PDHonline Course E513 (8 PDH)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Wind Power Generation

Essential Concepts
Instructor: Jurandir Primo, PE

2016
PDH Online | PDH Center
5272 Meadow Estates Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030-6658
Phone: 703-988-0088

[Link]
[Link]

An Approved Continuing Education Provider

 WIND POWER GENERATION
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS

CONTENTS:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. WIND POWER TIMELINE

III. WIND TURBINES TYPES

IV. WIND POWER BLADE DESIGN

V. TYPES OF WIND TURBINES & GENERATORS

VI. WIND TURBINE COMPONENTS

VII. WIND POWER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

VIII. WIND POWER GRID INSTALLATIONS

IX. OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

X. WIND TURBINE FOUNDATIONS

XI. WIND TURBINE TOWERS

XII. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES

XIII. LINKS AND REFERENCES

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I. INTRODUCTION:

Typically, the wind begins with the sun’s radiation, which is absorbed differently on the earth’s sur-
face. The earth's surface is heated differently because of mountains, valleys, water, vegetation and
desert lands. During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air over water.
The warm air expands and rises, and the heavier, cooler air takes its place, creating wind. Over the
sea the air warms more slowly, as the sunny heat is slowly cooled by the cold water, and the cold air
over the sea is transformed in a fresh breeze or wind. At night, the winds are reversed because the
air cools more rapidly over land than over water.

Throughout history, people have taken advantage of the power of wind, used since ancient times in
windmills, for pumping water or grinding flour. Sail vessels have been used to travel along and
across rivers, seas and lakes. For example, since ancient times, Asian and European sailors always
used long ships from Asia and Europe to sail as far as North America, all through the use of wind
power. It is difficult to think of a time when people have not made great use of the power of the wind.

For more than two millennia wind-powered machines pumps, have ground grain and pumped water
in arid regions, such as the American mid-west or the Australian outback, and provided technical re-
sources for livestock and steam engines. With the development of electric power, wind power found
new applications in centrally-generated power. Throughout the 20th century developed small wind
mills for farms, and larger wind generators connected to electricity grids. Today wind powered gen-
erators operate in every size range between tiny plants for battery charging at isolated residences,
up to near-gigawatt sized offshore wind farms that provide electricity to national electrical networks.

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II. WIND POWER TIMELINE:

Antiquity: Since unknown ancient times, sailboats and sailing ships have been using wind power.
The windwheel of the Greek constructor Heron of Alexandria, in the 1st century AD, is the earliest
known instance of a wind-driven wheel to power a machine. The windmill blades were attached to
an axle to drive a set of pistons, up and down, and provide power to an organ. Other versions were
also used to pump water for simple irrigation of agricultural land and for drinking water, as similar
devices can still be seen in Cyprus and the Greek islands even today.

Heron of Alexandria wind power

Middle Age: The use of windmills became widespread use across the Middle East and Central
Asia, and later spread to China and India. By 1000 AD, windmills were used to pump seawater
for salt-making in China and Sicily. Vertical windmills were later used extensively in Northwestern
Europe to grind flour, beginning in the 1180s, and the earliest true reference dates from 1185, in
Weedley, Yorkshire. In medieval England wind power was an important resource, as windmills, un-
like water mills, were not inoperable by the freezing of water in the winter. By the 14th century, the
Dutch windmills started to be used to drain areas of the Rhine River delta. The 16th century, is well
illustrated with the chapter VIII of Don Quixote; the historical and famous Miguel de Cervantes book,
which also shows a time that windmills became quite common in Europe.

19th Century: Throughout the 1800s windmill technology evolved slowly. Wind mills were primarily
used for milling grain and occasionally for pumping and draining water from lakes and rivers and
even the sea water, as in the Netherlands. In Spain, a 19th century land registry, where the owner
was the Marqués de la Ensenada, shows 34 windmills in existence at that time.

The vertical windmills of Campo de Criptana, Spain

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The Netherlands is well known for its windmills. Until the year 1400 AD, living conditions in Holland
were far from ideal. The country consisted of wetlands, swamps and marshes separated from the
sea by a belt of dunes. After sea defenses and dams were constructed to disconnect the water from
the sea, windmills were used to drain the many lakes, swamps and wetlands. The amount of wind-
mills in Holland reached a peak in the 19th century, with an estimated 9000 working windmills, per-
forming all sorts of industrial functions.

In the USA, in 1854 in Connecticut, a young mechanic named Daniel Halladay was convinced by a
traveling salesman to make windmills for pumping water and other uses. Even skeptical, he went on
with this idea, and constructed his first windmill, made from wooden “sails,” which could be trans-
ported in sections and assembled on location and soon he moved to Illinois to be near a growing
market. The Halladay windmills became very popular standards, and sold thousands of his m a-
chines. In 1886, Thomas Perry designed the more aerodynamic steel-bladed windmill, with curved
blades (to catch more wind), still used today.

The first mills had four paddle-like wooden blades, with thin wooden slats nailed to wooden rims.
Most of these mills had tails to orient them into the wind, but some were weather-vanning mills that
operated downwind of the tower. Speed control of some models was provided by hinging sections of
blades, so that they would fold back like an umbrella in high winds, an action which reduced the ro-
tor capture area to reduce thrust. The most important refinement of the American fan-type windmill
was the development of steel blades in 1870, made lighter and with more efficient shapes. They
worked so well that the high speed required a reduction (slow-down) gear to turn the standard recip-
rocal pumps at the required speed.

Windpumps are used extensively in Southern Africa, Australia, and on farms and ranches in the
central plains and Southwest of the United States. These are mostly used to provide water for hu-
man use as well as drinking water for large sheep stocks. In South Africa and Namibia thousands of
windpumps are still operating. In the Netherlands, the “tjasker” is a drainage windmill, with common
sails connected to an Archimedean screw, commonly used for pumping water in areas where only a
small lift is required. The Archimedean screw lifts water into a collecting ring, where it is drawn off
into a ditch at a higher level, thus draining the land.

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The tjasker, a wind pump

Between 1870 and 1950, over six million mostly small mechanical output wind machines were in-
stalled in the U.S. The primary use was water-pumping and the main applications were stock water-
ing and farm home water needs. Very large windmills, with rotors up to 18 meters in diameter, were
used to pump water for the steam railroad trains that provided the primary source of commercial
transportation in areas where there were no navigable rivers.

Electricity Generation: According to history, the first windmill used for the production of electricity
was built in Scotland in 1887 by James Blyth of the Anderson's College in Marykirk, to power the
lighting in his cottage, using charge accumulators developed by the Frenchman Camille Alphonse
Faure Co., thus making it the first house in the world to have its electricity supplied by wind power.

In U. S., the first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was a system built in Cleveland,
Ohio, in 1888 by Charles F. Brush. The Brush machine was a postmill with a multiple-bladed "pick-
et-fence" rotor 17 meters in diameter, featuring a large tail hinged section to turn the rotor out of the
wind. It was the first windmill to incorporate a step-up gearbox (with a ratio of 50:1) in order to turn a
direct current generator at its required operational speed (~500 RPM).

In 1890, Poul la Cour, a Danish educationalist and Askov Folk High School, became more con-
cerned with the idea of electrification by means of windmills that had been investigated with negative
conclusions, because of low efficiency, and how to store the energy. La Cour incorporated the aero-
dynamic design principles (low-solidity, four-bladed rotors incorporating primitive airfoil shapes)
used in the best European tower mills. In 1891, he was granted financial support by the Danish
Government, and the first experimental windmill was erected in the summer of 1891, with a constant
power of a generator.

D.C & A.C Electricity: On September 15, 1878, a group of New York reporters traveled to Thomas
Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, to hear his most startling announcement to date.
When the first electric lights, generated by Edison´s “Direct Current” (D.C) cast their golden glow
over Menlo Park on New Year's Eve, in 1880, a crowd of 3,000 people gathered in the avenue to
see the “electric light and the effect of electricity”. Edison was both godlike, because he could “ma-
nipulate the lightning, and could challenge God's order." In few months, he said, illumination by gas-
light would be obsolete.

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In September 4, 1882, Edison started up the America's first power plant, serving a square-mile ar-
ea that included some very wealthy and important customers, such as, J.P. Morgan, which provided
capital for development of “the lightning”, the stock exchange, and the nation's largest newspapers.
In the months that followed, Edison and his team grappled with the tough job of designing and pro-
ducing, by hand, the necessary components of a viable electrical system: sockets, fuses, switches,
power meters and generators.

Till 1890 the “Direct Current” (D.C) was king. At that time there were 121 Thomas Edison power
stations scattered across the United States, delivering D.C electricity to its customers. But D.C had
a great limitation, namely, that power plants could only send D.C electricity about a mile before the
electricity began to lose power. However, at that time, Edison became involved in the "battle of the
currents". The industrialist George Westinghouse and a former employee of Edison's, Nikola Tesla,
invented A.C motors and generators and developed a far-reaching system that used high-voltage
alternating current (A.C), which threatened Edison's domination of the electrical industry.

A.C Electricity: In 1893, the Edson´s company, General Electric bid to electrify The Chicago
World’s Fair with Edison’s direct current (D.C) for $554,000, but lost to George Westinghouse,
who said he could power the fair for only $399,000 using the Tesla’s alternating current (A.C).
That same year (1893), the Niagara Falls Power Company decided to award Westinghouse the
contract to generate power from Niagara Falls, who had licensed Tesla’s polyphase A.C induction
motor patent. On Nov. 16, 1896, Buffalo was lit up by the alternating current (A.C) from Niagara
Falls. Later, Edison and his General Electric decided to jump on the A.C train, too. This was the end
of the "battle of currents". The Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla´s A.C had prevailed.

Batteries: A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Each battery
has two electrodes; an anode (positive end) and a cathode (negative end). An electrical circuit runs
between these two electrodes, going through a chemical called an electrolyte (which can be either
liquid or solid). This unit consisting of two electrodes is called a cell (often called a voltaic cell or
pile). Batteries are used to power many devices and make the spark that starts a gasoline engine.

Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist that invented the first chemical battery in 1800. In 1859,
the French physicist Gaston Plante (1834-1889) invented the first storage battery, made from two
lead plates joined by a wire and immersed in a sulfuric acid electrolyte. Storage batteries are lead-
based batteries that can be recharged.

The Leclanché cell was developed in 1866 by Georges Leclanché of France, which contained a
conducting solution (electrolyte) of ammonium chloride, a cathode of carbon (positive terminal) a de-
polarizer of manganese dioxide, and an anode of zinc (negative terminal) that provided a voltage of
1.4 volts. This cell achieved very quick success in telegraphy, signaling and electric bell work.

The dry cell, developed in 1886 by the German scientist Carl Gassner, is a type of electricity-che-
mical cell, commonly used today for many home and portable devices, often in the form of batteries.
The dry cell uses a paste electrolyte, with enough moisture to allow the electrical current to flow and,
unlike the wet cell, can operate in any position without spilling, as it contains no free liquid, making it
suitable for portable equipment.

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The Swedish inventor Waldemar Jungner invented the nickel–cadmium battery in 1899, substitut-
ing iron for the cadmium in varying proportions. Thomas Edison also invented the Ni-Fe batteries in
1901, and offered it as the energy source for electric vehicles, to Detroit Electric and Baker Electric,
when he claimed the nickel–iron design to be, "far superior to batteries using lead plates and acid"
(lead–acid battery) and developed several patents. Edison batteries (also called alkaline batteries)
are an improved type of storage batteries, with an alkaline electrolyte, not lead-acid.

Generator: A generator is a device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The op-
erating principle of electromagnetic generators was discovered in the years of 1831–1832 by Mi-
chael Faraday, later called Faraday's law, is that an electromotive force is generated in an electri-
cal conductor which encircles a varying magnetic flux.

The dynamo originally developed by the Hungarian Anyos Jedlik, who started in 1827 experiencing
the electromagnetic rotating devices, which he called electromagnetic self-rotors, which was the first
electrical generator capable of delivering power for industry. The dynamo uses electromagnetic in-
duction to convert mechanical rotation into direct current (D.C) through the use of a commutator. An
early dynamo was built by French scientist Hippolyte Pixii in 1832.

In 1882, the British electrician Engineer, James Edward H. Gordon, built a large two-phase alternat-
ing current generator, but only in 1886, the first public demonstration of an "AC alternator system",
was given by William Stanley, Jr., an employee of the Westinghouse Electric. The AC motors may
also be used as generators, turning mechanical energy into electric current. A regular AC asynchro-
nous motor usually can be used as a generator, without any internal modifications.

Induction generators to operate satisfactorily must be excited with a leading voltage, usually done
by connection to an electrical grid, or sometimes they are self-excited by using phase correcting ca-
pacitors. Induction generators are useful in applications, such as mini-hydro power plants, wind
turbines, or in reducing high-pressure gas streams to lower pressure, because they can recover
energy with relatively simple controls.

20th Century: In the late 19th century, the successful "American multi-blade” windmill design was
used in the first large windmill to generate electricity. By 1908, in Europe there were 72 wind-driven
electric generators from 5 kW to 25 kW. The largest machines were on 24 m (79 ft) towers with four-
bladed 23 m (75 ft) diameter rotors. By the close of World War I, the use of 25 kW electrical output
machines had also spread throughout Denmark, but cheaper and larger fossil-fuel steam plants,
soon put the operators of wind mills out of business. Nevertheless, in Denmark the wind power had
an important part of a decentralized electrification in the final of the 19th century.

In U. S., by the mid-1920s, 1 to 3 kW wind generators, developed by companies like Parris-Dunn &
Jacobs, found widespread use in the rural areas. These systems were installed at first to provide
lighting for farms and to charge batteries used to power crystal radio sets. But their use was extend-
ed to an entire array of direct-current motor-driven appliances, including refrigerators, freezers,
washing machines, and power tools. But, when more appliances were powered by the early wind
generators, their intermittent (continuous) operation became a problem.

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In 1927, Joe Jacobs and Marcellus Jacobs open the “Jacobs Wind factory” in Minneapolis, Minneso-
ta, to produce wind turbines for use on farms, since farms often don’t have access to the grid. The
wind turbines are generally used to charge batteries and to power lights. In 1931, a vertical-axis
wind turbine design, called the “Darrieus wind turbine”, was patented by Georges Jean Marie
Darrieus, a French aeronautical engineer. This type of wind turbine is still used today, for more
niche applications, like on boats, but not used as widely as, horizontal-axis wind turbines.

Yet in 1931, the development of a bulk-power, utility-scale wind energy conversion systems was first
undertaken in Russia, with a 100 kW Balaclava wind generator. This machine operated for about
two years on the shore of the Caspian Sea, generating 200,000 kWh of electricity. At that time, a
horizontal-axis wind turbine similar to the ones used today, was also built in Yalta, with 100 kW of
capacity, a 32-meter-high tower, and a 32% load factor (similar to what today's wind turbines get).

In the US, by 1935, Palmer C. Putnam, an American consulting engineer and wind-power pioneer,
became interested in production of electric power from wind after observing high winds at Cape
Cod. Putnam was aware of the Balaklava 100 kW turbine, and desired to improve on its perfor-
mance. In 1937 he partnered with General Electric, as the Central Vermont Public Services was al-
so interested in this energy supply, which could displace purchased power for meeting peak loads.

In 1939, the S. Morgan Smith company, a maker of hydroelectric turbines, was looking for an addi-
tional product line, and agreed to assist in financing and manufacture of a pilot turbine project. Only
23 months elapsed between first discussions and production. In 1941, was produced the “Smith-
Putnam wind turbine” with 1.25 MW, the world's first megawatt-size wind turbine, which was con-
nected to the local electrical distribution system on Grandpa's Knob in Castleton, Vermont, USA.

This 1.25 MW turbine operated for 1100 hours before a blade failed at a weak point, not reinforced
due to war-time material shortages (in 1938 began the II War). The generator was a 1250 kW with
600 RPM synchronous generator made by General Electric, producing 2,400 V at 60 Hz. The turbine
had two blades, on the down-wind side of a 120-foot (36 m) steel lattice tower. Each blade was ap-
proximately 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and 66 feet (20 m) long, and weighed eight tons. The pitch of the
blades was controlled by hydraulic cylinders to maintain constant speed.

The period after World War II, showed that large-scale wind turbines would work, but failed to result
in a practical large electrical wind turbine. All over the world, the growing demand for electrical pow-
er created by the wind generators, combined with the inability of the technology to adapt, helped
make the situation inevitable. From 1950 to 1960, about 30,000 Jacobs Wind Energy Systems (1 -
3 kW) were shipped from Minneapolis. The use of mechanical and electrical systems continued
throughout Europe, in windy and arid climates, such as those found in parts of Africa and Australia.
In Europe, in 1957, Johannes Juul, a former student of Poul la Cour, builds a horizontal-axis wind
turbine with a diameter of 24 meters and 3 blades, very similar in design to wind turbines still used
today. The wind turbine had a capacity of 200 kW and employed a new invention, the emergency
aerodynamic tip breaks, still used in wind turbines today.

In 1975, a NASA wind turbine program developed a utility-scale residence wind turbines starts. This
research and development program pioneered many of the multi-megawatt turbine technologies in
use today, including, steel tube towers, variable-speed generators, composite blade materials, par-
tial-span pitch control, as well as aerodynamic, structural, and acoustic engineering design capabili-
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ties. The large wind turbines developed under this effort set several world records for diameter and
power output. The first US wind farm is put online, producing enough power for up to 4,149 homes.

In 1978, the world’s first multi-megawatt wind turbine is produced by the Tvind school teachers and
students, in Denmark. The 2-megawatt wind turbine “pioneered many technologies” used in modern
wind turbines and allowed the Vestas-Siemens and others to get the parts they needed. Especially
important was the novel blade-wing construction, using help from German aeronautics specialists.
(This model of wind turbine is still running today).

