Wind energy
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Wind Energy
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Kinetic Energy of Wind
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History of Wind Power Generation
The first wind power turbines for generating electricity
were designed in Europe around 1910. Soon it appeared
in the United States of America, bringing electricity to
rural homes and farms. Beginning in the late 1930s the
widespread installation of power lines made these small
wind turbines outdated. However, during the oil crisis in
1970s, scientists and engineers again gave attention to it.
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➢ Due to global warming caused by emission of carbon dioxide from thermal power plants alternate
sources of energy were sought after and wind energy became the most favourite among them.
➢ Now worldwide 3% of electricity is generated from wind.
➢ Wind is one of the fastest growing energy sources, and today one of the most economical solutions
for electricity generation.
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Introduction
➢ Wind energy has been utilized by mankind for sailing,
grinding and other mechanical applications for centuries.
➢ As early as 500 BC, boats propelled by wind sailed along the
river Nile.
➢ Wind mills were in use in China by 200 B. C., and by 900 A.
D. large wind mills were used for grinding grain in Persia (old
name of Iran).
➢ In the 1800s windmills were used for pumping water.
➢ In recent years wind energy is used to generate electricity and
it has now emerged as a renewable source of energy.
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Wind has significant potential to increase countries' renewable capacity growth
In the electricity sector, the renewable energy share is forecast to
expand
❖from 30% in 2023 to 46% in 2030. Solar and wind make up
almost all this growth.
❖By the end of this decade, wind is expected to become the
second largest source of global renewable electricity generation
behind solar PV.
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Wind Power Generation
➢Generation of electricity from wind is simple.
➢ Its principle is similar to that of conventional hydropower generation.
✓ In hydropower stations, falling water rotates the blades of the turbines.
✓ A generator is coupled with the turbine and as a result the generator rotates and electricity is generated.
✓Similarly in wind power, moving air
or wind rotates the blades of a turbine
to which a generator is coupled
and thus electricity is generated
from the rotating generator.
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➢ Generation of electricity depends on speed of wind and size of the
blade.
➢ It varies as the cube of the speed of wind.
➢ If speed of wind doubles then power generation becomes eight
times.
➢ Also power generation is directly proportional to the size of the
blade.
➢ But there is a limit to the size of the blade from mechanical
consideration. Due to this reason, wind turbines are set up in the area
where wind flows at adequate speed, most of the time of the year.
All the turbines set up in a particular area constitute a wind farm.
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➢ The unit capacities of wind energy
generators presently range from 225 kilowatt
(KW) to 2 megawatt (MW).
➢ Wind speed data of potential location is
complied for a period of one to two years to
identify its suitability for the installation of
wind energy generators.
➢ Generally the wind data are available with
meteorology department. It takes two to three
months for installation of the unit.
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Major Components of Wind Energy System
A wind turbine generator system usually consists of the
following parts:
1. Tower
The wind turbine is mounted on a high tower.
Either steel lattice or tubular pole tower is used.
The tubular towers are more popular among
modern turbines because of their lower air flow
interference and downstream turbulence creation.
Also, they seem to be more aesthetically
acceptable. The towers range in height from 25 m
to 80 m.
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2. Wind Turbine
❖ The equipment that converts wind power to electricity is called a
wind turbine. It has blades that are attached to a hub.
❖ Together, the blades and hub are called the rotor. The rotor
diameter varies from 30m to about 90m.
❖ Current design uses either two- or three-bladed wind turbines, but
the later are becoming popular and have a number of technical
advantages.
❖ Two-bladed designs have the advantages that the hub is lighter
and so the entire structure can be lighter.
❖ But the three- bladed design is much better understood
aerodynamically and also has a lower noise level than the two-
bladed turbines.
❖ The blades are made of glass reinforced plastic.
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3. The nacelle
➢ The generator is coupled with the rotor either directly or
through gear box.
➢ There is a controller that starts and stops the rotation of the
turbine blades.
➢ The generator, gear box, controller and other equipment are
placed inside a covered housing called nacelle.
➢ It sits a top above the tower directly behind the turbine
blades. Outside, an anemometer (wind speed measuring
device) measures the wind speed and feeds the information
to the controller.
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Advantages of Wind Power
1. Renewable source of Energy:- It is renewable and not depleted with use like fossil fuel.
2. Low gestation period:- The complete wind turbine generators and associated electrical
equipments are standard products and can be obtained in a short time. A wind farm having
10 to 20 MW capacity takes nearly 6 months from concept to commissioning.
3. Competitive cost:- The installation of wind power plant is cost competitive compared to
conventional power plants. Although its capital cost is high, the operating cost is very less
as there is no fuel cost and low maintenance cost. The capital cost of wind power
generation varies between Rs 4 crore and 5 crore per MW, depending upon state
characteristics. The machines can be maintained at a cost of Rs 0.25/kWh to 0.60/kWh.
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4. Proven technology:- Among the non- conventional sources of
power, technology for wind power is much advanced and reliable.
5. Environment friendly:- Wind energy is eco-friendly and does not
pollute the atmosphere, unlike in the case of thermal power plants. It is
to be noted that a 250 kW wind generator installed in moderately high
wind area, generates about 600 MWh per year. The same amount of
energy, when generated in a thermal power plant, consumes about 250
tons of coal and emits 800 tons of CO2 and other poisonous gases to the
atmosphere.
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