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New Report on Global Outlook for Electric Drives in the Wind Power Industry

May 23 2010

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Global Outlook for Electric Drives in the Wind Power Industry" to their offering.

This research service aims to provide an in depth analysis of various aspects of the Electric Drives used in the wind energy market. The market has been analysed based on voltage level, product categories, geography and potential market to provide the growth trends across various regions. The impacts of various drivers, restraints and challenges have been analysed and strategies for participants at different levels of competition have been suggested.

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Global Outlook for Electric Drives in the Wind Power Industry provides market size and forecasts, technological insights, product segmentation and future trends. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: onshore wind industry, offshore wind industry and electric drive (power converters).

Market Overview

With wind turbine (WT) emerging the fastest growing energy source in the world, there has been a continuous rise in the size of wind farms and capacity of WTs. This has necessitated a rise in the operating voltage of wind farm power systems to keep power transmission losses as low as possible. The increase in the total installed base of wind capacity has compelled wind farm owners to improve the quality of power output and enhance grid support, especially with grid codes being updated worldwide. They are looking for cost-effective solutions that will help them produce power efficiently and achieve the return on investment desired, while meeting grid code requirements. Electric drives in WT generators (WTGs) are a popular choice among industry entrants because these drives do not contain any part that requires maintenance. The goal of electric drives is to avoid the complexity of a multistage gearbox by employing variable speed generators and solid-state electronic converters that produce utility-quality alternating current (AC). This will help achieve compactness and thereby, less maintenance.

There has been a marked preference for direct drive systems in the last couple of years. Variability and intermittency of wind are encouraging suppliers to deploy direct drive technologies with full power converters systems. This will give them higher energy efficiencies, lesser maintenance than conventional gearbox machines and more power output. Market entrants from European countries and China are adopting direct drive technologies, which simplifies the nacelle systems, augments reliability and efficiency as well as avoids gearbox issues, says the analyst of this research. WT suppliers are designing technologies that are lighter and more cost-effective than the conventional geared drive trains, and these are expected to drive the new installations.

Scientists are also developing new systems for guidance, control and connecting the WT with power grids. Wind farms are located in remote areas, while the greatest power demand is from cities. This means that the power supply depends on a robust transmission grid. However, with the proliferation of wind farms, transmission lines could be hard to procure. Lack of transmission line infrastructure particularly affects the North American and Asian regions. Therefore, future wind power plants will not only support the grid by delivering fault ride capability as well as frequency, voltage and volt-ampere-reactive (VAR) control, but also carry a share of power control capability for the grid. Modern designs of generators and electric drives are likely to be customised to suit WT operation.

Taking into account their energy yield and reliability, direct-drive generator systems with electric drives are expected to be more suited to WT than geared drive systems, especially for offshore applications, in which maintenance is a huge concern. Electric drive manufacturers can position themselves to control a share of the growing electric drives used in double-fed induction and permanent magnet generators. Some of the established WT suppliers already have in-house capabilities to manufacture 20.0 to 40.0 percent of their drive requirements in-house, notes the analyst. However, there is a huge opportunity from the end-user markets of new entrants and WTG suppliers that outsource their electric drives requirements.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research: