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Windturbine projects
The entrancing power of the wind has always had a captivating effect
Wind on man. For thousands of years, people have been particularly fascinated
by the possibility of capturing the wind and harnessing its power. This
through section explains how they have been utilising the power of the wind down
the ages through the ages.
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Gliding planes
It was not until the end of the 1800s that da Vinci’s ideas about
using wings to fly were made real. It was at that time that George
Cayley, the British engineer, drew inspiration from a simple toy: the
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through He made his dream come true by building the first simple glider
in the world. Since then, gliders have become more and more
the ages advanced, and it is now possible to complete controlled flights.
Gliding is a popular hobby today, but there can be no doubt that
motorised aircraft dominate air traffic.
A flying machine
The first motorised flight in the world took place in the United
States in 1903. Two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright had spent
years working to develop both their aircraft and, in particular, their
skills as pilots. Their aircraft – “Flyer” – was powered by a petrol en-
gine and on its virgin flight managed to cover just 40 metres before
landing safely on the ground.
The years that followed the flight of “Flyer” saw new types of
aircraft being developed at a dizzying pace, and just a few years
later, longer flights had already become common. For example,
the first flight from France to Britain across the English Channel
was completed by an elegant little plane built in 1909. At the same
time, experiments were carried out with new, more creative aircraft
designs involving two sets of wings (biplanes) or even three sets of
wings (triplanes).
As early as the end of the 1920s, aircrafts had become appreci-
ably more streamlined. The machines were already being made of
metal and flew at higher speeds, which naturally opened up a host
of new opportunities. Just a few years later, the Boeing 247 was in-
troduced; the first “modern” passenger aircraft in the world. The
development of new and improved types of aircraft has fascinated
flying enthusiasts ever since the first plane took to the skies. And
everything suggests that people will carry on developing the aero-
plane to create bigger, faster models.
The helicopter
The most advanced and versatile form of aircraft is the helicopter.
The first primitive version of a helicopter was developed by Juan
de la Cierva, the Spanish aircraft engineer, at the start of the 1920s.
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He discovered that a rotating wing could cut through the air just
Wind like a propeller, thus pulling the helicopter upwards. The advan-
tages of the helicopter are that it can rise vertically through the
through air and hover in the same place for long periods. In addition, it
the ages requires very little space to land.
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sion, and, via a dynamo, generated power for the 12 batteries that
Wind supplied current to no fewer than 350 incandescent lamps, two arc
lamps and three motors. This giant windmill was a peculiarity of its
through age and remained in operation for 20 years. However, “slow” wind-
the ages mills of this kind were gradually overtaken by the “fast” mills with
rotor blades, which the Danish inventor Poul la Cour discovered
were better for generating energy than the slow models.
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The aeromotor
During World War II, the cement group F.L. Smidth joined forces
with the aircraft company Kramme & Zeuthen to develop another
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speeds.
Wind The turbines developed by the two mid-Jutland pioneers – Karl
through Erik Jørgensen and Christian Riisager – on the basis of research
carried out earlier by the sector visionaries later became known
the ages as “The Danish Concept”. The distinguishing features of turbines
built according to “The Danish Concept” were a high, slim design
with three fast-turning blades facing into the wind. The qualities of
this model were soon recognised, and this type of turbine was then
exported to most parts of the world, where it outperformed wind
turbines made by some of the largest and most advanced industrial
companies in the world. “The Danish Concept” became the corner-
stone of Denmark’s international wind turbine success.
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A new millennium
At the start of the new millennium, the lines were drawn for anoth-
er exciting period for the Danish wind turbine industry. In 2002,
the American giant GE Enron purchased Wind Corp. to create a
new company, GE Wind Energy. In spring 2004, the undisputed
world leader of the wind power industry was formed when Vestas
joined forces with NEG Micon. Later that year, the German com-
pany Siemens purchased the Danish company Bonus to become a
major player on the growing market for wind turbines under the
name of Siemens Wind Power.
