A wind power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies. It is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity.
A large wind farm can have hundreds of wind turbines spread out over hundreds of miles. The land between the turbines may be used for other purposes, such as regular farming. Some wind farms are also located near bodies of water. There, they take advantage of winds that blow across lakes or oceans.
Wind farms are built in areas known to be especially windy on a regular basis. The winds turn the blades of the turbines. Then, the turbines turn the energy of the wind into mechanical power. Generators then turn the mechanical power into electricity. That electricity is then used to power homes.
Repowering is the concept of replacing old turbines of less capacity with higher capacity ones, aiming at more power from less surface area. Until the year 2000, only turbines less than 500kW were installed. However, over the years, the generator size and rotor diameter has increased drastically.
Tamil Nadu has about 500MW of less capacity turbines still in operation which multiplied by a repowering factor of 4 would yield around 2000MW. We are currently exploring research opportunities in this field using our 250kW turbines.
