Utility Scale Wind Turbine Design Issues

Bruce Bailey, President AWS Truewind, LLC 255 Fuller Road Albany, NY 12203 [email protected]

Talk Topics

 Wind Turbine Components

 Wind Plant Components

 Wind Speed vs. Power Production

 Project Development Steps

 Agreements Needed To Develop

 Offshore Wind Energy

Wind Turbine Components

Composite Blades Gearbox, Generator and Power Electronics

Rotor Hub height Diameter 70-90 m 65-80 m nacelle

Rotor RPM ~10-20 Tubular Tower Automatic Pitch blade Control

steel tower

padmount transformer Inverted T-slab foundation foundation Nacelle for 1.65-MW Turbine What’s Inside? Technology Trends

 Larger Rotors » 80-100 m  Higher Ratings » >2 MW on land » >4 MW offshore  Taller Towers » 80-100 m  Variable Speed  Direct Drive » No gearbox  Onboard Cranes  Climate Packages Wind Plant Components

Electrical Substation Wind Turbine

Underground electric system and fiber optic communications Service Road Crane Pad

11.5 MW Madison Wind Power Plant Typical Wind Plant Layout On-Site (Residential) Wind Systems

10 kW Wind Turbine TYPICAL SMALL SYSTEM  10 kW (23 ft. Rotor Diameter)  Rural Site, 1 Acre or More

 Connected to Facility Wiring 24 m (80 ft) GuyedTower  Produces ~ 13,000 kWh per Year  Excess Power Sold to Utility

(PURPA) Safety Cummulative Switch Production Meter  Either Net Metering or Very Low Power Processing AC Load Buy-Back Rate Unit (Inverter) Center  Cost: ~ $45,000 - $60,000 Relationship of Wind Speed to Power Production

Rated Speed GE 1.5xle - 1.5 MW 1600

1400

1200 Wind Speed Power Output 1000

kW 800

600 Turbine Output(kW) Turbine 400

200

0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 Wind Speed (m /s)

Cut-In Speed Cut-Out Speed 1 m/s = 2.24 mph 1 mph = .447 m/s Wind Plant Output & Maintenance

 Typical capacity factors are 30-40% at good wind sites  Wind speeds are above cut-in >85% of the time  Turbines are available to generate >97% of time  Scheduled maintenance occurs 1-2 times per year  ~1 skilled O&M job for every 10 turbines installed Project Development Steps

 Site Selection  Resource Definition  Project Design & Engineering  Permitting  Financing  Construction  Operations » 3-5 yr period from site selection to commissioning Land Acquisition

 Rule of thumb - about 50 acres to the MW  Usually Lease Agreement  Option on the land first (about $3 to $5 per acre?) Much land is currently optioned  Lease cost (~ $3000 - $5000 per turbine per year)  Can include royalty payment option Agreements Needed By Developer

 Land acquisition  Permits (local zoning & building; state)  Tax Payments  Turbine Purchase & Warranty  Interconnection  Power Purchase  Financing  Maintenance

Planning Uncertainties

 Permitting » visual (NIMBY) » bird & bat studies  Transmission » access & capacity constraints » interconnection study queue backlog  Schedule Delays » risk of missing incentive deadlines  Weather

Wind Forecasting

 Required for scheduling and dispatching of wind plant output in a growing number of energy markets  Adds costs to wind plant operations ($0.08-.20/MWh)  Reduces ancillary service costs to grid system operator  Reduces/eliminates risks of imbalance charges

California Independent System Operator Control Room Conclusions

• Wind technologies continue to mature and achieve acceptance • Costs are competitive • Optimization of component sizes • New techniques reduce uncertainty in siting and production forecasting • Large majority of public favors wind energy, but wider deployment is triggering NIMBY opposition • Transmission constraints & inconsistent government policies will limit rate of growth