Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, an amplified global awareness has led to reawakening of interest in

renewable energy technology. In an effort to reduce the worldwide dependence on fossil
fuels, cleaner power generation methods are being sought in the field of solar, biomass,
wind and wave energy.

A wind turbine is a machine which converts the kinetic energy of the wind into
mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as for
pumping water, cutting lumber or grinding stones, the machine is called a windmill. If the
mechanical energy is instead converted to electricity, the machine is often called a wind
generator. As electricity generators, wind turbines are connected to some electrical
network. These networks include battery charging circuits, residential scale power
systems, isolated or island networks.

To understand how wind turbines are used, it is useful to briefly consider some of
the fundamental facts underlying their operation. In modern wind turbines, the actual
conversion process uses the basic aerodynamic force of lift to produce a net positive
torque on a rotating shaft, resulting first in the production of mechanical power and then in
its transformation to electricity in a generator. Wind turbines, unlike almost every other
generator, can produce energy only in response to the wind that is immediately available.
It is not possible to store the wind and use it a later time. The output of a wind turbine is
thus inherently fluctuating and non-dispatchable. (The most one can do is to limit
production below what the wind could produce). Any system to which a wind turbine is
connected must in some way take this variability into account. In larger networks, the
wind turbine serves to reduce the total electrical load and thus results in a decrease in
either the number of conventional generators being used or in the fuel use of those that are
running. In smaller networks, there may be energy storage, backup generators, and some
specialized control systems. A further fact is that the wind is not transportable: it can only
be converted where it is blowing. Today, the possibility of conveying electrical energy via
power lines compensates to some extent for winds inability to be transported. In the
future, hydrogen-based energy systems may add to this possibility.

1.1 Classification of Wind Turbines

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On the basis of their rotational axis the wind turbines are classified into two types. They
are,
Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).
Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT).
In the modern Wind Turbine, the most common Wind Turbine is Horizontal-Axis Wind
Turbines (HAWT). The present thesis deals with horizontal-axis wind turbines in the view
of their aerodynamic behavior, design of rotor etc.

1.1.1 Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)

Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) has the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. The
main advantages of this arrangement are that the turbine does not need to be pointed into
the wind to be effective. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly
variable. With a vertical axis, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, so
the tower doesn't need to support it, and it is more accessible for maintenance.

Drawbacks are that some designs produce pulsating torque. It is difficult to mount
vertical-axis turbines on towers, meaning they are often installed nearer to the base on
which they rest, such as the ground or a building rooftop. The wind speed is slower at a
lower altitude, so less wind energy is available for a given size turbine. Air flow near the
ground and other objects can create turbulent flow, which can introduce issues of
vibration, including noise and bearing wear which may increase the maintenance or
shorten the service life. However, when a turbine is mounted on a rooftop, the building
generally redirects wind over the roof and these can double the wind speed at the turbine.
If the height of the rooftop mounted turbine tower is approximately 50% of the building
height, this is near the optimum for maximum wind energy and minimum wind turbulence.

Examples of VAWT
Darrieus Wind Turbine
"Eggbeater" turbines, or Darrieus turbines, were named after the French inventor, Georges
Darrieus, They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclical stress on
the tower, which contributes to poor reliability. They also generally require some external
power source, or an additional Savonius rotor to start turning, because the starting torque
is very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using three or more blades which results in a
higher solidity for the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade area divided by the rotor area.

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Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-wires but have an external
superstructure connected to the top bearing.

Figure 1.1: Darrieus Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine

Giromill
A subtype of Darrieus turbine with straight, as opposed to curved, blades. The
cycloturbine variety has variable pitch to reduce the torque pulsation and is self-starting.
The advantages of variable pitch are: high starting torque; a wide, relatively flat torque
curve; a lower blade speed ratio; a higher coefficient of performance; more efficient
operation in turbulent winds; and a lower blade speed ratio which lowers blade bending
stresses. Straight, V, or curved blades may be used.

(a) With Straight Blades (b) With Helical Blades

Figure 1.2: Giromill Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine

Savonius Wind Turbine
These are drag-type devices with two (or more) scoops that are used in
anemometers, Flettner vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some high-
reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are always self-starting if there are at least
three scoops. They sometimes have long helical scoops to give a smooth torque.

