Introduction To Wind Energy Systems

Authors have tried to strike a balance between a short book chapter and a very detailed book for subject experts. There were three prime reasons behind doing so: first, the field is quite interdisciplinary and requires simplified presentation for a person from non-parent discipline. Second reason for this short-version of a full book is that both the authors have seen students and technically oriented people, searching for this type of book on wind energy. Third reason and motivation was considering engineers who are starting their career in wind industry. This book is targeted to present a good starting background to such professionals.

This monograph addresses the needs of readers interested in wind energy converters. The authors achieve to strike a balance between a concise presentation of the material and a detailed book for experts in the field. The book covers aspects such as design and technical challenges of wind converters, but also policy issues as well as life cycle assessment considerations. In the past few decades, growth in the wind energy sector has been most phenomenal among all renewable energy resources. In this context, it is nearly universally agreed that wind energy can definitely play an important part in ensuring a sustainable future.The topic is highly interdisciplinary and requires an accessible format for non-experts. Hence, this compact version is suitable for many students and practitioners who intend to read concisely on wind energy.

Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases—and wind energy is a free, renewable resource. However, the induction machines commonly used as wind generators have stability problems similar to the transient stability of synchronous machines. To minimize power, frequency, and voltage fluctuations caused by network faults or random wind speed variations, control mechanisms are necessary. Wind Energy Systems: Solutions for Power Quality and Stabilization clearly explains how to solve stability and power quality issues of wind generator systems. Covering fundamental concepts of wind energy conversion systems, the book discusses several means to enhance the transient stability of wind generator systems. It also explains the methodologies for minimizing fluctuations of power, frequency, and voltage. Topics covered include: An overview of wind energy and wind energy conversion systems Fundamentals of electric machines and power electronics Types of wind generator systems Challenges in integrating wind power into electricity grids Solutions for power quality problems Methods for improving transient stability during network faults Methods for minimizing power fluctuations of variable-speed wind generator systems This accessible book helps researchers and engineers understand the relative effectiveness of each method and select a suitable tool for wind generator stabilization. It also offers students an introduction to wind energy conversion systems, providing insights into important grid integration and stability issues.

Wind Energy: An Introduction covers wind energy system types, operation, modeling, analysis, integration, and control. Beginning with a history of the development of wind energy, this comprehensive book:Explains the aerodynamic theories that govern the operation of wind turbinesPresents wind energy statistics to address the stochastic nature of win

Presenting the latest developments in the field, Wind Energy Systems: Control Engineering Design offers a novel take on advanced control engineering design techniques for wind turbine applications. The book introduces concurrent quantitative engineering techniques for the design of highly efficient and reliable controllers, which can be used to solve the most critical problems of multi-megawatt wind energy systems. This book is based on the authors’ experience during the last two decades designing commercial multi-megawatt wind turbines and control systems for industry leaders, including NASA and the European Space Agency. This work is their response to the urgent need for a truly reliable concurrent engineering methodology for the design of advanced control systems. Outlining a roadmap for such a coordinated architecture, the authors consider the links between all aspects of a multi-megawatt wind energy project, in which the wind turbine and the control system must be cooperatively designed to achieve an optimized, reliable, and successful system. Look inside for links to a free download of QFTCT—a new interactive CAD tool for QFT controller design with MATLAB® that the authors developed with the European Space Agency. The textbook’s big-picture insights can help students and practicing engineers control and optimize a wind energy system, in which large, flexible, aerodynamic structures are connected to a demanding variable electrical grid and work automatically under very turbulent and unpredictable environmental conditions. The book covers topics including robust QFT control, aerodynamics, mechanical and electrical dynamic modeling, economics, reliability, and efficiency. It also addresses standards, certification, implementation, grid integration, and power quality, as well as environmental and maintenance issues. To reinforce understanding, the authors present real examples of experimentation with commercial multi-megawatt direct-drive wind turbines, as well as on-shore, offshore, floating, and airborne wind turbine applications. They also offer a unique in-depth exploration of the quantitative feedback theory (QFT)—a proven, successful robust control technique for real-world applications—as well as advanced switching control techniques that help engineers exceed classical linear limitations.

Wind energy’s bestselling textbook- fully revised. This must-have second edition includes up-to-date data, diagrams, illustrations and thorough new material on: the fundamentals of wind turbine aerodynamics; wind turbine testing and modelling; wind turbine design standards; offshore wind energy; special purpose applications, such as energy storage and fuel production. Fifty additional homework problems and a new appendix on data processing make this comprehensive edition perfect for engineering students. This book offers a complete examination of one of the most promising sources of renewable energy and is a great introduction to this cross-disciplinary field for practising engineers. “provides a wealth of information and is an excellent reference book for people interested in the subject of wind energy.” (IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, November/December 2003) “deserves a place in the library of every university and college where renewable energy is taught.” (The International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education, Vol.41, No.2 April 2004) “a very comprehensive and well-organized treatment of the current status of wind power.” (Choice, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2002)

The availability of clean, renewable power is without question going to be the defining challenge and goal of the 21st century, and wind will lead the way. Internationally acclaimed wind energy expert Paul Gipe is as soberly critical of past energy mistakes as he is convincingly optimistic about the future. The overwhelming challenge of transforming our world from one of fossil carbon to one of clean power seems daunting at best—and paralyzingly impractical at worst. Wind Energy Basics offers a solution. Wind power can realistically not only replace the lion’s share of oil-, coal-, and naturalgas– fired electrical plants in the U.S., but also can add enough extra power capacity to allow for most of the cars in the nation to run on electricity. Gipe explains why such a startlingly straightforward solution is eminently doable and can be accomplished much sooner than previously thought—and will have the capacity to resuscitate small and regional economies. Wind Energy Basics offers a how-to for home-based wind applications, with advice on which wind turbines to choose and which to avoid. He guides wind-energy installers through considerations such as renewable investment strategies and gives cautionary tales of wind applications gone wrong. And for the activist, he suggests methods of prodding federal, state, and provincial governments to promote energy independence.

The second edition of the highly acclaimed Wind Power in Power Systems has been thoroughly revised and expanded to reflect the latest challenges associated with increasing wind power penetration levels. Since its first release, practical experiences with high wind power penetration levels have significantly increased. This book presents an overview of the lessons learned in integrating wind power into power systems and provides an outlook of the relevant issues and solutions to allow even higher wind power penetration levels. This includes the development of standard wind turbine simulation models. This extensive update has 23 brand new chapters in cutting-edge areas including offshore wind farms and storage options, performance validation and certification for grid codes, and the provision of reactive power and voltage control from wind power plants. Key features: Offers an international perspective on integrating a high penetration of wind power into the power system, from basic network interconnection to industry deregulation; Outlines the methodology and results of European and North American large-scale grid integration studies; Extensive practical experience from wind power and power system experts and transmission systems operators in Germany, Denmark, Spain, UK, Ireland, USA, China and New Zealand; Presents various wind turbine designs from the electrical perspective and models for their simulation, and discusses industry standards and world-wide grid codes, along with power quality issues; Considers concepts to increase penetration of wind power in power systems, from wind turbine, power plant and power system redesign to smart grid and storage solutions. Carefully edited for a highly coherent structure, this work remains an essential reference for power system engineers, transmission and distribution network operator and planner, wind turbine designers, wind project developers and wind energy consultants dealing with the integration of wind power into the distribution or transmission network. Up-to-date and comprehensive, it is also useful for graduate students, researchers, regulation authorities, and policy makers who work in the area of wind power and need to understand the relevant power system integration issues.