Page 209 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition
P. 209

Life-Cycle Assessment of Wind Energy                            197

                          Annual installed capacity by region 2007-2010
               20000
               18000                                                     2007
               16000                                                     2008
               14000                                                     2009
               12000                                                     2010
              MW  10000
                8000
                6000
                4000
                2000
                  0
                      Africa &   Asia     Europe  Latin America  North  Pacific
                     Middle East                 & Caribbean  America  Region
            Fig. 2 Annual installed capacity by region 2007–2010


            requirements for the connection of new wind farms are becoming increasingly
            stringent. Continual efforts are being made to improve the integration of this type
            of energy into the grid, with control systems being established to regulate the
            reactive energy produced by wind farms, to vary the voltage or frequency supplied
            by farms at the point of connection, or to prevent the complete disconnection of
            wind farms when there are small voltage gaps in the grid, etc. This partly offsets
            the negative effect of the noncontrollability of wind farms within the grid and at
            the same time increases the wind energy capacity installed in the system, acting as
            basic energy that enables the number of conventional power plants operating to be
            reduced, or at least reducing the amount of fossil fuel required for their operation.



            2 Wind Turbines


            As mentioned, most of the wind turbines in use today for large-scale energy
            production around the world are three-blade, horizontal-axis units. The basic
            components of such turbines are shown in Fig. 3:
            • Foundations
            • Tower
            • Nacelle
            • Rotor
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