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Figure 1.3: Savonius Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine.

Except this there are also some examples of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine are illustrated in
Figure1.4

Figure 1.4: Various concepts for vertical axis turbines [2].

1.1.2 Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)

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Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) has the main rotor shaft and electrical
generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are
pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled
with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a
quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator.

Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually positioned
upwind of its supporting tower. Turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from
being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a
considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted forward into the wind
a small amount.

Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence (mast
wake), because they don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the
wind, and because in high winds the blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their
swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since cyclical (that is repetitive) turbulence may
lead to fatigue failures, most HAWTs are of upwind design.

Examples of HAWT
12th-Century Windmills
These squat structures, typically (at least) four bladed, usually with wooden shutters or
fabric sails, were developed in Europe. These windmills were pointed into the wind
manually or via a tail-fan and were typically used for grinding grain. In the
Netherlands they were also used for pumping water from low-lying land, and were
instrumental in keeping its polders dry.

Figure 1.5: Doesburger windmill, Figure 1.6: Charles Brush wind turbine,
Netherlands. 1888

19th-Century Windmills

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They are typically many blades Wind Turbine, operated at tip-speed ratios not better than
one, and had good starting torque. Some had small direct-current generators used for
charging storage batteries, to provide power to lights, or to operate a radio receiver.

In Figure 1.7, various concepts for horizontal axis wind turbines are illustrated. A
few words are in order to summarize briefly some of these concepts to see the
evolutionary process that led to modern horizontal axis wind turbine configurations used
all over the world.

Figure 1.7: Various concepts for horizontal-axis wind turbines [2].

1.2 Modern Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines
All those unconventional horizontal-axis wind turbines described in the previous section
led to the conventional modern horizontal-axis wind turbines which are the wind turbine
systems with a low-solidity rotor powered by aerodynamic lift driving an electrical
generator, with all rotating components mounted on a tower.

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Todays modern horizontal-axis wind turbines are generally classified according to

the rotor orientation (upwind or downwind of the tower), blade articulation (rigid or
teetering), number of blades (generally two or three blades), rotor control (pitch vs. stall)
and how they are aligned with the wind (free yaw or active yaw).
Figure 1.8 shows typical upwind and downwind configurations along with
definitions for blade coning and yaw orientation. The term upwind rotor and downwind
rotor denote the location of the rotor with respect to the tower. The downwind turbines
were favored initially in the world, but the trend has been toward greater use of upwind
rotors with a current splint between 55% upwind and 45% downwind configurations [3].
Small wind generators are usually of the upwind type for two principle reasons: (1) a
simple tail vane is all that is needed to keep the blades pointed into the wind and (2) a
furling mechanism that turns the blades out of the wind stream to protect the machine from
high winds is easier for design and fabricate for an upwind rotor. The downwind
configuration is usually preferred for larger machines, where a tail vane would not be
practical. One problem with the downwind configuration is tower shadow. The tower acts
as a barrier to the wind stream and each time a rotating blade passes the tower it is
subjected to the changes in wind speed, which causes stresses that vary with the exact
amount of wind blocked by the rotor [1].

Figure 1.8: Schematic of the two common configurations. Upwind, rigid hub, three-bladed
and downwind, teetered, two-bladed turbine [3].
The principal subsystems of a typical horizontal-axis wind turbine as shown in Figure 1.9,
these include:
The rotor, consisting of the blades and the supporting hub.
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The power train, which includes the rotating, parts of the wind turbine (exclusive
of the rotor); it usually consists of shafts, gearbox, coupling, a mechanical brake
and the generator.
The nacelle structure and main frame; including wind turbine housing, bedplate
and the yaw system.
The tower and the foundation.
The machine controls.
The balance of the electrical system, including cables, switchgear, transformers
and possibly electronic power converters.

Figure 1.9: Major components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine [2].

The main options in wind machine design and construction include:

Number of blades (commonly two or three).
Rotor orientation: downwind or upwind of tower.
Blade material, construction method, and profile.
Hub design: rigid, teetering or hinged.
Power control via aerodynamic control (stall control) or variable pitch blades
(pitch control)

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Fixed or variable rotor speed.

