Available Wind Energy Research Articles

Optimal Incentive Design for Targeted Penetration of Renewable Energy Sources

Environmental concerns arising from fossil-fuel-based generation have propelled the integration of less-polluting energy sources in the generation portfolio and simultaneously have motivated increased energy conservation programs. In today's deregulated electricity market, most participants [e.g., GENCOs and local distribution companies (LDCs)] focus on maximizing their profits, and thus they need to be incentivized to invest in renewable generation and energy conservation, which are otherwise not profitable ventures. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel holistic generation expansion plan (GEP) model that enables the central planning authority (CPA) to design optimal incentive rates for renewable integration and energy conservation targets, considering the investor interests and constraints. The model also determines the siting, sizing, timing, and technology required to adequately supply the projected demand over the planning horizon. The model is applied to the generation planning of Ontario, Canada, based on realistic data, to determine appropriate incentives for investors in renewable generation and energy conservation by LDCs. The obtained optimal incentives are shown to be similar to the ones currently in place in Ontario, with a slightly shorter payback period for investors. The effect of uncertainties associated with solar and wind energy availability on the GEP model is also examined using Monte Carlo simulations.

Optimisation of energy management in commercial buildings with weather forecasting inputs: A review

Information about the patterns that govern the energy demand and onsite generation can generate significant savings in the range of 15–30% in most cases and thus is essential for the management of commercial building energy systems. Predominantly, heating and cooling in a building as well as the availability of solar and wind energy are directly affected by variables such as temperature, humidity and solar radiation. This makes energy management decision making and planning sensitive to the prevalent and future weather conditions. Research attempts are being made using a variety of statistical or physical algorithms to predict the evolution of the building load or generation in order to optimise the building energy management. The response of the building energy system to changes in weather conditions is inherently challenging to predict; nevertheless numerous methods in the literature describe and utilise weather predictions. Such methods are being reviewed in this study and their strengths, weaknesses and applications in commercial buildings at different prediction horizons are discussed. Furthermore, the importance of considering weather forecasting inputs in energy management systems is established by highlighting the dependencies of various building components on weather conditions. The issues of the difficulty in implementation of integrated weather forecasts at commercial building level and the potential added value through energy management optimisation are also addressed. Finally, a novel framework is proposed that utilises a range of weather variable predictions in order to optimise certain commercial building systems.

A STUDY OF BEEKEEPING IN BHUDARGAD TEHSIL, KOLHAPUR DISTRICT

The electricity generated in Victoria state is majorly with fossil fuels, consequently the resources are diminishing and enormous amount of emission is released in to atmosphere and thereby creating threat to the environment. Furthermore, the electricity supplied through grid to the end users is expensive; this is because various extra charges are added in to feed in tariff, especially carbon taxes. Since with these concerns, alternatively this paper aims to design an off- grid-stand alone hybrid power systems (HPS), to determine the economic and environmental performance majorly with Renewable energy (RE), to supply electricity to Victoria State-Australia. To investigate the RE sources-Solar and Wind, the data is collected from Bureau of Metrology (BOM) and NASA, using the collected data of nine different location in Victoria state, the average availability of solar energy and Wind energy were compared and it was determined that Mildura has abundant solar energy, whereas Warrnambool has abundant wind energy. However, in this study only solar data was used for modeled Photovoltaic (PV) cells while modeling HPS, battery is used for storage purpose to supply extra demand as well as to be able to supply the unpredictable load in future. The study performed in HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) tool.

Examining possible relationship between carbon finance availability and growth of wind energy

This paper evaluates the possible relationship between carbon fund availability and the growth of wind energy. This has become apposite considering global quest for renewable energies as a veritable option for carbon reduction and sustainable development. Whilst some extant literature blames delay in climate policy as an obstacle to green energy, others regard carbon finance availability as a booster to renewable energy. Raging argument is that similar to any other investment, renewable energy finance availability may mar or catalyse growth in renewable energy. Consequently, in this paper, a conceptual overview of carbon finance and renewable energy is undertaken and a test of the relationship between the World Bank carbon finance availability and wind energy growth is conducted. The result indicates a significant positive relationship between World Bank carbon financing and global growth in wind energy. The paper thus concludes that aside from policy options, renewable energy financing seems to be a contributory catalyst that may spur improvement in global renewable energy. The paper highlights that achieving green economic development in developing countries would depend, not only on climate policies alone, but also on sustainable financing. Hence government and private sources of funding is very desirable in achieving global green economic development, most importantly, for developing economies. The paper thus offers a research agenda on awareness creating for local and international sources of green energy for developing countries.

