Askov, Denmark, 1890s
Poul la Cour, a Danish scientist, begins testing wind turbines in order to provide electricity to the country’s rural population. Poul la Cour created the Society of Wind Electricians in 1903, and the society hosted the first wind electricity course in 1904. La Cour was the first to realize that the most efficient way to generate electricity was to use fast rotating wind turbines with fewer rotor blades.
The Jacobs Wind plant, which produces wind turbine generators, is founded by Joe and Marcellus Jacobs. Generators are used to charge batteries and generate illumination on farms.
The Darrieus turbine, the first vertical axis wind turbine, was designed by Frenchman George Darrieus, who patented it in the United States in 1931. The design, which is known as the “eggbeater windmill” because of its two or three blades, is still in use today.
In Yalta, a prototype for today’s horizontal wind generator generates 100kW. The turbine has a 30m tower and a load factor of 32%, which means it delivers 32% of its potential energy output, which is quite good even by today’s standards.
In Castleton, Vermont, the world’s first megawatt wind turbine is installed and connected to the power grid. The turbine weights 240 tons and has 75-foot blades.
Johannes Juul, a former student of Poul la Cour, designed and built the Gedser wind turbine. Juul’s idea – emergency aerodynamic tip breaks – is still used in turbines today. The 200kW, three-bladed turbine inspired many later turbine designs, and Juul’s invention – emergency aerodynamic tip breaks – is still used in turbines today. The turbine remained operational until 1967, when it was renovated at Nasa’s request in the mid-1970s.
Large commercial wind turbines are being researched by the US government, led by Nasa. Thirteen experimental turbines are installed, and the research pave the way for many of today’s multi-megawatt technologies.
New Hampshire is home to the world’s first windfarm, which includes 20 turbines. The windfarm, on the other hand, is a flop since the turbines fail and the developers overestimate the wind supply.
Nasa builds the 7.5 MW Mod-2 wind turbine in 1981, followed by the 3.2 MW Mod-5B two-blade wind turbine in 1987. Both turbines set new heights in terms of diameter and energy output.
In Vindeby, Denmark’s southernmost town, the first offshore windfarm is built. Eleven 450kW turbines make up the windfarm.
Delabole, Cornwall, hosts the UK’s first onshore windfarm. The farm has ten turbines and generates enough energy to power 2,700 houses.
The first offshore windfarm in the United Kingdom is now operational. The North Hoyle offshore windfarm, which is located 7-8 kilometers off the coast of North Wales between Prestatyn and Rhyl, is made up of 30 2MW turbines.
With the opening of the Braes O’Doune windfarm in Scotland, which produces 72mW of power, the installed capacity of wind power in the UK has reached 2GW.
The United Kingdom has announced plans for tens of thousands of new offshore wind turbines, enough to power every home in the country by 2020.
As part of efforts to substantially cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen energy security, the EU sets an aim for the UK government to increase the contribution of renewables to UK electricity to 20% by 2020.
Plans to develop one of Europe’s largest onshore windfarms in the Outer Hebrides were rejected by Scottish authorities when it was determined that the 500 million scheme would destroy a globally significant peatland.
In the UK, there are currently 186 operating windfarms (both onshore and offshore), with 2,120 turbines generating enough electricity to power 1,523,052 homes while saving 6,156,175 tonnes of CO2. There are 42 under construction, 134 that have been approved, and 268 that are in the planning stages.
When did wind technology first appear?
As early as 5,000 BC, people used wind energy to drive boats along the Nile River. Simple wind-powered water pumps were employed in China by 200 BC, and windmills with woven-reed blades were utilized in Persia and the Middle East to grind grain.
Wind energy was finally used in new ways all around the world. Wind pumps and windmills were widely used for food production in the Middle East by the 11th century. Wind technology was brought to Europe by merchants and Crusaders. The Dutch invented huge windpumps to drain the Rhine River Delta’s lakes and marshes. Wind energy technology was brought to the Western Hemisphere by European immigrants.
Windmills were used by American colonists to grind grain, pump water, and cut wood at sawmills. Thousands of wind pumps were erected by homesteaders and ranchers when they populated the western United States. Small wind-electric generators (wind turbines) were also popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As rural electrification projects in the 1930s stretched electricity connections to most farms and ranches across the country, the number of wind pumps and turbines decreased. Some ranches, though, continue to employ wind pumps to provide water to their livestock. Small wind turbines are regaining popularity, mostly as a source of electricity in isolated and rural locations.
What are modern windmills and how do they work?
You’ve undoubtedly seen it before, and it wasn’t too long ago. If you live in the country, you may be in close proximity to one. The horizontal-axis wind turbine, with three blades, is a distinctive, modern icon of renewable energy and the most frequent type of wind energy generation.
The modern horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) is intended for commercial or utility-scale energy production. It differs from other forms of wind energy generating in that its rotors rotate horizontally (like a windmill), requiring it to be aimed in the direction of the wind. HAWT generators account for the vast bulk of global wind power generation because they are efficient, dependable, and typically deliver the best return on investment.
