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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of PCGEs used in a small‐scale windmill in terms of the number of PCGEs.

Experiments were performed in cases where one, two, or four PCGEs are attached to the frame of the windmill, with optimization of different gap distances between exciting and secondary magnets carried out to determine the optimal configuration for generating the peak voltage and harvesting the maximum wind energy for the same range of wind speeds.

The experimental results show that the prototype can harvest energy in urban regions with low wind speeds and convert the wasted wind energy into electricity for city use.

The experimental results show that the prototype can harvest energy in urban regions with low wind speeds and convert the wasted wind energy into electricity for city use.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the wind regime at Wainiyaku, Taveuni in Fiji, estimate Annual Energy Production (AEP) using a 275 kW Vergnet wind, and determine its economic viability.

The only grid supply is in the northeast (suburban area) of the island. The main source is diesel generators, which are operated only certain hours per day. The study around Wainiyaku state was essential to determine an alternative continuous source of energy. The wind assessment on the island was based on the data provided by the Department of Energy (Fiji) and WAsP was used to reliably estimate the wind power potential on the island.

The report suggested that Wainiyaku Taveuni is a good site for wind power generation based on mean wind speed at 30 m agl. The software predicted a resource grid for mean wind speed and power density around Wainiyaku. An economic analysis for a prospective wind power generation using Vergnet 275 kW showed a reasonable promise.

The conclusion justifies that a longer period (3y) data are necessary for better accuracy. However, one‐year data are sufficient to predict annual energy production with reasonable certainty.

The paper provides an alternative solution for a continuous supply of electricity for a remote island. It shows the economics of utilizing wind power generator to provide unobstructed supply of electricity. It further explores the saving in foreign exchange for a small Island economy. The analysis of wind regime suggests that an independent power producer may consider investing in a wind farm at Wainiyaku.

The purpose of this study is to identify Offshore Wind Energy (OWE) as a key technology that could drive countries toward achieving climate goals. However, there are multiple challenges that this sector faces.

This study aims to identify the challenges faced by the sector globally by systematically reviewing the existing literature in global context and portraying it in the Indian context. Factors are identified using content analysis.

Results suggest high levelized cost of energy as the most discussed challenge for the growth of OWE. Insufficient financial support and policy, initial capital and inadequate technology formed the second, third and fourth most discussed challenges respectively.

To reduce the cost of OWE, the distribution companies in India could adopt feed-in tariffs (FiTs) in the early stages of development and make OWE procurement mandatory. The renewable purchase obligation (RPO) in India is specific to solar and non-solar; policy should accommodate offshore wind-specific RPO targets for each state to reach the 2030 target of 30 GW from OWE.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to study the challenges of OWE development from a global perspective and portray these major challenges in the Indian context and uses content analysis from the existing literature to ascertain the major roadblocks for the development of OWE.

The study identifies the unexplored gap in literature that includes futuristic challenges for OWE from climate change. Future studies can explore the possibilities of forecasting based on climate change scenarios and rank the challenges based on their relevance caused by possible damages.

The social acceptance of wind energy is increasingly conditioning the Italian Government and regions to authorize the construction of these plants. The proposal of offshore wind farm in the south-west of Sardinia has raised many perplexities both from the marine environmental point of view and from concern about increasing the electricity production in a region that already exports electricity to the peninsula. The purpose of this study is to evaluate what are the factors that most affect the coastal residents’ acceptability of an offshore wind farm.

The data is based on a Sardinia-wide in-person survey with about 512 participants in the period between May and June 2023. Respondents were selected randomly from five different locations in Carloforte region. Multiple regression analysis investigates the factors that influenced acceptability to construction and development of offshore wind power plant. Four independent variables were selected in the regression models such as (i) interest towards wind energy, (ii) attitude towards renewable energy production, (iii) perceived regional energy policy and (iv) attitude towards offshore wind farm. The dependent variables are the rates of coastal local residents’ acceptance of offshore wind farm for respondents in five coastal towns.

Fishermen and summer tourism operators’ respondents expressed significant reluctance to accept the new project because they perceive a strong risk of environmental impact on both tuna fishing and marine recreational activities in the vicinity. The distance between the turbines at sea and local residents along the coast and surrounding small islands does not have an influence to accept wind energy. The energy policy of the Region of Sardinia, which is perceived by respondents as an expansive energy policy in the production of electricity that exceeds their needs, not being accompanied by a scenario of reducing that from fossil fuels, is the variable that led about 70% of respondents to express a negative opinion towards this project.

A potential problem associated with the survey is that local response produced sample selection bias. The proportion of respondents with secondary education and no school certificate is quite high. It is possible that respondents who provided valid questionnaires were more low-educated and therefore, the sample may be biased towards lower-educated people. While this does not invalidate the results of this study, it is important to note that the sample was on average less educated than the overall population in Italy. In addition, people with lower incomes were more likely to complete the questionnaires; the results are more representative of a portion of the population with incomes below the national average.