The Costs of Electricity Systems with a High Share of Fluctuating Renewables: A Stochastic Investment and Dispatch Optimization Model for Europe

Renewable energies are meant to cover a large share of the future electricity demand. However, the availability of wind and solar power depends on local weather conditions. In this article, we analyze the impact of the stochastic availability of wind and solar energy on the cost-minimal power plant mix and the related total system costs. To determine optimal conventional, renewable and storage capacities for different shares of renewables, we apply a stochastic investment and dispatch optimization model to the European electricity market. The model considers stochastic feed-in structures and full load hours of wind and solar technologies and different correlations between regions and technologies. Key findings include a lower value of fluctuating renewables and higher system costs compared to deterministic investment and dispatch models. Furthermore, the value of solar technologies is—relative to wind turbines—underestimated when neglecting negative correlations between wind speeds and solar radiation. Keywords: Stochastic programming, Electricity, Renewable energy

Resiliency in offshore wind farm communication networks

Wind energy is getting a considerable attention worldwide from the fraternity of the power system engineers as clean and green energy that can help reduce the carbon content and limit dependence on conventional fossil fuels. This has lead to the development of offshore wind farms in last few years. Real time monitoring and control of offshore wind farm require high speed, reliable, fault resilient, and cost effective communication infrastructure. The availability and reliability of wind energy mainly depend on resilient communication network. This can be achieved through a combination of redundancy and Quality of Service (QoS). In this paper, we have proposed fault resilient architecture of the medium scale offshore wind farm and simulated different fault scenarios based on IEC 61400-25 standard in OPNET. The wind farm communication is based on Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. The performance has been analysed with respect to QoS in terms of latency, traffic drop, and traffic congestion.

A METEOROLOGICAL TOWER BASED WIND SPEED PREDICTION MODEL USING FUZZY LOGIC

A number of wind speed prediction methods are available for estimating wind energy availability. In re cent years there is a lot of research works carried out to predict wind speed by using mathematical and soft computing techniques. In this study the wind speed profile at different heights are predicted with the available meteorological tower data. The wind speed data at 0 2, 08, 16, 32 and 50 m levels of a meteorological t ower is used to predict and develop fuzzy logic model beyond the height of the 50 meter tower. The experimenta l research gives the best performance for the wind sp eed prediction at various heights.

The Effect of Variable Electricity Tariffs in the Household on Usage of Household Appliances

Demand side management (DSM) has been discussed and investigated widely as a strategy to also influence residential energy consumption. Flexible energy tariffs are often proposed as a possible tool of DSM. However, real-life experience with this tool is rare. It was therefore the objective of this study to investigate under more realistic conditions how consumers are able and willing to adjust their residential energy consumption under the conditions of flexible energy tariffs with and without the support of intelligent smart appliances. Sixty-seven households in Germany within an experimental design with fictive tariff model (August 11 to July 12) driven by RWE Effizienz GmbH, as the energy utility, and Miele & Cie.KG, as the appliance manufacturer, were equipped with intelligent smart meters and 41 of them also with smart appliances (washing-machine and tumble-dryer). As a first part of the experiment, the energy tariff changed per hour and day by day, depending on the forecast of the availability of renewable energy in Germany between 10 €-Cent and 40 €-Cent per kWh. Consumers could respond to this change by adjusting the operation of their energyconsuming appliances either by themselves or—with the smart appliances—by a programmed start at low tariffs. The behaviour of the 41 consumers with smart appliances and their motivation are intensively investigated and analysed during this running two year project including several questionnaires. The consumers had to fill out daily a diary about the usage of their washing-machine, tumble-dryer, dishwasher and ironing devices. These data were matched with the actual tariff. This did allow identifying if and to which extend the consumers adjust their household activities depending on availability of solar and wind energy. These data were also used to calculate the cost savings by using the flexible tariff. In comparison to the costs of the fixed tariff of 25 €-Cent per kWh savings of 25% were realised on average. The results of a first phase already show that flexible tariffs are able to influence the operation of household appliances towards a flexible demand.

Analysis of Wind Speed Data for Four Locations in Ireland Based on Weibull Distribution’s Linear Regression Model

Wind speed is the most important parameter in the design and study of wind energy conversion systems (WECS). The main aim of this study is to assess wind power potential of a site for wind power plant development. Availability of wind energy and its characteristics at Malin Head, Dublin Airport, Belmullet and Mullingar in Ireland has been studied based on primary data collected at these sites for a period of seven years. The wind speeds at height of 50 m above ground level were measured. Two parameter Weibull distribution’s linear regression model is used for analyzing wind speed pattern variations. Weibull parameters are calculated by using Least Squares Fit Method (LSM). Our analysis shows that the coastal sites of Ireland such as Malin Head, Dublin Airport and Belmullet have good wind power potentials. These potentials if utilized they will provide solution towards power shortage problem of Ireland. Large magnitudes of winds for power generation occurred during the months of October to March and in May month.

