ELG4126: Case Study of Renewable Energy and

Smart Grid

By Lindsay Thompson, 5203120

Presented to Professor Riadh Habash

2/15/2013

PHASE 1: SIMCOE WIND FARM

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Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3

2.0 WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT PHASE ....................................................................................................... 3

2.1 WIND ASSESSMENT AND LOCATION................................................................................................... 3

2.2 WIND FARM DESIGN ........................................................................................................................... 3

2.3 WIND TURBINE SELECTION ................................................................................................................. 4

2.3.1 CATEGORY OF WIND TURBINE ..................................................................................................... 5

2.3.2 CAPACITY FACTOR CALCULATION ................................................................................................ 6

2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................ 7

2.4.1 LIGHTNING AND ICE CONDITIONS ............................................................................................... 7

2.4.2 BIRD/BAT EFFECT ......................................................................................................................... 7

2.4.3 NOISE CONDITIONS ...................................................................................................................... 8

2.5 LAND ACQUISITION ............................................................................................................................. 8

2.6 PERMITTING AND CONSULTATION ..................................................................................................... 8

2.7 WIND TURBINE PLACEMENT ............................................................................................................... 8

2.7.1 INTEGRATING WITH WOLFE ISLAND WIND FARM ....................................................................... 9

2.7.2 CABLE SELECTION ....................................................................................................................... 10

2.7.3 GRID CONNECTION .................................................................................................................... 10

2.7.4 POWER QUALITY ........................................................................................................................ 11

2.7.5 WIND FARM PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................. 11

2.8 ECONOMICAL AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 12

3.0 CONSTRUCTION PHASE ......................................................................................................................... 13

3.1 MANUFACTURING AND SITE PREPARATION ..................................................................................... 13

3.3 COMMISSIONING .............................................................................................................................. 13

4.0 OPERATION ........................................................................................................................................... 14

5.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 14

6.0 References ............................................................................................................................................ 15

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Simcoe Wind Farm is located on an small Island in Lake Ontario near Kingston , Ontario. This project involves the construction, installation and operation of 5 REpower System MM92 series wind turbines, each rated at 2MW, for a total installed capacity of 10MW. The generated power will be transmitted from the island to the mainland, where it will then be used to power approximately 4,000 homes! This case study will analyse and determine the feasibility of different aspects related to the development, construction and operation phases of the Simcoe wind farm.

2.0 WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT PHASE

2.1 WIND ASSESSMENT AND LOCATION The location of the wind farm was chosen to be in an area near a big city where wind speeds are above

4m/s. The city chosen was Kingston Ontario, with a population of 160 000 people. Kingston is also

located on Lake Ontario, at a 44.23 latitude and -76.48 longitude. Plugging

these values into the Canadian Wind Energy Atlas, we obtain the information

on wind speeds and energy displayed in Figure 2 [1]. Thus, the annual average

wind speed is approximately 7.46m/s which is sufficient for a wind farm.

The mean wind energy will be approximately 414.50 W/m2.

2.2 WIND FARM DESIGN Doing research on areas surrounding Kingston, I decided to place my wind farm on a nearby island,

called Simcoe Island as seem in Figure3. This is a small island in Lake Ontario which is almost all

farmland. The island is located near Wolfe Island, which is home to Canada's

second largest wind farm. This is convenient because it will allow the Simcoe wind

farm to have access to distribution

stations and grid connections. The nearby

transmission and distribution stations

owned by Hydro One are displayed in

Figure 4.

From the Hydro One website, I was also

Figure 1: Wind speeds

Figure 2: Mean wind and energy for Kingston, Ontario

Figure 3: Simcoe Island

Figure 4: TS and DS owned by Hydro One

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able to find information on distribution stations and available capacities. A list of the Gardiner

distribution stations located near Kingston can be found in Figure5 [2]. There are two Gardiner

Distribution stations, with a total of 5 feeder connections. In order to connect to one of these feeders,

the thermal capacity of the DS, which is the estimated amount of generation that can be connected to a

bus before exceeding the reverse flow limits of the transformer must be above 10MW. Unfortunately,

we see that this is not the case. After summing the two Gardiner DS, we obtain a thermal capacity of

3.4MW + 3.5MW = 6.9MW, which is insufficient. Thus, for this case study it will be assumed that there is

sufficient capacity for my 10MW wind farm to connect to the DS.