Orientation by self aligning action (free yaw), or direct control (active yaw).
Synchronous or induction generator.
Gearbox or direct drive generator.
A short introduction to the nomenclature illustrated in Figure 1.10 for both upwind and
downwind HAWT together with the overview of components follows.

Figure 1.10: Nomenclature and subsystems of HAWT

(a) Upwind rotor (b) Downwind rotor [1].
According to the interconnection of wind turbines to utilities becomes their
principal application, the average size of HAWTs has grown. The question of size
classification has been raised, as well. HAWTs are classified as shown in Table 1.1
according to their diameters and/or their rated powers.
Table 1.1: Scale classification of wind turbines [1].
Scale Rotor Diameter Power Rating
Small Less than 12 m Less than 40kW
Medium 12 m to 45 m 40kW to 999kW
Large 46 m and larger 1.0 MW and larger
In Figure 1.11 scales of HAWTs are given for the prescribed rated capacity to
provide better understanding the relation between the rated capacity of a HAWT with its
rotor diameter and tower height.

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Figure 1.11: Representative size, height and diameter of HAWTs [2].

1.3 Historical Developments of Wind Turbines

Even though todays modern technology has firmly and rightly established the definition
of wind turbine as the prime mover of a wind machine capable of being harnessed for a
number of different applications, none of which are concerned with the milling of grain or
other substances (at least industrialized countries), the term windmill was used for the
whole system up to recent time, whatever its duty, be it generating electricity, pumping
water, sawing wood. Since here the historical development of wind machine is considered
it is convenient and has certain logic in it to retain its term, windmill in its historic sense
[1].
The windmill has had a singular history among prime movers. Its existence as a
provider of useful mechanical power has been known for the last thousands years. The
earliest mentions of the use of wind power come from the East India, Tibet, Persia and
Afghanistan. It is also mentioned that the wind power was used to play the organ
instrument in skenderiye about two thousands years ago. Nearly all stories and the
records we have about windmill from between the first and twelfth centuries come from
the Near East and Central Asia and those regions of the world are generally considered to
be the birthplace of the windmill.

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 1.12: (a) Nile delta first windmill (1000 BC) (b) Persia Panemones common
Pumping water (500 AD) (c) Crete Pumping water and Grinding. (1000 AD)
(d) US Pumping Water [4].

The first record of the use of the windmill is seen in the tenth century in Persia.
Inhabitants who lived in Eastern Persia, which bordered on Afghanistan today, utilized the
windmill, which were vertical-axis and drag type of windmill as illustrated in Figure 1.13.
The invention of the vertical-axis windmills subsequently spread in the twelfth century
throughout Islam and beyond to the Far East. The basic definition of the primitive vertical-
axis windmills were imported in the later centuries such as placing the sails above
millstones , elevating the driver to a more open exposure which improved the output by
exposing the rotor to higher wind speeds and using of reeds instead of cloth to provide the
working surface [1].

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Figure 1.13: Early Persian windmill [2].

However, it lies in the fact that the vertical-axis Persian windmills never came into
use in Europe. At the end of the twelfth century, there was an efflorescence of a
completely different type, the horizontal-axis windmill. This development present second
enigma in the technical development of the wind turbine that occurred some thousands
years after the enigma left by Persian vertical-axis windmills [1].
Before European countries, horizontal-axis windmills were designed by Ebulz
(1153) from Artuk Turks and used in the region of Diyarbakr in 1200s.However,
Northwest Europe, particularly France, Germany, Great Britain, Iberia and the Low
Countries are considered to be the first region that developed the most effective type of
windmill, one in which the shaft carrying the sails was oriented horizontally rather than
vertically as in the Persian mill. In a relatively short time, tens of thousands of what it is
called horizontal-axis European windmills were in use for nearly all mechanical task,
including water pumping, grinding grain, sawing wood and powering tools. The familiar
cruciform pattern of their sails prevailed for almost 800 years, from the twelfth to the
twentieth century [1].
The horizontal-axis windmill was a considerably more complex mechanism than
the Persian vertical-axis windmill since it presented several engineering problems three
major of which were transmission of power from a horizontal rotor shaft to a vertical
shaft, on which the grindstones were set, turning the mill into the wind and stopping the
rotor when necessary. But the adoption of horizontal-axis windmill is readily explained by
the fact that it was so much more efficient [1].
In the historical development of windmills, it must be required the consideration of
very innovative step that warrants somewhat more attention that it has received, the use of
horizontal-axis windmills instead of vertical-axis ones. Although the right angle gear

