G EORGIA I NSTITUTE OF T ECHNOLOGY

AE 6701 W IND E NGINEERING A SSIGNMENT 1

Feasibility Study for Constructing and

Operating Wind Turbines

Author: Course Instructor:

Darshan S AROJINI Dr. Lakshmi S ANKAR

Aerospace Engineering

January 26, 2017

 iii

Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Importance of Site Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Geographic Location: Romania 3

2.1 Regional energy requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1.1 Population density and farmland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Current Energy Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Wind Resources and Capacity Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Sizing and Economics 11

3.1 Sizing of Wind Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Estimated Power Produced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Economic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4 Public Policy 13
4.1 Green Certification Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 Zoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3 Tax Incentives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Conclusion 15

Bibliography 17
 v

List of Figures

2.1 Wind installations and total wind power in 2015,across European Union
[Dragomir et al., 2016] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Least energy dependent countries in the European Union [Dragomir
et al., 2016] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 The map of climatic regionalization for Romania [Dragomir et al., 2016] 4
2.4 Romania Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 Romania Population Density in 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6 Map of electric power industry in Romania Dragomir et al., 2016 . . . 8
2.7 Main dominant,regional and local winds,with the highest annual av-
erage wind speeds and with the greatest wind potential,in Romania
[Dragomir et al., 2016] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.8 Annual average wind speed at 50 m above the ground . . . . . . . . . 9
 vii

List of Tables

3.1 Rated power of wind turbines based on hub height and rotor diameter 11

4.1 Mandatory quotas of Green Certificates to be purchased by electricity

suppliers under 139/2010 law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

This report conducts a feasibility study of possible sites for the construction of wind
turbines to generate power.

1.1 Importance of Site Selection

Selecting an appropriate site is key to the success of any renewable energy project;
financially and technically. This applies to every type of project, from the smallest
residential systems to the largest utility-scale projects. Site selection also plays a
crucial role in the financial returns of the project, ease of construction, ongoing op-
erations and maintenance, and overall safety. An inappropriate site or ill-designed
turbine array jeopardizes the project.
The following are guidelines for site selection [ Sharpley, 2013]:

1. How good is the wind resource on the site?

For onshore wind projects the wind class needs to be identified, and checked
to confirm if it lines up with the cut-in speed and optimal wind speed for the
proposed wind turbine. It should be ensured that there are no nearby obstacles
will cause turbulence to disrupt airflow access to the site and reduce turbine
life. An industry rule of thumb: the distance between a turbine and the nearest
obstacle should be at least twice the turbine height, unless the turbine is more
than twice the height of the obstacle in which case the distance can be less.

2. How much does electricity cost, and is there enough demand for the power?
Electricity rates are a major factor currently driving development of wind en-
ergy. For the United States, the Energy Information Administrations website
posts estimates for electricity prices.

3. Is the site physically able to accommodate the facility?

The most important consideration when siting a project is whether or not the
site is physically appropriate for the technology. This can include, but is not
limited to, considerations such as the amount of physical space required for the
array and equipment, structural stability of the soil, slope and its direction on
the site, and proximity to a nearby interconnection point. It is also important
to note the current onsite vegetation and whether this will need pruning for
construction and maintenance as part of the project O&M in the future.

4. Are there other potential barriers based on utility rules?

Many utilities have requirements for a maximum system size that can intercon-
nect to the grid or the maximum system size that may net meter to the grid, or
both. Furthermore, how these limits are defined varies by state.
2 Chapter 1. Introduction

5. Who has site control?

It is extremely important to identify early on who has site control. If consul-
tants and their clients do not have site control, it must be determined whether
it is possible to buy or lease the site, or work out an arrangement with the site
owner.

The rest of this report will discuss the following:

1. Energy needs of that region, present and projected

2. Energy sources currently in use in that region, and cost in cents/KW-hr

3. Wind resources available in that region, including capacity factors

4. Economic analysis, assuming a 10% financial discount rate, of the wind turbine
systems

5. Public policy issues important to that region

 3

Chapter 2

Geographic Location: Romania

This section will first explain why the country Romania was chosen as a potential
wind energy site. Subsequent sections will narrow down to a particular site.
First, the European Unions (EU) directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the
use of energy from renewable sources set mandatory national energy targets for
achieving 20% share of renewable energy in final energy consumption- and a 10%
share of energy from renewable sources in transport - by 2020. In 2015, across 28 EU
member nations, wind energy accounted for 44% of all new power installations. The
total wind capacity in Europe is at 142 GW. A dimension scale of total wind power
in EU is shown in Fig. 2.1. This makes Europe a good candidate for wind turbines.