2.3 WIND TURBINE SELECTION

I decided to purchase my wind turbines from REpower Systems SE, a Suzlon group company located in Hamburg, Germany.I decided to choose the MM92 wind turbine model, which is a 3-blade HAWT wind turbine. The specifications are listed in the table below [3]. It is important to note that the Rated power of this wind turbine is actually 2.05 MW but since the wind farm capacity for this project is 10MW, I will round off the rated power to 2MW rather than 2.05MW, thus having a total wind farm capacity of 10MW.

Wind turbine info

model MM92

Manufacturer RePower Systems

Design Data

Rated Power 2,050 kW

Cut-in wind speed 3.0m/s

Rated wind speed 12.5m/s

Cut-out speed 24.0 m/s

Wind zone Up to DIBt3

Type class Up to IEC IIA

ROTOR

Diameter 92.5m

Rotor area 6,720 m2

Rotor speed 7.8 - 15.0 rpm (+12.5%)

Nacelle weight (excluding rotor) Approximately 71.0 t

Nacelle Length - Height - Width Approximately 10.3m - 3.9m - 3.8m

ROTOR BLADE

Length 45.2m

Weight Approximately 8 t

Type GRP sandwich construction; manufactured in Infusion-process

Number of blades 3

Figure 5: Gardiner Distribution Stations

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YAW SYSTEM

Type Double-row externally geared four-point bearing

Drive System Gear motors

Stabilization Disc brakes

GEAR SYSTEM

Type Combined planetary/spur wheel gearbox

Transmission ratio i=approx 96.0 (60Hz)

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Generator Type Double-fed asynchronous generator 6-pole (60Hz)

Rater power 2,050 kW

Rated voltage 575 V (60Hz)

Rated speed 720 - 1,440 rpm (60Hz)

Generator protection class IP 54

Converter type Pulse width-modulated IGBTs

POWER CONTROL

Principle Electrical blade angle adjustment - pitch and speed control

SOUND POWER LEVEL

LWA, 95% 104.2 dB (A)

TOWER

Type Steel tube

Hub height 68.5/80/100m * 80m hub height will be chosen*

Hub weight (including pitch system) Approximately 17.5 t

FOUNDATION

Type Reinforced concrete foundation with foundation insert, adjusted to site conditions

This is a very popular model, which has additional features as listed in the table below.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

Individually adjustable blades (electrically controlled) - fail-safe system

Extensive redundant temperature and speed sensing system

Fully integrated lightning protection

Shielded cables and power rails protecting people and machinery

Rotor holding brake with soft-brake function

The corresponding power curve is displayed in Figure 6..

2.3.1 CATEGORY OF WIND TURBINE

The generator used in the REpower MM92 wind turbine is a

Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), which means this is a

Type 3 wind turbine, corresponding to variable speed with

partial power electronics conversion. An example of a doubly-

fed induction generator is shown below:

Figure 6: MM92 Power curvce

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Although the introduction of power electronics will result in the presence of harmonics, there are

certain advantages that come with a DFIG, including the following [4]:

Reasons for choosing DFIG

Operation at variable rotor speeds.

Optimization of the amount of power generated depending on wind.

Control of the power factor.

Generation of electrical power at lower wind speeds

Virtual elimination of sudden variations in the rotor torque and generator output power.

2.3.2 CAPACITY FACTOR CALCULATION

By entering the corresponding maximum power

output, the cut-in wind speed and the rated wind

speed of the MM92 turbine, the outputted power

and energy estimations as well as the use factors

were supplied by the Canadian Wind Energy Atlas

website. Beside is a table summarizing the data.

From the table, we see that one turbine will generate

approximately 7910.34 MWh/year, so we can

determine that the wind farm in total will have an

energy output of approximately

7910.34*5=39551.7MWh/year. Thus, we can now

calculate the capacity factor of the wind farm:

Figure 7: DFIG

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The capacity factor allows us to compare the plant's actual production over a given period of time with

the amount of power the plant would have produced if it had run at full capacity. From above

calculation, the capacity factor of my wind farm is 45.15% which falls within the typical range.

2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Environmental studies must be conducted in order to evaluate the condition of the land chosen for the wind farm location and determine impacts on landscape and wildlife for example.

