Birla Institute of Technology

and Science, Pilani Campus

Energy System Engineering
Life Cycle Assessment of a Wind Power
Plant

Submitted by
Akashdeep Singh
(2015H101035P)
Sumit Dhage

CONTENTS

Wind Energy, Origin of wind & History

Global & Indian Scenario
Physics & Aerodynamics
Classification Of Wind Turbines & its
Components
LCA Methodology
Case Study
Conclusion
References
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Wind Energy
Fossil based energy have many
disadvantages leading to need for
substitutes.
Increase in alternative sources of
renewable energy, including wind energy.
clean sources of energy.
have a much lower environmental impact.

The wind is a by-product of solar energy.

Approximately 2% of the solar energy is
converted into wind energy.
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Origin of Wind
Solar radiation differentially absorbed by earth surface
converted through convective processes due to
temperature differences to air motion.
Wind can be classified as:
planetary circulations,
geostrophic winds,
thermal winds,
gradient winds,
topographic winds,
downslope wind storms,
convective storms,
sea and land breeze,
hurricanes,
tornadoes,
atmospheric waves etc.

HISTORY
Ancient Civilization
1st Wind Energy Systems - Vertical-Axis Wind-Mill: connected to
grinding stone for milling.

Middle Ages:
Post Mill Introduced in Northern Europe
Horizontal-Axis Wind-Mill: sails connected to a horizontal shaft.

19th century:
Wind-rose horizontal-axis water-pumping wind-mills in rural
America.

1888:
Charles Brush builds first large-size wind electricity generation
turbine.

1890s:
Lewis Electric Company of New York sells generators to fit onto
existing windmills

1920s-1950s:
Propeller-type 2 & 3-blade horizontal-axis wind electricity
conversion systems.

Modern Era:
Scale increase, commercialization, competitiveness, grid
integration.

GLOBAL SCENARIO

INDIAN SCENARIO
State wise wind power in India
(March 31, 2015)

Wind Energy Companies in India

State

Capacit
y (MW)

% of total

Company

Office

Tamil Nadu

7455.2

31.8

Vestas India

Aarhus, Denmark

Gujarat

3645.4

15.5

Suzlon Energy

Pune, Maharashtra

Maharashtr
a

4450.8

18.9

Enercon India

Aurich, Germany

Rajasthan

3307.2

14.1

Wind World India

Karnataka

2638.4

11.2

Regen Powertech

Andhra
Pradesh

1031.4

4.4

Inox Wind limited

Madhya
Pradesh

879.7

3.7

Gamesa Wind
Turbines

Kerala

35.1

0.14

GE Wind Energy

Others

4.3

0.02

India Total

23447.5

100%

Orient Green
Power

Atlanta, United
States
Chennai, Tamil
Nadu

Indowind Energy

Chennai, India

Mumbai,
Maharashtra
Chennai, Tamil
Nadu
Noida, Uttar
Pradesh
Zamudio, Spain

Jaisalmer Wind Park

India's Largest operational onshorewind
farm.
Developed bySuzlon Energy.
Initiated in August 2001.
Installed capacity: 1064 MW

PHYSICS
Wind Power depends on:
amount of air (volume)
P
speed of air (velocity)
mass of air (density)
Betz Limit & Power Coefficient:
Power Coefficient, Cp, is the ratio of power
extracted by the turbine to the total contained
in the wind resource to the total contained in
the wind resource.
Turbine power output :
The Betz Limit is the maximal possible Cp =
16/27 = 0.59
59% efficiency is the BEST a conventional
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Aerodynamics Wind
Turbine

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Aerodynamics Wind
Turbine

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CLASSIFICATION OF WIND TURBINES

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Horizontal Axis

Single
Blade

Two Blade

Three
Blade
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Horizontal Axis

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Vertical Axis

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MAIN COMPONENTS OF A WIND TURBINE

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Rotor : The rotor is made up of

blades attached to a hub.
Blades are shaped like airplane
wings and use the principle of
lift to turn wind energy into
mechanical energy. Blades can
be as long as 150 feet half
the length of football field.
Pitch Drive : Blades can be
rotated to reduce the amount
of lift when wind speed
becomes too great.
Nacelle: The rotor attaches to
the nacelle which sits atop the
tower and encloses the various
components
Brake: The mechanical brake
acts as a backup to the braking
effects of the blade pitch drives
or as a parking brake for

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Gear Box: The rotor turns the

low speed shaft at speeds
ranging from 20 revolutions
per minute (rpm) on large
turbines to 400 rpm on
residential units. Transmission
great increase the 1200 to
1800 rpm required by most
generator to produce
electricity.
High speed shaft : Attached
to a generator
Generator: Converts the
mechanical energy produced
by rotor into electricity.
Heat exchanger: To keep the
generator cool
Controller: A computer
system, starts and stops the
turbine, and makes the

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 Anemometer: Measure
wind speed and passes it
along to the controller
Wind vane: Detects wind
direction and passes it
along the controller,
which adjusts the YAW ,
or heading of the rotor
and the nacelle.
Yaw Drive : Keeps the
rotor facing into the wind
Tower : Because wind
speed increases with
height, taller towers allow
turbines to capture more
energy.

