Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies

Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies Volume 2 wind energy 2 07 – wind parks design, including representative case studies

2.07 Wind Parks Design, Including Representative Case Studies D Al Katsaprakakis and DG Christakis, Wind Energy Laboratory, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Crete, Greece © 2012 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved 2.07.1 2.07.2 2.07.2.1 2.07.2.2 2.07.2.3 2.07.2.4 2.07.2.4.1 2.07.2.4.2 2.07.2.4.3 2.07.2.4.4 2.07.2.5 2.07.3 2.07.4 2.07.5 2.07.6 2.07.7 2.07.8 2.07.8.1 2.07.8.1.1 2.07.8.1.2 2.07.8.1.3 2.07.8.1.4 2.07.8.1.5 2.07.8.2 2.07.8.3 2.07.9 2.07.9.1 2.07.9.2 2.07.9.3 2.07.9.4 2.07.9.5 2.07.10 2.07.10.1 2.07.10.2 2.07.10.3 2.07.10.4 2.07.11 References Further Reading Introduction The Selection of the Wind Park’s Installation Site Aiming at the Maximization of the Electricity Produced The Effect of Land Morphology on the Site Selection Aiming at the Minimization of the Set-Up Cost Installation Issues of the Wind Turbines The equipment transportation The wind turbines’ service area The wind turbines’ foundation The wind turbines’ erection Aiming at the Minimization of the Time Required for the Wind Park Project Implementation The Wind Potential Evaluation The Selection of the Wind Turbine Model The Micro-Siting of a Wind Park The Calculation of the Annual Electricity Production Social Approval of the Wind Park The Wind Park Integration in Local Networks The Power Quality Disturbances Caused by the Wind Turbines Steady-state voltage level fluctuations Voltage fluctuations Transients Harmonics Frequency fluctuations Wind Power Penetration in Weak Networks and Dynamic Security The Connection of Wind Parks in Electricity Networks Economic Analysis The Project’s Set-Up Cost Calculation and the Funding Scheme The Calculation of the Investment’s Annual Revenues Annual Expenses Investment’s Annual Net Profits Economic Indexes Presentation of Characteristic Case Studies The Design of a Wind Park in a Small Noninterconnected Power System The Design of a Wind Park in a Large Noninterconnected Power System The Roscoe Wind Park in Texas – Largest Onshore Wind Park The Thanet Wind Park in the United Kingdom – Largest Offshore Wind Park Epilog 169 171 171 174 177 177 177 178 178 180 181 183 186 190 196 202 206 206 207 207 207 207 207 208 209 210 210 210 211 211 211 211 212 216 218 220 221 222 223 2.07.1 Introduction The fundamental principles regarding the design of a wind park are presented in this chapter The design of a wind park is a multiparameter process that aims at the following three goals: • the maximization of the electricity produced from the wind park • the minimization of the set-up cost per installed kilowatt of wind power • the minimization of the time required for the implementation of the wind park project The maximization of the electricity produced from the wind park depends on two parameters: Comprehensive Renewable Energy, Volume doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-087872-0.00208-0 169 170 Wind Parks Design, Including Representative Case Studies • the selection of an appropriate site for the installation of the wind park, taking into account the available wind potential and the total available area for the installation of the wind turbines • the optimum micro-siting of the wind turbines in order to avoid or to minimize the wind turbines’ shading losses between them Higher electricity production from a wind park is expected in sites with remarkable wind potential The higher the wind blows, the higher the electricity produced will be and vice versa On the other hand, the micro-siting of the wind turbines aims at the optimum exploitation of the available wind potential, by minimizing any potential energy production losses, arising mainly from the shading effect between the wind turbines or other physical or technical obstacles existing in the vicinity of the installation site The set-up cost for a wind park’s installation consists of the following basic components: • • • • the wind turbines’ and secondary electromechanical equipment purchase cost the wind turbines’ and secondary electromechanical equipment transportation cost the required infrastructure works’ cost the new electricity network construction for the connection to the existing one The equipment purchase cost is mainly configured by the cost of the wind turbine model selected This cost varies slightly for different wind turbine models In most cases, the wind turbines purchase cost constitutes the main cost component of the wind park’s total set-up cost The selection of the wind turbine model, described thoroughly in a following section, is performed taking into account the total wind parks’ nominal power, the land available for installation, the electromechanical specifications of the generator, and other special environmental issues The abovementioned parameters constitute the basic criteria for the selection of a wind turbine model The purchase cost consists of a secondary parameter regarding the selection of the turbine’s model The transportation of the wind turbines and the remaining electromechanical equipment, the required infrastructure works, and the construction of the new network are cost components strongly affected by the site selected for the wind park’s installation Hence, the selection of the wind park’s installation site, except the expected electricity production, affects the total set-up cost as well Any efforts toward the reduction of the total wind park’s cost should focus on the reduction of these components’ cost The time required for a wind park’s installation is analyzed in the following implementation stages: • the wind park’s licensing procedure • the wind park’s erection procedure Former surveys on implemented wind park projects in Europe and worldwide indicate that the most time-consuming procedure regarding the implementation of a wind park project is the licensing procedure [1–3] Depending on possible peculiarities in the neighborhood of the installation site, such as proximity to archeological sites, places of tourist interest, and special protected areas for birds, the required time period for the licensing procedure can be considerably extended and, in the worst case, the wind park project can even be canceled Consequently, the minimization of the time required for the implementation of a wind park project is strongly