LONDON --
With annual market growth of almost 10 percent, and cumulative
capacity growth of about 19 percent according to the latest figures from
the Global Wind Energy Council, the wind sector continued to make
robust progress in 2012. But while these figures suggest a relatively
buoyant market for installations, perhaps a more accurate way to judge
the health of the wind sector is to consider investment in R&D, and
more specifically the products of that research, development and
testing.
Indeed, alongside the expansion of wind markets - notably in Asia
and the US, with Europe not far behind - wind technology also continued
to show progress over the last year. Key trends appear to focus on
larger offshore machines, new versions of existing turbines that have
been upgraded and modified to suit a wider range of wind regimes and
operating conditions, and a number of developments that aim to reduce
installation and operations and maintenance costs.
For example, in January this year
A2SEA's
new second generation vessel, Sea Installer, erected two Siemens 6-MW
test turbines at DONG Energy's demonstration site Gunfleet Sands 3.
“The turbines are getting bigger, and the future sites are further
out to sea. This calls for more flexible vessels,” says Jens Frederik
Hansen, CEO at A2SEA A/S. The vessel was launched from Qidong in China
where it had spent two years under construction.
In autumn 2012
Hochtief
also revealed a new vessel. Developed in conjunction with Areva,
Innovation is a new heavy lift jack-up offshore installation vessel.
Operating in depths of up to 65 meters, its cargo capacity is up to 8000
tons and the onboard crane can lift up to 1500 tons. Innovation was
built by HGO InfraSea Solutions, a joint company of Hochtief Solutions
and GeoSea.
Areva also showcased its new Single Blade Installation system (SBI)
enabling the installation of blades on the hub in all positions up to
330 degrees and at wind speeds up to 12 m/s. By avoiding the need to
transport assembled rotors, the system saves deck space and increases
the number of machines which can be transported as a single load, Areva
says. They add that the 55-ton remotely-controlled yoke was first tested
in May at its prototype site in Bremerhaven, with the average time to
mount or demount a blade around three hours.
Onshore, for example, Vestas and SNCF Geodis are using the railways
to transport blades, with up to nine 55 meter long blades transportable
by train. Although railway transportation of blades is still in its
early phases in Europe, Vestas says it expects to reduce costs by 10-15
percent compared to transport by road.
Larger Rotor Diameters, Higher Speeds Explored
Among the major manufacturers announcing new, larger rotor, versions
of existing machines, in February Spanish player Acciona revealed its
new 125 meter diameter rotor for the company's existing AW300 platform.
Designed to give the 3-MW turbine superior performance at low-wind IEC
Class III sites, the AW 125/3000 model stands on Acciona's 120 meter
concrete tower and has a swept area of more than 12,300 m2. Design
certification for the new rotor is due for completion in 2013, with the
first blades installed by the end of the year. The machine will be
available for delivery in 2014 for both 50 and 60 Hz markets, Acciona
says. It launched the 116 meter rotor version for IEC Class II sites in
2011.
At the recent
EWEA 2013 Annual Event in Vienna,
Alstom also announced an upgrade of its ECO 100 3 MW platform,
currently designed for medium (Class II-A) wind sites, to medium and
high winds (IEC Class II-A and IS Class). The ECO 122 turbine, currently
suitable for Class III sites, is also being upgraded to medium and low
winds (IEC Class III-A and II B). This upgrade increases the net
capacity factor to up to 48 percent for both turbines with rotor
diameters of 100, 110 and 122 meters, the company says.
Meanwhile, the first wind farm featuring ECO 110 wind turbines has
been inaugurated in Brittany, France, following the signing of a March
2011 contract between
Alstom and
Eole Generation GDF SUEZ Group
for installation of 11 machines. These feature a 110 meter diameter
rotor designed for Class II wind regimes and sit on a 145 meter tower.
In a related development, September 2012 saw Alstom sign a deal for
the manufacture of their ECO 122 wind turbines in two wind complexes,
located in the North-East of Brazil with a 600 MW annual production
capacity.
