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Wind energy market is expanding globally without any intentions of slowing down. It has become one of the fastest growing industries in the world. According to the Global Wind Statistics 2012, China is leading the market with the total installed capacity of 75,564 MW, followed by USA with 60,007 MW, Germany 31,332 MW, Spain 22,796 MW and India in the 5th rank with 18,421 MW. The Asian market has the total installed capacity of 97,810 MW, while, worldwide installation accounts to about 282,482 MW. With the implementation of the right policy support wind market is foreseen to reach more than 1,100 GW by 2020, which could in return save nearly 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions.
The largest wind farm developed so far is the Alta Wind Energy Center wind farm in California, USA with 490 units of wind turbines installed capacity of 1,320 MW, followed by an Indian wind farm, Jaisalmer Wind Park with the production capacity of 1,064 MW. United Kingdom also has produced offshore wind farms with highest generation power; the largest one today is London Array of 630 MW with 175 Siemens turbine but is soon to be dwarfed by the £3.6 billion wind project of 1.2 GW with 300 turbines which will be built in Lincolnshire.
Moreover, the leading market is also supported with the innovative machinery developed to utilize the maximum of what one can acquire. Today a single wind turbine with the rated capacity of 7.5 MW has been developed by a German company, Enercon. While other leading turbine manufacturers like REpower, Siemens, and Sinovel are also running the race by developing turbines of higher rated capacity which is proven to be more efficient. The market has taken an enormous leap with the rapid technology development by growing tenfold in the last three decades.
Rajasthan state in India is seen to have similar wind profile as the sites in Nepal and has the installed facility of 2000 MW so far. Hence, the possibility to meet the growing electricity demand of the country with this approved and acknowledged technology is right in front of us to harness.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s national grid line shows that Annapurna Conservation Area alone covers 143 sq. km above wind power density (WPD) of 300 Watt/ m². With the 5 MW installed per sq. km yielding 716 MW, it certainly is huge enough to outdo the power cuts and get started on the path of sustainable development through clean energy generation and promotion of new technologies in Nepal.
Before you think of setting up an off-grid wind project, you first need to figure out if an area has ample wind speed. So, there comes the initial site selection which involves extensive desk-based studies to determine whether the sites satisfy all the required technical and environmental criteria such as road access, local community consent, and environmental assessment reports. You will then need to pre-assess the wind profile of the site, which could be done via satellite data, anemometer data from meteorological offices, or count on local experiences. It is hard to forecast wind energy without having at least one year of anemometer data. However, if your project is smaller than 10 kW, you can rely on local knowledge such as any hill named ‘batase danda’ because of the wind, and satellite maps.
The pre-assessment will only give a rough idea if the given site is suitable for a wind project or not. However, the practical authentication could only be done by conducting the feasibility assessment done with an anemometer. In order to obtain the on-site wind data, an anemometer mast has to be set up at least for a year to properly evaluate the wind resource potential of the prospective wind farm site.
According to a staff at Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), the permission for the set up of an anemometer mast has to be obtained from AEPC for which the subsidy can be claimed in future. The mast can also be set up privately, but the benefits by tagging with the government body won’t be arranged, and an anemometer in the market costs around $500. The wind data can also be tracked remotely with the help of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).
There are a few environmental and social concerns related to the wind power development, hence you will need to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Also, the number of wind turbines and the total installed capacity at the site has to be approved from the responsible authority which should also enclose the consent from the local communities so that the construction has no adverse impact over the allied sectors. After the approval from the Ministry of Environment, the construction work can begin.
Prior to the construction, types of wind turbines suitable for the site have to be determined. Wind turbines look quite similar, but each turbine is designed with different types of power ratings and varying wind speeds. The cost of turbines range from $1000 to $3000 per kW. As a prospective wind power developer, you will need to weigh different wind machines and investigate the performance. Importing a turbine from neighboring countries has an advantage in transportation and delivery. China is leading the wind markets and India also has numerous turbine manufacturers. Chinese companies like Sinovel, Goldwind, Guodian United Power, and Indian Suzlon are the names that fall in the top 10 amongst the ones all over the world. However, we have to target the turbines up to 100 KW with the rotor diameters of around 20 meters fitted to be transported in roads.
