Abstract
Airborne wind energy is a new approach to reach the stronger and more consistent winds at higher altitudes. In this paper, the interconnection of pumping mode airborne wind energy systems inside an energy farm is investigated. An experimental rig hardware setup has been designed and built to model an AWE farm in small scale. A direct interconnection system has been developed and examined on the experimental test rig. The direct interconnection technique (DIT) is a new method developed for the interconnection of marine wind energy systems within an energy farm, without requiring offshore-based power electronic converters. DIT relocates power electronic converters from the offshore site to the shore substation by interconnecting marine generators directly to a common bus. This method makes possible significant improvements to the economy and reliability of marine renewable energy systems. In this paper, for the first time, the direct interconnection technique is investigated experimentally for physically emulated pumping mode airborne wind energy systems. The construction of the experimental rig hardware setup is described, and the laboratory test results for the direct interconnection of airborne wind energy systems are presented and discussed.
Highlights
Airborne wind energy (AWE) is a high-altitude wind energy system using one or more kites, gliders or horizontal flying turbines tethered to a ground station for energy production
AWE systems do not use a static tower and associated civil engineering infrastructure resulting in considerably less capital expenses (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX), for offshore wind energy systems where the price of marine operations and constructions is significantly high
The direct interconnection technique (DIT) algorithm is examined on the hardware setup, and test results are discussed
Summary
Airborne wind energy (AWE) is a high-altitude wind energy system using one or more kites, gliders or horizontal flying turbines tethered to a ground station for energy production. The non-reversing mechanism eliminates the need for the four-quadrant power electronic converter and allows for optimal machine selection for both the power generation and recovery motor phases It is more suitable for large-scale AWE systems, and gridintegrated AWE devices due to the faster and more efficient transition between the operating phases. The research is followed by Salari et al [24,23] to develop a comprehensive DIT for marine pumping mode AWE systems considering the in-depth power control, operation and electrical performance of directly interconnected AWE generators under nominal and fault conditions. The research performed in this paper is the first practical study of DIT for airborne wind energy systems and is the first test rig in literature to model power take-off for scaled pumping mode AWE systems. The test results are reported and discussed, and the content of this research work is concluded, and suggestions for further research are presented
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