Vestas also
revealed a number of new machines over the past year. In the low-wind
arena the wind power giant sold its first V126-3.0 MW machines in
November 2012, having launched the machine at the Husum Wind fair in
September. Finland's TuuliWatti Oy is expected to see delivery of the
initial batch of units in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The turbine is the latest variant of the 3 MW platform first launched
in August 2010, has a rotor diameter of 126 meters to target low wind
conditions (Class III) and features a structural shell blade design. The
swept area has been increased by 27 percent compared with the previous
model, the V112-3.0 MW, with its 112 meter rotor diameter. Featuring 55
meter-long blades, it is suitable for all three wind classes as well as
offshore, Vestas says. Indeed, in June 2012 Vestas released a high-wind
version of the machine. The new IEC S uses a beefed-up gearbox modified
to handle the increased loads.
“The global market for high-wind turbines is diverse. In traditional
and mature wind markets like the European mainland, there are not that
many high-wind sites and opportunities left. However, in other markets,
there are huge untapped high-wind resources and potential for high-wind
specific turbines,” says Knud Winther Nielsen, senior product manager
for Vestas Turbines R&D and head of the commercial development of
the V112-3.0 MW.
Nielsen's words are backed up with another new product, announced in 2012 by
GE and the latest version of its trusty 1.5-MW platform. The 1.85-82.5 machine is destined for high wind sites in Brazil, the company says.
IEC-certified for higher wind speed sites, the new turbine offers an 8
percent increase in annual energy production at 9 meters per second
over its previous model. GE says its proprietary Advanced Loads Control
allows siting of the 82.5 meter rotor in more aggressive wind regimes.
New Machines, New Manufacturing
Along with new machines, new manufacturing facilities are also being
developed which will produce the new generation of products.
For example, in January 2013 Alstom launched construction of two new
turbine plants in France. The Saint-Nazaire plants, expected to be
commissioned in 2014, will be entirely devoted to assembling nacelles
and manufacturing generators for the 6 MW Haliade 150 offshore wind
turbine featuring a permanent magnet direct drive generator and a 150
meter rotor diameter. The two industrial buildings will be next to each
other and will cover approximately 2.5 hectares in Montoir-de-Bretagne,
within the harbor zone of Saint-Nazaire. They will be scaled for a
production capacity of 100 machines per year and will take over from the
temporary workshop in Saint-Nazaire where Alstom is already producing
early series machines. By 2015, two other plants in Cherbourg intended
for the production of blades and towers are set to be completed. The
blades plant is being developed with LM Wind Power, whose 73.5 meter
blades became the first 70+ meter blades to be installed when Alstom
inaugurated the turbine.
M Wind Power
vice president of sales & marketing, Ian Telford, states: “Our
technology enables us to design and manufacture relatively lighter glass
fibre and polyester blades for the length, but above all, LM Wind Power
has proven ability to handle the industrialization of these blades,
which is not easy.”
Three out of the four offshore wind turbine factories will be
financed through the “investissements d'avenir” (investments for the
future) scheme managed by the French Environment and Energy Development
Agency (ADEME).
Enercon has
also announced new manufacturing capacity this year, having proceeded to
series production in its new concrete tower factory in Zurndorf in
Austria's Burgenland state. At full-scale production, the plant is
expected to produce up to 24 tower segments a day - a complete tower -
for the E-101 3 MW turbine series. The new factory is set to produce
towers for projects throughout Austria, Hungary, Romania, Croatia,
Poland, and southern Germany. This latest plant followed the October
2012 start of operations at a similar, slightly smaller, facility in the
province of Picardy, France.
Elsewhere, for example,
China's Sinovel,
is reportedly in advanced discussions with Romanian heavy machinery
plant Faur to jointly invest in a wind turbine production facility in
Romania.
Onshore Developments
Operating exclusively onshore, Germany's Enercon has announced a slew
of developments with its new machines over the last few quarters. In
mid-October the company erected the prototype of its new Class IIA 2.3
MW E-92 series atop a 97 meter precast concrete tower in Simonswolde,
Ostfriesland in Northern Germany. With a rotor diameter of 92 meters,
the machine is designed for lower wind sites and sits between the E-82
2.3 MW and the E-101 3 MW machines. Compared with the 82 meter machine,
the E-92 can achieve up to 15 percent more yield, Enercon says. Once the
power curve rating has been completed, due as
REW went to press, Enercon says it will start series production.
