Some rapid fire on Wind Energy

• Globally, Wind Power stands at 20 GW today and is growing by 25 % p.a.
• Germany, Denmark, Spain have almost utilized their full potential.
• Days of 100 feet towers are gone. Now 250 feet towers are in. ( Cost of tower used to offset value of extra electricity till now)
• Though 2 blade turbines capture almost same energy as 3 blade rotors, they fail to withstand wind gust.
• Europe produces some 12 GW wind poer ( Germany 6 GW, Denmark and Spain 2 GW each), US produces  5 GW.
• Capital Expenditure per MW stands Rs 40 million and the generation cost is Rs 3 per Unit.
• For financing 15 MW ( in 300 acres) project @ Rs 700 million:- Interest free foreign currency loan ( Rs 400 Million), Rupee term loan from ICICI ( Rs 120 million) and promotors contribution would be Rs 180 million.
• AWT, a unit of Denmark's NEG Micon has manufacturing plant in Chennai.
• China does wonders. In just one year it doubled its capacity to about 30 GW.
• NAPCC target of getting 5 % + electricity from renewables and addition of 15% capacity in next 10 years seem difficult to achieve.
• Hongkong based CLP s investing huge in India.

Wind turbine design

Q) What are four Aerodynamic design issues?

Ans)

• Flow unsteady most of time.
• Combined effects of wind shear.
• Atmospheric turbulence and gusts.
• Yaw misalignment and tower shadow.

Q) Is two dimensional airfoil data suitable for predicting the aerodynamic performance on stall regulated turbines ?

Ans) NO. Above are pics of 2D wind tunnel data.

Q) How do we achieve aerodynamic ( for peak power o/p) control?

Ans)

Stalling of blades:- blades are not accelerated but moved at const. velocity.

Pitch adjustment:- to allow for best in-flow angles.

Wind Turbines Rapid Fire

Q)How much is efficiency of Wind Turbines?

Ans) 40 %

Q) How long it takes to plan and buid a 5 MW wind farm?

Ans) 9 Months

Q) Wind power varies as wind speed?

Ans) Cube of v

Q) Wind power is directly proportional to

Ans) Height of blade.

Q) What are three factors behing wind turbine design?

Ans)

• Efficient airfoil design ( can increase 30 % energy capture)
• Rotor Efficiency( Better hub attachments allow for flex. rotors)
• Design of control devices

Q) Are 2 blade rotors better?

Ans) Yes , but they should be flexible enough for wind gusts.

Q)What is big deal about WT generator?

Ans) Design of generator which can respond to changes in Wind is a challenge.

Q)What is rotor speed?

Ans) rotor @ 60 rpm, generator @ 1800 rpm.

Q) What are 4 functions of turbine control?

Ans)

• To slow/stop the rotor.
• To prevent wind gusts from suddenly producing high power.
• To prevent turbine from vibrating.
• To mitigate damage from turbulent winds.

All above are achived by computer/microprocessor control.

Q) How much is cost of Winf farm?

Ans) Rs 50 million per MW

Q) Do you have any idea about wind power density at 50 m in India?

Ans) TN/Kerala/Karnataka about 350 to 450 W/sq. m

Photographic report of Windfarm visit.

Some notes made on visit of Suzlon windfarm few yaers back.

• 1.25 MW machine was studied. It generated 20 thousand Units a day.Cost of the machine was Rs.5 Crore.Total windfarm had 500 such machines and windfarm capacity was 650MW.


• The windfarm was having 1.5 MW and 2.1 Mw machines under installation. The 1.25 MW machine had a height of 200 feet and gear ratio of 70 .


• The machine had 4 yaw motors which drove yaw drums. Yawing range was from 0 degrees to 950 degrees.


• Some terminologies:- PPE and JSA


• Pitch motors were driven by pitch drive. Pitching range was 0 degrees to 90 degrees.


• Pitch angle was marked as +7 or 0.


• Windfarm used to feed 220 KV lines.