F IGURE 2.1: Wind installations and total wind power in 2015,across

European Union [Dragomir et al., 2016]

In the EU, Romania is one of the least energy dependent countries in the Eu-
ropean Union (see Fig. 2.2). Romanias wind energy sector is the second largest
segment of renewable energy, after hydro-power energy. In the last 27 years, only
maintenance of existent facilities and resumption of older projects have been made
in the hydro-power sector. ON the other hand, wind power plants became in Roma-
nia, in six year, the second main source of energy among renewable-energy sources
Dragomir et al., 2016.
A map of climate in Romania is shown in Fig. 2.3, and a map showing wind
speeds in Romania is shown in Fig. 2.7.
4 Chapter 2. Geographic Location: Romania

F IGURE 2.2: Least energy dependent countries in the European

Union [Dragomir et al., 2016]

F IGURE 2.3: The map of climatic regionalization for Romania

[Dragomir et al., 2016]

2.1 Regional energy requirements

Most of the below data is taken from [AUTHORITY, 2015]:
Over the period 2000-2013, the total final energy consumption in Romania has
decreased from 22.167 Mtoe in 2000 to 21.885 Mtoe with 282 Mtoe, 0.1% year. Only
the final energy consumption of agriculture and transport sectors have increased
since 2000. In 2011 the energy used in industry sector declined due to the recession of
2009. Energy consumption of industry and households sectors have also decreased.
2.1. Regional energy requirements 5

Traditionally, the industry was the greatest energy consumer at the national level.
During the period of the centralized economy, Romanias economic development
was based on the development of the heavy energy intensive industrial branches.
The restructuring has led to a major decrease in the share of industry within the
national economy and in energy consumption. These effects have been enhanced by
the economic crisis so that in the period 2009-2010 the industry did not occupy the
leading position regarding final energy consumption, the role was taken over by the
household consumption sector.
The share of the industrial consumption within total energy consumption, de-
creased from about 41% in 2000 to 29% in 2013.
In the analysed period, the consumption in the industrial sector registered an
important decrease with 2710 ktoe. The transport sector registered an important
increase with 1897 ktoe. In percent, the industrial consumption decreased with
2.3%/year and the consumption in transport registered an increase with 4.2%/year.
The energy consumption of services and agriculture sectors have increased too.
The final energy consumption decreased in during 2000-2013 with 283 ktoe re-
spectively by 1.3%, while GDP had been increasing with 271%. In the context of
national energy, sustainable development means ensuring energy demand, but not
by increasing its use (excluding renewables), but by increasing energy efficiency,
upgrade technology and restructure the economy. Final energy intensity is one of
the main macroeconomic indicators for analyzing the efficiency of energy use and
is included in the list of indicators of sustainable development of the international
organizations.
The final energy intensity (final energy consumption per unit of GDP) (with cli-
matic correction) has decreased with 4.8% /year since 2000.
If we calculate the energy intensity toe / thousand Euro 2005 this indicator in
2013 for Romania (0.335 toe / 1000 Euro 2005) is 2.36 times higher than the EU 28
average (0.142 toe / 1000 Euro 2005). If the calculation is made in toe/1000Euro
PPP, the energy intensity of Romania (0.112 toe /1000 Euro PPP) is lower than the
EU 28 average intensity (0.123 toe /1000 Euro PPP). If we calculate primary energy
intensity in Romania adjusted to economic structure in toe/$05P, the value of this
indicator from 2013 is lower than the EU and international average. Also, in 2013,
the value of the final energy intensity in toe/$05p for Romania is lower than the EU
and international average.

2.1.1 Population density and farmland

The land use in Romania is shown in Fig. 2.4 [Wikipedia, 1990]. The population
density map of Romania is shown in 2.5 [DATA and CENTER, 2000]. As seen, there
is a region with lower population density corresponding to farm land.
I am picking a site in this region for a small-scale wind turbine to run a farm. On
average, a farm requires 64,885 MJ/hectare per year [Chapter 2: Energy for Agricul-
ture]. This equates to

MJ 0.2778 kW h kW h
64885 = 64885 = 7297.6 (2.1)
hectare 2.47 acre acre
On average, the electricity consumption per capita of Romania is 2,409.59 kWh per
person per year [Statistics, 2014]. Assuming an average sized farm of 100 acres, the
total energy required is 729,760 kWh per year.
6 Chapter 2. Geographic Location: Romania

F IGURE 2.4: Romania Land Use

2.2 Current Energy Sources

The current power plants in Romania is shown in Fig. 2.6. As seen, the location
where I have picked for the wind turbine is far from any major power plants. Hence
transmission losses would be more than an on-site power generator.
2.3. Wind Resources and Capacity Factors 7

POPULATION DENSITY, 2000

Romania

0 75 150 km
POLAND
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area Projection

UKRAINE

SLOVAKIA REPUBLIC OF
MOLDOVA

HUNGARY

SERBIA AND
MONTENEGRO BULGARIA

Global RuralUrban Mapping Project

Population density measures the number

of persons per square kilometer of land
area. The data are gridded at a resolution
of 30 arc-seconds.