Yet in Europe, in 1980, the “wind turbine Danregn Vindkraft” is founded, spinning-off from a Danish
manufacturer of irrigation systems, which later becomes the Bonus Energy and after became the
Siemens Wind Power. The world's first wind farm including 20 wind turbines is put online and the
Enertech Company begins building 1.8 kW wind turbines, which can connect to the electric grid.
Commercial wind turbine rotors get up to a diameter of 17 meters and a capacity of 75 kilowatts.

From 1982 to 1984, wind farms are working in the US, double the number from the year before,
producing enough power for more than 150,000 homes. In 1987, a 3.2-megawatt wind turbine is
developed by the “NASA wind turbine program”. It has “the first large-scale variable speed drive
train and a sectioned, two-blade rotor”, which allows for easier transport.

In Europe, 1990, the Solar, Wind, Waste, and Geothermal Power Production incentives start. In
1991, the first offshore wind farm in the world was constructed in southern Denmark, with 11 wind
turbines manufactured by the Bonus Energy, each with a capacity of 450 kW. The UK's first onshore
wind farm is constructed in Cornwall, with 10 wind towers, producing electricity for approximately
2,700 homes. In 1995-2000, commercial wind turbine rotors get up to a diameter of 50 m, and wind
turbines get up to a capacity of 750 kW, 10 times more than approximately 10 years ago.

21th Century: From 2003 to 2010, global wind power capacity reaches approximately 200,000
megawatts, and commercial wind turbine rotors get up to a diameter of 126 meters, to a capacity of
7500 kilowatts. In 2012, the UK had more than 3 gigawatt of offshore wind power capacity installed,
over three times more than Denmark, which comes in second. In 2013, the world’s first hybrid
wind/current-powered turbine was installed off the coast of Japan, and China became the world’s
largest wind power market. The first offshore wind turbine in the US is launched.

Wind power produces more electricity than any other source in Spain, providing the country with ap-
proximately 25% of its electricity. Wind power has come a long way, but its growth in the coming
decades is projected to be much larger than it was up till now. In the U. S., federal research and de-
velopment activities resulted in the design, fabrication, and testing of 13 different small wind turbine
designs (ranging from 1kW to 40kW), five large (100kW - 3.2MW) horizontal-axis turbine (HAWT)
designs, and several vertical axis (VAWT) designs ranging from 5 to over 500 kW.

Wind Measurement: Wind speed, or wind flow velocity, is caused by air moving from high pressure
to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature, commonly measured with an anemometer,
but can also be classified using the older Beaufort scale, which is based on people's observation of
specifically defined wind effects. Anemometer is a term derived from the Greek word anemos, which

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means wind, also used to describe any wind speed measurement instrument used in meteorology.
The first known description of an anemometer was given by Leon Battista Alberti, in 1450.

A simple type of anemometer was invented in 1845, by Irish Rev. John Thomas Romney Robinson,
of the Armagh Observatory. It consisted of four hemispherical cups, each mounted on one end of
four horizontal arms, which in turn were mounted at equal angles to each other on a vertical shaft.
The air flow past the cups in any horizontal direction turned the shaft at a rate that was proportional
to the wind speed. Therefore, counting the turns of the shaft over a set time period produced a value
proportional to the average wind speed for a wide range of speeds.

There are a great variety of anemometers models, such as the vane anemometer, which can be de-
scribed as a windmill or a propeller anemometer, when the wind varies in direction, the axis has to
follow its changes. Hot wire anemometers use a very fine wire (several micrometers) electrically
heated up to some temperature above the ambient. The electrical resistance of the metal (tung-
sten) makes a relationship between the resistance of the wire and the flow speed.

The Laser Doppler anemometer uses a beam of light from a laser that is divided into two beams,
with one propagated out of the anemometer. Particulates flowing along with air molecules produce
a shift for measuring wind speed in the laser light, which is used to calculate the speed of the parti-
cles. Sonic anemometers, developed in 1950, use ultrasonic sound waves to measure wind velocity,
based on the time of flight of sonic pulses between pairs of transducers.

The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or
on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale, developed in 1805 by Francis Beaufort, an
Irish Royal Navy officer. Nowadays, the scale is only used in Taiwan and China, which are often af-
fected by typhoons. Wind speed on the 1946 Beaufort scale is based on the empirical relationship:

v = 0.836 B3/2 m/s

v = Equivalent wind speed at 10 meters above the sea;

B = Beaufort scale number.

For example, B = 9.5 is related to 24.5 m/s. Using this formula the highest wind force in hurricanes
would be 12 in the scale, and a wind of force 5 on the Beaufort scale is 17- 21 knots or 19 - 25 mph.

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III. WIND TURBINES TYPES:

The basic most common wind turbines can be defined as a huge fan or a propeller moved by the
wind, consisting of 3 blades that rotate, in a way that the axis of rotation must be aligned with the
direction of the blowing wind. A gear box is used for converting the electric energy, using mechani-
cal methods; hence, it is termed as a high-precision mechanical system. There are many different
types of wind turbines, but the frequently used wind turbines are horizontal axis turbines and vertical
axis turbines. The figure below shows different blocks of the wind turbine generator system.

These wind turbines are like aircraft propeller blades, which revolve due the force of the moving air
or wind, and power an electric generator that supplies an electric current. A wind turbine is the op-
posite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make
electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes
electricity. There are many different wind turbine designs, broadly grouped in two categories based
on the orientation of the axis of rotation:

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, or HAWTS (the most common type of wind turbine);
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, or VAWTS.

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs): Modern HAWTs usually feature horizontal rotors that
resemble aircraft propellers, which operate on similar aerodynamic principles, i.e., the air flow over
the airfoil shaped blades creates a lifting force that turns the rotor. The nacelle of a HAWT houses a
gearbox and generator. HAWTS can be placed on towers to take advantage of higher winds farther

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from the ground. The capture area of a HAWT, the area over which the sweeping blades can “cap-
ture” the wind, is given by:

A = (D/2)2

Where, D is the rotor diameter. However, this capture area must face directly into the wind, to max-
imize power generation, so HAWTs require a means for alignment (yawing mechanism) so that the
entire nacelle can rotate into the wind. On smaller wind turbines, a tail vane provides a “passive”
yaw control. In large, grid-connected turbines, yaw control is active, with wind direction sensors and
motors that rotate the nacelle.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs): There are two main types of VAWTs, the “Savonius and
the Darrieus”. The Savonius operates like a vertical rotor, also using the wind drag forces, while the
Darrieus uses blades similar to those used on HAWTs. The VAWTs typically operate closer to the
ground, which has the advantage of allowing placement of heavy equipment, like the generator and
gearbox, near ground level rather than in the nacelle. However, winds are lower near ground level,
so for the same wind and capture area, less power will be produced.

Note: The advantage of a VAWT over HAWT is that it doesn’t require a yaw mechanism, as it can
harness wind from any direction. However, it has other disadvantages, including: time varying power
output due to variation of power during a single rotation of the blade, the need for guy wires to sup-
port the tower, and the fact that Darrieus VAWTS are not self-starting, like HAWTS.

HAWTs: These horizontal-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at
the top of a tower, and must be pointed directly to the wind. Small turbines are installed with a sim-
ple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most
have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suita-

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ble to drive an electrical generator. Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usual-
ly positioned upwind of its supporting tower.

The turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by high
winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable distance in front of the tower and are
sometimes tilted forward into the wind a small amount. Since cyclical (that is repetitive) turbulence
may lead to fatigue failures, most HAWTs are of upwind design.

Wind turbines used in wind farms for production of electricity are usually three-bladed, generally
mounted onshore or offshore with computer-controlled motors. These have high tip speeds of over
320 km/h (200 mph), high efficiency and low torque, which contribute to good reliability. The blades
are usually colored white for daytime visibility by aircraft, and range in length from 20 to 40 meters
(66 to 131 ft) or more. The tubular steel towers range from 60 to 90 meters (200 to 300 ft) tall.

The blades rotate at 10 to 22 RPM. At 22 rotations per minute the tip speed exceeds 90 meters per
second (300 ft/s). A gear box is commonly used for stepping up the speed of the generator, alt-
hough designs may also use direct drive of an annular generator. Some models operate at constant
speed, but more energy can be collected by variable-speed turbines, which use a solid-state pow-
er converter to interface to the transmission system. All turbines are equipped with protective fea-
tures to avoid damage by high wind speeds, by feathering the blades into the wind which ceases
their rotation, supplemented by brakes.

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Year by year the size and height of turbines increase. Offshore wind turbines are built up to 8MW
today and have a blade length up to 80m. Onshore wind turbines are installed in low wind speed ar-
eas and getting higher and higher towers. Usual towers of multi megawatt turbines have a height of
70m to 120m and in extremes up to 160m. All turbines are rotating with a speed, that the blade tip
speed reach 80 m/s to 90 m/s. Higher tip speeds means more noise and blade erosion.

Two different types of turbines are common today: geared wind turbines or direct drive turbines. Di-
rect drive turbines need a huge generator due to low rotation speed. Geared wind turbines are using
a direct coupled gear box, also used for stepping up the speed of the small generator. Some models
operate at constant speed, but more energy can be collected by variable-speed turbines which use
a solid-state power converter to interface to the transmission system. As described, all turbines are
equipped with protective features to avoid damage at high wind speeds, by feathering the blades in-
to the wind which ceases their rotation, supplemented by safety brakes.

Though modern technology has made dramatic improvements to the efficiency of wind turbines, ex-
tensively are used for electricity generation, but still dependent on the vagaries of the weather, not
just on the wind direction, but on the intermittent and unpredictable force of the wind. When are
blowing too little wind, the windmills can't deliver sufficient power to overcome frictional losses in the
system. With too much wind, are susceptible to damage. Between these extremes, cost efficient in-
stallations have been developed to extract sustainable energy from the wind. The power P available
on a wind driven generator is given by the following formula:

P = ½CAρv3

Where, C is an efficiency factor known as Power Coefficient, which depends on the machine de-
sign, A is the area of the wind front intercepted by the rotor blades (the swept area), ρ is the density
of the air (averaging 1.225 Kg/m 3 at sea level) and v is the wind velocity.

Thus, the power is proportional to the area swept by the blades, the density of the air and to the cu-
be of the wind speed. Then, doubling the blade length will produce four times the power and dou-
bling the wind speed will produce eight times the power. The effective swept area of the blades is an
annular ring, not a circle, due the dead space around the hub of the blades.

Note: A similar equation applies to a theoretical power generated by the "run of river" and the "tidal
flow" hydro turbines. Wind speed increases with height above the ground, because of the earth’s
boundary layer. This effect is modeled using a power law relation:

Vz = V10 (h/10)α

Where, VZ is the wind speed at some height h (in meters), V10 is the wind speed at 10 meters (the
height often used for meteorological reporting of wind speed), and is the power law index. The ex-
ponent α varies over a wide range, 0.1 to 0.6 depending on atmospheric conditions and the terrain
near the wind turbine, but a value of 0.2 is common for wind turbine analysis.

The distribution does not represent the energy content of the wind, since this is proportional to the
cube of the wind speed. A distribution such as the one above is only valid for the prevailing wind

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conditions at a particular height above the ground. Average wind speeds usually tend to increase
with height then level off which is why wind turbines are usually installed as high above ground as
possible. The empirical formula developed by D.L. Elliott of Pacific Northwest Labs, described
above, gives the wind speed V at a height H above ground level as:

V = Vref (H / Href )α

Where Vref is the reference of the wind speed at a reference height Href and the exponent α is a
correction factor dependent on obstacles on the ground, the density of the air and wind stability fac-
tors. In wind resource assessments α is commonly assumed to be a constant 1/7th.

VAWTs: These vertical-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. One ad-
vantage of this arrangement is that the turbine does not need to be pointed directly to the wind to be
effective, which is an advantage on a site, where the wind direction is highly variable. It is also an
advantage when the turbine is integrated into a building because it is inherently less steerable. Also,
the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, using a direct drive from the rotor as-
sembly to the ground-based gearbox, improving accessibility for maintenance.

The key disadvantages include the relatively low rotational speed with the consequential high-
er torque and hence higher cost of the drive train. The 360 degree rotation of the aerofoil, within the
wind, brings good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclical stress on the tower. The
main design challenges are the highly dynamic loading on the blade, the pulsating torque generated
by some rotor designs on the drive train, and the difficulty of modeling the wind flow accurately, and
the analyzes and designing of the rotor, prior fabricating a prototype.

VAWTs also generally require some external power source, or an additional Savonius rotor to start
turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using three or more
blades which results in greater solidity of the rotor, measured by the blade area divided by the rotor

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area. Actually, newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-wires any more, but have an ex-
ternal superstructure connected to the top bearing. Other specific designs are shown below:

1. Darrieus Wind Turbine: Is a type of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) used to generate electrici-
ty from the energy carried in the wind. This design of wind turbine was patented by Georges Jean
Marie Darrieus, a French aeronautical engineer in 1931. Generally, the turbine consists of three
aerofoil blades mounted on a vertical rotating shaft or framework. The curvature of the blades al-
lows the blade to be stressed only in tension at high rotating speeds. The rotor spins at a rate unr e-
lated to the wind speed, and usually many times faster.

When the Darrieus rotor is spinning, the airfoils are moving forward through the air in a circular path
where the aerodynamic principles that rotate the rotor, are equivalent to that in autogiros, and nor-
mal helicopters in autorotation. This oncoming airflow is added vectorially to the wind, so that the re-
sultant airflow creates a varying small positive angle of attack to the blade. This generates a net
force pointing obliquely forwards along a certain “line-of-action”. This force is projected inwards past
the turbine axis at a certain distance, giving a positive torque to the shaft, thus helping it to rotate in
the direction it is already travelling in.

As the airfoil moves around the back, the angle of attack changes to the opposite sign, but the gen-
erated wind force is still obliquely in the direction of rotation, because the wings are symmetrical and
the rigging angle is zero. The energy arising from the torque and speed is extracted and converted
into useful power by using an electrical generator. There are major difficulties in protecting the
Darrieus turbine from extreme wind conditions and in making it self-starting.

The Darrieus design is theoretically less expensive than a conventional type, as most of the stress is
in the blades, and the torque against the generator is located at the bottom of the turbine. The only

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forces that need to be balanced vertically, are the compression loads, due the blades continue flex-
ing outward (attempting to "squeeze" the tower). The wind force blowing makes half of the power
transmitted to the bottom, and the other half is offset to the guy wires.

2. Savonius Wind Turbine: Is also a type of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), which consists of
two or three aerofoils, usually vertically mounted on a rotating shaft or framework, invented by the
Finnish engineer Sigurd Johannes Savonius in 1922. The Savonius rotor is an aerodynamically
simple drag-based windmill, where the force of the wind pushes against a surface, like an open sail,
consisting of two or three scoops. Looking down on the rotor from above, the two-scoop machine
would look like an "S" shape in cross section, as shown below:.

These drag-type windmills are made with two (or more) scoops that are used in anemometers, such
as the Flettner vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and also in some high-reliability low-
efficiency power turbines. They are always self-starting if there are at least three scoops. The twist-
ed Savonius is a modified long helical scoop that provides smooth torque, often used as a rooftop
wind turbine, and commonly adapted for ships.

Large Savonius turbines have been used to generate electric power on deep-water buoys, which
need small amounts of power and get very little maintenance. Design is simplified, because no
pointing mechanism is required to allow the shifting wind direction and the turbine is self-starting.
Savonius and other vertical-axis machines are good at pumping water and other high torque, and
low rpm applications, not usually connected to electric power grids. Most anemometers are
Savonius turbines, as efficiency is irrelevant to the application of measuring wind speed. The maxi-
mum power of a Savonius rotor is given by:

Pmax (W) = 0.36 kgm3. h.r.v3

Where h and r are the height and radius of the rotor and v is the wind speed. The angular frequen-
cy of a rotor is given by:

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Where is a dimensionless factor, designated as tip-speed ratio. The range λ varies within is char-
acteristic of a specific windmill, and for a Savonius rotor λ is typically around ≈1. For example, an
oil-barrel sized Savonius rotor with h = 1 m and r = 0.5 m, under a wind of v = 10 m/s, may gener-
ate a maximum power of 180 W and an angular speed of 20 rad/s (190 revolutions per minute).

3. Combined Darrieus-Savonius Wind Turbine: The combined Darrieus-Savonius 300 W is a ver-

tical axis wind turbine (VAWT) system that combines drag and lift-based design together, and incor-
porates an S-type Savonius rotor and three Darrieus airfoil blades to maximize the output perfor-
mance. The vertical load floats on a magnetic field minimizing drag resistance, increases its per-
formance, isolating the mechanical rotation vibration into the construction frame. Simply explaining,
this type of wind turbine combines two types of blades, the S-shaped Savonius-vanes and the
curved aerofoils Darrieus-Blades.

Since a unique Darrieus Wind Turbine may not be able to start without an initial net rotational force,
the Savonius-Vanes are added to make the turbine self-starting. However, most the time this system
is chosen whenever low costs are much more important than efficiency. Combination of Savonius
and Darrieus type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) rotors possess many advantages over other
individual designs, like low starting torque, high power coefficient, low cut-in wind speed, etc.

In low winds the blades are pitched flat against the wind generating drag forces to start the turbine
turning. As the rotational speed increases the blades are pitched, so that the wind flows across the
aerofoils generating lift forces and accelerating the turbine. This mixture of drag and lift (Savonius
and Darrieus) makes for an efficient VAWT design, but it may be heavy, and expensive to build.

This unique aesthetically pleasing wind generator provides excellent performance, as it operates on
winds coming from any direction, with a low rpm, which makes it very quiet. The included controller
also accepts solar PV input making it easy to expand the renewable energy system. This type of
wind turbine can be used in many different ways, since as a small device in a private garden, up to a
larger systems to generate electricity for higher demands, as it is omnidirectional and does not need
special yaw mechanisms to rotate itself towards the wind direction.