Once appropriate turbines are selected, they will be delivered in parts, assembled at the project site and site preparation begins. Site construction includes building access roads, clearing the area and preparing the foundation for installation, and will take a few months. After all the parts are assembles, turbines are ready for operation. It will generate electricity and provide to the end users through the substation.
Wind power is a proven technology, so all you need to figure out is if you have a good wind speed. If your factory or community is suffering from power shortage but located in an area with suitable wind speed, I would recommend you to install wind turbines to generate electricity and become self-sufficient.
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Electricity production started in Nepal with the construction of 500 kW Pharping Hydroelectric Plant in 1911. Though electricity production started in Nepal more than 100 years ago, Nepal has not been able to meet its energy demand. People are well aware that Nepal has high electricity production capacity through its rivers, but in the midst of hydroelectricity other potential energy resources like wind has been completely misunderstood and neglected.
In order to meet the required amount of energy, industries install their own electric power plants powered by coal, diesel, solar and wind. Such power plant set up by any person to generate electricity primarily for own use and include a power plant set up and used only by a cooperative society members, known as captive generation. Since industries and firms in Nepal are facing huge shortage of electricity, they have been using diesel generators for captive generation to meet their energy demands, though very expensive. On the other hand, many big industries in Nepal are located at windy places, and can benefit from harnessing wind energy to meet their energy demands and lower the cost. This would also lower the operational and production costs.
Captive power generation is for the user industry for bridging the demand and supply gap. It is the best alternative to meet the demand of the industries that are suffering from inadequate power supply and high tariff rates.
Unit-based captive power generation means pressure on fossil fuels, loss of economies of scale and built-in capacity under utilization. Basically, wind captive generation benefits the following:
Apple-based food processing industries of Mustang, poultry industries of Nawalparasi, cement industries in Dang and tea factories of Ilam are some types of industries that can benefit from harnessing wind energy. For example, according to the data from Nepal Journal of Science and Technology, annual average wind speed and power density at 75 meters above the ground are 8.05 m/s and 851 W/m2 in Kagbeni. Similarly, Midwest region of Nepal such as Dang and Karnali has a huge potential for wind power plants, but no wind data has been recorded so far due to the lack of interest from the government of Nepal.
Application of captive wind power generation can surely fulfill energy demand of various industries of Nepal. For example, a modern poultry farming demands electrical power throughout the day, throughout the year. Energy is used for several purposes: lighting, heating, cooling, ventilating and running electric motors for feed lines. A poultry industry standard for sizing a backup power system is 1-1.5 kW per thousand birds in the flock. If an average flock size is 24,000 birds per house, then an average generator size is likely to be between 25 kW and 35 kW per house. Unexpected power loss can affect the health of the chickens, and it will lead to an economic loss. To avoid such losses, small generators are used to supply emergency power, but power generated from these diesel generators is very expensive and leads to high operational and production cost. Those poultry farms located in windy zones can choose wind captive generation to avoid power scarcity and to fulfill their energy need in the lowest cost possible.
Captive generation through wind can address present energy crisis of Nepal, and wind power projects can be completed in a shorter time compared to hydro power projects of the same capacity. What we need is a proper policy from the government of Nepal and its commitment to promote wind power by working with private organizations.
A house in Ward, Colorado, at the elevation of 9000 ft, has been off-grid since it was built in 1972. When that house was built, the nearest grid was over miles away, and it would have cost around $70,000 to get power from the grid. So the owner decided to install an independent hybrid electric system powered by wind and solar at the total cost of $20,000 for 10 KW in 1972. Likewise, in inner Mongolia there are over 30,000 small scale wind powered generators used by herders for powering lights, televisions and radios.
In Nepal with more than 83% of total population living in rural areas, only 40% of them have access to electricity. For the rest it is perpetual darkness once the sun goes down. With Nepal diversified land structure supplying electricity via grid is not feasible in many places because it is very expensive.