Sources
The text is based on the following sources:
* Christopher Chant, Sejlskibe (Sailing Ships), 1992.
* www.experimentarium.dk
* Andrew Nahum, Flyvemaskiner (Flying Machines), 1991.
* Bjarne Chr. Jensen, Ballonflyvning, historie og historier,
(Ballooning, history and stories) 1994.
* Per Dannemand Andersen, Risø Publications: Review of
Historical and Modern Utilization of Wind Power.
* www.dkvind.dk/fakta/fakta_pdf/M5.pdf
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Pictures:
* Pictures of RA II by kind permission of the Kon-tiki
Museum, Oslo, Norway.
* Picture of glider by kind permission of K. Krøjgaard.
* Pictures of biplanes and the Ciervo C.30 (autogiro) by kind
permission of the Danish Air Force History Collection,
Karup Airfield, Denmark.
* Picture of the Dutch mill (Damgård mill) by kind permis
sion of Christen Poder.
* Picture of Brundby Post Mill on Samsø by kind permission
of www.moellearkivet.dk
* Picture of Charles Brush with the kind permission of
Westers Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
* Pictures of Poul la Cour and the experimental turbines by
kind permission of the La Cour Museum.
* Pictures of Johannes Juul and the experimental turbine at
Gedser by kind permission of the Electricity Museum,
Bjerringbro, Denmark.
* Pictures of the farm mill (Heeager), the Agricco turbine,
the Aeromotor and the Darrieus turbine by kind permis
sion of the Danish Wind History Collection.
* Picture of the Tirstrup turbine by kind permission of the
Tistrup-Hodde Parish Archives.
* Pictures of the Tvind turbine and the HVK turbine by kind
permission of Benny Christensen, the Danish Wind History
Collection.
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This section explains how the wind arises and describes the weather condi-
How does tions suited to the erection of wind turbines.
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Local winds
Wind is created through pressure differences in the atmosphere.
The greater the difference in pressure, the stronger the wind can
become.
Local weather systems are often caused by differences in the heat-
ing of the Earth’s surface by the sun. One example of this is sea
breezes which, in the summer months, can arise over land close to
the sea or a large lake when the weather is clear and calm. When
the sun heats the Earth’s surface, the air close to the surface is
heated and rises – and the wind starts to blow in from the sea or
the lake. If the air rises high enough, it will be cooled to such an
extent that it may form clouds or even rain showers. Towards the
end of the afternoon, when the heating by the sun decreases, the
wind stops blowing and the clouds disappear.
At night, the wind can turn so that it flows from the land towards
the sea (land breeze). This often occurs on still, clear nights when
the heat radiated by the Earth can pass almost unhindered through
the atmosphere to space. When the Earth radiates heat, the surface
cools down, rather like a patch of exposed skin in a cold room, or
a wood-burning stove when the fire has gone out. The air closest
to the surface is also cooled, as it transfers some of its heat to the
soil. If the process continues long enough, the air above the land
will finally become colder than the air above the sea – and a land
breeze will set in. (The sea also radiates heat into the atmosphere,
but here, the mixing of the waters almost completely negates the
fall in temperature near the surface).
Mountain and valley winds are other examples of local wind sys-
tems created by solar heating. These winds arise in mountainous
regions in clear weather. When the sun heats up the slopes of the
mountains during the day, the wind begins to flow up the slopes
and up through the valleys as hot air naturally rises. At night, when
the mountains are cooled by the radiation of heat into the atmos-
phere, the wind changes direction and flows down the slopes and
down through the valleys.
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Winds that arise locally because of solar heating are known as ther-
How does mal winds. Local winds attributable to the shape of the landscape
(orography) are known as orographic winds. Mountain and valley
wind arise? winds are both thermal and orographic.
Areas subject to local wind systems make good sites for erecting
turbines. When planning wind farms, a lot of work is done to find
precisely the places where the wind blows most strongly – on moun-
tain peaks and crests, for example. However, places where the wind
gusts can be so strong that they can actually damage the turbines
are naturally to be avoided. For more information about where it is
most profitable to install turbines, see the section entitled “Where
are wind turbines erected?”, which you can access via the main
menu.