Value of Wind Power at Different Locations in the Grid

Availability of wind energy which differs across locations primarily determines the appropriate location for installing windfarms. However, the grid location of windfarms must always be considered in an attempt to accurately quantify the benefits which can be achieved from windfarms during their lifetime operation to the supply network. The value of wind power is significantly affected by their penetration and concentration, and is further affected by their location within a network. This is because the location and penetration level of wind generation will result in a significant impact on power-flow distribution across the network. The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of grid location of windfarms on economic and operational parameters of a power system in the lifetime of a windfarm project. This paper first develops an assessment tool to quantify the economic and operational impact of wind power in the grid. This is followed by developing different scenarios in which different penetrations of wind power are installed at different locations in the grid, and it shows how the value of wind power is affected by location and network constraints.

On wind speed pattern and energy potential in Nigeria

The aim of this paper is to review wind speed distribution and wind energy availability in Nigeria and discuss the potential of using this resource for generation of wind power in the country. The power output from a wind turbine is strongly dependent on the wind speed and accurate information about the wind data in a targeted location is essential. The annual mean wind speeds in Nigeria range from about 2 to 9.5 m/s and the annual power density range between 3.40 and 520 kW/m 2 based on recent reported data. The trend shows that wind speeds are low in the south and gradually increases to relatively high speeds in the north. The areas that are suitable for exploitation of wind energy for electricity generation as well as for water pumping were identified. Also some of the challenges facing the development of wind energy and suggested solutions were presented.

Assessment of wind energy potential in Gaza Strip

The analysis of collected wind data at two sites in the Gaza Strip, namely, Gaza City and Gaza International Airport in Rafah city, is presented. The two sites are candidates for remote area wind energy applications. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the assessment of wind energy potential in the Gaza Strip in order to evaluate the wind regimes for installing wind energy conversion systems for power generation. The data on wind speed, direction and frequency distribution are used to analyze wind energy characteristics and availability at some stations in the Gaza Strip. The vertical extrapolation was based on the power-law expression, and the wind energy and potential have been estimated at the wind turbine hub height of approximately 50 m. Furthermore, the values of theWeibull parameters c and k are determined from summary statistics of wind resource. Consequently, the wind power is estimated by adoption of the Weibull distribution expression. Based on the results of this paper, sites are recommended for wind energy exploitation in the Gaza Strip.

A Survey on the Assessment of Wind Energy Potential in Gaza Strip

The analysis of collected wind data at two sites in Gaza Strip namely, Gaza city and Gaza International Air Port in Rafah city is presented. The two sites are candidates for remote area wind energy applications The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the assessment of wind energy potential in Gaza Strip in order to evaluate the wind regimes for installing wind energy conversion systems for power generation. The data on wind speed, direction and frequency distribution are used to analyze wind energy characteristics and availability at some stations in Gaza Strip. The vertical extrapolation was based on the power-law expression, and the wind energy and potential have been estimated at the wind generator hub height of approximately 50 m. Also, values of Weibull parameters c and k are determined from wind summary statistics. Consequently, the wind power is estimated adopting the Weibull distribution expression. From the results of this paper, sites are recommended for the wind energy exploitation in Gaza Strip.

Effects of global warming on wind energy availability

The use of wind energy reduces our greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. In this study, we proposed a generic power-law relationship between global warming and the usable wind energy (Betz’s law). The power law index (∼4, region dependent) is then determined using simulated atmospheric parameters from eight global coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models (CGCMs). It is found that the power-law relationship holds across all eight climate models and also is time scale independent. Reduction of wind power scales with the degree of warming according to a generic power-law relationship. Thus, the earlier we switch to clean energy, and thereby decrease the global climate warming trend, the more cost-effective will be the harnessing of wind energy. This relationship is an area-averaged consequence of the reduced poleward temperature gradient as the climate warms during the 21st Century; it does not imply spatial uniformity over a region of interest.

The Potential for Wind Energy in Nigeria

This paper discusses some of the issues of wind energy development and utilization in Nigeria. It surveys the various initiatives of governments and researchers at assessing the prospects and availability of wind energy for electricity production and identifies indices suggesting wind availability. Inland, the wind is strongest in hilly regions of the North, while mountainous terrains of the middle belt and northern fringes have high potential for great wind energy harvest. However, due to varying topography and roughness of the country, large differences may exist within the same locality. Mean wind regimes in the north and south were also found to lie between 4.0 – 7.5 m/s and 3.0 – 3.5 m/s respectively at 10 m above the ground. It is suggested that Nigeria can adequately utilize wind for power generation over much of the country, if the identified challenges are overcome and the suggested strategies are implemented.

