WIND ENERGY

Introduction:
Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to mechanically
power generators for electricity. Wind power, as an alternative to burning fossil
fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse
gas emissions during operation, and uses little land.[2] The net effects on the
environment are far less problematic than those of nonrenewable power sources.
Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines which are connected to
the electric power transmission network. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of
electricity, competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas
plants.Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land, and offshore farms have
less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher.
Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide electricity
to isolated off-grid locations

HISTORY:
The first windmill used for the production of electricity was built in Scotland in
July 1887 by Prof James Blyth of Anderson's College, Glasgow (the precursor
of Strathclyde University). Blyth's 10 m high, cloth-sailed wind turbine was
installed in the garden of his holiday cottage at Marykirk in Kincardineshire and
was used to charge accumulators developed by the Frenchman Camille Alphonse
Faure, to power the lighting in the cottage, thus making it the first house in the
world to have its electricity supplied by wind power.[21] Blyth offered the surplus
electricity to the people of Marykirk for lighting the main street; however, they
turned down the offer as they thought electricity was "the work of the devil."
Although he later built a wind turbine to supply emergency power to the local
Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary of Montrose the invention never really
caught on as the technology was not considered to be economically viable.

Generator characteristics and stability:

Induction generators, which were often used for wind power projects in the 1980s
and 1990s, require reactive power for excitation so substations used in wind-power
collection systems include substantial capacitor banks for power factor correction.
Different types of wind turbine generators behave differently during transmission
grid disturbances, so extensive modelling of the dynamic electromechanical
characteristics of a new wind farm is required by transmission system operators to
ensure predictable stable behaviour during system faults. In particular, induction
generators cannot support the system voltage during faults, unlike steam or hydro
turbine-driven synchronous generators.
Today these generators aren't used any more in modern turbines. Instead today
most turbines use variable speed generators combined with partial- or full-scale
power converter between the turbine generator and the collector system, which
generally have more desirable properties for grid interconnection and have Low
voltage ride through-capabilities. Modern concepts use either doubly fed
machines with partial-scale converters or squirrel-cage induction generators or
synchronous generators (both permanently and electrically excited) with full scale
converters

Offshore wind power:

Offshore wind power refers to the construction of

wind farms in large bodies of water to generate electricity. These installations can
utilize the more

frequent and powerful winds that are available in these locations and have less
aesthetic impact on the landscape than land based projects. However, the
construction and the maintenance costs are considerably higher.

Wind Turbine Types:

Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups; the horizontal-axis variety, like
the traditional farm windmills used for pumping water, and the vertical-axisdesign,
like the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French inventor. Most
large modern wind turbines are horizontal-axis turbines.

Turbine Components:
Horizontal turbine components include:
blade or rotor, which converts the energy in the wind to rotational shaft
energy;
a drive train, usually including a gearbox and a generator;
a tower that supports the rotor and drive train; and
other equipment, including controls, electrical cables, ground support
equipment, and interconnection equipment.

Turbine Configurations:
Wind turbines are often grouped together into a single wind power plant, also
known as a wind farm, and generate bulk electrical power. Electricity from these
turbines is fed into a utility grid and distributed to customers, just as with
conventional power plants.

Wind Turbine Size and Power Ratings:

Wind turbines are available in a variety of sizes, and therefore power ratings. The
largest machine has blades that span more than the length of a football field, stands
20 building stories high, and produces enough electricity to power 1,400 homes. A
small home-sized wind machine has rotors between 8 and 25 feet in diameter and
stands upwards of 30 feet and can supply the power needs of an all-electric home
or small business. Utility-scale turbines range in size from 50 to 750 kilowatts.
Single small turbines, below 50 kilowatts, are used for homes, telecommunications
dishes, or water pumping.

WIND POWER IN INDIA

The development of wind power in India began in the 1986 with first windfarms
being set up in coastal areas of Maharshtra (Ratnagiri), Gujarat (Okha) and Tamil
Nadu (Tuticorin) with 55 kW Vestas wind turbines. These demonstration projects
were supported by MNRE. The capacity has significantly increased in the last few
years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared
with Denmark or the United States, India has the fourth largest installed wind
power capacity in the world. In 2009-10 India's growth rate was highest among the
other top four countries.
As of 31 January 2016 the installed capacity of wind power in India was
25,188 MW, mainly spread across South, West and North regions. East and North
east regions have no grid connected wind power plant as of March, 2015 end. No
offshore wind power farm utilizing traditional fixed-bottom wind turbine
technologies in shallow sea areas orfloating wind turbine technologies in deep sea
areas is under implementation.

