Wind Energy Review: Global Impact, Challenges And Barriers For Its Integration In Electrical Systems

Wind energy, recognized as renewable energy, clean, ecological and inexhaustible, capable of reducing energy dependence and allied against climate change, has developed rapidly in recent years; promoted by renewable integration policies. In this field, this work presents an overview of the state of the art of global wind energy, comparing and classifying the variables of research: global statistics of the electricity generated, the installedaccumulated wind capacity and classification by geographical areas. Comparison of the onshore and offshore wind capacity including the ranking of countries and the classification by marine areas. The wind scenarios of the European Union and the rest of the main countries are detailed, as well as short-term forecasts and European targets for 2020-2030. The advanced technology and the gradual reduction of costs, validate wind energy as a competent primary energy source, for its integration with electrical systems, despite this there are barriers to take into consideration: technological, use of the wind resource, integration, social, environmental and educational; important to overcome to achieve energy goals by expanding wind visibility as a source of energy in the energy mix.2018-1

Master Teaching In The COVID 19 Era: Interactive Activities Vs Traditional Activities In Virtual Environments

The current health emergency has turned university education around, students and teachers are being recycled in an accelerated way in a new educational environment: the digital environment. Virtual campuses have become the technical means of extension to the traditional university space. There is a great diversity of activities that can be included, from the delivery of a report in digital format to interactive didactic activities that are embedded within the virtual campus. H5P is a free, open-source platform that allows the creation of interactive content that can be integrated in the virtual field, with the aim of displaying user-friendly content or acting as evaluable activities. In this area, this work presents the results of an interactive activity compared to a traditional activity in a virtual environment. The impact on different teaching indicators is evaluated: the grades obtained, the percentage of participation, the general and specific competencies achieved, as well as the learning results of both evaluations. The sample is carried out for a learning activity, of the wind energy subject, in the university master's degree in renewable energy and energy efficiency.2020-2

Electric Vehicle and Renewable Energy Sources: Motor Fusion in the Energy Transition from a Multi-Indicator Perspective

Energy transition requires actions from different sectors and levels, mainly focused on achieving a low-carbon and high-renewable integration society. Among the different sectors, the transport sector is responsible for more than 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, mostly emitted in cities. Therefore, initiatives and analysis focused on electric vehicles integration powered by renewables is currently a desirable solution to mitigate climate change and promote energy transition. Under this framework, this paper proposes a multi-indicator analysis for the estimation of CO2 emissions combining renewable integration targets, reduction emission targets and realistic renewable resource potentials. Four scenarios are identified and analyzed: (i) current situation with conventional vehicles, (ii) replacement of such conventional by electric vehicles without renewable integration, (iii) and (iv) integration of renewables to fulfill emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 respectively. The analysis is evaluated in the state of Maine (United States). From the results, a minimum renewable penetration of 39% and 82%, respectively, is needed to fulfill the emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 by considering 100% conventional vehicle replacement. Different combinations of available renewable resources can reduce emissions by more than 35%.2020-2

Virtual campus environments: A comparison between interactive H5P and traditional online activities in master teaching

Traditional face‐to‐face learning and teaching methodologies are currently being replaced or combined by virtual and digital campuses. In fact, a variety of online activities are available for virtual classrooms, becoming more interactive and creative teaching strategies. Among them, H5P is a free and open source platform that allows the creation of interactive content to be embedded in virtual campuses. This paper presents a comparison between traditional online and interactive H5P activities. The case study was carried out on the Wind Energy subject, within the MSc in Renewable Energies, assessing the impact on students and teachers through different indicators. The mean score of students who participated in the traditional online activity was 7.4/10, slightly lower than that of students who participated in the interactive H5P activity, which was 8.4/10. Actually, the statistical analysis showed that the proposed interactive H5P activity did not present a significant improvement on the average grade, in comparison to the traditional online activity. In terms of the students' perception, 75% found the interactive H5P activity easy to do, and 55% felt more motivated compared to traditional online activities. Moreover, teachers pointed out that the activity positively influenced students in terms of participation and motivation. These results confirm that the digital environment is here to stay, combined with other activities to fulfill all the skills and competences to be achieved.2023-2

