Wind Power Capacity Research Articles

Removing the Bottleneck on Wind Power Potential to Create Liquid Fuels from Locally Available Biomass

In order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy technologies such as wind power and solar photovoltaic power systems have recently become more widespread. However, Japan as a nation faces high reliance on imported fossil fuels for electricity generation despite having great potential for further renewable energy development. The focus of this study examines untapped geographical locations in Japan’s northern most prefecture, Hokkaido, that possess large wind power potential. The possibility of exploiting this potential for the purpose of producing green hydrogen is explored. In particular, its integration with a year-round conversion of Kraft lignin into bio-oil from nearby paper pulp mills through a near critical water depolymerization process is examined. The proposed bio-oil and aromatic chemical production, as well as the process’ economics are calculated based upon the total available Kraft lignin in Hokkaido, including the magnitude of wind power capacity that would be required for producing the necessary hydrogen for such a large-scale process. Green hydrogen integration with other processes in Japan and in other regions is also discussed. Finally, the potential benefits and challenges are outlined from an energy policy point-of-view.

Optimization and digitization of wind farms using internet of things : A review

Utilizing every available technology in improving the effectiveness of sustainable energy schemes is an important tool that should be harnessed in the war against fossil fuel and other problems associated with global warming. Enhancing sustainable energy schemes is fundamental to improving the rate of global energy efficiency coupled with decreasing the share of carbon systems in the global energy mix. With the integration of modern technologies like the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, and artificial intelligence, energy systems are generally smarter, more efficient, reliable and also possess the potential to mitigate global energy problems. This paper reviews the application of IoT in wind farms and the energy sector at large. It establishes that integrating IoT into wind farms has the potential to save about 50 million to 230 million US dollars of its operation expenses, improve the current 743 GW global wind power capacity to an amount substantial to enable it supply 20% of the world's electricity by 2030 and also allow wind energy technology to hold a good share in the 100 billion objects that is expected to be connected to the internet by 2025. In addition to this, it reviews the challenges associated with the deployment of IoT in wind farms and the future of block-chain technology and green IoT in energy systems.

Evaluation of Wind Energy Potential in Rayong Province, Thailand by WAsP Program

Over the past decades, Wind energy is one of the alternative energy or renewable sources, which has been harvested to produce electricity. Our research aims to study the wind potential of the areas in the Rayong provinces of Thailand. Data from meteorological stations were collected every 10 minutes for of 3 years (2017-2019), with a measuring tower at 10-meter height above ground level (AGL). The annual average wind speeds were investigated in Rayong (2.02 m/s) with Weibull Probability Distribution Function (PDF). The annual average power density in Rayong regions was 13 W/m2. In all locations, wind direction was detected mainly from Southwest (SSW) and the yearly maximum wind power capacity is 94.376 MWh. The capacity factor of 21.5 % was noticed. With relatively low wind speed was noticed in Rayong provinces of Thailand, a small wind turbine installed at 30 meters would be recommended as a cost-effective way to convert wind power to electricity.

Migrating to reverse Auction mechanisms in wind energy sector: Status and challenges

India, with a total installed wind power capacity of 39.25 GW, is fourth largest wind producer in the world. The government aims to achieve 60 GW capacity of wind energy by 2022. Accelerated Depreciation (AD) and Generation Based Incentives (GBI) as policy mechanisms supported the initial growth, but the sudden transition to reverse auction mechanism in 2016 brought a big disruption in the market and the regime is yet to be stabilized. Till now 9 tranches of auctions have been conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and 06 by various states. However, most of the projects allocated through auctions are behind the schedule and many tenders have gone undersubscribed. At present limited literature is available on the status and challenges arisen due to wind energy reverse auctions in India and this paper through systematic literature review does a comprehensive study on the same . Land availability, transmission and evacuation infrastructure bottlenecks, tariff revisions and renegotiation of PPAs by states, poor financial health of state discoms, financing problems, curtailment risk and tariff caps are identified as major challenges faced by wind power developers (WPDs) and these are required to be addressed by the government on priority.

