IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v53y2016icp1212-1221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Key challenges and prospects for large wind turbines

Author

Listed:
  • McKenna, R.
  • Ostman v.d. Leye, P.
  • Fichtner, W.

Abstract

The so-called 20-20-20 targets for the European Union include a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990, 20% of primary energy from renewables, and a 20% reduction in primary energy demand through energy efficiency by 2020. Wind energy has played and will continue to play a significant role in progress towards meeting these goals; in 2012 it accounted for around 7% of total European electricity consumption. Against the background of the recent trend towards ever larger wind turbines at higher hub heights, this contribution explores the challenges to and prospects for a continued up-sizing of wind turbines in the future. Based on a literature review and interviews with experts in the European wind industry, the key challenges for large onshore wind turbines are identified and qualitatively analyzed in a European context. Further developments of large wind turbines depend on several components and related challenges rather than just one. The main challenges are thought to be related to social acceptance, the logistics of transport and erection, and the medium term sustainability of the political and economic support for wind energy. It seems likely that social acceptance will center around the issue of aerodynamic noise and the allowed distance from the turbine, although further research is required to fully understand the public perception of especially large wind power plants. In addition, the sheer size of larger wind turbines in the future presents significant challenges in terms of the materials and structures employed. There is little consensus on the likely development of drive train technologies, though a slight tendency towards direct drive systems with permanent magnet generators as well as multi-stage gearboxes was encountered, which could also serve to improve reliability. For the rotor blades, a trend towards fully carbon fiber blades is expected, and towers will continue to be constructed from steel and/or concrete, albeit both of these components increasingly in the form a modular construction.

Suggested Citation

  • McKenna, R. & Ostman v.d. Leye, P. & Fichtner, W., 2016. "Key challenges and prospects for large wind turbines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1212-1221.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:1212-1221
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.09.080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115010503
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.09.080?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vesel, Richard W. & McNamara, Jack J., 2014. "Performance enhancement and load reduction of a 5 MW wind turbine blade," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 391-401.
    2. Capuzzi, M. & Pirrera, A. & Weaver, P.M., 2014. "A novel adaptive blade concept for large-scale wind turbines. Part II: Structural design and power performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 25-32.
    3. Wang, Rong-Jie & Gerber, Stiaan, 2014. "Magnetically geared wind generator technologies: Opportunities and challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 817-826.
    4. Timilsina, Govinda R. & Cornelis van Kooten, G. & Narbel, Patrick A., 2013. "Global wind power development: Economics and policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 642-652.
    5. Tascikaraoglu, A. & Uzunoglu, M., 2014. "A review of combined approaches for prediction of short-term wind speed and power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 243-254.
    6. Blanco, María Isabel, 2009. "The economics of wind energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1372-1382, August.
    7. Gao, Linyue & Zhang, Hui & Liu, Yongqian & Han, Shuang, 2015. "Effects of vortex generators on a blunt trailing-edge airfoil for wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 303-311.
    8. Pierre Tchakoua & René Wamkeue & Mohand Ouhrouche & Fouad Slaoui-Hasnaoui & Tommy Andy Tameghe & Gabriel Ekemb, 2014. "Wind Turbine Condition Monitoring: State-of-the-Art Review, New Trends, and Future Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-36, April.
    9. Molnarova, Kristina & Sklenicka, Petr & Stiborek, Jiri & Svobodova, Kamila & Salek, Miroslav & Brabec, Elizabeth, 2012. "Visual preferences for wind turbines: Location, numbers and respondent characteristics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 269-278.
    10. Pinar Pérez, Jesús María & García Márquez, Fausto Pedro & Tobias, Andrew & Papaelias, Mayorkinos, 2013. "Wind turbine reliability analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 463-472.
    11. Islam, M.R. & Mekhilef, S. & Saidur, R., 2013. "Progress and recent trends of wind energy technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 456-468.
