Wind power generation has witnessed a dramatic growth in the 21st century. The Department of Energy (DOE) had a vision for wind energy that it would change into an extensively greater part of overall power generation in the U.S. by 2050. As specified by the DOE, wind power generation has grown by trifold from 2008 to 2013. This study presents a constructible, financially feasible alternative wind tower design to the 80 m steel tower platform which has the potential to decrease the overall Levelized cost of energy (LCOE). A hexagonal concrete wind tower solution is evaluated to facilitate the fabrication of a taller wind turbine generator to harvest more powerful, stable, and frequent wind resources for elevating wind energy production to cut down the overall LCOE. Subject matter experts from the industry were benefitted from to develop a process and estimate the cost and schedule of development and assembly of this process. To mitigate uncertainties and quantify risks, a sensitivity analysis was carried out on cost and schedule estimates. Also, estimating LCOE of wind towers is a primary requirement for efficient assimilation of wind power generation in the electricity market. In the state of Iowa, wind power is rapidly becoming a significant electricity generator. Unpredictable outputs and different options for deploying wind towers are one of the major problems of power system operators. Good estimation tools are important and will be needed to integrate wind energy into the economic power plant. The other objective of this research is to propose a GIS-based map to visualize LCOE of different wind tower construction options in various locations. Therefore, wind speed GIS mapping by using weather information will be crucial. Calculation of energy output by applying wind gradient formula to wind speeds energy are performed. The research concludes of Hexcrete towers can be achieved by use of the 120m and 140 m Hexcrete tower platform on certain wind sites in the United States.
Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis of a Wind Power Generation System at Búrfell in Iceland
