ONE HUGE HUGE WIND TURBINE IN DENMARK

Scientists Present the First Design Basis for 20-MW Mega Wind Turbines
April 18, 2011 (Environmental Protection)

"The present largest wind turbines have a capacity of 5-6 MW. Following five years of research at the joint European project UpWind, led by Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, the Technical University of Denmark, scientists now can present the first design basis for developing mega wind turbines of 20 MW.

"The EU project UpWind started five years ago with an ambitious plan: more than 120 wind scientists' efforts and a budget of 23 million Euro were to provide the answer to the big question: Is it possible to build a 20 MW wind turbine using the methods and materials we know today? One single wind turbine of this type in the North Sea would provide electricity for 15,000 to 20,000 dwellings…"

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"There are 16,000-20,000 components in a wind turbine…The researchers focused on the main components…to find answers to two fundamental questions: Is it technically possible to build a 20 megawatt wind turbine? Is it economically feasible to build it? …[A] 20 MW wind turbine based on existing technologies and methods…will be 15-20 percent more expensive than today's wind turbines…

"Risø DTU and DTU Mechanical Engineering has significantly contributed in the development of aeroelastic design methods for wind turbines of up to 20 MW. Aeroelastic methods are used to calculate the wind turbine's dynamic response to turbulence in the wind. In the UpWind project, Risø DTU and DTU Mechanical Engineering studied aeroelastic methods, materials, management and regulation and many other technologies…"

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"Risø DTU has contributed very significantly to UpWind through the development of smart rotor blades…[on which] the trailing edge of the blade can move up and down like flaps on an airplane…Various types of movable trailing edges for turbine blades and different mechanisms for activating the trailing edge movement have been tested, and the aerodynamic properties of the movable trailing edge have been studied in wind tunnels…

"…Risø DTU has [also] been making a substantial contribution to UpWind…in the development of LIDAR technologies. A LIDAR measures the properties of the wind by means of laser beams. When UpWind started, Risø was the only research institution with a prototype of LIDAR to measure wind speed and with applications in wind energy research…[A]n anemometer…[measures] the wind conditions in an area corresponding to the dot in the middle of the football field…[Now advanced,] LIDAR is able to measure the wind on the whole football field…LIDAR [may also be placed] in the hub of a wind turbine, where it will be possible to let the LIDAR regulate the trailing edge…[to] reduce fatigue and extreme loads on wind turbines."