By Mukesh Singh Parihar, Assistant Common Supervisor and Sector Head – Wind, and Kuberaganapathi V.Ok., Supervisor, Tata Consulting Engineers Restricted
With India transferring nearer to its purpose of turning into carbon impartial by 2070, many industries throughout the nation have set targets and carried out methods to scale back their carbon influence. The Ministry of New and Renewable Vitality (MNRE) has set an bold purpose of attaining 50 per cent of the overall put in energy capability from renewables by 2030. By this time India’s peak vitality demand is predicted to succeed in 335 GW and electrical vitality requirement of two,280 BUs. Additional, by 2030, onshore wind farms would account for near 100 GW of the anticipated 777 GW whole constructed energy capability within the nation. Nonetheless, any addition in offshore wind capability could be potential solely after 2030.
India has important wind useful resource, and it might meet the ability wants for industrial development and public consumption via wind vitality. Over 20 years again, wind farms belonging to the general public and industrial sectors have been constructed at websites with exceptionally excessive wind potential. These wind farms, which had a mannequin capability of 250-800 kW, have been constructed between 1990 and 2000. The Nationwide Institute of Wind Vitality (NIWE) estimates that wind farms with lower than 2 MW of put in turbine capability have a repowering potential of about 25 GW. Since every wind turbine has a design lifetime of about 20 to 25 years, wind farms that have been constructed within the early twenty first century and even earlier are actually ageing. A few of them have lower than 5 years left of their operational lifespan resulting from points pertaining to part effectivity and energy output reductions. Wind farm homeowners are pressured to exchange all or half of the present generators with new, high-efficiency generators as a result of consistently altering regulatory setting and the necessity for top capability utilisation components.
Repowering of outdated wind generators has been efficiently carried out in nations such because the UK, the USA, Spain and Denmark, by changing both outdated turbine components or the entire wind generators on farms situated at excessive wind potential websites. Repowering of wind farms gained steam after the Authorities of India amended its coverage in December 2023, seven years after it launched its preliminary pointers.
On this article, we give attention to the 2 foremost variables that decide wind farm capability: the hub peak of a wind turbine generator (WTG) and the gap between wind generators. In India, the wind potential doubles merely at a peak distinction of 20 metres. At 100 metres, the wind potential is round 302 GW, at 120 metres, it’s 695 GW, and at 150 metres, it’s 1,163 GW. Subsequently, utilizing a WTG with a hub peak of 120 metres or extra considerably will increase wind farm effectivity.
Right here, the repowering idea is investigated via the method of wind useful resource evaluation (WRA) for former wind farm places, which entails a evaluate of the micro-siting and new structure growth. This desktop evaluation compares WTG spacing of 2D x 3D–2D throughout the first wind movement and 3D alongside the movement–with the standard turbine spacing of 5Dx7D. Right here, “D” stands for the WTG rotor diameter. In a analysis examine, the latest 3X-WTG fashions have been used along side a lowered WTG spacing and a hub peak of 120 metres. For this examine, three distinct wind farms have been chosen, utilizing open supply information for the present wind farm and technical traits for the brand new WTG mannequin out there in windPRO, the software program used for WRA.
Based on the examine, the plant load issue (PLF) will increase by two-three occasions and the vitality technology will increase by 500 per cent or extra when the spacing between wind farms is relaxed from 5D x 7D to 2D x 3D throughout micro-siting utilizing the bigger capability WTG with increased hub peak, inside the present wind farm boundaries. The wake results are additionally inside allowable limits.
Based on this evaluation, so as to totally exploit the out there wind sources and make the perfect use of the out there areas, out of date wind farms should be repowered. Subsequently, repowering can play a serious function in each sustaining the sustainability of the setting and serving to India meet its 2030 goal for renewable vitality.
