Wind energy state of the art: present and future technology advancements

Abstract

Renewables today are the first-choice option for a modern power system. Wind and solar are now competitive with conventional sources and commanded a high percentage of investments in renewable power. The cost of wind turbines has fallen by nearly 1/3rd since 2009 and that of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules by 80%. The number of countries that held auctions to deploy renewables has increased (from 6 in 2005 to 67 countries in 2017) with a very large increase in global investment. Global cumulative installed wind power capacity had more than 645 GW by the first quarter of 2019. The paper reviews the recent developments in wind energy conversion systems technology and discusses future expectations. Offshore wind turbines are the most possible technology for future utilization and of this, floating wind turbines are to dominate with larger scales could reach three times the present introduced scales. This is to provide more than 20% of the global demand in 2030. The paper presents several case studies for each case and highlights the technological aspects that support each development. The most important design advancements are also discussed with a forecast of the future design expectation that will affect the wind power generation program.