DEVELOPMENT OF WIND TECHNOLOGY IN EUROPE
Eu opean Commission - MEMO/86/147 01/12/1986
1. Communi y p ojec s o la ge Wind Tu bines In he ame o he Eu opean Communi ies
R&D p og amme on Non- Nucla Ene gy, sub-p og amme Wind Ene gy, h ee la ge wind
u bines will be de eloped and buil :
- a 2 MW wind u bine a Esbje g (Denma k) wi h a 60 m o o diame e , ho izon al
axis, on a 51 m owe ;
- a 1.2 MW wind u bine o be ins alled a Cabo Villano in Galicia (Spain), also
ho izon al axis wi h a 60 m diame e o o on a 46 m owe ;
- a 1 MW wind u bine o Richbo ough in Ken (England), also hoizon al axis, wi h a
55 m diame e o o , on a 45 m owe .
All h ee p ojec s will be comple ed by he end o 1988, eeding wind gene a ed powe in o
g ids.
The Commission con ac o s will be 3 elec ici y u ili ies in Denma k (ELSAM), Spain (ASINEL)
and England (CEGB) espec i ely. Ac ual de elopmen and ealisa ion will be sub-con ac ed o
small and medium size companies in he h ee coun ies. In he case o he Spanish p ojec
he e is also an impo an pa icipa ion o he Ge man company MAN.
The h ee ins alla ions a e being co-sponso ed by he Na ional Wind P og ammes in Denma k,
he Uni ed Kingdom and he Fede al Republic o Ge many.
2. Ra ionale o he de elopmen o la ge Wind Tu bines Since 1980, abou 1500 MW o wind
u bine capaci y ha e been ins alled in Cali o nia. Abou 1/4 o hem we e impo ed om
Eu ope, mainly Denma k. In Eu ope he ins alled o al capaci y is abou 100 MW, bu g owing
apidly wi h plans in some Membe s a es aiming a a signi ican con ibu ion o elec ici y
gene a ion by yea 2000.
O e he las 3 yea s he ins alla ion cos s could be educed om $ 3000/kW o abou $
1000/kW. A he same ime, he uni size has been inc eased om 50 o abou 250 kW pe
u bine.
Today he 250 kW size cons i u es an op imum in e ms o cos and eliabili y while on he o he
hand, la ge scale implemen a ion o wind powe would a he be based on megawa -size
machines.
A p esen , only e y ew p o o ypes o such la ge machines exis a ound he wo ld. They a e
much mo e expensi e pe uni powe han he smalle ones, and show big eliabili y p oblems.
Hence i is essen ial o de o e ex ensi e R&D on his key echnology which is a bo leneck o
u u e implemen a ion.
In a o me s udy unde he Commission's Wind Ene gy R&D p og amme, i has been shown
ha he ma ke po en ial o such la ge machines, once hey ha e become cos e ec i e, will be
emendous in Eu ope. All Eu opean Coun ies a e conce ned because he wind esou ce is
equally as la ge in No he n Eu ope as in he Medi e anean a ea.
3. Special ea u es o he 3 u bines o be de eloped wi hin he Commission's R&D p og amme
In Eu ope oday only wo MW machines a e ope a ing (Sweden). Thei design goes back o he
end o he 70's. Mo e ecen ly, machines in he MW ange a e being buil wi hin a ious
p og ammes (a 3 MW machine wi hin he UK p og amme, an I alian machine, se e al machines
in Lowe Saxony, Ge many, se e al machines in he Commission's demons a ion p og amme
and he PIM).
The 3 wind u bines o be de eloped now wi hin he Commission's R&D p og amme ha e he
ollowing pa icula a ac ions:
- all 3 machines a e o simila size. This made i posible o pool he p ojec s in one
conce ed ac ion: he echnical wo k p og amme a e coo dina ed by he Commission and
duplica ions will be a oided;
- he echnology o he 3 machines is easonably inno a i e bu in ol es no unnecessa y
isks: i a he ep esen s an upg ading and u he de elopmen o he echnologies
cu enly employed on he ma ke ;
- he Commission has achie ed o pool in o a single ac ion o Eu opean dimension R&D
budge s om he 4 membe coun ies Uni ed Kingdom, Denma k, Spain and Ge many;
- p ime con ac o s a e all u ili ies. U ili y in ol emen is o p ime impo ance because hey
will be he e en ual use s o such machines in hei ne wo ks. I is he i s ime in Eu ope ha 3
impo an u ili ies decide o ake, oge he wi h he Commission, di ec con ol o he
de elopmen o hese c ucial echnologies;
- ac ual de elopmen and cons uc ion o he machines will be e o med by small and
medium size indus ies ac ing as sub-con ac o s. In he pe spec i e o a la ge Eu opean
ma ke (Single Ac ), coope a ion be ween Eu opean wind manu ac u e s is essen ial because
he e will no be oom o oo many g oups. The ag eemen o Eu opean wind indus y om 4
di e en membe coun ies o wo k oge he on his echnology is a unique ea u e in he cu en
de elopemn ;
- he e will be a join measu emen and moni o ing p og amme wi h an exchange o all da a
be ween con ac o s. This will ollow in e na ionally ecommended p ac ices and will help o
c ea e a Eu opean ma ke o such p ojec s igh om he beginning.
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4. O he ac i i ies o he Commission's Wind Ene gy R&D p og amme. The de elopmen o he
3 la ge wind u bines is pa o a comp ehensi e Eu opean R&D p og amme on Wind Ene gy
which was s a ed by he Commission in 1980. The adminis a i e ame o he cu en 4 yea
p og amme (85-88) is he Non-Nuclea Ene gy R&D p og amme which was adop ed by he
Council o Resea ch Minis e s in Ma ch 1985.
Main esea ch ac i i ies a e he ollowing:
- de elopmen o a Eu opean Wind A las. This is a conce ed ac ion in ol ing se e al
specialis g oups in all membe coun ies. The i s e sion o he A las will be published in
Sp ing 1987;
- de elopmen o Eu opean s anda ds o he analysis o Wind Tu bine pe o mances;
- de elopmen o a da a base on Eu opean Wind Ene gy echnology;
- compu e modelling o Wind Ene gy pene a ion in u ili y ne wo ks o he EC Membe
coun ies;
- conce ed esea ch ac ions on ae odynamics, a igue p oblems, wake e ec s, modelling,
new ma e ials and componen s, e c.;
- de elopmen o ad anced Wind Ene gy u bines in he 300 o 600 kW ange;
In o al, he cu en p og amme includes mo e han 50 con ac s wi h Eu opean indus y,
uni e si ies and o he esea ch es ablishmen s.