Objective
A rated 100 kW, 17 m diameter fixed geometry vertical axis wind turbine (known as Musgroves wind turbine) derived from a scale up of a 6 m diameter prototype is connected to the 2 MW diesel fired grid on St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly. The wind turbines output could be as much as 33% of total demand (at night), and 5-10% by day. The annual yield is estimated at 208.000 kWh.
The wind turbine was installed at Mount Todden on the Scilly island and commissioning started in October 1987. Due to some technical problems, the machine has been modified and operates as fixed geometry stall control wind turbine, since October 1988.
Initial results show that the VAWT 260 project has been successful in four principal areas :
1. the validation of aerodynamic and structural dynamic models,
2. the performance of the rotor design and
3. the integration of the machine with the distribution system.
4. the acceptance of the machine by the inhabitants of the island which is a holiday center.
VAWT has now ceased to trade so the project can not be directly replicated. The machine has produced much less than the projected energy production. Although the project was not economically viable with the tariff payable to private producers in UK at the time, it provided valuable information on the interaction of a remote machine with a small diesel grid. The island is now connected to the mainland grid.
The 17 m diameter, 100 kW vertical axis machine has in normal operation two straight blades with a length of 12.5 metres. Each of the two blades is divided in two straight parts with a blade chord of 0.85 m, a NACA 0018 section and are made from glass reinforced plastic. The rotor is supported at the top of a 20 m rotating torque tube based on a gimbal mounting arrangement which allows easy erection and maintenance. Rotor torque is transmitted from the hub shaft via a torque tube and a flexible coupling to a speed increasing gearbox and generator at ground level. In order to optimize the power output of the wind turbine, two induction generators are used with nominal powers of 30 and 75 kW. Maximum demand upon the generation capacity of St. Mary's is of the order of 6 MW. At night the demand drops to around 800 kW giving a higher penetration of the wind turbine.
It has been estimated that the voltage disturbances produced by the wind turbine, running through a 2-3% slip induction generator, will then be less than 25%. The annual yield is estimated at 208.000 kWh which leads to a cost per unit of generated energy of 9.05 p/KWh while a conventional solution has a cost of 8 p/kWh. However, it has been estimated that when the machine is mass produced, the cost will drop to 80,000 UKL per unit.
For the realization of the project Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Ltd. (VAWT) are cooperating with Mac ALPINE Ltd.
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Coordinator
HP2 7DR Hemel Hempstead
United Kingdom
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