Given the technical and economic constraints for grid expansion, supplying electricity to the rural people has to be off-grid. Whilst urban people consuming almost three quarter of nation’s total energy production, more than 50% of rural people rely exclusively on kerosene for lighting their home. Unfortunately, increasing cost of kerosene, including its transportation cost to those remote areas, make powering these communities a difficult task.
Although Nepal has high potential for renewable energy resources, only 1% has been exploited so far, excluding hydro power. Relatively quick and easy installation can make wind power plants a feasible option for areas that are not connected to the grid. A typical 10 MW wind farm can be constructed within two months. Wind power can be very cost effective in the places where wind speed readings are good enough.
Exploiting renewable energy resources and developing community based independent systems, called off-grid systems , are the only next viable solution that can address the problem of rural electrification. These small scale localized approach are economically feasible, easily manageable with low energy losses and can give a productive end use for income generating activities enhancing the livelihood of rural people. These systems operate exactly as large grid connected systems except for continuous supply of electricity is provided by storage batteries. The wind generator starts generating power when wind speed reaches the cut-in speed of 3m/sec and the output is stored in the battery bank. Stored energy is drawn by the electrical loads through the inverter, which converts DC power into AC power. The inverter has in-built potential against short-circuit, overload and overheating. The battery banks can then feed the loads even when the wind is not blowing. The number of hours that can be supplied by batteries is determined by battery storage capacity.
By April 2012, the Kyoto Protocol‘s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) registered its 4,000th project. CDM, the emergent market has facilitated numerous clean development projects and at present context, it is registered in 74 countries.
Our neighboring country India aims to attain its certified emission reduction potential of wind energy to 86 billion by 2020. So far Nepal has registered and issued CERs for just two biogas projects (more…)
“Wind is free, but it doesn’t imply that generating electricity from wind is free as well.” To understand how electricity is generated from wind, it is necessary to briefly consider some basic underlying mechanism and technological inputs. Wind turbine turns kinetic energy of the wind into electrical power. The rotor blades of the wind turbine are similar to the propeller blades of an airplane.
The rotor blades generate lift from the passing wind, causing them to rotate the hub of the turbine. The gearbox connects the low speed shaft to the high speed shaft and increases the rotational speed. This rotating action then turns the generator on, creating an electromagnetic field, thus generating electricity. This power is then either fed into an electric grid or stored in batteries for use on-site. In off-grid, very small systems, the DC appliances can be directly operated off the batteries. And for other standard appliances that require conventional AC, an inverter is used to convert DC to AC. For grid-connected systems, only power-conditioning unit (i.e. inverter) is enough for making power output compatible with the utility grid- no batteries are needed.
Turbine power output is controlled by rotating the blade around long axis to change their angle of attack with respect to the relative wind as the blades spins around the rotor hub. This mechanism is called blade pitch control. The turbine is pointed into the wind by rotating the nacelle around the tower. This is called yaw control. In modern wind turbines wind sensors on the nacelle tell the yaw controller in which direction to point the turbine, to extract maximum available power from the wind. Generally, wind turbines starts producing power at wind speed of 3 m/sec (cut-in speed). The turbine delivers maximum power near 12-14 m/sec (rated speed) and stops delivering power at 26 m/sec (cut-out speed).
The power available in the wind is proportional to the cube of its speed. That means 10% increase in wind speed, increases output power by 33%. One easy way to get higher wind speed is simply by going up. Wind higher above the ground is stronger and steadier than wind near the ground.
Modern wind turbines come in two varieties: horizontal axis and vertical axis. In horizontal axis turbines blades spins on the axis that is parallel to the ground, while in vertical axis turbine it is perpendicular to the ground. Most utility-scale turbines have upwind configurations, meaning their blades operate with the upwind of the tower to avoid blockage created by the tower.
While the wind speed is important, so is the size of the rotor blade. Increasing the size of rotor blade increases the swept area and thus collects more wind, which is why blade size has been growing dramatically in the recent years. Since transportation of blades to wind farm development sites is impacted by the size of the blades, it can be a major logistical constraint. Nevertheless, blade size is not expected to grow in this ratio in future, and many turbine manufacturing company have limited their blade diameter to about 100 m.
