MODULE 3

Wind Power Plants: Basics of wind energy and wind turbine technology, Types of wind turbines:
horizontal axis and vertical axis; Wind resource assessment and site selection for wind power
plants, Wind farm layout optimization and wake effects, Grid integration and power system
considerations for wind power plants

Basics of wind energy and wind turbine technology

The definition of wind is the movement of gas molecules in the atmosphere
commonly known as air. The differences in air pressure in a specific location
causes air to move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. The Earth
is spherical, which means that the widest part of the Earth, near the equator, is
slightly closer to the sun and the sunlight hits the equator more directly. Therefore,
there is hotter air over regions near the equator, and cooler air at the poles. Just like
with the sea breeze, hot air at the equator rises, causing an area of low pressure in
which cold polar air moves from the north and south poles to the equator to fill that
space. This motion, however, is complicated by something called the Coriolis
effect.
Winds are caused because of two factors :
(1) The absorption of solar energy on the earth’s surface and in the atmosphere.
(2) The rotation of the earth about its axis and its motion around the sun.
Because of these factors, alternate heating and cooling cycles occur, differences in
pressure are obtained, and the air is caused to move. Wind energy or wind power
describes the process by which wind is used to generate electricity. Wind turbines
convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power.
Wind has two important characteristics—direction and speed. The direction of
wind can be gauged using an instrument called the wind vane. The speed of wind
is usually measured with an instrument called the anemometer
BASIC COMPONENTS OF WIND ENERGY CONVERSION
SYSTEM (WECS)
The basic principle of every windmill is to convert kinetic energy of wind into
mechanical energy which is used to rotate the turbine of an electrical generator to
produce electricity. The wind energy formula is given by,
𝑃 = 1/2 𝛒𝐴𝑉3
Where- P= Power, 𝛒= Density of air, A= πr2 (Swept area of blades), V= velocity of
the wind
BLOCK DIAGRAM WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM

WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM

COMPONENTS OF WIND TURBINE

Blades-Most turbines have either 2 or 3 blades. Wind blowing over the blades
causes the blades to “lift” and rotate. Blades are made of Fibers with a polymer
matrix, such as epoxy resin since it is known for its good mechanical properties,
such as high tensile strength, low weight, and resistance to corrosion. Carbon fiber
reinforced plastic (CFRP) can also be used as blade material. CFRP) is a composite
material made by combining carbon fibers with a polymer matrix, such as epoxy
resin.
Nacelle-Nacelle sits at top of the tower and contains the gear box, low and high
speed shafts, generator, controller and brakes. A cover protects the components
inside the nacelle. Some nacelles are large enough for a technician to stand inside
while working.
Rotor-Blades and hub together are called rotor
Tower- Towers are made from tubular steel or steel lattice. Because wind speed
increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and
generate more electricity
Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to keep the rotor from turning
in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.
Yaw drive: Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw drive is used to keep the
rotor facing into the wind as the wind direction changes. Downwind turbines don’t
require a yaw drive, the wind blows the rotor downwind.
Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.
Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to
orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind. Anemometer-Measures the
wind speed and transmit wind speed data to the controller

Controller-Controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles

per hour(mph) & shuts off machine at about 55 mph to avoid damage at high winds

Gearbox- Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase
the rotational speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1200
to 1500 rpm, the rotational speed required by most generators to produce
electricity.
Low-speed shaft- The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations
per minute.
High-speed shaft- Drives the generator.
Generator- Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle
AC electricity. It should have a cooling system to make sure there is no
Overheating
WORKING OF WIND MILL
● Wind blows toward the turbine's rotor blades.
● The rotors spin around, capturing some of the kinetic energy from the wind, and
turning the central drive shaft that supports them.
● Inside the nacelle, the gearbox converts the low-speed rotation of the drive shaft
into high-speed rotation fast enough to drive the generator efficiently.
● The entire top part of the turbine (the rotors and nacelle) can be rotated by a yaw
motor, mounted between the nacelle and the tower, so it faces directly into the
oncoming wind and captures the maximum amount of energy.
● If it's too windy or turbulent, brakes are applied to stop the rotors from turning
(for safety reasons).
● The electric current produced by the generator flows through a cable running
down through the inside of the turbine tower.
● A step-up transformer converts the electricity to about 50 times higher voltage so
it can be transmitted efficiently to the power grid (or to nearby buildings or
communities).
● Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 30 meters
or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster wind.

