Wind turbine selection method based on the statistical analysis of nominal specifications for estimating the cost of energy

2018 ◽  
Vol 228 ◽  
pp. 980-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Arias-Rosales ◽  
Gilberto Osorio-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Selection Method ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Cost

A Techno-Economic Analysis of a Proposed 1.5 MW Wind Turbine With a Hydrostatic Drive Train

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Browning ◽  
Jon G. McGowan ◽  
James F. Manwell
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Drive Train ◽  
Cost Models ◽  
Initial Capital ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Utility Scale

Although decreases in the cost of energy from utility scale wind turbine generators has made them competitive with conventional forms of utility power generation, further reductions can increase the presence of wind energy in the global energy mix. The cost of energy from a wind turbine can be reduced by increasing the annual energy production, reducing the initial capital cost of the turbine, or doing both. In this study, the cost of energy is estimated for a theoretical 1.5 MW wind turbine utilizing a continuously variable ratio hydrostatic drive train between the rotor and the generator. The estimated cost of energy is then compared to that of a conventional wind turbine of equivalent rated power. The annual energy production is estimated for the theoretical hydrostatic turbine using an assumed wind speed distribution and a turbine power curve resulting from a steady state performance model of the turbine. The initial capital cost of the turbine is estimated using cost models developed for various components unique to the hydrostatic turbine as well as economic parameters and models developed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) for their 2004 WindPACT advanced wind turbine drive train study. The resulting cost of energy, along with various performance characteristics of interest, are presented and compared to those of the WindPACT baseline turbine intended to represent a conventional utility scale wind turbine.

scholarly journals Comparison between upwind and downwind designs of a 10 MW wind turbine rotor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Bortolotti ◽  
Abinhav Kapila ◽  
Carlo L. Bottasso
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Interesting Alternative ◽  
Wind Turbine Rotor

Abstract. The size of wind turbines has been steadily growing in the pursuit of a lower cost of energy by an increased wind capture. In this trend, the vast majority of wind turbine rotors has been designed based on the conventional three-bladed upwind concept. This paper aims at assessing the optimality of this configuration with respect to a three-bladed downwind design, with and without an actively controlled variable coning used to reduce the cantilever loading of the blades. A 10 MW wind turbine is used for the comparison of the various design solutions, which are obtained by an automated comprehensive aerostructural design tool. Results show that, for this turbine size, downwind rotors lead to blade mass and cost reductions of 6 % and 2 %, respectively, compared to equivalent upwind configurations. Due to a more favorable rotor attitude, the annual energy production of downwind rotors may also slightly increase in complex terrain conditions characterized by a wind upflow, leading to an overall reduction in the cost of energy. However, in more standard operating conditions, upwind rotors return the lowest cost of energy. Finally, active coning is effective in alleviating loads by reducing both blade mass and cost, but these potential benefits are negated by an increased system complexity and reduced energy production. In summary, a conventional design appears difficult to beat even at these turbine sizes, although a downwind non-aligned configuration might result in an interesting alternative.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the impact of wind farm control techniques on fatigue and ultimate loads

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Croce ◽  
Stefano Cacciola ◽  
Luca Sartori ◽  
Paride De Fidelibus
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Control Techniques ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

Abstract. Wind farm control is one of the solutions recently proposed to increase the overall energy production of a wind power plant. A generic wind farm control is typically synthesized so as to optimize the energy production of the entire wind farm by reducing the detrimental effects due to wake-turbine interactions. As a matter of fact, the performance of a farm control is typically measured by looking mainly at the increase of produced power, possibly weighted with the wind Weibull and rose at a specific place, and, sometimes, by looking also at the fatigue loads. However, an aspect which is rather overlooked is the evaluation of the impact that a farm control law has on the maximum loads and on the dynamic responses under extreme conditions of the individual wind turbine. In this work, two promising wind farm controls, based respectively on Wake Redirection (WR) and Dynamic Induction Control (DIC) strategy, are evaluated at a single wind turbine level. To do so, a two-pronged analysis is performed. Firstly, the control techniques are evaluated in terms of the related impact on some specific key performance indicators (e.g. fatigue and ultimate loads, actuator duty cycle and annual energy production). Secondarily, an optimal blade redesign process, which takes into account the presence of the wind farm control, is performed with the goal of quantifying the possible modification in the structure of the blade and hence of quantifying the impact of the control on the Cost of Energy model.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the impact of active wake control techniques on ultimate loads for a 10 MW wind turbine