The device created by Charles F. Brush near Cleveland in 1887, the Soviet prototype built near Yalta in 1931, and the Smith-Putnam wind turbine built in Vermont in 1941 are all examples of horizontal axis generators.
Johannes Juul, a former student of Poul la Cour, designed a HAWT with a diameter of 24 meters and three blades in 1957, which is strikingly similar to the current version. The wind turbine had a power output of 200 kW and was equipped with emergency aerodynamic tip breakers. Wind power development, on the other hand, was virtually stagnant until the 1970s Oil Shocks. The resulting energy crisis in Denmark, a country that was heavily dependant on imported energy at the time, prompted scientists and engineers to design new wind turbines. As demand for this type of energy generation expanded in the 1980s, the Danish began to create larger and larger versions, resulting in the contemporary HAWT, which can exceed 65 meters (212 feet) in height. The Danish were also among the first to investigate the possibility of constructing wind turbines along the shoreline or off the coast.
HAWTs convert around a third to half of the kinetic energy in the wind into electric energy. The power generated by a wind turbine is reduced by rotor blade friction and drag, gearbox losses, generator and converter losses, and other factors. Despite the fact that they provide renewable energy, HAWTs cause a slew of environmental issues. The turbine’s complexity and large number of moving parts necessitate routine maintenance. Some people find them unattractive, and they also generate noise pollution as well as being a danger to birds. These difficulties are being addressed by new breakthroughs in wind turbine technology. Since the beginning of the contemporary HAWT, the trend has been to put these vertical turbines closer to the coasts and the sea, where they are less of an eyesore and are given a more regular stream of wind.
Floating wind turbines are made up of a HAWT mounted on a floating platform that can be moved about at whim, allowing wind energy to be harvested from regions with a deep sea floor that would otherwise be inappropriate for building. They can be relocated to boost wind yield, accommodate fishing vessels or trade routes, or even returned to the shore for modifications or more complex maintenance. The first commercial floating wind farm, Hywind, was built off the coast of Scotland in 2017. Its five turbines provide 30MW of green energy.
Floating wind turbines aren’t revolutionary in terms of technology. In order to drill for oil in deep water, oil rigs have adopted a similar floating technique. In addition, material science and construction technologies have advanced dramatically since then.
However, there are a few drawbacks to floating turbines, the most significant of which being the transmission of electricity back to the mainland. When conventional energy transmission is uneconomical, the energy produced can be used in a variety of applications, including power-to-gas applications, hydrogen gas production, reverse osmosis water desalination, natural gas, LPG, alkylate / gasoline, and so on. They can also be used to generate electricity for the artificial upwelling of nutrient-rich deep-ocean water to the surface, boosting oceanic fishing harvests.
Off-shore and floating HAWTs now cost 3 to 5 times what a land-based tower does. This is worsened by the greater maintenance costs incurred as a result of their poor accessibility when compared to on-shore HWAT. On the other hand, because off-shore winds are stronger and more persistent, these disadvantages are offset by higher energy output.
Sources:
A modern wind turbine has how many blades?
Three blades are found on the great majority of wind turbines now in use. Why not make it four? Is it two? Or a great deal more in order to catch as much wind as possible?
The short answer is that a two-bladed wind turbine already has a high efficiency level. With two blades, you’ll save a lot of money on materials, construction, and maintenance. The wind turbine is somewhat more efficient with a third or fourth rotor blade, but the construction and material prices skyrocket. Our old windmills’ four blades were a more practical choice.
When was the first wind-generated electricity sold to the general public?
One of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies is wind power. Globally, usage is increasing, partly due to lower costs. According to IRENA’s latest data, global installed wind-generation capacity onshore and offshore has expanded by about 75 times in the last two decades, from 7.5 gigawatts (GW) in 1997 to 564 GW in 2018. Wind energy production more than doubled between 2009 and 2013, accounting for 16 percent of all renewable energy generation in 2016. Wind speeds are significant in many places of the world, but the ideal spots for generating wind power are often remote. Offshore wind power has a lot of promise.
Wind turbines have been around for over a century. Engineers began attempting to harness wind energy to make electricity after the advent of the electric generator in the 1830s. In 1887 and 1888, wind power was generated in the United Kingdom and the United States, but modern wind power is thought to have been invented in Denmark, where horizontal-axis wind turbines were erected in 1891 and a 22.8-meter wind turbine was put into service in 1897.
The kinetic energy created by moving air is used to generate electricity in the wind. Wind turbines or wind energy conversion systems convert this into electrical energy. The blades of a turbine are initially impacted by the wind, which causes them to revolve and turn the turbine connected to them. By turning a shaft attached to a generator and so producing electrical energy through electromagnetic, kinetic energy is converted to rotational energy.
