Local Wind Power Research Articles

Cost Analysis and Pricing Policy of Wind Power in China

China has made great achievements in wind power generation. By the end of 2009, the installed capacity of wind power totaled 25.8053 GW, 13.8032 GW of which was added in 2009. Although the industry has developed at an impressive rate, its scale is still comparatively small, not fully matching the country’s economic size and great demand for green power. It is widely believed that the wind power market in China can develop at an even faster rate over the next decade. A stable market for wind power investment relies on both the cost of wind power and an effective pricing policy to motivate growth in the wind industry. This paper presents corresponding analysis of the costs of wind power generation and the current pricing policies implemented in China. The composition of wind power costs is elaborated through comparing it with that of conventional power resources. The localization of wind turbine manufacturing, which aims to decrease the wind generation costs and promote the development of the local wind power industry, is introduced. Two current pricing systems applied in China are examined: the price committed by the wind power concession bidding projects and the price authorized by the provincial governments. An inflation-adapted model is proposed to analyze the risk of concession prices. Finally, the paper concludes with discussions on the potential benefits and the future strategies for the development of wind power in China.

Numerical methods for investigation of destructive wind energy dissipation by bridges

Many bridges are located at especially unfavourable places considering the local wind power and turbulence. Therefore it turns out that finding an optimal balance between structural safety and erection costs depends strongly on a proper wind modelling and investigation. Several aspects must be taken into account for the wind design. The effect of wind gusts and randomly distributed wind velocity and direction must be considered in the framework of a wind buffeting analysis. This requires detailed information about the power spectral density and cross correlation of the local wind events. The air flow pattern strongly influences the resulting forces. Since a fully coupled model for randomly oncoming flow and resulting wind forces is too complex, the forces are derived from steady state CFD calculations in general. In this paper, the theoretical background of the applied analysis methods is outlined and practical examples for different long span bridges are given.

Local-scale analysis of carbon mitigation strategies: Tompkins County, New York, USA

The costs and potential for several carbon mitigation options were analyzed for Tompkins County, NY, within several categories: terrestrial carbon sequestration, local power generation, transportation, and energy end-use efficiency. The total county emissions are about 340 Gg C/year, with current biomass sequestration rates of about 121 Gg C/year. The potential for mitigation with the options examined, assuming full market penetration, amounts to at least 234 Gg C/year (69%), with 100 Gg C/year (29%) at no net cost to the consumer. Effective carbon mitigation strategies for this county based on costs per mg carbon and maximum potential include reforestation of abandoned agricultural lands for terrestrial carbon sequestration, biomass production for residential heating and co-firing in coal power plants, changes in personal behavior related to transportation (e.g., carpooling or using public transportation), installation of numerous residential energy-efficient products and development of local wind power. The principal barriers to the implementation of these approaches are discussed and policies for overcoming these barriers are analyzed.

Approaches for analyzing local carbon mitigation strategies: Tompkins County, New York, USA

A carbon budget was calculated for Tompkins County, NY, a semi-rural upstate county with a population density of 78 pp/km 2. The costs and potential for several carbon mitigation options were analyzed in four categories: terrestrial C sequestration, local power generation, transportation, and energy end-use efficiency. This study outlines a methodology for conducting this type of local-scale analysis, including sources and calculations adaptable to different localities. Effective carbon mitigation strategies for this county based on costs/Mg C and maximum potential include reforestation of abandoned agricultural lands, biomass production for residential heating and co-firing in coal power plants, changes in personal behavior related to transportation (e.g., public transportation), installation of residential energy efficient products such as programmable thermostats or compact fluorescent light bulbs, and development of local wind power. The total county emissions are about 340 Gg C/year, with biomass sequestration rates of 121 Gg C/year. The potential for mitigation, assuming full market penetration, amounts to about 234 Gg C/year (69%), with 100 Gg C/year (29%) at no net cost to the consumer. The development of local-scale C mitigation plans based on this sort of model of analysis is feasible and would be useful for guiding investments in climate change prevention.

