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Solar and Wind Power and Their Storage
Published in Roy L. Nersesian, Energy Economics, 2016
In Figure 9.7, the 2014 global wind capacity is 396.6 gW. If this operates with an efficiency of 30 percent, this is equivalent to about 120 gW of fossil fuel generating capacity. Multiplying this by 8,640 hours of operation is 1,037,000 gWh or 1,037 tWh. World electricity generation was 23,537 tWh in 2014. Thus wind, in spite of its progress, accounts for only 4.4 percent of world electricity. But if wind power continues to grow at 26 percent and if world electricity generation continues growing at 1.5 percent per year, then in 10 years wind power will provide 38 percent of electricity generation: no longer a marginal player. If wind power grows at a more realistic sustained annual growth of 20 percent, then wind power will provide 24 percent of electricity generation, still a major player on a par with natural gas. The world’s largest wind farms in 2012 over 600 mW are Da’an (Gansu) at 1,000 mW; Shepherds Flat (Oregon) 845 mW; Roscoe (Texas) 782 mW; Horse Hollow (Texas) 736 mW; Alta Wind (California) 720 mW; Capricorn Ridge (Texas) 663 mW; Dabancheng (Xinjiang) 640 mW; and Anbei (Gansu) 601 mW.90Figure 9.9 shows the annual regional forecast for newly installed wind power.91 Total output of the various wind farms making up Gansu Wind Farm is 5,160 mW and is anticipated to grow to 20,000 mW by 2020, near the 22,500 mW capacity of Three Gorges Dam.92 Of course, Gansu Wind Farm can only approach the output of Three Gorges Dam when wind is within its optimal speed range.
Renewable Energy Markets
Published in Anco S. Blazev, Global Energy Market Trends, 2021
The largest wind power generation project in China, and maybe the world, is the Gansu Wind Farm Project. It is under construction in western Gansu province, as part of the six national wind power mega-projects approved by the Chinese government. Several Gansu Wind farms are expected to generate 20 GW of wind electricity by 2020. The project’s total cost is estimated at nearly $18 billion, or an amazing $0.90 per installed watt of wind capacity.
Wind Turbine Lubrication
Published in Leslie R. Rudnick, Synthetics, Mineral Oils, and Bio-Based Lubricants, 2020
There are more than enough wind resources to generate electricity to satisfy the electricity need in the world. For example, wind resources are estimated to exceed 10,000 gigawatts (GW) in the continental United States, ten times the total current installed electricity generation capacity of ~1,000 GW [4]. In recent years, smog weather conditions have grown alarmingly more frequent, widespread, longer lasting, and serious in China [5] and many densely populated areas around the world, threatening human health. This situation is closely related to air pollution from the consumption of fossil fuels. Power generation is the leading cause of air pollution and CO2 emission, contributing to “global climate change” or “global warming” [6]. Governments around the world are issuing policies to encourage the use of clean, renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal energies. As a result, the world has witnessed rapid development in the wind power industry. A total of 3.7% of global electricity was supplied by wind power in 2015. Renewable energy sources accounted for 15% of electricity generation for the United States in 2016, and will grow to 80% by 2050 [7]. As of 2017, China is leading the world in both the total installed capacity and newly installed capacity. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), there are more than 341,320 wind turbines spinning around the world. 104,934 wind turbines are running in China, and 52,343 wind turbines are running in the US as of the end of 2016. The largest wind farm, Gansu Wind Farm, located in the desert area in inland China, has planned capacity of 20 GW in 2020. With more than 10,000 turbines (with an average of 2 MW for each turbine), it has almost the same capacity as the Three Gorges Dam Hydro Electric Power Plant (22.5 GW) in China, the largest power producing facility in the world, and close to three times the capacity of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (net capacity 8.0 GW) in Japan, the largest nuclear power plant in the world. Offshore turbines face faster wind speed and more wind energy resources, yet the construction requires foundations and power transmission lines on the sea floor. This inflates installation costs per unit, thus larger turbines are more economical. The average offshore turbine size is expected to rise from the current 3 MW to about 6 MW in 2020. The London Array off the east coast of the UK, with 630 MW capacity, consists of 175 Siemens SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines (3.6 MW each, rotor diameter 120 m) with three-stage planetary-helical gearboxes (containing about 750 L lubricant), and is currently the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The Hornsea Project One in the North Sea off the east coast of the UK, with 1.2 GW planned capacity, consists of 174 Siemens SWT-7.0-154 direct drive wind turbines (7.0 MW each, rotor diameter 154 m) with no gearbox, and will be the largest offshore wind farm by 2020. At 10.3 rotations per minute (rpm), the 7.0 MW wind turbine will generate about 11.3 kWh electricity in one single rotation, enough to power an average US house for about 9 h [8].
Electricity generation from the high-speed wind of the spillway in a hydroelectric power station
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2020
Wind energy exists in a huge amount on the earth and many different countries are utilizing it to generate electricity. It is estimated that wind power system can fulfill 35% of the total electricity demand (Fazelpour et al. 2015). In 2018, it was estimated that the overall electricity production from wind is increased by 9.6% which comes out to be 591 GW (51.3 GW of global wind capacity installed in 2018 – GWEC). China is in a leading position in wind power production with the installed capacity of more than 22 GW. Gansu wind farm is considered as one of the biggest wind power projects in the world (Sahu 2018).