affected by the selected installation site as well Summarizing the conclusions from the above brief presentation of the parameters that are taken into account for the design of a wind park, it is revealed that the most crucial one is the selection of an appropriate installation site The optimum selection of a wind park installation site is determined by the maximization of the electricity produced, the minimization of the set-up cost, and the time required for the implementation of the licensing and erection project’s stages The basic steps toward the implementation of a wind park project are presented in Figure As seen in this figure, once a site for the wind park’s installation is selected, a feasibility study must be fulfilled in order to indicate whether the project is feasible The feasibility study should examine the following crucial issues: • a first approximate (in case there is no time for wind potential measurements) or accurate wind potential estimation based on empirical methods or available wind potential measurements in a neighboring position • the possibility to gain the land’s ownership either by renting or by buying it • the wind turbines’ micro-siting, aiming at the annual electricity production maximization and the minimization of the possible impacts on the environment and on human activities • the investment’s evaluation, namely the economic analysis of the wind park project aiming at the calculation of representative economic indexes The abovementioned tasks will be thoroughly analyzed in the following sections of this chapter If the conclusions of the feasibility study are positive regarding the designed wind park project, the process is continued with the accomplishment of the wind park’s final technical and financial studies A meteorological mast must be installed in the installation site for the measurement of the available wind potential In order to gain valid information on the wind park’s expected power output, the wind potential measurement period must be at least annual The wind park’s licensing procedure is defined in the national legislation of each country The scope of this task is the examination from the state authorities of any possible legal violations arising from the implementation of the proposed project The approval of the project’s licensing application allows the developers to proceed with the wind park’s erection If the application is not approved, the wind park’s developers have two alternatives: Wind Parks Design, Including Representative Case Studies 171 Site research • • • • • • Feasibility study Wind potential evaluation Land’s ownership Wind turbines’ micro-siting Annual electricity calculation Environmental impacts Investment’s evaluation Not feasible project End of process Feasible project Implementation Final technical studies Modification of the project’s design or restart of a new one Applications for project’s licensing Rejection End of process Approval Project’s implementation Contract for electricity vending with the utility Wind park’s test operation (2–3 months) Wind park’s commercial operation Figure The implementation procedure of a wind park • to submit a new licensing application for the same project, following any modifications indicated by the authorities in the rejection decision • to proceed with the development of a new project Once the set-up procedure is completed, the wind park is set under test operation for a period of 2–3 months The electricity vending contract is then signed between the wind park’s owner and the utility and the normal operation of the wind park begins 2.07.2 The Selection of the Wind Park’s Installation Site 2.07.2.1 Aiming at the Maximization of the Electricity Produced The electricity produced from a wind park depends on the available wind potential in the installation site The selection of a site with high wind potential is the first crucial issue one should face toward the implementation of a wind park project At a first stage, information regarding the available wind potential in a geographical territory can be gathered from several sources, such as: • wind potential maps (or atlases) developed from specialized and reliable institutes or academic laboratories • the distortion of the vegetation (trees, brushes) at the installation site due to the wind • the opinion of inhabitants with frequent presence at the area of interest (shepherds, fishermen, etc.) Reliable wind potential maps are published in relevant scientific articles, handbooks, books, and web-pages [4, 5] The most common information depicted in wind potential maps is the mean annual wind velocity at a specific height above ground 172 Wind Parks Design, Including Representative Case Studies (e.g., 10, 20, 40 m, etc.) or the wind power density (in W m−2) In Figure a comprehensive European Wind Atlas developed by Risø National Laboratory of Denmark is presented [6], while in Figure a more thorough wind map for the eastern part of the island of Crete in Greece, developed by the Wind Energy Laboratory of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, is presented [7] Reliable wind maps can be developed on the basis of several wind potential measurements gathered from a network of meteorological stations dispersed properly in the examined geographical territory The selection of the installation positions of the meteorological stations depends on the territory morphology Generally, the meteorological stations must by evenly allocated in characteristic positions, such as top of hills or mountains The wind potential measurements should be expanded at least in annual time periods Once the wind potential measurements have been gathered, the wind potential map is developed with the use of relevant software tools, using as input the gathered wind potential measurements and the land digitized morphology The wind map is Wind resources at 50 m above ground level for five different topographic conditions: (1) sheltered terrain, (2) open plain, (3) at a coast, (4) open sea, and (5) hills and ridges m s–1 W m–2 >6.0 >250 5.0–6.0 150–250 4.5–5.0 100–150 3.5–4.5 50–100 500 6.5–7.5 300–500 5.5–6.5 200–300 4.5–5.5 100–200 800 8.0–9.0 600–800 7.0–8.0 400–600 5.5–7.0 200–400 1800 10.0–11.5 1200–1800 8.5–10.0 700–1200 7.0–8.5 400–700 25 0 5. 0–6 .0 150 25 0 4. 5–5 .0 10 0–1 50 3. 5–4 .5 5 0–1 00 500 6. 5–7 .5 30 0–5 00 5. 5–6 .5 20 0–3 00 4. 5–5 .5 100 20 0 11.5 >1800 10. 0–1 1.5 120 0–1 800 8. 5–1 0.0 70 0– 120 0 7. 0–8 .5 40 0–7 00