Magnetospheric energy budget during huge geomagnetic activity using Cluster and ground‐based data

The Cluster spacecraft crossed the magnetopause at the duskward flank of the tail while the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radars and magnetometers observed the ionosphere during a sequence of intense substorm‐like geomagnetic activity in October 2003. We attempt to estimate the local and global energy flow from the magnetosheath into the magnetotail and the ionosphere under these extreme conditions. We make for the first time direct observational estimates of the local solar wind power input using Cluster measurements. The global power input based on Cluster observations was found to be between 17 and 40 TW at the onset of the substorm intensification. However, spacecraft observations and global modelling of the magnetotail suggest that it is most probably closer to 17 TW. This is more than two times lower than the predicted ε parameter value (37 TW). Energy deposition in the ionosphere has been estimated locally with EISCAT and globally with the assimilated mapping of ionospheric electrodynamics (AMIE) technique. The amount of the global solar wind power input (17 TW) that is dissipated via Joule heating in the ionosphere is found to be 30%. The corresponding ratio based on empirical estimates is only 3%. However, empirical proxies seem to underestimate the magnitude of the Joule heating rate as compared to AMIE estimates (∼ a factor 4) and the ε parameter is more than twice as large as the Cluster estimate. In summary, the observational estimates provide a good balance between the energy input to the magnetosphere and deposition in the ionosphere. Empirical proxies seem to suffer from overestimations (ε parameter) and underestimations (Joule heating proxies) when pushed to the extreme circumstances during the early main phase of this storm period.

Fostering a renewable energy technology industry: An international comparison of wind industry policy support mechanisms

This article examines the importance of national and sub-national policies in supporting the development of successful global wind turbine manufacturing companies. We explore the motivations behind establishing a local wind power industry, and the paths that different countries have taken to develop indigenous large wind turbine manufacturing industries within their borders. This is done through a cross-country comparison of the policy support mechanisms that have been employed to directly and indirectly promote wind technology manufacturing in 12 countries. We find that in many instances there is a clear relationship between a manufacturer's success in its home country market and its eventual success in the global wind power market. Whether new wind turbine manufacturing entrants are able to succeed will likely depend in part on the utilization of their turbines in their own domestic market, which in turn will be influenced by the annual size and stability of that market. Consequently, policies that support a sizable, stable market for wind power, in conjunction with policies that specifically provide incentives for wind power technology to be manufactured locally, are most likely to result in the establishment of an internationally competitive wind industry.

A system for wind power estimation in mountainous terrain. Prediction of Askervein hill data

AbstractIn mountainous terrain, where the wind power potential is largest, the estimation of the local wind power can be done rationally by means of available information about the large‐scale flow and the detailed terrain and numerical flow models for downscaling, provided that the numerical model estimates can be assigned sufficient confidence. In this study the confidence of a local model in such an estimation system is discussed. The model is based upon the Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations with (K, ϵ) turbulence closure and integrated with finite element numerical techniques. The model has previously been validated relative to complicated laboratory‐scale flows and appears to predict some full‐scale geophysical flows plausibly. Here its predictions are compared quantitatively with the full‐scale Askervein hill experimental data. The model estimates the data to within the experimental uncertainty, which we judge to be comparable to 10%, as other comparable models also do. This contributes to assign confidence to the downscaling estimation system mentioned. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Statistical and spectral analysis of the wind regime in the area of Catalonia

This work presents a statistical study of the wind power potential of three stations in the Catalonia area (Spain) over the 1973–1982 period. These stations correspond to three airports (Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Girona), which obviously do not present a high wind power potential and are not the suitable locations for wind power utilization, but which have been chosen for the long record of data stored (10 years). The aim of this work is to provide a model of wind potential in terms of the speed and wind direction, which may be applied to other sites. The wind speed has been modelled by a Weibull distribution function and the wind direction by a normal two-dimensional function. A spectral analysis of both variables has also been carried out. The present study provides an evaluation of the local wind power in the geographic area of Catalonia.

Local Influences on Shear-Flow Turbulence in the Equatorial Ocean

A 12-day series of 1749 profiles of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation above the equatorial undercurrent at 140 degrees west showed that, in the upper 110 meters of the ocean, the dissipation radically decreased during the solar heating period each day. Daily averages were linearly related to the local wind power. When integrated over the depth range of 10 to 110 meters, the dissipation was 10.6 ergs per square centimeter per second or 0.92 +/- 0.10 percent of the wind power, a proportion not substantially different from those found in mid-latitude surface mixed layers. These results suggest that much of the energy dissipated above the equatorial undercurrent may be extracted directly from the local wind.