The size of the turbine and the length of its blades determine the quantity of power that can be harvested from wind. The output is proportional to the rotor’s size and the wind speed’s cube. Wind power potential increases by a factor of eight when wind speed doubles, according to theory.
The capacity of wind turbines has grown over time. In 1985, average turbines had a rotor diameter of 15 meters and a rated capacity of 0.05 megawatts (MW). Turbine capacity of roughly 2 MW onshore and 35 MW offshore are available in today’s new wind power projects.
Wind turbines with rotor diameters of up to 164 meters are now commercially available, with capacities of up to 8 MW. Wind turbines’ average capacity climbed from 1.6 MW in 2009 to 2 MW in 2014.
When did the first wind farm get started?
The world’s first wind farm, which was erected on the shoulder of Crotched Mountain in southern New Hampshire in December 1980, had a capacity of 0.6 MW and was powered by 20 wind turbines rated at 30 kilowatts apiece.
In hilly or mountainous areas, onshore turbines are typically located on hills three kilometers or more inland from the nearest shoreline. This is done to take advantage of the topographic acceleration that occurs as the wind speeds up as it passes over a ridge. Because more wind passes through the turbines, the increased wind speeds can increase the amount of energy produced. Because a difference of 30 meters can potentially double output, the correct location of each turbine is critical. Micro-siting is the term for this meticulous placing.
In the 1800s, how did windmills work?
Windmills were first employed to assist grind grain several centuries ago, and they were still doing so in the 1800s. Sails were attached to a vertical shaft, which was connected to a grinding stone, and the grain was processed as the sails rotated the stone.
How long does a wind turbine take to break even?
While low running costs are a benefit of wind energy, the large upfront expenses are also a disadvantage.
Financial incentives are commonly used to encourage the construction of larger-scale wind farms and residential turbines. Fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, provide energy at a low rate, making wind power difficult to implement in the short term. These incentives are offered so that the long-term operational costs of wind energy can outweigh the initial investment.
Wind turbines typically take anything from 10 to 20 years to break even.
Unpredictable Energy Source
Wind energy’s largest disadvantage is cost, but its second is unpredictability.
Solar energy is predictable, despite the fact that it is intermittent. You can predict when the sun will rise and set using solar energy. This makes energy storage planning pretty simple.
How much does a wind turbine cost?
If there is no cost or environmental benefit to putting wind on a system with plenty of hydro, one might wonder why we are doing it. The explanation is that many jurisdictions (Washington and California, for example) have established legislation that exclude current hydropower from the legal definition of renewable energy. Many readers may be surprised to learn that existing hydro meets the requirement of being naturally replenished. Existing hydro is replenished in the same way as new hydro would be.
The BPA grid currently has 3000 MW of wind energy potential (when the wind is blowing). Assuming the above-mentioned windmill pricing, this means that BPA consumers have already spent at least $5 billion on wind-energy production with no apparent return. By 2012, this potential wind capacity is likely to increase, costing BPA customers another $5 billion with no evident gain.
The basic line is that we have permitted policies to pass that are both financially and environmentally damaging. Wind developers would have lost their legally mandated status if these laws had not been in place, and there would be no windmills on grids with plenty of hydro.
Electricity generated by the wind is not free. The cost of fuel for any power plant is only a portion of the total cost to a consumer. The fact that the cost of the fuel is zero does not imply that the cost of the power generated is also zero.
This is comparable to how hydroelectricity is generated. Although the cost of water is zero, the cost of hydro-generated power is not. It comprises charges for operations and maintenance as well as the cost of constructing the hydroelectric dam.
The cost of fuel for a nuclear plant is not zero, although it is a minor part of the total cost of generation. It is unquestionably less than the cost of fuel in a natural gas plant, where the cost of fuel accounts for almost 80% of the generation cost.
Wind generating appears to be worth the fuel cost savings for power companies who utilize oil as a fuel.
Oil, on the other hand, is not widely used due to its high cost.
To summarize, there appears to be no economic basis for installing windmills unless there are no low-cost alternatives. This is especially true when windmills are installed on a grid with plenty of hydro, because there are no corresponding fuel savings.
Inputs:
- Installing a 2-MW wind turbine costs around $3.5 million.
- The cost of operating and maintaining a wind farm is around 20-25 percent of the total cost.
- Wind turbines have a maximum life expectancy of 20 years.
- The cost of gasoline is approximately $4 per thousand cubic feet.
- Oil is currently priced at $80 per barrel.
- 1 kWh of electricity requires around 7.7 cubic feet of natural gas (dividing the generation in Table 7.2a by the fuel consumption in Table 7.3a in these tables published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration ).
- One kWh of electricity requires 0.00175 barrels of oil (using the same tables as above).
Assumptions:
- A wind farm’s capacity factor is approximately 30%. (land based).
- For Hawaii, a greater capacity factor of 45 percent is estimated.
- A wind turbine has a 15-year average lifespan.
- The wind farm’s interest charges are overlooked.
- Transmission line costs are overlooked.