2.4.1 LIGHTNING AND ICE CONDITIONS

Lightning, both direct and indirect, can cause misoperation and harm to the wind turbines. The table below holds lightning statistics for Kingston, Ontario from 1999 to 2008 [5]. Kingston is definitely an area that is not heavily affected by lightning storms, although to be safe, it is important to incorporate some type of lightning protection.

RePower systems offers lightning protection on their MM92 series wind turbines. The lightning protection chosen for the wind turbine is described in Figure 8 below:

Figure 8: MM92 lightning protection

Due to bad winter conditions in Ontario, another environmental aspect that must be considered is snow and ice accumulation on the blades. Such an accumulation could lead to ice throwing, and can also damage equipment and lead to unbalanced and higher loads on blades, bearings and drive train[6]. The behaviour of the blades will thus be affected, as well as the overall performance. Ways to detect ice include :

-> checking for changes in the power curve -> checking for additional tower vibrations. REpower offers optional icing detection solutions for MM92 wind turbines, which will be applied to this wind farm.

2.4.2 BIRD/BAT EFFECT

Due to the fact that Simcoe Island is located only a few kilometers beside Wolfe Island, we can assume that both islands will have approximately the same bird and bat mortality statistics. From previous monitoring studies carried out on the Wolfe Island wind farm, the following was calculated [7]:

-> Annual bird mortality rate of 4.34 birds/MW -> Annual bat mortality rate of 9.71 bats/MW

We can assume similar monitoring results for Simcoe Island Wind farm.

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2.4.3 NOISE CONDITIONS

MM92 typical Speeds Noise

5 m/s 101.7 dBA

6 m/s 103.4 dBA

7 m/s 104.2 dBA

> 8 m/s 104.2 dBA

Thus, the maximum noise attainable by the MM92 wind turbine is 104.2 dBA.

2.5 LAND ACQUISITION

As previously mentioned, Simcoe island is mostly farmland. Thus, land acquisition is required from

farmers and land owners. I have decided to provide rent payments per year per turbine. According to

OSEA's "Ontario Landowner's Guide to Wind Energy", it is typical for wind developers in Ontario to offer

minimum rent payments from $1,250 to $5,000 per turbine and royalties from 1.75% to 3% of gross

revenues from the turbine or turbines on the land owner's property.

Land Rental Budget

Rent cost per turbine per year Number of turbines Assumed life span

$2,000 5 20 years

Total = ($2000*5)*20 years = $200,000

This does not include royalty percentages from the gross revenues from the turbines, which would be

additional cost depending on gross revenues.

2.6 PERMITTING AND CONSULTATION A variety of permits and consultations are requires before being able to enter the construction phase of

the wind farm. For example, according to OSEA's Ontario Landowner's Guide to Wind Energy, the

following assessment will be required:

"In Ontario, a wind developer may be required to perform either a provincial or a federal environmental

assessment (EA). For all projects that are greater than 2 MW in Ontario a provincial EA is required. The

provincial EA process is covered under Ontario Electricity Projects Regulation 116/01."

Thus, since the Simcoe wind farm will have a total installed capacity of 10MW, a provincial EA will be

required.

2.7 WIND TURBINE PLACEMENT

The distances between turbines are measured relative to the Rotor Diameter, which is this case, is equal to 92.5 m (1RD = 92.5m). As seen in class, the typical wind turbine spacing is 3-5 RD by 5-9 RD. I have chosen a 4 RD by 6RD terrain,(370x555 m2) for the Simcoe wind farm, as seen to the left.

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The Wind Atlas also provides a wind rose, which as seen in Figure 9, is in a South-West direction. The five wind turbines will be facing upwind, thus being put in a South-West direction. An approximated wind farm setup is shown below with the red dots representing the roads leading to each turbine, and the blue dots representing possible cable placement for interconnection of the wind farm. The newly constructed roads will interconnect with the island's only main dirt road, Nine Mile Point Road, as shown on the map.

2.7.1 INTEGRATING WITH WOLFE ISLAND WIND FARM

One reason why I chose this location was due to the existing neighbouring wind farm on Wolfe Island.

This wind farm was installed in 2009 and a major component is the 7.8km long submarine cable used to

transmit power from the island to the existing

Hydro One 239kV Gardiner Transformer Station

situated on the mainland[8].

