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1. DISTRIBUTION OF RENEWABLE IN ENERGY PRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction
Starting with the end of the last century, concern about global warming, was
generated a new demand for clean and sustainable energy sources. In December
1997, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto,
Japan, 160 nations have established an agreement to limit emissions of carbon
dioxide. Most industrialized nations committed to reducing average national
emissions over the period of 2008 to 2012 to approximately five percent below 1990
levels.

Figure 1.1: Renewable energy sources

In many areas around the globe, the energy market is also being driven by
dynamic activity, because of the international political context. The politic relations
between EU and the Persian Bay countries and Russia will have a non-predictive
evolution and, as an important consequence, the European energy independence will
be more and more important.
The sustainable energy sources (wind, sun, water, biomass and geothermal
Figure 1.1) are technically easy to be managed and there is no need of controlling
their misuse. They offer an inexhaustible energy potential and are available
immediately. The utilization of sustainable resources will lead to a higher acceptance

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of renewable and to the spread of their use worldwide. This development is an
important contribution to protecting the global eco-system and for improving the
quality of life.

Figure 1.2: Renewable in Global Energy

Supply (2003)

The 21rst century begins under the huge expansion of technology which extends
all over the world. This implies huge energy consumption. This increase of life
standards requires a more and more need for energy as electrical or thermal type.
The main resource is obtained, 2/3 from the whole quantity from fuel combustion as
coal, oil, wood. Another way to produce energy is the nuclear power and hydro
power.
The natural resources are limited; many predictions exist in this way, that in a
couple of years they will not be available. The 70s Oil Crisis is a good example in
this way, so that the interests have turned to the other energy sources, as renewable
energy sources.
Many protocols and conventions between states were signed concerning the
renewable energy usage and a fight for a sustainable development, which means to
live in a way to not compromise the future generations possibilities to fulfill their
needs. One of the most important is the Kyoto Protocol from 1997 which refers to the
pollution reduction. Another problem is the CO 2 emissions which produce the
pollution and then, the climate change. In order to avoid these problems, most of the
states, researchers have turned their interests to the renewable energy field for a
sustainable development.

Figure 1.3: Distribution

of Renewable (2003)

The sustainable energy system most important characteristic is to minimise the

environmental impact of energy production and use; the cost and the environmental
impact of energy conversion processes will getting down by making all systems more
efficient and cleaner.

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published a report in 2003 regarding
the renewable in global energy supply (Figure 1.2); the distribution of renewable
typology is presented in Figure 1.3.
The renewable usage has great opportunity to realize an increasing growth in
global energy supply according to the global policies regarding the environment and
to the political evolutions.

1.2. Energy Production in Romania

The energy sources in Romania are related to: coal, crude oil, hydro, nuclear,
thermal; the coal reserves are estimated at 4bn tons.
Romania is the number one oil producer in central and eastern Europe. At
present, the country has 4 Black Sea oil platforms, which are yielding 1.5 m tons of
crude oil yearly, which is more than 12 % of the country's total crude output. In 1999
Romania's petroleum company Petrom discovered a new oilfield in the Black Sea,
which is believed to be the largest Romanian discovery made for several decades
according to the Chairman of Petrom. The new oilfield is asserted to have a potential
commercial value of between $4-$8bn as at 3rd qtr 2000. Experts have predicted the
oilfield can meet the country's demand for petroleum for at least 10 years.
The total theoretical hydroelectric potential of Romania--given optimum
technological conditions--has been calculated at some 70 billion kilowatt-hours in an
average year, but for technical and economic reasons only a fraction of this potential
has been developed. Geographically, the hydroelectric reserves of Romania are
concentrated along the Danube and in the valleys of rivers emerging from the
mountain core of the country. Other hydrographic resources include the more than
2,500 lakes, ranging from the glacial lakes of the mountains to those of the plains
and the marshes of the Danube delta region. The main effort since the 1940s,
however, has been on the Arges, Bistrita, Lotru, Olt, Mare, Sebes, and Somes rivers
as well as on the Danube at the Iron Gate.
Romania's nuclear power generation systems have been implemented in 1990s,
and are jointly managed by Romanian and Canadian resources.

