy
generation. The installation is designed for Site #2 in Abu Dhabi, between Saadiyat Island and Yas
Island. WindNest was one of the entries in The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) Competition
2010. It’s partly rooted to the ground and partly floating in the open air, trapping both the Sun and
the wind energy.

WindNest is a multi-stranded structure maintaining the ecological balance all around its vicinity. It’s
equipped with a network of windsock turbines that keep track of the wind movement and thereby
energy generation through it.Solar fabric covering the windsock is used to harness solar energy.
Wind energy is harnessed by the turbines fitted to windsocks. Lightweight materials are used
throughout the project’s lifecycle. For the nested elements, hand-woven, natural materials are used.
Carbon rods are used for the foundation in the ground. Teflon fibers are used for the network, which
are UV resistant and light in weight.