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WIND ENERGY
BY- AKHILESH RAI
What is Wind ?
 Wind is a form of Solar Energy
 The sun heats the
Earth’s surface at varying rates
 The air above the warmer areas heats up, becomes less dense and rises
 Cooler air from adjacent higher-pressure areas moves to the lower-pressure areas
 That movement = wind
Why Wind Energy ?
• Clean, zero emissions
 NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
 Air quality, water quality
 Climate change
• Reduce fossil fuel dependence
 Energy independence
 Domestic energy—national security
• Renewable
 No fuel-price volatility
What Makes Wind
Global Wind Patterns
Renewable Electric Capacity Worldwide
Why Such Growth? …costs are low!
• Increased Turbine Size
• R&D Advances
• Manufacturing Improvements
1979
40
cents/kWh
2000
4-6 cents/kWh
2004
3-4.5
cents/kWh
2011
Less than 5
cents/kWh
Vertical-Axis Turbines
Advantages
 Omni-directional
 accepts wind from any direction
 Components can be mounted at
ground level
 ease of service
 lighter weight towers
 Can theoretically use less materials
to capture the same amount of
wind
Disadvantages
 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
replace bearings
 Overall poor performance and reliability
Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines
Small (<10 kW)
• Homes
• Farms
• Remote Applications (e.g.,
water pumping, Telecom
sites, ice making)
Large (250 kW-2+ MW)
• Central Station Wind Farms
• Distributed Power
• Schools
Intermediate(10-250 kW)
• Village Power
• Hybrid Systems
• Distributed Power
Large Wind Turbines
 Common Utility-Scale Turbines
• 328’ base to blade
• Each blade is 112’
• 200 tons total
• Foundation 20’ deep
• Rated at 1.5-2 megawatts
• Supply about 500 homes
 Wind Turbine Component
 How a Wind Turbine Operates
Wind Farms
Residential Wind Systems and Net
Metering
Potential Impacts and Issues
• Property Values
• Noise
• Visual Impact
• Land Use
• Wildlife Impact
Properly siting a wind turbine can mitigate many of these issues.
 Impacts of
Wind
Power:
Noise
Wildlife
Impacts
China Leads the World in Wind Capacity
Source:GlobalWindEnergyCouncil
THANK YOU

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WIND ENERGY (A SOURCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY)

  • 2. What is Wind ?  Wind is a form of Solar Energy  The sun heats the Earth’s surface at varying rates  The air above the warmer areas heats up, becomes less dense and rises  Cooler air from adjacent higher-pressure areas moves to the lower-pressure areas  That movement = wind
  • 3. Why Wind Energy ? • Clean, zero emissions  NOx, SO2, CO, CO2  Air quality, water quality  Climate change • Reduce fossil fuel dependence  Energy independence  Domestic energy—national security • Renewable  No fuel-price volatility
  • 7. Why Such Growth? …costs are low! • Increased Turbine Size • R&D Advances • Manufacturing Improvements 1979 40 cents/kWh 2000 4-6 cents/kWh 2004 3-4.5 cents/kWh 2011 Less than 5 cents/kWh
  • 8. Vertical-Axis Turbines Advantages  Omni-directional  accepts wind from any direction  Components can be mounted at ground level  ease of service  lighter weight towers  Can theoretically use less materials to capture the same amount of wind Disadvantages  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 replace bearings  Overall poor performance and reliability
  • 9. Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines Small (<10 kW) • Homes • Farms • Remote Applications (e.g., water pumping, Telecom sites, ice making) Large (250 kW-2+ MW) • Central Station Wind Farms • Distributed Power • Schools Intermediate(10-250 kW) • Village Power • Hybrid Systems • Distributed Power
  • 10. Large Wind Turbines  Common Utility-Scale Turbines • 328’ base to blade • Each blade is 112’ • 200 tons total • Foundation 20’ deep • Rated at 1.5-2 megawatts • Supply about 500 homes
  • 11.  Wind Turbine Component
  • 12.  How a Wind Turbine Operates
  • 14. Residential Wind Systems and Net Metering
  • 15. Potential Impacts and Issues • Property Values • Noise • Visual Impact • Land Use • Wildlife Impact Properly siting a wind turbine can mitigate many of these issues.
  • 18. China Leads the World in Wind Capacity Source:GlobalWindEnergyCouncil