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mechanism allowed the rotor axis to be transposed from vertical to horizontal, the action
of sails also had to be turned through 90. This was revolutionary because it meant that the
simple, straightforward push of the wind on the face of the sail was replaced by the action
of the wind in flowing smoothly around the sail, providing a force normal to the direction
of the wind. As a concept, it is indeed a sophisticated one that was not fully developed
until the advent of the airplane at the end of the nineteenth century and the engineering
science of aerodynamics [1].
The transition from windmills supplying mechanical power to wind turbines
producing electrical energy took place during the last dozen years of the nineteenth
century. The initial use of wind for electric generation, as opposed to for mechanical
power, included the successful commercial development of small wind generators and
research and experiments using large turbines. The advent and development of the airplane
in the first decades of the twentieth century gave rise to intense analysis and design studies
of the propeller that could immediately be applied to the wind turbine [1].
An innovative type of wind turbine rotor, the Savonius rotor, was named after its
inventor, Finnish engineer S.J. Savonius. The inventors interest had been aroused by the
Flettner rotor ship with its large, rotating cylindrical sails. .Wind passing over these
cylinders created lift by the Magnus effect, which propelled the ship forward. He was
intrigued by the possibility of substituting wind power for the external motor power used
to rotate these cylinders on the Flettner ship. His experiments resulted in a rotor with an S-
shaped cross section which, in its simplest form, could be constructed by cutting a circular
cylinder in half longitudinally and rejoining opposite edges along an axle, an illustration of
a more modern one is given in Fig. 1.3. According to the inventor, the Savonius rotor
achieved some popularity in Europe especially in Finland, but it has not prospered
commercially as a means for driving an electrical generator. It had advantages having high
starting torque and the ability to accept wind from any direction; its drawbacks were low
speed and heavy weight [5].
Another innovative rotor design introduced in the early 1930s was a type of
vertical-axis turbine invented by F.M.Darrieus. The Darrieus rotor, which is illustrated in
Figure 1.1, has two or three curved blades attached top and bottom to a central column,
accepting the wind from all directions without yawing. This column rotates in upper and
lower bearings and transmits torque from the blades to the power train, which is located
below the rotor, where the maintenance is easier and weight is not quite so important [4].

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The wind continued to be major source of energy in Europe through the period just
prior to the Industrial Revolution, but began to recede in importance after that time. The
reason that wind energy began to disappear is primarily attributable to its non-
dispatchability and its non-transportability. In addition to that, with the invention of the
steam engine, the internal combustion engine and the development of electricity, the use of
wind turbines was often neglected and abandoned [1].
Prior to its demise, the European wind turbines had reached a high level of design
sophistication. In the latter wind turbines, the majority of the turbine was stationary. Only
the top would be moved to face wind. Yaw mechanisms included both manually operate
arms and separate yaw rotors. Blades had acquired somewhat of an airfoil shape and
included some twist. The power output of some turbines could be adjusted by an automatic
control system [1].
The re-emergence of wind energy can be considered to have begun in the late
1960s. Many people became awareness of the environmental consequences of industrial
development. Nearly all authorities concerning in energy began arguing that unfettered
growth would inevitably lead to either disaster or change. Among the culprits identified
were fossil fuels. The potential dangers of nuclear energy also became more public at this
time. Discussion of these topics formed the backdrop for an environmental movement
which began to advocate cleaner sources of energy [2].
During the 1990s many wind power manufacturers spread all over the Europe,
particularly Denmark and Germany. Concerns about global warming and continued
apprehensions about nuclear power have resulted in a strong demand for more wind
generation there and in other countries as well. Over the last 25 years, the size of the
largest commercial wind turbines has increased from approximately 50 kW to 2 MW, with
machines up to 5 MW under design. The total installed capacity in the world as of the year
2001 was approximately 20.000 MW, with the majority of installations in Europe.
Offshore wind energy systems are also under active development in Europe. Design
standards and machine certifications procedures have been established, so that the
reliability and performance are far superior to those of the 1970s and 1980s. The cost of
energy from wind has dropped to the point that in some sites it is nearly competitive with
conventional sources, even without incentives [2].
The average annual growth rate of the installation of wind turbines in Europe from
19939 was approximately 40 percent. The distribution of wind-turbine capacity is