Results showed how coastal communities are in favour of wind energy within their island, but not within a marine protected area that is considered unique for its beauty and marine ecosystem. Wind energy developers should, before submitting a proposal for an offshore wind farm project, consider among other things the long approval time and understand the activities carried out by local communities and their attachment to those places. Politicians and developers should develop a coherent energy transition policy based on a long-term vision of zero emissions, because according to the findings of this study, it was the regional energy policy that is the most controversial reason for residents to reject the project.

The contribution of this study is to fill a part of the research gap linking to ongoing energy transitions. In particular, this study analysed for the first time in Italy the acceptability level of an offshore renewable energy project considering the environmental implications and risks in the fragile marine ecosystem of Carloforte waters. This study also made it possible to analyse the impact of the regional energy policy on the acceptability of residents towards the development of offshore wind farms, which is scarcely discussed in the literature.

In recent years, Portugal has witnessed the siting of 250 wind farms, particularly in mountainous and rural areas. Even though, unlike other European countries, general public consensus seemed at first to prevail, protests by local population and ENGOs have been increasing of late (many broadcast by the media) – the outcomes of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) provide a good example. This chapter has two main objectives. On one hand, it examines how rural landscapes are discursively framed in the press when the Portuguese media picks up wind energy issues. On the other hand, by analysing EIA reports, it aims at identifying the social actors involved in the decision process of the siting of wind farms in rural or peri-urban areas, the arguments for and against the location of these facilities and how the (rural) landscape is framed and represented. The empirical material is drawn on three different sources: media analysis of the public discourse on landscape issues related to wind farms; an analysis of EIA reports regarding wind farms in Portugal and an analysis of official positions on this issue assessed through the Environmental Impact Declarations (EID) of EIA processes. It is concluded that despite the lack of media attention to landscape impacts’ of wind farms, the existing discursive frames are often attached to dichotomized cultural meanings: it either deems wind farms as technological tools for landscape progressive transformation or as a risk to its pristine image. As to the EIA reports, landscape matters are more visible and important and at times sufficient to reject approval or change of the siting of a wind farm.

No carbon gas is released into the atmosphere in electricity production with wind energy. Therefore, this type of energy is significantly environmentally friendly. On the other hand, thanks to wind energy investments, a country can produce its own energy. This reduces the country’s foreign dependency on energy. Due to these positive aspects, increasing wind energy investments is very important for both the social and economic development of the country. The aim of this study is to define the most appropriate government support to improve wind energy investments. In this context, four different criteria are defined in this regard by making a detailed literature review. In the analysis process, fuzzy AHP methodology is considered. Within this framework, the comparative evaluations of three different experts are obtained. The findings indicate that providing loans with low-interest rate is the most appropriate government support for the wind energy investors. Additionally, it is also defined that tax deduction is another important issue for this purpose. However, it is also identified that appropriate location supply and purchase guarantee of the product produced have lower importance in comparison with the others. It is strongly recommended that governments should provide loans to the wind energy investors. This strategy can minimize the problem of high initial cost so that it can be much easier to attract the attention of the investors.

The rapid rising of renewable energy sources particularly wind energy cannot be ignored. The numerical increase in wind energy farms throughout the world is the best example. The purpose of this paper is to assess the basic question of whether wind characteristics affect the performance and cost of energy. The importance of this question cannot be ruled out while comparing renewable energy to a conventional form of energy more specifically especially for the developing country where the cost of energy is very high.

The research design of this paper is consists of an assessment of local wind characteristics of the wind farm site using Weibull k and c parameters. The performance model is used to assess the performance of the wind turbine (WT) corresponding to local wind characteristics. The wind correlation with WT in terms of changing wind speed has been assessed to quantify the effects of wind speed on the WT behavior and failure of WT components. Similarly, the power curve of WT is assessed and compared with the International Electrotechnical Commission standards 61400-12-2. The WT power coefficient and tip speed ratio corresponding to wind speed is also investigated. The energy volume and cost of energy lost model is used to determine the cost and volume loss of energy/kWh of the wind farm.

The findings of practical wind farms showed that the wind conditions of the site are showing a strong tendency that can be determined from the results of Weibull k and c parameters. The k and c parameters are observed to be 3.44 and 9.16 m/s, respectively, for a period of a year. The standard deviation is observed to be 2.56 for a period of a year. WT shows the efficient behavior can be obtained from the power coefficient and tip speed of WT at different wind speeds. Also, wind farm observation showed that to be some increasing wind speed cause of based WT component failures. The results of energy volume and cost/kWh assessment showed that the major portion of energy volume and cost of energy is lost owing to network, voltage dip and frequency surge, electrical and mechanical components failures.