Sustainability being a subject of a greater concern today, one of the sustainable ways to generate electricity is wind energy. Wind energy has the minimal impact on the environment growing its popularity worldwide.
Nevertheless, there are few public concerns over the power produced by wind. Noise produced by the spinning of the blade is one of them. Like all the other operating mechanical system, the spinning of the blades undoubtedly produces sound. The noise produced by the turbine is mainly the mechanical noise from the gearbox & the generator and the aerodynamic noise from that of the blade. But with the improvement of technologies lately newer turbines produce lesser noise than the old ones. The mechanical noise has been eliminated by insulating the nacelle. Renewable UK, a wind energy trade organization, has said that the noise measured 305 meters (1,000 ft) from a wind farm is less than that from normal road traffic. (more…)
Yes it is true; wind energy is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation available today. The first commercial-scale wind turbine was installed in the 1980s and the electricity cost was 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. This has now dropped significantly to an average of 5 euro cents per kilowatt-hour. Kudos to the technology innovations, the price per KWh of electricity from wind seems to be continuously falling down, making wind turbine a widely popular technology.
Cost Structure for a Typical Medium Sized Wind Turbine (850 KW – 1500 KW)
| Share of total costs | Typical share of other costs | |
| Turbine (ex-works) | 74-82 | – |
| Foundation | 1-6 | 20-25 |
| Electric Installation | 1-9 | 10-15 |
| Grid- Connection | 2-9 | 35-45 |
| Consultancy | 1-3 | 5-10 |
| Land | 1-3 | 5-10 |
| Financial costs | 1-5 | 5-10 |
| Road construction | 1-5 | 5-10 |
Source: Wind Energy- The Facts
The capital costs of wind energy projects are solely dominated by the wind turbine, which accounts about 74-82% share of the total investment as shown in the above table. While the grid and electric installation costs are estimated to be around 9% each.
Foundation work on the site also shares around 6% of the expenditure. Of the other auxiliary cost components; consultancy, land, financial costs, road constructions could represent a substantial proportion of the total costs. However, there is considerable variation in all the cost components depending upon the size of the turbines as well as the country of installation. The cost per KW typically varies from approximately 900 £/KW (Euros) to 1,150 £/KW. With the increasing popularity of wind energy all over the world and continuous improvement of the technology, the price is likely to go down in the near future.
The cost breakdown of wind turbine installation in various countries is provided below: As shown, the highest installation charge was found to be in Canada while Denmark has the lowest, followed by Greece, The Netherlands and USA. For UK, Spain and Norway, they almost have similar cost overview. The following graph gives a comparative financial figures on wind turbine installation for 12 different countries.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” This quote does speak for our lack of awareness on the huge potential of 3000 MW of wind energy in Nepal while experiencing an unprecedented energy crisis. Under the SWERA Report (2008), an assessment carried out on the area within 10 km buffer zone from existing NEA national grid line shows that Annapurna Conservation Area alone covers 143 sq. km above wind power density (WPD) of 300 Watt/ m². With the 5 MW installed per sq. km yielding 716 MW, it certainly is huge enough to outdo the power cuts and get started on the path of sustainable development through clean energy generation and promotion of new technologies in Nepal.
Area under different WPD in Annapurna conservation area
| S No. | Wind Power Density (WPD) | Average WPD | Area (Km²) | Potential @ 5 MW/KM² |
| 1 | <100 | 21 | 1485 | |
| 2 | 100-200 | 142.86 | 205.43 | |
| 3 | 200-300 | 242 | 13.36 | |
| 4 | 300-400 | 318.33 | 35.6 | 178 |
| 5 | 400-500 | 437.33 | 30.12 | 150.6 |
| 6 | >600 | 918.4 | 77.6 | 388 |
| Total | 1847.11 | 716.6 |
Wind resource potential mapping of only limited vicinity of Annapurna conservation area shows the potential of 716 MW which makes one wonder on overall potential if the assessment of the entire region is accomplished. It will definitely surpass the aforesaid potential of 3000 MW. Nepal, which has huge potential of green power generation, lacks the required research, authorization, economic support and the drive to make it happen. WindPower Nepal Pvt. Ltd seeks to change that reality.
