Wind Energy Project Analysis

Clean Energy Project Analysis Course

Utility-Scale Turbine

Photo Credit: Nordex AG

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Objectives

• Review basics of
Wind Energy systems

• Illustrate key considerations for

Wind Energy project analysis

• Introduce RETScreen® Wind Energy Project Model

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

What do wind energy systems
provide?

• Electricity for San Gorgino Windfarm, Palm Springs, California, USA

 Central-grids
 Isolated-grids
 Remote power supplies
 Water pumping
…but also…
 Support for weak grids
 Reduced exposure to
energy price volatility
 Reduced transmission and
distribution losses
Photo Credit: Warren Gretz/ NREL Pix

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Wind Turbine Description

• Components Schematic of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

 Rotor
 Gearbox
 Tower
 Foundation
 Controls
 Generator

• Types
 Horizontal axis
 Most common
 Controls or design
turn rotor into wind
 Vertical axis
 Less common
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Utilisation of Wind Energy

• Off-Grid Off-Grid, 10-kW Turbine, Mexico

 Small turbines (50 W to 10 kW)

 Battery charging
 Water pumping

• Isolated-Grid
 Turbines typically 10 to 200 kW
 Reduce generation costs in remote
areas: wind-diesel hybrid system
 High or low penetration

• Central-Grid
 Turbines typically 200 kW to 2 MW
 Windfarms of multiple turbines Photo Credit: Charles Newcomber/ NREL Pix
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Elements of Wind Energy Projects

• Wind resource
assessment
• Environmental
assessment
• Regulatory approval Installing a 40-m Meteorological Mast, Quebec, Canada
Photo Credit: GPCo Inc.

• Design
• Construction
 Roads
 Transmission line
 Substations
Substation, California, USA
Photo Credit: Warren Gretz/NREL Pix
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Wind Resource

• High average wind speeds are essential

 4 m/s annual average is minimum
 People tend to overestimate the wind
 Wind speed tends to increase with height

• Good resource
 Coastal areas 1 MW Turbine Power Curve
 Crests of long slopes 1,200
 Passes 1,000
 Open terrain Power (kW) 800
 Valleys that channel winds 600

• Typically windier in 400

200
 Winter than summer
0
 Day than night
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Wind speed (m/s)

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Wind Energy System Costs

• Windfarms
Feasibility Study
 $1,500/kW installed
Development
 O&M: $0.01/kWh
 Selling price: $0.04-$0.10/kWh Engineering

• Single turbines Turbines

& isolated-grid Balance of plant

 Higher costs
(more project specific) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Portion of Installed Costs
 Feasibility study, development
& engineering represent a higher portion of costs

• Expect one major component replacement of 20 to 25% of initial

costs
 Rotor blades or gearbox
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Wind Energy Project
Considerations
• Good wind resource dramatically reduces cost of production
 Good resource assessment is a worthwhile investment

• Additional sources of revenue

 Government/utility production credits or Greenpower rates
 Sales of emissions reduction credits (ERC’s)

• Constraints and criteria

 Environmental acceptability
 Acceptance of local population
 Grid interconnection and transmission
capacity

• Financing, interest rates,

currency exchange rates Turbine of the Le Nordais Windfarm, Quebec, Canada

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Examples: Europe and USA
Central-Grid Wind Energy Systems

• Intermittent generation not a problem: Coastal Windfarm, Denmark

17% of Denmark’s electricity is from wind
with no additional reserve generation
• Quick projects (2 to 4 years) that can
grow to meet demand

Photo Credit: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet

• Land can be used for other purposes,

such as agriculture
• Individuals, businesses, and co-
operatives sometimes own and
operate single turbines

Windfarm in Palm Springs, California, USA

Photo Credit: Warren Gretz/ NREL Pix © Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Examples: India and Canada
Isolated-Grid Wind Energy Systems

• Electricity generation expensive due to cost of transporting

diesel fuel to remote areas
 Wind turbines reduce consumption of diesel fuel

• Reliability & maintenance are important

50-kW Turbine, Nunavut, Canada

Installation of a 50-kW Turbine, West Bengal, India

Photo Credit: Paul Pynn/ Atlantic Orient Canada Photo Credit: Phil Owens/ Nunavut Power Corp.
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Examples: USA, Brazil and Chile
Off-Grid Wind Energy Systems

• Electricity for small loads in windy off-grid areas

• Batteries in stand-alone systems provide electricity during calm periods
• Water pumping: water reservoir is storage
• Can be used in combination with fossil fuel gensets and/or photovoltaic
arrays in a “hybrid” system
Power for a Telecommunications Power for a Remote
Hybrid Wind Energy System, Chile
Tower, Arizona, USA Village, Brazil

Photo Credit: Southwest Windpower/ NREL Pix Photo Credit: Roger Taylor/ NREL Pix Photo Credit: Arturo Kunstmann/ NREL Pix
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
RETScreen Wind Energy ®

Project Model
• World-wide analysis of energy production, life-cycle costs and
greenhouse gas emissions reductions

 Central-grid, isolated-grid and off-grid

 Single turbines or windfarms
 Rayleigh, Weibull, or user-defined
wind distributions

• Only 1 point of data for

RETScreen® vs. 8,760 for
hourly simulation models

• Currently not covered:

 Stand-alone systems requiring
storage
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
 RETScreen®
Wind Energy Calculation

See e-Textbook
Clean Energy Project Analysis:
RETScreen® Engineering and Cases

Wind Energy Project Analysis Chapter

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Example Validation of the
RETScreen® Wind Energy Project Model

• RETScreen® compared to HOMER hourly simulation

 10 turbines of 50 kW each installed in Kotzebue, Alaska
 RETScreen’s estimate of annual energy production is within 1.1% of HOMER

• RETScreen
Period
® compared to monitored data from same system:
RETScreen Monitored Difference
Energy Energy
(MWh) (MWh)
1998 250 271 -8%
(3 turbines)
1999-2000 1,057 1,170 -10%

© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.

Conclusions

• Wind turbines provide electricity on and off grid world-

wide

• A good wind resource is an important factor for

successful projects

• Availability of production credits or Greenpower rates

are important for on-grid projects

• RETScreen® calculates energy production using annual

data with an accuracy comparable to hourly simulations

• RETScreen® can provide significant preliminary

feasibility study cost savings
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.
Questions?

Wind Energy Project Analysis Module

RETScreen® International Clean Energy Project Analysis Course

For further information please visit the RETScreen Website at

www.retscreen.net
© Minister of Natural Resources Canada 2001 – 2004.