Onshore
GE’s Haliade-X 14MW prototype wind turbine in Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Major industry players have continuously pushed the envelope on wind turbine size.
He suggests that while there is technically no way to eliminate the aerodynamic noise from the blades at a wind farm, or the visual pollution caused by larger and larger wind turbines, there is a better way for project developers to approach wind energy projects, which has been modelled successfully in several countries, including Denmark. “You need to get the community engaged and make them feel like they’re part of it,” he stresses. “Denmark is the country where I feel people can tolerate large turbines closest to their house and it’s because in some cases, they are part owners of community wind projects.” Education is also key. “It’s a matter of getting the policy right and working with the local community to make sure they get social benefits from the project, but also if everyone is on the same page in terms of the climate change emergency, people are more likely to compromise for what the industry is pushing for,” he says.
16MW Total power capacity of the MingYang MySE 16.0-242, set to debut in 2022. Offshore Wind
30
Size isn’t everything Yet size isn’t the only factor impacting social acceptance. “Larger turbines also mean fewer turbines on the landscape,” Laird says. “Public acceptance may not always follow with smaller turbines.” Similarly, it’s not the only way wind farms are improving. To the untrained eye, the difference between newer and older wind farms may be the size, but in recent years there have been many subtle improvements. “The aerodynamics of the blades continue to improve, so turbines today are getting more energy
with less noise than older ones,” Laird says. “Blade materials are also continuing to improve, so blades are lighter but still structurally sound.” In addition, turbine and wind plant controls are improving, which means operators can get more energy out of a plant while reducing the load on turbines, so they last longer with less maintenance. Plant operators are also looking much more closely at hybrid systems: how do you combine, for instance, wind energy, solar and storage to produce value in ways that haven’t been attempted in the past? “Should a wind turbine that’s going to be used in a hybrid system behave any differently than the ones we’ve deployed in the past, just hooked up to the grid?” Laird asks. “That’s one of the areas being pursued right now.”
That said, if bigger turbines continue to result in lower costs, Laird says that industry will keep pushing for them. “The industry and research community on wind energy have been speculating on the upper size limit of economically competitive wind turbines for at least three decades. And obviously, we haven’t hit the limit yet,” he says.
“It really boils down to being economically cost- competitive. The competition for wind energy keeps getting fiercer, so wind energy needs to improve as well. I think there’s a chance we will overshoot and I don’t know when that day is but at some point, maybe the industry will decide we’ve got to a size where it’s not as cost-effective as a little smaller. Offshore wind is going to be much closer to the technology limit than land-based. But I don’t think we are there today.” ●
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
General Electric
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33