• Lube oil was circulated with pumps.


• Generation voltage was 630 V. RPM was 1500.Active and reactice power was monitored.


• I saw Tool Kit register and tool Box Meeeting.


• An enginner explained how they overcame a problem by changing bolts into studs.


• Control was divided into parks of 24 motors.


• Capacitors were switched on based upon recative power requirement.


• Motors were first fed from grid, then they started generating.


• Battery supply was used for pitching in case of grid supply faliure.


• Theft was a major proble. We enjoyed tea made with biogas.


• Electronis was thyristor based.

Whats new in wind energy ?

• Relacing old wind turbines with 2 MW machines:- Germany's wind energy association BWE is adding more and more capacity this way. The old turbines are being sold to Eastern Europe and Cuba.
• India faces resistance in Chinese market:- Suzlon is not finding it easy to penetrate into Chinese market.
• 2010 Capacity addition:- India comes 3rd ( 2130 MW ) . Asia added 20 GW and Europe added10 GW. Global capacity is 200 GW. China alone added 16 GW. ( Lead by Shinovel and goldwind China has wow capacity of 42 GW).
• New Offshore Mammoth:- Vestas has come up with 7 MW turbine now. This offshore machine is the most powerful one ever built. This 135 m ( 443 feet) tall giant has rotor dia of 164 m.
• New player in India:- Moventas of Finland is coming to India with big bang. The Indian partner is the secret to be revealed !

Wind energy and small towns of India

For wind energy, small town is big game in India. Be it Dewas or Dhulia, Daman or Baroda, maximum benefit of wind energy growth has gown to small towns of India.

Now small town of Baramati is getting Rs 50 Crore wind turbine plant by Kenersys ( Kalyani group) to manufature 140 m tall 2 MW wind turbines ( k82) having 82m rotor dia. Production capacity planned is 250 machines per year.

This is when the offshore capacity lay hardly assessed. It will take another 2 years before we know how much wind power Indian sea waters have to offer.

Gamesa is investing hugely in the sector and plans to manufacture 2MW turbines by 2012 in small tows of Gujarat and Tamilnadu.

Wind Energy is hot sector in India

• Seakinetic , USA is ready with plans to produce 300 MW wind energy in Tamil Nadu.
• Siemens has alraedy set up its office in Vadodara for actering to wind turbine manufacturing unit.
• Gamesa is coming up with 5 MW size turbine. Wow ! I am dying to see the blades.
• AMSC has got large orders from the new bird Inox Wind ( another Gujrat Based Firm ). Inox wind has plants in Una ( Himachal ) and windfarms in Gujrat.
• Suzlon is reviving. It has got 30MW Rajasthan order. It will make its capacity reach 700 MW.
• Hongkong based China light and power ( CLP ) is installing Vestas make wind turbines in Harpanhalli , Karnataka. CLP is emerging a big player in India as it already has 300MW installed and 100 MW is under contruction.

What's happening in wind energy sector?

Well, its buzzing with lots of activities all around the globe। In India:-

• Reliance power is coming up with 250 MW wind-solar plant at the cost of $600. Their target is to keep carbon emission limited to 850 gms per unit of electricity produced. They are coming p with a pit head super thermal plant of 3960MW at Satna in MP.
• So, the private sector is contributing a lot towards the wind energy development in India.
  Varun Industries is coming up with 5 windmills in Jaisalmer-Rajasthan and DLF already has a business worth Rs1000 Crore i wind energy setor.
• Govt. has not done as much as private players in wind sector, but things are changing fast. NHDC is coming up with 100 MW windfarm in Betul and Maharashtra govt. is planning to set up a SEZ for windfarm only.
• The question here is will India be able to meet the target of 10 % energy from renewable by 2015? At present only 4 % of total power is fed by renewables. 10% is a tall order since it means installations over 15 GW from renewable sources.