Characterization of wind energy potential and availability at Beira Interior (Portugal)

The present work intends to evaluate and to characterize the wind potential in Beira Interior (Portugal).To do that it will be examined the installed capacity of wind energy, as well as their potential in that region. Due to the development of such systems for energy production is necessary to optimize and innovate the procedures that are related to the conversion of wind energy. The analysis is based on meteorological data and on the characterization of the various systems of exploitation of wind energy, including the type of turbines used, their operating parameters and their relationship with the wind. This work do a comprehensive analysis in order to understand the variations of the power curve of a particular wind park, with the variability of wind speed and the influence of several variables, such as seasonal changes; effects of treadmill; the presence of obstacles, the roughness of the ground and the local altitude, in the oscillation of the transformation of wind energy. Finally, the wind data information about Beira Interior will be integrated in the national portuguese general Framework.

Climate change impact of wind energy availability in the Eastern Mediterranean using the regional climate model PRECIS

Abstract. Global near-surface wind fields are projected to change as a result of climate change. An enhanced knowledge of the changes in wind energy availability in the twenty-first century is essential for improving the development of wind energy production. We use the PRECIS regional model over the East Mediterranean to dynamically downscale the results of the Had3CM Atmosphere-Ocean coupled Global Circulation Model. Wind field changes during the 21st century are determined by comparing the current climate simulation (1961–1990) with the IPCC A2 emissions scenario simulation (2071–2100). The consistency of the current climate simulation of wind speeds is assessed by comparing its results to the ERA40 re-analysis data. The comparison of the wind field from ERA40 re-analysis to that from the PRECIS current climate simulation shows relatively large mean differences that could partly be attributed to the difference in the spatial resolution of the two sources of data. Wind speeds in 2071–2100 exhibit a general increase over land and a decrease over the sea, with the exception of a noticeable increase over the Aegean Sea.

Integrated electrification solution for autonomous electrical networks on the basis of RES and energy storage configurations

Most medium and small islands of the Aegean Archipelagos face serious infrastructure problems, strongly related with the limited electrical energy available at extremely high cost. On the other hand, the area is characterized by very high wind speeds and abundant solar energy, thus the exploitation of the available renewable energy sources (RES) may significantly contribute to the fulfillment of the local societies energy demand at minimum environmental and macroeconomic cost. However, the stochastic availability of wind energy and the variable availability of solar energy, the daily and seasonal electricity demand fluctuations, as well as the limited local electrical network capacity result in serious restrictions concerning the maximum renewable power penetration. In this context, the present paper investigates the possibility of creating a combined electricity generation facility based on the exploitation of wind or/and solar potential of an area as well as on the utilization of an appropriate energy storage configuration in order to replace the existing thermal power stations with rational investment requirements. For this purpose, the major parameters of the proposed integrated configuration are firstly calculated and its financial viability is accordingly analyzed. One of the main targets of the proposed solution is to maximize the RES exploitation of the area at a minimum electricity generation cost, while special emphasis is given in order to select the most cost-efficient energy storage device available. According to the results obtained the proposed solution is not only financially attractive but also improves the quality of the electricity offered to the local communities, substituting the expensive and heavily polluting existing thermal power stations.

Wind Micro-Turbines for Domestic Hydrogen Production?

A primary concern with some renewable energy sources is the intermittent nature of the supply and a consequent need for significant backup generation or storage capacity. Much has been made of the apparent correlation between the availability of wind energy and consumer demand, with the belief this type of renewable resource can be supplemented with only a moderate reserve of hydrogen generated at times of generation surplus. The assumption is tested through a case study that considers the backup storage needs for domestic applications in the Western Isles of Scotland, one of the windiest places in Europe. The results reflect the likely importance of storage when renewable energy generation levels reaches a significant portion of the national needs, and the degree of consideration that should be given to energy backup at this very early phase in the likely transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Integration of pump storage hydro with wind energy

Renewable energy has significant advantages as it does not contribute to Greenhouse Gases (GHG). Wind energy is a renewable energy alternative that is being installed worldwide. However, wind energy is unpredictable and thus, unavailable as compared to conventional generation. The availability of wind energy compared to conventional power plants is a cause of contention. Currently, the rate of wind energy availability is ∼50%. The thermal unit reliability rate is ~90%. For comparison, standardising the availability of wind energy and the reliability of thermal unit into equivalent unit, 'available-capability', is necessary. It is desirable to construct the available-capability of wind energy to be equivalent with thermal unit. Therefore, the conversion of electrical energy produced by the wind into another form is necessary. This paper introduces a decision analysis based solution of incorporating the wind energy with either hydro plants or financial contract hedging. This energy technology integration increases the available-capability of wind energy to be as effective as thermal unit.