The cable route is displayed on the image to the

right. Other than the submarine cable, the Wolf

island wind farm also has the following features

installed on the island:

-> Gardiners transformer station

-> 230 kV Substation

-> Switching Stations

-> 230 kV buried transmission line

-> 34.5 kV Collector Lines (mostly buried)

Thus, the only cabling required will be on Simcoe island itself amongst the 5 wind turbines and an

underwater cable connecting Simcoe Island to Wolfe Island. Once the generated energy reaches Wolfe

Figure 9: Wind rose

Figure 10: Wolfe Island wind farm submarine cable

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island, it will interconnect with the Wolfe island substation, where the voltage will be converted in order

to be able to successfully connect to the 230 kV transmission line and 230kV submarine cable to be

transported to Kingston Mainland. Evidently charges will apply and an amount of money will have to be

given to the developers of the Wolfe island wind farm in exchange for this interconnection.

2.7.2 CABLE SELECTION

I have chosen to use an underground single string configuration so that all the wind turbines are on a

single series circuit[9]. This may not be the most reliable configuration, but it will allow easy power

transportation from Simcoe Island to Wolfe Island, where the already existing Substation will be the

point of connectivity. The submarine cable connecting the two islands together will follow the same

specifications of the one connecting them wind farms to the mainland.

2.7.3 GRID CONNECTION

Below lists typical grid code requirements [10]:

furthermore, connecting to the grid also requires impact studies to be performed before successful

interconnection. There exist many IEEE standards and compliances that must be considered when

building and interconnecting a wind farm to the grid. I have created a table summarizing different

requirements of the IEEE 1547 standard that would have an impact on the Simcoe Wind farm. The

requirement information below was taken from the UWIG "Application Guide for Distributed Wind

Interconnection - Interconnection Requirements" paper.

IEEE 1547 Requirement Requirement Condition

1.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Voltage Regulation PCC voltage shall not be actively regulated by the DR.

Integration with area electric power system (EPS) grounding

Equipment rating shall not be exceeded by overvoltage not sufficiently limited by the grounding scheme of the interconnection.

Synchronization Voltage fluctuation at the PCC exceeding +- 5% of the prevailing PCC voltage level of the area EPS and flicker requirements shall not be caused by paralleling the DR with the area EPS.

Interconnect integrity The interconnection system shall comply with electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements in IEEE std C37.90.2-1995

Surge withstand performance

the interconnection system shall comply with voltage and current surge withstand requirements in IEEE std C62.41.2 (2002).

2.0 ABNORMAL CONDITIONS

Abnormal voltages and frequencies

During abnormal voltages and frequencies (different from 60Hz), the DR shall cease to energize the area EPS.

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Above table lists requirements considered for the interconnection of the Simcoe wind farm.

2.7.4 POWER QUALITY

Due to fluctuations in power caused by varying environmental conditions, power quality issues must be considered. This includes flicker, unintentional islanding, interruptions, and since my wind farm is composed of type 3 wind turbines, there are power electronics involved, meaning that the injection of harmonic current into the grid must be considered. The IEEE 1547 requirements for power quality as stated in the UWIG paper mentioned above are listed in the table below:

IEEE 1547 Requirement Requirement Condition

3.0 POWER QUALITY

Limitation of flicker DR shall not create objectionable flicker. IEEE Std. 1453-2004 adopts the flicker evaluation and measurement methods in IEC Std. 61000-3-3.

Harmonics DR shall not inject excessive harmonic currents into an area EPS. This standard gives upper limits for individual off harmonic current injection from the DR The IEEE 1547 limits for harmonic current distortion are based upon the limits provided in IEEE 519-1992, utilizing the most stringent current injection limits for distribution systems. The IEC standard for characterizing power quality of wind turbines specifies test procedures and data reporting for wind turbine harmonic current injection.

Islanding DR shall cease to energize the area EPS within two seconds after the formation of an unintentional island.

2.7.5 WIND FARM PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS

Below is the protection scheme that will be applied to the Simcoe Wind farm.