Latest information on wind energy

• Guess who is manufacturing blades of size 55 m( larger than an aircraft's wings) for 3MW wind turbines in Asia? Yes, its China. THey will have root dia of 2.3 m , maxm. width 4 m and will weigh 13.5 T. Designed as optimised airfoil, their wind energy utilisation coefficient is 0.49 and they are manufactured with state of art "vacuum infusion process"!
• Guess whats next size ? its going to be 60 m blades for 5 MW turbines.
• Want to know top 10 of wind players globally? Here it is :- 1. Vestas(Denmark) 4500 MW, 2.GE(US) 3300MW, 3.Gamesa(Spain) 3000 MW, 4.Enercon(Germany) 2700 MW, 5.Suzlon(India) 2000 MW, 6.Siemens(Den/Ger) 1500 MW, 7.Acciona(Spain) 900 MW, 8.Goldwind(China) 800 MW, 9. Nordex(Germany) 700 MW and 10.Sinovel (China) 500 MW.

Wind Energy Update

• Tatas are stepping ahead in wind energy market by acquiring "Niskalp" . Any guess who is this "Niscalp"? By the way, Tatas plans are really ambitious. The want 400 MW wind capacity in their cap.
• China didbetter than US in 2009 in wind turbine installations, but the major bottleneck in Chinese prograame is lack of transmission capacity.
• Suzlon , despite being in so much trouble that market advise is against its rights issue, bagged a big order of 23 turbines from China.
• In terms of percentage of power through wind, Spain is still the topper. 15% of their total production is from wind. India produces <>
• How much you think India has invested in Green Energy ? Its huge amount. $1 Billion.

Some interesting facts about wind energy

• Asia Pacific ( India-China) is the fastest growing wind energy region. From 1700MW in 2000 to 41000 MW today, the region is going through a boom. Globally , the capacity is 160,000 MW.
• US,Germany ,Spain, China and India are top 5 wind energy producers. Because of boom in Texas windfarms, US took over Germany in 2008.
• 1 MW of windfarm means saving of 2000 Tonnes of coal.
• Costs have also become comptetive. $55.8/MWh for wind, $53.1/MWh for coal and $52.5/MWh for natural gas is the present cost, which is gradually coming down for wind.
• Main Chinese companies are Xinjiang Goldwind, Sinovel Wind and Dongfang Electric Corp. These have developed overcapacity due to state support and now are entering Indian and European markets.

New Kites in the Indian wind

Seems that everybody is keen on riding the carbon credit bandwagon.

• Tamilnadu witnessed a 6 MW plant set up by Surat based Nakoda Textiles at the cost of 41 Crore. This was helped by Anil Ambani's Global Wind Power Ltd.
• State Bank of India has set up 15 MW capacity windfarms in three states.
• Rajasthan's Alumina manufacturer Orient Abrasives Ltd has set up 1.5 MW plant in Jodhpur.
• Gujrat Fuorochemicals Ltd. launched Inox Wind Ltd has set up2 MW plant in Himachal Pradaesh.
• Siemens is coming up with its unique SWT3.0-101 Direct Drive turbines.
• Birla's Mangalam CementLtd. has extended its orders on Suzlon for plant in Jaisalmer for 7.5 MW capacity. This is with Suzlon's S-82 turbines.

European company's big plans for India

Siemens is all set to invest Rs 500 Crore on wind turbine manufacturing in India. The aim of the company is to get the turbines manufactured at competetive rates in India. Anybody heard of the location of the plant ?
Spanish firm Gamesa has started new turbine manufacturing facility in Chennai ( near Red Hills). G58 model of 850 KW will be manufactured here.Plant capacity is 200 MW per year and will employ 100 odd staff. Gamesa already has order books for 50 MW supply in and around India. A welcome step , since Gamesa-China already exists with capacity of 1000 MW/year.

European and US Wind Scene

SWEDEN:-Sweden has windpower capacity of 1.6 GW. Their wind energy assocaition is called Svensk Vindenergy. Every year Sweden adds some 500 MW.By 2012 it will hve 3GW capacity.

