Wind Turbine for Green Power

Schematic diagram for
 wind turbine power generation

History of Wind Power Generation:

Wind power has been in use for serving mankind for centuries through what has been popularly known as “Windmills.” There is no “electrical” stage of energy in old-style uses where wind velocity is directly used for performing jobs such as wheat grinding, pumping water for irrigation, and sailing vessels etc. It enjoys the advantages of being plentiful, inexhaustible, renewable, and non-polluting, over and above being cheap for running costs. 

It suffers from the disadvantages of being unreliable and being economically unviable for large power generation. In India, a large number of such units with normal and medium power ratings (up to 100 kW) are already in operation, mainly in coastal or hilly areas. With the modern system, it is now preferred to have suitable power-control circuits on the output side of wind-generators so that these can pump energy into low-voltage lines of the grid over a wide range of variation of wind speeds.

In ancient times, people learn to use wind as a power source, and sailing boats or ships have been using wind power for at least 5,500 years. In the 17^th century BC, the Babylonian emperor Hammurabi used wind power for irrigation work. Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria used wind to drive a wheel to power a machine in the 1^st century AD Ancient Tibet and China also learned to use wind power since 4^th century for speeding grain crushing and water pumping.

Development of Wind Power:

From antiquity through the Middle Ages and into the modern 21st century, the use of wind power has undergone remarkable transformations. Modern technology has reshaped this ancient force of nature into a reliable source of electricity.

In the early 20th century, Denmark made significant advances in wind-powered electricity generation. By 1908, the country had 72 wind-driven electric generators, each with capacities ranging from 5 kW to 25 kW.

A major milestone came in 1978, when the first multi-megawatt wind turbine was constructed. Since then, technological innovation has accelerated dramatically. Today, thanks to cutting-edge engineering, many multinational companies operate wind turbines capable of producing up to 10 megawatts of electric power each.

Electricity Harvesting from Wind Power:

Modern wind power technology uses precisely contoured turbine blades—shaped much like an airplane’s wings—to capture the kinetic energy of moving air. As the wind turns the blades, they rotate a shaft connected to a generator, which converts the rotational force into electricity.

The generated electricity travels down through electric cables to a transformer, where the voltage is adjusted. From there, it is transmitted through power lines to a power station, where it is either stored or distributed for use.

For efficient operation, wind speeds typically need to range between 13 km/h and 90 km/h. The amount of energy produced depends on several factors:

• Wind speed

• Altitude

• Height of the tower

• Size of the turbine blades

Example – A Typical 2 MW Wind Power Plant

• Base tower weight: ~132,000 kg

• Turbine blades weight: ~35,000 kg

• Blade sweeping area: ~5,000 m²

• Total turbine weight: ~230,000 kg

World Biggest Wind Turbine:

Wind power generation is one of the clean powers generating procedure appreciated worldwide and emerged as one of the fastest growing renewable green energy sources in the world. We can explore some largest wind power plant in the world.

SEATITAN 10MW Wind Turbine:

The SeaTitan 10MW wind turbine designed by AMSC (American Energy Technologies Company) is the biggest wind turbine so far in the world. They started developing the turbine in 2010 and completed in 2012.  The 10MW capacity giant turbine which incorporated with much normaler and lighter HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) generator having 10rpm speed and driving power 12,000kVA.

The direct-drive turbine which technical specification as 190M rotor diameter, 50 Hz / 60 Hz grid frequency, 5° axis rotor tilt angle, 125 M hub height and cast iron conical tubular steel tower with integrated lightning conductor. Its operational rated wind speed is 11.5 m/s and lowest and highest cut-in wind speed 4 m/s & 30 m/s respectively. Survival temperature range is -20°C to 50°C.

Sway Turbine ST10:

The Norwegian Technology Company Sway designed and developed ST10 wind turbine which is the world second biggest wind turbine. Its power output is 10MW, rotor diameter is 164M and blade height is 67M. This turbine is suitable for both fixed and floating foundations.

Beside these biggest wind turbine another companies also developing competitive wind turbine and list of the biggest wind turbine becoming longer and longer, like- Areva 8MW, Vestas V164-8.0 MW, Enercon E-126/7.5 MW, Samsung S7.0-171, REpower 6.2M152 / REpower 6.2M126, Siemens SWT-6.0-154, Haliade 150-6MW and Sinovel SL6000  wind turbine etc.

Top Ten Wind Power Generating Countries 

Wind power generating rate increasing every year. Wind power one of the most available green energy sources. According to the Global Wind Energy Council report on 2014 the top ten wind power generating countries are as below:

1. China 114,763 Megawatts;
2. United States 65,879 Megawatts;
3. Germany had 39,165 Megawatts;
4. Spain  22,987 Megawatts;
5. India 22,465 Megawatts;
6. United Kingdom 12,440 Megawatts;
7. Canada 9,694 Megawatts;
8. France 2,500 Megawatts;
9. Italy 8,663 Megawatts;
10. Brazil 5,939 Megawatts.

Overall, total global capacity reached about 432,419 MW  what is representing cumulative growth of 17%; and experts are thinking green energy wind power generation be come much popular and increased near future.