Figure 11: Wind farm zone protection

The protection will be separated into 6 zones, which are listed in more detail in the diagram below[10]:

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2.8 ECONOMICAL AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

According to the wind economics paper seen in class, costs of a wind turbine farm can be separated into two main categories:

-> Capital costs (~80 % of the total cost) -> Variable costs (~20% of the total cost)

Creating a wind farm requires a very large investment, however the creation of energy should eventually pay back the costs of the wind farm. Below is a table of capital costs and variable costs estimations that would have an effect of the total cost of the wind farm in Simcoe Island. (These estimated prices are subject to change)

WIND FARM BUDGET Approximate cost

CAPITAL COSTS (approximately

80% of total cost)

Wind turbine costs

Cost per kW of installed capacity 1,750/kW

production (1,750/KW*2000KW) x 5

wind turbines

=17.5 Million Dollars

blades

transformer

transportation

installation

Grid connection costs

Cables $10/ft

Trenching costs $15/ft

Connection $5,000/year

Power evacuation systems $2,000

Civil Work costs

Foundations $5,000

Road construction $5,000

Buildings $2,000

Other

Development/engineering $10,000

Consultancy and permits Variable

SCADA Variable

Monitoring systems $15,000

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VARIABLE COSTS (Approximately

20% of total cost)

Operation and maintenance

Provisions for repair $1/KWh

Spare parts Variable

Electric installation maintenance $3,500

Rental

land $200,000/year

Sub-station $25,000

Submarine cable $2,000/year

Additional costs

Insurance and taxes $1.50/KWh

Management/administration 92cents/kWh

Commissioning/measurements $100,000

Cost of electricity 4.741 cents/KWh

3.0 CONSTRUCTION PHASE

3.1 MANUFACTURING AND SITE PREPARATION During this phase, yearly rent will be provided to landowners to enable the construction and

implementation of the Simcoe wind farm components, which include the following:

- Five MM92 wind turbines, manufactured by REpower Systems - Transformers - Cables and trenches for underground cables - Submarine cable - Access roads - Crane pads - Laydown areas - Crane assembly areas

3.3 COMMISSIONING Testing of the wind farm will be conducted. This includes a series of tests both mechanical and electrical. This will be completed after the installation of the wind farm and will be conducted to ensure proper functionality. Examples of tests that will be conducted on the wind farm are listed below [11]:

Type What is being Tested

Factory Acceptance Tests

Tower (foundation)

Electrical Parts (Generator, transformer, controller..etc)

Nacelle (Gear box, main shaft, yaw drives, blade pitch..etc)

Commissioning Tests

Test run with generator connected to the grid

Demonstration of WTG vibration below acceptable level

Test of over speed trip of each WTG

Tests of yaw drives

Test of Power Measurement System

Verification of settings for electrical protection relays

Performance Tests

Availability

Power curve

Electrical System

Acoustic Noise

Other tests SCADA test

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4.0 OPERATION

Once the wind farm is in operation, it is

important to have operation and

maintenance services, as well as

monitoring and spare parts for possible

repairs. REpower Systems offers integrated

service packages (ISP) for wind farm

developers[12]. The below package is

available for wind farms with 5 or more

wind turbines. This service guarantees a

certain level of energy production based

on the potential yield from the wind farm

and would be beneficial for the Simcoe

Island wind farm.

5.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the Simcoe wind farm has proven to be a feasible project. Over 4,000 homes would profit

from the installation and operation of this wind farm!

Figure 12: Repower system ISP services

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6.0 References

[1] WIND ATLAST

http://www.windatlas.ca/en/nav.php?field=EU&height=80&season=ANU&no=17&lignes=1&cities=1

Accessed February 2

[2]HYDRO ONE http://www.hydroone.com/Generators/Pages/AvailableCapacity.aspx Accessed

February 2

[3] REpower Systems MM92 http://www.repower.de/fileadmin/download/produkte/PP_MM92_uk.pdf

Accessed February 2

[4]LABVOLT http://www.labvolt.com/downloads/download/86376_F0.pdf Accessed February 4

[5] Environment Canada http://www.ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=4871AAE6-1#

Ontario Accessed February3

[6] Turbine Specifications Report Sumac Ridge Wind Project Accessed February 4

[7] http://www.siteselection.com/features/2007/may/greatlakes/ Accessed February 2

[8] Ontario Power Authority (OPA) http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/wind-power/wolfe-island-wind-

project-1978-mw-wolfe-island Accessed February 2

[9]http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~rhabash/ELG4125WindCableLayout.pdf Accessed February 10

[10] http://windenergy.org.nz/documents/conference10/wqureshi.pdf Accessed February 11

[11] VATTENFALL http://www.vattenfall.se/sv/file/10_Testing_and_Commissioning.pdf_16611584.pdf

Accessed February 13

[12] REpower Systems http://www.repower.de/fileadmin/download/produkte/RE_PP_ISP_uk.pdf

Accessed February 13