News of the larger 2.3 MW variant followed close behind the
announcement of another new machine, a 2.5 MW series with a 115 meter
rotor diameter, specially designed for inland locations. Designed for
average wind speeds of 7.5 meters per second and gust intensities of up
to 59.5 meters per second, the E-115 is particularly suitable for less
windy locations, Enercon says. Available with hub heights of 92 to 149
meters the first prototype is due to be installed this year and serial
production is expected to be launched in 2014.
Nordex,
another wind major operating exclusively onshore, chose the recent EWEA
event in Vienna to unveil its latest turbine. The fourth generation
— Generation Delta — of its 3-MW platform has larger rotors, increased
nominal output and optimized technical systems, the company says. The
new range comprises turbines for strong and medium wind speeds (IEC
Class 1 and 2) and includes the 3 MW N117/3000 for medium wind speeds.
This is a 20 percent increase in nominal output over its predecessor.
Designed for locations characterized by high wind speeds, the N100/3300
is rated at 3.3 MW, resulting in a more than 30 percent increase in
nominal output. Larger rotors are being used for both platforms with the
N117/3000 adding 17 meters on its predecessor, resulting in a 37
percent increase in swept area and a 10 percent boost to full load
hours. Meanwhile the N100/3300 has a rotor 10 meter larger than its
predecessor, increasing the swept area by 23 percent, and a taller 100
meter tower. The new machines also come with Nordex's anti-icing system.
Commercial deliveries of the new machines are set to commence at the
beginning of 2014, with initial projects being installed from mid-2013.
Finland's Raahen Tuulienergia Oy will see two N117/3000 turbines
installed in the port area of the Northern Finnish town of Raahe. One
turbine is to be mounted on a 91 meter and the other on a 120 meter
tower.
In mid-2012 Nordex also began series production of its newest variant
of the 2.4 MW platform, again featuring a longer 117 meter rotor, the
N117/2400 turbine.
GE, meanwhile, announced its new low wind onshore machine, the
2.5-120, at the end of January 2013. Featuring the company's new
“brilliant” technology, the turbine includes energy storage capability.
With 120 meter rotor diameter, GE says the machine has a maximum hub
height of 139 meters - suitable for forested regions - and produces 15
percent more power than its current 2.5 MW model.
Vic Abate, vice president of GE's renewable energy business, said:
“Analyzing tens of thousands of data points every second, the 2.5-120
integrates energy storage and advanced forecasting algorithms while
communicating seamlessly with neighboring turbines, service technicians
and customers.” The first prototype of the 2.5-120, optimized for Class
III sites, was expected to have been installed in the Netherlands as
REW goes to press. The 2.5-120 will be available at 50 Hz and 60 Hz.
Spanish firm
Gamesa,
with its range of onshore platforms from 850 kW through to 4.5 MW,
unveiled both on- and offshore turbines earlier in 2012. For the onshore
sector a new, longer bladed, version of its 2 MW platform has been
unveiled. New blades giving a rotor diameter of 114 meters will see this
2 MW machine become available in five different rotor diameters: 80,
87, 90, 97 and 114 meters. Due to be commercially launched in the second
quarter of 2014, this Class IIIA machine is designed for use at
low-wind sites. The new machine has a 38 percent larger swept area than
its G97-2.0 MW turbine and produces 20 percent more energy annually,
Gamesa says.
Asia's Wind Technology Giants
Among the leading manufacturers based in Asia,
Goldwind
has been busy with certification of its flagship permanent magnet
direct-drive platforms - it offers 1.5 MW, 2.5 MW, 3 MW machines. In
February 2013, variants of both its 1.5 MW and 2.5 MW PMDD machines
received ETL certification for US and Canadian markets from assessment
group Intertek.
The 1.5 MW was initially certified in August 2011, the latest covers
series products for low wind speed areas. In October 2012 the company
announced that its 'ultra-low' wind 93 meter rotor diameter variant of
its 1.5 MW had received domestic certification in China. This machine,
the GW93/1500 was launched in April 2012 and is designed for IEC Class
S, an annual average wind speed lower than 6.5 meters per second.