Figure 1.4: The energy

sources percentages in the
electricity production in
Romania in 2003

Romania has large reserves of Coal for Thermal power production.

10 refineries provide Romania with the 5th largest refining capacity in Europe
(14th in World).
The energy sources percentages in the electricity production in Romania in 2003
are shown in Figure 1.4.

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1.3. The Wind Power Capacity in the EU
The wind power capacity in the EU, over the last ten years has increased by an
average 32% per year. There are differences regarding the wind power capacity
between the old EU countries (15 EU), the new EU members (10 EU) and the
future EU members today candidates (4 EU), as it is shown in the Figures 1.5,
1.6 and 1.7, respectively for the year 2005. The development possibilities of old,
new and future EU-countries are wide open, according to future common policies
and politic trends.

Figure 1.5: 15EU Wind Power

Capacity, MW

Figure 1.6: 10EU Wind Power

Capacity, MW

Figure 1.7: 4EU Wind Power

Capacity, MW

2. WIND TURBINES HISTORY

The evolution of the wind power utilisation is presented in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: The evolution of the wind power utilisation

2.1 Wind Power's Beginnings (1000 B.C. - 1300 A.D.)

The history of wind power shows a general evolution from the use of simple, light devices
driven by aerodynamic drag forces; to heavy, material-intensive drag devices; to the increased
use of light, material-efficient aerodynamic lift devices in the modern era. But it shouldn't be
imagined that aerodynamic lift (the force that makes airplanes fly) is a modern concept that
was unknown to the ancients. The earliest known use of wind power, of course, is the sail
boat, and this technology had an important impact on the later development of sail-type
windmills. Ancient sailors understood lift and used it every day, even though they didn't have
the physics to explain how or why it worked.
The first windmills were developed to automate the tasks of grain-grinding and waterpumping and the earliest-known design is the vertical axis system developed in Persia about
500-900 A.D. The first use was apparently water pumping, but the exact method of water
transport is not known because no drawings or designs -- only verbal accounts -- are
available. The first known documented design is also of a Persian windmill, this one with
vertical sails made of bundles of reeds or wood which were attached to the central vertical
shaft by horizontal struts (see Figure 2.2), [wTE1]. A 19th Century American approximation
of this panemone device is shown at the left (Figure 2.3), [wTE1].

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Fig.2.2

Fig.2.3

Vertical-axis windmills were also used in China, which is often claimed as their
birthplace. While the belief that the windmill was invented in China more than 2000 years ago
is widespread and may be accurate, the earliest actual documentation of a Chinese windmill
was in 1219 A.D. by the Chinese statesman Yehlu Chhu-Tshai. Here also, the primary
applications were apparently grain grinding and water pumping.

Fig. 2.4
2.2 Windmills in the Western World (1300 - 1875 A.D.)
The first windmills to appear in western Europe were of the horizontal-axis configuration.
The reason for the sudden evolution from the vertical-axis Persian design approach is
unknown, but the fact that European water wheels also had a horizontal-axis configuration -and apparently served as the technological model for the early windmills -- may provide part
of the answer. Another reason may have been the higher structural efficiency of drag-type
horizontal machines over drag-type vertical machines, which (remember) lose up to half of
their rotor collection area due to shielding requirements. The first illustrations (1270 A.D.)
show a four- bladed mill mounted on a central post (thus, a "postmill") which was already
fairly technologically advanced relative to the Persian mills. These mills used wooden cogand-ring gears to translate the motion of the horizontal shaft to vertical movement to turn a
grindstone. This gear was apparently adapted for use on post mills from the horizontal-axis
water wheel developed by Vitruvius.

Fig. 2.5.
As early as 1390, the Dutch set out to refine the tower mill design, which had
appeared somewhat earlier along the Mediterranean Sea (Fig.2.5), [wTE1]. The Dutch
essentially affixed the standard post mill to the top of a multi-story tower, with separate floors
devoted to grinding grain, removing chaff, storing grain, and (on the bottom) living quarters
for the windsmith and his family. Both the post mill and the later tower mill design had to be
oriented into the wind manually, by pushing a large lever at the back of the mill. Optimizing
windmill energy and power output and protecting the mill from damage by furling the rotor
sails during storms were among the windsmith's primary jobs.
A primary improvement of the European mills was their designer's use of sails that
generated aerodynamic lift (see Fig.2.6), [wTE1]. This feature provided improved rotor
efficiency compared with the Persian mills by allowing an increase in rotor speed, which also
allowed for superior grinding and pumping action.

Fig.2.6
The process of perfecting the windmill sail, making incremental improvements in
efficiency, took 500 years. By the time the process was completed, windmill sails had all the
major features recognized by modern designers as being crucial to the performance of modern
wind turbine blades, including 1) camber along the leading edge, 2) placement of the blade
spar at the quarter chord position (25% of the way back from the leading edge toward the
trailing edge), 3) center of gravity at the same 1/4 chord position, and 4) nonlinear twist of the

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blade from root to tip (Drees, 1977). Some models also featured aerodynamic brakes, spoilers,
and flaps. The machine shown in Fig.2.6, [wTE1], (which was operating with two of its
buddies pumping water about one meter up from one irrigation pond to another in the
Netherlands in 1994) features leading edge airfoil sections.
These mills were the "electrical motor" of pre-industrial Europe. Applications were
diverse, ranging from the common waterwell, irrigation, or drainage pumping using a scoop
wheel (single or tandem), grain-grinding (again, using single or multiple stones), saw-milling
of timber, and the processing of other commodities such as spices, cocoa, paints and dyes, and
tobacco.
While continuing well into the 19th century, the use of large tower mills declined with
the increased use of steam engines. The next spurt of wind power development occurred many
thousands of miles to the west.
2.3 Role of Smaller Systems
For hundreds of years, the most important application of windmills at the subsistence
level has been mechanical water pumping using relatively small systems with rotor diameters
of one to several meters. These systems were perfected in the United States during the19th
century, beginning with the Halladay windmill in 1854, and continuing to the Aermotor and
Dempster designs, which are still in use today.

Fig. 2.7
The first mills had four paddle-like wooden blades. They were followed by mills with
thin wooden slats nailed to wooden rims. Most of these mills had tails to orient them into the
wind, but some were weather-vaning mills that operated downwind of the tower. Speed
control of some models was provided by hinging sections of blades, so that they would fold
back like an umbrella in high winds, an action which reduced the rotor capture area to reduce
thrust. The most important refinement of the American fan-type windmill was the
development of steel blades in 1870 (Fig.2.7), [wTE1]. Steel blades could be made lighter and

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worked into more efficient shapes. They worked so well, in fact, that their high speed required
a reduction (slow-down) gear to turn the standard reciprocal pumps at the required speed.
Between 1850 and 1970, over six million mostly small (1 horsepower or less)
mechanical output wind machines were installed in the U.S. alone. The primary use was
water-pumping and the main applications were stock watering and farm home water needs.
Very large windmills, with rotors up to 18 meters in diameter, were used to pump water for
the steam railroad trains that provided the primary source of commercial transportation in
areas where there were no navigable rivers.
In the late 19th century, the successful "American" multi-blade windmill design was
used in the first large windmill to generate electricity.
2.4 Charles F. Brush
The first use of a large windmill to generate electricity was a system built in
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 by Charles F. Brush. The Brush machine was a postmill with a
multiple-bladed "picket-fence" rotor 17 meters in diameter, featuring a large tail hinged to
turn the rotor out of the wind. It was the first windmill to incorporate a step-up gearbox (with
a ratio of 50:1) in order to turn a direct current generator at its required operational speed (in
this case, 500 RPM.)

