10. Technology and Trends
Wind technology is evolving rapidly. Solutions to the issue of fault ride-through are now available from a number of manufacturers. In this study we have necessarily had to "freeze" our assumptions about WTG technology to that which is now readily available. However, in future the limitations on wind energy integration could be further removed as WTGs increasingly provide the full range of functions previously only expected of conventional synchronous generators. The 180 MW Horns Rev wind farm70 offshore West Denmark, despite some early problems, has the following additional controllable features:
- ramp rate limitation;
- absolute power output constraint;
- delta control - maintains constant reserve margin even while wind speed changes;
- balance control - maintains constant output from the wind farm even while wind speed changes.
The penalties paid for these additional features are an additional capital cost and a reduction in load factor due to the activation of these additional features, all of which require generating at an output lower than possible with any given wind speed.
In future, it is conceivable that highly sophisticated wind farms such as Horns Rev could earn income in New Zealand by providing services such as regulation, IR, voltage control, and they could even be marginal generators. If the additional capital cost is minimal, because of advances in technology and worldwide demand, and spilled energy is not too great, then it is quite conceivable we could see such wind farms here within the next decade.
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