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around latitudes 30º north and south of the equator, and in to-
How does wards the area of low pressure in what is known as the intertropical
convergence zone close to the equator. The rotation of the Earth
wind arise? deflects the wind to the right in the northern hemisphere (the
north-east trades) and to the left in the southern hemisphere (the
southeast trades), cf. rule no. 5.
The monsoons are thermal winds on a large scale. They blow in
from the sea across the subtropical continents in the summer, and
in the other direction in the winter. The countries of South-east
Asia and those around the Indian Ocean are particularly affected
by the monsoons – the south-west monsoon in the summer and the
north-east monsoon in the winter.
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Wind turbines use the energy in the wind to generate electricity. This
How do section traces the route energy follows from the wind itself, through the
turbine and out into the grid – and then on to households in the form of
windturbines electrical current. It also describes how turbines regulate their output to
work? prevent overloading in high winds.
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ate energy at wind speeds of 4–25 metres per second. When tur-
How do bines are generating electricity, the rotor speed will be 9–19 revolu-
tions per minute, depending on the wind speed and the turbine
windturbines type. At the maximum speed of revolution, the blade tips reach a
work? speed of 250 km/h.
Yaw
Wind turbines are designed to ensure that their rotors always face
into the wind. This process is controlled by a wind vane positioned
on the top of the nacelle. This instrument determines the direc-
tion of the wind – just like a weather vane. When the wind changes
direction, a contact is activated in the wind vane, initiating the
motors that turn the turbine into the wind. This is known as yaw.
Turbine blades can also “pitch” – i.e. turn on their longitudinal
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axes so as to adjust to the wind speed. This ensures that the blades
How do always capture as much of the power of the wind as possible, thus
generating as much energy as possible.
windturbines
Wind turbines are designed to function optimally in wind speeds of
work? 4–25 metres per second. In other words, turbines will always reap
the maximum amount of energy from the wind at wind speeds
within this range. The volume of energy a wind turbine can gener-
ate depends on factors such as the size of the generator, the dimen-
sions of the rotor and the strength of the wind. For example, a V90-
3.0 MW turbine, which has a rotor diameter of 90 metres, starts
to generate power in wind speeds as low as 4 metres per second,
and achieves its maximum power output (3 MW) at 15 metres per
second. When the wind speed reaches 4 metres per second, the
angle of the blades will be 0º so as to ensure that the turbine draws
as much energy as possible from the wind. When the wind speed
reaches 10–12 metres per second, the blades will rotate longitudi-
nally away from the wind slightly to prevent the turbine generat-
ing more energy than its components are dimensioned for. This is
known as output regulation.
Output regulation
There are three ways to regulate output:
1) Passive stall: The turbine operates with a constant speed of
revolution and has non-adjustable blades. In this case, aerodynam-
ics will force the blade profile to stall, i.e. to generate turbulence
which limits uplift and thus stops the turbine drawing energy from
the wind. This will occur at wind speeds in excess of 12–15 m/s,
depending on the turbine type.
2) Active stall: The turbine operates with a constant speed of revo-
lution but has adjustable blades. In this case, the turbine regulates
output by turning the rear edge of the blades into the wind to pro-
duce a stall effect at wind speeds in excess of 12–15 m/s.
3) Pitch: There are two types of pitch-based output regulation:
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windturbines The turbines in the Vestas range use only variable speed pitch and
active stall to regulate output.
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Shut-down in high winds
If the wind reaches speeds in excess of 25 metres per second,
the turbine stops because such speeds place too much strain on
turbine components. At the same time, wind speeds only rarely
exceed the stop limit, so there is little need to generate energy
from winds blowing at higher speeds. It would therefore be pro-
hibitively expensive to design a model that could handle such high
wind speeds. When wind speeds exceed 25 metres per second, the
blades pitch to 90º, which means that the leading or rear edges of
the blades (depending on the output regulation principle applied)
point directly into the wind. This makes the blades function as gi-
ant air brakes, slowing the turbine down until it comes to a com-
plete stop.