Using Thermal Energy Storage to Relieve Wind Generation Curtailment in an Island Microgrid

The uncertainty and intermittency of the available wind resource in nature would potentially cause wind generation curtailment when the flexibility of the integrated power grid is limited, especially in small-scale microgrids for islands. In this paper, an optimal configuration method is proposed to use thermal energy storage (TES) to relieve wind generation curtailment in an island microgrid. The thermal network is modeled along with the electrical network to utilize its regulation capability, while TES is introduced as an additional flexibility resource. The detailed cost models of combined heat and power (CHP) units and TES are presented to realize the objective of minimizing the overall operating cost. The performance of TES in improving wind power utilization is firstly validated by using an electrical boiler (EB) as a benchmark and further analyzed under different scenarios considering the growths of wind power capacity, electrical load, and heat load. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated using real-world data obtained from the practical island microgrid.

Research on Zero-Voltage Ride Through Control Strategy of Doubly Fed Wind Turbine

With the rapid increase in the proportion of the installed wind power capacity in the total grid capacity, the state has put forward higher and higher requirements for wind power integration into the grid, among which the most difficult requirement is the zero-voltage ride through (ZVRT) capability of the wind turbine. When the voltage drops deeply, a series of transient processes, such as serious overvoltage, overcurrent, or speed rise, will occur in the motor, which will seriously endanger the safe operation of the wind turbine itself and its control system, and cause large-scale off-grid accident of wind generator. Therefore, it is of great significance to improve the uninterrupted operation ability of the wind turbine. Doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) can achieve the best wind energy tracking control in a wide range of wind speed and has the advantage of flexible power regulation. It is widely used at present, but it is sensitive to the grid voltage. In the current study, the DFIG is taken as the research object. The transient process of the DFIG during a fault is analyzed in detail. The mechanism of the rotor overcurrent and DC bus overvoltage of the DFIG during fault is studied. Additionally, the simulation model is built in DIgSILENT. The active crowbar hardware protection circuit is put into the rotor side of the wind turbine, and the extended state observer and terminal sliding mode control are added to the grid side converter control. Through the cooperative control technology, the rotor overcurrent and DC bus overvoltage can be suppressed to realize the zero-voltage ride-through of the doubly fed wind turbine, and ensure the safe and stable operation of the wind farm. Finally, the simulation results are presented to verify the theoretical analysis and the proposed control strategy.

Economic and technological feasibility of using power-to-hydrogen technology under higher wind penetration in China

Hydrogen can play a key role in facilitating the transition to a future deeply decarbonized energy system and can help accommodate higher penetrations of renewables in the power system. Arguments to justify this conclusion are supported by an analysis based on real-world data from China’s Western Inner Mongolia (WIM). The economic feasibility and decarbonization potential of renewable-based hydrogen production are discussed through an integrated power-hydrogen-emission analytical framework. The framework combines a high-resolution wind resource analysis with hourly simulation for the operation of power systems and hydrogen production considering technical and economic specifications on selection of three different types of electrolyzers and two operating modes. The results indicate that using wind power to produce hydrogen could provide a cost-competitive alternative (<2 $kg−1) to WIM’s current coal-dominated hydrogen manufacturing system, contributing at the same time to important reductions in wind curtailment and CO2 emissions. The levelized cost for hydrogen production is projected to decrease in the coming decade consistent with increases in wind power capacity and decreases in capital costs for electrolyzers. Lessons learned from the study can be applied to other regions and countries to explore possibilities for larger scale economically justified and carbon saving hydrogen production with renewables.

