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- Category: Articles
How Ice Accretion Affects Wind Turbines
For the wind energy industry a 'cold climate' site refers to a location that might experience significant periods of time or frequency of icing events or low temperatures outside the operational limits of standard wind turbines. In recent years many countries in Europe, Asia and North America have had to develop wind farms in cold climate regions. The main reasons for this choice are good wind energy resources in high altitudes (e.g. Switzerland with sites at 800 metres above sea level), and the higher installation and O&M costs for offshore when compared with land-based wind farms. This new development has brought some new challenges for designers, manufacturers and operators. One of these challenges is icing of the wind turbine blades and its effects on the aerodynamics and responses of the wind turbine. This article addresses ice accretion on the blade and its effects on the aerodynamic properties of the rotor.
By Mahmoud Etemaddar, PhD candidate, Institute of Marine Technology, NTNU, Norway
For the wind energy industry a 'cold climate' site refers to a location that might experience significant periods of time or frequency of icing events or low temperatures outside the operational limits of standard wind turbines. In recent years many countries in Europe, Asia and North America have had to develop wind farms in cold climate regions. The main reasons for this choice are good wind energy resources in high altitudes (e.g. Switzerland with sites at 800 metres above sea level), and the higher installation and O&M costs for offshore when compared with land-based wind farms. This new development has brought some new challenges for designers, manufacturers and operators. One of these challenges is icing of the wind turbine blades and its effects on the aerodynamics and responses of the wind turbine. This article addresses ice accretion on the blade and its effects on the aerodynamic properties of the rotor.
By Mahmoud Etemaddar, PhD candidate, Institute of Marine Technology, NTNU, Norway
- Category: Articles
High-Resolution Digital Photography for Offshore Aerial Bird Surveys
As a result of the rapid growth in the offshore wind sector, the demand for spatial environmental data is constantly increasing. Traditional visual aerial survey methods suffer from reliability, safety and data quality drawbacks. These can be overcome by new digital methods, and in this article we discuss the application of these new technologies to offshore aerial bird and mammal surveys.
By Stuart C. Clough, Director of Remote Sensing, APEM, UK
As a result of the rapid growth in the offshore wind sector, the demand for spatial environmental data is constantly increasing. Traditional visual aerial survey methods suffer from reliability, safety and data quality drawbacks. These can be overcome by new digital methods, and in this article we discuss the application of these new technologies to offshore aerial bird and mammal surveys.By Stuart C. Clough, Director of Remote Sensing, APEM, UK
- Category: Articles
Techniques for Addressing Larger Wind Farms
Layout tools attempt to identify the best layout of wind turbines on a land or offshore area according to energy capture. They model free stream wind flowing through an area with sited turbines and calculate the energy output of successive turbines while taking wake effects and turbulence intensities into account. A key component of such tools is the ‘optimiser’ algorithm used to efficiently search through a modest proportion of candidate layouts to identify the best one. This article discusses earlier bio-inspired algorithms, and then the CMA-ES algorithm, an evolutionary algorithm that performs stochastic sampling optimisation by mimicking fundamental aspects of the neo-Darwinian evolutionary process.
By Kalyan Veeramachaneni and Una-May O’Reilly, Evolutionary Design and Optimization Group, CSAIL, MIT, USA
Layout tools attempt to identify the best layout of wind turbines on a land or offshore area according to energy capture. They model free stream wind flowing through an area with sited turbines and calculate the energy output of successive turbines while taking wake effects and turbulence intensities into account. A key component of such tools is the ‘optimiser’ algorithm used to efficiently search through a modest proportion of candidate layouts to identify the best one. This article discusses earlier bio-inspired algorithms, and then the CMA-ES algorithm, an evolutionary algorithm that performs stochastic sampling optimisation by mimicking fundamental aspects of the neo-Darwinian evolutionary process.By Kalyan Veeramachaneni and Una-May O’Reilly, Evolutionary Design and Optimization Group, CSAIL, MIT, USA
- Category: Articles
Everybody Expects It – But Are They Right?
Consolidation within the wind sector has been much discussed over the past 12–18 months due to weakening demand and ongoing price pressure. However, with global demand down and a manufacturing overcapacity already existing, the consolidation of Tier 2/3 wind OEMs into Tier 1 global competitors is not likely unless there are other factors at play. These other factors include leveraging an intellectual property portfolio, gaining strategic access to a market, gaining a manufacturing footprint in an underserved market, or providing some level of vertical integration. In this article, Philip Totaro considers the wind turbine market and OEM outlook for the next 12–18 months, both globally and for different regions of the world.
