Explores the innovations in wind turbine technology
 Wind power deployment has enhanced worldwide, especially in India where the potential is immense given the vast terrains and the country’s insatiable appetite for energy. In the early 90s, the wind industry was just picking up and there were only small turbines – 220 to 250 Kw turbines. “Today in a progressing economy with the acute power shortage to account for, the emergence of newer innovations with bigger and greater capacity such as the 2 MW is no surprise. It has been a big improvement in terms of technology, efficiency as well as output,” opines Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director, Gamesa India. “Progress especially over the past five years has boosted energy yield especially in low-wind-resource sites and reduced cost of energy substantially.”
Global wind energy market is poised for over 40 per cent growth in FY15 whereas India plans to increase wind capacity to 60,000 MW by March 2022. Wind technology continues to mature and hence will boost the growth of the industry. “Wind turbine manufacturers continue to access new markets through technology and innovation. Taller tower heights and larger rotor blades are gaining importance in the sector,” says Duncan Koerbel, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Suzlon Group.
Whereas Mahesh Palashikar, CEO of GE Renewables in India believes that installing a wind turbine which is designed to suit India’s low wind and operating conditions is the crucial development in wind turbine technology. Wind speeds in new project sites in India are typically low and in the range of 6 to 7 m/s. Also these sites are with low air densities and low turbulence. GE’s 1.7-103 turbine was custom developed for these requirements and its evolutionary design combines the prowess of GE’s successful 1.5 MW platform with rotors from the 2.x platform. “Our 1.5 MW wind turbine series, also known as the industry workhorse, has an installed base of over 18,000 units worldwide and a more than 98 per cent availability record globally,” Mr Palashikar claims.“With new technologies being deployed wind energy will be at par with grid parity in the next two years,” asserts Mr Koerbel.
InnovationsWith wind energy increasingly becoming a preferred source of renewable energy, the industry is witnessing an increase in research and development activities to tap into new opportunities. According to Mr Kymal, some of the recent experiments that have borne fruit include increasing tower height and rotary blade length, controls, electronics and gearboxes.
The general trend in turbine design has been to increase the height of the tower, the length of the blades and the power capacity. This is done with the aim to increase overall efficiency. On an average, however, turbines have grown in height and rotor diameter more rapidly than have their power capacities.
“As the turbines grow larger and higher, the innovation focus will be rotor technology, logistics and towers design,” Mr Kymal points out. He observes, “Larger rotors are challenging to transport and hence the future turbine will have segmented blades that will be connected at site before installation.”
Also, logistic solutions, trailer dimension and technology will witness innovation to transport turbine components at the lowest possible cost. Current turbine towers are mainly made of tubular steel. Concrete is emerging a viable alternative atleast to replace the bottom level of tower which is the heaviest and cost much more that compared to the total cost of the tower. “Hybrid tower will drive the market for taller turbines,” Mr Kyamal adds.
Newer concepts are being introduced in technology such as split blades, bladeless turbines, balloon-based turbines and also floating wind turbines.  The technology in split blades is not very dramatically challenging. However, according to Mr Koerbel, the problem is more of a commercial nature as split blades increases weight and cost both. “If logistical issues can be managed, only then a split blade makes sense. Today the competition is about innovation which in this case would be how to make split blades work economically,” Mr Koerbel adds.
Wind power is a dominant source of power in many countries and also a few states in India. This means that wind power will have be responsible towards the growth and stability of the larger power system. Power forecasting is critical to maintaining grid stability. According to Mr Kyamal, “Accurate forecasting tools are become critical at ensuring higher grid penetration of wind power.”
The next step in this evolution will be energy storage system and hybrid systems. Large battery banks and pumped hydro are being discussed in various forums. Another alternative is to have an intelligent link between wind farms and gas or diesel power plants which together ensure a stable power output based on demand. “Various models are being evaluated and in about a decade we might be able to see atleast a few commercial ventures in this direction,” predicts Mr Kyamal.
In Europe, where availability of land is a major challenge, offshore market is growing and a lot of technology leaps is being witnessed in turbine size, foundations etc.
According to Mr Palashikar, a major development in wind turbine technology is the way a wind farm is optimised from an asset, operations and business perspective.
