Offshore Wind Turbine

Overview & Fundamentals

Lecture: 01
Prepared By:
Farhana Arzu
Lecturer, HRE, BSMRMU
 WHAT IS WIND

• Original source of wind energy is the radiation

from the sun where a major portion of the solar
heat is absorbed by the sea and land.

• In turn, sea and land heats up the surrounding air

and set up motion of air current (lighter hotter
air rises and colder air moves downwards).

• Land has a lower heat capacity than the sea and

heats up quickly during the day.

• During the day, the sea is, therefore, cooler than the
land and this causes the cooler air to flow
shorewards to replace the rising warm air on the
land.

A simplified Map of Global Wind Patterns • During the night, direction of air flow is reversed.
 WIND ENERGY
• About 2% of the solar energy absorbed by the earth goes into the wind energy.
• Solar radiation intensity that reaches the earth's is about 350 W/m2.
• Given that only 2% is converted to wind energy, them ~ 7 W/m2 goes into wind
energy.
• 35% of wind energy, that is 2.45 W/m2 (= 0.35 x 7 W/m2), is dissipated in the first
kilometer (~3,281 ft) above Earth's surface.
Over a period of one year, the wind energy (E) is can be calculated as follows:
E = wind energy intensity x Earth's surface area x seconds per year
= (2.45 W/m2) (5.1 x 1014 m2) (3.2x107 s/yr) = 4.0 x 1022 J/yr
Which is 200 times greater than the average energy consumption on Earth,
estimated to be 2 x 1020 J/yr.
FUNDAMENTALS OF WIND ENERGY EXTRACTION
 WIND ENERGY EXTRACTION
1
P = mV 2wind = 1  airVwind
3
A
2 2
Take:  ~ 1.3kg/m 3 , V ~ 10 m/s, R ~ 10 m
air turbine

P ~ 180 kW (assuming 100% conversion efficiency)

Specific Energy Output:
It is the output power per unit of swept area and is useful when
comparing turbines of different size or design.
Capacity Factor:
It is the ratio of the energy produced in a year to the energy that would
be produced if the turbine operated at its rated power. The capacity factor
is typically ≈ 1/3
WT Availability:
Turbines operate typically for 65-80% of the time depending on demand
and on whether the wind speed is below Ucut-in or above Ucut-out.
 WIND ENERGY EXTRACTION DEVICES

VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

OLD FASHION WIND MILL
 HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

The Yaw control mechanism

orients the turbine in the
wind direction.

Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT)

 CLASSIFICATION OF HAWT

LIFT TYPE HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE a) single blade

turbine, b) two-blade turbine, c) three-blade turbine DRAG BASED HORIZONTAL AXIS
WIND TURBINE
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
• Fixed-pitch constant speed WT.
• With variable speed WT, the pitch can be altered.
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

Lightning
conductor

Wind
direction
indicator Turbine
Generator
Cup
anemomet
er for wind
speed
indication
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