Relative energy production determines effect of repowering on wildlife mortality at wind energy facilities

Abstract Reduction in wildlife mortality is often cited as a potential advantage to repowering wind facilities, that is, replacing smaller, lower capacity, closely spaced turbines, with larger, higher capacity ones, more widely spaced. Wildlife mortality rates, however, are affected by more than just size and spacing of turbines, varying with turbine operation, seasonal and daily weather and habitat, all of which can confound our ability to accurately measure the effect of repowering on wildlife mortality rates. We investigated the effect of repowering on wildlife mortality rates in a study conducted near Palm Springs, CA. We controlled for confounding effects of weather and habitat by measuring turbine‐caused wildlife mortality rates over a range of turbine sizes and spacing, all within the same time period, habitat and local weather conditions. We controlled for differences in turbine operation by standardizing mortality rate per unit energy produced. We found that avian and bat mortality rate was constant per unit of energy produced, across all sizes and spacings of turbines. Synthesis and applications. In the context of repowering a wind facility, our results suggest that the relative amount of energy produced, rather than simply the size, spacing or nameplate capacity of the replacement turbines, determines the relative rate of mortality prior to and after repowering. Consequently, in a given location, newer turbines would be expected to be less harmful to wildlife only if they produced less energy than the older models they replace. The implications are far‐reaching as 18% of US and 8% of world‐wide wind power capacity will likely be considered for repowering within ~5 years.

Positive Correlations between Short-Term and Average Long-Term Fluctuations in Wind Power Output

Wind power has been increasingly deployed in the last decade to decarbonize the electricity sector. Wind power output changes intermittently depending on weather conditions. In electrical power systems with high shares of variable renewable energy sources, such as wind power, system operators aim to respond flexibly to fluctuations in output. Here, we investigated very short-term fluctuations, short-term fluctuations (STFs), and long-term fluctuations (LTFs) in wind power output by analyzing historical output data for two northern and one southern balancing areas in Japan. We found a relationship between STFs and the average LTFs. The percentiles of the STFs in each month are approximated by linear functions of the monthly average LTFs. Furthermore, the absolute value of the slope of this function decreases with wind power capacity in the balancing area. The LTFs reflect the trend in wind power output. The results indicate that the flexibility required for power systems can be estimated based on wind power predictions. This finding could facilitate the design of the balancing market in Japan.

Research on Peak-shaving Problem of Receiving Power System with Nuclear Power Under Wind Power Grid Connection

Introduction With the continuously increasing of the installed capacity and proportion of wind power and other new energy sources generation，the peak-shaving problem of receiving power system with nuclear power（such as Guangdong Power Grid） in flood season will be more prominent due to the influence of wind power anti peak shaving characteristics. In order to ensure the coordinated development of multiple types of power supply and the safe and reliable operation of power grid. Method Aiming at the peak shaving problem of the receiving end power system with nuclear power under the wind power grid connection， based on the full analysis of the domestic and foreign nuclear power units' participation in peak shaving and their technical economy， combined with the shortcomings of the conventional deterministic peak shaving check method， a peak shaving balance analysis method combining certainty with probability， typical week / typical day and whole year 8 760 h panoramic simulation was proposed. Result Taking the coastal provincial power grid as an example，the proposed method was applied to analyze the peak-shaving situation of receiving power system under different scenarios， and then some suggestions was presented. Conclusion The proposed method can give full play to the advantages of both deterministic and probabilistic methods and carry out more comprehensive and effective analysis and verification of the system peak regulation balance.

Long-term changes in offshore wind power density and wind turbine capacity factor in the Iberian Peninsula (1900–2010)

This study analysed temporal and spatial changes in offshore wind power density (WPD) and capacity factor (CF) around the Iberian Peninsula during the 20th century by analysing data from ERA20 and ERA5. Both WPD and CF were calculated using reanalysis data considering a wind turbine with a hub height of 90 m and incorporating the effect of air density changes. Since ERA5 assimilates more observations, the data from ERA20 was bias-corrected using quantile matching, with ERA5 reanalysis data as the reference. As both variables are based on wind speed (WS), this variable was also corrected and analysed. The results show that the mean values for WPD, CF, and WS during the 20th century were highest in the Atlantic zone and the Gulf of Lyon and lowest around the Balearic Islands. The results of the assessment of decadal trends using the Theil–Sen estimator show that all indicators increased significantly in the waters of the Iberian Peninsula during the study period (1900–2010). Considering the mean slope over this period, the change over the entire period could amount to 174 Wm-2 for WPD, 8.8% for CF, and 1.1 ms−1 for WS. Based on these changes, offshore wind turbines would have increased their returns by approximately 20% over the 11 decades.