Energy, Economic and Environmental GIS–based Analysis of Shallow Geothermal Potential in Urban Areas. A Spanish Case Example

During the last decades, both population growth and increasingly concentration in cities turn these areas into major consumers of energy, mainly due to heating and cooling energy demanded by residential and commercial sectors. In parallel, the promotion of renewables and policies aimed to decrease fossil fuel dependence and save emissions have addressed mostly solutions based on renewable energy resources. Under this scenario, this paper evaluates the feasibility of vertical Ground Source Heat Pump systems based on the spatial study of the site–specific parameters affecting their performance at a local scale. A GIS–based energy, economic and environmental multidimensional approach is then proposed to analyze the heating and cooling energy demand by considering the urban pattern and the real space available for the installations. The paper explores and compares different Borehole Heat Exchanger Ground Source Heat Pump systems by using the G.POT method applied to residential customers. Two Spanish residential locations are included as case study. From the results, geothermal resource gives highly beneficial results also for cooling energy demand, which is not usually considered in geothermal analysis. The proposed renewable system can be also evaluated from this multidimensional perspective on both commercial and tertiary sector, as well as in other locations with a diversity of heating and cooling energy demand profiles.2020-2

A Multi-Factorial Review of Repowering Wind Generation Strategies

The integration of renewables into power systems is a key transformation for mitigating climate change and reducing fossil-fuel dependence. Among the different resources, wind participation has become crucial in recent decades—both onshore and offshore wind power plants. However, assuming the useful life of the wind turbines at approximately 20 years, different solutions should be discussed to overcome the turbine’s aging problem. In the coming years, some countries within the wind sector will face the decision of partially or totally repowering or dismantling their turbines. This paper reviews different repowering strategies and contributions from a multifactorial perspective. A set of categories is defined by the authors and those multifactorial parameters are then classified according to such categories: technical, economic, environmental, social, and political. From each category, the most relevant factors to be considered for repowering decision-making purposes are identified and discussed. According to the specific literature, more than 90% of the reviewed contributions are focused on onshore wind power plant repowering actions. This percentage is in line with onshore and offshore wind generation units installed in recent decades. The reviewed studies show that Germany has a major number of contributions. Regarding offshore repowering strategies, all contributions propose a multifactorial analysis, in contrast to onshore repowering strategies where only 68% of the authors carry out a multifactorial analysis. The revised repowering methodologies and the categorization of factors can also be used by the repowering market, as a useful tool in the near future.2020-2

Multi-factorial methodology for Wind Power Plant repowering optimization: A Spanish case study

Due to the climate change, there have been changes in the rhythm of nature over the last decades. In addition, there has been an increasing social consciousness regarding decarbonization and emissions, promoting governments new policies and economic support measures for renewable integration. In this scenario, the participation of the onshore and offshore wind sectors play a crucial role, expecting that more than 6000 GW will be globally installed in 2050. In parallel, the useful life of other wind power plants is coming to their end. Therefore, some countries will face in the coming years the decision of repowering, decommissioning, installing new turbines, or a combination of them. In general, the areas with the greatest wind potential are already occupied by relatively old wind turbines. Subsequently, a complex group of factors influences on the most appropriate solution decision-making, involving climatic, technological, environmental, social or economic aspects. This paper proposes an optimized methodology based on multi-criteria decision-making to estimate the most appropriate solution for extending the useful-life of wind power plants. An initial group of 26 factors were identified, corresponding to seven categories: technical, geographic, socio-environmental, location, economic, political and climate. The methodology is divided into three stages: (i) data, (ii) alternatives, and (iii) optimization. It was assessed with a Spanish onshore wind power plant connected to the grid. From the initial data and factors, 11 alternatives were designed based on a selection of 10 most relevant factors. The results provide an optimal solution, combining both repowering and installation of new wind turbines. From the results, this methodology would allow reducing the LCOE of the new wind plants installed in the European Union by more than 50%.2023-2