Note: National boundaries are derived from the

population grids and thus may appear coarse.

Copyright 2009. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. Center for International Earth Science
Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the World
Bank, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP),
Population Density. Palisades, NY: CIESIN, Columbia University. Available at: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/

This document is licensed under a

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

F IGURE 2.5: Romania Population Density in 2000

2.3 Wind Resources and Capacity Factors

Based on recent studies measuring the intensity, direction and frequency of wind
at a height of 50m, the National Meteorology Agency drew up a map of Romanias
wind potential(see Fig. 2.7 and Fig. 2.8). Analyzing the data from this map, several
areas with the highest potential to produce wind power were defined [Dragomir et
al., 2016]:

1. Mountain peaks are the areas with the highest wind potential, with average
8 Chapter 2. Geographic Location: Romania

F IGURE 2.6: Map of electric power industry in Romania Dragomir et

al., 2016

F IGURE 2.7: Main dominant,regional and local winds,with the high-

est annual average wind speeds and with the greatest wind poten-
tial,in Romania [Dragomir et al., 2016]
2.3. Wind Resources and Capacity Factors 9

annual wind speeds exceeding 10m/s.However, due to the high costs of instal-
lation and commercial exploitation these areas are not attractive for investors
in wind energy

2. The second region with high wind potential is the area of the Black Sea,the
Danube Delta and Northern Dobrogea, where the annual average wind speed
is 910m/s and is characterized by low wind turbulence.The location of wind
farms in certain areas of this zone is restricted by legislation on the Danube
Delta Biosphere Reserve and the Black Sea conditions. The only area where
wind farms can be mounted is considered to be continental Dobrogea

3. Another important region in terms of wind potential is the Brlad Plateau,

where the annual average wind speed is between 6 and 8m/s

4. Small regions with high wind potential can be found in the west, in Banat and
on the western slopes of the Western Hills.

F IGURE 2.8: Annual average wind speed at 50 m above the ground

The location of the farm chosen for the wind site corresponds to the region shown
in Fig. 2.7 as "the highest annual average wind speeds". This location also has aver-
age wind speeds of 6-8 m/s as seen in Fig. 2.8 at a height of 50 m. Since this region
has been said to have the highest annual average wind speeds, it is safe to assume a
higher capacity factor of 0.55.
 11

Chapter 3

Sizing and Economics

In this section, data from previous section will be used to size the turbine. A prelim-
inary economic analysis will also be done.

3.1 Sizing of Wind Turbine

The power generated by a turbine can be approximately computed using the follow-
ing equation:

1 2
 
P = AV V (3.1)
2
To compute the velocity at a given height, the following equation is used
1
v h4 (3.2)
Based on the wind resources studied in Section 2.3 and using the above equation,
an average wind speed of 8 m/s is assumed. The power required to be produced per
turbine is 50000 W. This gives an area of 162.76 m2 . This corresponds to a diameter
of 14.4 m.
The computed value is close to the values shown in Table 3.1 for wind turbines
installed in Romania.

3.2 Estimated Power Produced

The power produced per year is computed using the following equation:

TABLE 3.1: Rated power of wind turbines based on hub height and
rotor diameter

Hub Height (m) Rotor Diameter (m) Rating (kW)

12 8 10
24 15 50
43 20 100
54 40 500
80 50 800
104 80 2000
114 124 5000
12 Chapter 3. Sizing and Economics

Pyear = P (24hours)(365days)(CapacityF actor) (3.3)

Substituting the values gives a power of 240,900 kWh per year. The energy re-
quired for the farm is 729,760 kWh as shown in Section 2.1. Hence, 3 such turbines
would be able to provide for the energy needs of the farm.