Vestas technologies
The technologies Vestas uses for output and generator regulation
are:
Active Stall®: a hydraulic active stall technology that ensures that
the rotor captures the maximum amount of energy from the wind
while simultaneously minimising load on the turbine design and
controlling turbine production. This technology is used in the V82-
1.65 MW turbine.
OptiTip®: a microprocessor-controlled pitch regulation system
that constantly adjusts the angle of the blades to the optimal posi-
tion in relation to the prevalent wind. This technology is used in
all the turbines from the Vestas range other than the V82-1.65 MW
model.
OptiSlip®: a generator system that makes possible a variation of up
to 10 per cent between the speeds of revolution of the blades and
generator in the event of powerful gusts of wind. In addition to
minimising load on the turbine components, OptiSlip® also con-
tributes to a significant improvement in power quality. OptiSlip®
turbines are also fitted with OptiTip®. The V80-1.8 MW turbine is
the only model in the current Vestas range to use OptiSlip®.
OptiSpeed®: a development of the OptiSlip® technology. OptiS-
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From start to finish, wind turbine projects can be divided into three main
Windturbine phases: a sales phase, a project phase and a service phase. This section
presents an overview of some of the activities that take place in each of
projects these three phases.
Direct contact
Some customers prefer to work with specific manufacturers and
therefore contact them directly. This preference may be based on
factors such as the manufacturer operating local production, being
a leading player within the sector, or simply because the customer
enjoyed a good working relationship with the manufacturer during
previous wind turbine projects.
Tenders
When a wind turbine project is put out to tender, the customer
wishes to receive tenders for the execution of the project from
several different manufacturers. There are two types of tendering:
open and closed.
In open tendering – also known as public tendering – manufactur-
ers contact the customer who has put the wind turbine project out
to tender. In contrast, the closed tendering approach involves the
customer inviting selected manufacturers to bid for the wind tur-
bine project. This approach may, for example, be chosen because
only the selected manufacturers have the necessary technological
competence, or because the turbines must be of a given size due
to the conditions at the site in question. It may also be chosen
because there is no direct requirement for open tendering, which
generally costs more than a closed process.
When putting a project out to tender, the customer prepares a
set of material, which contains the information the manufacturer
needs to prepare a tender for the project. This information may,
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Transport
The first period of the project phase focuses largely on aspects
such as logistics and transport. Vestas’ logistic department is re-
sponsible for ensuring that all the turbine components (nacelles,
blades, hubs and towers) are ready for transportation to the site
on time. Vestas’ transport department has ultimate responsibility
for organising and co-ordinating the transportation of the turbine
components from Vestas’ production facilities to the site.
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Challenges
Various challenges can arise during the project phase. That is why
the key concepts of any wind turbine project are planning and flex-
ibility. A great many factors are involved, and they must all com-
bine to create a coherent whole. Unfortunately, not everything can
be controlled.
For example, the weather plays a significant role. If the wind tur-
bines are to be transported by ship, the weather largely determines
whether the turbines arrive on time. The weather also exerts its
influence during the erection phase: if the wind is too strong, it is
not possible to raise the components, and work has to be stopped
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projects Other factors that can delay projects include applying for driving
permits for the heavy transport vehicles, and clearing customs at
the border – which sometimes takes a long time.
Therefore it is essential always to think ahead and to be ready to
change plans to avoid major delays in the work.
Service visits
A number of service visits are performed at regular intervals during
the 2-year warranty period that applies to Vestas turbine models.
During each visit, the service technicians follow a set procedure. In
fact, they have a checklist to follow. During service visits, the techni-
cians tighten all the bolts, lubricate the rotating parts (the genera-
tor and blade bearings, for example) and check to see whether any
parts need replacing.