Towards a 100% renewable energy electricity generation system in Sweden

Swedish government’s target is to have 100% renewable electricity production by 2040. Currently, hydropower contributes the majority of renewable electricity generation of the country. The wind power capacity has increased significantly in the past decade. In this paper, practical data is used to study the possibility of reaching the 100% renewable electricity generation goal by replacing existing thermal generations with wind power generations. It is found that the Swedish electricity generation system can reach 100% renewable by tripling the existing wind power capacity combined with the existing hydropower in the country. Based on current growth rate of wind power installation, the goal could be reached within 20 years. Hourly simulation shows that 100% renewable energy generation system composed by wind power and hydropower satisfy hourly operation requirements.

Design and dispatching of all-clean energy producing-consuming system with six-energy coupling

The installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaic (PV) has grown up in recent years due to the requirement of developing green power. However, the curtailment of wind power and PV becomes serious as well owing to the relatively limited adjusting capability of the power grid, leading to tremendous waste of energy. Meanwhile, besides electricity, the requirement on other energy grows up gradually as well, resulting in remarkable pressure on the corresponding energy supply systems. On the other hand, the coupling and storage of multi-energy cannot only promote the consumption of renewable energy greatly but mitigate the pressure of various energy supply systems by replenishing various styles of energy. In this paper, taking offshore island as an example, a model of six-energy producing-consuming self-consistent (SEPCSC) system is put forward in the first. Further, by using the concept of energy hub, this model can be divided into supply side, conversion side and load side, each of which can be analyzed and modeled respectively. On this basis, a day-ahead dispatching model is established, which takes minimizing the total cost of purchasing energy from the external network as the objective function. Further, various appropriate constraints are designed correspondingly. The necessity of multi-energy coupling and introducing multiple storage media is validated with the simulation comparison to those cases of loose-coupling or battery only. In addition, the impact of various energy prices under the style of multi-energy coupling is investigated. It can be proven with case studies that the proposed SEPCSC system is capable of promoting the consumption of renewable energy, accompanied by the decrease in the total cost of system dispatching.

Study on the direct and indirect effectiveness of wind power policy: Empirical evidence from 30 provinces in China

As a renewable energy, wind energy plays a momentous role in improving energy structure and maintaining energy strategic security. Based on the provincial level panel data, this paper not only explores the direct effect of price-oriented policy (POP) and quantity-oriented policy (QOP) on newly installed wind power capacity (NI), but also investigates the indirect impact paths and mechanisms through learning-by-researching (LBS) and learning-by-doing (LBD). Main results are as follows: (1) From the national perspective, it is observed that the two policies can directly promote the expansion of wind power, and POP is better than QOP. (2) From the perspective of regional heterogeneity, POP plays a significant direct role in promoting the wind power growth in the eastern, central and western regions, and QOP has achieved a long-term success in the eastern region, but fails in the central and western regions in the long run. (3) From the perspective of resource endowment heterogeneity, QOP plays a better direct role than POP in areas with rich wind resources, but the opposite is true that in the areas with relatively poor wind resources. Based on the research results, several constructive suggestions are put forward.

Comprehensive Application of Multi-beam Sounding System and Side-scan Sonar in Scouring Detection of Underwater Structures in Offshore Wind Farms

In recent years, the installed capacity and power generation of offshore wind power have continued to grow rapidly, operation and maintenance testing has faced many technical challenges. Among them, the monitoring of the scour status of the underwater structure of the wind turbine and the complete basic data of the wind turbine's full life cycle management system are of great significance to ensuring the long-term safe and stable operation of the offshore wind farm. This paper introduces the application of a combined multi-beam bathymetric system and side-scan sonar in the scour detection of underwater structures of wind farms based on an example of offshore wind farm detection in the East China Sea. The combination of the two can effectively achieve complementary advantages and obtain more detailed and accurate water depth data and underwater structure images. It provides reliable basic data support for the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms and the establishment of life cycle management system.