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interesting with, in 2000, Germany accounting for some 45 percent of the European total,
and Denmark and Spain each having approximately 18 percent. There is some 2.5 GW of
capacity installed in the USA of which 65 percent is in California although with increasing
interest in Texas and some states of the midwest. Many of the California wind farms were
originally constructed in the 1980s and are now being re-equipped with larger modern
wind turbines.
The trends of wind turbines have evolved a great deal over the last 25 years. They
are more reliable, more cost effective and quieter. It cannot be concluded that the
evolutionary period is over, however. It should still be possible to reduce the cost of
energy at sites with lower wind speeds. Turbines for use in remote communities remain to
be made commercially viable. The world of offshore wind energy is just in its infancy.
There are tremendous opportunities in offshore locations but many difficulties to be
overcome. As wind energy comes to supply an ever larger fraction of the worlds
electricity, the issues of intermittency transmission and storage must be revisited. There
will be continuing pressure for designers to improve the cost effectiveness of wind
turbines for all applications. Improved engineering methods for the analysis, design and
for mass-produced manufacturing will be required. Opportunities also exist for the
development of new materials to increase wind turbine life. Increased consideration will
need to be given to the requirements of specialized applications. In all cases, the
advancement of the wind industry represents an opportunity and a challenge for a wide
range of disciplines, especially including mechanical, electrical, materials, aeronautical,
controls and civil engineering as well as computer science.
Table 1.2 shows the installed wind-power capacity worldwide in January 2001
although it is obvious that with such a rapid growth in some countries data of this kind
become out of date very quickly.

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Table 1.2: Wind Turbine Capacity throughout the World, January 2001 [7].
Location Installed capacity (MW)
Germany 5432
Denmark 2281
Spain 2099
Netherlands 444
UK 391
Total Europe 11831
California 1622
Total USA 2568
Total World 16461
1.4 Wind Power in India
The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly
increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry
compared with Denmark or the US, India has the fifth largest installed wind power
capacity in the world.
In the early 1980s, the Indian government established the Ministry of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) to encourage diversification of the country's
energy supply, and satisfy the increasing energy demand of a rapidly growing economy. In
2006, this ministry was renamed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
In its 10th Five Year Plan, the Indian government had set itself a target of adding
3.5 GW of renewable energy sources to the generation. In reality, however, nearly double
that figure was achieved. In this period, more than 5.4 GW of wind energy was added to
the generation, as well as 1.3 GW from other RE sources.
The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates that there
is a potential of around 90,000 MW for the country, including 48,561 MW of wind power,
14,294 MW of small hydro power and 26,367 MW of biomass. In addition, the potential
for solar energy is estimated for most parts of the country at around 20 MW per square
kilometer of open, shadow free area covered with 657 GW of installed capacity. The total
potential for wind power in India was first estimated by the Centre for Wind Energy
Technology (C-WET) at around 45 GW, and was recently increased to 48.5 GW. These
figures were also adopted by the government of India as the official estimate.
The C-WET study was based on a comprehensive wind mapping exercise initiated
by MNRE, which established a country-wide network of 1050 wind monitoring and wind
mapping stations in 25 Indian States. Table 1.3 shows installed capacity of wind power in
India (state wise) as October 2009. It is estimated that 6,000 MW of additional wind

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power capacity will be installed in India by 2012. Wind power accounts for 6% of India's
total installed power capacity, and it generates 1.6% of the country's power. As results of
all the efforts made by Indian government there have been significant development of the
wind power generation in India. Fig. 1.14 shows the percentage increase of wind power
generation from 2002 to 2008.

