Review of 600-2500 kW sized wind turbines and optimization of hub height for maximum wind energy yield realization

The percent increase in energy production with corresponding increase in hub-height for wind energy conversion system (WECS) from different manufacturers was compared in this study. It was seen that an increase of 10 m in hub-height from 40 to 50 m resulted in an increase of 3.17% in energy production for wind turbines from Nordex, while a change of 3.48% from Vestas, and so on. The overall mean increase in energy production was found to be 2.92% while changing the hub-height from 40 to 50 m. Further increase of 10 m in hub-height from 50 to 60 m, showed an increase of 7.55%, 7.90%, 7.88%, 8.25%, 8.14% and 7.75% for WECS from Nordex, Vestas, DeWind, GE, Bonus and Enercon respectively. The overall mean increase in energy production was found to be 7.91% for this change of hub-height from 50 to 60 m. Similarly, an increase of 3.02% in energy production was obtained for an additional of 10 m increase in hub-height i.e. from 70 to 80 m. On the average the maximum increase in energy production of 7.91% was obtained while changing hub-height from 50 to 60 m. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.