Optimal dispatching strategy in the domain with energy storage and heat storage taking into account deep regulation of thermal power plants

In recent years, the installed capacity of wind power has been increasing, and the phenomenon of regional wind abandonment has become prominent. In order to improve the wind power accommodation, the domain definition is introduced, which stipulates that the periods without wind abandonment and load shedding during normal output of thermal power units are normal domains, the periods without wind abandonment or load shedding when thermal power units exert depth adjustment are abnormal domains, and the periods with wind abandonment or load shedding during depth adjustment of thermal power units are emergency domains. Give full play to the depth adjustment of thermal power units in abnormal and emergency areas, improve the accommodation of clean energy, and realize the coordinated and optimized scheduling of multiple energy sources including electricity storage and heat storage systems. To accommodate clean energy, an economic dispatching model including the cost of thermal power, the cost and benefit of power storage and heat storage system is constructed, and the optimal value of the model is solved by calling CPLEX with Matlab. The scheduling results not only ensure the safety and reliability of the whole network operation but also maximize the consumption of wind energy and realize the optimal clean energy scheduling.

Two‐step onboard hydrogen generation from Black Sea H 2 S reserves

This paper investigates the exergy and energy rationality of a near-future, two-step hydrogen production system in the Black Sea on a custom-built hydrogen ship with 100% onboard wind, wave, and solar energy system. In the first step of this concept, hydrogen will be produced from the low-salinity seawater by electrolysis utilizing the onboard renewable energy. Part of the hydrogen produced will be used in the second step, which is the major production step, claiming the H2S gas, which is exceptionally rich in the seawater. The hydrogen and sulfur products will be shipped by hydrogen-powered shuttle ships to the nearby city of Sinop to blend hydrogen with the natural gas (NG) to form a hydrogen city. Thus this project presents a novel coupling of the land-side and the sea-side operations with renewable energy and hydrogen in an exergy-based minimum CO2 emissions responsibilities. This on-board H2S exploration concept for hydrogen and sulfur production is compared with the current NG explorations in the Black Sea and the use of NG on the landside. A detailed comparison of the total carbon footprint shows that NG explorations in the Black Sea will be responsible for direct and indirect-nearly avoidable (due to exergy destructions) CO2 emissions, while the ever-increasing H2S threat faced by all Black Sea countries will remain at an increasing rate. A new exergy-based optimum H2S claim depth calculation and control algorithm for onboard operations have also been developed and designed, which shows that economy-based optimization—if ever exists—will be responsible for nearly avoidable CO2 emissions, while the on-board hydrogen production and utilization on the land side have a minimal environmental footprint. None of the earlier studies available in the literature concerning the exact harmful effects of hydrocarbons address exergy rationality. Renewable energy systems like wind turbines and solar energy systems, along with other renewable and waste energy systems like geothermal and wave energy are mostly treated individually, which are not free from large exergy destructions. Therefore, future energy plans with environmental concerns must be carried out from the source to the very last point of demand sectors. This is the specific attribute of this research. Novelty Statement None of the studies about the exact harmful effects of hydrocarbons involve exergy rationality and the consequences of this ignorance on the environment and overall energy budget and economy. Renewable energy systems like wind turbines and solar energy systems, along with other renewable and waste energy systems like geothermal and wave energy are mostly treated individually, which are not free from exergy destructions. For example, a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant generates power but releases heat back without claiming it. This unclaimed heat represents about 50% of the unit exergy of the available solar energy and leads to exergy destruction that is responsible for nearly avoidable CO2 emissions because destroyed thermal exergy has to be offset by spending additional fuel in another system, which most likely is using fossil fuels in a boiler. The term nearly precedes the word avoidable, because exergy destructions may not be completely avoided. Even solar and wind energy systems have exergy destruction components during their operation. Yet, a solar PV and heat system would be a much better choice from the exergy rationality point of view. Although the ongoing increase in the renewable shares in the energy stock, it is essential to follow where the power is used in the built environment. For example, according to Global Wind Energy Council, within the next 10 years 234 GW, within the next 30 years 1400 GW offshore wind power capacity is expected to be installed. However, these installations will never know where this electricity and how this electricity is used in an energy/exergy balance and rationality when coupled to the landside through national and international grids. Therefore, future energy plans with environmental concerns must be carried out from the source to the very last point of demand sectors. Whether off-shore or land-based, wind turbines just generate electric power without asking where the electricity goes and how rational it is used in the built environment. There is no control over the best way of utilizing this wind energy. Instead, hydrogen production with renewables and utilization in next-generation fuel cells produces power and heat (pending on heat distribution tariffs for the fifth-generation district energy systems and LowEx applications, the temperature is the best fit for LowEx applications). The interrupted and unpredictable characteristics of renewables are offset by hydrogen storage.