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4. Giromill: Is a subtype of Darrieus turbine with straight vertical blade sections, as opposed to
curved, blades, attached to the central tower with horizontal supports. The giromill was also included
in Darrieus's 1927 patent for vertical aerofoil wind turbines, which uses vertical blades change their
orientation whilst the rotation of the rotor occurs for a greater use of the force of the wind. Simply
describing, the giromill is typically powered by two or three vertical aerofoils attached to a central
mast by horizontal supports. Straight, V, or curved blades may be used.

While it is cheaper and easier to build than a standard Darrieus turbine, it is not so efficient, and re-
quires strong winds (or a motor) to get it to start rotating. The Giromill can also sometimes struggle
to maintain a steady rate of rotation. The cycle-turbine variety has variable pitch to reduce the
torque pulsation and is self-starting. The advantages of variable pitch are: high starting torque; a
wide, relatively flat torque curve; a higher coefficient of performance; more efficient operation in tur-
bulent winds; and a lower blade speed ratio which lowers blade bending stresses.

Giromills can work well in turbulent wind conditions and are an affordable option, where a standard
horizontal axis windmill type turbine could be unsuitable. Development is actually starting with new
Giromills, which also take advantage of modern ultra- strong aluminum and other light materials to
produce turbine blades robust enough to cope with the stresses of the rotor.

5. Cycloturbine: Is a useful variant of the giromill, which uses a vane to mechanically orient the
pitch of the blades for maximum efficiency. The cycloturbine is a vertical-axis, straight bladed, wind-
driven turbine with three cyclically pitched blades. Due to its unique configuration, aerodynamic per-
formance models are also used for classical horizontal-axis windmills and for vertical-axis. This
gives the cycloturbine the advantage over other Darrieus wind turbines of self-starting.

The Pinson Cycloturbine has been credited to be developed by Herman Drees one of the American
wind energy’s pioneers in the 1970s. He was one of the hardy band of small inventors who devel-
oped a slew of wind turbine models between the first and second oil embargo. Drees was a Dutch
national, who was believed to be a student at MIT.

In cycloturbines, the blades are pitched flat against the wind direction, to generate the drag forces
that let the turbine start turning. As the rotational speed increases, the blades are pitched, the way
the wind can flow across the aerofoils generating the lift forces and accelerating the turbine. The

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main advantage of this design is that the torque generated remains almost constant over a wide an-
gle, over this range of angles the torque is near the maximum possible value and so the system can
generate more power.

Compared with the other Darrieus wind turbines, the Pinson Cycloturbine shows the advantage of a
self-starting in low wind conditions. The system efficiency is found to be the lowest in the case of the
operation at constant angular speed and the highest in the case of the operation at constant tip
speed ratio. An experimental verification of the theoretical predictions was done with the data col-
lected on a 3.65m x 2.4m Pinson Cycloturbine installed in Harford, New York.

6. Helical Blades: Other special types of Darrieus turbine are the “type H” and the “helical blades”,
in the same principle as the original Darrieus to capture wind energy with 2 or 3 straight blades indi-
vidually connected to a vertical axis instead of curved blades. These types are theoretically as effi-
cient as the type of curved propellers if the wind speed is constant, but in practice this efficiency is
rarely achieved due to physical tensions and limitations imposed by a practical design and variation
in wind speed.

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7. Vortexis: However, the most recent advancement in Vertical Axis Wind Turbines is the Vortexis
VAWT, utilizing a pre-swirled augmented vertical axis wind turbine (PA-VAWT). This design is com-
posed of a concentric stator and a rotor, located in the inner region of the turbine, driven to spin by
the wind flow from the stator around the center of the turbine. There are two end plates on the top
and bottom of the turbine to reduce energy loss due to tip vortices.

The stator surrounds the rotor in the outer region of the turbine, turns and accelerates the free-
stream flow before it strikes the rotor. The rotated rotor is connected to the end plate at the bottom,
which drives a shaft and a generator to output electric power. There is no a specific shaft in the cen-
ter of the rotor to reduce energy loss, due to jet interaction with the shaft.

Created somewhere around 2008 and 2010, and accepting patent endorsement in 2015, Vortexis is
a vertical hub wind turbine shaped from a concentric plan of a stator edges to give liquid stream and
increasing speed into a course of rotatable sharp edges fixed on a generator, for improving the elec-
trical force. The edges of the stator are kept in a stable position by using an upper and lower plate.
The edges of the rotor incorporate the upper and lower plate, the upper plate being attached to the
upper plate of the rotor and the lower plate of the rotor being attached to a generator.

8. Vortex Bladeless: Is the latest of a radically different type of wind turbine: a bladeless rotor that
oscillates or vibrates. The Spanish company “Vortex Bladeless” has developed a bladeless wind ro-
tor that harnesses the vortex, as well as the spinning motion of air and other fluids. When wind
passes one of the cylindrical turbines, it shears off the downwind side of the cylinder in a spinning
whirlpool or vortex. That vortex then exerts force on the main cylinder, causing it to vibrate. The ki-
netic energy of the oscillating cylinder is converted to electricity through a linear generator
similar to those used to harness the sea wave energy.

David Yáñez, one of the company’s cofounders, first came across the concept as a student, when
researched the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington, and saw it as different les-
son. “This is a very good way to transmit energy from a fluid to a structure”. Vortex’s lightweight cyl-
inder design has no gears or bearings. Yáñez says it will generate electricity for 40 percent less

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than the cost of power from conventional wind turbines, and his company plans to release a 4 kW
system in 2016 and a much larger 1 MW device around 2018.

The Vortex turbine sounds promising, but like any radical new alternative energy design, bladeless
turbines have plenty of skeptics. As Vortex builds bigger devices that catch higher-speed winds fur-
ther from the ground, it will also run up against other challenges inherent to the physics of fluid m e-
chanics. Increasing the diameter of the cylinder and the speed at which the air flows across, the flow
becomes turbulent, producing chaotic eddies or vortices. The turbulent flow causes the oscillating
frequency of the cylinder to vary, making it difficult to optimize for energy production.

Oscillating cylinders are just one of several emerging technologies aimed at harvesting more of the
wind for less. The Makani Power Co. is also developing a “tethered energy kite”. It flies in a large
circle similar to the tip of a conventional turbine blade, while harnessing wind power via smaller
onboard turbines. Astro Teller, head of Google’s semi-secret research facility that acquired the
Makani in 2013, said the company would soon begin tests of a full-scale, 600-kilowatt kite.

9. Tree-Shaped Wind Turbines: A French Company called New Wind, installed tree-shaped wind
turbines at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. The company’s founder, Jérôme Michaud-
Larivière came up with the idea while in a Paris square, when he “saw the leaves tremble when
there was not a breath of air”. He hopes the trees can be used to exploit small air currents flowing
along buildings and streets, and could eventually be installed in people’s yards and urban centers.

The idea, created in 2014, is simple and takes advantage of wind currents at tree-level in urban ar-
eas. In urban areas, there’s not only a different requirement for design due to space restrictions, but
wind flow is also different. So despite the fact that the trees are not as efficient as large wind tur-
bines in non-urban areas, these tree wind turbines are designed for cities and the small air currents
that flow around buildings, alley ways and streets.

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The trees, outside of the Climate Generation zone, are made of 72 leaf-shaped mini-turbines in the
form of a tree. The mini-turbines use tiny blades inside to generate power from air currents in an ur-
ban environment. The company believes these wind trees, will blend in better to the environment,
which is one of the main debates about wind energy and urban wind turbines. The company plans
to have products ready for market from 2016.

10. Wind Turbine with Horizontally Pivoted Blades: This new wind turbine functions just like a
Ferris Wheel, with the blades orbiting in an epicyclical path around the central shaft, whose inventor
was said to be Leelananda Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka. This lateral axis wind turbine differ from hori-
zontal axis wind turbines and vertical axis wind turbines, due to having a central shaft mounted hori-
zontally, on upright supports while turbine blades spin on extended arms around the central shaft.

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This invention comprises of a pair of oppositely placed roller bearings fitted on the central shaft, as
the turbine blades, as plane plates, are pivoted between each extended pair of arms, having the
freedom to swing around their own axes and around the common axis of the central shaft. This de-
sign doesn't involve complicated manufacture. Therefore it can be fabricated with scraps and locally
available materials, and also can be turned by rainfall and snowfall, as well.

This wind turbine design could potentially generate 20 Megawatts in commercial scale, which could
have practical applications for rural areas to power small farming operations, and water pumps. Ac-
cording to the rotor layout, is categorized as a horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) and vertical-
axis wind turbines (VAWT). The yaw system can be aligned to the wind turbine in parallel with the
wind direction, and different control strategies may be applied for a yaw control system, using the
wind force to turn the rotor.

11. VisionAIR5 Wind Turbines: The 126 year old Eiffel Tower is going green. A pair of camou-
flaged VisionAIR5 wind turbines was installed inside a structure on the second floor, expected to
generate 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year. That’s enough to power the tower’s entire
first floor; including history exhibits, souvenir shops and restaurants. The sleek, silent and durable
turbines are expected to last 20 years. In an effort to reduce the environmental im pact of the tower,
they will also be installing a rainwater collection system, LED lighting, and solar panels.

According to the manufacturer, UGE New York (formerly Urban Green Energy), the VisionAIR5 is a
vertical axis wind turbine, which is more quiet than a human whisper, and can be mounted almost
anywhere. This package is designed for off-grid use to charge a battery bank. The VisionAIR5 was
designed to power an average American home when the average wind speed is just over 10 mph
(16 km/h). Grid-tie functionality means that when you generate extra electricity it is sold to your utility
company; when your wind turbine isn't producing enough electricity the grid will automatically pro-
vide the required electricity. Using multiple wind turbines will provide even more power.

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The assembly includes a 48 VDC charge controller and 10 meter (30 foot) tower, anchor bolts &
templates. This wind turbine company appeared in 2012, when it teamed with GE to launch “Sanya
Skypump”, the world’s first EV (Electric Vehicles) charging station powered directly by a wind tur-
bine. Now the company is back with the launch of VisionAIR3, a high efficiency version of the com-
pany’s earlier micro vertical axis wind turbine model, far more compact than the familiar horizontal
axis wind turbines. This stunning assembly can frame the tops of buildings, sports stadiums, and
smaller structures.

12. Ogin Turbine: Is a development of a novel compact jet-engine inspired wind turbine that is 3
to 4 times more efficient and significantly cheaper to produce wind power energy than existing tur-
bines. Originally it was FloDesign, a smaller, more efficient wind turbine that can go where large tur-
bines can’t, then, enabling wind energy developers to bring clean energy production closer to con-
sumers. The Ogin Turbine also dramatically improves efficiency and power output with its unique
shroud and vortex technologies. The modular and off-site sub-assembly simplifies assembly, and
speed the on-site construction.

Wind arrays can be connected directly to local distribution grids, without the need for new long-
distance transmission infrastructure. Ogin offers a revolutionary approach to harnessing wind ener-
gy that captures utility-scale turbine economics in smaller-scale projects with a low-profile, compact
and quiet design. The result: the most common siting obstacles are reduced or eliminated. There’s
more reason than ever to embrace clean, local energy to power your community’s future.

13. Energy Kite: Is a new type of wind turbine, designed to generate more energy using 90% less
materials. “The Makani’s energy kite uses the same aerodynamic principles as a conventional wind
turbine, but replaces tons of steel with lightweight electronics, advanced materials, and smart soft-
ware”. The kite is launched from a ground station using propellers, as helicopter blades, until it
reaches 800ft above ground.

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Once airborne, the system generates power by flying in large circles up high where the wind is
stronger and more consistent. The propellers mounted on the kite wings drive generators that pro-
duce electricity. A strong conductive tether acts like the string of a kite and also carries energy back
to the grid. The kite’s flight path is guided by a flight computer, which uses GPS and sensors to
make thousands of calculations and adjustments in strong and steady winds.

IV. WIND POWER BLADE DESIGN:

Wind turbine design is the engineering process of defining the blades form and specifications of
a wind turbine to extract energy from the wind. A wind turbine installation consists of the necessary
systems needed to capture the wind's energy, point the turbine into the wind, convert mechanical
rotation into electrical power, and other systems to start, stop, and control the turbine. The consider-
ations here only cover the design of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) since the majority of
commercial turbines use this design.

In 1919 the German physicist Albert Betz showed that for a hypothetical ideal wind-energy extrac-
tion machine, the fundamental laws of conservation of mass and energy is allowed no more than
16/27 (59.3%) of the kinetic energy of the wind to be captured. This was called as Betz' law limit that
can be approached by modern turbine designs, which may reach 70 to 80% of this theoretical limit.
Shape and dimensions of the blades of the wind turbines are determined by the aerodynamic per-
formance required to efficiently extract energy from the wind, and by the strength required to resist
the forces on the blade.

The blades speed at which wind turbines rotate must be controlled for efficient power generation
and to keep the turbine components within designed speed and torque limits. The centrifugal force
on the spinning blades increases as the square of the rotation speed, which makes this structure
sensitive to overspeed. Because the power of the wind increases as the cube of the wind speed,
turbines have to be built to resist much higher wind loads (such as gusts of wind), than those from
which they can practically generate power.

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Fortunately, wind turbines also have ways of reducing torque in high winds. A wind turbine is de-
signed to produce power over a range of wind speeds. All wind turbines are designed for a maxi-
mum wind speed, called the resistance speed, above which they will be damaged. The resistance
speed of commercial wind turbines is in the range of 40 m/s (144 km/h, 89 MPH) to 72 m/s
(259 km/h, 161 MPH). The most common resistance speed is 60 m/s (216 km/h, 134 MPH).

Blade Aerodynamics: The aerodynamic design of the blades, for a complete wind power system
must also address design of the hub, controls, generator, supporting structure and foundation. The
blade aerodynamics of a horizontal-axis wind turbine is not straightforward. The air flowing at the
blades is not the same as the airflow far away from the turbine. The common nature of the way in
which energy is extracted, also causes the wind to be deflected by the turbine. In addition the aero-
dynamics of a wind turbine rotor surface, exhibit phenomena that are rarely seen in other aerody-
namic fields.

Wind rotor profile

Wind turbine blades are very similar to airplane wings. The aerodynamic design of a wind turbine
blade defines its width, thickness, direction and profile. By moving air across an airfoil surface, the
wind speed is higher across the curved surface, and lower across the flat surface. Adjusting the an-
gle of attack a blade is attached at can optimize the distance the air travels across the blade without
causing what is known as stall. The stall occurs when the lift induced drag caused by turbulence ex-
ceeds the lift created by the airflow. The purpose is to optimize performance while minimizing loads.

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The side of the blade across where the wind moves slower is the pressure side, and this is usually
the flatter side of the blade. The side of the blade across where the wind moves quickly is the suc-
tion side, and this is the more curved portion of the blade. Bernoulli’s principle says that a faster
moving air has its air molecules spread further apart, causing lower air pressure, while a slower air
has its molecules closer together and higher pressure. This difference in high and low pressure
against the blade is what causes it to rotate.

As the blades rotate, the air flow across them becomes a combination of the wind air flow coming
into the blades, and the air moving across the blade causing its rotational speed. For example, take
a blade with a 10 m length rotating at 100 RPM. The tip of the blade travels a distance of 2 x π x r =
62.8 meters per revolution. At 100 RPM, will become 6,280 meters per minute, or 376 km/h, about
100 meters per second. If the wind hitting the blade is coming in at 10 meters per second, it is only
hitting the blade at roughly 10%.

There is a significant drag in the motion of air across the blade as compared to the air rotating the
blade. This is why blades are pitched with a twist. At the inside of the blade, near the rotor, say 1
meter from the hub, the rotational motion at 100 RPM is around 628 meters per minute (about 10
meters per second). Thus, the wind speed about equal to the rotational velocity at that section of
blade, with an angle of attack near 45 degrees, could give the blade its best lift characteristics.

Then, around half way down the blade, the rotational velocity is 3,000 meters per minute (50 m/s)
about 5 times the wind speed, so the blade is twisted to look flatter toward the oncoming wind and
more into the air movement caused by rotation, somewhere over 80 degrees. Anyway, at the tip of
the blade, the rotational air flow is 10 times the wind speed, so the blade will be very near 90 de-
grees from the wind direction (look almost flat when face-on), minimizing the drag encountered by
the rotating blade.

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As the blades rotate faster due to higher wind conditions, the specific twist and angle of the blade
can cause a condition known as “stall”. Thus, the “Stall Profile” blades are designed above a certain
air speed turbulence, which may start on the suction side of the blade, increasing the air pressure
on that side of the blade causing it to lose that pressure differential that causes rotation. This, in
turn, slows the blade back to near its stall speed.

Every blade is manufactured with an optimal wind speed and rotational speed profile that impact the
point, at which the blade makes its peak amount of rotational torque, as well as, the maximum
speed that the blade can be rotated. The formula for power (in kW) is:

Power (kW) = Torque (Nm) x 2 x π x Speed (RPM) / 60,000 =

So, for example a 20 kW wind turbine, designed to rotate at a speed of 100 RPM, the required
torque of the blade at 100 RPM would be:

Torque (Nm) = (Power x 60,000) / (Speed x 2 x π) = (20 x 60,000) / 628 = 1900 Nm.

The best designed blade is able to give the maximal torque and speed across a wide variety of wind
speeds, and in small wind turbine systems, most blades provide almost no torque at all. Considering
a wind speed around 3 m/s (about 10 km/h or 6 mph), the torque grows exponentially, until it reach-
es its maximum value. Under 12 m/s (about 40 km/h or 25 mph), at this point, the torque and speed
remain constant, until the wind speed starts to exceed the design capacity of the wind turbine. Then,
the system either needs to apply a dynamic braking or be prevented from the strong wind, to avoid
damages to the blades, the generator, and the electrical systems.

