Establishing Regional Power Sustainability and Feasibility Using Wind Farm Land-Use Optimization

Wind-farm planning optimization is important for decision-making concerning regional energy planning in developing countries. This process is governed by restrictions on site selection based on land suitability metric variables, wind turbine technology variables, and land-use governing criteria. This study aims to create a framework for land appropriation strategies for locating optimum sites suitable for wind farms. It is using Jordan as an Area of Interest (AOI), where the scope is to illustrate how this framework will employ wind turbine energy to positively enhance the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The methodology employs thirteen GIS thematic layers with a 250-m spatial resolution to substantiate how site-specific criteria, turbine type, and turbine hub height variables are determining factors in the optimal solution. This method involves selecting relevant factors, database construction, data layer generation and preparation, numerical ranking and weighting of each factor, and computation of the potential wind farm locations map by overlaying all the thematic GIS layers. The results showed that the establishment of wind farms would not only meet the AOI’s growing energy needs, rather exceed them to generating income for the developing nation. The results of the feasibility study will boost the national GDP by 3.4%; where, for example, one governorate alone could produce 274.3% of the total required national consumption at a turbine hub height of 50 m. The study attests to a valuable framework that can be implemented elsewhere to establish regional power sustainability and feasibility for other nations. The results show that an added land-use layer indicating the potential value of land in terms of its suitability for establishing wind farms should be considered in future sustainable regional planning studies when considering networks for smart cities, industrial cities, smart agriculture, and new agglomerations.

Download Full-text

Overview of Subsynchronous Oscillation in Grid-connected Wind Farm

Recent Advances in Electrical & Electronic Engineering (Formerly Recent Patents on Electrical & Electronic Engineering) ◽

10.2174/2352096513999200407103526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 969-979

Author(s):

Xu Pei-Zhen ◽

Lu Yong-Geng ◽

Cao Xi-Min

Keyword(s):

Power Systems ◽

Wind Turbine ◽

Large Scale ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Induction Generator ◽

Future Research ◽

Stable Operation ◽

Subsynchronous Oscillation ◽

Different Types

Background: Over the past few years, the subsynchronous oscillation (SSO) caused by the grid-connected wind farm had a bad influence on the stable operation of the system and has now become a bottleneck factor restricting the efficient utilization of wind power. How to mitigate and suppress the phenomenon of SSO of wind farms has become the focus of power system research. Methods: This paper first analyzes the SSO of different types of wind turbines, including squirrelcage induction generator based wind turbine (SCIG-WT), permanent magnet synchronous generator- based wind turbine (PMSG-WT), and doubly-fed induction generator based wind turbine (DFIG-WT). Then, the mechanisms of different types of SSO are proposed with the aim to better understand SSO in large-scale wind integrated power systems, and the main analytical methods suitable for studying the SSO of wind farms are summarized. Results: On the basis of results, using additional damping control suppression methods to solve SSO caused by the flexible power transmission devices and the wind turbine converter is recommended. Conclusion: The current development direction of the SSO of large-scale wind farm grid-connected systems is summarized and the current challenges and recommendations for future research and development are discussed.

Download Full-text

Wind Farm Cable Connection Layout Optimization with Several Substations

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14123615 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3615

Author(s):

Adelaide Cerveira ◽

Eduardo J. Solteiro Pires ◽

José Baptista

Keyword(s):

Energy Production ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Programming Model ◽

Optimal Solution ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Green Energy ◽

Fossil Energy ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Short Time ◽

Cable Connection

Green energy has become a media issue due to climate changes, and consequently, the population has become more aware of pollution. Wind farms are an essential energy production alternative to fossil energy. The incentive to produce wind energy was a government policy some decades ago to decrease carbon emissions. In recent decades, wind farms were formed by a substation and a couple of turbines. Nowadays, wind farms are designed with hundreds of turbines requiring more than one substation. This paper formulates an integer linear programming model to design wind farms’ cable layout with several turbines. The proposed model obtains the optimal solution considering different cable types, infrastructure costs, and energy losses. An additional constraint was considered to limit the number of cables that cross a walkway, i.e., the number of connections between a set of wind turbines and the remaining wind farm. Furthermore, considering a discrete set of possible turbine locations, the model allows identifying those that should be present in the optimal solution, thereby addressing the optimal location of the substation(s) in the wind farm. The paper illustrates solutions and the associated costs of two wind farms, with up to 102 turbines and three substations in the optimal solution, selected among sixteen possible places. The optimal solutions are obtained in a short time.