Generally, it can be concluded that the WTs are now able to cope with variable wind speeds. However, the results of this paper are showing that WT performance and availability decreased due to increased wind speeds. It can also be a reason to decreased volume and increase the cost of energy/kWh.

The purpose of this paper is contribution to estimate the potential of wind energy in Douala in Cameroon, by modeling and predicting the regime of wind. The paper deals with the analysis and comparison of seven numerical methods for the assessment of effectiveness in determining the parameters for the Weibull distribution, using wind speed data collected at Douala International Airport in Cameroon, in the period from September 2011 to May 2013, obtained by meteorological equipment belonging to the Laboratory of Energy Research of the Institute of Geological and Mining Research.

By using ANOVA, root mean square error and chi-square tests to compare the proposed methods, this study aims to determine which methods are effective in determining the parameters of the Weibull distribution for the available data, in an attempt to establish acceptable criteria for better usage of wind power in Douala, which is the economic capital and ought to have prominence in the use of renewable sources for electricity generation in Cameroon.

The study helps to determine that moment, empirical and energy pattern factor methods used to determine the shape parameter k and the scale parameter c of the Weibull distribution present a better curve fit with the histogram of the wind speed. This fact is clearly validated by means of the statistical tests. But, all the seven methods gave excellent performance. Then, k reaching levels ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 and c range from 1.7 to 2.4.

Then as far as we are concerned, for a significant contribution, it could be more effective to have a model for prediction of wind characteristics using wind data collected per hour, one at least three years. A comparison of results obtained from lots of other methods (seven in this case) is necessary before an efficient discussion. Standard deviations and errors between measured and predicted data must also be presented.

This paper aims to design an optimum vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and assess its techno-economic performance for wind energy harvesting at high-speed railway in Malaysia.

This project adopted AutoCAD and ANSYS modeling tools to design and optimize the blade of the turbine. The site selected has a railway of 30 km with six stops. The vertical turbines are placed 1 m apart from each other considering the optimum tip speed ratio. The power produced and net present value had been analyzed to evaluate its techno-economic viability.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 0020 blade has been carried out. For a turbine with wind speed of 50 m/s and swept area of 8 m², the power generated is 245 kW. For eight trains that operate for 19 h/day with an interval of 30 min in nonpeak hours and 15 min in peak hours, total energy generated is 66 MWh/day. The average cost saved by the train stations is RM 16.7 mil/year with battery charging capacity of 12 h/day.

Wind energy harvesting is not commonly used in Malaysia due to its low wind speed ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 m/s. Conventional wind turbine requires a minimum cut-in wind speed of 11 m/s to overcome the inertia and starts generating power. Hence, this paper proposes an optimum design of VAWT to harvest an unconventional untapped wind sources from railway. The research finding complements the alternate energy harvesting technologies which can serve as reference for countries which experienced similar geographic constraints.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze wind characteristics and their effects on wind turbine components and energy generation at the candidate site.

The methodology covered the detailed investigation of wind characteristics using Weibull k and c parameters and standard deviation at 30 m above the ground level (AGL). The wind shear coefficient and air density were also studied. The weight model was developed to determine the effects on wind turbine components and energy generation. At last, an economic assessment was carried out to determine the pre- and post-effects of the weight model on the cost of energy per kilowatt-hour.

The mean standard deviation, Weibull k parameter and Weibull c parameter were found to be 2.157, 2.617 and 6.087 m/s, respectively, at 30 m for a period of a year. The mean wind shear coefficient was found to be 0.176 for a year. The calculated results showed that site-specific midrange and amplitude force were 40.95 per cent and 37.75 per cent on wind turbine mechanical components, respectively. The average rise in force and drop in energy was found to be 35.50 per cent and 47.55 per cent, respectively. The lift coefficient, drag coefficient and pitching moment considering values (a, 0.1 and 0.2) showed an increase in force on wind turbine components that resulted in a drop in energy. The cost assessment results showed that the cost of energy was increased from US$0.032/kWh to 0.0466/kWh for wind turbine A.

An accurate determination of the weight factor is necessary for near-reality assessment of wind energy yield and rise of force on the wind turbine. The results paved the way for site-specific design optimization of wind turbines.

The study contributes to the site-specific wind characteristic-based weight model to determine the effects of wind loads on wind turbine components and energy generation and compared with the specified design standard. The lift coefficient, drag coefficient and pitching moment coefficient show a rise in the force while considering the weight factor values. The results show that the site has the potential to generate energy at the lowest cost per kilowatt-hour, but it needs wind turbine design adjustments according to site-specific wind characteristics. If site-specific wind characteristics are considered, it would lead to maximum energy generation and high reliability of wind turbine components.