    12. Capuzzi, M. & Pirrera, A. & Weaver, P.M., 2014. "A novel adaptive blade concept for large-scale wind turbines. Part I: Aeroelastic behaviour," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 15-24.
    13. Frieder Borggrefe & Karsten Neuhoff, 2011. "Balancing and Intraday Market Design: Options for Wind Integration," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1162, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Kaldellis, John K. & Zafirakis, D., 2011. "The wind energy (r)evolution: A short review of a long history," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1887-1901.
    15. Ladenburg, Jacob & Dahlgaard, Jens-Olav, 2012. "Attitudes, threshold levels and cumulative effects of the daily wind-turbine encounters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 40-46.
    16. Macquart, Terence & Maheri, Alireza, 2015. "Integrated aeroelastic and control analysis of wind turbine blades equipped with microtabs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 102-114.
    17. Perveen, Rehana & Kishor, Nand & Mohanty, Soumya R., 2014. "Off-shore wind farm development: Present status and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 780-792.
    18. Miller, Aaron & Chang, Byungik & Issa, Roy & Chen, Gerald, 2013. "Review of computer-aided numerical simulation in wind energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 122-134.
    19. Kusiak, Andrew & Li, Wenyan & Song, Zhe, 2010. "Dynamic control of wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 456-463.
    20. Chehouri, Adam & Younes, Rafic & Ilinca, Adrian & Perron, Jean, 2015. "Review of performance optimization techniques applied to wind turbines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 361-388.
    21. Huang, Junling & McElroy, Michael B., 2015. "A 32-year perspective on the origin of wind energy in a warming climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 482-492.
    22. Bilgili, Mehmet & Yasar, Abdulkadir & Simsek, Erdogan, 2011. "Offshore wind power development in Europe and its comparison with onshore counterpart," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 905-915, February.
    23. Lago, Lucas I. & Ponta, Fernando L. & Otero, Alejandro D., 2013. "Analysis of alternative adaptive geometrical configurations for the NREL-5 MW wind turbine blade," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 13-22.
    24. Staffell, Iain & Green, Richard, 2014. "How does wind farm performance decline with age?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 775-786.
    25. Anand Natarajan, 2014. "An overview of the state of the art technologies for multi-MW scale offshore wind turbines and beyond," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 111-121, March.
    26. Joselin Herbert, G.M. & Iniyan, S. & Amutha, D., 2014. "A review of technical issues on the development of wind farms," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 619-641.
    27. Mohd Zin, Abdullah Asuhaimi B. & Pesaran H.A., Mahmoud & Khairuddin, Azhar B. & Jahanshaloo, Leila & Shariati, Omid, 2013. "An overview on doubly fed induction generators′ controls and contributions to wind based electricity generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 692-708.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. de Bona, Jéssica Ceolin & Ferreira, Joao Carlos Espindola & Ordoñez Duran, Julian Fernando, 2021. "Analysis of scenarios for repowering wind farms in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    2. Dai, Juchuan & Tan, Yayi & Shen, Xiangbin, 2019. "Investigation of energy output in mountain wind farm using multiple-units SCADA data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 225-238.
    3. Thé, Jesse & Yu, Hesheng, 2017. "A critical review on the simulations of wind turbine aerodynamics focusing on hybrid RANS-LES methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 257-289.
    4. Siddiqui, Muhammad Omer & Feja, Paul Robert & Borowski, Philipp & Kyling, Hans & Nejad, Amir R. & Wenske, Jan, 2023. "Wind turbine nacelle testing: State-of-the-art and development trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. van de Kaa, Geerten & van Ek, Martijn & Kamp, Linda M. & Rezaei, Jafar, 2020. "Wind turbine technology battles: Gearbox versus direct drive - opening up the black box of technology characteristics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    6. Leite, Gustavo de Novaes Pires & Araújo, Alex Maurício & Rosas, Pedro André Carvalho, 2018. "Prognostic techniques applied to maintenance of wind turbines: a concise and specific review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1917-1925.