Classification of WECS
1) Horizontal axis type
a) Single blade
b) Double blade and
c) Multi blade
2) Vertical axis type
 a) Darrieus and
b) Savonius types.

Horizontal axis type

Horizontal axis type- Single blade

In this type, the wind mill consists of a long blade which is mounted on a rigid hub.
In order to reduce the cost, the single long blade is centrifugally balanced by a
counter weight as shown in figure. The universal joint used between the rotor shaft
and blade allows blade flapping.
Advantages
 The cost of counter weight is less than the cost of the second blade
 The gear box cost is less
 Simple blade controls are possible
 Counter weight can be inclined to reduce blade coning (a upward sweep of
rotor blade as a result of lift & centrifugal force)
Disadvantages
 The aerodynamic torque results in vibrations
 The appearance of the wind mill is unconventional
 A large blade root bending moment exist

Horizontal axis type- Double blade

Construction: In this wind mill, rotor drives a generator through a step-up gear
box. The components are mounted on a bed plate, which is mounted on a pintle at
the top of the tower. The two-blade rotor is usually designed to be oriented
downwind of the tower.
Operation: When the wind mill is in operation, the rotor blades are continuously
flexed by unsteady aerodynamic, gravitational and inertia loads. The unsteady load
on the tower and dynamic interactions between the components of the machine
tower system may cause serious damage. All modern wind turbine generators
consists two rotor blades. The use of more rotor blades (3 to 4) yields higher power
coefficient, but they are not economical.
Horizontal axis type- Multi blade

• In this type, the blades are made up of sheet metal or aluminium. The
strength to weight ratio of rotor is high.
• These wind mills have better power coefficient and also the starting torque is
high. Its design is simple and economical.
Vertical axis type- Darrieus

• In vertical axis type of machines, rotors spin on vertical axis. These wind
mills need not be turned into the wind as the wind stream direction changes.
These are independent of wind direction and also called panemones.
• The machine may be mounted on the ground, thus over comes the
disadvantages of tower structure. Various designs have been developed
which have been developed which uses either drag or lift forces to turn the
rotors of different shapes.
• The fig. shows a Darrieus type rotor(Catenary) which are lift devices and are
characterized by curved blades with aerofoil cross section. These mills have
low starting torques, high tip-to-wind speeds, higher power outputs for a
given rotor weight and cost. Three curved blades with aerofoil cross sections
are attached to a vertical shaft with both their ends.
Vertical axis type- Savonius

• The Savonius or S-rotor is a drum like configuration. A vertical cylinder is

sliced in half from top to bottom, the halves then being separated by about
20% of the diameter as shown in figure.
• The air striking one of the concave sides of a two-blade arrangement is
pressed through the centre vent of the rotor to the back of the convex side.
This results in rotational motion of the rotor.
• Its efficiency is high around 3% and is has high starting torque, but it is
inefficient per unit of weight. This is mainly used for rotors in ship
propulsion, ventilators of many types and water pumps. Because of high
starting torque, these rotors will begin to rotate and generate energy at a low
wind speed. This necessitate a higher gear ratio if the savonius is to be used
as a wind electrical generator.
Advantages of Savonius type rotor

