Electrical Part of a Windfarm Construction 1

Is there a book or any kind of document/article that has the electrical part of a wind farm construction well explained.

 

[davidbeach]

What is there that needs to be explained. It's just a basic distribution system with negative loads.

 

[windspinz]

Just to find answers for questions like these..

1) what generators would be the best in the towers?
2) why use Wye-Delta and not Delta-Wye as Padmounts?
3) Why use Delta-Wye-Delta transformer at the substation?
4) What kind of breakers to use ( vac,sf6,oil ) and why?
5) Would grounding transformers really help?
its basic stuff but would really help...

Regards

 

[davidbeach]

Like so many things of the type, given the amount of information given, the only possible answer is "it depends." The answer to many will depend on who is selected to supply to towers. "Best" is highly situational when it comes to wind farms. Y-D-Y us probably than a Y-Y in those sizes, but as I said, it depends.

 

[cranky108]

1) Usually supplied as a unit.
2) through 5) find a good distribution book.

Except 3), I've never seen this configuration.

 

[davidbeach]

I've seen 3). Vendor selection will drive 1) and 2). 3) is economics. 4) is local practice & economics. 5) help what?

 

[alehman]

(1) You buy the wind turbine as a package with the generator. It's an integrated design, including control systems that you really can't change unless the mfg offers options. Selection of the turbine mfg. is most commonly based on price per kWH.

(2) through (5) depend on specifics of the installation. A thorough explanation would require an entire EE text book.
(4) Vacuum breakers are probably most common in the U.S., but others certainly are available. It depends on cost, owner preference, consistency with other installations, local support, knowledge of maintenance folks, etc.

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.

 

[windspinz]

I really appreciate all the answers, feels good when you get answers from knowledgeable people.

Here is my situation, just finished my school and got a job as an electrical inspector on a wind farm. There are so many questions that pop up every day and feels like instead of surfing every question, would b great to have on reference which i guess is not that easy to find as there are many principles involved.

The new question popped in yesterday.

we have a Wye-Delta pad mounts at each tower and Delta-Wye at the Substation, however there is copper running underground along with the MV-cable, was wondering if the the copper and the concentric's from the MV-cable should be connected to the same ground bar in the Junction Box? and why...

Not just saying it , but you guys really make a difference... this site rocks...

 

[alehman]

copper running underground along with the MV-cable

By copper, do you mean a grounding conductor? What else is it connected to?

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.

 

[windspinz]

@ alehman .. Yes by copper I mean the ground conductor, and it runs from the high side of the Padmount transformers and then the ground rod at the junction boxes and then to the substation.

 

[alehman]

Typically they would be connected together, but without knowing the details I could not say for your particular situation.

I would strongly suggest you hire an experienced engineer. Designing from books is a bad/dangerous idea.

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.

 

[Sparweb]

...just finished my school and got a job as an electrical inspector on a wind farm

Well I bet you regret selling away your textbooks after graduation, now, don't you?

If you can stomach a bit more school, there are professional education schools that do this stuff. EPIC sometimes offers a 3-day course in wind farm management, and I've attended a course in electrical system bonding and grounding myself (I would have preferred the wind farm course, but a schedule conflict made me switch).

EPIC is in Canada, but I doubt it would take long to find an equivalent in the USA (where I assume you are).


Steven Fahey, CET