Editor's Notes

  1. The rapid growth in wind power can be attributed to two things–reduction in cost of electricity produced and more interest in renewable technologies. Between 2004 and 2011, an increase in price can be attributed to higher rates of demand than supply of turbines and rising commodity prices including a rise in the price of steel.
  2. Vertical-axis machines have blades that go from top to bottom and the most common type, the Darrieus wind turbine, looks like a giant, two-bladed eggbeater. This type of vertical wind turbine typically stands 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide. New design concepts come to market on a regular basis. Vertical-axis wind turbines make up only a very small percent of the wind turbines used today.
  3. Most wind turbines being used today are the horizontal-axis type. Horizontal-axis wind turbines have blades like airplane propellers. Wind turbines stand tall and wide to capture more wind—providing more “swept area” where the blades make contact with the wind. A one megawatt (1 MW) wind turbine will typically generate enough power for about 300 homes. This depends on the type of device and where it is located. Most large turbines that you see today are rated at 1.5 megawatts. This means at peak output (high winds) it will be producing about 1.5 megawatts of electricity.
  4. A typical U.S. large-scale horizontal wind turbine stands 80-100 meters (263-328 feet) tall and has three blades that are each 34-55 meters (112-181 feet) long. They weigh 200-400 tons and produce enough electricity to power 500 homes. The largest turbine currently in production is the Enercon E-126 which as a capacity of 7.58 MW. The E-126 tower stands 135 meters (443 feet) tall and has a blade diameter of 127 meters (417 feet). A number of companies are developing 10 MW turbines mostly for use in offshore applications.
  5. Regardless of the size, all turbines have the same parts. Blades on modern turbines are similar to airplane blades, lifted by the wind. The hub connects the blades to the shaft and generator. The nacelle houses the generator. The tower holds the turbine high above anything that might cause turbulence in the air such as trees and buildings. Towers can be lattice or monopole for large turbines. Most modern day turbines have monopole towers made of steel.
  6. Comparing large turbines to small turbines: Large turbine blades can be actively pitched by hydraulics and spin at 12-20 RPM—much slower than a small wind turbine. Large turbines have a driveshaft attached to the gearbox—that step up the rotations from 12-20 RPM to 1600 RPM for the generator. The generator is what creates electricity, turning coils of wires inside magnets. Small wind turbines use vanes (typically) to track the wind while large turbines use an anemometer and hydraulics to face the turbine into the wind. Large turbines are highly computerized and automated, sensing weather conditions and turning themselves off if there is a problem. Large turbines are often connected by computers to a central control location.
  7. Wind farms are like power plants, with a number of turbines wired together before going to the transformer. The transformer steps up the voltage before the electricity goes out on transmission lines and the electricity grid. Some wind farms are very large. The largest wind farm in the U.S. is currently the Alta Wind Energy Center in California with 390 turbines and a 1,020 MW capacity. Large farms such as this can provide as much electricity as a traditional power plant when the wind is blowing.
  8. "Net metering" is a method of metering the energy consumed and produced at a home or business that has its own renewable energy generator, such as a wind turbine. With net metering capability, excess electricity produced by the wind turbine will spin the electricity meter backwards. This provides the customer with a credit to pull from when more electricity is needed. The customer is sometimes provided with full retail value for all the electricity produced. Not all utilities allow for net metering. Under existing federal law (PURPA, Section 210), utility customers can use the electricity they generate with a wind turbine to supply their own lights and appliances, offsetting electricity they would otherwise have to purchase from the utility at the retail price. But if the customer produces any excess electricity (beyond what is needed to meet the customer’s own needs) and net metering is not allowed, the utility purchases that excess electricity at the wholesale or “avoided cost” price, which is much lower than the retail price. The excess energy is metered using an additional meter that must be installed at the customer’s expense. Net metering simplifies this arrangement by allowing the customer to use any excess electricity to offset electricity needs used at other times during the billing period. In other words, the customer is billed only for the net energy consumed during the billing period. These small installations are often referred to as distributed power. Distributed power is generating capacity that is not located near a baseload power plant.
  9. Proper siting of wind turbines is the best way to address many of the potential issues that arise. Siting turbines away from populated areas can address issues of noise and visual impact while siting turbines away from preservation areas and wetlands with a focus on siting in areas which already have seen development (ranching, farming, resource extraction, etc) can address land use issues. In fact, wind farms have been seen in many places as an additional use of farming and ranching land since those activities can still take place on land below the turbines. An in-depth study was completed by the Renewable Energy Policy Project in 2003 on the effect of wind development on local property values. There was no evidence of reduction of value of 25,000 property transactions.
  10. In the past, turbines have been perceived as noisy machines. While modern day turbines do produce some noise, when sited at a proper distance from homes and businesses, the noise level is less than many household appliances.
  11. According to U.S. Department of Energy, over the last decade, the wind community has learned that wind farms and wildlife can coexist successfully. Wind energy development’s overall impact on bird and bat populations is low when compared to other human related activities. Despite this, the wind industry is continually working to reduce wildlife death associated with wind turbines. Steps to reduce wildlife mortality include wildlife studies during the siting of wind farms to avoid major migration routes or high concentrations of bird and bat populations. Today’s turbines are designed with slower moving blades and are on monopoles which do not encourage birds to roust on the towers.
  12. Germany generates 22% of its electrical power via wind power (34,000 MW wind capacity installed) In 2013 the UK installed 1883 MW new wind capacity, accounting for more than 20% growth and surpassing new installed wind power in the U.S. China added 16,100 MW new capacity in 2013, which is 21.4% annual growth China has more than double the wind generating capacity than any other country other than the U.S.