Comparative LCA of Technology Improvement Opportunities for a 1.5 MW Wind Turbine in the Context of an Onshore Wind Farm

Citation: Ozoemena, Matthew, Cheung, Wai Ming and Hasan, Reaz (2017) Comparative LCA of technology improvement opportunities for a 1.5 MW wind turbine in the context of an onshore wind farm. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. ISSN 1618-954X (In Press) Published by: Springer URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017-1466-2 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017- 1466-2> This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/32607/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. 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Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017-1466-2 ORIGINAL PAPER Comparative LCA of technology improvement opportunities for a 1.5‑MW wind turbine in the context of an onshore wind farm Matthew Ozoemena1 · Wai M. Cheung2 · Reaz Hasan2 Received: 17 August 2017 / Accepted: 17 November 2017 © The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication Abstract This paper presents life cycle assessment (LCA) results of design variations for a 1.5-MW wind turbine due to the potential for advances in technology to improve their performance. Five LCAs have been conducted for design variants of a 1.5-MW wind turbine. The objective is to evaluate potential environmental impacts per kilowatt hour of electricity generated for a 114-MW onshore wind farm. Results for the baseline turbine show that higher contributions to impacts were obtained in the categories of ozone depletion potential, marine aquatic eco-toxicity potential, human toxicity potential and terrestrial eco-toxicity potential compared to technology improvement opportunities (TIOs) 1–4. Compared to the baseline turbine, TIO 1 with advanced rotors and reduced tower mass showed increased impact contributions to abiotic depletion potential, acidifcation potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential and photochemical ozone creation potential, and TIO 2 with a new tower concept involving improved tower height showed an increase in contributions to abiotic depletion potential, acidifcation potential and global warming potential. Additionally, lower contributions to all the environmental categories were observed for TIO 3 with drivetrain improvements using permanent magnet generators while increased contributions towards abiotic depletion potential and global warming potential were noted for TIO 4 which combines TIO 1, TIO 2 and TIO 3. A comparative LCA study of wind turbine design variations for a particular power rating has not been explored in the literature. This study presents new insight into the environmental implications related with projected wind turbine design advancements. Keywords 1.5-MW wind turbine · LCA · Technology improvement opportunities · Wind farm · Electricity production · Potential technology advancements Abbrevations ISO International Organisation for Standardisation ADP Abiotic depletion potential LCA Life cycle assessment AP Acidifcation potential LCI Life cycle inventory BOM Bill of materials MAETP Marine aquatic eco-toxicity potential CML Centre of Environmental Science of Leiden NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory University ODP Ozone depletion potential EP Eutrophication potential POP Photochemical ozone creation potential FAETP Freshwater aquatic eco-toxicity potential TETP Terrestrial eco-toxicity potential GWP Global warming potential TIO Technology improvement opportunities HTP Human toxicity potential TIO 1 TIO with advanced (enlarged) rotors using IEC International Electrotechnical Commission stifer carbon fbre material and reduced tower mass TIO 2 TIO with new tower concept using carbon fbre * Wai M. Cheung [email protected] and power production at 100 m compared to 65 m 1 Warwick Manufacturing Group, International Manufacturing TIO 3 TIO with drivetrain improvements using per- Centre, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK manent magnet generators instead of copper- 2 Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, wound rotors Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria TIO 4 Combination of TIO 1, TIO 2 and TIO 3 University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK Vol.:(0123456789)1 3 M. Ozoemena et al. Introduction Wang and Sun (2012) showed that large CO 2 savings can be made in countries with large territories and wind poten- Concern about the efects of climate change and pub- tial as a result of a case study of wind turbine designs in lic awareness with regard to environmental impacts has four characteristic wind power plants (one in China and increased considerably in recent years. Compared with three in North America and Europe) with Vestas 1.65-, fossil fuel-based electricity generation, wind energy has 3.0- and 850-kW wind turbine models. Analysis of the signifcantly lower environmental burdens and hence is case in China shows that 33% of CO 2 emissions could well placed to contribute towards mitigating potential be saved in the transport stage in large countries by the environmental impacts and the efects of climate change. use of shorter alternative transportation routes. Ardente Wind power uses the kinetic energy of the wind to produce et al. (2008)’s analysis is based on a wind turbine design electricity without directly producing any emissions or located on an Italian wind farm. The research shows that pollutants during the conversion process (Martínez et al. the largest environmental impacts caused by a wind farm 2009; Shafee et al. 2016). This does not, however, mean it are mainly due to the manufacturing of wind turbines and is free of environmental impacts. There are environmental building works. These impacts principally consist of air implications as a result of the manufacturing, operation emissions, inert solid wastes and small quantities of haz- and disposal processes during the life cycle of the wind ardous exhausted oils and lubricants. Other impacts are turbine (Ozoemena et al. 2016; Simons and Cheung 2016). not signifcant. These environmental impacts have to be quantifed in order to examine the potential for improvement to the processes Studies on the efects of wind turbine size and to compare the efects of energy production (Fokaides within a wind farm et al. 2014; Igliński et al. 2016; Lieberei and Gheewala 2017). There are also studies on the efects of size of a turbine In recent years, there has been rapid growth in wind design within a wind farm (Crawford 2009; Raadal et al. power use partly due to its perceived importance for sus- 2011; Kabir et al. 2012; Demir and Taşkin 2013). In Craw- tainable development (Lund 2007; Weinzettel et al. 2009; ford (2009), it is shown that advantages exist for the use of Singh and Parida 2013; Glassbrook et al. 2014; Pana- a 3-MW wind turbine compared to an 850-kW turbine as a giotidou et al. 2016; Uihlein 2016). According to Lantz result of the ability to decrease the environmental footprint et al. (2012) and Allaei and Andreopoulos (2014), wind per unit of rated output. According to Raadal et al. (2011), energy technology has steadily improved and costs have there is evidence of GHG emissions and energy use decreas- decreased. This shift to higher nominal power of wind ing with increase in the size of wind turbines. Demir and turbines demonstrates the apparent technological progress. Taşkin (2013) provide useful evidence that environmental Chen et al. (2011) point out that to support the growth of impacts are lower for larger turbines (2050 and 3020 kW) wind farms, it is essential that the long-term sustainabil- compared to smaller turbines (330, 500 and 810 kW) and ity of wind turbines is examined in order to allow policy could be further reduced by installation in optimum wind makers make robust decisions to mitigate climate change. speed regions. Kabir et al. (2012) and Ardente et al. (2008) Over the years, there have been numerous research stud- used the LCA technique to analyse existing wind farms with ies reporting on the application of LCA to measure the small-scale wind turbine designs (100 and 660 kW) and environmental impacts of wind farms (Dolan and Heath focused on energy requirement and environmental impact 2012). A few of the most recent publications which are analyses. It was observed that turbine production, transpor- relevant to this study are summarised as follows: tation and installation were the stages that most afected the life cycle energy and emissions of small wind power. Wind farm studies based on geographical scope Future‑inclined studies on wind farms In existing LCA-related wind farm literature, there are In addition, there are also other studies focused on future- several studies based on geographical scope. Oebels and inclined analysis as for instance Pehnt et al. (2008), Arvesen Pacca (2013), for instance, shows a comparison of the and Hertwich (2011), Lenzen and Schaefer (2012). They all results for the CO 2 intensity of a wind turbine design on a focused on scenario-based assessment analysed towards a Brazilian wind farm. They concluded that construction and future time frame. Arvesen and Hertwich (2011) presents a operation phases could be neglected.

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