Rapid technology development has ensued the wind energy industries. Since the commercial deployment of the first wind turbine of 15-meter diameter in the 1980s, the average size of wind turbines has grown by tenfold in the last 30 years. It is nearly 152 m today and the new extra large turbines could approach 305 m in diameter soon. The largest wind turbine currently in operation is Enercon E126 turbine; it has a rotor diameter of 127 m and a total height of 198 m, with a rated capacity of 7.58 MW.
Bigger turbines have lesser carbon footprint as they harness wind power more efficiently and without proportional increase in their mass. Bigger turbines have also resulted in reduction in the cost of wind power generation. EWEA report shows that, in Denmark, the average cost per kWh for a coastal site has decreased by more than 40% between 1980s and 2006. In the mid 1980s, cost per kWh wind generation was around 9.2 Euro cent for a 95kW turbine, while by 2006 the cost was around 5.3 Euro cent for a 2 MW turbine.
According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the U.S., for 2012- 2013, wind power generation is coming in at 5-7 cents per kWh full life cycle cost of generation without subsidies.
This remarkable improvement over the past three decades will play a significant role in increasing the production of electricity from wind in the future.
Till date, very few attempts have been made to harness wind energy in Nepal. The first initiative was taken back in 1989, when two turbines of 10 kW were installed in Kagbeni, Mustang. Within three months of installation, the turbine blades were blown away by the gusty wind and sadly the project met an untimely end. After that, a few projects of small scale have been added to the list, latest being funded as a Renewable Village project by ADB in Nawalparasi where two sets of 5 kW wind turbines have been installed. Success of any wind project depends on the processes that are used during the project management.
Population in Nepal has been increasing steadily at the rate of 1.6% per year. Similarly, the standard of living has been improving to more energy intensive in terms of electrical appliances and automobiles. This has led to a substantial increase in demand of energy by about 7-9% each year, or roughly 50 MW/year.
However, the current scenario of our country indicates that our energy production is not on par with our energy consumption. In fact, we are way under supplied: the average of 15 hours of load shedding a day speaks for itself.
We know our country is extremely rich in terms of water resources: 40,000 MW of economically viable hydro power potential, but are we utilizing what we have? Are we able to exploit our abundant resources? Apparently not. The present situation is that Nepal has developed only approximately 600 MW of hydro power. Therefore, a big chunk of the economically feasible generation has not been acquired yet. Dependence on the run-off hydro power, fossil fuel and additional import of energy from India for power generation have affected our budget balance.
A meager supply of energy has been a great challenge for our development and it will continue to be so if similar situation prevails in the future. The continual failure of power generation has grossly affected the economy, causing a crawling effect on the developmental growth. Therefore, there should be an insightful long term approach towards a balance between the increasing a demand and adequate energy development program.
A diversion towards other alternative sources of energy is a must if we need to address the burgeoning energy demand. How about wind? A high scale of power can be generated from wind energy in a relatively shorter span of time than hydro power. Wind energy is at present a major source of energy production in most of the countries all over the world, with a total installed capacity of 238,351 MW as of end of 2011 (Global wind energy council). Our neighboring countries, on the other hand, have exploited their wind potential. India has installed 16,078 MW of wind power as of 31 March 2011 and stands fifth largest in the world. Meanwhile, China has the installed capacity of 62733 MW (Global wind statics, 2011), and leads the race of wind power generation. China seeks to obtain 15% of its total energy need via wind by 2020.
Nepal also has a good prospect for harnessing wind power. Though we lack a detailed Wind Atlas, available data shows the potential area of wind power in the country to be about 6074 sq. km with wind power density greater than 300 watt/m2. More than 3000 MW of electricity can be generated at 5 MW per sq km (Department of Hydrology and Meteorology). If we achieve that capacity on our grid it would reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and give us a credibility as a green country. The world out there is making a huge contribution to the development of clean energy, and we need to capitalize on our wind resources to reduce power shortage in Nepal. Unfortunately, the government has yet to come up with plans and policies to promote wind power projects in Nepal. Maybe it is time now, better late than never.