Tip Speed Ratio (TSR): The fewer the number of blades, the faster the wind turbine rotor needs to
turn to extract maximum power from the wind. The airflow direction for a wind turbine is a vector
sum of the wind and the relative wind caused by the rotation of the blade through the air. This effect
described using the Tip-Speed-Ratio (TSR), is a concept used by wind turbine designers to optimize
a blade set to the shaft speed, required for a particular grid system. The tip speed ratio is given by:

TSR = Ω.R/V =

Where Ω is the angular velocity of the rotor, R is the distance between the axis of rotation and the
tip of the blade, and V is the wind speed. A well designed typical three-bladed rotor would have a tip
speed ratio of around 6 to 7. There are several ways to deal with this, including variable pitch oper-
ation (rotating the entire blade along its axis as the wind speed varies) or variable rotation speeds.

In order to produce lift, an airfoil shape must be oriented so that its rounded leading edge is fac-
ing approximately into the airflow direction. The blade experiences a relative wind velocity that is a
vector sum of the actual wind speed (V) and the speed caused by the rotation of the rotor (Ω),
where Ω is the rotational speed and R is the distance from the rotation axis. The speed of a rotat-
ing blade changes from the center to the tip, and makes an angle, where the airflow varies
along the blade. To account for this, the rotor blades must be twisted.

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Researchers at Purdue University and Sandia National Labs have developed a new way of monitor-
ing forces on the blades of wind turbines, with the real-time force data adjusting the blade pitch (how
much the blades are angled into the wind) and using a generator in the most efficient way for current
wind conditions, which can make a big difference in power production. It´s known that electric gen-
erators vary in efficiency depending on how fast and how hard the input shaft is turning (torque is a
measure of how hard something is being twisted).

The blade, like the wing of an airplane flying at 154 mph, feels a strong lift and a strong force to the
left (toward the nacelle). The direction of the lift forces is 90 degrees to the incoming airstream.
However, the lift force vector on the blade is not exactly at 90 degrees left (toward nacelle), but ro-
tated slightly forward at more or less 82 degrees.

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Most of the lift force just deflects the blades a little toward the nacelle, but there is a component of
the lift force pointing in the direction of the blade travel, and this is the power term. The hurricane
force winds (7 x 22 mph = 154 mph) come directly and strongly. When winds calms down and start
to blow again at 10 m/sec, the wind direction shifts, from about 8 degrees to right [tan (1/7) = 8.1
degree]. As the 154 mph 8 degree wind comes, the airstream hits the bottom (outside) of the blade,
some air at higher velocity speeds over the top (inside) of the blade.

Note: At the tip, the blade is almost perpendicular to the wind, due to the high speed caused by ro-
tation, and near the hub (or center of the blade), the orientated forces are more towards the wind, as
the rotation speed is less.

This same turbulence effect also limits the possible rotor speeds, because high speed blades do not
provide enough time for the airflow to settle, after the passage of a blade, before the next blade
comes along. There is also a lower limit to both the number of blades and the rotor speed. With too
few rotor blades, or a slow turning rotor, most of the wind will pass undisturbed through the gap be-
tween the blades reducing the potential for capturing the wind energy.

The power output from commercially available domestic wind turbines is usually specified at a
steady wind speed of 12.5 m/s. (Force 6 on the Beaufort scale corresponding to a strong breeze).
However, in many locations, particularly urban installations, the prevailing wind will rarely reach this
speed. Modern, high capacity wind turbines, such as those used by the electricity utilities in the elec-
tricity grid, typically have blades with a cross section similar to the airfoils used to provide the lift in
aircraft wings, as shown below:

Large rotor blades are necessary to intercept the maximum air stream, but these also give rise to
very high tip speeds. The blade tip speeds must be limited, mainly because of unacceptable noise
levels, resulting in very low rotation speeds, which may be as low as 10 to 20 rpm for large wind
turbines. The operating speed of the generator is much higher, typically 1200 rpm, determined by
the number of its magnetic pole pairs, and the frequency of the grid electrical supply.

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Most modern wind turbines use a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) perpendicular to the flow of
the wind to capture the maximum energy. This shaft is connected to a gearbox or transmission, and
the gearbox is placed between the “wind shaft” (the axle to which the blades are affixed) and the
electrical generator to ensure that the generator turns at an optimal speed in order to produce elec-
tricity suitable for the electric grid, typically in the 1,200–1,800 rpm range.

The direction of the apparent wind that is the incident wind, relative to the chord line of the airfoil is
known as the angle of attack. Just as with aircraft wings, the lift resulting from the incident wind
force increases as the angle of attack increases from 0 to a maximum of about 15 degrees, at
which point the smooth laminar flow of the air over the blade ceases and the air flow over the blade
separates from the airfoil and becomes turbulent. Above this point the lift force deteriorates rapidly
while drag increases leading to a stall. See more about the angle of attack:

The tangential velocity S of any blade section at a distance R from the center of the rotation axis
(the root of the blade) is given by S = R. Ω, where Ω is the angular velocity of rotation in radians.
For a given wind speed the apparent wind will be different at the root of the blade, and at the tip of
the blade, because the rotational relative wind speed is different.

The number of blades in the turbine rotor and its rotational speed must be optimized to extract
the maximum energy from the available wind. While using rotors with multiple blades should capture
more wind energy, there is a practical limit to the number of blades that can be used, because
each blade of a spinning rotor leaves turbulence in its wake, and this reduces the amount of energy
that the following blade can extract from the wind.

The most important disadvantage of the horizontal wind turbine generator is that in order for the ro-
tor blades to rotate, the wind turbine body has to be continuously oriented into direction of the on-
coming wind. This “yaw” control is simple as the tail vane on small wind turbines, or more complex
motor control on modern towers.

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For a given speed of rotation, the tangential velocity of the blade sections increases along the length
of the blade towards the tip, so that the pitch of the blade must be twisted to maintain the same, op-
timum angle of attack at all sections along the length of the blade. The blade twist is thus optimized
for a given wind speed. As the wind speed changes, the twist will no longer be optimum. To retain
the optimum angle of attack, as wind speed increases a fixed pitch blade is necessary, to increase
the rotational speed, otherwise, fixed speed rotors, and variable pitch blades must be used.

Lift-Force in Wind Blades: More energy can be extracted from wind using lift rather than drag, but
this requires specially shaped airfoil surfaces, like those used on airplane wings. The airfoil shape is
designed to create a differential pressure between the upper and lower surfaces, leading to a net
force in the direction perpendicular to the wind direction. Rotors of this type must be carefully orient-
ed (the orientation is referred to as the rotor pitch), to maintain their ability to harness the power of
the wind as wind speed changes.

Blade Manufacturing Materials: Currently the wind turbine blades are mainly made of composite
materials. These blades are usually made of a polyester resin, a vinyl resin, an epoxy thermosetting
matrix resin, E-glass fibers, S- glass fibers and Carbon Fiber Reinforced materials. Construction
may use manual layup techniques or composite resin injection molding. As the price of glass fibers
is only about one tenth the price of carbon fiber, glass fiber is still dominant.

Then, the majority of current commercialized wind turbine blades are made from Fiber-Reinforced
Polymers (FRP’s), which are composites consisting of a polymer matrix and fibers. The long fibers
provide longitudinal stiffness and strength, and the matrix provides fracture toughness, delamination
strength, out-of-plane strength, and stiffness. Material indices based on maximizing power efficien-
cy, and having high fracture toughness, fatigue resistance, and thermal stability, have been shown
to be highest for glass and Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced-Plastics (GFRP’s and CFRPs).

Manufacturing blades with 40 to 50 m ranges involve proven fiberglass composite fabrication tech-
niques. Manufacturers, such as Nordex SE and GE Wind, use an infusion process. Other manufac-
turers use several variations on their techniques, including carbon and wood with fibreglass in
an epoxy matrix. Other options include preimpregnated with fibreglass and vacuum-assisted resin
transfer molding. Each of these options use a glass-fiber reinforced polymer composite constructed

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with differing complexity. However, the largest more simplistic is the open-mold and wet systems, as
the emissions are associated with the volatile organics released.

Preimpregnated materials and resin infusion techniques avoid the release of volatiles excess by
containing all VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds). As the preform resin permeability dictates the
maximum laminate thickness, a bleeding is required to eliminate voids and ensure a proper resin
distribution. The solution to resin distribution is a partially preimpregnated fibreglass. The dry fabric
provides a path for airflow and, once heat and pressure are applied, resin may flow into the dry re-
gion resulting in a thoroughly impregnated laminate structure.

Nevertheless, epoxy-based composites have environmental, cost advantages and production, over
other resin systems, as epoxies allow shorter cure cycles, increased durability, and improved sur-
face finish. Pre-impregnated operations reduce processing time over wet lay-up systems. As turbine
blades pass 60 meters, infusion techniques become more prevalent; the traditional resin transfer
molding injection time is too long as compared to the resin set-up time, limiting laminate thickness.

Carbon Fiber-Reinforced load-bearing spars can reduce weight and increase stiffness. Using car-
bon fibers in 60 metre turbine blades is estimated to reduce total blade mass by 38% and decrease
cost by 14% compared to 100% fiberglass. Carbon fibers have the added benefit of reducing the
thickness of fiberglass laminate sections, further addressing the problems associated with resin wet-
ting of thick lay-up sections. Wind turbines may also benefit from the general trend of increasing use
and decreasing cost of carbon fiber materials.

Vacuum resin infusion is probably the most dominant processing method for manufacturing wind
turbine blades. A vacuum is typically used to draw the mixed material into the mold. The system
feeds the vacuum draw with mixed material. During the vacuum-assisted designated as RTM pro-
cess (Resin Transfer Molding), fiber reinforcements are placed into a mold, formed into shape, and
resins are then applied to the fibers.

The infusion consists of a migration of the resin onto fibers also called an infusion mesh. The fibers
are sandwiched between two plastic layers. A vacuum pump is used to evacuate the space in be-
tween the layers and to help resin migrate though the fibers. The last step of blade production is to
connect the two halves of the blades. For long blades, manufacturers use molds equipped with hy-
draulic jacks. The final assembly and baking is done with a pressure of approximately 10 mbar.

Although glass and carbon fibers have many optimal qualities for turbine blade performance, there
are several downsides to these current fillers, including the fact that high filler fraction (10-70 wt %)
causes increased density, as well as, microscopic defects and voids that often lead to premature

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failure. Since the greatest number of blades is formed from fiberglass, the manufacture of fiberglass
is a painstaking operation, as shown below.

First, a mold that is in two halves like a clam shell, yet shaped like a blade, is prepared. Next, a fi-
berglass-resin composite mixture is applied to the inner surfaces of the mold, which is then closed.
The fiberglass mixture must then dry for several hours; while it does, an air-filled bladder within the
mold helps the blade keep its shape.

After the fiberglass is dry, the mold is then opened and the bladder is removed. Final preparation of
the blade involves cleaning, sanding, sealing the two halves, and painting. The blades are usually
bolted onto the nacelle after it has been placed onto the tower. Because assembly is easier to ac-
complish on the ground, occasionally a three-pronged blade has two blades bolted onto the nacelle
before it is lifted, and the third blade is bolted on after the nacelle is in place.

One of the predominant ways wind turbines have gain performance is by increasing rotor diame-
ters, and thus blade length. However, longer blades place more demands on the strength and stiff-
ness of the materials. Since stiffness is especially important to avoid having blades too much flexi-
ble, to the necessary design performance of the wind turbine, thus, carbon fibers are becoming
more common in wind turbine blades, as these materials are 4 to 6 times stiffer than glass fiber.

Recent developments include interest in using Carbon Nanotubes (CNT’s) to reinforce polymer-
based nanocomposites, and Carbon Nanofibers (CNF’s) in the blade coatings. Using nanoscale
CNT’s as filler instead of traditional microscale filler (such as glass or carbon fibers) results in
CNT/polymer nanocomposites, where the properties can be changed significantly at very low filler
contents (typically < 5 wt%).

CNT’s also have very low density, and improve the elastic modulus, strength, and fracture tough-
ness of the polymer matrix. Further development of glass fiber with CNF on the composite surface
greatly improves erosion resistance. According to experiences, CNF’s also provide good electrical
conductivity (important for lightning strikes), high damping ratio, and good impact-friction resistance.

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V. TYPES OF WIND TURBINES & GENERATORS:

Generator is a machine that converts the mechanical energy from its rotating rotor shaft to electrical
power, which can be used locally, or sent into the electrical grid (the system that interconnects pow-
er plants, electrical distribution networks, and electrical power users). Generators are used in all
electrical power plants, including coal and oil-fired plants. A generator can be thought of as an elec-
tric motor run in reverse; in fact, many motors can also be used as generators. Typical generators
operate with a rotation speed of 1000 to 3600 revolutions per minute (rpm).

These speeds are far too fast for a wind turbine for several reasons; such as excessive stress and
turbulence at high speeds, and the fact that the tip speed is limited by the speed of sound (340 m/s)
due to both excessive drag and noise, caused by shock wave formation. The gear box solves the
problem; by converting the low speed rotation of the wind turbine rotor (typically less than 100 rpm)
to the high rotations needed generate electricity by the generator. The electrical generator is cou-
pled with wind turbine; hence, it is named as wind turbine generator.

There are different types of wind turbine generators and these wind turbine generators can be di-
rectly connected to the power grid or loads or batteries based on different criteria. In general, there
are of four types:

Squirrel cage induction generator, directly connected to the power grid or to feed AC loads or
DC loads using appropriate converters.
Generator along with an AC to DC to AC converter is connected to power grid.
Wound rotor induction generator, connected to power grid or batteries, whose speed can be
adjusted using rheostats for maintaining required outputs.
Double fed induction generator, which is connected to power grid whose speed can be con-
trolled using back-to-back converters.

Wind Turbine Types: Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups; the horizontal-axis variety,
like the traditional farm windmills used for pumping water, and the vertical-axis design, like the

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eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French inventor. Most large modern wind turbines
are horizontal-axis turbines. Horizontal turbine components include:

Blade or rotor, which converts energy of the wind in electric energy, through a generator;
Drive train, usually including a gearbox and a generator;
Tower that supports the nacelle, the rotor and the drive train;

Other equipment includes panel controls, electrical cables, ground support equipment, and inter-
connection accessories. A typical fixed speed system employs a rotor with three variable pitch
blades, which are controlled automatically to maintain a rotation speed for any wind speed. The ro-
tor drives a synchronous generator through a gear box, and the whole assembly is housed in a na-
celle on top of a rigid constructed tower, with massive foundations requiring hundreds of cubic me-
ters of reinforced concrete.

Consequently, a gearbox must be used to increase the shaft speed to drive the generator at the
fixed synchronous speed, corresponding to the correct grid frequency. A "synchronous generator" is
a device, whose electrical output frequency, is synchronized to its shaft speed. Generally, it is not
necessarily synchronized to the grid frequency, although that is usually, an extra objective, and ex-
ternal controls are necessary to achieve this assembly.

The generator torque in wind turbines is controlled by a frequency converter. The turbine rotor can
over speed in strong, gusty winds, and to reduce torque loads in the drive train, generally, the tur-
bines store energy in gusts by accelerating the rotor. The operating speed range is notably wider
than the slip range used by other wind generators, which can produce more heat rather than electric
power, when regulating power in strong, gusty winds.

Shaft and Gearbox: The shaft is connected to the rotor. When the rotor spins, the shaft spins as
well. In this way, the rotor transfers its mechanical, rotational energy to shaft which enters to an
electrical generator on the other end. The rotor turns the shaft at low speed, for example, 20 rpm

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but for generator to generate electricity we need higher speed. Gearbox increases the speed to
much higher value required by most generators to produce electricity. For example, if a gearbox has
a ratio of 1:80 and the coupled rotor speed is 15 rpm then gearbox will increase the speed to 15 ×
80 = 1200 rpm that is given to generator shaft.

Safety Brake: The safety brakes control blade overspeed, and also provide parking and emergency
braking. The brakes are mounted on the rotor (low-speed shaft) or on the generator high-speed
shaft, and in some cases on both shafts. The wind gear box braking system has an electromechan-
ical pitch control for each blade. The emergency braking requirements of a 1.5 MW wind turbine
under maximum wind conditions can be compared with a 40 ton mining truck, driving a fully loaded
truck down a steep gradient of 25% (1:4) at 85 mph, when the road sign warns of a cliff at a quarter
mile ahead. The braking system for the wind turbine is so demanding as this fact.

Small wind turbines are designed mostly for low and medium wind speeds. The dangerous wind
speeds from storms and hurricanes can damage or, even, destroy the rotor. To protect the rotor
from damage, wind speeds are monitored and decreased when wind speeds surpass the turbine’s
limits. Only when wind speeds are decreased will the rotor brake be released. Small wind turbines
are not grid-connected, as large wind turbines.

Yaw Braking: Is an effective means of smoothly controlling a wind turbine nacelle as it rotates “up
wind” or yaws, usually installed as safety brakes and operate by controlling the back pressure,
which in turn controls the degree of the spring force and therefore the braking torques. Under nor-
mal conditions, a horizontal axis wind turbine can be stopped by moving the blades out of the wind.
However, the mechanism that controls this action usually relies on electricity and would be inopera-
tive in the event of a power failure, but, a control system only mechanical can be cost-prohibitive.

Typically, there are four to eight yaw motors per turbine. An anemometer signals a change in
wind direction, which energizes the motor driving the gear ring on the yawing system. The motor is
de-energized by a further signal when the yaw mechanism reaches the optimum “up wind” position

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and the nacelle stops. The brakes usually are mounted on the back end of the drive motors, com-
monly positioned on the underside of the yaw gear ring.