Fig.2.8

Fig.2.9

Charles F. Brush (18491929) is one of the founders of the American electrical

industry.Heinventede.g.averyefficientDCdynamousedinthepublicelectricalgrid,the
first commercial electrical arc light, and an efficient method for manufacturing leadacid

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batteries.Hiscompany,BrushElectricinCleveland,Ohio,wassoldin1889andin1892it
was merged with Edison General Electric Company under the name General Electric
Company(GE).
Despite its relative success in operating for 20 years, the Brush windmill demonstrated
the limitations of the low-speed, high-solidity rotor for electricity production applications.
The 12 kilowatts produced by its 17-meter rotor pales beside the 70-100 kilowatts produced
by a comparably-sized, modern, lift-type rotor.
During the winter of 188788 Brush built what is today believed to be the first
automaticallyoperatingwindturbineforelectricitygeneration.
2.5 The Wind Energy Pioneer - Poul la Cour
Poul la Cour (18461908) who was originally trained as a meteorologist was the
pioneerofmodernelectricitygeneratingwindturbines.LaCourwasoneofthepioneersof
modernaerodynamics,andbuilthisownwindtunnelforexperiments.

Fig.2.10

Fig. 2.11

LaCourwasconcernedwiththestorageofenergy,andusedtheelectricityfromhis
windturbinesforelectrolysisinordertoproducehydrogenforthegaslightinhisschool.One
basicdrawbackofthisschemewasthefactthathehadtoreplacethewindowsofseveral
schoolbuildingsseveraltimes,asthehydrogenexplodedduetosmallamountsofoxygenin
thehydrogen(!).Theworld'sfirstJournalofWindElectricitywasalsopublishedbyPoulla
Cour.In1918some120localutilitiesinDenmarkhadawindturbine,typicallyofasizefrom
20to35kWforatotalofsome3megawattinstalledpower.Theseturbinescoveredabout3
percentofDanishelectricityconsumptionatthetime.TheDanishinterestinwindpower
wanedinsubsequentyears,however,untilasupplycrisissetinduringWorldWarII.
2.6 The Wind Energy Pioneers - 1940-1950
During World War II the Danish engineering company F.L. Smidth (now a cement
machinerymaker)builtanumberoftwoandthreebladedwindturbines.Yes,Danishwind
turbinemanufacturershaveactuallymadetwobladedwindturbines,althoughthesocalled

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"Danishconcept"isathreebladedmachine.Allofthesemachines(liketheirpredecessors)
generatedDC(directcurrent).

Fig.2.12

Fig.2.13

ThethreebladedF.L.SmidthmachinefromtheislandofBog(Fig.2.13), [wTE1],
builtin1942,looksmorelikea"Danish"machine.Itwaspartofawinddieselsystemwhich
ran the electricity supply onthe island. Today, we wouldprobably argue about how the
concretetowerlooks,butthismachineactuallyplayedanimportantroleinthe1950swind
energystudyprogrammeinDenmark.In1951theDCgeneratorwasreplacedwitha35kW
asynchronousAC(alternatingcurrent)generator,thusbecomingthesecondwindturbineto
generateAC.
2.7 The Wind Energy Pioneers: The Gedser Wind Turbine
The engineer Johannes Juul was one ofthe first students ofPoul La Courin his
coursesfor"WindElectricians"in1904.Inthe1950sJ.Juulbecameapioneerindeveloping
theworld'sfirstalternatingcurrent(AC)windturbinesatVesterEgesborg,Denmark.
Theinnovative200kW Gedserwindturbine wasbuiltin195657byJ.Juulforthe
electricitycompanySEASatGedsercoastintheSouthern
partofDenmark.

