The American Wind Energy’s WINDPOWER 2019 event, held in Houston this week, has wrapped up for another year. This year’s WIND+ theme emphasized how different energy sectors can work together to build a strong, clean-energy economy. The wind industry is doing its part by continually upgrading its technology and turbines.
Here are three new platforms introduced at the WINDPOWER show.
The N155/4.5 turbine will offer three tower configurations — including a 108m steel tower, 120m concrete tower, and 164m hybrid tower. Production of the N155/4.5 will start in late 2020.
1. The latest in the Delta4000 series
The Nordex Group took the opportunity to present its fourth wind-turbine model in its Delta4000 series, the N155/4.5, at the WINDPOWER show. The N155/4.5 is aimed at growth markets with medium wind conditions and without strict requirements on maximum noise levels or high levels of effective turbulence intensity.
For this reason, it fits optimally in much of the United States.
The N155 maintains the proven mechanical architecture of the Delta4000 series but adds a longer glass-fiber rotor and a different hub set-up to optimize performance for specific site conditions. The Delta4000 series makes it possible to develop different turbine types for all wind classes without changing the external dimensions of the nacelle. Apart from offering identical transport requirements for all variants in the series, this is also an advantage for adapting to continuous flow production.
The N155/4.5 turbine has a rated capacity of 4.5 MW and a rotor diameter of 155 meters.
2. Building the EnVentus architecture
Vestas introduced its newest model this week in Houston: the V138-3.0 MW turbine, which is based on the scalable EnVentus platform architecture. Vestas’ launched EnVentus in January, with the aim of offering “a wider range of turbine configurations that can better meet evolving customer needs, changing energy policies, and grid requirements
With the introduction of the V138-3.0 MW, EnVentus now covers an unprecedented wide spectrum of turbine generator ratings and rotor sizes, underlining the scalability of EnVentus’ platform architecture.
The latest model follows the first two turbines in the EnVentus series, the V150-5.6 and V162-5.6 MW. The V138-3.0 MW is globally applicable but designed to maximize performance under market-specific constraint conditions.
By combining the V138-3.0 MW turbine’s 138m rotor with an 83m tower, the new turbine offers the industry’s largest swept area under 152.4m (500ft) — which is a relevant height constraint in the United States.
“This turbine is a perfect match for the North American market where higher certainty in annual energy production at park level will become increasingly important for our customers to secure project financing and ensure profitability in a post-PTC market,” said Chris Brown, President of Vestas’ sales and service division in the U.S. and Canada.
Through increased standardization of components, while ensuring turbine optimization, the EnVentus variants efficiently ensure customers’ competitiveness in a wide range of market conditions, added Brown, including markets driven by auction and forward-selling.
The first prototype installation of the SG 5.8-155 is planned for mid-2020, and production is scheduled to commence in Q4 2020. For the SG 5.8-170, the first prototype is planned for Q3 2020 and production will start in Q1 2021.
3. Building the biggest rotor blades
Introduced a few weeks prior to the WINDPOWER show, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) recently launched a new onshore platform: the SG 5.X platform, which encompasses two turbine models: the SG 5.8-155 and the SG 5.8-170.
The platform introduces the largest unit capacity in the Siemens Gamesa onshore portfolio, 5.8-MW rated capacity. It also offers the largest rotor diameters at 155 and 170 m, resulting in maximum performance in high, medium, and low-wind conditions. The 170-m rotor is currently the largest in the onshore segment.
A few more features: The SG 5.8-155 expands the swept area by 14% with respect to the SG 4.5-145, and annual energy production (AEP) by over 20% (at 8 m/s). The SG 5.8-170 provides an increase of over 37% in the swept area and more than 32% in AEP (at 7 m/s) when compared with the SG 4.5-145.
“The new Siemens Gamesa 5.X’s high and flexible power rating coupled with the two rotor options make this platform suitable for any kind of site across the globe,” said Mark Albenze, Onshore & Service CEO at SGRE. “Designed for future modular upgrades to meet the evolving demands of the market, it will allow the company to assist customers in reaching their profitability goals through best-in-class performance and LCOE.”
As part of the SGRE product portfolio that represents a fresh approach to wind power, the new turbines integrate advanced control technologies and strategies that optimize their efficiency on the basis of site conditions, offering flexible power ratings depending on noise requirements, ambient temperature, and electrical performance. Additionally, compliance with the most demanding grid-related connection requirements is ensured by the inclusion of an optional premium converter.
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