Community vs Industrial Scale Wind Energy Production Design

Community vs Industrial Scale Wind Energy Production Design, Implementation & Employment Opportunities (View PPT in “Normal” view to see slide notes) Sean G. O’Reilly E-mail: sean. g. oreilly@gmail. com Green Group Boston

Wind Energy Status Divisions of Wind Generation: Residential 0 -100 KW Community 100 KW-1 MW Industrial wind 1 MW+ (currently 1 -7 MW range) Green Group Boston 2

Topic List • • Site assessment Permitting and environmental hurdles Turbine technologies Materials issues in design Infrastructure to construct O&M - Operation and maintenance Pain points in development Industry needs and job opportunities Green Group Boston 3

Site Assessment • • Wind conditions (Met towers, Sodar, Lidar) Terrain (local obstacles and turbulence factors) Footprint and foundation (space needed, anchoring) Onshore vs offshore (industrial only, considerations) Green Group Boston 4

Turbine Tower Footprint Examples Green Group Boston 5

Permitting and Environmental Hurdles • • • Time scale Government and state bodies involved General points on the process Environmental hurdles Small (community) wind process, vs Large (industrial) wind process Green Group Boston 6

Basic Anatomy of a Wind Turbine (HAWT) • Note: The coming era of direct drive for large turbines, may eliminate gearboxes Green Group Boston 7

Turbine Technologies • Styles (Vertical horizontal, Cycloidal, shrouds & multi -rotor) • Upwind or downwind orientation for HAWT’s • Gearbox or direct drive • “Smart” turbines (self protection, energy optimization) • Energy storage Green Group Boston 8

Turbine Technologies • Shrouded turbine with multiple rotors • Typical small wind turbine Green Group Boston 9

Who Are the Top Players? Large Wind HAWT: 1 Vestas Denmark 2 Enercon Germany 3 Gamesa Spain 4 GE Energy Germany/ US 5 Siemens Denmark/Germany 6 Suzlon India 7 Sinovel China Green Group Boston 10

Examples of Small Wind Companies, Design Variety: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Company Name Flo. Design Mariah Power Southwest Windpower URwind Cascade Eng. Inc. Enflo Optiwind Bergey Windpower Turbine Type HAWT Shrouded “Windspire” VAWT HAWT VAWT “Swift” HAWT Shrouded HAWT Green Group Boston 11

Materials Issues in Design • Blade scale-up • Composite materials • Testing and qualification • Automated production • Tooling • Superconductors Green Group Boston 12

Infrastructure for Assembly and Erection • Trucks, barges, cranes, airlift cranes • Double wide roads • General terrain • Handling issues (dock transfer, skill level and risk) Green Group Boston 13

Operation and Maintenance • Performance: SCADA network • Damage from lightning, wildlife, snipers, various • Component life: Not all 20 yrs • Lubrication: Vital • Coatings and corrosion: Wind is abrasive • Repair and replacement: Do at height where possible • Reality of operation: Always need O&M staff on site at large farms 24/7 Green Group Boston 14

Environmental Impact Studies • Contentious issues • Birds / bats / fish positives and negatives • Some realities from industry findings • Design for low noise Green Group Boston 15

Industry Pain Points, Large Wind Large wind: • HAWT blade size limitation (cost versus physics) • Production scale-up difficult for massive blades • Need increased quality at lower cost • Need to store power to offset down time • Grid integration varies and relies on utility cooperation • Max. wind land sites will fast become scarce Green Group Boston 16

Industry Pain Points, Small Wind • Not as cost effective, bigger is better • Less corporate sponsorship /tougher financing • NIMBY issues in urban areas • Grid intertie not standardized between states • Duplication of grid interconnect effort vs once for a large wind farm • Cruder turbine protection technology • Need UL approved generators for grid intertie Green Group Boston 17

Lrg Wind Industry, Needs = Job Opportunities • • • Custom composite ply kitting for blades Automation machinery for blade production Full scale static and dynamic testing of blades Auxiliary repair materials and tooling Specialized coatings for ice, oils & corrosion Transport and handling logistics & equipment O&M subcontracting Project management of wind energy contracts Feasibility analysts, wind resource specialists Federal permitting experts Health and safety engineers Green Group Boston 18

Sml Wind Industry, Needs=Job Opportunities • • • Safety products and practices Small, high efficiency, cheap, quiet turbines Local permitting and incentives experts Recycling/ refurbishing of used turbines Custom build O&M Building integrated wind turbines/ urban feasibility Portable MET towers (products and service) Hybrid use of cell phone/other towers for metrology Portable SODAR, & LIDAR (affordable) Home PC/ Mac software (SCADA-lite? ) Financiers for novel turbine / hybrid systems Green Group Boston 19

Links to more Information • • AWEA: www. awea. org NREL : www. nrel. gov/wind State Incentives Database: www. dsireusa. org Bergey Payback Calculator www. bergey. com/Channels/1 F 2. htm Legal and Safety Issues – U. S. DOE Small Wind System Installation Reference Brief www. eren. doe. gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/ja 2. html AWEA Advice: www. awea. org/faq/sagrillo - Tribulations, Hearings, Zoning, Perceptions “Connecting a Small-Scale Renewable Energy System to an Electric Transmission System” U. S. Do. E : www. eren. doe. gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/ja 7. html “Connecting to the Grid” Interstate Renewable Energy Council: www. irecusa. org Green Group Boston 20

Gov’t Funding Program Links: • U. S. Dept. of Treasury: Renewable energy grants (ARRA) (Enacted 2 -’ 09) • 30%+ funding available • www. treas. gov/recovery/1603. shtml • USDA: Rural energy for America Program (REAP) (Enacted 5 -’ 02) • 25% of project cost • www. rurdev. usda. gov/rbs/busp/bprogs. htm • Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB’s) (Latest version enacted 10 -’ 08) • Federal loans, amount varies • www. irs. gov/irb/2007 -14_IRB/ar 17. html Green Group Boston 21

References / Credits • • • Slide 2: 2005 Chart from NEI International Energy Agency’s key world energy statistics 2007, updated 1/08 Slide 4: From a NREL report for DOE, entitled “Small Wind Electric Systems, a Minnesota Consumer’s Guide” Slide 5: Appalachian State University, Office of Sustainability, Boone, NC Slide 7: Anatomy picture source unknown. Scout Moor gearbox picture: http: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Scout_moor_gearbox %2 C_rotor_shaft_and_brake_assembly. jpg Slide 8: Darrius picture : http: //deppenschmidt. wordpress. com/2009/02/11/energy-saving-now/. Cycloidal picture: “Aerocam”, Broadstar Wind Systems Slide 9: Open type: Bergey Windpower, Shrouded type: Windtamer Turbines Corp. Green Group Boston 22

References / Credits (Cont’d) • • Slide 12: Blade test picture: LM Glasfiber, preform layup picture: Vien Tek Slide 13: Source unknown, Google web images Slide 14: Source unknown, Google web images Slide 15: Bat image: Google web, copyright free. Fish image: Google web, copyright free Green Group Boston 23