Wind Turbine Drivetrain
Technology and Cost Drivers
Dr John Coultate
R&D and Consultancy Dept. Leader
CONFIDENTIAL@ Copyright 2011
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Wind turbine trends and segmentation
3. Drivetrain technology and cost drivers
4. Conclusions
CONFIDENTIAL@ Copyright 2011SHARING INNOVATION IN BEARING, GEARBOX & DRIVELINE
Romax Technology
• Gearbox and drivetrain specialists
• Established in 1989
• 200 employees globally, 120 in UK
• Work in a range of industries
o Automotive, Off-road, Marine
o Wind energy
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o Wind energy
• Head office in Nottingham, UK
• Overseas offices in the US, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, China and India
• RomaxWIND is the best-in-class Virtual Product Development environment for design and analysis of wind turbine drivetrains
• RomaxWIND includes the only gear analysis capability certified by GL
RomaxWIND – Wind Turbine Drivetrain Software
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“RomaxWIND is the first software of its kind to meet the stringent
certification requirements of GL, and is the result of a number of
years of close working between Romax and GL.”Dr Karl Steingroever from GL Renewables Certification
Wind turbine trends and drivetrain technology
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Wind Turbine Markets – 2010 status
100,000
125,000
150,000
175,000
200,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
Cumulative MW
MW per year
Installed Wind Power in the World- Annual and Cumulative -
Offshore installed capacity in 2010 = 3,554 MW (1.8% of total installed capacity)
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0
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1983 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Cumulative MW
MW per year
Year
Source: BTM Consult - A Part of Navigant Consulting - March 2011
100,000
125,000
150,000
MW
Annual Global Wind Power Development
Actual 1990-2010 Forecast 2011-2015 Prediction 2016-2020
Wind Turbine Markets – Forecast
Offshore market share forecast to increase to 9.6% of total installed capacity by 2015
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0
25,000
50,000
75,000
1990 2010 2015 2020
MW
Prediction Offshore (Forecast) Forecast Existing capacitySource: BTM Consult - A Part of Navigant Consulting - March 2011
European Market Development
• Offshore market today = Onshore market in 1997 (with same growth forecast!)
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Wind Turbine Markets
Many challenges as the industry grows:
• Reliability and availability must improve
• Reduction in Cost of Electricity (CoE):
• Close the gap with other forms of power
• Less reliance on government incentives
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• Less reliance on government incentives
• Drive down O&M costs
• More experience required offshore:
• Engineering challenges: foundations, siting, operation and maintenance
• How to run a profitable offshore business?
Wind Turbine Markets – Size trends
• Average sizes of wind turbines installed increases each year:
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
kW
Global Average Annual WTG in kW Source: BTM Consult - A Part of Navigant Consulting - March 2011
Source: EWEA ‘UpWind’ report, March 2010
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0
200
400
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2010: global average size = 1,650 kW
Existing technology
2 MW, 80m rotor
Current development
7.5 MW, 164m+ rotor
Future
10 MW? 200m rotor?
Wind Turbine Markets – Size trends
• Forecasts indicate the largest market share will be for turbines ≥ 3 MW
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Source: Emerging Energy Research
Wind Turbine Markets – Segmentation
• Average size trend only tells part of the story
• There is natural segmentation of the market for different sites and wind classes:
Onshore
Class I & II wind sites
Onshore
• 1.5 MW – 3 MW
• 1.5 MW – 4.5 MW
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Onshore
Class II & III wind sites
Offshore
• 1.5 MW – 4.5 MW
• Very large rotor (100m+ diameter)
• ~3 MW – 10 MW+
• Turbines optimised for offshore
• Very large rotor (100m+ diameter)
• CMS as standard
Drivetrain Design
• Drivetrain design decisions have a huge impact on future success of a wind turbine
• Cost of Energy (CoE) includes many factors for the drivetrain, e.g.
o Drivetrain cost (CAPEX)
Turbine OEMs typically focus on this during design development; drives down whole turbine cost
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whole turbine cost
o O&M cost (OPEX) –
Reducing O&M costs is a main driver for the end-user (owners, operators, utilities).
