Wind Technology

With an average growth rate of over 30% annually over the past six years, wind energy is the world’s fastest growing renewable energy source.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) states that world-wide wind generating capacity has quadrupled between 1997 to 2002, from 7, 600 megawatts (MW) to 31, 000 MW.

The technology’s continued growth is largely due to its steadily improving cost-competitiveness. The cost of electricity produced by a utility-scale wind farm has fallen from as much as 30 cents per kilowatt (kWh) hour in the early 1980’s to as low as 4 cents/kWh, a price that is now competitive with many conventional energy technologies. The wind industry is projecting the costs per kilowatt could be as low as 2.5 – 3.5 cents within the next five years.

The modern era of wind turbines began about 1980 using wind turbines with a capacity of about 55 kW. Today the workhorse is a turbine in the 600 kW to 1.5 MW capacity range, an increase of 10 to 30 times the capacity. Wind energy technology is developing rapidly both onshore and offshore. Prototypes of 5 megawatt turbines are currently being constructed and tested demonstrating the advancement of this industry.

WIND TURBINES - GEAR BOX VS DIRECT DRIVE

In most wind turbines, a gear box is placed between the rotor of the wind turbine and the rotor of the generator which may lead to an increase in mechanical failure. By using a generator which rotates with the same speed as the rotor of the wind turbine, as in the direct drive, you eliminate the gear box, resulting in less friction and provide a smoother transfer of energy

Other direct drive benefits include: lower cut-in speed, less acoustic noise and lower mass.

The Danish Wind Industry Association has prepared both a Guided Tour on Wind Energy for "people who want to know a lot about wind energy, short of becoming wind engineers" and a simplified Wind Tour with "Miller".