Download Full-text

Wealth of Wind and Visitors: Tourist Industry Attitudes towards Wind Energy Development in Iceland

Land ◽

10.3390/land10070693 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 693

Author(s):

Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir ◽

Margrét Wendt ◽

Edita Tverijonaite

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Wind Energy ◽

Wind Turbines ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Service Providers ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Energy Development ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Land Use Conflicts ◽

Wind Energy Development

The interest in harnessing wind energy keeps increasing globally. Iceland is considering building its first wind farms, but its landscape and nature are not only a resource for renewable energy production; they are also the main attraction for tourists. As wind turbines affect how the landscape is perceived and experienced, it is foreseeable that the construction of wind farms in Iceland will create land use conflicts between the energy sector and the tourism industry. This study sheds light on the impacts of wind farms on nature-based tourism as perceived by the tourism industry. Based on 47 semi-structured interviews with tourism service providers, it revealed that the impacts were perceived as mostly negative, since wind farms decrease the quality of the natural landscape. Furthermore, the study identified that the tourism industry considered the following as key factors for selecting suitable wind farm sites: the visibility of wind turbines, the number of tourists and tourist attractions in the area, the area’s degree of naturalness and the local need for energy. The research highlights the importance of analysing the various stakeholders’ opinions with the aim of mitigating land use conflicts and socioeconomic issues related to wind energy development.

Download Full-text

Analysis of Wind Turbine Aging through Operation Data Calibrated by LiDAR Measurement

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14082319 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 2319

Author(s):

Hyun-Goo Kim ◽

Jin-Young Kim

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Wind Speed ◽

Wind Turbine ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Free Stream ◽

Turbine Blades ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Lidar Measurement ◽

Wind Turbine Blades ◽

Wake Effect

This study analyzed the performance decline of wind turbine with age using the SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) data and the short-term in situ LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) measurements taken at the Shinan wind farm located on the coast of Bigeumdo Island in the southwestern sea of South Korea. Existing methods have generally attempted to estimate performance aging through long-term trend analysis of a normalized capacity factor in which wind speed variability is calibrated. However, this study proposes a new method using SCADA data for wind farms whose total operation period is short (less than a decade). That is, the trend of power output deficit between predicted and actual power generation was analyzed in order to estimate performance aging, wherein a theoretically predicted level of power generation was calculated by substituting a free stream wind speed projecting to a wind turbine into its power curve. To calibrate a distorted wind speed measurement in a nacelle anemometer caused by the wake effect resulting from the rotation of wind-turbine blades and the shape of the nacelle, the free stream wind speed was measured using LiDAR remote sensing as the reference data; and the nacelle transfer function, which converts nacelle wind speed into free stream wind speed, was derived. A four-year analysis of the Shinan wind farm showed that the rate of performance aging of the wind turbines was estimated to be −0.52%p/year.

Download Full-text

Dynamic Modeling of an Offshore Floating Wind Turbine for Application in the Mediterranean Sea

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14010248 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 248

Author(s):

Lorenzo Cottura ◽

Riccardo Caradonna ◽

Alberto Ghigo ◽

Riccardo Novo ◽

Giovanni Bracco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Reference Model ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Offshore Wind ◽

Floating Wind Turbine ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Offshore Floating Wind Turbine

Wind power is emerging as one of the most sustainable and low-cost options for energy production. Far-offshore floating wind turbines are attractive in view of exploiting high wind availability sites while minimizing environmental and landscape impact. In the last few years, some offshore floating wind farms were deployed in Northern Europe for technology validation, with very promising results. At present time, however, no offshore wind farm installations have been developed in the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this work is to comprehensively model an offshore floating wind turbine and examine the behavior resulting from a wide spectrum of sea and wind states typical of the Mediterranean Sea. The flexible and accessible in-house model developed for this purpose is compared with the reference model FAST v8.16 for verifying its reliability. Then, a simulation campaign is carried out to estimate the wind turbine LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy). Based on this, the best substructure is chosen and the convenience of the investment is evaluated.

