De La Salle University Dasmarias College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Engineering Department

Professional Electives I (EEET428) Research #2: Wind Power

Juan Pocholo F. Belza EEE 41

Date Submitted: March 03, 2014

Engr, Leslie Divina Instructor

Wind Power
Wind power captures the natural wind in our atmosphere and converts it into mechanical energy then electricity. People started using wind power centuries ago with windmills, which pumped water, ground grain, and did other work. Today's wind turbine is a highly evolved version of a windmill. Modern wind turbines harness wind's kinetic energy and convert it into electricity. Most wind turbines have three blades and sit atop a steel tubular tower, and they range in size from 80-foot-tall turbines that can power a single home to utility-scale turbines that are over 260 feet tall and power hundreds of homes. Learn more about the history of wind energy. Wind is a type of renewable energy, and there are three major types of wind power.

The major types of wind power

Utility-scale wind - wind turbines larger than 100 kilowatts are developed with electricity delivered to the power grid and distributed to the end user by electric utilities or power system operators; Distributed or "small" wind - uses turbines of 100 kilowatts or smaller to directly power a home, farm or small business as it primary use; Offshore wind - wind turbines erected in bodies of water around the world, but not yet in the United States.

How wind energy works

When wind blows past a turbine, the blades capture the energy and rotate. This rotation triggers an internal shaft to spin, which is connected to a gearbox increasing the speed of rotation, which is connect to a generator that ultimately produces electricity. Most commonly, wind turbines consist of a steel tubular tower, up to 260 feet, which supports both a "hub" securing wind turbine blades and the "nacelle" which houses the turbine's shaft, gearbox, generator and controls. A wind turbine is equipped with wind assessment equipment and will automatically rotate into the face of the wind, and angle or "pitch" its blades to optimize energy capture.

How wind energy gets to you

Wind turbines often stand together in a windy area that has been through a robust development process in an interconnected group called a wind project or wind farm, which functions like a wind power plant. These turbines are connected so the electricity can travel from the wind farm to the power grid. Once wind energy is on the main power grid, electric utilities or power operators will deliver the electricity where it is needed. Smaller transmission lines called distribution lines will collect the electricity generated at the wind project site and transport it to larger "network" transmission lines where the electricity can travel across long distances to the locations where it is needed, when finally the smaller "distribution lines" deliver electricity directly to your town and home. Learn more about transmission.

How wind projects are developed

The current estimate of wind energy potential is 10 times the amount of electricity consumption for the entire country. This strong wind resource varies across the country by region and topography. Wind energy projects are developed by companies that seek out the areas with the strongest wind resource but also review other critical factors like acccess to land, access to the transmission lines, ability to sell the electricity, and public engagement other significant development factors. Once a site is identified, a developer will conduct wind resource assessment, siting and permitting, transmission studies over a period of several years. The majority of wind projects are located on private land, where the developer leases the land from the original landowner providing lease payments. After early stages of development, a developer will seek out a constract with a purchaser of electricity, raise capital from the finance markets, order wind turbines, and hire a specialized construction company to build the project. Once a project is built and delivering electricity to the power grid, a project owner or operator will maintain the project for its 20 to 30 year life.

Wind energy worldwide

Wind power has increased exponentially since the dawn of the 21st century. The adoption of wind energy globally has changed dramaically since the 1980's when California was home to 90% of the world's installed wind energy capacity. In fact, the amount of operating wind energy capacity has increase more than 16 times between 2000 and 2012, to over 282,000 MW of operating wind capacity. In 2012, the United States represented nearly 22% of the world's installed wind energy capacity, second only to China, and followed by Germany, Spain, and India.

Advantages and Disadvantages of wind power

Advantages:
Wind Energy is an inexhaustible source of energy and is virtually a limitless resource. Energy is generated without polluting environment. This source of energy has tremendous potential to generate energy on large scale. Like solar energy and hydropower, wind power taps a natural physical resource. Windmill generators dont emit any emissions that can lead to acid rain or greenhouse effect. Wind Energy can be used directly as mechanical energy. In remote areas, wind turbines can be used as great resource to generate energy. In combination with Solar Energy they can be used to provide reliable as well as steady supply of electricity. Land around wind turbines can be used for other uses, e.g. Farming.

Disadvantages:
Wind energy requires expensive storage during peak production time. It is unreliable energy source as winds are uncertain and unpredictable. There is visual and aesthetic impact on region. Requires large open areas for setting up wind farms. Noise pollution problem is usually associated with wind mills. Wind energy can be harnessed only in those areas where wind is strong enough and weather is windy for most parts of the year. Usually places, where wind power set-up is situated, are away from the places where demand of electricity is there. Transmission from such places increases cost of electricity. The average efficiency of wind turbine is very less as compared to fossil fuel power plants. We might require many wind turbines to produce similar impact. It can be a threat to wildlife. Birds do get killed or injured when they fly into turbines. Maintenance cost of wind turbines is high as they have mechanical parts which undergo wear and tear over the time.

Reference: American Wind Energy Association. Wind 101: The basics of Wind Energy (March 2, 2014). http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=900 Sparrow, P. Wind Energy: Advantages and Disadvantages (March 2, 2014). http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/02/wind-energy-advantages-and.html#axzz2ulzBxsYQ