Categorization and Analysis of Relevant Factors for Optimal Locations in Onshore and Offshore Wind Power Plants: A Taxonomic Review

Wind power is widely considered to be a qualified renewable, clean, ecological and inexhaustible resource that is becoming a leader in the current energy transition process. It is a mature technology solution that was quickly developed and has been massively integrated into power systems in recent years. Indeed, a remarkable number of renewable integration policies have been promoted by different governments and countries. With the aim of maximizing the power given by wind resources, the locations of both onshore and offshore wind power plants must be optimized following a sort of different criteria. Under this scenario, a number of factors and decision criteria in the evaluation and selection of locations can be identified. Moreover, the relevant wind power increasing in the power generation mix is addressed, along with a standardization of factors and decision criteria in the optimization and selection of such optimal locations. In this context, this paper describes a systematic review and meta-analysis combining most of the contributions and studies proposed during the last decade. Thus, our aim is focused on reviewing and categorizing all factors to be considered for optimal location estimation, pointing out the differences among the selected factors and the decision criteria for onshore and offshore wind power plants. In addition, our review also includes an analysis of the representative key indicators for the contributions, such as the annual frequency of publications, geographical classification, analysis by category, evaluation method and determining factors.2019-2

Online Wind-Atlas Databases and GIS Tool Integration for Wind Resource Assessment: A Spanish Case Study

Renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly integrated into the electricity-generation sector, being eco-friendly solutions, decreasing global warming, and improving the energy transition process. Among the different renewables, wind energy is considered a mature, clean, renewable, and inexhaustible technology as well, becoming one of the main resources in a sustainable framework. Aiming to evaluate the wind resource, scientific contributions have mostly presented a common basis: historical data campaigns of the wind resource mainly considering wind speed—including the module, direction, standard deviation, etc. However, online wind-atlas databases are becoming tools widely used for both wind-resource assessment and optimal wind-power locations. Under this framework, this study analyzed and compared such online wind data sources and their integration with GIS tools for optimal wind-resource-assessment purposes. The proposed methodology identified the corresponding wind-atlas databases directly on their websites and indirectly through the wind data used in relevant contributions about the optimal location of wind sites. Our contribution to the scientific community is thus the review and comparison of these atlas databases for reducing the barrier to access wind data—including GIS-tool-integration analysis. The limitations raised by civil societies, particularly regarding environmental and bird concerns, were not included in this study. Nevertheless, the authors are aware of these concerns and limitations. A Spanish case study was also included in this work, comparing both estimated and collected wind-atlas databases in terms of wind-resource assessment.2021-2

A green electrical matrix-based model for the energy transition: Maine, USA case example

Nowadays, climate change is a major global societal challenge that significantly increases environmental stress. Most international organizations and policies have promoted initiatives to minimize emissions, reduce fossil fuel dependence and increase renewable energy resource integration into different sectors. An energy transformation toward more renewable systems is thus a priority. Under this scenario, the present paper describes and evaluates an alternative energy conversion matrix–based model to combine sector electrification, power generation units from renewables, and new clean technologies. The proposed green matrix-based model allows analysing future scenarios, including electricity participation in end–use consumption and electric power generated by renewables —potentially integrated into different sectors—. The proposed model is evaluated in the state of Maine (United States). This case study is focused on decarbonizing both residential heating and transport sector through the integration of large offshore wind power plant. Results and discussion is also included in the paper, providing expected energy demand reductions and decreasing emissions through the integration of renewables. This energy transition integration case study is proposed in three road-maps with different penetration rates and time scales. The proposed green matrix–based model can be also applied to other areas and energy resources, as an alternative way to analyse and estimate renewable integration into different sectors.2023-2