Download Full-text

Experimental Study of the Wake Regions in Wind Farms

Journal of Energy Resources Technology ◽

10.1115/1.4042968 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 141 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Alaa S. Hasan ◽

Randall S. Jackson ◽

Ryoichi S. Amano

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Rotor Blades ◽

Stream Velocity ◽

Low Velocity ◽

Power Extraction ◽

Dual Sensor ◽

Component Velocity ◽

Point Data

It is desired, through this work, to investigate in detail the scenario that takes place behind a single wind turbine unit by focusing on three parameters; average axial wind velocity component, velocity deficit, and total turbulence intensity. The testing was done at mainstream velocity, U∞, of 5.2 m/s, u and v velocity components were captured by x-probe dual-sensor hot wire anemometer. A massive amount of point data was obtained, which then processed by a matlab script to plot the desired contours through the successive transverse sections along the entire length of the test section. By monitoring the previously mentioned flow parameters, the regions of low velocity and high turbulence can be avoided, while the location of the subsequent wind turbine is selected. The estimation of the distance, at which the inlet flow field will restore its original characteristics after being mixed through the rotor blades, is very important as this is the distance that should separate two successive turbines in an inline configuration wind farm to guarantee the optimum performance and to extract the maximum power out of the subsequent array of turbines. It is found that the hub height axial velocity recovery at six rotor diameters downstream distance is only 82%. This fact means that the power extraction out of the downstream turbine in an inline configuration wind farm is only 55% of the upstream turbine if the same free stream velocity and blade design are adopted.

Download Full-text

The optimization of pricing strategy for the wind power equipment aftermarket service

Industrial Management & Data Systems ◽

10.1108/imds-01-2018-0032 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 119 (3) ◽

pp. 521-546 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lingcheng Kong ◽

Ling Liang ◽

Jianhong Xu ◽

Weisi Zhang ◽

Weijun Zhu

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Wind Turbine ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Pricing Policy ◽

Content Type ◽

Effort Level ◽

Service Pricing ◽

Optimal Service ◽

Aftermarket Services

Purpose Although the wind power industry has been booming in China during the last decade, the development of wind turbine aftermarket service is still lagging behind, which seriously affects the operational efficiency of wind farms. If wind turbine manufacturers get involved in the aftermarket, the service pricing policy will impact the profits of both the manufacturer and the wind farm. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss an optimal service pricing strategy in the wind turbine aftermarket and design a method to improve electricity generation efficiency through service contract design. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In order to decide the maintenance quantity and channel effort level, the authors design a normal Stackelberg game and an efficiency value-added revenue-sharing contract and discuss two kinds of revenue increment sharing models under situations, in which the supply chain’s leaders are the wind farm and the wind turbine manufacturer, respectively. Findings The results show that in either case, there exist optimal power generation revenue-sharing ratios that can maximize profit. At the same time, the authors outline an optimal service pricing policy, maintenance demand policy and channel service effort-level policy. The results summarize the influences of wind aftermarket services on wind farms’ and wind turbine manufacturers’ profit, which provides managerial insights into the process of manufacturing servitization. Practical implications The manufacturer’s channel effort level will influence the power generation increments very much, so the authors have developed a mechanism to stimulate the manufacturer improving the efficiency of aftermarket services. Originality/value Taking the power generation increment revenue as the profit increment function, the authors discuss the influence of service price on the profit increment of the wind farm and the wind turbine manufacturer and also consider the influence of service price on the wind farms maintenance quantity and wind turbine manufacturers channel effort level.

Download Full-text

Inter-annual variability of wind climates and wind turbine annual energy production

10.5194/wes-2018-48 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sara C. Pryor ◽

Tristan J. Shepherd ◽

Rebecca J. Barthelmie

Keyword(s):

Standard Deviation ◽

Wind Energy ◽

Wind Turbine ◽

Energy Production ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Wind Speeds ◽

