Techno-economic analysis of power smoothing solutions for pumping airborne wind energy systems

Joshi, Rishikesh; Terzi, D von; Kruijf, M; Schmehl, Roland

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2265/4/042069

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The presently implemented small-and mid-scale systems generally use a mechanical gearbox to couple the drum with the generator. Geared drivetrain systems are, however, expected to present several challenges for usage in larger systems [30]. The drivetrain of the modelled 5 MW system was, therefore, designed as a hydraulic system by using information from product catalogues of industrial manufacturers.…”

Section: Ground Station/power Generation Apparatus (Pga)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

Hagen

Petrick

Wilhelm³

et al. 2023

Energies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A key motivation for airborne wind energy is its potential to reduce the amount of material required for the generation of renewable energy. On the other hand, the materials used for airborne systems’ components are generally linked to higher environmental impacts. This study presents comparative life-cycle analyses for future multi-megawatt airborne wind energy systems and conventional wind turbines, with both technologies operating in the same farm configuration and under matching environmental conditions. The analyses quantify the global warming potential and cumulative energy demand of the emerging and established wind energy technologies. The cumulative energy demand is subsequently also used to determine the energy payback time and the energy return on investment. The selected airborne wind energy system is based on the design of Ampyx Power, using a fixed-wing aircraft that is tethered to a generator on the ground. The conventional wind turbine is primarily based on the NREL 5 MW reference turbine. The results confirm that an airborne wind energy system uses significantly less material and generates electricity at notably lower impacts than the conventional wind turbine. Furthermore, the impacts of the wind turbine depend strongly on the local environmental conditions, while the impacts of the airborne wind energy system show only a minimal dependency. Airborne wind energy is most advantageous for operation at unfavourable environmental conditions for conventional systems, where the turbines require a large hub height.

show abstract

Section: Ground Station/power Generation Apparatus (Pga)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

Hagen

Petrick

Wilhelm³

et al. 2023

Energies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The parametric approach was primarily based on data provided by Ampyx Power B.V. accounting for the subsystem-and component-level architectures of the specific AWE system. The cost references were based on supplier quotes, industry standards, empirical numbers, and company research [39][40][41].…”

Section: Cost Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value-Driven System Design of Utility-Scale Airborne Wind Energy

Joshi

Kruijff²,

Schmehl

2023

Energies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the current auction-based electricity market, the design of utility-scale renewable energy systems has traditionally been driven by the levelised cost of energy (LCoE). However, the market is gradually moving towards a subsidy-free era, which will expose the power plant owners to the fluctuating prices of electricity. This paper presents a computational approach to account for the influence of time-varying electricity prices on the design of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems. The framework combines an analytical performance model, providing the power curve of the system, with a wind resource characterisation based on ERA5 reanalysis data. The resulting annual energy production (AEP) model is coupled with a parametric cost model based on reference prototype data from Ampyx Power B.V. extended by scaling laws. Ultimately, an energy price model using real-life data from the ENTSO-E platform maintained by the association of EU transmission system operators was used to estimate the revenue profile. This framework was then used to compare the performance of systems based on multiple economic metrics within a chosen design space. The simulation results confirmed the expected behaviour that the electricity produced at lower wind speeds has a higher value than that produced at higher wind speeds. To account for this electricity price dependency on wind speeds in the design process, we propose an economic metric defined as the levelised profit of energy (LPoE). This approach determines the trade-offs between designing a system that minimises cost and designing a system that maximises value.

show abstract

“…When flying downwards, the kite's pull is increased because of gravitational effects and the system has to reel-out fast to keep the tether force constant, leading to a high peak power. These power fluctuations require smoothing as a necessary step before transmission to the energy grid [9]. Larger fluctuations thus require over-dimensioning of components, increasing system cost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power smoothing by kite tether force control for megawatt-scale airborne wind energy systems

Hummel,

Pollack,

Eijkelhof

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Airborne wind energy is an emerging technology that uses tethered flying devices to capture stronger and more steady winds at higher altitudes. Compared to smaller systems, megawatt-scale systems are substantially affected by gravity during flight operation, resulting in power fluctuations. MegAWES, a 3 MW reference model, experiences power fluctuations between -5.8 MW and +20.5 MW every 12.5 seconds during the traction phase when using its baseline controller at a wind speed of 22 m/s. The baseline controller does not have a power limit, leading to high peak power, and aims to keep the tether force constant, causing it to consume power when the kite is flying upwards. In this paper, we implement an optimal torque controller in the MegAWES framework and show that this eliminates the power consumption during the traction phase. Furthermore, we propose a kite tether force controller that allows setting a power limit when combined with the 2-phase reeling strategy, which decreases the peak power. Our new architecture reduces the power output range by 75% to between +3.7 MW and +9.4 MW in strong wind conditions.

show abstract

Techno-economic analysis of power smoothing solutions for pumping airborne wind energy systems

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

Value-Driven System Design of Utility-Scale Airborne Wind Energy

Power smoothing by kite tether force control for megawatt-scale airborne wind energy systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About