Electrical Breaking: Braking of a small wind turbine can be done by controlling the energy from the
generator into a resistor bank, converting the kinetic energy of the turbine rotation into heat. How-
ever, cyclical braking can cause the blades to slow down, which increases the stalling effect, but re-
ducing the power efficiency of the blades. This way, the turbine's rotation can be kept at a safe
speed in faster winds, while maintaining the power output (nominal).

Mechanical Braking: A mechanical drum brake or disk brake is used to stop the turbine in an
emergency situation, such as strong winds or over speed. However, this brake is only a secondary
way to hold the turbine at rest for maintenance, with a rotor lock system as primary means. Such
brakes are usually applied only after the electromagnetic safety braking have reduced the turbine
speed, generally to 1 or 2 RPM, however, mechanical brakes can create an excess heat and even
fire, inside the nacelle, if used to stop the turbine from full speed. Mechanical brakes are driven by
hydraulic systems and are connected to the main control box.

Note: Actual rotor brakes provide high levels of reliability, easy electronic monitoring and maintenance. Models are offered
in a range of braking forces from 100 N to 1 MN, available in standard and floating models. Floating, single-sided brakes
are mounted on sliding bushings to save space on the installation.

Pitch Control Braking: Is generally used in large horizontal axis wind turbines to “pitch” or angle
their rotor blades for best efficiency. The general layout of an electric pitch drive includes: an elec-
tric motor, (ac, dc, or servo), a position sensor (encoder), and a power-off holding brake. The control
logic can release the brake, drives the motor, senses the position, stops the pitch operation, and
engages the brake to hold the blades in a predetermined position.

The motor drives a pitch ring gear for each blade, usually with a ratio in the range of 1,000:1. The
drive of the ring pitch gear must be very compact because the space is quite limited, to mount the
assembly on the conical nose of the nacelle. The brake must withstand a minimum of full speed dy-
namic stops (3,000 RPM at 135 Nm), for incorporation into the system. The estimated number of
emergency stops in a 20-year wind turbine life is generally set at between 500 and 1,000 stops, due
to the large forces of inertia.

Wind Turbine Hub: Is a device designed to change blade angles and/or interchange blade sets
quickly and easily. The blades are directly bolted to the hub and when they are unable to pitch, can
lead to an aerodynamic stall above certain winds speeds. In other more sophisticated designs, they
are bolted to the gear pitch mechanism, which adjusts their angle of attack according to the wind

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speed, to control their rotational speed. The pitch mechanism is itself bolted to the hub. The hub is
fixed to the rotor shaft which drives the generator directly or through a gearbox.

Capacity Factor: Electrical generating equipment is usually specified according to its rated capaci-
ty, which is normally the maximum power or energy output that can be generated in optimal condi-
tions. Since a wind turbine rarely works at its optimal capacity, the actual energy output over a year
will be much less than its rated capacity. Furthermore there will be often periods, when the wind tur-
bine cannot deliver any power at all. These facts may occur when there is insufficient wind to power
the turbine system, or other periods, when the wind turbine must be shut down, because the wind
speed is dangerously high and exceeds the system cut-out speed.

Electric Energy Generation: Wind power is produced by using wind blades and generators to har-
ness the kinetic energy of wind. It is gaining worldwide popularity, as a large scale energy source,
although it still only provides less than one percent of global energy consumption. The capacity fac-
tor is simply the wind turbine generator's actual energy output for a given period, divided by the the-
oretical energy output, if the machine had operated with its rated power for the same period.

Note: Typical capacity factors for wind turbines range from 0.25 to 0.30. Thus, a wind turbine rated
at 1.0 megawatt, will deliver on average only about 250 kilowatts of power. (For comparison, the
capacity factor of a thermal power generation is between 0.70 and 0.90).

Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG): Is a double fed induction generator with 3-phase wound
rotor and 3-phase wound stator, for a second excitation current input, through slip-rings to a wound
rotor, which permits greater control over the generator output. The basic grid connected as asyn-
chronous induction generator gets its excitation current from the grid through the stator windings,
and has limited control over its output voltage and frequency.

Due to the constant variation in wind speed, there is also a chance of getting the AC signal output
with varying frequency, what is desired. So, by varying the frequency of the input AC signal given to
the rotor windings, the AC output signal can be obtained with constant frequency. Grid side convert-

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ers are used for providing regulated DC voltage to charge batteries. The rotor side converter can be
used for providing controlled AC voltage to the rotor.

The DFIG technology is currently the preferred wind power generating technology. An AC current is
induced in the rotor windings, to a three phase AC signal fed to rotor windings, and due this me-
chanical force produced from wind energy, as the rotor starts rotation and produces a magnetic
field. The speed of the rotor and frequency of the AC signal applied to the rotor windings are propor-
tional to each other, which results in a constant magnetic flux passing through the stator windings.

The DFIG system consists of a 3 phase wound rotor generator, with its stator windings fed from the
grid, and its rotor windings fed via a back to back converter system, in a bidirectional feedback loop,
taking power either from the grid to the generator or from the generator to the grid, as shown below:

DFIG Control Frequency: The frequency of the rotor currents induced by transformer action from
the stator is the same as the slip frequency, and this is equivalent to the frequency error signal in the
feedback loop. The additional direct excitation of the rotor adds a second set of controlled currents
to the currents already induced in the rotor by transformer action from the stator.

These additional currents affect the rotation speed of the rotor in the same way as the stator in-
duced currents, producing an additional driving torque on the rotor, except that the additional rotor
currents are independent of the speed of the rotor. The frequency of the control current, supplied by
the MSC, can be precisely controlled to match and thus neutralize the slip frequency so that, with
zero slip, the generator rotates at the synchronous frequency determined by the grid.

The greater the slip, the greater the compensating frequency required. The control system has to
respond to both positive (motor) slip and negative (generator) slip. To increase the speed of a slow
running rotor, the phase sequence of the rotor windings is set, so that the rotor magnetic field is in
the same direction as the generator rotor producing negative slip, to counteract and thus neutralize
the rotor's positive slip.

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To reduce the rotor speed, the phase sequence of the rotor windings is set in opposite direction
from the generator's rotation, producing positive slip to counteract the rotor's negative slip. When
operating at synchronous speed the rotor current will be DC current and there will be no feed and no
power flow through the rotor.

DFIG Performance: The DFIG system provides a regulated power tied to the grid frequency and
voltage when driven by varying levels of torque from the rotating blades. The typical speed control
range is ± 30% of synchronous speed. For a greater speed control range it may be necessary to im-
plement separate pitch control on the wind turbine's rotor vanes. The generator power flow is shared
by the stator and the rotor with 70% or more coming from the stator.

The feedback loop only carries the slip power which is between 20% and 30% of the total. Because
of the reduced power flowing through the converters, compared with the inline control system de-
scribed above, the DFIG converters can be implemented with less expensive lower power compo-
nents. The DFIG system can produce up to twice the power of a similar sized singly fed system,
while incurring similar losses; however the losses in the electronic controls must be added to this.
Nevertheless the DFIG system efficiency is better that a singly fed system.

Machine Side Converter - MSC: This system carries current at slip frequency. It is a DC to AC in-
verter, which is used to provide variable AC voltage and frequency to the rotor to control the torque
and speed of the wind turbine. When the generator is running too slowly, its frequency will be too
low so that it is essentially motoring. The turbine side converter takes DC power from the DC link
and provides AC output power at the slip frequency to the rotor to eliminate its motoring slip, and
thus increase its speed.

If the rotor blades is running too fast causing the generator frequency to be too high, the MSC ex-
tracts AC power from the rotor, at the slip frequency causing it to slow down, reducing the genera-
tor slip, and converts the rotor output to DC passing it through the DC link to the GSC (Grid-Side
Converter) where it is converted to the electric voltage and frequency, and is inserted into the grid.

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VI. WIND TURBINE COMPONENTS:

The diagram below shows the main components of a horizontal axis wind turbine. The wind drives
a rotor, usually equipped with three blades (generally in fiberglass) connected to a horizontal-axis
shaft. The rotation is transferred via a gearbox, or directly to an electrical generator. The voltage of
the generated electricity is transformed into higher voltage and injected into the power grid.

1. Wind Direction: Blowing to the right and the nose of the wind turbine faces the wind.
2. Nose: Constructed with an aerodynamic design and faces the wind.
3. Blades: Attached to the nose and the rotor and begin to spin in ample wind speeds.
4. Main Turbine Shaft: Connects the spinning blades to the inner workings of the machine, spins
with the blades and transfers the rotational/mechanical energy to the electrical generator.
5. Brake: Installed to prevent mechanical failure from high wind and high rotational speeds, and can
also stop the turbine.
6. Gearbox: Used to increase the rotational speed of the turbine shaft, and transfers the rotational
energy to the high-speed turbine shaft and consequently to the generator.
7. High-Speed Turbine Shaft: Connects the gear box to the generator.
8. Turbine Generator: Converts the mechanical energy from the wind into electrical energy using
the rotating force transferred from the gears and turbine shaft.
9. Anemometer: Is a device that measures wind speeds, usually installed to instruct the controller
to stop or start the turbine in certain wind speed conditions.
10. Controller: Controls the undesired speed, with the anemometer that instructs the controller to
brake the rotating blades, and help start spinning the blades and rotor in low wind speeds.
11. Wind Vane: Is an instrument that measures the direction of the wind, very important for up-wind
turbines that need to be facing the wind in order to operate properly.
12. Yaw Drive: Is the mechanism that receives data from the wind vane and instructs the wind tur-
bine to rotate to be facing the wind.
13. Yaw Motor: Is the device that physically rotates the turbine, to face the direction of the wind, in-
structed by the yaw drive.

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14. Turbine Tower: Is a structural support system that holds the turbine, which also contains wiring
to a transformer or a battery, and further distribute usable electric power.
15. Nacelle: Generally a tubular steel structure, which keeps inside all the components, such as the
gearbox and the turbine generator.

Power Converter: As the wind is not always constant and the electrical potential generated from
generator is not constant, it is necessary a stable voltage to feed the grid. The power converter is an
electrical device that stabilizes and converts the DC output to AC output, transferred to the grid.

Turbine Controller: Turbine controller is a computer (PLC) that controls the entire turbine. It starts
and stops the turbine and runs self-diagnostic in case of any error in the turbine.

Power Output: As described before, in 1919, the German physicist Albert Betz discovered that no
wind turbine could physically capture more than 59.3% of the kinetic energy of the wind. A simple
way to explain this is that if a wind turbine ever captured 100% of the wind, there would be no wind
passing through the other side of the wind turbine blades.

Energy Production: If there is no wind passing the other side, then according to the physical law of
wind movement, there would be no room for any more wind to pass through the front of the wind
turbine, rendering the wind turbine useless. So, to calculate the wind power output or the amount
of wind electricity that is expected to be produced from a wind turbine, it is necessary a short list of
dependent variables. Recall that the power available in the wind can be expressed as:

P = k x Cp x 0.5A x ρ x V3 - or - P = 0.5A x ρ x V3 =

Cp - Turbine efficiency coefficient, maximum of 0.593;

ρ - Air density, measured in pounds/cubic foot;
A - Area of rotor blade, measured in square feet;
V - Wind speed, miles/hour;
k - Is a constant that equals 0.000133, which converts the answer into kilowatts;
Po - Power Output, the independent variable we wish to calculate, in kW.

Where ρ is the density of the air, A is the capture area, and V is the wind speed. The electrical pow-
er output from the generator is less than the power captured by the rotor, due to losses in both the
gear train and generator, then, the calculation is:

Po = Cp x ηa x ηb x (0,5A x ρ x V3) =

Where, ηa and ηb are efficiencies (power output over power input) for the gearbox and the genera-
tor, respectively. Gearbox efficiencies are typically 90 - 95%, while generator efficiencies range from
50% to better than 80% for a high quality, grid-connected model. The power output, Po, captured by
the wind turbine rotor, is some fraction of the available power, defined by the coefficient of perfor-
mance, Cp, which is essentially a type of power conversion efficiency:

Cp = Po/P =

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The maximum theoretical value of the coefficient of performance (Cp) is 0.593, a value deter-
mined by a fluid mechanics constraint known as the Betz Limit. Actual coefficients of performance
are less than this limit due to various aerodynamic and mechanical losses. For a given turbine de-
sign, Cp is a function of the Tip Speed Ratio (TSR), as shown before.

Note: The relationship of each variable from the equation and how it relates to how a wind turbine
works. The area of the rotor blade (A) has a direct positive relationship with power output, and wind
speed (V) has a positive cubic relationship with power output, as shown below.

Comparisons of the various wind turbine types in the graphic below, shows how inefficient the
drag-based Savonius turbine is compared to the lift-based turbines. The Darrieus turbines and the
HAWT have similar values of the maximum coefficient of performance, but the HAWT can operate
at much higher tips speed ratios (faster rotation speeds or lower wind speeds).

Generator Operating Principle: The feedback control system monitors the stator output voltage
and the frequency to provide error signals, if these are different from the grid standards. The fr e-
quency error is equal to the generator slip frequency and is equivalent to the difference between the
synchronous speed and the actual shaft speed of the machine. The excitation from the stator wind-
ings causes the generator to act in the same way as a basic squirrel cage or wound rotor generator.

Without the additional rotor excitation, the frequency of a slow running generator will be less than
the grid frequency which provides its excitation and its slip would be positive. In addition, if it was
running too fast, the frequency would be too high and its slip would be negative. The rotor absorbs
power from the grid to speed up and delivers power to the grid in order to slow down. When the m a-
chine is running synchronously the frequency of the combined stator and rotor excitation matches
the grid frequency, and as there is no slip, the machine will be synchronized with the grid.

Synchronous Generator with In-Line Frequency Control: This generator controls the turbine ro-
tation speed to obtain a fixed frequency synchronized with the grid; the rotor and turbine can run at
a variable speed corresponding to the prevailing wind conditions. This will produce a varying fre-
quency output from the generator synchronized with the drive shaft rotation speed.

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This output can be rectified in the generator side with an AC-DC-AC converter and the converted
back to AC in an inverter in grid side of the converter, which is synchronized with the grid frequency.
The grid side converter can also be used to provide a reactive power (VArs) to the grid for power
factor control and voltage regulation, by varying the firing angle of the thyristor switching in the in-
verter, and thus, the phase of the output current with respect to the voltage.

The range of the wind speeds over the system can be extended and mechanical safety controls can
be incorporated by means of an optional speed control system, based on a pitch control of the rotor
vanes, as used in the fixed speed system described above. The major drawback of this system is
that the electronic control circuits in the frequency converter must be dimensioned to carry the full
generator power. The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) overcomes this difficulty.

Variable Speed Wind Turbine Generators: A variable speed generator is better able to cope with
stormy wind conditions, as its rotor can speed up or slow down to absorb the forces, when bursts
of wind suddenly increase the torque on the system. The electronic control systems will keep the
generator's output frequency constant during these fluctuating wind conditions.

The generator output voltage is determined by the magnitude of the excitation current supplied to
the rotor, and this can be adjusted by means of the rotor input voltage provided by a MSC (Micro
Signal Conditioner). A Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) is used to generate the variable DC control
voltage necessary. The converter enables the excitation current to be regulated by the MSC, to neu-
tralize the voltage error signal, and thus obtain a constant bus voltage matched to the grid voltage.

Capacity Factor of a Wind Turbine: Is the total annual energy generated divided by the energy
that could be generated, if it were running continuously at rated capacity 24 h a day for 365 days.
For example, a 1.7 MW wind turbine operating in Boston with of 82 m, (shown below in a graphic) is
generating 3,800 MWh each year, enough energy to power approximately 350 homes. For this wind
turbine example, the capacity factor is found from:

3,800 MWh / (1.7 MW x 8760 hr) = 25%

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This value on the low end of the typical range of 25 to 40% is mainly because Boston is not as
windy as the locations typically chosen for wind farms. Specifically, the power at each wind speed is
multiplied by the number of hours per year that the wind blows at that speed, to estimate how much
energy is generated at each wind speed. This is then summed to get the annual energy generated.

Power Curve: The power curve for a wind turbine shows that the net power output is a function of
wind speed. A wind power plant or wind farm generally consists of one or multiple wind turbines,
which convert the kinetic energy from the wind into electricity. As shown below (for an 82 m diame-
ter wind turbine), these curves feature three key wind speeds:

1. Cut in wind speed: This is the wind speed at which the wind turbine will start generating
power— typical cut-in wind speeds are 3 to 5 m/s.
2. Nominal wind speed: This is the lowest speed at which the wind turbine reaches its nominal
power output. Above this speed, higher power outputs are possible, but the rotor is con-
trolled to maintain a constant power to limit loads and stresses on the blades.
3. Cut-out wind speed: This is the highest wind speed which the turbine will operate at. Above
this speed, the turbine is stopped to prevent damage to the blades.

Smaller wind turbines used for boats, caravans, or smaller systems generally produce around 250
watts to 100 kilowatts of wind electricity. Some of the biggest wind turbines in the world produce
around 7 megawatts of electricity. The amount of electricity that a wind turbine can generate de-
pends mostly on the size of the turbine, the area swept by the turbine blades, the air density, and
the wind speed. The overall design of the wind turbine is also crucial for how efficiently the blades
can capture the wind.

Note: For safety and efficiency reasons wind turbines are subject to operating limits depending on
the wind conditions and the system design. It´s known that not all of energy can be captured by a
wind turbine, due to physical limits (e.g., Betz limit) as well as, inefficiencies in the rotor, generator
and gearboxes.

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VII. WIND POWER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

In practical designs, inefficiencies in the design and frictional losses will reduce the power available
from the wind still further. Converting this wind power into electrical power also incurs losses of up to
10% in the drive train and the generator and another 10% in the inverter and cabling. Furthermore,
when the wind speed exceeds the rated wind speed, control systems limit the energy conversion in
order to protect the electric generator so that ultimately, the wind turbine will convert only about 30%
to 35% of the available wind energy into electrical energy.