Overview:
The worldwide installed capacity of wind power reached 370 GW by the end of
2014. China (114,763 MW), US (65,879 MW) and Germany (40,468 MW) are
ahead of India in forth position. The short gestation periods for installing wind
turbines, and the increasing reliability and performance of wind energy machines
has made wind power a favoured choice for capacity addition in India.
Suzlon, an Indian-owned company, emerged on the global scene in the past decade,
and by 2006 had captured almost 7.7 percent of market share in global wind
turbine sales. Suzlon is currently the leading manufacturer of wind turbines for the
Indian market, holding some 43 percent of market share in India. Suzlon's success
has made India the developing country leader in advanced wind turbine
technology.

Tamil Nadu:

Tamil Nadu's wind power capacity is around 35% of India's total . The
Government of Tamil Nadu realized the importance and need for renewable
energy, and set up a separate Agency, as registered society, called the Tamil Nadu
Energy Development Agency (TEDA) as early as 1985. Now, Tamil Nadu has
become a leader in Wind Power in India. In Muppandal windfarm, Tamil Nadu the
total capacity is 1500MW, which is the largest in India. As per TEDA, the total
installed capacity in Tamil Nadu is 7253MW. During the fiscal year 2014-15, the
electricity generation is 9.521 billion Kwh which is nearly 15% capacity utilisation
factor.

Capacity Installed:
A notable feature of the Indian programme has been the interest among private
investors/developers in setting up of commercial wind power projects.
Several companies have established themselves in wind technology manufacturing.
The gross potential is 48,561 MW (source C-wet) and a total of about 14,158.00
MW of commercial projects have been established until March 31, 2011.
All projects installed in India are listed on this page. The break-up of projects
implemented in prominent wind potential states (as on March 31, 2011) is as given
below:
State
Gross Potential (MW) Total Capacity (MW) till 31.03.2011
Andhra Pradesh 8968
200.2
Gujarat
10,645
2175.6
Karnataka
11,531
1730.1
Kerala
1171
32.8
Madhya Pradesh 1019
275.5
Maharashtra
4584
2310.7
Orissa
255
Rajasthan
4858
1524.7
Tamil Nadu
5530
5904.4
Others
4
Total
48,561
14,156

Wind energy calculation:

Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion, also called wind. Total wind
energy flowing through an imaginary surface with area Aduring the time t is:
[241]

where is the density of air; v is the wind speed; Avt is the volume of air
passing through A (which is considered perpendicular to the direction of the
wind); Avt is therefore the mass m passing through "A". Note that v2 is the
kinetic energy of the moving air per unit volume.
Power is energy per unit time, so the wind power incident on A (e.g. equal to
the rotor area of a wind turbine) is:

Wind power in an open air stream is thus proportional to the third power of the
wind speed; the available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles.
Wind turbines for grid electricity therefore need to be especially efficient at greater
wind speeds.
Wind is the movement of air across the surface of the Earth, affected by areas of
high pressure and of low pressure.The global wind kinetic energy averaged
approximately 1.50 MJ/m2 over the period from 1979 to 2010, 1.31 MJ/m 2 in the
Northern Hemisphere with 1.70 MJ/m2 in the Southern Hemisphere. The
atmosphere acts as a thermal engine, absorbing heat at higher temperatures,
releasing heat at lower temperatures. The process is responsible for production of
wind kinetic energy at a rate of 2.46 W/m 2 sustaining thus the circulation of the
atmosphere against frictional dissipation.A global 1 km2 map of wind resources is
housed at http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/ , based on calculations by the Technical
University of Denmark.
The total amount of economically extractable power available from the wind is
considerably more than present human power use from all sources. [247] Axel
Kleidon of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, carried out a "top down"
calculation on how much wind energy there is, starting with the incoming solar
radiation that drives the winds by creating temperature differences in the
atmosphere. He concluded that somewhere between 18 TW and 68 TW could be
extracted.

