The wind is a fickle source of power. Windspeeds are frequently too low to be of any practical use, so that windpower has generally remained a marginal resource. Since the inception of windpower around 1000 AD, technology has been deployed to obtain the most economical power from wind. The author traces its technical evolution, concentrating on the growth in understanding of wind and charting crucial developments in windmill design. The history of the windmill is focused on North Western Europe, drawing on the origins of the first horizontal windmills in Persia, Tibet and China. Industrial applications such as in textiles, papermaking and mining are examined. Gradually, windmills were improved but were finally eclipsed by steam engines in the nineteenth century due to increased levels of industrialisation. The book concludes with a look at the recent re-emergence of windpower as a viable source of power in the wake of the energy crisis.

Covers basics of wind-electric systems, water-pumping windmills, and a wind furnace. Focuses on how to build appropriate windmills in many different situations, on all kinds of sites.

An illustrated guide to building and installing a wind turbine and understanding how the energy in moving air is transformed into electricity.

Helps readers understand and appreciate what the history of wind power can teach us about technology innovation and provides the implications for both wind power today and its future This book takes readers on a journey through the history of wind power in order to show how the technology evolved over the course of the twentieth century and where it may be headed in the twenty-first century. It introduces and examines broad themes such as government funding of wind power, the role of fossil fuels in wind power development, and the importance of entrepreneurs in wind power development. It also discusses the lessons learned from wind power technology innovation and makes them relevant to the understanding of wind power today and in the future. Spanning the entire history of wind power (1888-2018), The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape provides balanced coverage of each decade as well as the important wind power technology innovations that occurred during that time. Compelling from the first page to the last, it offers chapters covering the pioneers of wind power; the age of small wind; wind power in the wake of war; wind power’s use across Europe; government-funded research programs; how Denmark reinvented wind power in the 1970s; the California Wind Rush of the 1980s; wind power’s rise in Spain; America’s wind power starting in the 1990s; India’s wind power path; the wind power surge in China; the globalization of wind power; and much more. In addition, this text: Spans the entire global history of wind power, while weaving together both the historical context and the technical details of wind power innovation Provides historical context for wind power developments and explains the evolution of wind turbine technology in an easy-to-understand manner Discusses the policy, technology, and market evolution of wind power in commonly understood language Offers a review of the surrounding power technology, policy, and market environment throughout the history of wind power A book that both specialists and non-specialists can read in order to understand and appreciate the past, present, and future of wind power technology, The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape will be of great interest to any engineer and any interested readers looking to understand wind power technologies, markets, and policies in one book.

A practical, authoritative guide to the assessment of wind resources for utility-scale wind projects authored by a team of experts from a leading renewable energy consultancy The successful development of wind energy projects depends on an accurate assessment of where, how often, and how strongly the wind blows. A mistake in this stage of evaluation can cause severe financial losses and missed opportunities for developers, lenders, and investors. Wind Resource Assessment: A Practical Guide to Developing a Wind Project shows readers how to achieve a high standard of resource assessment, reduce the uncertainty associated with long-term energy performance, and maximize the value of their project assets. Beginning with the siting, installation, and operation of a high-quality wind monitoring program, this book continues with methods of data quality control and validation, extrapolating measurements from anemometer height to turbine height, adjusting short-term observations for historical climate conditions, and wind flow modeling to account for terrain and surface conditions. In addition, Wind Resource Assessment addresses special topics such as: Worker safety Data security Remote sensing technology (sodar and lidar) Offshore resource assessment Impacts of climate change Uncertainty estimation Plant design and energy production estimatio Filled with important information ranging from basic fundamentals of wind to cutting-edge research topics, and accompanied by helpful references and discussion questions, this comprehensive text designed for an international audience is a vital reference that promotes consistent standards for wind assessment across the industry.

The second edition of the highly acclaimed Wind Power in Power Systems has been thoroughly revised and expanded to reflect the latest challenges associated with increasing wind power penetration levels. Since its first release, practical experiences with high wind power penetration levels have significantly increased. This book presents an overview of the lessons learned in integrating wind power into power systems and provides an outlook of the relevant issues and solutions to allow even higher wind power penetration levels. This includes the development of standard wind turbine simulation models. This extensive update has 23 brand new chapters in cutting-edge areas including offshore wind farms and storage options, performance validation and certification for grid codes, and the provision of reactive power and voltage control from wind power plants. Key features: Offers an international perspective on integrating a high penetration of wind power into the power system, from basic network interconnection to industry deregulation; Outlines the methodology and results of European and North American large-scale grid integration studies; Extensive practical experience from wind power and power system experts and transmission systems operators in Germany, Denmark, Spain, UK, Ireland, USA, China and New Zealand; Presents various wind turbine designs from the electrical perspective and models for their simulation, and discusses industry standards and world-wide grid codes, along with power quality issues; Considers concepts to increase penetration of wind power in power systems, from wind turbine, power plant and power system redesign to smart grid and storage solutions. Carefully edited for a highly coherent structure, this work remains an essential reference for power system engineers, transmission and distribution network operator and planner, wind turbine designers, wind project developers and wind energy consultants dealing with the integration of wind power into the distribution or transmission network. Up-to-date and comprehensive, it is also useful for graduate students, researchers, regulation authorities, and policy makers who work in the area of wind power and need to understand the relevant power system integration issues.

Wind power is developing rapidly, in terms of both the number of new installations and in interest from stakeholders including policy-makers, NGOs, research scientists, industry and the general public. Unlike the majority of other texts on wind power, which are written primarily for engineers or policy analysts, this book specifically targets those interested in, or planning to develop, wind power projects. Having outlined wind power basics and explained the underlying resource and technology, the author explores the interactions between wind power and society, and the main aspects of project development, including siting, economics and legislation. This book will be an essential reference for professionals developing new sites, government officials and consultants reviewing related applications, and both specialists and non-specialists studying wind power project development.