Wind Power Plants: Design, Site Selection, Equipment Selection, Operations and Maintenance On-Shore and Off-Shore Wind Farms, Economics, Rate of Return, And Cost of Electricity from Wind Power Plants

Wind has surpassed hydro-power generation in many countries recently. Wind energy offers many advantages, which explains why it’s one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world. The following are the advantages of wind power: Wind power is cost effective: Land-based utility-scale wind is one of the lowest-priced energy sources available today. The fuel for wind power is free. This reduces the operation and maintenance cost of wind power plants significantly. Wind is a clean source of power generation that does not pollute the air like power plants which rely on combustion of fossil fuel. Wind power plants create jobs. Wind turbine technician is the fastest growing career in many countries. Wind enables industry growth and competitiveness due to its low cost. Wind power is a domestic source of energy. The wind supply is abundant and inexhaustible. The wind power generation capacity has become the largest source of renewable power in many countries. Wind turbines can be built on existing farms and ranches. This greatly benefits the economy in rural areas, where most of the best wind sites are found. Wind power plant owners make rent payments to the farmers or ranchers for the use of their land, providing landowners with additional income. This 5 half-day course covers all aspects of wind power plants including evaluation of a potential location for a wind power plant using wind data and using statistical distributions to approximate available wind energy at a wind power plant site. It also provides an in-depth understanding of all wind power plant equipment including wind turbines, generators, instrumentation and control systems, drive trains, gearboxes, doubly fed induction generators, synchronous generators, nacelles, towers, transformers, etc. The economics of a wind power plant including economic analysis of wind power generation, economic comparison between a large- and small-scale wind power plant, economic decision making, rate of return from a wind power plant, economic life and replacement of a wind power plant as well as the cost of electricity from wind power plants are covered in detail in this course. A thorough explanation of the design, operation and maintenance of on-shore and off-shore wind farms is presented in detail in this course as well as all the significant improvements that have been made to wind power generating plants during the last two decades.

Day 1: Wind Power, Wind Speed and Power Generation, Evaluation of a Potential Location for a Wind Power Plant Using Wind Data, Using Statistical Distributions to Approximate Available Energy at a Wind Power Plant Site, Wind Power Plant Equipment, Wind Turbines History of Wind Power Global Wind Power Capacity Wind Speed and Power Generation Evaluation of a Potential Location for a Wind Power Plant Using Wind Data Using Statistical Distribution to Approximate Available Energy from a Wind Turbine Example 1: Applying Rayleigh Distribution to calculate the probability that the wind speed meets the target required by wind power plants Example 2: Calculate the Wind Energy Available at a Site Effect of Season and Height on Wind Speed Estimating Power Output from a Specific Turbine for a Proposed Site Rated Capacity of a Wind Facility and Capacity Factor Wind Power Plant Equipment Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines Turbine Design Day 2: Wind Power Plant Equipment, Rotors and Blades, Drive Trains, Gearboxes and Generators, Load-Following Power Plants Rotor and Blades Blade Length Rotor Aerodynamics Energy Capture Tip Speed Ratio Speed Control Blade Design and Construction Advanced Blade and Rotor Design Turbine Lifetime Wind Turbine Gearbox Generators for Wind Turbines Doubly-Fed Induction Generators Synchronous Generators Direct Drive Generators Load-Following Power Plants Day 3: Nacelles and Towers, Wind Farms, Electrical Optimization and Repowering Nacelles Tower-Top Real Time Condition Monitoring The Yaw Bearing and Motor Wind Turbine Towers Wind Turbine Foundations Wind Turbine Resonances Array Optimization Cable Layout Wind Turbine Transformers Wind Farms Repowering Wind Farms Day 4: Small Wind Turbines, Offshore Wind Farms, Wind Power Grid Integration and Environmental Issues Small Wind Turbine Manufacturers and Applications Small Wind Turbine Technologies Siting Small Wind Turbines Offshore Wind Turbine Technology Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines Floating Wind Turbine Foundations Offshore Wind Turbine Size Infrastructure Considerations and Offshore Grids Offshore Wind Farms Wind Integration and Grid Operation Energy Storage Geographical Averaging of Wind Output Wind Integration Limits Wind Energy and Grid Structural Issues Wind Power and the Environment Day 5: Economics of Wind Power Plants, Economic Comparison Between a Small- and a Large-Scale Wind Power Plant, Rate of Return from a Wind Power Plant, Cost of Electricity from Wind Power Plant Economics of Wind Power Plants Economic Analysis of Wind Power Generation Economic Comparison Between a Large- and Small-Scale Wind Power Plant Economic Decision Making Comparison of Alternatives Rate of Return from a Wind Power Plant Financial Statements for a Wind Power Plant Taxes and Depreciation of a Wind Power Plant Project Cash Flows from a Wind Power Plant Analysis with Inflation of a Wind Power Plant Economic Life and Replacement of a Wind Power Plant Cost of Electricity from Wind Power Plants Levelized Cost of Energy Model Wind Turbine Capital Costs Levelized Cost of Wind Energy