Cristina Archer and Mark Z. Jacobson presented a "bottom-up" estimate, which

unlike Kleidon's are based on actual measurements of wind speeds, and found that
there is 1700 TW of wind power at an altitude of 100 metres over land and sea. Of
this, "between 72 and 170 TW could be extracted in a practical and costcompetitive manner".They later estimated 80 TW.However research at Harvard
University estimates 1 Watt/m2 on average and 210 MW/km2 capacity for large
scale wind farms, suggesting that these estimates of total global wind resources are
too high by a factor of about 4.[250]
The strength of wind varies, and an average value for a given location does not
alone indicate the amount of energy a wind turbine could produce there.
To assess prospective wind power sites a probability distribution function is often
fit to the observed wind speed data.Different locations will have different wind
speed distributions. The Weibull model closely mirrors the actual distribution of
hourly/ten-minute wind speeds at many locations. The Weibull factor is often close
to 2 and therefore aRayleigh distribution can be used as a less accurate, but simpler
model.

Component of Windmill:

1-Foundation, 2-Connection to the electric grid, 3-Tower, 4-Access ladder, 5-Wind

orientation control (Yaw control), 6-Nacelle, 7-Generator, 8-Anemometer, 9Electric or Mechanical Brake, 10-Gearbox, 11-Rotor blade, 12-Blade pitch control,
13-Rotor hub

Public opinion:
Surveys of public attitudes across Europe and in many other countries show strong
public support for wind power. About 80% of EU citizens support wind power.
[195]
In Germany, where wind power has gained very high social acceptance,
hundreds of thousands of people have invested in citizens' wind farms across the
country and thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises are running
successful businesses in a new sector that in 2008 employed 90,000 people and
generated 8% of Germany's electricity. Although wind power is a popular form of
energy generation, the construction of wind farms is not universally welcomed,
often for aestheticreasons.
In Spain, with some exceptions, there has been little opposition to the installation
of inland wind parks. However, the projects to build offshore parks have been more
controversial.In particular, the proposal of building the biggest offshore wind

power production facility in the world in southwestern Spain in the coast of Cdiz,
on the spot of the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar has been met with strong opposition
who fear for tourism and fisheries in the area, and because the area is a war grave.
n a survey conducted by Angus Reid Strategies in October 2007, 89 per cent of
respondents said that using renewable energy sources like wind or solar power was
positive for Canada, because these sources were better for the environment. Only 4
per cent considered using renewable sources as negative since they can be
unreliable and expensive. According to a Saint Consulting survey in April 2007,
wind power was the alternative energy source most likely to gain public support
for future development in Canada, with only 16% opposed to this type of energy.
By contrast, 3 out of 4 Canadians opposed nuclear power developments.[205]
A 2003 survey of residents living around Scotland's 10 existing wind farms found
high levels of community acceptance and strong support for wind power, with
much support from those who lived closest to the wind farms. The results of this
survey support those of an earlier Scottish Executive survey 'Public attitudes to the
Environment in Scotland 2002', which found that the Scottish public would prefer
the majority of their electricity to come from renewables, and which rated wind
power as the cleanest source of renewable energy.[206] A survey conducted in 2005
showed that 74% of people in Scotland agree that wind farms are necessary to
meet current and future energy needs. When people were asked the same question
in a Scottish renewables study conducted in 2010, 78% agreed. The increase is
significant as there were twice as many wind farms in 2010 as there were in 2005.
The 2010 survey also showed that 52% disagreed with the statement that wind
farms are "ugly and a blot on the landscape". 59% agreed that wind farms were
necessary and that how they looked was unimportant. Scotland is planning to
obtain 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
In other cases there is direct community ownership of wind farm projects. The
hundreds of thousands of people who have become involved in Germany's small
and medium-sized wind farms demonstrate such support there.
This 2010 Harris Poll reflects the strong support for wind power in Germany, other
European countries, and the U.S.

Environmental effects:
The environmental impact of wind power when compared to the environmental
impacts of fossil fuels, is relatively minor. According to theIPCC, in assessments of
the life-cycle global warming potential of energy sources, wind turbines have
a median value of between 12 and 11 (gCO2eq/kWh) depending on whether off- or
onshore turbines are being assessed. Compared with other low carbon
powersources, wind turbines have some of the lowest global warming potential per
unit of electrical energy generated.
While a wind farm may cover a large area of land, many land uses such as
agriculture are compatible with it, as only small areas of turbine foundations and
infrastructure are made unavailable for use.
There are reports of bird and bat mortality at wind turbines as there are around
other artificial structures. The scale of the ecological impact mayor may not be
significant, depending on specific circumstances. Prevention and mitigation of
wildlife fatalities, and protection of peat bogs, affect the siting and operation of
wind turbines.
Wind turbines generate some noise. At a residential distance of 300 metres (980 ft)
this may be around 45 dB, which is slightly louder than a refrigerator. At 1 mile
(1.6 km) distance they become inaudible. There are anecdotal reports of negative
health effects from noise on people who live very close to wind turbines. Peerreviewed research has generally not supported these claims.
Aesthetic aspects of wind turbines and resulting changes of the visual landscape
are significant. Conflicts arise especially in scenic and heritage protected
landscapes.