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Alessandro Croce ◽  
Stefano Cacciola ◽  
Luca Sartori
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Control Techniques ◽  
Control Optimization ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Wind Statistics ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Wind farm control is one of the solutions recently proposed to increase the overall energy production of a wind power plant. A generic wind farm control is typically synthesized so as to optimize the energy production of the entire wind farm by reducing the detrimental effects due to wake–turbine interactions. As a matter of fact, the performance of a farm control is typically measured by looking at the increase in the power production, properly weighted through the wind statistics. Sometimes, fatigue loads are also considered in the control optimization problem. However, an aspect which is rather overlooked in the literature on this subject is the evaluation of the impact that a farm control law has on the individual wind turbine in terms of maximum loads and dynamic response under extreme conditions. In this work, two promising wind farm controls, based on wake redirection (WR) and dynamic induction control (DIC) strategy, are evaluated at the level of a single front-row wind turbine. To do so, a two-pronged analysis is performed. Firstly, the control techniques are evaluated in terms of the related impact on some specific key performance indicators, with special emphasis on ultimate loads and maximum blade deflection. Secondarily, an optimal blade redesign process is performed with the goal of quantifying the modification in the structure of the blade entailed by a possible increase in ultimate values due to the presence of wind farm control. Such an analysis provides for an important piece of information for assessing the impact of the farm control on the cost-of-energy model.

scholarly journals Design and simulation of an optimized small wind turbine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Norberto Fernando Soares Sanjimba
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Cross Sectional Area ◽  
Sectional Area ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Small Wind Turbines ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Large Wind

The volatility of fossil fuel's price, pollution, and emission associated with converting fos- sil fuel into a useful type of energy led man to search for more sustainable energy sources that are pollution-free and renewable. Today, renewable energy technologies, such as solar and large wind turbines, are developed to a stage of maturity, having the cost of produc- ing electricity dropping signi􏰀cantly in the last decade, therefore making these technologies competitive with the traditional counterpart. The cost of producing electricity through small wind turbines is still high compared to large wind turbines or photovoltaic technology. For small wind turbines to successfully compete with other technologies and contribute to the diversi􏰀cation of o􏰈-grid technology, further research is needed to reduce the levelised cost of energy (LCOE). Therefore, this study aims to reduce the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of small wind turbines. To achieve the ob- jective, a 10 kW wind turbine operating at a site of an average wind speed of 7.5 m/s was designed, optimized, and simulated. With low LCOE in mind, the turbine components were designed as simple as possible to reduce manufacturing costs. The blades are made of uniform cross-sectional area, which made possible to use aluminum as the blade material, and the blade cross-sectional area is made out of a high lift airfoil. The hub is made of aluminum and modelled and designed as a disc with holes to bolt the blades and attach the main shaft. The mainframe is treated as a thick plate with a proper arrangement to connect the generator, the main and yaw bearings, the tail support, and any other ancillaries needed. An octal tapered tower with a height of 20 m made of steel was designed and optimized for low weight. The electrical power is to be produced by a direct drive variable speed permanent magnet synchronous generator. The control system is designed in such a way that allows the turbine to operate in maximum power e􏰊ciency for any speed below the rated speed, and to increase reliability, a sensorless control system is suggested. The research started with a broad review of the relevant literature on wind turbines in general and small wind turbines. The turbine blades design began by analysing the aero- dynamic performance of the blade. To accomplish that, XFoil was used to generate the aerodynamic parameters of the airfoil, the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) method was used to estimate the blades' aerodynamic performance, and Qblade was employed to com- pare the results, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to verify the results. The preliminary design was done using standard IEC 61400-2 to obtain the load cases, and general engineering formulas, CFD and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was used to analyse the load in the components according to IEC 61400-2, FAST-V7 was used to simulate the turbine's overall performance, standard formulas were used to evaluate the economic perfor- mance of the design, MatLab was used to perform all needed calculations. In this study, it is evident that using standard IEC 61400-2 to estimate the load, gyroscopic load components dominate the design, and the control system must be used to limit those loads. The designed turbine has relatively high e􏰊ciency and low LCOE.

