A review of offshore wind turbine nacelle: Technical challenges, and research and developmental trends

Islam, MR; Guo, Y; Zhu, J

A review of offshore wind turbine nacelle: Technical challenges, and research and developmental trends

Islam, MR

Guo, Y

Zhu, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, 33 pp. 161 - 176
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Islam, MR https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3133-9333	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Guo, Y https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6182-0684	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhu, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9763-4047	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:17:15Z
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, 33 pp. 161 - 176	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1364-0321	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33256
dc.description.abstract	The turbine nacelle with traditional wind power generation system is heavy, especially in offshore applications due to the large mass of the power frequency step-up-transformer operated at 50 or 60 Hz, and copper conductor generator. For example, the weight and volume of a 0.69/33 kV 2.6 MVA transformer are typically in the range of 6-8 t and 5-9 m3, respectively. The weight for a 10 MW direct drive permanent magnet generator is about 300 t. These penalties significantly increase the tower construction, and turbine installation and maintenance costs. The tower cost represents 26% of the total component cost of the turbine and on average about 20% of the capital costs are associated with installation. Typical maintenance cost of an offshore wind turbine is about 2.3 cents/kWh, which is 20% higher than that of an onshore based turbine. As alternative approaches to achieve a compact and lightweight offshore wind turbine nacelle, different concepts have been proposed in recent years, such as step-up-transformer-less system, medium-frequency (in the range of a few kHz to MHz) power transformer-based system, multilevel and modular matrix converter-based system and superconducting generator-based system. This paper aims to review the technical challenges, current research and developmental trends, and possible future directions of the research to reduce the weight and volume of the nacelle. In addition, a comprehensive review of traditional wind power generation technologies is conducted in this article as well. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.rser.2014.01.085	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Energy	en_US
dc.title	A review of offshore wind turbine nacelle: Technical challenges, and research and developmental trends	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	33	en_US
utslib.for	0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	09 Engineering	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Electrical and Data Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CCET - Centre for Clean Energy Technology
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	33	en_US

Abstract:

The turbine nacelle with traditional wind power generation system is heavy, especially in offshore applications due to the large mass of the power frequency step-up-transformer operated at 50 or 60 Hz, and copper conductor generator. For example, the weight and volume of a 0.69/33 kV 2.6 MVA transformer are typically in the range of 6-8 t and 5-9 m3, respectively. The weight for a 10 MW direct drive permanent magnet generator is about 300 t. These penalties significantly increase the tower construction, and turbine installation and maintenance costs. The tower cost represents 26% of the total component cost of the turbine and on average about 20% of the capital costs are associated with installation. Typical maintenance cost of an offshore wind turbine is about 2.3 cents/kWh, which is 20% higher than that of an onshore based turbine. As alternative approaches to achieve a compact and lightweight offshore wind turbine nacelle, different concepts have been proposed in recent years, such as step-up-transformer-less system, medium-frequency (in the range of a few kHz to MHz) power transformer-based system, multilevel and modular matrix converter-based system and superconducting generator-based system. This paper aims to review the technical challenges, current research and developmental trends, and possible future directions of the research to reduce the weight and volume of the nacelle. In addition, a comprehensive review of traditional wind power generation technologies is conducted in this article as well. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33256