Nacelle

Tower
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
 HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
Blades:
Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the
blades to "lift" and rotate.
Brake:
A disc brake, which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop
the rotor in emergency situation.
Controller:
The controller starts up WT at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) (3.6 to
7.2 m/s) and shuts off WT at about 55 mph (24.6 m/s). Turbines do not operate at wind
speeds above about 55 mph because they might be damaged by the high winds.
Gear box:
Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational
speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the
rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly
(and heavy) part of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-drive" generators
that operate at lower rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes.
 HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
Generator:
Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity.
High-speed shaft:
Drives the generator.
Low-speed shaft:
The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm).
Nacelle:
The nacelle sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts,
generator.
Pitch:
Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to control the rotor speed (rpm) and
keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce
electricity.
Rotor:
The blades and hub together are called the rotor.
Tower:
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
Towers are made from tubular steel, concrete, or steel lattice. Because wind speed
increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate
more electricity.
Anemometer:
Measures wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller
Wind vane:
Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine
properly with respect to the wind.
Yaw drive:
Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw drive is used to keep the rotor facing into
the wind as the wind direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive,
the wind blows the rotor downwind.
Yaw motor:
Powers the yaw drive.
Wind direction:
"upwind" and "downwind” directions.
 ADVANTAGES OF HAWT
1. Variable blade pitch, which gives the turbine blades the optimum angle of attack.
Allowing the angle of attack to be remotely adjusted gives greater control, so the
turbine collects the maximum amount of wind energy for the time of day and
season.
2. The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear. In some
wind shear sites, every 10 m up, the wind speed can increase by 20 per cent and the
power output by 34 per cent for every 10 m in elevation.
3. High efficiency, since the blades always move perpendicularly to the wind, receiving
power through the whole rotation. In contrast, all vertical axis wind turbines, and
most proposed airborne wind turbine designs, involve various types of reciprocating
actions, requiring airfoil surfaces to backtrack against the wind for part of the cycle.
Backtracking against the wind leads to inherently lower efficiency.
4. The face of a horizontal axis blade is struck by the wind at a consistent angle
regardless of the position in its rotation. This results in a consistent lateral wind
loading over the course of a rotation, reducing vibration and audible noise coupled
to the tower or mount.
 DISADVANTAGES OF HAWT
1. HAWTs have difficulty operating in near ground, turbulent winds.
2. The tall towers and blades up to 90 m long are difficult to transport.
Transportation can now cost 20 per cent of equipment costs.
3. Tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and
skilled operators.
4. Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox,
and generator.
5. Relection on tall HAWTs may affect side lobs of radar installations creating signal
clutter, although iltering can suppress it.
6. Their height makes them obtrusively visible across large areas, disrupting the
appearance of the landscape and sometimes creating local opposition.
7. Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by
turbulence when a blade passes through the tower’s wind shadow (for this
reason, the majority of HAWTs use an upwind design, with the rotor facing the
wind in front of the tower).
 DISADVANTAGES OF HAWT
8. HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the
wind.
9. In order to minimize fatigue loads due to wake turbulence, wind turbines are usually
sited at a certain distance away from each other where the spacing depends on the
manufacturer and the turbine model.
 VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE (VAWT)
Guide Wire
Vertical axis wind turbine normally needs guide wire to keep
the rotor shaft in a fixed position and maximized possible
mechanical vibration
Hub
Cast iron or cast steel is most often used. In VAWT there are
two hubs upper and lower because blades are attached at
two points.
Rotor Blades
Two types of blades use in VAWT
•Drage force type blades ( savonius wind turbine)
•Lift force type blades (Darrieus and giromill wind turbine)
Shaft
The shaft is the part that gets turned by the turbine blades. It
in turn is connected to the generator within the main housing
Base
Base of VAWT is usually the roof of building on which it is
installed.

VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

 CLASSIFICATION OF VAWT

a) b) c)

LIFT BASED DRAG BASED LIFT BASED

VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE

 CLASSIFICATION OF VAWT
Darrieus wind turbine:
➢ named after the French inventor, Georges Darrieus.
➢ good eficiency, 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 greater solidity of the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade area
divided by the rotor area.
➢ Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-wires but have an
external superstructure connected to the top bearing.
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.
 CLASSIFICATION OF VAWT
Savonius wind turbine:
➢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-eficiency power
turbines.
➢always self-starting if there are at least three scoops.
➢sometimes have long helical scoops to give a smooth torque.
 ADVANTAGES OF VAWT
1. A massive tower structure is less frequently used, as VAWTs are more frequently
mounted with the lower bearing mounted near the ground.
2. Designs without yaw mechanisms are possible with ixed pitch rotor designs.
3. The generator of a VAWT can be located nearer the ground, making it easier to
maintain the moving parts.
4. VAWTs have lower wind start-up speeds than HAWTs. Typically, they start creating
electricity at 6 mph (10 km/hr).
5. VAWTs may be built at locations where taller structures are prohibited.
6. VAWTs situated close to the ground can take advantage of locations where mesas,
hilltops, ridgelines, and passes funnel the wind and increase wind velocity.
7. VAWTs may have a lower noise signature.
 DISADVANTAGES OF VAWT
1. A VAWT that uses guy-wires to hold it in place puts stress on the bottom bearing as all
the weight of the rotor is on the bearing. Guy wires attached to the top bearing
increase downward thrust in wind gusts. Solving this problem requires a superstructure to
hold a top bearing in place to eliminate the downward thrusts of gust events in guy wired
models.
2. The stress in each blade due to wind loading changes sign twice during each
revolution as the apparent wind direction moves through 360 degrees. This reversal of
the stress increases the likelihood of blade failure by fatigue.
3. While VAWTs’ components are located on the ground, they are also located under the
weight of the structure above it, which can make changing out parts very difficult
without dismantling the structure, if not designed properly.
4. Having rotors located close to the ground where wind speeds are lower due to the
ground’s surface drag, VAWTs may not produce as much energy at a given site as a
HAWT with the same footprint or height.
 DISADVANTAGES OF VAWT
8. HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the
wind.
9. In order to minimize fatigue loads due to wake turbulence, wind turbines are usually
sited at a certain distance away from each other where the spacing depends on the
manufacturer and the turbine model.
OFF-SHORE WIND
 WHY PURSUE OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY?