Table 1.3: The installed capacity of wind power in India as October 2009.
State Installed capacity (MW)
Tamil Nadu 4889.765
Maharashtra 1942.25
Gujarat 1782
Karnataka 1340.23
Rajasthan 738.5
Madhya Pradesh 212.8
Kerala 26.5
West Bengal 1.10

Figure 1.14: Wind Power Generation Year on year % Growth in India.

Table 1.4: Projects in India of wind turbine.

Total
Power Plant Producer Location State Capacity
(MW)
Vankusawade Maharashtr
Suzlon Energy Ltd. Satara Dist. 259
Wind Park a
Aban Loyd Chiles
Cape Comorin Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu 33
Offshore Ltd.
Kayathar Subhash Subhash Ltd. Kayathar Tamil Nadu 30

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Ramakkalmed
Ramakkalmedu Subhash Ltd. Kerala 25
u
Muppandal Wind Muppandal Wind Farm Muppandal Tamil Nadu 513
Gudimangalam Wind Gudimangala
Gudimangalam Tamil Nadu 21
Farm m
Andhra
Puthlur RCI Wescare (India) Ltd. Puthlur 20
Pradesh
Lamda Danida Danida India Ltd. Lamda Gujarat 15
Mohan Breweries &
Chennai Mohan Chennai Tamil Nadu 15
Distilleries Ltd.
Madhya
Jamgudrani MP MP Windfarms Ltd. Dewas 14
Pradesh
Chitradurga
Jogmatti BSES BSES Ltd. Karnataka 14
Dist
Perungudi Newam Power
Perungudi Tamil Nadu 12
Newam Company Ltd.
Kethanur Wind
Kethanur Wind Farm Kethanur Tamil Nadu 11
Farm
Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh State Andhra
Hyderabad 10
APSRTC Road Transport Corp. Pradesh
Muppandal
Madras Cements Ltd. Muppandal Tamil Nadu 10
Madras
Poolavadi Chettinad Cement
Poolavadi Tamil Nadu 10
Chettinad Corp. Ltd.

1.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy Systems

Advantages
Wind energy systems are energized by the naturally flowing wind, therefore it can
be considered as a clean source of energy. Wind energy does not pollute the air like
power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas.
Wind turbines do not produce atmospheric emissions that cause acid rain or
greenhouse gases.
Wind energy is available as a domestic source of energy in many countries
worldwide and not confined to only few countries, as in case of oil.
Wind energy is one of the lowest-priced renewable energy technologies available
today.

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Wind turbines can also be built on farms or ranches, thus benefiting the economy
in rural areas, where most of the best wind sites are found. Farmers and ranchers
can continue to use their land because the wind turbines use only a small fraction
of the land. Wind power plant owners make rent payments to the farmer or rancher
for the use of the land.

Disadvantages
Wind power has to compete with conventional power generation sources on a cost
basis. Depending on the wind profile at the site, the wind farm may or may not be
as cost competitive as a fossil fuel based power plant. Even though the cost of
wind power has decreased in the past 10 years, the technology requires a higher
initial investment than fossil-fueled solutions for power supply.
The major challenge to using wind as a source of power is that the wind is
intermittent and it does not always blow when electricity is needed. Wind energy
cannot be stored; and not all winds can be harnessed to meet the timing of
electricity demands. The option of energy storage in battery banks is much beyond
economically feasible limits for large wind turbines.
Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the
electricity is needed. In developing countries, there is always the extra cost of
laying grid for connecting remote wind farms to the supply network.
Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those
alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation.
Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment
compared to other conventional power plants, there is some concern over the noise
produced by the rotor blades, and aesthetic (visual) impacts. Most of these
problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological
development or by properly sitting wind plants.

1.6 Closure
The present chapter describes the introduction, classification of wind turbines, history and
development of wind turbine, wind turbines in India as well as world, projects of wind
turbine in India and their advantages and disadvantages and the government policies and
developments in the field of wind power generation are discussed in detail.

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