3.3 Economic Analysis

Since each turbine is 50 kW class, it falls into the category of small turbines. For such
turbines, it is reasonable to expect 100% finance from banks. It is assumed that banks
will charge an interest of 5% annually. Therefore the discount rate is 5%.
Wind turbines under 100 kilowatts cost roughly $3,000 per kilowatt of capacity
[How much do wind turbines cost?]. This would bring the cost of the wind turbine to be
around $150,000 per turbine. Since 3 turbines are needed, the total cost is $450,000.
The finance cost per year is given by

(P riceT urbine)(DiscountRate) (3.4)

which amounts to $22,500 per year

The dollars per kWh is computed as

F inanceCost 22500
= (3.5)
P owerP roduced 240900
This gives 0.0934 kW$ h . The average household electricity price in Romania is 0.128 e
kW h =
$
0.137 kW h [ Electricity and gas prices]. Hence, this wind turbine makes for a good in-
vestment.
 13

Chapter 4

Public Policy

4.1 Green Certification Scheme

To encourage the development of renewable-energy production, Romania has adopted
a number of legislative measures and created a national strategy.
The green certificates received by the renewable generators can be traded inde-
pendently of the quantity of energy they represent (i.e. 1MWh) on the green cer-
tificates market, which is separated from the energy market (or on the centralised
green certificates market set up by the Operator of the Romanian Energy Market
(OPCOM). The minimum and maximum price levels for green certificates are estab-
lished by law.
Up until 2014, the minimum price per certificate is 27, and the maximum 55;
the value of the green certificates is calculated in the Romanian national currency
(RON) at the exchange rate established by the National Bank of Romania for the last
month of the previous year. The minimum and maximum price levels are reviewed
each year, and indexed with the Consumer Prices Index. Starting from 2015, the
minimum value of the green certificates cannot be lower than the minimum value
applicable in 2014.
In addition, each electricity supplier is obliged by law to acquire annually a num-
ber of green certificates equal to the value of the compulsory quota established by
Law 220/2008 for the promotion of renewable energy (Law 220), and multiplied
by the quantity of electricity supplied that year to its end-consumers - expressed in
MWh (Table 4.1 details the quotas by year specified by Law 220).

TABLE 4.1: Mandatory quotas of Green Certificates to be purchased

by electricity suppliers under 139/2010 law

Year Share
2012 12%
2013 14%
2014 15%
2015 16%
2016 17%
2017 18%
2018 19%
2019 19.5%
2020 20%
14 Chapter 4. Public Policy

For example, an electricity supplier that in 2013 hypothetically sells 1,000 MWh
to its end-consumers, must acquire from generators of green energy 90 green certifi-
cates at a price between 27 and 55. Therefore, the supplier pays to the generators a
minimum 2,430 and maximum 4,950 - depending on the market price of the green
certificates. If the respective supplier chooses not to buy any certificates it will have
to pay to Transelectrica 70 per each non-acquired certificate (90 70 = 6,300).
After 2020, the Ministry of Economy and Finance is due to establish the compul-
sory quotas, provided that the quotas cannot be lower than the quota applicable in
2020 (i.e. 16.8%). In the event of noncompliance, a supplier must pay to Transelec-
trica 70 for each non-acquired certificate. The amounts collected by Transelectrica
will be distributed (in a transparent and objective way) to grid operators , who
will invest in upgrading the national grid to facilitate better access for renewable
sources.

4.2 Zoning
Since the target site is a privately owned farm land, the owners will be ale to con-
struct the wind turbine on their own property, and hence the issue of zoning does
not arise here.
Also, being a farm land, most of road infrastructure would already be in place.

4.3 Tax Incentives

In Romania, the following tax incentives may be applicable to energy produced
from the following renewable sources: wind, solar, geothermal, hydraulic utilized in
power plants with an installed capacity of maximum 10 MW, biomass and residues
fermentation gas [International, 2015].

1. Electricity from renewable sources is excise duties exempt

2. Accelerated depreciation for tax purposes can be used for technological equip-
ment, tools and installations computers and related peripheral equipment

3. Buildings and land used within hydroelectric, thermoelectric and nuclear power
plants, as well as buildings and land relating to transformation and connection
posts, are not subject to local taxes

4. Reinvested dividends can be dividend tax exempt, provided the dividends are
used for the purpose of creating new work places or developing the activities
of Romanian entities

5. Incentives (for example, exemption from payments to unemployment funds or

income tax) can be applicable for the companies which fulfill certain conditions
imposed by the legislation in force
 15

Chapter 5

Conclusion

In this report, a feasibility analysis was carried out to determine a good location for a
wind turbine. Based on the geographic wind data and initiatives by both the EU and
the Romanian government, Romania was chosen for the wind turbine. It was seen
that the south eastern part of Romania has a huge potential for wind energy and
is mainly farm based with low population density. Hence, it was chosen to build
a wind turbine to make a farm completely self-sufficient. The energy requirements
of the farm, the wind data of that region was used to determine that 3 50 kW wind
turbines would be needed for this purpose. Next, an economic analysis was carried
out to arrive at cost of electricity to be 0.0934 kW$ h , which is lower than the present
average household electricity cost in Romanian of 0.137 kW$ h . Finally, public policies
of the Romanian government is looked into to find that the government provides
green certificates for the production of renewable sources of energy.
 17

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