WIND POWER

VI64 blades - bigger than a queue of London double decker buses

80m
V154-7.0MW blade length

8.38m
London Routemaster length

estas has revealed the details of its next generation dedicated offshore wind turbine, currently near the end of its design development stage. This is a tale that grew in the telling. When the new Vestas VI64 was first announced it was to be a less powerful unit. In the meantime, maybe megawatts have got smaller, or ambitions larger, but the capacity of the new giant on the horizon is after all to be 7 MW, not the 6 MW advertised. Megawatts have not shrunk, although aims may have become more ambitious, but as others have discovered before them. Vestas
May 2011 Modern Power Systems 1 3

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WIND POWER
Evolution of a giant

Dimensions of the Vestas V164 7.0 MW offshore turbine Swept area Power output, MW Blade length Min. hub height Rotor diameter Tip height Tota i weight 21.124 m 7.0 80 m 105 m 164 m 187 m -800 ton

187m \

Sea level V39-500kW V80-2.0MW

V112-3.0MW

V164-7.0MW

engineers found that the safety limitations placed on rotational speed could be met after all at a higher rating. Part of this is owed to the safety-first design. Vestas has bought its experience at great expense, especially at Horns Rev, and plans to make the most of it. The emphasis for the VI64 is on reliability and low electricity production cost, and the design therefore is not radical but based squarely on the V112,3 M W unit, of which it is a sized-up version. And it truly is a giant, as the graphics on this and the previous page show. A single blade on its own dwarfs a whole traffic queue of London double decker buses. The company is now at the point where it must start to invest more heavily, and it has made it plain that it is not prepared to do that without an assured return. The new unit has been designed specifically for the waters of northern Europe and it is northern European

countries - in particular the UK, Germany, the Scandinavian states and The Netherlands - which are expected to provide the necessary order pipeline and a continuation of their wind power-friendly energy policies. In a word subsidies. One card that it hopes will play well with the UK government is the decision to develop and make the blades for the prototype at its Isle of Wight R&D centre, whose manufacturing facility was closed down two years ago. The company is thinking well beyond the size suggested by an 80m blade, as the IoW test rig can handle a blade of 100 m length. And there is also a tentative plan to open a new factory at Sheerness, in SE England, to make the VI64. Because it is working from an established design Vestas is confident about the construction of the first prototype, which is expected to be in existence by Q4 of 2012. Serial

164 metre

The VI64 rotor sweeps an area large enough to take four A380 airbuses

Some doubts have been expressed on this score, but 20 MW wind turbines are feasible, according to a new report, published in April, from the EU-funded UpWind project, and launched at the recent EWEA Annual Event in Brussels. The UpWind project explored the design limits of upscaling wind turbines to 20 MW and found that they would have rotor diameters of around 200 metres, compared to 120 m or so on today's 5 MW turbines. Such turbines could be a solution for expanding Europe's offshore wind energy capacity, providing several times the amount of electrical energy at lower costs than today's turbines. EWEA forecasts that wind energy will meet 26-34% of Europe's electricity demand by 2030, with almost as much electricity coming from offshore turbines as from those onshore. 20 MW machines could be a costefficient way of reaching these levels of production. However, according to the UpWind report, the 20 MW turbine requires a new, innovative, tailored design to make it work. 'Upwind found that making a 20 MW machine is not as simple as just upscaling today's 5 MW turbines,' said Jos Beurskens of the Netherlands' Energy Research Centre (ECN), who led the project along with the UpWind co-ordinator Peter Hjuler Jensen from the Danish Technical University Risoe DTU. 'We identified key innovations to the design, materials and way the turbine is operated' said Beurskens. UpWind suggests several innovations, including, primarily, the following.

The anticipated 'smart' wind turbine of the future would be ac its position and the pitch of its blade to local wind conditions. In wind farm layouts lowering the power output of the first row of turbines allows for higher overall wind farm efficiency.

Lowering fatigue loads on blades allows longer and lighter blades to be built. Loads can be lowered in two ways, by pre-bending blades and using more flexible materials - this could lower fatigue loads by 10% - and by employing individual blade control -this could lower fatigue loads by 20-30%. This could be achieved by making the blade in two sections {like an aeroplane wing), allowing each to be controlled separately, a measure that could lower fatigue loads by 15%. It also makes it easier to transport the blade.

Putting sensors on one wind turbine allows the fatigue loading on the other turbines in the cluster to be estimated if the relationship of fatigue loading between the wind turbines is known. Loads can be alleviated preventatively by evaluating an imminent wind gust before it arrives at the turbine. A nacelle-mounted light detection and ranging system (LIDAR) would be sufficiently accurate for wind energy applications. Although much research is still needed, Beurskens believes we could see 20 MW turbines in operation by 2020. 'Intuitively, I believe we'll see the 20 MW turbines used within 10 years,' he says. 'That is, providing they are the cheapest option.' However 20 MW turbines could be an option only on paper if the EU does not invest more in wind energy research, commented Christian Kjaer, CEOof the European Wind Energy Association. 'The findings of UpWind allow the industry to significantly advance its knowledge of how to develop more cost-efficient, larger turbines, expected mostly for the huge expansion of offshore wind energy. However this knowledge will never translate into reality if the EU does not make a clear commitment to wind energy research', he said. 'The industry is committed to funding its share of the 6 billion European Wind Initiative. It is now time for the EU and Member States to finance their share to ensure the innovations of UpWind and other projects can be further developed and applied.'