Tamil Nadu's wind power capacity is around 35% of India's total . The
Government of Tamil Nadu realized the importance and need for renewable
energy, and set up a separate Agency, as registered society, called the Tamil Nadu
Energy Development Agency (TEDA) as early as 1985. Now, Tamil Nadu has
become a leader in Wind Power in India. In Muppandal windfarm, Tamil Nadu the
total capacity is 1500MW, which is the largest in India. As per TEDA, the total

installed capacity in Tamil Nadu is 7253MW.[14] During the fiscal year 2014-15, the
electricity generation is 9.521 billion Kwh which is nearly 15% capacity utilisation
factor.
Maharashtra:
Maharashtra is one of the prominent states considering the installation of wind
power projects second to Tamil Nadu in India. As on 30/09/2014, installed capacity
of wind energy is 4167.26 MW. As of now there are 50 developers registered with
state nodal agency "Maharashtra energy Development Agency" for development of
wind power projects. All the major manufacturers of wind turbines including
Suzlon, Vestas, Gamesa, Regen, Leitner Shriram have presence in Maharashtra.
Gujarat:
Gujarat government's focus on tapping renewable energy has led to sharp rise in
the wind power capacity in the last few years. According to official data, wind
power generations capacity in the state has increased a staggering ten times in just
six years.
Rajasthan:
2356 MW as per the news reported by Times of India, Dated 31.3.2012
Madhya Pradesh:
In consideration of unique concept, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has sanctioned
another 15 MW project to Madhya Pradesh Windfarms Ltd. MPWL, Bhopal at
Nagda Hills near Dewas under consultation from Consolidated Energy Consultants
Ltd. CECL Bhopal. All the 25 WEGs have been commissioned on 31.03.2008 and
under successful operation.
Kerala:
55 MW production of wind power is installed in Kerala. The first wind farm of the
state was set up at Kanjikode in Palakkad district.
They generate a total of 600MW of power. The agency has identified 16 sites for
setting up wind farms through private developers.

Odisha:
Odisha a coastal state has higher potential for wind energy. Current installation
capacity stands at 2.0 MW. Odisha has a windpower potential of 1700MW. The
Govt of Odisha is actively pursuing to boost Wind power generation in the state.
however it has not progressed like other states primarily because Odisha having a
huge coal reserve and number of existing and upcoming thermal power plants, is a
power surplus state.
West Bengal:
The total installation in West Bengal is 2.10 MW till Dec 2009 at Fraserganj, DisttSouth 24 Paraganas. More 0.5 MW (approx) at Ganga Sagar, Kakdwip, Distt South 24 Paraganas. Both the project owned by West Bengal Renewable Energy
Development Agency (WBREDA), Govt. of WB and project was executed on
turnkey basis by Utility Powertech Limited (UPL).
Jammu and Kashmir:
The Kargil, Ladakh, occupied Gilgit and China occupied Aksai Chin regions
of Jammu and Kashmir state are having lucrative wind energy potential up to 80
meters height.[4] Vast wind power mainly available during the winter months in the
state, is complimentary with the vast hydro power available during the summer
months from the snow melt water and solar power. Being a hill state located at
higher altitude, the heating energy or HVAC requirements are enormous which can
be met perennially by the renewable energy resources such as wind, solar and
hydro power. The state is yet to open its account in grid connected wind power
installations.

Initial Cost:
Initial cost for wind turbines is greater than that of conventional fossil fuel
generators and capacity expansion of existing hydro power plants with pumped
storage hydro units.Noise is produced by the rotor blades. This is not normally an
issue in the locations chosen for most wind farms.
Most of the wind power generation is during the south west monsoon season when
rivers usually flood with water generating cheaper secondary hydro
power. Scheduling the wind power which is unpredictable secondary power (even

