GE reshapes the future of wind power

General Electric's wind energy division is trying to find a "Goldilocks" turbine design, one that's not too big and not too small.

Like other wind manufacturers, GE is benefiting from booming demand for wind turbines in Europe and in the U.S., even with the possibility of a renewable-energy tax credit lapsing later this year.

A fan blade for a GE aircraft engine made of carbon under development at GE's Niskayuna, N.Y., lab. GE is translating work done on materials for engines to turbine blades.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News)

Still, the rapid expansion is being throttled by high prices of steel and other commodities, making wind power more expensive.

So instead of making bigger and bigger machines, manufacturers are trying to squeeze more energy from conventionally sized wind turbines.

That will be done by using alternative materials, better electronics, and shaping turbine blades to better capture the wind, said Stephane Renou, who manages research and development for General Electric's wind technology platform.

"The optimal point is changing...and going bigger is not the answer," Renou said. "Turbines in the two or three megawatt zone are the most efficient and the best cost per kilowatt."

A 2 megawatt or 3 megawatt wind turbine is still large. The tower on a 2.5 megawatt machine can stand nearly 330 feet high.

But making 5 megawatt or 6 megawatt turbines, as some off-shore turbine makers are doing, also means more raw materials, notably steel, which drives up the cost. The logistics of delivering and assembling these massive components can add to costs as well.

To get more power from the same footprint, GE is looking at a variety of technologies, said Renou, who oversees development at four GE wind research centers around the world.

"I see a lot more technology going into each of the components, especially the blades," he said. "The blades will look more funky and twisted to get better performance."

By adding more carbon composite to turbine blades, GE can add 16 feet to their length, which translates into a significant boost of energy.

Although it's four times more expensive than fiberglass, carbon also gives blades more flexibility, allowing them to operate at higher wind speeds.

GE is also working on electronics controls to optimize performance and sound level of entire wind farms, Renou said.

A 2.5 megawatt turbine--a size GE intends to stick with.

(Credit: GE)

Limits in transmission line capacity are a barrier to both wind and solar energy. Wind farms and solar plants are typically best placed in remote areas, far from the areas on the coast where demand for electricity is highest.

One of GE's research teams is developing software for modeling how to best place turbines in a wind farm while another is working on the electronic controls to get wind power fed into the grid most effectively.

Overall, Renou said that wind technology is developing quickly and is getting more competitive on a price-per-watt basis with natural gas generators, which themselves are going up in price.

But perhaps just as significant, having a range of materials and technologies to work with gives GE more flexibility in how to assemble a turbine. Supply chain disruptions have contributed to product shortages and project delays.

"We're working on supply-chain flexibility by providing different technology options," Renou said. "It's all about having options at this point. We will structure things to have all the raw materials at the right costs."

One area that GE's wind labs is not pursuing aggressively is energy storage. A handful of companies and utilities are looking at truck-sized batteries or underground compressed-air storage to incorporate renewable energy more reliably.

But Renou said that storage attached to wind turbines is not likely to happen in the next two years. Instead, beefed-up transmission lines, along with smarter power-grid management, could push wind to make up 10 percent of power generation, up from less than 1 percent now.

"The grid is a fantastic source of energy storage. Wind variability can be handled by the grid and grid management," he said. "It's more about policy and grid development."

Update at 3:22 p.m. PT: Text of first caption corrected.

[Manhattan2]

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[RompStar_420]

Wow, we need to install one of these in our neck of the woods, it would power a lot of our homes.

[edwards111]

There?s going to be turmoil in the wind turbine industry as demand skyrockets. The world?s 5th largest turbine maker, India?s Suzlon Energy, is facing complaints that its blades are defective, and the complaints are coming from U.S. buyers. Siting issues are always going to be an issue, also, because industrial-size 5-megawatt wind generators require about a third of an acre each. Marketers are buying up web domains like SitingWindTurbines.com and ProfitFromWind.com to push their products, educate potential customers and dispel false conceptions about quality, safety, aesthetics, etc. There are going to be a lot of companies (from Fortune 1000 to start-ups) jumping into the wind energy business, and a lot of them are going to mess up and fail. Wind is sort of the new gold rush.

[fokkwp]

GE, get your *ss in gear, send 100 lobbyists to Congress, spend $250M in campaign contributions emphasizing wind power subsidy support, and cut the techno crap. Just get it moving before we lose the planet. Big oil can buy the body politic, and so can you. Leave the pretty stuff to the little startups - be like MicroSoft and just wait for them to get some good gear going then buy 'em up; get the 100-year leases on wind prairies, get your monopoly going. Forget the supply-and-demand junk - at your size you need to be creating markets, not fitting into them. Fire the nice-guy greenies in your company and set loose the solid corporate a-h*les and get moving.

[allanhallat]

I have to agree with you fokkwp, governement is still ruled by politicians whose pockets are lined with money from special groups like big oil and it is not doing enough to research ways in storing alernative energy and more effectively creating it. They have no interest in things that do not make them money until it is too late and they will just blame it on something else. Thats politician for you to take praise in the good, line your pockets, scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, and blame something else when things go wrong. Read more on wind generators on this site http://www.poweredgenerators.com/wind-power-generators.html

[physloon]

Oh yes, Manhattan2. It has been a while. For the last year or so you have been shilling for this solar transfer. The solar transfer web site is about as useless as possible. Enough with the spam. We both know that if this was some new revolutionary energy generation method it would be patented and you would be raising venture capital. You're not doing either so you are a scam or a bunch of morons.

[Manhattan2]

Not a scam. Time will tell if we are morons. We are in no rush. The value of our work is timeless. Both presidential candidates seem to be more prone to the technologies we will reveal. How you can compete with oil prior to it running out will always be the issue. We are talking about competing without subsidies and we are almost there. Price goes up we are there but what is to keep them (Big Oil) from simply lowering the price. Part of our plan may be to lock in oil prices so the planet can come out ahead.

[ecotour]

Has anyone heard about the Canadian study that wind turbines' low pressure is killing off huge numbers of bats? Apparently their lungs burst when they come close to the low pressure area. Unfortunately our attempts to solve one problem (reliance on fossil fuels) is putting these bug eating friends in danger of extinction. Is anyone
a) aware of this study/problem and
b) is there a way to help prevent bat/turbine interaction?

Roger D, Florida (where solar panels should be on every roof)

[Iheartenergy]

What do you define as large numbers of bats? Do you value the life of a bat over the lives of many humans? I agree, we need to take care of the animals and plants in this world, but in an energy crisis which scientists can solve with ideas like wind energy, I think we, as humans should put human life first and then protect our animal friends. Besides, wouldn't bats be smart enough to realize that in certain areas they are not able to fly? Thats just my opinion.