As a part of all service visits, the technicians check the wind turbine
blades and take an oil sample from the gearbox for subsequent
analysis. Technicians conclude all their service visits by cleaning
the wind turbines internally. During final service visit, the
service technician performs a complete examination of all the
wind turbines in the project to make sure that none of the turbines
contains any defects when the warranty period expires.
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ensure that the service visits are always performed in the same way
Windturbine and always meet Vestas’ standards – no matter where in the world
the turbines may be located.
projects
During the training course, technicians acquire in-depth knowl-
edge not only of wind turbine technology, but also of safety regu-
lations. The technicians have to pass a course which involves, for
example, learning how to climb around in turbines in a safe and
responsible manner. Safety is extremely important – particularly
when a service technician is working on top of an installed nacelle.
As all Vestas service technicians have completed the same training
course, they can all work on any site. Very large sites will often have
a group of technicians permanently attached. The number of asso-
ciated service technicians depends on the size of the site, and some
sites have teams of up to 20 technicians. The advantage of having
technicians permanently linked to large sites is that it allows these
technicians to build up in-depth knowledge of both the turbines at
the site and the site itself.
In addition to the technicians who live and work on individual
markets, Vestas employs a number of travelling service technicians.
These technicians travel around to work on sites all over the world.
Travelling service technicians spend much of their time working
away from home. Some can spend up to 250 days a year abroad.
The advantage of employing travelling service technicians is that
it improves flexibility. As a general rule, travelling service techni-
cians work on small sites that do not have a permanent team of
technicians. They can also travel to sites where extra manpower is
required for a set period of time.
Even though travelling service technicians are always on the move,
great emphasis is placed on close contact with the Vestas service
department.
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Ensuring profitability
Measuring the wind for a year thus helps define the annual mean
wind. This is the value that primarily provides the basis for calcu-
lating how much power a wind turbine will be able to generate.
However, the annual mean wind can vary greatly from year to year
– by up to ± 20 per cent – which translates, as a rule of thumb, into
variation in energy generation of approximately double that figure,
i.e. ± 40 per cent.
Such a large margin of uncertainty would result in serious prob-
lems in calculating the profitability of the project. This, in turn,
would make it very difficult to find the financing required. There-
fore, it is common to use long-term data from a reference mast,
which measures wind conditions over a 20-year period. Using data
from such a reference mast, it is possible to calculate the average
wind speed for the entire 20-year period. When data from the
measuring masts overlap those from the reference mast, the annual
mean wind for the specific year is corrected to the average wind
speed so as to make it possible to forecast the mean wind for the
coming 20 years. This is known as long-term correlation.
In Denmark, a reference mast could be one of the DMI (Dan-
ish Meteorological Institute) weather stations that have been set
up all over the country. In other countries it could be one of the
measurement masts set up by the public authorities or installed
in connection with an airport. Wherever such masts are available,
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Roughness
As from a height of around 1,000 metres above ground level, the
wind is not affected by the conditions on the ground, but the closer
to the earth the wind comes, the more it is affected and slowed
by uneven features of the landscape such as buildings and trees.
Roughness is defined according to what are known as “roughness
categories” that run from Class 0 (sea surface) to Class 4 (high,
dense woodland or large cities with skyscrapers). For additional
information about roughness, click the following link: www.wind-
power.org/en/tour/wres/shear.htm
Orography
The wind is also affected by the orography (contours) of the land-
scape. Generally speaking, the wind blows more strongly at higher
altitudes, so it is often best to position wind turbines on the peak or
crest of a mountain. When the wind blows over a mountain crest,
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The principal reason why IEC 1 turbines are not simply used for all
Where are sites is that they are over-dimensioned for many sites, which, for ex-
ample, means more expensive components. Using IEC 1 turbines
wind turbines for projects involving sites with less strong winds would, for exam-
erected? ple, result in the projects being less profitable or even unprofit-
able. Using the right type of turbine for each site makes it possible
not only to reduce costs for the project but also to cut noise levels
and improve production from the turbines.
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