Optimal allocation of onshore wind power in China based on cluster analysis

Development of wind power in China, a key measure to mitigate China’s carbon emissions and achieve global climate goals, faces serious curtailment issues. In an interlinked electric power system, a strategic allocation of wind power capacities offers an important means to take advantage of geographical smoothing effects and enhance accommodation of wind power into the electric power system. Applying K-means clustering algorithm with assimilated meteorological data, we differentiate seven wind zones in the Chinese mainland. The zonal variation features of wind power are characterized and associated with influencing weather systems and geographical conditions. A multi-objective optimization model is developed to identify the optimal allocation of wind power capacity across the seven zones in 2030, which demonstrates further improvement of wind power quality from the current distribution case in terms of high power outputs (+0.2%), low short-term variation (−10.3%) and high firm capacity (+3.7%). Northern China, where existing large-scale wind power bases are located, and southeastern regions are identified as key areas for future deployment of wind power. These findings are expected to offer a new perspective for decision makers in the construction of power grid systems and spatial development strategy for wind power in China.

Land-use impacts of Brazilian wind power expansion

While wind power is a low-carbon renewable energy technology with relatively little land footprint, the necessary infrastructure expansion still has land-related environmental impacts. Brazil has seen more than a ten-fold increase in wind power capacity in the last decade. However, little is known about these impacts of wind power generation in Brazil compared to other world regions, although Brazilian wind power infrastructure is concentrated in the least protected ecosystems that are prone to degradation, desertification and species extinction. This study focuses on land-use impacts of past wind power generation development in four Brazilian federal states, covering 80% of the country’s installed capacity. We assessed their spatial installation patterns, associated land-use and land cover change in the period before installation until 2018, and potential alternative installation locations, using a detailed wind turbine location database in combination with a high-resolution land-use and land cover map. In contrast to wind parks built in Europe, we found that 62% of the studied wind park area was covered by native vegetation and coastal sands. Overall, 3.2% of the total wind cluster area was converted from native vegetation to anthropogenic use. Wind parks installed mainly on native vegetation, on average, underwent higher land-use change compared to other wind parks. As Brazil intends to more than double its current wind power capacities by 2029, we explored possibilities to reduce environmental risks due to wind power expansion. We showed that this is feasible by integrating wind parks into human-altered areas, as sufficient wind resources there are available.

Comparative Assessment of Regression Techniques for Wind Power Forecasting

Considering the escalating rates of exhaustion of non-renewable energy resources, coupled with the harmful environmental side effects of harnessing them (e.g. damage to public health via air pollution), the need for a near-complete transition to renewable energy production seems inevitable. In recent times, renewable energy production has seen a strong support from investors, governmental initiatives, and industries across the world. Globally installed wind power capacity has seen an increase of 345.24% over the past decade. This increase brings along a need for robust power production management systems having a potential for predicting wind turbine power outputs primarily based on real-time input wind velocities. We propose and compare five optimized robust regression models for forecasting the wind power generated through turbines based on wind velocity vector components, out of which the Extreme Gradient Boosting regression model provided the best results. The forecasted output of our model can be compared with a city’s daily average threshold power requirement in order to make informed decisions about either shutting down an appropriate number of turbines to avoid excessive power production and wastage, or to compensate forecasted shortcomings in production on less windy days via alternative energy generation methodologies.