During the first half of 2012, a prototype was installed in Zhucheng,
Shandong province. Based on operational field data, the company says
the turbine can produce close to 9 percent more power on average than
the earlier model GW87/1500 series turbines (designed for IEC III class)
under the same conditions.
Goldwind unveiled its 6 MW prototype in 2011 and plans to mass
produce the turbines by 2014. The company assembled several of the six
MW offshore wind turbines this year and plans to put at least one into
operation in the first half of 2012, the company said.
Meanwhile, Japan's
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)
has unveiled a novel hydraulic drivetrain. Test operations at its
Yokohama Dockyard & Machinery Works began in January 2013, the
company says.
Part of a project launched in September 2012 to develop a hydraulic
drivetrain for offshore turbines - supported by the New Energy and
Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) - MHI says it will
accelerate its development of system in the 7 MW class, with
installation and operation slated to begin at Hunterston, in the U.K. An
onshore demonstration unit in the UK and an offshore floating wind farm
project in Fukushima, Japan are slated to begin trial operations in
June 2013 and August 2014, respectively, the company says. A
mass-produced commercial model will be targeted for market launch in
2015. The Yokohama system is based on an existing MWT100 gear-driven
wind generation system, retrofitted with the new hydraulic drivetrain.
Sinovel, another global giant, has continued with its testing program
on its 2010-launched 5 MW and its 6 MW machine, launched in May 2011.
Sinovel has commercially launched 1.5 MW and 3 MW and is in R&D and
early production of its 5 MW and 6 MW turbines. The company is also
moving to develop a 10 MW machine, with the project being listed in
China's Central budgeting last autumn. The turbine is expected to be
installed as a demonstration project in Jiangsu coastal area. China's
National Development and Reform Commission awarded Sinovel a grant of
RMB42 million (US$6.6 million) to accelerate commercialization of the 10
MW offshore design. Along with Sinovel both Goldwind and Guodian United
Power are competing to develop a 10 MW machine after the project was
deemed critical by the Chinese government last year.
Also in 2012, Sinovel teamed with Mita-Teknik to co-develop next
generation control systems. Sinovel will purchase PLC hardware and the
software with source code of the control systems from Mita-Teknik. The
same year the company also filed a patent for a reactive voltage control
system for a DFID wind generator. However, a fatal crane accident last
autumn while attempting to lift a 5 MW wind turbine nacelle at the
production facility in Gansu Province and continued wrangles with AMSC
over intellectual property have rankled.
India's
Suzlon
has also been active developing new versions of its existing platforms.
Mid-2012 saw the company reveal its S111 low-wind turbine. This Class
III 2.1 MW machine features a rotor diameter of 111 meters. The platform
is now available in rotor diameters of 88, 95, 97 and 111 meters. The
S111 is available with tower heights of 95 and 120 meters, and will
deliver a 20-29 percent increase in annual energy production over the
S97 design. The first prototype is due to be operational in late 2013
and serial production is planned to begin in 2014. Suzlon also announced
improvements to IEC Class II machine, the S95 first introduced in 2011.
Outlook
It's clear that the wind sector is benefitting from a surplus of
choice when it comes to a range of turbines from the world's
manufacturers. It's not all good news though. There have been closures
and go-slows, with Nordex cutting staff at its Dongying blade
manufacturing site in China and Sinovel ordering a go-slow on
production, for example. In the U.S., Vestas laid off workers at blade
factories in Colorado last year, with the company reducing its workforce
in the U.S. and Canada by about 20 percent in 2012.
Nonetheless, while the ebb and flow of global business will
inevitably see production capacity ramp up and decline in response to
demand, at its core the wind business represents a technology and
innovation business. We see evidence for this beyond the new variants
and new machines. For instance, in the last year Gamesa raised €260
million from the European Investment Bank for its R&D+I investment
program, focused on developing its two new wind turbines. Meanwhile
Enercon launched the construction of its new R&D Centre, the Wobben
Research & Development (WRD) facilities, scheduled to be operational
by mid-2013. Investment in R&D pushes the economic boundaries of
wind power today and given evidence, that boundary is being pushed hard.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/04/new-turbine-technology-the-future-is-larger-offshore?page=3