SPAIN:- Who is not familiar with GAMESA? This country ranks 3rd in the world in wind power generation. Energos is another windfarm developer in Spain.

GERMANY:- This is the leader in Europe in wind energy sector. WPD is another windfarm developer there in addition to Bard. REpower is major turbine maker there.

UK:- Clipper windpower is a big player there.

US and CANADA:- NextEra is the largest windfarm owner in states. they have a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developing the technology. Avista is known for its mega projects. Horizon Wind Energy belongs to Portugese EDP Renovaveis. Other players are Iberdola Renovables, E.ON, First Wind Energy, Eurus, Eneland EverPower.In Canada, Southpoint wind is major player.

Features of wind energy in India

• Grid connected wind energy potential capacity:- 1,00,000 MW @ 25% PLF. This amounts to 219.0 mKWh annual Generation.
• Feed in Tariff is mostly ranging between Rs.3.00 to Rs.4.oo per unit .Andhra(3.37),Guj(3.37),Karnataka(3.40),Kerala(3.14),MP(3.97),Mech(3.50),Raj(3.65),TN(3.10),WB(4.00),Haryana(4.08).
• There are 30,000 employees at present in India in wind energy sector and by the year 2020, we expect this to become 1,36,000.
• There are 4 normative operating parameters specified in by CERC for fixation of tariff:- 1.Capital cost(Rs 5.15 Cr/MW),

2.CUF (20 % - 30 % depndingon annual mean wind power density) ,

3.O&M(Rs.6.5 lakh/MW with escalation factor of 5.72%p.a.)
4.Capital cost index(limited to WPI of steel and electrical machines)

Windfarm near Veer Savarkar's Village

Recently I made a visit to another wind heaven- Suzlon's Sinnar plant.
All machines are 1.5 MW. There are 52 such machines.

Latest FSS technology has been used in place of fluid couplings in some of the machines. One blade weighs 5.2 T and the Nacelle weighs 67 T. So we need 500 T crane for the work.

Feeling the breez on my hairs. Machine gives full output at 12m/s. Cut in is 3.5 m/s and cut out is 22 m/s.

Tower height is 78.5 m . Rotor is 40 m long. The dia with hub is 82 m. All machines are remotely controlled from Pune.

And the location has historical significance. Freedom Fighter Veer Savarkar's birthplace is nearby.

Visit to ENERCON plant in Daman

It was amazing to see how 2.5 Tonne 23 metre long blade is manufactured in the plant. Made of composite material(resin), blade has three parts separately moulded- Spoiler,Middle and Root. Layers of matts are spread, bonded and heat treated to form these parts.Blade manufacturing is a complex activity.
Strength is achieved by 2 I sections.and continuous stran mesaurement transducers are provided forcondition monitoring during service.It takes 24 hours to make one complete blade, which is thenmounted on sleeve bearings of hub.
Rotor plant is seperateand eually exciting to see.60 pole shoe rotor generates 600V.Control boxes such as relay box, battery box and lubrication box were nicely placed. Generator weight 36 Tonnes.
Kudos to ENERCON for such well maintained plant.

Installed capacity growing, generation not at par !

The total installed capacity worldwide is over 120 GigaWatts now. US, Germany and China , each are adding 5000 MW every year.Europe is still number one followed by US and Asia in terms of total installed capacity.
This huge capacity of 120 GW can produce over 250 Terawatthours(TWh)in a year. Theoritically so.
THe avrage PLF in India is just 15%. Global average PLF is 30 %. Why so? We have incentives for installing,not for generation.

Visit to largest windfarm of Asia

Loacated in the Nandurbar district of Khandesh in Maharashtra, this is the largest windfarm of Asia with an installed capacity of over 650 MW. The machines are of 1.25 MW and 1.5 MW class. Now Machines of 2.1 MW are being installed too. See our snap with the energetic team of Suzlon.Presently struggling with the politically motivated land deal probe by CID and rampant theft in the farm, this place has a great windspeed throughout the year.