scholarly journals Computational characterization of a Gurney flap on a DU91(2)W250 airfoil

2020 ◽  
Vol 307 ◽  
pp. 01053
Author(s):  
Unai Fernandez-Gamiz ◽  
Iñigo Errasti ◽  
Ekaitz Zulueta ◽  
José Manuel Lopez Guede ◽  
Ana Boyano
Keyword(s):  
Flow Control ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Control Device ◽  
Airfoil Surface ◽  
Flow Control Devices ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Flow Control Device ◽  
Gurney Flap ◽  
The Cost

The considerable increase of wind turbine rotor size and weight in the last years has made impossible to control as they were controlled 20 years ago. The cost of energy is an essential role to maintain this type of energy as a viable alternative in economic terms with traditional or other renewable energies. Through the last decades many different flow control devices have been developed. Most of them were shaped for aeronautical issues and this was its first research application. Currently researchers are working to optimize and introduce these types of devices in multi megawatt wind turbines. Gurney flap (GF) is a vane perpendicular to the airfoil surface with a size between 0.1 and 3% of the airfoil chord length, placed in the lower or upper side of the airfoil close to the trailing edge of the airfoil. When GFs are appropriately designed, they increase the total lift of the airfoil while reducing the drag. Thanks to the implementation of the of this flow control device the efficiency of a wind turbine improves, which results on an increase in the power generation.

scholarly journals Objectives and Constraints for Wind Turbine Optimization

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Andrew Ning ◽  
Rick Damiani ◽  
Patrick J. Moriarty
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Variable Diameter ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Physics Modeling ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Structural Metrics

Efficient extraction of wind energy is a complex, multidisciplinary process. This paper examines common objectives used in wind turbine optimization problems. The focus is not on the specific optimized designs, but rather on understanding when certain objectives and constraints are necessary, and what their limitations are. Maximizing annual energy production, or even using sequential aero/structural optimization, is shown to be significantly suboptimal compared to using integrated aero/structural metrics. Minimizing the ratio of turbine mass to annual energy production can be effective for fixed rotor diameter designs, as long as the tower mass is estimated carefully. For variable-diameter designs, the predicted optimal diameter may be misleading. This is because the mass of the tower is a large fraction of the total turbine mass, but the cost of the tower is a much smaller fraction of overall turbine costs. Minimizing the cost of energy is a much better metric, though high fidelity in the cost modeling is as important as high fidelity in the physics modeling. Furthermore, deterministic cost of energy minimization can be inadequate, given the stochastic nature of the wind and various uncertainties associated with physical processes and model choices. Optimization in the presence of uncertainty is necessary to create robust turbine designs.

scholarly journals Wind Turbine Optimization for Minimum Cost of Energy in Low Wind Speed Areas Considering Blade Length and Hub Height

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Yang ◽  
Jin Chen ◽  
Xiaoping Pang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Minimum Cost ◽  
Blade Length ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Low Wind Speed ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Cost

In recent years, sites with low annual average wind speeds have begun to be considered for the development of new wind farms. The majority of design methods for a wind turbine operating at low wind speed is to increase the blade length or hub height compared to a wind turbine operating in high wind speed sites. The cost of the rotor and the tower is a considerable portion of the overall wind turbine cost. This study investigates a method to trade-off the blade length and hub height during the wind turbine optimization at low wind speeds. A cost and scaling model is implemented to evaluate the cost of energy. The procedure optimizes the blades’ aero-structural performance considering blade length and the hub height simultaneously. The blade element momentum (BEM) code is used to evaluate blade aerodynamic performance and classical laminate theory (CLT) is applied to estimate the stiffness and mass per unit length of each blade section. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to determine the optimal wind turbine with the minimum cost of energy (COE). The results show that increasing rotor diameter is less efficient than increasing the hub height for a low wind speed turbine and the COE reduces 16.14% and 17.54% under two design schemes through the optimization.

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