By Philip Totaro, Principal, IntelStor, USA
Consolidation within the wind sector has been much discussed over the past 12–18 months due to weakening demand and ongoing price pressure. However, with global demand down and a manufacturing overcapacity already existing, the consolidation of Tier 2/3 wind OEMs into Tier 1 global competitors is not likely unless there are other factors at play. These other factors include leveraging an intellectual property portfolio, gaining strategic access to a market, gaining a manufacturing footprint in an underserved market, or providing some level of vertical integration. In this article, Philip Totaro considers the wind turbine market and OEM outlook for the next 12–18 months, both globally and for different regions of the world.By Philip Totaro, Principal, IntelStor, USA
- Category: Articles
Ultrasonic Wind Sensors Versus Mechanical Anemometers
Making accurate wind measurements in difficult site conditions can be challenging, but the development of the wind energy industry has meant that high quality wind data has become an economic necessity. Multi-million investment decisions are being based on bankable datasets. Over the years mechanical anemometers have become the industry standard for wind speed measurement despite their non-ideal performance in difficult conditions. But with a better understanding of ultrasonic wind sensor functionality, its trade-offs and advantages, perhaps there is now a better way to get these important measurements.
By Nic Wilson and Juha Paldanius, Vaisala, Germany
Making accurate wind measurements in difficult site conditions can be challenging, but the development of the wind energy industry has meant that high quality wind data has become an economic necessity. Multi-million investment decisions are being based on bankable datasets. Over the years mechanical anemometers have become the industry standard for wind speed measurement despite their non-ideal performance in difficult conditions. But with a better understanding of ultrasonic wind sensor functionality, its trade-offs and advantages, perhaps there is now a better way to get these important measurements.By Nic Wilson and Juha Paldanius, Vaisala, Germany
- Category: Articles
The Maturation of Wind Energy Opposition
An international movement against wind energy is maturing – across the globe today there exist over 1,000 anti-wind groups. The origin of the opposition is, in some instances, fossil fuel and nuclear backed interest groups and, at other times, local community members with genuine concern. Regardless of the source, this burgeoning trend must be dealt with effectively, transparently and compassionately. The alternative: once-trusted company names and brands become vilified, inspiring antagonism and encouraging locals to unify against wind energy projects. This article is the introduction to a series of topical columns which will dig into the causes of anti-wind sentiment and the maturing of opposition against wind energy development, including groups, popular arguments and their proposed countermeasures, as well as an introduction to the spectrum of solutions wind energy professionals can tap to quell what may otherwise become an unmanageable storm of hostility.
By Tiff Thompson, Principal, NIMBY Consulting, USA
An international movement against wind energy is maturing – across the globe today there exist over 1,000 anti-wind groups. The origin of the opposition is, in some instances, fossil fuel and nuclear backed interest groups and, at other times, local community members with genuine concern. Regardless of the source, this burgeoning trend must be dealt with effectively, transparently and compassionately. The alternative: once-trusted company names and brands become vilified, inspiring antagonism and encouraging locals to unify against wind energy projects. This article is the introduction to a series of topical columns which will dig into the causes of anti-wind sentiment and the maturing of opposition against wind energy development, including groups, popular arguments and their proposed countermeasures, as well as an introduction to the spectrum of solutions wind energy professionals can tap to quell what may otherwise become an unmanageable storm of hostility.By Tiff Thompson, Principal, NIMBY Consulting, USA
- Category: Articles
Finding the Best Solution for a 5MW Wind Turbine
The power system of the offshore wind turbine is critical to the cost of energy of the installed park. The generator and converter type and configuration are important issues to be addressed during the concept design phase. However, the effects of these choices on the system design and park operation and income are too often overlooked. Annual energy output and system reliability are primary considerations.
By Rain Byars, CEO, Nextwind, Inc., USA
The power system of the offshore wind turbine is critical to the cost of energy of the installed park. The generator and converter type and configuration are important issues to be addressed during the concept design phase. However, the effects of these choices on the system design and park operation and income are too often overlooked. Annual energy output and system reliability are primary considerations.By Rain Byars, CEO, Nextwind, Inc., USA
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| #18 Nordex wind turbines installed at the Petkus wind farm in Germany (courtesy Tomasz Mokosinski) |
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