on daily basis), at fair price is a problem during monsoon season. Also adding
additional pumped-storage hydroelectricity units instead of new wind power plants
to produce predictable secondary power on daily basis during monsoon months and
pumped storage operation for converting excess power in to peaking power during
the rest of the year is more economical and commercial proposition.
When large wind power plants are located away from the load centres, laying
dedicated transmission lines to evacuate the unreliable secondary wind power is
additional cost liability. In India, solar power is complimentary to wind power as it
is generated mostly during the non monsoon period in day time. [31] Solar power
plants can be located in the inter space between the towers of wind power plants or
nearby area with common power evacuation facility. The wind power plant should
guarantee minimum power generation/export in a year (say 15% capacity factor) to
the purchaser.
In case the generation is below the guaranteed minimum power export, penalty
should be applicable for the electricity which is short fall. This is to prevent over
declaration of plant nameplate capacity to mobilise 100% debt financing by
promoters without real equity contribution.
The wind power policy allows accelerated depreciation of the wind power plants
cost out of the profits accrued from other businesses of a company to cut down the
overall company's tax liability. Businessmen are using short sightedly this window
for reducing tax liability by installing cheaper wind mills of vintage technology
based on supplier's claims without liability. This method of wind projects financing
and implementation is leading to inefficient harnessing of the available wind
potential.[25]
Wind power plants need very less land (less than one acre/MW for tower
foundation, access road, substation, power evacuation lines, etc.) compared to
other power generation technologies. It uses air space without effecting vegetation
on the ground. Air space is a national resource similar to mines, spectrum, etc.
Wind potential shall be auctioned to the highest bidder for its efficient use. Already
very good sites with attractive wind potential are harnessed without reaping
optimum value.

Advantages:

Can be used for both distributed generation or grid interactive power

generation using on-shore or off shore technologies.

Ranges of power producing turbines are available. Micro-turbines are

capable of producing 300W to 1MW and large wind turbines have typical size of
35kW-3MW.

Wind turbine is suitable to install in remote rural area, water pumping and
grinding mills

Average capacity factor can be close or higher than 30%

Disadvantages:

The total cost can be cheaper than solar system but more expensive than

hydro.

Electricity production depends on- wind speed, location, season and air
temperature. Hence various monitoring systems are needed and may cost
expensive.

High percentage of the hardware cost (for large WT) is mostly spent on the
tower designed to support the turbine.

Technology:
The range of wind speeds that are usable by a particular wind turbine for
electricity generation is called productive wind speed. The power available from
wind is proportional to cube of the wind's speed. So as the speed of the wind falls,
the amount of energy that can be got from it falls very rapidly. On the other hand,
as the wind speed rises, so the amount of energy in it rises very rapidly; very high
wind speeds can overload a turbine. Productive wind speeds will range between 4
m/sec to 35 m/sec. The minimum prescribed speed for optimal performance of
large scale wind farms is about 6 m/s. Wind power potential is mostly assessed
assuming 1% of land availability for wind farms required @12 ha/MW in sites
having wind power density exceeding 200 W/sq.m. at 50 m hub-height.
The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The
rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity.
Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30
meters) or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster and less turbulent

wind. Wind turbines can be used to produce electricity for a single home or
building, or they can be connected to an electricity grid (shown here) for more
widespread electricity distribution. Furthermore projects are going on exploring in
Research Design and Development to achieve following goals:
Continue cost reduction: improved site assessment, better modeling for
aerodynamics, intelligent/recyclable materials, stand-alone and hybrid systems.
Increase value and reduce uncertainties: forecasting power performance,
improving standards and engineering integrity and storage techniques.
Enable large-scale use: Load flow control and adaptive power quality
Minimize environmental impacts: Noise impacts, Flora and Fauna,
utilization of land resources and aesthetics integration.
References:
1.

"World Wind Energy Report 2015". Report. "World Wind Energy Report 2008"

2.

"Wind atlas of India". Retrieved 2014-08-28.

3.

"India Wind Power Potential".

4.

"Estimation of Installable Wind Power Potential at 80 m level in India". Retrieved16 May 2015.

5.

"Tentative State-wise break-up of Renewable Power target to be achieved by the year 2022
So that cumulative achievement is 1,75,000 MW" (PDF). http://mnre.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2015.

6.

"Physical Progress (Achievements)". Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India.
31 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2015.

7.

Welcome to Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), Chennai. Cwet.tn.nic.in (2013-0231). Retrieved on 2013-12-06.

8.

"Installed Wind Capacity". Indianwindpower.com. Retrieved 21 November 2015.

9.

Global Wind 2012 Report

10.

Suzlon partners with Maharashtra in record year for wind power