Hybrid-Systems Containing Wind Energy

The term wind hybrid system describes any combination of wind energy with one or more additional sources of electricity generation (e.g. biomass, solar or a generator using fossil fuels). Hybrid system are very often used for stand-alone applications at remote sites. For this reason the article focusses on stand-alone hybrid systems containing storage or diesel-backup.

The combination of renewable energy technologies allows a more balanced electricity supply during day/night and seasonal changes: At most sites wind speed is low, when the sun is shining and reaches higher values on cloudy days. Thus the amount of energy generated by wind energy reaches its maximum in the winter months, while the output of PV-cells is significantly higher in the summer. Other important examples are Wind-Diesel systems often used in remote areas. A diesel generator will be used as backup, if the electricity demand can not be covered by the installed wind turbines. Regulation and conversion of the available energy sources is a central issue planning a wind hybrid system. Many hybrid systems are uses as stand-alone off-grid applications.

Description of a wind hybrid system

Wind hybrid-systems generally consist of generating units, storage facilities and system electronic devices:

• one or more wind converters of x₀ kW
• one or more other electricity generation options either using renewable energy (RES) (e.g. Photovoltaic Panels) of fossil energy sources (e.g. diesel generator)
• an energy storage device
• an AC/DC rectifier of x_r kW in case the energy storage installation operates on DC current (e.g. all types of batteries)
• a charge controller of x_c kW
• a Uninterruptible Power Supply '(UPS) of x_p kW in order to guarantee high quality AC electricity generation
• a DC/AC inverter of x_p kW

Energy storage

Hybrid systems contain an energy storage device to store the surplus energy during times of high energy production, which can be used for supply when production from renewable sources is low (e.g. no wind). For this reason, the size of the device is often described by the period of time in hours h₀ the average load can be covered using the storage as the sole source of energy_. Other important characteristics are the overall efficiency of the storage device (determined by the loss of energy during the charge and discharge-process), the output voltage U_b and the maximum permitted discharge.

Lead-acid batteries today are the most common technology solution used in hybrid energy systems. There are several alternatives like flywheels, pumped hydro storage, hydraulic storage and fuel cells.

By storing surplus energy and operating as an additional energy source, when production from the RES-source is low, the independence of the hybrid system is increased. If a diesel generator is part of the system, the storage will allow a more efficient management of the given generation units, avoiding emissions by a more efficient utilization of the diesel generator: Frequent shut-down and restart procedures as well as very unefficient generator loads can be avoided. In this manner, depence on the availability of fuel and thus on fuel price variability is reduced.

Regulation by a storage devices improves the quality of the supplied power, because variations in the frequency of the current can be minimized and voltage control is available. The degree of this improvement clearly depends on the size of the storage device and the adjustment of the whole system.

It must be mentioned, that a storage device significantly raises the initial costs of the hybrid system. Desregarding the type of storage which is chosen (pumped hydro, batteries, flywheels...) the environmental impacts have to be considered.

Losses during charging and discharging-processes lower the efficiency of the whole system reducing the positive effect of avoided generator utilization.

System electronic devices

AC/DC rectifier: In case the energy storage device consists of batteries, the three-phase AC current generated by a wind turbine has to be converted in a DC current for charging. This task is achieved by an AC/DC rectifier of a nominal power x_r corresponding to the rated power of the wind turbine x₀.

DC/DC charge controller: The AC/DC rectifier connects the generating units with the DC/DC charge controller of a rated power of x_c charging the battery system with a charging voltage U_cc. Besides the charge controller distributes the incoming energy between the charging process and other DC loads which have to be covered within the hole hybrid system. This description is valid for systems using batteries as energy storage device. For a storage fed by an AC current (e.g. pumped hydro storage) the output of the generating units certainly does not have to be converted. Nevertheless in this case a controlling unit is needed for distribution of energy between storage and system loads.

DC/AC inverter: The stored in the batteries has to be reconverted into AC current before it can be used to supply a load. Thus a DC/AC inverter has to be included.

Wind-Diesel hybrid systems

System design and sizing

Resource assessment

Load assessment

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Sizing of the generation units

  for minimum the high priority loads must be covered by wind / battery

Sizing of energy storage

Sizing of electronic devices

Operation

Two basic operational strategies

Applications

T/C Stations

Stations for telecommunication in remote areas have to be supplied with power during long time periods. Extension of the electricity grid in most cases is a big financial effort, while the supply by sole diesel generators causes additional fuel- and maintainance-costs permanently. Small hybrid systems can be used to reduce fuel-consumption: A small wind turbine may be placed on the relay-mast of the T/C station, avoiding the additional installation costs of a turbine tower. As load variations of a T/C stations are rather low but a steady supply is needed, hybrid systems combining different RES-sources are preferable for this application. A battery storage for system back-up is necessary.

If the T/C station supply should be provided mainly by RES-sources, larger wind turbines on separate towers have to be installed. The inclusion of a PV-System results in reduced variations in RES-output and allows the reduction of the necessary storage size. A well designed hybrid system minimizes the fuel costs of the station supply. Several examples have shown the efficiency of fuel savings gained by the application of hybrid systems: Kaldelli refers to a system installed for remote T/C stations in Kenya consisting of a 7,5 kW turbine, sealed batteries and an inverter, which reduced fuel consumption for remote T/C stations by 70-95%.

External links

• Wikipedia: Wind-diesel hybrid power system (contains a list of communities using wind-diesel systems), retrieved 17.6.2011 [[2]]