    7. Radu Saulescu & Mircea Neagoe & Codruta Jaliu, 2018. "Conceptual Synthesis of Speed Increasers for Wind Turbine Conversion Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-33, August.
    8. Thiago F. do Nascimento & Evandro A. D. F. Nunes & Elmer R. L. Villarreal & Ricardo F. Pinheiro & Andrés O. Salazar, 2022. "Performance Analysis of an Electromagnetic Frequency Regulator under Parametric Variations for Wind System Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    9. Govind, Bala, 2017. "Increasing the operational capability of a horizontal axis wind turbine by its integration with a vertical axis wind turbine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 479-494.
    10. Sasse, Jan-Philipp & Trutnevyte, Evelina, 2023. "Cost-effective options and regional interdependencies of reaching a low-carbon European electricity system in 2035," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    11. Zadeh, Ali Etemad & Touati, Khaled & Mulligan, Catherine N. & McCutcheon, Jeffrey R. & Rahaman, Md. Saifur, 2022. "Closed-loop pressure retarded osmosis draw solutions and their regeneration processes: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    12. Liu, W.Y., 2017. "A review on wind turbine noise mechanism and de-noising techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 311-320.
    13. Lei, Hang & Zhou, Dai & Bao, Yan & Chen, Caiyong & Ma, Ning & Han, Zhaolong, 2017. "Numerical simulations of the unsteady aerodynamics of a floating vertical axis wind turbine in surge motion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1-17.
    14. Li, Jian & Liu, Ranhui & Yuan, Peng & Pei, Yanli & Cao, Renjing & Wang, Gang, 2020. "Numerical simulation and application of noise for high-power wind turbines with double blades based on large eddy simulation model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1682-1690.
    15. Mito, Mohamed T. & Ma, Xianghong & Albuflasa, Hanan & Davies, Philip A., 2019. "Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desalination driven by wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy: State of the art and challenges for large-scale implementation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 669-685.
    16. Hawari, Qusay & Kim, Taeseong & Ward, Christopher & Fleming, James, 2022. "A robust gain scheduling method for a PI collective pitch controller of multi-MW onshore wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 443-455.
    17. Lei, Hang & Zhou, Dai & Lu, Jiabao & Chen, Caiyong & Han, Zhaolong & Bao, Yan, 2017. "The impact of pitch motion of a platform on the aerodynamic performance of a floating vertical axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 369-383.
    18. Xunjun Chen & Zhigang Liu, 2019. "Impedance Modeling and Stability Analysis of the Converters in a Double-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG)-Based System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-23, June.
    19. Parkison, Sara B. & Kempton, Willett, 2022. "Marshaling ports required to meet US policy targets for offshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    20. Hoen, Ben & Darlow, Ryan & Haac, Ryan & Rand, Joseph & Kaliski, Ken, 2023. "Effects of land-based wind turbine upsizing on community sound levels and power and energy density," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    21. Cao, Qun & Xiao, Longfei & Guo, Xiaoxian & Liu, Mingyue, 2020. "Second-order responses of a conceptual semi-submersible 10 MW wind turbine using full quadratic transfer functions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 653-668.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Artigao, Estefania & Martín-Martínez, Sergio & Honrubia-Escribano, Andrés & Gómez-Lázaro, Emilio, 2018. "Wind turbine reliability: A comprehensive review towards effective condition monitoring development," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1569-1583.
    2. Chen, Jincheng & Wang, Feng & Stelson, Kim A., 2018. "A mathematical approach to minimizing the cost of energy for large utility wind turbines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1413-1422.
    3. Satir, Mert & Murphy, Fionnuala & McDonnell, Kevin, 2018. "Feasibility study of an offshore wind farm in the Aegean Sea, Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2552-2562.