o Drivetrain reliability
Has a direct effect on future liability for the OEM (warranty costs) and for the operator (O&M costs)
CAPEX and OPEX
• Approx. annualised CAPEX and OPEX per MW installed:
24 %
31 %
OPEX
Wind turbine & installation
OPEX costs are significantly higher offshore AND higher
proportion of total costTurbine CAPEX is higher offshore but are a lower proportion of total cost
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21 %
65 %
14 %
Onshore
45 %
Offshore
OPEX
Wind turbine & installation
Electrical Infrastructure, foundations & other
Electrical Infrastructure, foundations & other
Significant increase in electrical infrastructure and
foundation cost offshore
Drivetrain Technology
High speed modular drivetrain
Medium speed drivetrain
Direct drive drivetrain
• Three most dominant drivetrain technologies in the market:
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Overall ratio approx. 100:1
Overall ratio approx. 10:1 to 40:1
Overall ratio = 1:1
Drivetrain Technology Trends
Conventional High Speed
1MW 2MW 3MW 4MW 5MW 6MW 7MW 8MW 9MW 10MW
Size limited by higher ratio requirements and physical limitations on high speed stage (bearings)
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High Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Medium Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Direct Drive with PMG
Drivetrain Technology Trends
Conventional High Speed
1MW 2MW 3MW 4MW 5MW 6MW 7MW 8MW 9MW 10MW
Size limited by mechanical/structural challenges above 6MW, unproven technology at large sizes and rare earth magnets too expensive >6MW
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High Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Medium Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Direct Drive with PMG
Drivetrain Technology Trends
Conventional High Speed
1MW 2MW 3MW 4MW 5MW 6MW 7MW 8MW 9MW 10MW
Removes unreliable high speed gearbox stage and reduces impact of rare earth magnet cost
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High Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Medium Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Direct Drive with PMG
Drivetrain Technology Trends
Conventional High Speed
1MW 2MW 3MW 4MW 5MW 6MW 7MW 8MW 9MW 10MW
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High Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Medium Speed Geared
Drivetrain
Direct Drive with PMG
Drivetrain Design Requirements
• For drivetrain and gearbox design, the main requirements leading to low CoE are:
1. High reliability; high availability
2. Low capital cost (CAPEX)
3. Ease of manufacture and assembly
4. Ease of maintenance
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4. Ease of maintenance
5. High efficiency
• High efficiency can influence factors such as generator type, power electronics and variable ratio gearboxes
• High reliability does not just refer to mechanical reliability – also Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT), stability of grid connection, etc.
Drivetrain Components and Configurations
1. High speed modular 2-point mounted drivetrain
o Very common configuration – e.g. Vestas V80, Gamesa 2 MW, GE 1.5-77
Generator
2x Main BearingsGearbox
Brake
Flexible
Rear
bedplate
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Low stiffness
(gearbox mount)
Low stiffness (generator mounts)
Planet carrier
Flexible
Coupling
bedplate
(fabricated
steel
structure)
Bedplate
(cast iron)
High stiffness
(bearing housings)
Tower
2. High speed modular 3-point mounted drivetrain
o e.g. Siemens 2.3 MW, some GE 1.5 MW turbines
Generator
1x Main BearingsGearbox
Brake
Flexible
Drivetrain Components and Configurations
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Flexible
Coupling
High stiffness
(bearing housings)
3. Integrated main bearings; integrated mainframe; modular generator
GeneratorGearbox
Brake
Flexible
Drivetrain Components and Configurations
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Flexible
Coupling
Main bearing
integrated into
gearbox housing
Gearbox is flange-
mounted to housing
Shorter, more
compact
drivetrain
• Medium speed is an important concept for next-generation turbines:
o Currently being utilised for large turbines (3 MW+) by many manufacturers, e.g. Vestas V164 7 MW, Areva Multibrid M5000, DSME
Drivetrain Components and Configurations –
Medium Speed
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MW, Areva Multibrid M5000, DSME 7 MW, and Gamesa G10X 4.5 MW
o Requires a careful approach to design and analysis:
• high level of integration and interaction between gearbox and generator
4. Example medium speed concept – integrated generator (in-line); integrated main bearings; integrated mainframe
GeneratorGearboxGenerator is
mounted in-line
onto gearbox
Drivetrain Components and Configurations –
Medium Speed
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Rotor cables routed
through hollow
generator shaft
Main bearing
integrated into
gearbox housing
Gearbox is flange-
mounted to housing
Note: brake may be
mounted on low-
speed shaft or
downwind side of
generator
• E.g. Areva Multibrid M5000:
Drivetrain Components and Configurations –
Medium Speed
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Water-cooled PMG
(integrated into gearbox
housing)
Compound
planetary gear
stage
Integrated mainframe/gearbox
housing
Large diameter
integrated main
bearing
Conclusions
• An overview of technologies have been presented for the mechanical drivetrain
• There is currently a market trend towards Medium Speed concepts which have a number of advantages for large turbines
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Thank you for listening!
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