Wind power offers an economical and green alternative to generate energy in an era where economies are struggling with conventional resources of energy. India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world and the demand is increasing periodically. This makes it inevitably important for us to understand the wind turbine as a risk to be covered. This is a small effort to understand this machine.
A wind turbine is a machine which converts kinetic energy into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by some other machinery, then such a machine is called a windmill. If the mechanical energy is converted to electricity, the machine is called a wind turbine or wind energy converter (WEC).
The basic components of a wind turbine are as follows:
- Blades – Most turbines have either two or three blades. These are generally made from Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP). They capture the wind’s energy, spinning a generator in the nacelle.
- Nacelle – houses a generator, gearbox and some of the control electronics.
- Gearbox – converts the rotational speed of the rotor for the generator.
- Generator – converts rotational movement to electrical energy.
- Transformer – converts electricity for transmission down the tower. The transformer can also be housed inside the wind turbine tower itself.
- Tower – usually lattice or tubular structure, supporting the nacelle and rotor. Typical tower heights are 60-80m. Cables run down the tower taking the electricity from the generator at the top, into the ground and then onto a connection point to the grid. Lifts or ladders allow maintenance crew to access the nacelle.
- Base – a concrete base acts as the foundation for the structure.
