Exploring Wind Energy

What Makes Wind

Global Wind Patterns
 Why Wind Energy?

o Clean, zero emissions

- NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
- Air quality, water quality
- Climate change
o Reduce fossil fuel dependence
- Energy independence
- Domestic energy—national security
o Renewable
- No fuel-price volatility
Renewable Electric Capacity Worldwide

The NEED Project 2015 US DOE, EERE 2013 Renewable Energy Data Book
 US Electricity Generation from
Non-Hydro Renewables
300

Geothermal

250
Waste
Wood
Solar Thermal

200 Solar Photovoltaic

Wind
Million kilowatt-hours

150

100

50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2011 2012 2013
Top Wind Power Producing States, 2013
Thousand Thousand
Rank State Rank State
MWh MWh
1 Texas 35,937 14 Indiana 3,483
2 Iowa 15,571 15 Pennsylvania 3,339
3 California 13,230 16 South Dakota 2,688
4 Oklahoma 10,881 17 Idaho 2,545
5 Illinois 9,607 18 Michigan 2,524
6 Kansas 9,430 19 New Mexico 2,188
7 Minnesota 8,065 20 Nebraska 1,799
8 Oregon 7,452 21 Montana 1,661
9 Colorado 7,382 22 Wisconsin 1,562
10 Washington 7,008 23 West Virginia 1,391
11 North Dakota 5,530 24 Missouri 1,168
12 Wyoming 4,415 25 Ohio 1,137
13 New York 3,548
The NEED Project 2015
Annual Installed U.S. Wind Power Capacity

AWEA U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report Year Ending 2013
 Installed Wind Capacities
1999-Present

Total: 61,946 MW
As of 6/30/2014

1999
Total: 2,500 MW
 Top Twenty States for
Wind Energy Potential
Potential Potential
Installed Installed
Rank State Rank State
Capacity Capacity
(MW) (MW)
1 Texas 1,901,530 11 New Mexico 492,083
2 Kansas 952,371 12 Minnesota 489,271
3 Montana 944,004 13 Colorado 387,220
4 Nebraska 917,999 14 Missouri 274,355
5 South Dakota 882,412 15 Illinois 249,882
6 North Dakota 770,196 16 Indiana 148,228
7 Iowa 570,714 17 Wisconsin 103,757
8 Wyoming 552,073 18 Michigan 59,042
9 Oklahoma 516,822 19 Ohio 54,920
10 Alaska 494,703 20 California 34,110
U.S. Wind Resource Map
China Leads the World in Wind Capacity

Total Installed Generating Capacity (MW)

Top 5 Countries for 2013
New Installed Capacity
1. China
2. Germany
3. United Kingdom
4. India
5. Canada
 Why Such Growth?
…costs are low!

• Increased Turbine Size

• R&D Advances
• Manufacturing Improvements

1979 2000 2004 2011

40 cents/kWh 4-6 cents/kWh 3-4.5 cents/kWh Less than 5
cents/kWh
 Vertical-Axis Turbines

Advantages Disadvantages
o Omni-directional o Rotors generally near ground
where wind is poorer
- accepts wind from any
o Centrifugal force stresses
direction blades
o Components can be o Poor self-starting capabilities
mounted at ground level o Requires support at top of
- ease of service turbine rotor
o Requires entire rotor to be
- lighter weight towers removed to replace bearings
o Can theoretically use less o Overall poor performance and
materials to capture the reliability
same amount of wind
Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines

Small (<10 kW) Intermediate(10-250 kW)

oVillage Power
oHomes
oHybrid Systems
oFarms
oDistributed Power
oRemote Applications
(e.g., water pumping,
Telecom sites, ice
making)

Large (250 kW-2+ MW)

oCentral Station Wind Farms
oDistributed Power
oSchools
 Large Wind Turbines

▪ Common Utility-Scale
Turbines

o 328’ base to blade

o Each blade is 112’
o 200 tons total
o Foundation 20’ deep
o Rated at 1.5-2
megawatts
o Supply about 500
homes
Wind Turbine Components
How a Wind Turbine Operates

The NEED Project 2014

Installation of Wind Turbines

The NEED Project 2014

Wind Turbine Perspective

Workers Blade
112’ long

Nacelle
56 tons

Tower
3 sections

The NEED Project 2014

Wind Farms
Offshore Wind Farms
Residential Wind Systems and Net
Metering
 Potential Impacts and Issues

▪ Property Values
▪ Noise
▪ Visual Impact
▪ Land Use
▪ Wildlife Impact

Properly siting a wind turbine can mitigate many of these issues.

Impacts of Wind Power: Noise

The NEED Project 2014

Wildlife Impacts