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Fig.2.14

Fig.2.16

Fig. 2.15
The threebladed upwind turbine with electromechanical yawing and an asynchronous
generatorwasapioneeringdesignformodernwindturbines,althoughitsrotorwithguywires
looksabitoldfashionedtoday.Theturbinewas stallcontrolled, andJ.Juulinventedthe
emergency aerodynamictipbrakes whichwerereleasedbythecentrifugalforceincaseof
overspeed.Basicallythesamesystemisusedtodayonmodernstallcontrolledturbines.The
turbine,whichformanyyearswastheworld'slargest,wasincrediblydurable.Itranfor11
yearswithoutmaintenance.
TheGedserwindturbinewasrefurbishedin1975attherequestofNASAwhichwanted
measurementresultsfromtheturbineforthenewU.S.windenergyprogramme.Themachine
ranforafewyearswithtestmeasurementsafterwhichitwasdismantled.Thenacelleand
rotoroftheturbinearenowondisplaytheElectricityMuseumatBjerringbro,Denmark.
2.8Theoilcrisis
In the United States, the federal government's involvement in wind energy research and
development began in earnest within two years after the so-called "Arab Oil Crisis" of 1973.
Despite the speed with which it was initiated and began to show results, this program
ultimately proved to be largely ineffective because of the interference of political factors and
the withdrawal of financial support before success could be achieved.

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Fig.2.17
Federal research and development activities resulted in the design, fabrication, and
testing of 13 different small wind turbine designs (ranging from 1kW to 40kW), five large
(100kW - 3.2MW) horizontal-axis turbine (HAWT) designs, and several vertical axis (VAWT)
designs ranging from 5 to over 500 kW. The approach of this program borrowed much from
the methods used to develop military aircraft, with first the Energy Research and
Development Administration (ERDA) and then the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
selecting subcontractors to build and test machines that would be commercialized;
presumably by the subcontractors.
Most of the funding was devoted to the development of multimegawatt turbines, in the
belief that U.S. utilities would not consider wind power to be a serious power source unless
large, megawatt-scale "utility-scale" systems were available. Not-withstanding the unusual
case of the California wind farms (see below), recent events (such as the development of 1+
megawatt giants in Europe) have shown that this view was fundamentally correct.
2.9 The 80s
In the subsequent seven years between 1981 and 1988 -- despite hundreds of millions
of federal tax credits -- only four new wind turbine designs were developed in the U.S. All but
one (the Bergey 10kW, which didn't benefit from the credits) were based on spin-offs of
technology developed by companies supported by the previous federal development effort.
And even the Bergey relied for its flexible blades on a pultrusion manufacturing technique
(left) developed under government sponsorship.
Finally, in 1989, the federal program -- now managed by NREL -- seized an
opportunity provided by the Bush administration and resumed under-funded value
engineering of some of the early 1980's designs.

