- Category: Windtech Future
I am always curious to know how much the cost of generating electricity with a wind turbine is, how much revenue it generates and how the financial balance works out. It is very interesting to know, and to compare the numbers for electricity from wind with those from other sources. After all, if the numbers work out right, then the direction to go is more evident. It seems, however, that there is never a reasonable answer to these questions.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
For several years now, I have taught a university course in wind energy. Every year I update the contents of the course to include the progress of technology and the new turbines coming to market. One of the topics is the breakdown of the cost of a wind turbine or a wind farm. One needs to know the percentage cost for different components of a turbine and for various tasks in developing a wind farm. Finding the answer to this question takes a lot of time, without any result. The difficulty stems from the fact that data is not readily available, the numbers are more likely case related, and one can only consider an average even with access to some data. Such information is useful in determining the areas where costs can be reduced by an alternative action or process.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
A wake-up call from scientists has given rise to agreements between responsible governments to make the effort to prevent a possible catastrophe by setting up plans and standards for emission control and decarbonisation in the form of net-zero target mandates and sustainable energy programmes. Considering the rather short window of time, a crucial question is ‘Is it possible?’
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
Going back 50 to 55 years, when more attention was focused on wind energy, both vertical axis and horizontal axis turbines were made and their practical potential for large-scale commercial energy production evaluated. The winner came out to be the horizontal axis propeller type wind turbine. At the time, parallel with extensive research on the propeller turbine, many Darrieus turbines were built at both research and commercial scale. The largest was 96 metres in height and 64 metres in diameter and it was in operation for 5 years before it stopped working due to damage in the gearbox, which was too expensive to repair. A great number of smaller units were also commercially built and operated (especially in California) in the 1980s.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
Direct-drive wind turbines using a permanent magnet synchronous generator have been developed after observing the problems with the gearbox. Nonetheless, nothing is 100% perfect. Obviously, during recent decades there have been efforts to advance the technology, in all directions. That includes improving the performance of the gearbox. One advantage in removing the gearbox from the loop is a reduction in the tower top weight, but this is not always possible. In a recent article by van de Kaa et al. (2020), the subject of the comparison of direct-drive turbines and geared turbines has been systematically studied to determine which technology will become the dominant one in the future. This implies that in the future the other technology needs to switch. The final conclusion of this study is that cost of energy and reliability are the two most important factors, and both technologies still have equal chance of success.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Category: Windtech Future
Some time ago, when thinking about the deep sea and transportation of electricity to the shore, it came to my mind that we could possibly use a (huge) battery system which could be charged in a wind farm and then deliver its charge to the onshore grid. Compared with transmission cables, the way that it is right now for all existing wind farms, this is not an ideal solution. Therefore, I set the idea to one side. But with the recent agreement between Canada and Germany, the idea was revived in my mind. If the wind farm is floating on the top of 500 metres or more of water and is far offshore, then the concept is worth being regarded as an alternative. After all, technically and financially, the numbers must be correct and suitable.
By Ahmad Hemami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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