Asset optimisationAsset optimisation enhances the output of turbines to improve investor returns. “At GE, we articulated our vision for the industrial Internet sometime back. We use its big data and analytics capabilities to improve turbines’ Annual Energy Production (AEP) by up to 5 per cent through our Wind PowerUp Services. We also back it up with innovative commercial models and comprehensive services, sharing the risks and rewards of such improvements,” explains Mr Palashikar.
GE has recently demonstrated a pilot project for this service where its customer realised a 4.8 per cent increase in AEP, versus 3.5 per cent that was initially estimated.
Operations optimisationOperations optimisation requires that the availability and reliability of installed turbines is high, so turbines are available to generate power when winds blow. This requires superior operations and maintenance processes, coupled with an excellent Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) record.
Business optimisationBusiness optimisation deals with how the wind farm interacts with external stakeholders such as the power grid. With increasing penetration of infirm power such as wind power in the grid, regulators demand a higher level of discipline for dispatch. One such requirement is that of scheduling or forecasting, which could result in severe commercial impact for wind farm operators for non-compliance. “GE’s Industrial Internet application for wind power forecasting is based on our Predix platform, and it offers industry-leading forecast accuracy. It significantly reduces wind farm operator’s commercial impact. This in turn facilitates larger integration of wind power in the grid,” asserts Mr Palashikar.
Innovations in small wind turbinesSmall wind turbines are those with rotor or blades less than 16 metres diameter and capacity ranging from 400 W to 50/100 KW. The most popular sizes are 1 KW to 10 KW with hundreds of thousands of them installed around the world. According to Rajarshi Sen, Founder Director and CEO of Luminous Renewable Energy Solutions, “At windy areas, small wind turbines can provide much more energy compared to solar PV. The footprint area is also much less.” Luminous Renewable Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is presently known as WISH Energy Pvt. Ltd.
Mr Sen claims, “Small wind turbines complement solar in wind solar hybrids by generating extra power in monsoon when clouds reduce solar power output.” Such turbines are used successfully for off-grid rural electrification projects and can also work as grid connected rooftop power plants. Thousands of small wind turbines are operating submersible water pumps at un-electrified areas of Asia and Africa. Small turbines provide electricity to hundreds of offshore oil platforms and they are also installed on telecom towers for powering the BTS. WISH Energy’s 1KW turbines are installed in high altitude army posts at Leh and Siachen.

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Explores the innovations in wind turbine technology
 Wind power deployment has enhanced worldwide, especially in India where the potential is immense given the vast terrains and the country’s insatiable appetite for energy. In the early 90s, the wind industry was just picking up and there were only small turbines – 220 to 250 Kw turbines. “Today in a progressing economy with the acute power shortage to account for, the emergence of newer innovations with bigger and greater capacity such as the 2 MW is no surprise. It has been a big improvement in terms of technology, efficiency as well as output,” opines Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director, Gamesa India. “Progress especially over the past five years has boosted energy yield especially in low-wind-resource sites and reduced cost of energy substantially.”
Global wind energy market is poised for over 40 per cent growth in FY15 whereas India plans to increase wind capacity to 60,000 MW by March 2022. Wind technology continues to mature and hence will boost the growth of the industry. “Wind turbine manufacturers continue to access new markets through technology and innovation. Taller tower heights and larger rotor blades are gaining importance in the sector,” says Duncan Koerbel, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Suzlon Group.
Whereas Mahesh Palashikar, CEO of GE Renewables in India believes that installing a wind turbine which is designed to suit India’s low wind and operating conditions is the crucial development in wind turbine technology. Wind speeds in new project sites in India are typically low and in the range of 6 to 7 m/s. Also these sites are with low air densities and low turbulence. GE’s 1.7-103 turbine was custom developed for these requirements and its evolutionary design combines the prowess of GE’s successful 1.5 MW platform with rotors from the 2.x platform. “Our 1.5 MW wind turbine series, also known as the industry workhorse, has an installed base of over 18,000 units worldwide and a more than 98 per cent availability record globally,” Mr Palashikar claims.“With new technologies being deployed wind energy will be at par with grid parity in the next two years,” asserts Mr Koerbel.
InnovationsWith wind energy increasingly becoming a preferred source of renewable energy, the industry is witnessing an increase in research and development activities to tap into new opportunities. According to Mr Kymal, some of the recent experiments that have borne fruit include increasing tower height and rotary blade length, controls, electronics and gearboxes.
The general trend in turbine design has been to increase the height of the tower, the length of the blades and the power capacity. This is done with the aim to increase overall efficiency. On an average, however, turbines have grown in height and rotor diameter more rapidly than have their power capacities.