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Sequences involved in wind power generation

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LCA
LCA is a holistic approach for
evaluating the environmental impacts
associated with
the manufacture
use
disposal of a product
It looks at a product or a service by
following all stages of the life of that
product or service.
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LCA Methodology

Goal and scope Definition :

includes technical details like the system boundaries,
assumptionsimpact categories chosen.

Life cycle inventory (LCI) :

includes information on all of the environmental
inputs and outputs associated with a product i.e.
material and energy requirements, as well as
emissions and wastes.

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 Impact Assessment :
This phase is aimed at evaluating the significance
of potential environmental impacts based on the
LCI flow results.

Interpretation :
The results from the inventory analysis and impact
assessment are summarized during the
interpretation phase.
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CASE STUDY
Gamesa onshore
wind turbine in
the Munilla wind
farm in Spain
1200 m altitude.
Wind turbine :
80 m rotor blade
5027 m2 sweep
area
70 m height
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LCA OF THE CASE STUDY

1. Construction Phase
2. Transportation stage
3. Operational Phase
4. Decommissioning
phase

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Foundations
The base has a volume of 270 m3 of concrete and a total
weight of 700t and uses 25t of iron for the reinforcing bars.
The steel ferrule used to connect and support the turbine
towers weighs 15t.
Tower
Tower measures 76 m and weighs 143t.
In decommissioning process for the tower, the material
undergoes a recycling process with approx. 10% losses.
Nacelle
Nacelle cover is made of composite material (preperg).
It contains main shaft, the gearbox, the generator and the
transformer)
The total weight corresponds to around 50t
Rotor
The whole unit weighs approximately 35t.
Each blade is 39 m long, weighs 6.5t and is made of prepreg
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composite material..

Key parameters of the life cycle inventory for wind power

production

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Phases of the wind turbines life cycle

Manufacturing stage:
The manufacturing processes used in each case is analyzed.
Foundation and the rotor have greatest impact in this stage.
Prepreg is the element which has the greatest impact in the GWP
category.

Transportation stage:
From the various component manufacturers to the assembly
workshop.
To its final emplacement in the wind farm.

Use stage:
Greatest impact is of inorganic respiration and the reduction of
mineral resources.

Disposal stage:
Material directed to landfill such as concrete and prepreg.
The metals extracted are taken for recycling.
Foundations will be left in place and covered with a 30 cm layer of
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organic soil to avoid contamination caused by heavy equipment.

Contribution of each life-cycle stage.

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Impact Categories
Carcinogens(C),
Organic respiration(OR),
Inorganic respiration (IR),
Global warming(GWP),
Radiation(R),
Depletion of the stratospheric zone(ODP),
Eco-toxicity(ET),
Acidification and eutrophication(Acid/Eut.),
Land use(LU),
Minerals(M),
Fossil fuels(Fuels).
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Eco-profile of the four main components under study. (Martinez, et

al., 2009)

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Material type and disposal method

considered

Energy payback time of the wind farm

Annual output can be estimated as 4GWh for a 2MW
rate turbine with an average production of 2000 full
load hours per year.
This output of electrical energy allows us to reduce the
levels of environmental impact, since need of energy
from the conventional source can be reduced.
The wind turbine allows us to recover nearly 31 times
the environmental contamination cause by 33its
manufacture,
start-up,
operation
and

CONCLUSIONS

Wind turbines consumes energy resources and causes emissions

during the production of

raw materials,
manufacturing process,
transportation of small and large parts of the wind turbines,
maintenance, and
disposal of the parts at the end life of the turbines.

The main environmental impact shown up is the cost in copper.

This metal has a high value and environmental impact although it
is recyclable.
The best solution is to reduce the amount used or replace it with
another material with similar characteristics which will not reduce
the generators efficiency.
More energy and more emissions are produced during the primary
material production of the wind turbine parts.
The manufacturing process is the second dominant phase.
The energy consumption and carbon foot print are negligible for
the transportation and the use phases.
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REFERENCES
Martinez, E. and at., el. 2009. Life cycle assessment of a multi-megawatt wind
turbine; Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 667673. 2009.
Tremeac, B. 2009. B. Tremeac, F. Meunier / Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews 13. 2009.
Consultants, PRe. 2001. The Eco-indicator 99. A damage oriented method for life
cycle impact assessment. Netherlands. 2001.
ISO. 1998. Environmental management life cycle assessment principlesand
framework. Geneva. s.l.: International Organisation for Standardisation, 1998. ISO
14040.
Li, H., Zhang and H-C., Carrell, J. and Tate, D. 2010. Use of an energy-saving
concept to assess life-cycle impact in engineering. s.l.: International Journal of
Sustainable Manufacturing, Vol. 2, 2010.
Pehnt. 2006. Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable energy technologies.
2006.
Spellman, Frank R. 2014. Water & Wastewater Infrastructure - Energy Efficiency and
Sustainability. s.l.: Taylor & Francis, 2014.
Varun, Bhat and I.K. and Prakash, R. 2009. LCA of renewable energy for electricity
generation systems . a review.. s.l.: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol.
13, 2009.
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Thank You !!!

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