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WIND POWER
Legally binding EU targets for 2020
Added 2010-20 MW Coal power generation Oil power generation Gas power generation Nuclear power generation Hydro power generation Renewables power generation CCS power generation Totai Onshore wind energy Offshore wind energy 20 600 804 59 824 Generation 2010 GWh 595 365 Share 2020 17% Operational data V164

V112
3000 kW 13.8 rpm 8.1 - 19.0 rpm 25 m/s 4 m/s

21 085 917 412

871 835 333 940

11 614 11 756 213 384 3 399

321 381 99 477 35 334

760 381 24 763

3 524 782 314 587 132 094

1% 26% 25% 9% ,22% 1% 100%

9%

Rated power Nominal rotor speed: Operational rotor speed: Cut-out wind speed: Cut-in wind speed: Operational temperature range: Extreme temperature range: Wind class

7000 kW 10.5 rpm 4.8-12.1 rpm Not specified 4 m/s -10to25''C -lSto35C lECS

-20''Cto40''C -30 to 40C IEC61400-3:IEC1B 112m 9 852 m^ Not specified Not specified 25 years 50 Hz/60Hz Full scale converter Permanent magnet Pitch regulated with variable speed 4-stage planetary/helical Full blade feathering with 3 pitch cylinders

Rotor diameter: Swept area:

164 m 21 124 m' 390 10% tonne 35 tonne 25 years

Source: EER and National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAR)

Weight of nacelle, inc hub Weight of blade Structural design life

Global offshore wind capacity to be added 2010-2025 by region

12,000 I I Europe 10,000 t North America 1 1 Asia/Pacific

Frequency: Converter type: Generator type: Nominal voltage: Power regulation

50 Hz Full scale converter Permanent magnet 33 - 35 and 66 kV Pitch regulated with variable speed 3-stage planetary/helical Full blade feathering with 3 pitch cylinders

8,000

-r

~r>-^

: 6,000 Gearbox Air brake

2010

2015

2020

2025
Source: EER i

production is set to begin in QI 2015 provided that by then a firm order backlog is in place to justify the substantial investment needed. What it is emphatically not doing, says the company, is developing a design from the V120-4.5 MW offshore unit on which it started work a few years ago, and then abandoned.

World market
According to Anders Soe-Jensen, president of Vestas Offshore, the offshore wind market is set to really take off over the coming years, but

more so in some parts of the world tlian in others: 'We expect the major part of offshore wind development to happen in the Northern part of Europe, where the conditions at sea are particularly rough. Based on our broad offshore experience and our many years as pioneers within the offshore wind industry, we have specifically designed the VI64-7.0 MW to provide the highest energy capture and the highest reliability in this rough and challenging environment. This makes our new turbine an obvious and ideal choice for instance for many UK Round 3 projects.' Vestas sees lowering the the cost of energy production from offshore wind as both attractive to customers and essential for the industry. It aims to reduce this cost in two ways. First, through the unit's inherent power density via its very large swept area. Second, by offering a unit tailored to European offshore conditions. Because of the potential market size, the

VI64 business case is based on olTshore Northern European sales, but the position is not fixed. Should market demand justify it. Vestas will take the unit to other parts of the world in due time.

Aiming at reliability
The innovative aspect of the new turbine is, primarily, its size and consequently much increased energy capture. The "proven technology' part of the equation is represented by, among other things, the medium-speed drive train solution. 'We actually kept all options open from the start, running two separate parallel R&D development tracks; one focusing on direct drive and one on a geared solution. It soon became clear that if we wanted to meet the customers' expectations about lowest possible cost of energy and high business case certainty we needed a perfect combination of innovation and proven technology and so the choice could only be to go for a medium-speed drive-train solution,' says Finn Strom Madsen, president of Vestas Technology R&D about this particular design choice. He concludes: 'Offshore wind customers do not want new and untested solutions. They want reliability and a good business case.' Certainly the gear train decision is the most intriguing of Vestas' choices for the VI64, given the trend away from it among other manufacturers. But Vestas believes the reliability aspect trumps all others. The core of
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Cutaway of the V112 nacelle Interior, the template for the VI64 except that the converter and transformer (located left of the drive) will be placed down-tower