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Fig.2.18
Acarpenter,ChristianRiisager,however,builtasmall22kWwindturbineinhisown
backyardusingtheGedserWindTurbinedesignasapointofdeparture.Heusedinexpensive
standard components (e.g. an electric motor as generator, and car parts for gear and
mechanicalbrake)whereverpossible.Riisager'sturbinebecameasuccesswithmanyprivate
households around Denmark, and his success gave the present day Danish wind turbine
manufacturers their inspiration to start designing their own wind turbines from around
1980.RisoeNationalLaboratorywasreallyborntobecometheDanishanswertoLosAlamos,
i.e.thenationalcentrefornuclearresearch.Todayitisfarbetterknownforitsworkonwind
energy.
RisoeNationalLaboratory'sDepartmentofWindEnergyandAtmosphericPhysics
hasastaffofsome100peopleworkingonbasicresearchintoaeroelastics,i.e.theinteraction
between aerodynamics and structural dynamics, on wind turbine technology , and wind
resource assessment. It also has a separate, small, commercial activity dealing with type
approvalofwindturbines.Risoewasoriginallyfoundedwiththislastpurposeinmind,when
theDanishGovernmentinstitutedasupportprogrammefortheerectionofwindturbinesin
Denmark. In order to protect the buyers of wind turbines (and their surroundings) the
Governmentrequiredthatallsupportedwindturbinesbetypeapprovedforsafety.Thestrict
safety regulations (including requirements for dual braking systems) indirectly helped
developingsaferandmorereliablewindturbines.(Thesupportprogrammewasabandonedin
1989).
TheBonus30kWmachinemanufacturedfrom1980isanexampleofoneoftheearly
modelsfrompresentdaymanufacturers.LikemostotherDanishmanufacturers,thecompany
wasoriginallyamanufacturerofagriculturalmachinery.Thebasicdesigninthesemachines
wasdevelopedmuchfurtherinsubsequentgenerationsofwindturbines
2.10 Modern Wind Turbines
Denmark has (in 2003) around 3,000 MW wind power, which is supplied by
approximately 5,500windturbines.Individuals andcooperatives ownaround80%ofthe
capacity.

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Fig.2.19
Thepicture(Fig.2.19),[WI.1]showstheAvedreWindFarm,just5kilometersfromthe
citycentreofCopenhagen,Denmark.The12Bonus300kWwindturbines,(andone1,000
kWpowercompanytestwindturbine)arelocatednexttoa250MWcoalfiredpowerplant.

Fig.2.20
PictureFig.2.20[WI.1]showsthelargestwindfarminDenmarkwhichistheoffshore
windfarmofHornsRev,whichwascompletedin2002.ItissituatedintheNorthSea,1420
kmoffthecoastofJutland.Withits80Vestas2MWturbines,thewindfarmhasatotal
capacityof160MW.Thatmakesitthelargestoffshorewindfarmintheworldtoday(2003).
The farm supplies the equivalent of 150,000 (Danish) households. The larger production
comparedtoNystedisduetobetterwindconditions.

Fig.2.21
The energy consumption of the small Danish island Sams is more than 100%
matchedbylocalproductionofrenewableenergy.Amajorreasonforthisisremarkablefact
isalocallyownedoffshorewindfarmconsistingof10Bonus2,3MWturbines.Thepicture
Fig.2.21[WI.1]showstheSams(Denmark)windfarm.

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2.11 The history of wind turbines in Romania

The first signs of using the wind power in Romania, actually in Dobrogea, are in 1585.
After some other sources, we can say that some windmills were used in isolated cases also at
XIII century. The geographical conditions from Dobrogea, the Aeolian energetically potential,
made that just in Tulcea County were functioning at the beginning of last century 437 wind
mills, and in Dobrogea over 900.
Some important cases were in
Moldavia (the south), circa 300. A
high number were used in Oltenia and
Banat.
Some particular cases are also in
Muntenia and in the west part of
Transylvania. These were used,
mainly, for grinding the grains.
Between the two world wars, some
landholders imported some low power
windmills and they mounted them in
the Bucharest surroundings. The
results werent so good because they
were placed without any power
potential research.
Fig.2.22
The powers made and used in Romania didnt exceed some scores of kilowatts.
The explanation for the low usage of
windmills is that their challengers, the water
mill, were wider used because of the high
potential of the rivers and also the
experience in their construction. The
windmill was used just in that places where
it wasnt any river.
There are some windmills in nowadays,
in museums, well conserved. Fig.2.22 [IT.1]
shows, at the second plane, a windmill with
stage, from XIX century, from Tulcea
County. It is the most common model from
Romania. Characteristic for this mill is a
central bearing, deeply grounded.
Fig.2.23
At the first plane, in the picture, we
can see a mill with clothes, known in the Mediterranean zone. This mill is from Constana
County. Other kind of mill is presented in Fig.2.23 [IT.1]. This one is from Tulcea County and
is constructed by wood put on a stone foundation.