✓Generation close to
load (80% of the population
lives on the coast)
✓Stronger winds
✓Larger scale projects are
possible
✓Unique economic benefits
✓Revitalizes ports and
domestic manufacturing
✓Less constrained by
transport and construction

Offshore resource shown only from 0 to 50 nautical miles from the coast.
US waters extend to 200 nm from coast
Cumulative Offshore Wind Installed Capacity
by Country (January 1, 2020)
• At the end of 2019, the UK
had the most installed
offshore wind, with 8,478
MW.
• UK growth has been
relatively steady for the past
decade.
• Germany installed 7,441 MW
of offshore wind by the end
of 2019.
• German market accelerated
in 2015 with steady growth
since.
• China’s cumulative capacity
is third in the world, with a
total of 6,000 MW installed,
and is growing the fastest.
Projected Offshore Wind Installed Capacity
by Country (2020~2022)
U.S. Offshore Wind Market Estimates
Through 2030
• 4C Offshore predicts that cumulative
U.S. offshore wind deployment will
exceed 25,000 MW by 2030 (4C
Offshore 2019).
• BNEF predicts cumulative U.S.
offshore wind deployment will grow
to nearly 19,000 MW by 2030
(BNEF 2019).
• These estimates are 50% to 70%
higher than in their 2018 estimates
when BNEF and 4C Offshore
predicted 11,000 MW and 16,000
MW, respectively, by 2030.
• New accelerated offshore wind
deployment targets for United
States – 30GW by 2030
How Large Will Offshore Turbines Get? • Offshore turbines are
more than twice as big
as land-based
• Fewer installation and
transportation
constraints offshore
• Larger turbines lower
project costs
• No hard limits to further
turbine growth
• Infrastructure
constraints may
Expected Turbine Growth – 15 MW by 2030 ultimately limit growth
Image courtesy of NREL, DOE. Horns Rev Wind Farm (Denmark) - Rated Power 160 MW –
Water Depth 10-15m
WORLD’S ONE OF THE LARGEST WIND TURBINE, THE HALIADE-X, ON THE CITY’S
OUTSKIRTS.

© GE. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information, see https://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
Offshore Wind
Turbine Size
Comparison

NREL | 24
WORKING PRINCIPAL
• The rotor captures wind that
creates torque (rotational
force) that spins a low-speed
shaft
• The gearbox increases the
shaft speed which turns a
generator
• Many offshore turbines now
have direct drive generators
• The generator produces
electricity
• Multiple turbines are
connected to form a wind
farm
• Offshore wind farms
generate as much energy as
coal, natural gas, or nuclear
power plants
Underwater Components
 OFFSHORE WIND SUPPORT STRUCTURES ARE Tension Leg

WATER DEPTH DEPENDENT Platform

Keystone
Monopile Twisted Semi- For water depths greater than
submersible
Jacket 60 m, floating support
Convention
al 4-legged structures are expected to be
Jacket
most economical
Spar Buoy

Fixed Bottom Floating

0 – 60 meters > 60 meters
 BALANCE OF STATION – NON-TURBINE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT

• Inter-array cables • Installation and assembly costs

• Offshore support structures • Engineering and Design
• Export cable – main cable to shore • Insurance
• Onshore substation • Soft costs
75% of the Cost of an Offshore Wind Plant
 Fixed Bottom Turbine: Common Substructure Types

