Wind Energy Articles
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Analysis of vertical wind shear in the Southern Great Plains and potential impacts on estimation of wind energy production
This paper describes the analysis of near-surface wind speeds in Western Oklahoma. The goals of this research are to characterise the nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ) in the region, and to assess the impact wind variability, vertical shear and the LLJ on wind energy calculations. Results show the seasonal variability in wind characteristics as well as in the vertical wind shear, and also illustrate ...
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Numerical methods for investigation of destructive wind energy dissipation by bridges
Many bridges are located at especially unfavourable places considering the local wind power and turbulence. Therefore it turns out that finding an optimal balance between structural safety and erection costs depends strongly on a proper wind modelling and investigation. Several aspects must be taken into account for the wind design. The effect of wind gusts and randomly distributed wind velocity ...
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Three models of social change
Can we change fast enough? When thinking about the enormous need for social change as we attempt to move the world economy onto a sustainable path, I find it useful to look at various models of change. Three stand out. One is the catastrophic event model, which I call the Pearl Harbor model, where a dramatic event fundamentally changes how we think and behave. The second model is one where a ...
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U.S. headed for massive decline in carbon emissions*
For years now, many members of Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not. During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with natural gas, wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The United States has ended ...
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Energy head tilters for this week
I’ve been writing about energy for 20 years. And during those years, I’ve heard many out-of-the box concepts and witnessed some surprising trends. But it seems that lately head-tilting news comes along more and more frequently, a sign I think of how quickly innovation is occurring in the electric power industry.Below are three ideas that caught my attention this week as I covered the industry. ...
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Are you eligible for a manufacturing tax credit?
The United States has been generous with tax credits for energy production. But until now, it’s been somewhat miserly about giving breaks to those who make the equipment that makes the energy – or saves it.That’s changed with creation of the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit (MTC), part of the federal stimulus package. The 30% tax credit makes $2.3 billion available for new, expanded, or ...
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What the heck is a smart grid anyway?
You know the old adage, ‘Never talk about politics or religion in polite company’? I’m beginning to think we need to add a third restraint, one against debate over the meaning of smart grid.Okay, it’s not exactly a dinnertime topic. But I’ve discovered in gatherings of energy nerds (I’m one), discussion can become fairly heated over what constitutes “smart grid.”On the one side are the ...
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Steady-state analysis of doubly fed induction generators for wind turbines using MATLAB
A wind energy conversion system (WECS) differs from a conventional power system. The power output of a conventional power plant can be controlled whereas; the power output of a WECS depends on the wind. This nature of WECS makes it difficult for analysis, design and management. Various approaches have been developed to study the behaviour of WECS. In this paper, the steady-state characteristics ...
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Application of genetic algorithm and neural network for sizing of hybrid photovoltaic wind power generation (HPVWPG) systems
In this paper, a methodology for sizing of hybrid photovoltaic-wind power generation (HPVWPG) system is described. The purpose of this methodology is to predict the PV-generator area, the capacity of the battery and the capacity of the wind generator in isolated (remote) areas, where the meteorological data (solar irradiation, air temperature, wind speed, etc) are not always available. For this ...
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Classification of impulse fault response patterns in transformers using cascaded wavelet network
Accurate identification of winding faults that may develop during impulse testing of transformer is of great importance for ensuring reliability and quality of power supply. In the present work a wavelet network based methodology has been proposed for feature extraction as well as classification of those features for impulse fault pattern identification. The classification involves two networks, ...
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Why the fossil-fuelled reactor fleet in France will not be affected by an evolution of the wind power capacity
Today's power electronics can confer high-performance adjustment capabilities on any technological object, including the frequency-power and voltage tuning of modern, synchronous-type wind turbines. However, this will not enable such devices to steadily produce electric power from an uncontrolled mechanical energy. Thus they cannot be considered independent generation units: the need to ...
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Influence of market rules on the economic value of wind power: an Austrian case study
Currently, wind power faces heterogeneous conditions for market integration throughout Europe, given both differing wind power and power system characteristics as well as according regulatory frameworks. This paper discusses marketing options and assesses the influence of market rules on the economic value of wind power for an Austrian case study. Special emphasis is thereby put on options for ...
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Exergy analysis of a wind turbine
The present paper deals with a developed and improved approach for exergy analysis of the wind. Based on this model, a typical wind turbine model (Bergey Excel-S) is assumed to be installed in two cities in Iran. The results show that, with regard to the annual average wind data, if the wind turbine is installed in Tehran, by varying the cut in, rated and furling speeds from 3.1, 13.8 and 15.6 ...
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Next: The wattcom boom
I was at a meeting about three years ago where state energy commissioners and power plant developers were debating new market rules, some to take effect almost immediately, others five years out. A wise commissioner looked around the room and said something like: “All that matters are the immediate rules because everything will be different in five years. In fact, most of you won’t be working for ...
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Europe`s onshore and offshore wind energy potential
The exploitation of renewable energy sources can help the European Union meet many of its environmental and energy policy goals, including its obligation to reduce greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol (EC, 2002a) and the aim of securing its energy supply (EC, 2002b; EC, 2005). As early as 1997, the European Union set an ambitious 2010 indicative target of 12 % for the contribution of ...
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Wind power status, barriers, and opportunities
In the wake of the oil crisis in the early 1970s, governments around the world were anxious to diversify energy supply away from fossil sources, and so harnessing the wind was seen as an important component of this policy initiative. A decade of research saw a Danish designemerge as the industry standard: the three-bladed, horizontal axis, upwind machine. A modern wind turbine comprises a tubular ...
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Competitive priorities of investment strategy: case wind power
The goal of the research was to evaluate the major factors affecting the decision-making process of investments made in wind power, especially in Finland, from the investors' and suppliers' point of views. The theoretical part of the current research consists of the competitive priorities of investment strategy and analytic hierarchy process model theories. This work links to the existing ...
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Efficiency stimulus will lower energy bills, says federal report
Depending on your position, the federal stimulus money is either a jobs builder or a national budget buster. The Energy Information Administration offers another take. In a recent analysis, the EIA finds that stimulus money should reduce what consumers and businesses pay to heat, cool and light buildings. The federal agency this month updated its annual energy outlook to compare how energy ...
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Vector control of current regulated inverter connected to grid for wind energy applications
Connecting variable speed wind turbine connected to the grid requires a proper control of the inverter to improve the power quality for the system. The vector control of an inverter connected to the grid is presented. The proposed control technique implies a hysteresis current controller in the inner loop. The complete control system has been developed, analysed, and validated by simulation ...
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Variable susceptance excitation control for dynamic performance improvement of a stand-alone wind turbine induction generator system
Isolated wind farms employ simple squirrel cage induction generators driven by variable speed wind turbines. Lacking control capability, such generation can contribute very little to network support. Wind turbines mostly do not take part in voltage and frequency control and if a disturbance occurs, the turbines may be disconnected and reconnected when normal operation has been resumed. From ...
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