Getting more with less? Why repowering onshore wind farms does not always lead to more wind power generation – A German case study

Unnewehr, Jan Frederick; Jalbout, Eddy; Jung, Christopher; Schindler, Dirk; Weidlich, Anke

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2021.08.056

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In dismantling and repowering, constructive sewage, solid waste, noise, vibrations, and dust can aggravate ecological degradation and even destroy the functions of some essential ecological corridors. The replacement of higher wind turbines poses a critical challenge to planning permits with sensitive ecological structures [56].…”

Section: The Advantage Of the Least-cost Path Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of onshore wind farms on ecological corridors in Ningbo, China

Guan

2023

Environ. Res. Commun.

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Under the background of the energy transition, the ecosystems are threatened by the rapid expansion of renewable power plants, especially wind turbines with enormous sizes. While the potential ecological influence near wind farms has not been extensively studied. In the process of wind farm site selection, there is no uniform methodology to assess the ecological impact on the local ecosystem. This paper proposed a research framework to quantify the impacts on ecological corridors under the influence of wind farms. Taking five wind farms in Ningbo Peninsula as cases, the geographical data from Landsat 8, NDVI, DEM, and wind turbine data from Vortex were selected from 2010 to 2020. The ecological sources and resistance surfaces were analyzed with and without wind farms under least-cost distance and least-cost path models. The results revealed that wind farms could increase the migration resistance that prevents the species' ecological corridors, and change the number and routes of main ecological corridors. Additionally, the cumulative resistance value positively correlated with the distance between ecological sources. Through GIS spatial quantification assessment, this paper helps balance wind energy development and regional ecological security and provides scientific and orderly planning suggestions for the healthy development of the regional ecological network.

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Section: The Advantage Of the Least-cost Path Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of onshore wind farms on ecological corridors in Ningbo, China

Guan

2023

Environ. Res. Commun.

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“…These factors, coupled with the fact that turbines in Danish repowering projects are dismantled an average of 5.8 years earlier than those in non-repowering projects, illustrates the complexity of making repowering decisions. Moreover, changing land restrictions can impede the widespread adoption of repowering, as in the case of Unnewehr et al [16] where newly enacted exclusion criteria decreased projected repowering operating capacity by 40%. Still, repowering does have many decision drivers: Martínez et al [7] conducted a life-cycle assessment of a repowering process and found that repowering old wind farms provides significant environmental benefits (approximately an order of magnitude of kg CO 2 savings) due to the increased capacity for clean energy production.…”

Section: Drivers Barriers and Feasibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Design for Repowering of Wind Farms: An Initial Framework

Bouzolin,

Settelmaier,

Todd Griffith

2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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The need for clean and cost-effective energy sources is more pertinent than ever. Wind energy positions itself as a global contender in this role, offering a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly energy option. Furthermore, the wind energy industry is already starting to see numerous wind farms reaching 20+ years of life that require either repowering or decommissioning decisions to be made. Repowering offers many potential economic and sustainable benefits; however, many operators are faced with challenging decisions regarding whether to repower and how to optimally repower. This paper aims to address these challenges by introducing a novel comprehensive framework, known as “Design for Repowering”. In Design for Repowering, wind farms of the future would be designed with planned repowering in mind. Through integration of multiple criteria, including health monitoring/sensors, digital twins, and social/environmental factors, we aim to address open questions about repowering, such as the optimal timing, strategy, and economics of repowering decisions. Furthermore, the framework is applied to several case studies, illustrating its potential for solving some of the long-term challenges expected in the future of wind energy.

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“…Additionally, to reduce social opposition to these projects it is important to decrease the potential interference of the area usage with other residential, commercial, or industrial activities. In Germany, for instance, the availability of areas for wind farms was reduced when the buffers between these facilities and urban areas were significantly increased [109,110]. These factors raise the density of wind turbines per area, increasing the number of wind turbines per farm, and reducing their separation.…”

Section: Evolution On Name Plate Capacity Size Height and Rotor Diametermentioning

confidence: 99%

Onshore Wind Farm Development: Technologies and Layouts

Haces-Fernandez

Cruz-Mendoza

2022

Energies

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Significantly growing wind energy is being contemplated as one of the main avenues to reduce carbon footprints and decrease global risks associated with climate change. However, obtaining a comprehensive perspective on wind energy considering the many diverse factors that impact its development and growth is challenging. A significant factor in the evolution of wind energy is technological advancement and most previous reviews have focused on this topic. However, wind energy is influenced by a host of other factors, such as financial viability, environmental concerns, government incentives, and the impact of wind on the ecosystem. This review aims to fill a gap, providing a comprehensive review on the diverse factors impacting wind energy development and providing readers with a holistic panoramic, furnishing a clearer perspective on its future growth. Data for wind energy was evaluated by applying pivot data analytics and geographic information systems. The factors impacting wind energy growth and development are reviewed, providing an overview of how these factors have impacted wind maturity. The future of wind energy development is assessed considering its social acceptance, financial viability, government incentives, and the minimization of the unintended potential negative impacts of this technology. The review is able to conclude that wind energy may continue growing all over the world as long as all the factors critical to its development are addressed. Wind power growth will be supported by stakeholders’ holistic considerations of all factors impacting this industry, as evaluated in this review.

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Getting more with less? Why repowering onshore wind farms does not always lead to more wind power generation – A German case study

Cited by 14 publications

References 10 publications

The impact of onshore wind farms on ecological corridors in Ningbo, China

The impact of onshore wind farms on ecological corridors in Ningbo, China

Design for Repowering of Wind Farms: An Initial Framework

Onshore Wind Farm Development: Technologies and Layouts

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