“As the turbines grow larger and higher, the innovation focus will be rotor technology, logistics and towers design,” Mr Kymal points out. He observes, “Larger rotors are challenging to transport and hence the future turbine will have segmented blades that will be connected at site before installation.”
Also, logistic solutions, trailer dimension and technology will witness innovation to transport turbine components at the lowest possible cost. Current turbine towers are mainly made of tubular steel. Concrete is emerging a viable alternative atleast to replace the bottom level of tower which is the heaviest and cost much more that compared to the total cost of the tower. “Hybrid tower will drive the market for taller turbines,” Mr Kyamal adds.
Newer concepts are being introduced in technology such as split blades, bladeless turbines, balloon-based turbines and also floating wind turbines.  The technology in split blades is not very dramatically challenging. However, according to Mr Koerbel, the problem is more of a commercial nature as split blades increases weight and cost both. “If logistical issues can be managed, only then a split blade makes sense. Today the competition is about innovation which in this case would be how to make split blades work economically,” Mr Koerbel adds.
Wind power is a dominant source of power in many countries and also a few states in India. This means that wind power will have be responsible towards the growth and stability of the larger power system. Power forecasting is critical to maintaining grid stability. According to Mr Kyamal, “Accurate forecasting tools are become critical at ensuring higher grid penetration of wind power.”
The next step in this evolution will be energy storage system and hybrid systems. Large battery banks and pumped hydro are being discussed in various forums. Another alternative is to have an intelligent link between wind farms and gas or diesel power plants which together ensure a stable power output based on demand. “Various models are being evaluated and in about a decade we might be able to see atleast a few commercial ventures in this direction,” predicts Mr Kyamal.
In Europe, where availability of land is a major challenge, offshore market is growing and a lot of technology leaps is being witnessed in turbine size, foundations etc.
According to Mr Palashikar, a major development in wind turbine technology is the way a wind farm is optimised from an asset, operations and business perspective.
Asset optimisationAsset optimisation enhances the output of turbines to improve investor returns. “At GE, we articulated our vision for the industrial Internet sometime back. We use its big data and analytics capabilities to improve turbines’ Annual Energy Production (AEP) by up to 5 per cent through our Wind PowerUp Services. We also back it up with innovative commercial models and comprehensive services, sharing the risks and rewards of such improvements,” explains Mr Palashikar.
GE has recently demonstrated a pilot project for this service where its customer realised a 4.8 per cent increase in AEP, versus 3.5 per cent that was initially estimated.
Operations optimisationOperations optimisation requires that the availability and reliability of installed turbines is high, so turbines are available to generate power when winds blow. This requires superior operations and maintenance processes, coupled with an excellent Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) record.
Business optimisationBusiness optimisation deals with how the wind farm interacts with external stakeholders such as the power grid. With increasing penetration of infirm power such as wind power in the grid, regulators demand a higher level of discipline for dispatch. One such requirement is that of scheduling or forecasting, which could result in severe commercial impact for wind farm operators for non-compliance. “GE’s Industrial Internet application for wind power forecasting is based on our Predix platform, and it offers industry-leading forecast accuracy. It significantly reduces wind farm operator’s commercial impact. This in turn facilitates larger integration of wind power in the grid,” asserts Mr Palashikar.
Innovations in small wind turbinesSmall wind turbines are those with rotor or blades less than 16 metres diameter and capacity ranging from 400 W to 50/100 KW. The most popular sizes are 1 KW to 10 KW with hundreds of thousands of them installed around the world. According to Rajarshi Sen, Founder Director and CEO of Luminous Renewable Energy Solutions, “At windy areas, small wind turbines can provide much more energy compared to solar PV. The footprint area is also much less.” Luminous Renewable Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is presently known as WISH Energy Pvt. Ltd.
Mr Sen claims, “Small wind turbines complement solar in wind solar hybrids by generating extra power in monsoon when clouds reduce solar power output.” Such turbines are used successfully for off-grid rural electrification projects and can also work as grid connected rooftop power plants. Thousands of small wind turbines are operating submersible water pumps at un-electrified areas of Asia and Africa. Small turbines provide electricity to hundreds of offshore oil platforms and they are also installed on telecom towers for powering the BTS. WISH Energy’s 1KW turbines are installed in high altitude army posts at Leh and Siachen.

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