According to a graphic example shown below, the wind speed at 10 meter high is 15 m/s. At 20
meter high, the wind speed is 17.2 m/s. There is 0.94 MW of power available, for 300 m² capture
area. At 60 meters high, the wind speed is about 25 % higher, and the power energy is almost
doubled, at 1.8 MW. (1 MW = 1 million Watts).

Conversion Efficiency: As described, the German aerodynamicist Albert Betz showed that a max-
imum of only 59.3% of the theoretical power can be extracted from the wind, no matter how good
the wind turbine is, otherwise the wind would stop when it hit the blades. He demonstrated mathe-
matically that the optimum power occurs when the rotor works with the wind speed by one third.

Cut-in Wind Speed: Is the minimum wind velocity, which no useful power output can be produced
from wind turbine, typically between 3 and 4 m/s (10 and 14 km/h, 7 and 9 mph).

Rated Wind Speed: The rated wind speed is generally about 15 m/s to 20 m/s (54 km/h, 34 mph -
72 km/h, 116 mph), which is about the double of the expected average speed of the wind. To keep
the turbine operating with wind speeds above the rated wind speed, control systems may be used to
vary the pitch of the turbine blades, reducing the rotation speed of the rotor and thus limiting the
mechanical power applied to the generator so that the electrical output remains constant.

This is the lowest wind velocity at which the turbine develops its full power, (also associated with
the Nameplate Capacity). Also corresponds to the maximum, safe electrical generating capacity

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which the associated electrical generator can handle, in other words the generator's rated electrical
power output.

Though the turbine works with winds speeds right up to the cut-out wind speed, its efficiency is au-
tomatically reduced at speeds above the rated speed, so that it captures less of the available wind
energy in order to protect the generator. It could be possible to use larger generators to extract full
power from the wind at speeds over the rated wind speed, but, this would not normally be economi-
cal, because of the lower frequency of occurrence of wind speeds above the rated wind speed.

Cut-out Wind Speed: A cut-out wind speed of 25 m/s (90 km/h, 56 mph) is typical for very large
turbines. The cut-out wind speed is specified to be as high possible, consistent with safety require-
ments, in order to capture as much as possible the available wind energy, over the full spectrum of
expected wind speeds.

It is the maximum safe working wind speed and the speed, at which the wind turbine is designed, to
be shut down by applying brakes to prevent damage to the system. In addition to electrical or m e-
chanical brakes, the turbine may be slowed down by stalling or furling.

Energy = Power X Time: Sometimes is necessary to weigh the probability of each wind speed with
the corresponding amount of energy. Experience shows that for a given height above ground, the
frequency at which the wind blows, with any particular speed, follows a Rayleigh Distribution. The
modal wind speed, which is the speed the wind most frequently blows, is less than the average wind
speed, which is the speed often quoted as representing the typical wind conditions.

For a given wind speed the wind energy density decreases with increases in altitude. However at
the same time the actual wind speeds tend to increase with height above ground level. Since the
wind energy is proportional to the cube of the wind speed, the net effect is that the wind energy
tends to increase with height above ground level. However, as the density of air decreases with
altitude, the wind energy density also decreases. By contrast, the available solar energy increases
with altitude, due to lower atmospheric absorption.

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A quantitative measure of the wind energy available at any location is called the Wind Power Densi-
ty (WPD). It is a calculation of the mean annual power available per square meter of swept area of a
turbine, and is tabulated for different heights above ground. Calculation of wind power densi-
ty includes the effect of wind velocity and air density.

Color-coded maps are prepared for a particular area described, for example, as "Mean Annual
Power Density at 50 Meters". In the United States, the results of the above calculation are included
in an index developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and referred to as "NREL
CLASS". The larger the WPD calculation, the higher it is rated by class.

Wind Speed Measurement: Though the force and power of the wind are difficult to quantify, vari-
ous scales and descriptions have been used to characterize its intensity. The Beaufort scale is one
of the measurements in common use. The lowest point (zero) on the Beaufort scale corresponds to
the calmest conditions, when the wind speed is null and smoke rises vertically. The highest point is
defined as force 12, when the wind speed is greater than 34 m/s (122 km/h, 76 mph), as occurs in
tropical cyclones when the countryside is devastated by hurricane conditions.

Wind measurement classes range from Class 1 (200 watts per square meter or less at 50 m alti-
tude) to Class 7 (800 to 2000 watts per square m). Commercial wind farms generally are sited in
Class 3 or higher areas, although isolated points in an otherwise Class 1 area may be practical to
exploit. Wind turbines are classified by the wind speed they are designed for, from class I to class
IV, with A or B referring to the turbulence.

Class Avg. Wind Speed (m/s) Turbulence

IA 10 18%
IB 10 16%
IIA 8.5 18%
IIB 8.5 16%
IIIA 7.5 18%
IIIB 7.5 16%
IVA 6 18%
IVB 6 16%

Wind Speed Distribution: When the wind is too weak, logically very little power is generated. But, if
it´s too strong, the large forces exerted may cause structural damage, so many turbines are shut
down during high winds. The variations in wind speed are often modeled statistically using the
Weibull curve, as shown below. In essence, for a given annual average wind speed, the Weibull
curve provides an estimate of how many hours per year the wind will be within a range of values.

In addition to day-to-day variability, winds are rarely steady. Instead, they are almost always gusting.
This turbulence leads to two problems: (1) the electrical power output of the generator will constantly

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vary, requiring proper conditioning; and (2) the continually changing forces on the blades results in
fatigue loading that is the main factor in how long a blade can be run before needing replacement.
This plot shows the expected number of hours per year that the wind speed will be at a certain value
(+- 0.25 m/s), for a site with a mean annual wind speed of 5.5 m/s (Boston area). As an example,
the wind speeds are 3.75 m/s to 4.25 m/s, at 600 hours/year. (Based on the Weibull distribution).

Care should be taken in calculating the amount of energy available from the wind as it is quite com-
mon to overestimate its potential. You cannot simply take the average of the wind speeds through-
out the year and use it to calculate the energy available from the wind because its speed is con-
stantly changing and its power is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.

Obs.: The histogram below shows the resulting distribution of the wind energy content superim-
posed on the Rayleigh wind speed distribution (above) which caused it. However, not all of this wind
energy can be captured by conventional wind turbines.

Because of the limitations of the generating system, and the upper speed limit at which the wind tur-
bine can safely be used, it may capture only half or less of the available wind energy. For a given
wind speed, the wind energy also depends on the elevation of the wind turbine above sea level, due

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the density of the air that decreases with altitude, as the wind energy is proportional to the air densi-
ty. This effect is shown in the below histogram:

High wind speeds causes high rotation speeds and high stresses in the wind turbine, resulting in se-
rious damage to the installation. To avoid dangerous conditions, wind turbines are usually designed
to cut-out at wind speeds of around 25 m/s either by braking or feathering the rotor blades, allowing
the wind to spill over the blades. Smaller domestic installations may have lower operating limits.

Obs: The peak of the wind energy generally occurs at wind speeds above the average wind speeds
as the total wind energy is proportional to the cube of its speed. Very little energy is available at low
speeds and most of this is needed to overcome the frictional losses in the wind turbine. Energy
generation typically does not work, until wind is blowing at speeds of at least 3 m/s to 5 m/s.

Wind Consistency: Small wind turbines generally operate between force 3 and force 7 in the
Beaufort scale. Then, considering a rated capacity defined as force 6, would get a wind speed of 12
m/s, however, below force 3 the wind turbine will not generate almost nothing, or any significant

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power. At force 3, wind speeds only range from 3.6 to 5.8 m/s (8 to 13 mph). Wind conditions are
described as "light" and leaves are in movement and flags begin to extend.

At force 7, wind speeds range from 14 to 17 m/s (32 to 39 mph). Wind conditions are described as
"strong" and whole trees are in motion. Nevertheless, with winds above force 7, small domestic wind
turbines, should be shut down to prevent damage. Large turbines used in the electricity grid are de-
signed to work with wind speeds of up to 25 m/s (90 km/h, 56 mph) which corresponds to between
force 9 (severe gale, 23 m/s) and force 10 (storm, 27 m/s) on the Beaufort Scale.

The wind power has the advantage of being normally available 24 hours per day, unlike solar power
which is only available during daylight hours, but, unfortunately, the availability of wind energy is
less predictable than solar energy. At least we know that the sun rises and sets every day. Never-
theless, based on data collected over many years, some predictions about the frequency of the wind
at various speeds, if not the timing, are possible.

Extreme Working Wind Speed: Is the maximum wind speed that a given wind turbine is designed
to withstand. The extreme speed of commercial wind turbines is in the range of 50 m/s (180 km/h -
112 mph) to 72 m/s (259 km/h - 161 mph). The most common survival speed is 60 m/s (216 km/h -
134 mph). However, the effective safe survival wind speed depends on local wind condition, which
is usually regulated by national safety standards.

Stalling: Is a self-correction or passive strategy, which can be used with fixed speed wind turbines.
As the wind speed increases, so does the wind angle of attack until it reaches its critical angle, at
the point where the "lift" force that is turning the blade is destroyed. However, increasing the angle
of attack also increases the effective cross section of the blade face-on to the wind, and thus the di-
rect wind force and the associated stress on the blades. A fully stalled turbine blade, when stopped,
has the flat side of the blade facing directly into the wind.

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Furling or Feathering: Is a technique derived from sailing, in which the pitch control of the blades is
used to decrease the angle of attack, and in turn reduces the "lift" on the blades, as well as, the ef-
fective cross section of the airfoil facing the wind. A fully furled turbine blade, when it is stopped, has
the edge of the blade facing the wind, reducing the wind force and stresses on the blade.

Yaw Control: Windmills can only extract the maximum power from the available wind when the
plane of rotation of the blades is perpendicular to the direction of the wind. To ensure this, the rotor
mount must be free to rotate on its vertical axis, and the installation must include some form of yaw
control to turn the rotor into the wind.

For small, lightweight installations, this is normally accomplished by adding a tail fin behind the rotor
in line with its axis. Any lateral component of the wind will tend to push the side of the tail fin, caus-
ing the rotor assembly to turn, until the fin is in line with the wind. When the rotor is facing the wind,
there will be no lateral force on the fin, and the rotor will remain in position.

Friction and inertia will tend to hold the tail fin in position, so that it does not follow small disturb-
ances. Large turbine installations have automatic control systems with wind sensors to monitor the
direction of the wind, and a powered mechanism to drive the rotor into its optimum position.

Rotor Blade Length: Three factors determine how much kinetic energy can be extracted from the
wind by a wind turbine: “the density of the air”, “the speed of the wind” and “the area of the rotor”.
The density of the air depends upon how far above sea level you are while the wind speed is con-
trolled by the weather. However, we can control the rotational area swept by the rotor blades by in-
creasing their length as the size of the rotor determines the amount of kinetic energy a wind turbine
is able to capture from the wind.

The rotor blades rotate around a central bearing forming a perfect circle of 360o as it rotates and as
we know from school, the area of a circle is given as, π x r2. Then, as the length of the blades are
increased the swept area of the rotor also increases, and the area it covers also increases with the
square of the radius. Thus, doubling the length of the turbines blades results in an increase of four
times its area; this also allows receiving four times of wind energy. However, this greatly increases
the size, weight and ultimately the cost of the wind turbine design.

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One important aspect of the blade length is the rotational tip-speed of the rotor resulting from the
angular velocity. The longer the turbine blade length, the faster the rotation of the tip, for given wind
speed. Likewise, for a rotor blade length, the higher the wind speed, the faster the rotation. The an-
swer is that, there is a point where the length of the rotor blades and the speed velocity of the wind
actually reduce the output efficiency of the turbine. This is why many larger wind turbine designs ro-
tate at much slower speeds.

Blade Efficiency: Is a function of how fast the rotor tip rotates for a given wind speed. The “Tip-
Speed Ratio” (TSR) is a dimensionless unit used as constant wind speed to tip ratio, which maxim-
izes the rotor efficiency. Therefore, the ratio between the speed of the rotating blade tip in RPM and
the wind speed in km/h (mph), in a good wind turbine design, will determine the rotor power for any
combination of wind and rotor speed.

The higher this ratio, the faster the wind turbine rotor rotates at a given wind speed. The speed of
the rotor shaft is given in revolutions per minute (RPM), but it also depends on the tip speed and the
diameter of the turbine blades. The rotation speed of a turbine is defined as:

RPM = Wind-speed x Tip-speed-ratio x 60 / (diameter x π) =

Turbine rotors with smaller blades achieve maximum efficiency with larger Tip-Speed Ratio, but
generally, three-blade wind turbine designs use a Tip-Speed Ratio between 6 and 8 for smoother
operation. On the other hand, wind turbines used for water pumping applications have a smaller
Tip-Speed Ratio, between 1.5 and 2, as they are specially designed for high torque generation at
low speeds.

When the rotor of a turbine turns very slowly, it allows a lot of wind to pass undisturbed and there-
fore does not extract as much energy as it could. On the other hand, if the rotor blade rotates very
quickly, the wind creates large amounts of drags and losses at the tip, slowing the rotor. Therefore,
it is important to combine the rotational speed of the turbine rotor with a certain wind speed so that
optimal efficiency is achieved

Rotor Blade Pitch/Angle: Fixed design wind turbine rotor blades are generally not straight or flat
like airplane aerofoil wings, but have a small twist and taper along their length from the tip to the root
to allow for the different rotational speeds along the blade. This twist allows for the blade to absorb
the winds energy, when the wind is coming from different tangential angles.

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The aerodynamic power produced by the wind turbine can be controlled by adjusting the pitch an-
gle of the wind turbine in relationship to the angle of attack of the wind, as each blade is rotated
about its longitudinal axis. Then rotor blades with pitch control can be flatter and straighter, but
generally larger blades have a similar twist in their geometry and much smaller, to optimize the tan-
gential loading on the rotor blade.

Each rotor blade has a rotational twist mechanism, either passive or dynamic built into the root of
the blade, producing a uniform incremental pitch control along its length (constant twist). The
amount of pitch required is only a few degrees as small changes in the pitch angle can have a dra-
matic effect on the power output, as we know that the energy contained in the wind is proportional to
the cube of the wind speed.

Therefore, to keep the rotor blade with an optimum angle of attack increasing lift and efficiency, wind
turbine blades are generally twisted throughout the length of the blade. Thus, this twist in the wind
turbine design keeps the rotor blades from spinning too fast in high wind speeds. However, for very
large-scale wind turbine designs used for electrical power generation, this twisting of the blades can
make their construction very complicated and expensive, so some other form of aerodynamic con-
trol is used to keep the blades angle of attack perfectly aligned with the wind direction.

One of the major advantages of rotor blade pitch control is the increase in the wind speed window. A
positive pitch angle produces a large starting torque as the rotor begins to turn decreasing its cut-in
wind speed. Likewise, in high wind speeds when the rotors maximum speed limit is reached, the
pitch can be controlled to keep the rotors rpm from exceeding its limit by reducing their efficiency
and angle of attack.

Power regulation of a wind turbine can be achieved by using pitch control on the rotor blades to ei-
ther reduce or increase the lift force on the blades by controlling the angle of attack. Smaller rotor
blades achieve this by incorporating a small twist in their design. Larger commercial wind turbines
use pitch control either passive, with the aid of centrifugal springs and levers or by active using
small electrical motors built into the blades hub to rotate it the required few degrees.

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VIII. WIND POWER GRID INSTALLATIONS:

Grid connected systems are dimensioned for average wind speeds 5.5 m/s on land, and 6.5 m/s
offshore, where wind turbulence is less and wind speeds are higher. Offshore plants benefit from
higher sustainable wind speeds, as construction and maintenance costs are higher. Large wind tur-
bine generators with outputs of up to 8 MW or more, with rotor diameters up to 164 m are function-
ing in many regions of the world, with even larger designs in the pipeline.

Wind Turbines Plants: Are mounted on towers at suitable height to capture more wind energy and
prevent turbulence caused by geographical features or obstructions. Electricity generation by a wind
power plant is proportional to the cube of the wind speed and small variations, which induce
major variability in electricity output which can be actually generated. Furthermore, a horizontal-axis
wind turbine requires a minimum wind speed (cut-in speed) of 3 - 5 m/s and generates the design
capacity at a wind speed of 12 -14 m/s. At high speeds (20 - 25 m/s, cut-out speed), the wind tur-
bine is blocked by a braking system for safety reasons.

Wind turbine capacity classes are:

Small-sized (1 - 200 kW): Rotor diameter: 1 - 20 m; Tower height: 10 - 30 m;

Medium-sized (200 - 800 kW): Rotor diameter: 20 - 50 m; Tower height: 30 - 50 m;
High-sized (5 – 20 MW): Rotor diameter: 55 - 80 m; Tower height: 60 - 120 m;

A 10 kW wind turbine in an area with about 12 mph wind speeds would produce about 10 kWh of
wind electricity a year, which is around the amount needed to supply electricity to an average
household. A 5 MW wind turbine could produce around 15 million kWh of wind electricity in one
year, which could provide power to over 1,000 households.

Small wind turbines may be used to generate electricity for individual end users or groups, wheth-
er connected to the low-voltage grid or isolated from the power grid. Medium and large wind turbines
are mostly used in wind farms, connected to the medium or high-voltage grid. However, wind speed
is not constant, the theoretical output of electricity that a wind turbine can produce, is the maximum
energy output that a design type can reach. The actual energy produced from a wind turbine, when
stated in a ratio with the theoretical expectations of the wind turbine, is called capacity factor.

Grid Side Converter - GSC: An AC to DC converter circuit to provide a regulated DC voltage to the
inverter, according to the grid frequency. The Machine Side Converter (MSC) is used to maintain a
constant DC link voltage. A capacitor is also connected across the DC link between the two con-
verters and acts as an energy storage unit. The grid side converter is generally used to maintain a
constant DC link voltage.