 This machine works satisfactorily even at low wind speeds

 Expensive power transmission system is not required
 The direction of wind blow is not important, as it is vertical axis machine
 The dependency of the machine on the supplementary power is less, as
rotors generate energy even at low wind speeds.
 The electric generator may be mounted at ground level in savonius rotor
type. This reduces weight of the machine and cost of the tower.
 Design is simple, easy to manufacture and less cost
 The machine does not use yaw and pitch controls
 Maintenance is less.
Disadvantages of Savonius type rotor
 Machine uses heavy metal, too solid and leads to excessive weight
 it is not suitable for very tall installation.
Site Selection Considerations for Wind Energy Conversion
System (WECS)
The selection of site for wind turbines is influenced by following factors:
1. High annual average wind speed
We know that, power in the wind is given by P=KV 3 (K-Constant), this equation
shows that even a small increase in wind velocity has significant effect on power in
the wind. The site for WECS should be selected, where wind velocity is high.
2. Availability of anemometry data
There are practical problems associated with instrumentation and measurement of
wind speed. The height of anemometer above the ground, accuracy, linearity,
temperature effects, etc., are some of the problems encountered in the
measurement of wind speed. For the place where wind turbine is to be installed,
the anemometry data should be available over some time period.
 3. Availability of wind V(t) curve at the proposed site
This curve is used to find maximum energy available in the wind and hence to
predict electrical output. The WECS generators start turning at an average wind
speed of 3.5 to 4.5 m/sec (12 to 16 km/hr). The V(t) curve also determines the
reliability of the delivered power from WECS. In order to make reliability
estimates, it is required to have measured V(t) curve over about 5 years period.
Ideally V(t) curve should be flat which indicates, smooth and steady wind blowing
all the time.
4. Wind structure at the proposed site

At the ground, wind is turbulent is gusty, the velocity and direction of the wind
changes rapidly near the ground. This departure from homogenous flow is known
as structure of the wind.
5. Altitude of the site
The density of the air and hence power in the wind and electric power out put from
WECS depends on altitude of the given place. The wind velocity is higher at
higher altitudes.
6. Local Ecology
If the surface is bare rock it may lower hub heights hence lower structure cost. If
trees of grass or vegetation are present, tends to destructure the wind, then higher
hub heights will be needed resulting in larger cost than the bare ground.
7. Distance to road or railways
This is another factor the system engineer must consider for heavy machinery,
structure, materials, blades and other apparatus will have to be moved into any
chosen WECS site.
8. Nature of ground
Ground condition should be such that the foundation for a WECS are secured.
Ground surface should be stable. Erosion problem should not be there, as it could
possibly later wash out the foundation of a WECS, destroying the whole system.

Elementary Design Principles of Wind Mills

• Wind turbine design generally comprise of a rotor, a direct current (DC)

generator or an alternating current (AC) alternator which is mounted on a
tower high above the ground.
• A wind turbine extracts the kinetic energy from the wind by slowing the
wind down, and transferring this energy into the spinning shaft so it is
important to have a good design.
• The available power in the wind that is available for harvesting depends on
both the wind speed and the area that is swept by the rotating turbine blades.
• The faster the wind speed or the larger the rotor blades the more energy can
be extracted from the wind. Therefore wind turbine power production
depends on the interaction between the rotor blades and the wind and it is
this interaction that is important for a wind turbine design.
• The horizontal axis wind turbine design catches more wind so the power
output is higher than that of a vertical axis wind turbine design. The
disadvantage of the horizontal axis design is that the tower required to
support the wind turbine is much higher and the design of the rotor blades
has to be much better.
• The Vertical Axis Turbine or VAWT, is easier to design and maintain but
offers lower performance than the horizontal axis types due to the high drag
of its simple rotor blade design.
GRID INTEGRATION:

No matter what the arguments are, it has been proven that wind power can be successfully
integrated with the power grid. The degree of this success and the level of wind penetration
varies largely on:
• The design limits of the tie-line—the key design parameters being:
⇒ Voltage levels
⇒ Capacity
⇒ Voltage Regulation
⇒ Tie-line Stability
• Interface standards—mainly related to power quality, which in turn determines
the renewable capacity limit. Power Quality issues are:
⇒ Harmonic Distortion
⇒ Voltage Transients and Sags
⇒ Voltage Flicker
⇒ Step Load Voltage
• The firm capacity of the wind farm and the associated wind power dispatch
issues.
⇒ Load following
⇒ Scheduling
⇒ Reserve
• Response to abnormal conditions:
⇒ Voltage disturbances
⇒ Faults