Low Specific Power Wind Turbines for Reduced Levelized Cost of Energy

Wind turbines with Low Specific Power (LSP) are envisaged as one of the modern-day manifestations to reduce the variability in wind generation, lower the cost of energy, increase the penetration to larger areas and better utilize the transmission system. In this regard, this chapter analyzes the characteristics of a LSP turbine synthesized close to a target Specific Power of 100 W/m2 (LSP-105) based on ground-based measurements at varying site conditions representing various IEC wind classes. The overall analysis suggests that, under reasonable scenarios, low-specific power turbines could play a significant role in the future wind energy fleet, with their impact being particularly noticeable in low wind areas of the world. The analysis reveals that LSP turbines would provide a higher capacity utilization factor (CUF), even in low wind sites, and may reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) to an extent of 60%. On the other hand, the grid utilization pattern is found to be improving with LSP wind turbines in the medium and high wind sites. The results further suggest that reducing the cut-off wind speed could be one of the successful strategies to optimize the cost of LSP turbine in low wind sites.