Community vs Industrial Scale
Wind Energy Production
Design,
Implementation
&
Employment Opportunities
(View PPT in “Normal” view to see slide notes)
Sean G. O’Reilly
E-mail: sean.g.oreilly@gmail.com
Green Group Boston
Wind Energy Status
Divisions of Wind
Generation:
Residential 0-100 KW
Community 100 KW-1 MW
Industrial wind 1MW+
(currently 1-7 MW range)
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Topic List
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Site assessment
Permitting and environmental hurdles
Turbine technologies
Materials issues in design
Infrastructure to construct
O&M - Operation and maintenance
Pain points in development
Industry needs and job opportunities
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Site Assessment
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Wind conditions (Met towers, Sodar, Lidar)
Terrain (local obstacles and turbulence factors)
Footprint and foundation (space needed, anchoring)
Onshore vs offshore (industrial only, considerations)
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Turbine Tower Footprint
Examples
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Permitting and Environmental
Hurdles
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Time scale
Government and state bodies involved
General points on the process
Environmental hurdles
Small (community) wind process, vs
Large (industrial) wind process
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Basic Anatomy of a Wind
Turbine (HAWT)
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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Note: The coming era of direct drive for large turbines, may
eliminate gearboxes
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Turbine Technologies
Qu i c k T i m e ™ a n d a
T I F F (Un c o m p re s s e d ) d e c o m p re s s o r
a re n e e d e d t o s e e t h i s p i c t u re .
• Styles (Vertical horizontal,
Cycloidal, shrouds &
multi-rotor)
• Upwind or downwind
orientation for HAWT’s
• Gearbox or direct drive
• “Smart” turbines (self
protection, energy
optimization)
• Energy storage
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Turbine Technologies
• Shrouded turbine with
multiple rotors
• Typical small wind
turbine
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Who Are the Top Players?
Large Wind HAWT:
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Vestas
Denmark
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Enercon
Germany
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Gamesa
Spain
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GE Energy
Germany/ US
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Siemens
Denmark/Germany
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Suzlon
India
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Sinovel
China
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Examples of Small Wind
Companies, Design Variety:
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Company Name
FloDesign
Mariah Power
Southwest Windpower
URwind
Cascade Eng. Inc.
Enflo
Optiwind
Bergey Windpower
Turbine Type
HAWT Shrouded
“Windspire” VAWT
HAWT
VAWT
“Swift” HAWT
HAWT Shrouded
HAWT Shrouded
HAWT
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Materials Issues in Design
Quic kTime™ and a
TIFF ( LZW) dec ompres s or
are needed to s ee this pic tur e.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• Blade scale-up
• Composite materials
• Testing and
qualification
• Automated
production
• Tooling
• Superconductors
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Infrastructure for Assembly
and Erection
Quic kTime™ and a
TIFF ( Unc ompres s ed) dec ompr ess or
are needed to s ee this pic ture.
• Trucks, barges, cranes,
airlift cranes
• Double wide roads
• General terrain
• Handling issues (dock
transfer, skill level and
risk)
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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Operation and Maintenance
• Performance: SCADA network
• Damage from lightning, wildlife,
snipers, various
• Component life: Not all 20 yrs
• Lubrication: Vital
• Coatings and corrosion: Wind is
abrasive
• Repair and replacement: Do at
height where possible
• Reality of operation: Always
need O&M staff on site at large
farms 24/7
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Environmental Impact Studies
• Contentious issues
• Birds / bats / fish positives and
negatives
• Some realities from
industry findings
• Design for low noise
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Industry Pain Points, Large
Wind
Large wind:
• HAWT blade size limitation (cost versus
physics)
• Production scale-up difficult for massive
blades
• Need increased quality at lower cost
• Need to store power to offset down time
• Grid integration varies and relies on utility cooperation
• Max. wind land sites will fast become scarce
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Industry Pain Points, Small
Wind
• Not as cost effective, bigger is better
• Less corporate sponsorship /tougher
financing
• NIMBY issues in urban areas
• Grid intertie not standardized between states
• Duplication of grid interconnect effort vs once
for a large wind farm
• Cruder turbine protection technology
• Need UL approved generators for grid intertie
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Lrg Wind Industry,
Needs = Job Opportunities
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Custom composite ply kitting for blades
Automation machinery for blade production
Full scale static and dynamic testing of blades
Auxiliary repair materials and tooling
Specialized coatings for ice, oils & corrosion
Transport and handling logistics & equipment
O&M subcontracting
Project management of wind energy contracts
Feasibility analysts, wind resource specialists
Federal permitting experts
Health and safety engineers
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Sml Wind Industry, Needs=Job
Opportunities
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Safety products and practices
Small, high efficiency, cheap, quiet turbines
Local permitting and incentives experts
Recycling/ refurbishing of used turbines
Custom build O&M
Building integrated wind turbines/ urban feasibility
Portable MET towers (products and service)
Hybrid use of cell phone/other towers for metrology
Portable SODAR, & LIDAR (affordable)
Home PC/ Mac software (SCADA-lite?)
Financiers for novel turbine / hybrid systems
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Links to more Information
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AWEA: www.awea.org
NREL : www.nrel.gov/wind
State Incentives Database: www.dsireusa.org
Bergey Payback Calculator
www.bergey.com/Channels/1F2.htm
Legal and Safety Issues – U.S. DOE Small Wind
System Installation Reference Brief
www.eren.doe.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/ja2.html
AWEA Advice: www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo
- Tribulations, Hearings, Zoning, Perceptions
“Connecting a Small-Scale Renewable Energy System
to an Electric Transmission System” U.S. DoE :
www.eren.doe.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/ja7.html
“Connecting to the Grid”
Interstate Renewable Energy Council: www.irecusa.org
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Gov’t Funding Program Links:
• U.S. Dept. of Treasury: Renewable energy grants
(ARRA) (Enacted 2-’09)
• 30%+ funding available
• www.treas.gov/recovery/1603.shtml
• USDA: Rural energy for America Program
(REAP) (Enacted 5-’02)
• 25% of project cost
• www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/bprogs.htm
• Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB’s)
(Latest version enacted 10-’08)
• Federal loans, amount varies
• www.irs.gov/irb/2007-14_IRB/ar17.html
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References / Credits
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Slide 2: 2005 Chart from NEI International Energy Agency’s key world
energy statistics 2007, updated 1/08
Slide 4: From a NREL report for DOE, entitled “Small Wind Electric
Systems, a Minnesota Consumer’s Guide”
Slide 5: Appalachian State University, Office of Sustainability, Boone, NC
Slide 7: Anatomy picture source unknown. Scout Moor gearbox picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Scout_moor_gearbox
%2C_rotor_shaft_and_brake_assembly.jpg
Slide 8: Darrius picture :
http://deppenschmidt.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/energy-saving-now/.
Cycloidal picture: “Aerocam”, Broadstar Wind Systems
Slide 9: Open type: Bergey Windpower, Shrouded type: Windtamer
Turbines Corp.
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References / Credits (Cont’d)
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Slide 12: Blade test picture: LM Glasfiber, preform layup picture: Vien Tek
Slide 13: Source unknown, Google web images
Slide 14: Source unknown, Google web images
Slide 15: Bat image: Google web, copyright free. Fish image: Google web,
copyright free
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