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WIND POWER
its reasoning lies in offshore fault history. Faults that will engender unit failure occur four times more often in the power electronics and control systems, says the company, than in the drive train, and the power electronics for a gearless unit has four times as many components. So it makes sense to make the power electronics simpler, rather than the drive train. Moreover the rare-earth elements used for direct drive generators are expensive, and in limited supply. Why such a large turbine? Because, says Vestas, 70% of the total build cost of an onshore array is in the capital cost of the turbines, and even offshore it is still 35%. The cost of the turbines therefore is absolutely critical in the payback equation, and the fewer the turbines the better the cost density and therefore the return. Design features The main design features of the VI12 unit have been preserved in the V164. Some of them have been modified. The blade is bigger but its 'B' profile is identical, and it is made from the same materials - mainly carbon fibre and glass fibre. The R&D effort that went into the VI12 blade design resulted in what Vestas calls 'a giant stride in aerodynamics" enabling it to produce a relatively light and productive blade that delivers the greatest possible output with the least possible load on the turbine tower. This is the so-called 'B' profile which results in a quiet turbine during normal operation, but also has a stealth mode, a low-noise mode that can be configured for local regulations and keeps within defined decibel ranges without significantly affecting productivity. Another bonus, to judge by orders for the V112, is that the industry has accepted Vestas' explanation that the cause of a blade failure last autumn in one of its prototypes was a oneoff caused by "human error' (what other kind is there?) during manufacture of the blade. The VI64 is a medium voltage unit (the VI12 is low voltage) to reduce I^R losses at the higher power rating. This also reduces the cost of the converter and transformer, overall. The gearbox and generator are lower speed versions (400 rpm, medium speed) of those in the VI12 (500 rpm, high speed) to achieve a smaller gearing ratio to the rotor. The gearing geometry is therefore slightly different - a three stage planetary gearbox compared to four stages in the VI12. And to reduce nacelle weight the converter and transformer have been moved down tower to a position above the transition piece, 20-30 metres above mean sea level. Features inherited directly from the VI12 include "load reduced operation', which provides extra security at geographically complex sites, where narrow sectors with extreme gusts and other abnormal wind conditions can occur, and enables the turbine to automatically protect itself against avoidable wear which can damage the turbine and shorten the service life of some components. A parallel feature, which Vestas attributes to advanced power electronics combined with a fiexible operations strategy, allows the operator to increase power production by temporarily increasing the output of the turbine in favourable conditions. Main component preheating, using the cooling system reject heat to prevent condensation, has also been retained. Primary components - the generator, gearbox, converter and the blade hydraulic system are heated internally when the turbine restarts after a production stop in cold climates. Similarly automatic lubrication of the pitch system, the hub. the yaw system, the main shaft and the generator, which reduces the frequency of service calls, has been retained. EH

TIDAL ENERGY

Making waves in Welsh waters

Staff report
n innovative project to generate tidal energy in Ramsey Sound, off the coast of Wales, has been given the go ahead by the UK's Fnergy and Climate Change secretary Chris Huhne. The Welsh Assembly government has also granted the necessary licence and coastal protection consent. The project uses Tidal Energy Ltd's 1.2 MW 'Deltastream' device and will provide electricity to the local distribution network during its 12 month test period. It has been specifically designed to be sensitive to the local environment.

DeltaStream concept The DeltaStream device is a nominal 1.2MW unit which sits on the seabed without the need for a positive anchoring system, generating electricity from three separate horizontal axis turbines mounted on a cotnmon frame. There is no reason in principle why the concept should not be extended indefinitely to make

arrays of underwater generators. A farm of units forms a simple compact pattern with spurs to a central power transmission line. The use of three turbines on a single triangular frame about 30 m wide produces a low centre of gravity, enabling the device to satisfy its structural stability requirements including the avoidance of overturning and sliding. The location chosen for the trial is a fiat bedrock shelf in the north of Ramsey Sound. The height of the turbine when operating allows at least 12 m of clear water above the blade tips at the lowest tide, so offers no threat to the boats that currently use the Sound. DeltaStream was conceived by marine engineer Richard Ayre with initial research funding from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Marine Nature Reserve. Experts from Cranfield University in England undertook detailed design and optimisation of the blade design with funding from Carbon Connections. It uses the same concept as a wind turbine combined with the working principles of a ship's propeller. The benefits and advantages of this design are said to be its lightweight gravity foundation, the ease with which it can be deployed and recovered (by a single crane working from a fioating platform ) ease of maintenance and manufacturing simplicity and low cost, primarily because it uses standard, off the shelf components. It is able to operate in various water depths and velocities and has a low environmental impact. Energy transfer DeltaStream's oscillating nacelle is said to allow maximum energy transfer, while the device utihses fixed pitch blades tailored to

maximise the energy extracted from the tidal flow distribution at the deployment site. A mechanical yaw system and controls have been designed to allow the nacelles to oscillate to seek the optimum fiow. A 15 m diameter rotor will extract most energy from the water fiow at a height of 20 m or so above the seabed. For maintenance the device is lifted in its entirety from the ocean bed, which can be done very quickly. The method of deployment allows the 11 kV grid cable to be connected using an oilfilledjunction box at the surface, thereby obviating the need for subsea connections, which would require divers or remotely operated vehicles that are difficult, if not impossible, to use in fast fiowing currents. The device can be installed in a range of water depths including deep sea where currents are strongest and it is capable of being deployed in all UK waters with suitable tidal velocities. The vast majority of the tidal resource in UK waters occurs at depths greater than 45m which is too deep for jack-up barges and therefore for devices requiring piled foundations. ^

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