Annual Variability ◽

Eastern Usa

Abstract. Inter-annual variability (IAV) of expected annual energy production (AEP) from proposed wind farms plays a key role in dictating project financing. IAV in pre-construction projected AEP and the difference in 50th and 90th percentile (P50 and P90) AEP derives in part from variability in wind climates. However, the magnitude of IAV in wind speeds at/close to wind turbine hub-heights is poorly constrained and maybe overestimated by the 6 % standard deviation of annual mean wind speeds that is widely applied within the wind energy industry. Thus there is a need for improved understanding of the long-term wind resource and the inter-annual variability therein in order to generate more robust predictions of the financial value of a wind energy project. Long-term simulations of wind speeds near typical wind turbine hub-heights over the eastern USA indicate median gross capacity factors (computed using 10-minute wind speeds close to wind turbine hub-heights and the power curve of the most common wind turbine deployed in the region) that are in good agreement with values derived from operational wind farms. The IAV of annual mean wind speeds at/near to typical wind turbine hub-heights in these simulations is lower than is implied by assuming a standard deviation of 6 %. Indeed, rather than in 9 in 10 years exhibiting AEP within 0.9 and 1.1 times the long-term mean AEP, results presented herein indicate that over 90 % of the area in the eastern USA that currently has operating wind turbines simulated AEP lies within 0.94 and 1.06 of the long-term average. Further, IAV of estimated AEP is not substantially larger than IAV in mean wind speeds. These results indicate it may be appropriate to reduce the IAV applied to pre-construction AEP estimates to account for variability in wind climates, which would decrease the cost of capital for wind farm developments.

Download Full-text

Effect of wind turbine nacelle on turbine wake dynamics in large wind farms

Journal of Fluid Mechanics ◽

10.1017/jfm.2019.206 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 869 ◽

pp. 1-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Daniel Foti ◽

Xiaolei Yang ◽

Lian Shen ◽

Fotis Sotiropoulos

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Coherent Structures ◽

Large Scale ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Practical Significance ◽

Mean Velocity ◽

Velocity Deficit ◽

Farm Scale ◽

Turbine Wake

Wake meandering, a phenomenon of large-scale lateral oscillation of the wake, has significant effects on the velocity deficit and turbulence intensities in wind turbine wakes. Previous studies of a single turbine (Kang et al., J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 774, 2014, pp. 374–403; Foti et al., Phys. Rev. Fluids, vol. 1 (4), 2016, 044407) have shown that the turbine nacelle induces large-scale coherent structures in the near field that can have a significant effect on wake meandering. However, whether nacelle-induced coherent structures at the turbine scale impact the emergent turbine wake dynamics at the wind farm scale is still an open question of both fundamental and practical significance. We take on this question by carrying out large-eddy simulation of atmospheric turbulent flow over the Horns Rev wind farm using actuator surface parameterisations of the turbines without and with the turbine nacelle taken into account. While the computed mean turbine power output and the mean velocity field away from the nacelle wake are similar for both cases, considerable differences are found in the turbine power fluctuations and turbulence intensities. Furthermore, wake meandering amplitude and area defined by wake meanders, which indicates the turbine wake unsteadiness, are larger for the simulations with the turbine nacelle. The wake influenced area computed from the velocity deficit profiles, which describes the spanwise extent of the turbine wakes, and the spanwise growth rate, on the other hand, are smaller for some rows in the simulation with the nacelle model. Our work shows that incorporating the nacelle model in wind farm scale simulations is critical for accurate predictions of quantities that affect the wind farm levelised cost of energy, such as the dynamics of wake meandering and the dynamic loads on downwind turbines.

Download Full-text

Optimization of Wind Turbine Interconnections in an Offshore Wind Farm Using Metaheuristic Algorithms

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12145761 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (14) ◽

pp. 5761 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chakib El Mokhi ◽

Adnane Addaim

Keyword(s):

Wind Energy ◽

Wind Turbine ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Optimization Methods ◽

Network Routing ◽

Metaheuristic Algorithms ◽

Offshore Wind ◽

Offshore Wind Farms

Wind energy is currently one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources in the world. For this reason, research on methods to render wind farms more energy efficient is reasonable. The optimization of wind turbine positions within wind farms makes the exploitation of wind energy more efficient and the wind farms more competitive with other energy resources. The investment costs alone for substation and electrical infrastructure for offshore wind farms run around 15–30% of the total investment costs of the project, which are considered high. Optimizing the substation location can reduce these costs, which also minimizes the overall cable length within the wind farm. In parallel, optimizing the cable routing can provide an additional benefit by finding the optimal grid network routing. In this article, the authors show the procedure on how to create an optimized wind farm already in the design phase using metaheuristic algorithms. Besides the optimization of wind turbine positions for more energy efficiency, the optimization methods of the substation location and the cable routing for the collector system to avoid cable losses are also presented.

Download Full-text