Monopile Gravity Base

• Monopiles represent over 70% of installed offshore turbines globally
• For water depths 0 to 60 m fixed bottom support structures are expected
• Deeper water and difficult soil conditions are driving other substructure types
• For depths greater than 60 m, industry is developing floating support structures.
Fixed Bottom Turbine: Common Substructure Types

Jacket Tripod
FLOATING PLATFORM
Floating Wind Energy Costs Follow Fixed-bottom
Offshore Wind Trends
• Shared supply chains
– Turbines
– Array and export cables
– Regulations
– Ports and Infrastructure
– Operations and
Maintenance
•Floating cost reductions
lag fixed-bottom offshore
wind cost by 5 -7 years
•Floating cost are likely to
converge with fixed-bottom
wind
 Offshore Wind Turbines with Monopiles

Baltic 1 Wind Plant Bremerhaven Port Staging

Photo credit: Walt Musial Photo credits: Gary Norton
 The 30-MW Block Island Wind Farm is the first offshore
wind plant in the United States

• Five 6-MW GE Haliade turbines installed in 2016 east of Block Island Rhode Island
• The provides enough power for up to 16,000 Rhode Island homes – many times
more than Block Island uses
• A submarine cable was installed to deliver the excess power to the mainland
 WindFloat Atlantic Floating Wind Farm
Vestas 8-MW Wind Turbine Being
Towed to Station at Wind Float Atlantic
25-MW WindFloat Atlantic (2019)
• Near Porto, Portugal in 2019
• Windplus consortium includes EDP
Renewables, ENGIE, Repsol, and
Principle Power.
• Three 8.4-MW Vestas turbines
• First power December 31, 2019
• Water depth: 100 m (328’)
• Hub height: 100 m (328’)
• Max height above water: 190 m (623’)
JACKETS AND TRIPODS AT ALPHA VENTUS - GERMANY
 FIRST COMMERCIAL FLOATING WIND FARM

30-MW Hywind-2 (2017)

• First floating wind farm off Peterhead,
Scotland
• Five 6-MW Siemens turbines were installed
by Equinor in 2017
• Substructure type: Spar Buoy
• Water depth: up to 130 m (427’)
• Hub height: 101 m (331’)
• Rotor diameter: 154 m (505’)

Siemens 6-MW Wind Turbine at Hywind -2

 Image by Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries
Offshore Wind Port and
Infrastructure
Requirements

Navigation Channel Crew Access &

Wharf Upland Yard Crane
and Wet Storage Maintenance
Serial turbine, Storage and wet-tow out 100’s acre storage and High lift capacity at 500 Moorage for crew
substructure assembly of assembled turbines staging of blades, feet height to attach access vessels. O&M
and component port with year-round access. nacelles, towers, components berth for major repairs
delivery due to depth, Width/depth varies by possible fabrication of of full system
waves off coast substructure design floating substructures
 FIXED-BOTTOM INSTALLATION

Jack-up barge. London Array Offshore Wind Farm, Jack-up barge. Borkum Riffgat Offshore Wind
Thames Estuary, United Kingdom. Photo credit: Farm, North Sea, Germany. Photo credit: Siemens
Siemens Press Picture. 2012. Press Picture. 2013.
 Baltic 1 - Substation

• Utility scale offshore wind farms

collect the power from each
turbine at a high voltage substation
for transmission to shore

• Floating substations are being

developed with dynamic cables
that allow the substations to move
with the waves.
 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

Floating
Turbine
Tow-out
Turbine
Service
Vessel

In-situ Repairs Fixed and Floating: Done in the Major Floating Wind Repairs – Blades, Generators,
field using service vessels - Sensors/computers, Gearboxes – Can be done by disconnecting
lubrication, electrical, preventative maintenance mooring lines and towing system to port
 OIL AND GAS EXPERIENCE HELPED ACCELERATE FIRST
GENERATION
• Basic archetypes are derived from oil and gas experience
• Oil & gas criteria result in successful, but bulky and expensive designs
• Next phase: Optimized engineering approach will yield commercial systems

Knowledge
Transfer

Job
Transfer
THANK YOU