Understanding Wind Power Technology: Theory, Deployment and Optimisation

Preface

Although nearly 20,000 windmills dotted Germany’s landscape by the end of the eighteenth century, the era of modern wind energy began in 1983 when the aptly-named GROWIAN prototype (a German abbreviation for Grosswindanlage, or ‘large wind turbine’) started operation in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. By the end of 2011, almost 23,000 modern wind turbines had been erected in Germany and supplied nearly 10% of the country’s electricity demand. It took only 30 years for the modern wind industry to develop to the extent that turbines the size and power of the once-colossal GROWIAN had become standard and mass-produced.

At the request of the Carl Hanser Verlag publishing company and under the umbrella of CEwind eG – the consortium for wind energy research between Schleswig-Holstein’s universities – authors from the wind community in Schleswig-Holstein and the Netherlands have collaborated to compile this introductory text on wind energy. Over 11 chapters the interested reader will become familiar with the modern state of this technology.

This text begins with a brief history and then supplements this with an explanation of the importance of wind energy in the international energy policy debate. Following chapters then introduce the aerodynamic and structural aspects of blade design. Then the focus shifts to the flow of energy and loads through the wind turbine, through the powertrain and also the tower-foundation system, respectively. Next, the electrical components such ...