In the opposite direction the GSC inverter delivers power to the grid, and the grid keeps regulated
with frequency and voltage. Considering the inline converter described above, by adjusting the tim-
ing of the GSC inverter switching, the GSC converter also provides variable reactive power output
to counterbalance the reactive power drawn from the grid, enabling power factor correction, accord-
ing to the inline frequency control system.

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Installation Considerations: Generally marine locations and exposed hilltops provide the most fa-
vorable wind conditions with wind speeds consistently greater than 5 m/s. Generally, turbulent con-
ditions reduce the amount of energy, which can be extracted from the wind, and also reducing the
overall efficiency of the system, possibly more over the land than over the sea.

Raising the height of the turbine above the ground and above the worst of the turbulence improves
efficiency. Typically, domestic wind turbines located between buildings in urban environments, rarely
operate at maximum efficiency, and despite being protected from the wind by buildings and trees,
they also experience some type of turbulence.

Fixed speed systems, however, may suffer excessive mechanical stresses, because the equipment
is required to maintain a fixed speed, regardless of the wind speed. There is no "allowance" in the
mechanism to absorb the strong wind forces that result in high torque, high stresses and excessive
wear and tear on the gear box, increasing maintenance costs and reducing service life.

At the same time, the reaction time of these mechanical systems can be in the range of tens of milli-
seconds, so that each time a burst of wind hits the turbine, a rapid fluctuation of electrical output
power can be observed. Furthermore, variable speed wind turbines can capture from 8 to 15%
more of the wind's energy than constant speed turbines. For these reasons, variable speed systems
are preferred over fixed speed systems.

Wind Farms: Grouping 10 to 100 wind turbines together in so called "wind farms" can lead to sav-
ings of 10% to 20% in construction, distribution and maintenance costs. According to NREL the
"footprint" of land needed to provide space for turbine towers, roads, and support structures is typi-
cally between 0.1 and 0.2 hectares (0.25 and 0.50 acres) per turbine. The typical capacity of wind
turbines installed in existing wind farms is around 2 MW.

As an example, a wind farm with 2000 wind turbines covering 200 to 400 hectares (500 to 1000
acres) can replace the 4000 MW power generated by the UK's Drax coal fired power station. Unfor-
tunately for the economics of wind turbines, the utility company needs to keep the equivalent capaci-
ty from other sources (conventional generating stations or batteries) just to keep the grid customers
supplied when the wind is not blowing.

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Domestic Wind Turbine Installations: In a typical domestic system the wind turbine is coupled di-
rectly to a three phase asynchronous permanent magnet AC generator, mounted on the same
shaft. To save on capital costs, domestic installations do not have variable pitch rotor blades, so the
rotor speed varies with the wind speed. The generator output voltage and frequency are proportion-
al to the rotor speed and the current is proportional to the torque on the shaft. The output is rectified
and fed through a “buck-boost” regulator to an inverter which generates the required fixed amplitude
and frequency AC voltage.

Note: There is possible confusion in the classification of the generator. It is actually a synchronous
generator, as the frequency of its output, is directly synchronized with the rotor speed. In this appli-
cation however, it is called an asynchronous generator, since the output frequency of the generator
is not synchronized with the mains/utility frequency.

Urban Installations: Wind turbine blade sizes in urban applications are usually limited for practical
reasons to less than about 1 m length (2 m diameter), as well as, by local planning ordinances and
other reasons, the height of the turbine above ground is limited to just above rooftop levels.

Rural Installations: In rural and remote locations the wind power is more attractive than for urban
locations. Because of the remoteness, connection to the electricity grid may be impossible or prohib-
itively expensive. Furthermore, larger, more efficient wind power installations are possible and the
prevailing winds will also be higher.

Hybrid Installations: Hybrid systems combining wind and solar power provide energy diversity
reducing the risk of power outages. Wind speeds are often high in the winter, when the available so-
lar energy is low, mainly in the summer when the available solar energy is high. Where there is an
economic back-up, such as hydro power or large scale storage batteries, a significant proportion of
electricity can be provided from wind power.

Thus, with a solar and wind hybrid system, the electric power generated from solar energy sys-
tem and wind energy system, can be used for charging the batteries or for feeding DC loads or can
be used the entire power for feeding AC loads. The hybrid solar wind charger is a practical project,
in which the electric power generated from solar energy and wind energy are used for charging the
batteries. There are different kinds and sizes of wind turbines, as follows:

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1. Micro Wind Turbine:

Capacity: Starting from 1kW;
Diameter: 1-11 meters (except vertical axis wind turbines);
Tower height: 6-12 m;
Location: Roof-mounted or freestanding;
Costs: At least US 2,500 (1.0 kW turbine); US 10,000 - 30,000 (2.5 – 6.0 kW turbine);
Use: Private households and small companies.

Note: About 30% saving on average household electricity bill (1.0 kW turbine). A 1.5 kW turbine will
produce an average 3,942 kWh per year, saving 3,390 kg of carbon dioxide emissions.

2. Average Wind Turbine:

Capacity: 1.5-3 MW;
Diameter: 12-20 m;
Tower height: 60-80 m;
Location: Onshore (freestanding);
Costs: About US 1, 200,000;
Use: Private investors and electricity companies.

Note: Energy generation sufficient to supply about 1,000 average-sized UK households.

3. Large Wind Turbine:

Capacity: Up to 5 MW with an average annual production of 17.5 million kWh;
Diameter: About 120 m;
Tower height: About 160 m;
Location: Offshore;
Costs: In the region of US 18,000,000;
Use: Electricity companies.

Note: Energy generation sufficient to supply about 5,000 average-sized UK households.

IX. OFFSHORE WIND FARMS:

Offshore wind farms are wind turbines usually built at sea, usually on a continental platform, to gen-
erate electricity from wind energy. Stronger wind speeds are available offshore compared to on-
shore and high lands. In this way, the contribution of offshore wind energy in terms of electricity
supplied is greater, as the opposition to construction is generally much less. However, offshore wind
farms are relatively expensive.

More than 91% of the world’s offshore wind power is currently installed off northern Europe, in the
North, Baltic and Irish Seas, and the English Channel. At the end of 2014, 3,230 turbines at 84 off-
shore wind farms across 11 European countries had been installed and grid-connected, making a
total capacity of 11,027 MW. The wind turbine generators used in offshore environments include
modifications to prevent corrosion, and their foundations must be designed to withstand the harsh
environment of the ocean, including storm waves, hurricane-force winds, and even ice flows.

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Offshore Wind Power Design: Offshore wind resource characteristics span a range of special
scales and field data on external conditions. In the North Sea, the wind turbine energy is around
30 kWh/m2 of sea area per year, delivered to grid. The energy per sea area is roughly independent
of turbine size. Necessary data includes water depth, currents, seabed, migration, and wave action,
all of which drive mechanical and structural loading on potential turbine configurations.

Offshore turbines require different types of bases for stability, according to the depth of water. To
date a number of different solutions exist, such as; a monopile (single column) base, minimum four
meters in diameter, is used in waters up to 30 m deep; gravity base structures, for use at exposed
sites in water 20 - 80 m deep; tripod piled and suction caisson structures, 20 - 80 m deep; conven-
tional steel jacket structures, as used in the oil and gas industry, in water 20 – 80 m deep.

Floating wind turbines are being developed for deeper water, as turbines are much less accessible
when offshore (requiring the use of a service vessel or helicopter for routine access, and a jackup
rig for heavy service such as gearbox replacement), and thus reliability is more important than for an
onshore turbine. A maintenance organization performs maintenance and repairs of the components,
spending almost all its resources on the turbines. Some wind farms located far from possible on-
shore bases have service teams living on site in offshore accommodation units.

Other factors include; marine growth, salinity, icing, and the geotechnical characteristics of the sea
or lake bed. A number of things are necessary in order to attain the necessary information on these
subjects. Existing hardware for these measurements includes Light Detection and Ranging
(LIDAR), Sonic Detection and Ranging (SODAR), radar, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
(AUV), and remote satellite sensing, although these technologies should be assessed and refined,
according to a report from a coalition of researchers from universities, industry, and government.

Offshore turbines are being made larger to economize in the foundation and power collection costs.
As the technology for wind turbines improves, the industry has developed wind turbines with rotor
diameters as large as 150 m and power ratings of over 7.5 MW to 10 MW. As increasing number of

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wind farms are being planned to 15 to 50 km from shore in water depths of over 50 m, with the
combination of water depth, as the increasing wind tower heights and rotor blade diameters create
loads that complicate the foundation design.

The main components of a typical offshore wind turbine farm layout include several wind turbines
located in the water, connected by a series of cables to an offshore transformer station, which in
turn, is connected by an undersea cable to an onshore transformer station linked to the existing
power grid, as seen below. The wind turbines are usually spaced laterally at several (4 to 8) times
the rotor diameter and staggered so as to minimize the sea wave effects.

Note: Placing turbines closer reduces the quantity of electric cable required but it increases turbu-
lence and wave effects, thereby reducing power generation. Therefore, laying out wind turbine farms
includes minimizing the length of cabling required yet maximizing power generation so as to opti-
mize costs per unit of power produced.

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Support structures connect the towers to the foundation at seabed level. In some cases, the founda-
tions serve as support structures, by extending from the seabed level to above the water level and
connecting directly to the tower. As the nacelles contain the key electro-mechanical components of
the wind turbine, including the gearbox and generator, the power cables from each turbine is insert-
ed in a “J” shaped plastic tube, which carries the cables to the cable trench in the seabed.

Large scale integration of offshore wind power, as well as electrification of offshore oil & gas installa-
tions, requires HVDC (High-Voltage Direct Current) transmission, which is most often applied today.
The HVDC converter station (or simply converter station), is a specialized type of substation that
forms the terminal equipment for a transmission line. It converts DC to AC or the reverse. The VSC
(Voltage Source Converter) technology is the preferred choice for HVDC connections, in installa-
tions with a point- to-point system, a multi-terminal DC (MTDC) system, DC cables, DC switchgear,
DC circuit breakers, control systems and DC/DC converters.

The electric current thus generated is converted to a higher voltage via a transformer at the base of
the tower. As described, the power harnessed from the wind is proportional to the cube of wind
speed up to a theoretical maximum of about 59 %. However, today’s wind turbines convert only a
fraction of the available wind power to electricity, and are shut down beyond a certain wind speed
because of structural limitations and concern for wear and tear. So far, it is considered cost optimal
to start power regulation at wind speed of 9 - 10 m/s, with full regulation at mean wind speeds above
14 - 15 m/s, and shut-down or idle mode at 25 m/s.

To minimize fluctuation and to control the power flow, the pitch of the blades of offshore wind tur-
bines is regulated. At lower wind speeds, variable rotor speed regulation is used to smooth out pow-
er output. The yaw of the turbine is also varied every 30 seconds to 60 seconds, to maximize oper-
ating efficiency, which creates gyroscopic loads. The pitching and yawing creates non-linear aero-
dynamics and hysteresis which have to be modeled in turbine response calculations. For a typical
variable speed turbine, the blade passing frequency is between an approximate range of 0.18 Hz

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and 0.26 Hz, and rotation frequency, which is between about 0.54 Hz and 0.78 Hz. Meanwhile, cy-
clic loading from sea waves typically occurs at a frequency between 0.04 Hz and 0.34 Hz.

The favorable wind conditions and factors that govern selection of a wind farm include site availa-
bility, visibility and distance from shore, proximity to power demand sites, proximity to local electricity
distribution companies, potential impact to existing shipping routes and dredged channels, interfer-
ence with telecom installations, buried under-sea cables and gas lines, distance from local airports
to avoid potential interference with aircraft flight paths and interference with bird flight paths.

An offshore wind farm faces numerous challenges in all phases. During early development an envi-
ronmental impact study phase requires extensive public involvement, while the permitting process is
time consuming and requires ample input from various stakeholders, such as fishermen, local com-
munities, aviation authorities, the Coast Guard authorities, the Corps of Engineers and others. A
proactive approach with early community involvement generally helps the process. Anyway, com-
mon environmental concerns associated with offshore wind developments include:

Risk of seabirds being struck by wind turbine blades or being displaced from critical habitats;
The underwater noise associated with the installation process of driving monopile turbines
into the seabed;
The physical presence of offshore wind farms altering the behavior of marine mammals, fish,
and seabirds with attraction or avoidance.

An early identification and evaluation of potential grid connection points to develop various sub-
station locations and cable routes is essential for gaining public approval. From an electrical engi-
neering standpoint, the compatibility between the wind farm export power cables and the grid re-
quire careful evaluation with respect to grid code compliance and system interface.

X. WIND TURBINE FOUNDATIONS:

Wind turbines, by their nature, are very tall slender structures, this can cause a number of issues,
when the structural design of the foundations is considered. The foundations for a conventional en-
gineering structure are designed mainly to transfer the vertical load (dead weight) to the ground, this
generally allows for a comparatively unsophisticated arrangement to be used.

Considering the geotechnical conditions relevant for wind foundation, the most important parame-
ters to define in a geotechnical survey for wind turbines foundation design are; bearing capacity
and deformability. In this type of verifications, loads such as extreme wind, abnormal loads or
earthquake are used to check the foundation for overturn, slide and collapse (soil failure).

Bearing capacity is defined by cohesion, friction angle, unconfined compressive strength, used in
Ultimate Limit State (ULS) design. When working with soils, the definition of these parameters in situ
tests are the same as onshore, such as SPTs (standard penetration test, in sands), CPTs (cone
penetration test), pressure meter tests, vane and laboratory tests, such as triaxial or direct shear
tests. In rock, is commonly used the compressive strength tests, the rock quality designations
(RQD) or triaxial, although the bearing capacity of rock (even heavily fractured and weathered).

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Geotechnical Design: The geotechnical design always refers to the soil or bedrock involved for the
building or the civil engineer work. The most common situation is that the construction is footed on
the ground directly, but piles are also commonly used. These connection elements with the sur-
rounding soil or bedrocks are called geostructures, and when considering deformations and strength
of the soil, is what the geotechnical design concerns. There are several possible types of failures,
when designing geostructures. The ones that Eurocode is taken into account are:

Failure due to the geotechnical capacity in the soil (GEO);

The impact on structural elements, resulting in failure in the soil (STR);
Overall equilibrium in the geostructure (EQU);
Lost equilibrium caused by hydraulic uplift or other vertical lifting forces (UPL);
Bottom relaxation or erosion caused by hydraulic gradient (HYD).

The design of elements and structures aims to find dimensions and types of structures that are suit-
able and safe for the actual situation and to maintain this during its specified lifetime. Below is listed
some of the parameters that should be taken account of when designing structures. Some of them
are more important than others. The designing concept only concerns structural and geotechnical
design and not design regarding heat, moisture and other building physics related areas.

The structure must be stable and the material strength must not be exceeded;
The function of the structure must be maintained and should be aesthetically pleasing;
The structure has to be resistant against external factors, such as fire, earthquake, flooding,
frost, moisture, temperature differences, seabed resistance, corrosion, aerial traffic accidents
and vermin, such as termites, insects, etc.

To design structures in a correct manner there are design codes available, which specifies values
for safety factors, material parameters, designing criterions and other rules and regulations that
governs the design. The European designing codes standards are used, as the Eurocodes, valid for
all countries that are members of the European Committee for Standardization (ECS), actually 27
countries and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The Swedish version of the codes is issued by the
Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) and divided in several sub-codes. The sub-codes are:

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SS-EN 1990 Eurocode 0 – Basis of structural design;

SS-EN 1991 Eurocode 1 – Actions on structures;
SS-EN 1992 Eurocode 2 – Design of concrete structures;
SS-EN 1993 Eurocode 3 – Design of steel structures;
SS-EN 1994 Eurocode 4 – Design of composite steel and concrete structures;
SS-EN 1995 Eurocode 5 – Design of timber structures;
SS-EN 1996 Eurocode 6 – Design of masonry structures;
SS-EN 1997 Eurocode 7 – Geotechnical design;
SS-EN 1998 Eurocode 8 – Design of structures for earthquake resistance;
SS-EN 1999 Eurocode 9 – Design of aluminum structures.

Piles and Piling: A pile is an elongated vertical (or almost vertical) construction element that con-
ducts load from soil near the surface with a less strength, to deeper soil layers with a better strength
parameters, or it can be standing on a bedrock. The piles can be installed in the soil in different
ways, and the most commonly used methods, are the driven piles and drilled piles.

 Driven piles are piles driven in the soil by a pile driver machine. This machine makes use of
a heavy weight that falls from its highest point on the top of the pile forcing the pile to drive
into the ground. The event is repeated over and over until the pile toe reaches the bedrock or
a sufficient firm soil layer.

 Drilled piles are piles that are installed with a drilling machine. There are a few different types
of drilled piles. One type of drilled piles is when the machine drills a hole and installing a
steel pipe pile directly in the hole. Another type is when the pile is brought down in an al-
ready drilled hole.

Piles with big diameters can be constructed by pouring concrete in drilled or dug holes, so called
bored piles. Before concrete is poured a reinforcement cage can be put in place to improve the pile

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strength. There exists many different types of piles, but the most common types is reinforced con-
crete piles, steel piles and timber piles, where the last mentioned is not frequently used today.

The use of prefabricated reinforced concrete piles is dominating the market. Piles of steel or iron
generally have a smaller area, and therefore give arise to smaller mass displacement, which can be
very significant. Some common steel piles profiles are hollow-profiles, H-profile, and the X-profile.
Concerning the steel pipes piles they are often filled with concrete, and if the diameter is big a rein-
forcement cage can be put inside the pipe to increase the strength properties.