    4. Scott, Samuel & Capuzzi, Marco & Langston, David & Bossanyi, Ervin & McCann, Graeme & Weaver, Paul M. & Pirrera, Alberto, 2017. "Effects of aeroelastic tailoring on performance characteristics of wind turbine systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PB), pages 887-903.
    5. Brzezińska-Rawa, Anna & Goździewicz-Biechońska, Justyna, 2014. "Recent developments in the wind energy sector in Poland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 79-87.
    6. Russell McKenna & Stefan Pfenninger & Heidi Heinrichs & Johannes Schmidt & Iain Staffell & Katharina Gruber & Andrea N. Hahmann & Malte Jansen & Michael Klingler & Natascha Landwehr & Xiaoli Guo Lars', 2021. "Reviewing methods and assumptions for high-resolution large-scale onshore wind energy potential assessments," Papers 2103.09781, arXiv.org.
    7. McKenna, Russell & Pfenninger, Stefan & Heinrichs, Heidi & Schmidt, Johannes & Staffell, Iain & Bauer, Christian & Gruber, Katharina & Hahmann, Andrea N. & Jansen, Malte & Klingler, Michael & Landwehr, 2022. "High-resolution large-scale onshore wind energy assessments: A review of potential definitions, methodologies and future research needs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 659-684.
    8. Sun, Xiaojing & Huang, Diangui & Wu, Guoqing, 2012. "The current state of offshore wind energy technology development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 298-312.
    9. Luis M. Abadie & Nestor Goicoechea, 2021. "Old Wind Farm Life Extension vs. Full Repowering: A Review of Economic Issues and a Stochastic Application for Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    10. McKenna, R. & Hollnaicher, S. & Fichtner, W., 2014. "Cost-potential curves for onshore wind energy: A high-resolution analysis for Germany," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 103-115.
    11. Colmenar-Santos, Antonio & Campíñez-Romero, Severo & Pérez-Molina, Clara & Mur-Pérez, Francisco, 2015. "Repowering: An actual possibility for wind energy in Spain in a new scenario without feed-in-tariffs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 319-337.
    12. Shafiqur Rehman & Md. Mahbub Alam & Luai M. Alhems & M. Mujahid Rafique, 2018. "Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade Design Methodologies for Efficiency Enhancement—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-34, February.
    13. Jäger, Tobias & McKenna, Russell & Fichtner, Wolf, 2016. "The feasible onshore wind energy potential in Baden-Württemberg: A bottom-up methodology considering socio-economic constraints," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA), pages 662-675.
    14. Zountouridou, E.I. & Kiokes, G.C. & Chakalis, S. & Georgilakis, P.S. & Hatziargyriou, N.D., 2015. "Offshore floating wind parks in the deep waters of Mediterranean Sea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 433-448.
    15. Samet Ozturk & Vasilis Fthenakis & Stefan Faulstich, 2018. "Assessing the Factors Impacting on the Reliability of Wind Turbines via Survival Analysis—A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-20, November.
    16. Zhenye Sun & Matias Sessarego & Jin Chen & Wen Zhong Shen, 2017. "Design of the OffWindChina 5 MW Wind Turbine Rotor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    17. Zheng, Chong Wei & Li, Chong Yin & Pan, Jing & Liu, Ming Yang & Xia, Lin Lin, 2016. "An overview of global ocean wind energy resource evaluations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1240-1251.
    18. Jäger, Tobias & McKenna, Russell & Fichtner, Wolf, 2015. "Onshore wind energy in Baden-Württemberg: a bottom-up economic assessment of the socio-technical potential," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 7, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    19. Bonou, Alexandra & Laurent, Alexis & Olsen, Stig I., 2016. "Life cycle assessment of onshore and offshore wind energy-from theory to application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 327-337.
    20. Nejra Beganovic & Jackson G. Njiri & Dirk Söffker, 2018. "Reduction of Structural Loads in Wind Turbines Based on an Adapted Control Strategy Concerning Online Fatigue Damage Evaluation Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:1212-1221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.