Parameters as deformability is defined by E (Young's modulus) and G (Shear modulus) are used to
check if the foundation is compliant with vertical settlement, differential settlement and, above all,
rotational stiffness. However, in the case of wind turbines, due to the high wind and environmental
loads experienced there is a significant horizontal dynamic load that needs to be appropriately re-
strained. This loading regime causes large moment loads to be applied to the foundations of a wind
turbine. As a result, considerable attention needs to be given when designing the footings to ensure
that the turbines are sufficiently restrained to operate efficiently.

In the current Det Norske Veritas (DNV) guidelines for the design of wind turbines the angular de-
flection of the foundations are limited to 0.5°. DNV guidelines regarding earthquakes suggest that
horizontal loads are larger than vertical loads for offshore wind turbines, while guidelines
for tsunamis only suggest designing for maximum sea waves. In contrast, IEC suggests considering
tsunami loads. Scale model tests using a 50g centrifuge are being performed in Denmark to test
monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines at 30 to 50 m water depth.

Precast Foundation for Wind Turbines: Strangely enough, this solution isn’t having a big suc-
cess, as far as it´s known. By the way, there are several clear advantages: first of all, an important
time saving. According to the developer brochure, only 2 days are needed to complete the founda-
tion: the first to install the pieces and the second to connect the tower tensioning the bolts.

Then, as with all serial products, there is the advantage of tighter controls on the quality of the mate-
rials and the production. The manufacturer also suggest that the excavation volume is reduced, alt-
hough it´s not very well understood why (in the end, it is still a gravity foundation, so the dimensions

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should be similar). It also cannot be seen what happen with the conjunction element (embedded
ring or anchor cage in the newer models): Then, it´s supposed that it will be substituted by bolts en-
closed in the precast modules, but it can’t be visualized how it will work without the lower flange.

The concrete foundations Gestamp Hybrid Towers (GHT) were developed and patented by
iConkrete and Gestamp. Essentially it is a shallow foundation made of a slab to achieve a uniform
pressure distribution, a central reinforced ring with his pedestal and several reinforced beams below
the slab. This geometry, according to the developers, gives and improved fatigue behavior for con-
crete and a higher resistance reserve.

Among the other potential advantages, a (partial) prefabrication of the foundation’s elements is pos-
sible. Moreover, the smaller excavation promises other savings due to reduced earthworks: this
foundation is more superficial than the standard one, with an average depth of almost 3 m. The ex-
cavation volume avoided can be around 50%. Last but not least, according to a test design made by
Gestamp, a 15% of steel can be saved thanks to a better use of materials.

Cracks in Onshore Wind Turbines Foundation: The appearance of fissures in wind turbine
foundations is a rather common event. It seems that old foundations with embedded ring are more
prone to fissures compared to the new foundations with anchor cage. Among the foundations with
embedded ring, high pedestal foundations are the most problematic. Radial cracks and concentric
superficial cracks in the visible superficial concrete around the tower.

However it seems that the more dangerous fissures are the ones appearing below the lower flange.
Apparently the load concentration below the steel plate, in combination with cyclic loads, can dam-
age the concrete inducing small movements. This is an area where is very complicated to pour cor-
rectly the concrete: the air can remain trapped, lowering the resistance of concrete.

After several cycles, these movements can pulverize the concrete below the flange and increase
fissures from few millimeters to a centimeter or even more. At this point, the superficial sealing be-
tween the embedded ring and the concrete won’t be able to withstand the displacement and will

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break. Subsequently, water will be able to enter the foundation: this will lead to a pumping effect,
possibly even freezing and expanding in low temperature areas.

Several side effects can start, such as carbonation and possibly to reinforcement bars corrosion.
Subsequently, it will be necessary to stop the wind turbine and undertake remedial works. Regard-
ing the root cause, the explications frequently quoted can be categorized in 2 groups:

 Design Error: Fatigue loads and stress concentration below the lower flange were underes-
timated, wrong steel design.
 Construction Error: The concrete below the lower flange was not of the proper quality, or it
wasn’t correctly vibrated or cured. Sometimes even concrete pouring at very low or high
temperature or improper installed reinforcement is quoted as a possible cause, together with
pouring sequence problems (joint between concrete layers which are already hardened due
to delays in concrete supply).

It is more unusual to have environmental problems, such as water aggressiveness or other chemical
problems. As solution, sufficient vertical reinforcement and anchorage length should be provided.
Some designers also like to position the bottom flange as high as possible, to increase the thick-
ness of the concrete below.

Grout is an extra and important high properties material that is normally used in wind farm construc-
tion just below the tower flange, and above the foundation. It is a transition material, designed to
have a very high fatigue resistance. All the dynamic loads need to be transferred and absorbed by
the grout connecting the tower to the foundation structure. Grout is volume stable and his resistance
grow very quickly (it is faster than normal concrete in achieving a relevant percentage of his final
value, and it has a very low porosity and water absorption).

Thanks to the rapid strength build-up, it allows earlier pre-stressing of anchors at all temperature
ranges (it is normal to work between 2 and 30 degrees): a short hardening time permit a short over-
all installation times and earlier operation of the wind farm. In cold wind farm is necessary to use
thermal blanket to keep the grout warm. All pipes are lubricated with standard Portland cement slur-
ry. Then, grouting is prepared in the mixing machines.

Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations: The most common types are: gravity-type, monopile,
jacket-pile, tripod and suction caissons. Over the last forty years or so, the offshore oil and gas
industry has designed and developed various floating structures to support hydrocarbon production
platforms. The type of foundation used depends mainly on water depth and sea bed conditions:
there is no “standard” concrete foundation as in the onshore wind farms. The solution used more of-
ten is the monopile. Most of these designs are suitable as the more popular types are listed below:

Gravity Foundations: Are used preferably in waters with a maximum depth around 30 m,
are made of precast concrete and are ballasted with sand, gravel or stones.
Monopile Foundations: Are used in water with a maximum depth around 25 m. They are
made of steel, and they are driven into the seabed for about 30 m with a hammer (similar to
the one used to build offshore platforms).

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Tripod Foundations: Are generally used in deeper waters (up to 35 m). It’s made of differ-
ent pieces welded together and it’s fixed to the ground with three steel piles.
Jacket Foundations: Used in deep waters (more than 40 m), normally made of steel
beams welded together, weighting more than 500 tons.

In this work the structural design focus on retaining the safety of the construction. Stiffness is a key
design criterion in addition to capacity. Various offshore design approaches are based on much
more flexible piles and are more concerned with lateral capacity than stiffness. Typical offshore
piles are L/D ~ 30 – 50 or more, whilst wind-farm piles are L/D ~ 4 - 8.

Structural Design: The structural design is about the structures types that should be built. The
main task is to create descriptions and drawings for the construction workers. If a structure is built
according to these documents it should serve its purpose. Therefore, the procedures and the condi-
tions must be well determined before a designer starts his work. The purpose and the conditions
can be stated in the following manner, for example:

• The lifetime of the construction;

• The loads that will affect the construction;
• The climate effects that will interact with the building;
• The esthetical aspects. The designer’s task is then to assure that these conditions are fulfilled.

Current proven technologies allow for the construction of wind turbines in up to 30 m water depths.
A foundation system for an offshore wind turbine is chosen based on water depth, current conditions
and seabed sediment characteristics, the foundation system can be a monopile driven into the
seabed, tripod structure, gravity base system or jacket structure. Support structures for offshore
wind turbines are highly dynamic, having to cope with combined wind and hydrodynamic loading
and complex dynamic behavior from the wind turbine.

It is vital to capture the integrated effect of the wind and wave loads and the wind turbine control
system, as this is a situation where the total loading is likely to be significantly less than the sum of
the constituent loads. This is because the loads are not coincident, and because the aerodynamic
damping provided by the rotor significantly damps the motions due to wave loading. Monopiles have
been chosen for most of the installed offshore wind farms to date. Concrete gravity base structures
have also been used on several projects.

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As wind turbines get larger, and are located in deeper water, jacket structures are expected to be-
come more attractive. Design of the secondary structures, such as decks, boat landings and cable
J-tubes is typically developed in the detailed design phase. These details have a major impact on
ease of construction, support structure and maintenance requirements, accessibility of the wind tur-
bines and safety of personnel during the operations phase.

The dynamic behaviors of wind turbine farms are difficult to fully be known. However, there are
field records that suggest the modal properties of the system (natural frequency and damping) of
wind turbine systems are changing and there are speculations that these structures may tilt. The
plausible explanations for the observed phenomena are the effects of dynamic soil-structure inter-
action, whereby cyclic/dynamic loads on the soil surrounding of the foundation alter its stiffness.

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XI. WIND TURBINE TOWERS:

Wind velocities increase at higher altitudes due to surface aerodynamic drag (by land or water sur-
faces) and the viscosity of the air. The variation in velocity with altitude, called wind shear, is most
dramatic near the surface. Typically, the variation follows the wind profile power law, which predicts
that wind speed rises proportionally according to altitude. Doubling the altitude of a turbine, then,
increases the expected wind speeds by 10% and the expected power by 34%.

To avoid buckling, doubling the tower height generally requires doubling the diameter of the tower
as well, increasing the amount of material by a factor of at least four. At night time, or when the at-
mosphere becomes stable, wind speed close to the ground usually subsides, whereas at turbine
hub altitude it does not decrease that much or may even increase. As a result, the wind speed is
higher and a turbine will produce more power than expected from the 1/7 power law; doubling the
altitude may increase wind speed by 20% to 60%.

A stable atmosphere is caused by radioactive cooling of the surface and is common in a temperate
climate; it usually occurs when there is a (partly) clear sky at night. When the (high altitude) wind is
strong (a 10 m wind speed high is approximately 6 to 7 m/s) the stable atmosphere is disrupted be-
cause of friction turbulence and the atmosphere will turn neutral (no net radiation; usually with
strong winds and heavy clouding). A daytime atmosphere is either neutral or unstable (the rising of
the wind speed because of ground heating or by the sun).

Here again the 1/7 power law applies or is at least a good approximation of the wind profile. The
Indiana state (USA) had been rated as having a wind capacity of 30,000 MW, but by raising the ex-
pected turbine height from 50 m to 70 m, the wind capacity estimate could be raised to 40,000 MW,
and could be double, at 100 m. For HAWTs types, tower heights approximately two to three times
the blade length have been found to balance material costs of the tower, against better utilization of
the more expensive active components.

Concrete Towers: Concrete towers are still an uncommon solution nowadays, and basically they
are still more expensive than they steel counterparts. The trend in the market is toward highest tow-
er, of 100 m and above, while current 2 MW - 3 MW turbines normally have an hub height around
80 m; this can lead to situation where an hybrid solution (concrete base plus steel top) or even a
full concrete solution is finally economically profitable.

The reason for this increase in tower size is the need to increase the productivity (the wind speed
increase exponentially with height) and to overcome surface friction, although it must be noted that
almost every country has laws to limit the height of the tip of the rotor (on average, around 100 m e-
ters). The biggest problem of tapered steel towers is that they maximum dimension in onshore wind
farms is limited by transport issues; normally the biggest diameter allowed to circulate on public
highways is below 5 m, due to the free height of existing bridges. Tallest towers need bigger diam e-
ters, so there is a legal/technical limitation to the use of steel.

Various configuration techniques and details have been proposed, all of them normally considering
the use of vertical prestressing. It is normal to see solution with concrete rings divided in 2, 3 or

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even 4 segments, assembled and joined together in situ with 2 type of joints (vertical and horizon-
tal) using mortar, fishplates or other technical solutions.

Several turbine manufacturers (for instance Enercon, GE and Nordex) have full concrete or hybrid
towers in their catalogue, normally with height above 100 m. Often different sections are consid-
ered for the purpose of strength and stiffness design, fabrication and erection:

 Base Zone: Made of thick walled precast concrete segments or in situ concrete and here the
thickness can be around 40-50 cm.
 Middle Zone: Here the wall thickness is determined by concrete cover to reinforcement ra-
ther than by the necessary strength and stiffness, so a saving in material is possible.
 Upper Zone: Here the wall thickness will be around 10 cm only. It normally includes a steel
section of about 2 meters to connect the yaw ring and the nacelle.

Road size restrictions make transportation of towers with a diameter of more than 4 m difficult.
Swedish analyses show that it is important to have the bottom wing tip, at least 30 m above the tree
tops, but a taller tower requires a larger tower diameter. A 3 MW turbine may increase output from
5,000 MWh to 7,700 MWh per year by going from 80 to 125 m tower height. A tower profile made of
connected modules, rather than cylinders, can have a larger diameter and still be transportable.

Currently, the majority of wind turbines are supported by conical tubular steel towers. These towers
represent 30% – 65% of the turbine weight and therefore account for a large percentage of the tur-
bine transportation costs. The use of lighter materials in the tower could greatly reduce the overall
transport and construction cost of wind turbines, however the stability must be maintained.

Higher grade ASTM A-572 steel costs 20%-25% more than A-36 steel (standard structural steel),
but it requires 30% less material because of its improved strength. Therefore, replacing wind turbine
towers with A-572 steel would result in a net savings in both weight and cost.

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Another disadvantage of conical steel towers is that constructing towers that meet the require-
ments of wind turbines taller than 90 m, is a great challenge. High performance concrete shows po-
tential to increase tower height and increase the lifetime of the towers. A hybrid of prestressed con-
crete and steel has shown improved performance over standard tubular steel at tower heights of
120 m. Concrete also gives the benefit of allowing for small precast sections to be assembled on
site, avoiding the challenges steel faces during transportation.

One downside of concrete towers is the higher CO2 emissions during concrete production as com-
pared to steel. However, the overall environmental benefit should be higher if concrete towers can
double the wind turbine lifetime. Wood is being investigated as a material for wind turbine towers,
and a 100 m tall tower supporting a 1.5 MW turbine has been erected in Germany. The wood tower
shares the same transportation benefits of the segmented steel shell tower, but without the steel re-
source consumption.

The type of parameters will depend very much, on the type of materials below the foundation; ex-
pansive clay will need different test compared to sand or rock. Design loads are provided by the
manufacturer, who has standard documents with the different type of loads (usually available data
includes operational loads, extreme normal loads and extreme abnormal loads, together with fatigue
calculation data). Numerous codes, national laws and international standard are used in the design
process. These are the most commonly used:

 Guidelines for Design of Wind Turbines, DNV/Risø. 2002;

 IEC-61400-1 Wind Turbines - Design Requirements (Internat. Electrotechnical Commission);
 Germanischer Lloyd Guideline for the Certification of Wind Turbines, Edition 2010;

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 ASCE – AWEA Recommended practice for compliance of large onshore wind turbine sup-
port structures (Draft);
 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318M-08).

XII. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES:

Wind energy is a renewable resource, emits no pollutants or greenhouse gases during operation,
and does not require fuel so there is no mining or drilling needed, as is the case for coal, oil or nat-
ural gas power plants. Sounds like an environmentalists dream. Yet many of the social barriers to
widespread wind power utilization are environmental, some of which invoke strong emotional oppo-
sition by residents near proposed wind farms.

Economics: A typical domestic installation with a 1.75 m diameter, (swept area of 2.4 m 2), costs
around US 2,500. At the rated wind speed of 12.5 m/s (28 mph), the wind power intercepted will be
2870 W, but after taking into account all the unavoidable system losses, the actual electrical output
power will be around 1000 W. However, wind turbulence and shielding due to buildings and trees
inhibits a sustained free wind flow.

For most of the time, the wind speed will likely be towards the lower end of the performance specifi-
cation at 4 m/s (9 mph), which is a light breeze, which gives about 32 W, not enough to power a
single light bulb. For much of the time, the power generated could be less than the quiescent pow-
er drain of the inverter. Running with a constant power output of 32 W for a full year would generate
only 280 kWh of electrical energy at today's price of £0.10 (US 0.15) per kWh. To put it into per-
spective, a typical UK household consumes about 5,000 kWh of electrical energy per year.

Since the system is connected directly to the grid, there is no need for battery back-up, as the cost
of the batteries would make a weak economic case for the system. Thus, small domestic rooftop
wind turbine installations do not make a serious contribution to the household energy supply. Self-
sufficiency and selling surplus energy back to the utility are out of the question, and the payback pe-
riod on the capital investment is out of sight.

Carbon Footprints: As with solar power, if the investment fails the conventional economic tests, the
notion of carbon footprints is often used to justify the expense, based on the potential for reducing
the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by alternative methods of power generation.

Visual Impacts: Medium and large wind turbines sit atop towers 100 ft high with rotors, can also
have dozens of feet in diameter. Thus, wind farms near residential areas have met strong opposi-
tion from local residents who argue that large clusters of large wind turbines are blight on the land-
scape and ultimately decrease property values.

Noise: In general, the noise levels from large, modern wind turbines are relatively low, consisting
primarily of a low pitch rhythmic “whooshing” sound. Most complaints from residents close to wind
farms occur at night when there is little other ambient noise, during the day, other noises tend to
dominate. “wind-farm syndrome” is a term used to describe a variety of health maladies caused by
inaudible “infrasound,” but the scientific backing for this is minimal.

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Wildlife: Large, rotating blades of a rotor pose a hazard for birds, as evidenced by the increased
mortality rates of large birds of prey near the Altamont Pass wind farm in California. A Spanish study
estimated that a single wind turbine kills, on average, 10 birds per year. However, comparisons with
other manmade, small fraction of birds reveal that wind turbines represent a minor hazard.

Land Use: Because wind power is not a concentrated form of energy (like oil or coal), it requires
large amounts of land, typically 10 to 30 acres per turbine. For example, DOE estimated that
142,000 1.5 MW turbines would be required to generate 20% of the country electricity needs; at 20
acres per turbine, almost 3 billion acres of land are needed. However, most of the land associated
with wind farms is “empty space,” and could be available for other used, such as agriculture.

XIII. LINKS AND REFERENCES:

[Link]
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