NASA wind turbines
Encyclopedia
Starting in 1975, NASA
developed technologies and was the technical manager for the United States Department of Energy
and the United States Department of Interior on a program to develop utility-scale wind turbine
s for the production of electric power, in response to the increase in oil prices.
A number of the world's largest wind turbines were developed and tested under this pioneering program. The development of the commercial industry however was delayed by a significant decrease in competing energy prices during the 1980's.
, the Energy Research and Development Administration ERDA
, later part of United States Department of Energy
, appointed a department under the direction of Louis Divone to fund research into utility-scale wind turbines. NASA
, through its Lewis Research Center in Sandusky Ohio (now the Glenn Research Center
) was assigned the task of coordination of development by large contractors such as General Electric, Westinghouse, United Technologies and Boeing.
In 1975 NASA designed and built it first prototype wind turbine, the 100 kW Mod-0 in Sandusky Ohio under funding from the NSF
and ERDA
. The Mod-0 was modeled after the light weight two-bladed research turbine by Austrian Ulrich Hütter. The two-bladed wind turbine with flexible or teetered rotor hubs characterized the NASA-led program. NASA and its contractors found that two blades can produce essentially equivalent energy as three blades but at a savings of the cost and weight of a blade. Also the rotational speed is increased for two-blade rotors reducing damaging stress and the gear ratio in the gearbox. Finally, the flexibility in the rotor minimizes the transfer of damaging bending loads into the drive train evidenced by the fact that none of the NASA wind turbines experienced gearbox failures that are often a problem for rigid rotor systems in use today.
The NASA program hosted technical conferences, inviting international partners. NASA even helped refurbish and operate the Danish three-bladed wind turbine at Gedser
between 1977 and 1979, so that its operation and characteristics could be studied as a model for larger units. This 1957 unit designed by Johannes Juul (1887-1969) generated 200 kW for 11 years, and used a three-bladed upwind rotor with a lattice tower and blades supported partly by internal guy wires. The effort produce research data on its aerodynamic, electrical, and mechanical characteristics. An important result of this effort was the development of an engineering design model used by the industry for passive power control.
As has been shown over time and by the market today that there are economies of scale achieved in larger units. NASA research and prototypes demonstrated that there were considerable scaling challenges in structural strength, fatigue, speed control, and aerodynamics. In the 1980's most wind turbines were relatively small units of only a few to 25 kW rating. Studies carried out by NASA's contractors suggested that much larger units would be required, on the order of 1 MW or more, for economic production of electricity by utilities. Although the largest-diameter sets of propeller blades then in use were for helicopters, which spanned only 46 feet, it was projected that large blade sets, covering 200 to 300 feet in diameter, would be feasible to build and produce the lowest cost of energy.
Many experiments were done with MOD-0 including brief operation in an upwind (rotor blades upwind of the tower) and a trial of a single blade for the turbine rotor. It tested the first variable speed generators as well prior to their use in the 3.2MW Mod-5B and later throughout the industry. The Mod-0 was also used to test the first steel shell towers, now the dominant tower design, the challenge being to take weight and cost out of the tower while safely passing through a resonance of the soft structure during startup.
Operating experience with the prototype MOD-0 provided the basis for construction of several demonstration units designated the MOD-0A. These were similar to the prototype with the same rotor size, but rated at 200 kW at slightly higher wind speed. Westinghouse was appointed as prime contractor responsible for the overall construction. Units were installed at Clayton New Mexico in 1977, Culebra, Puerto Rico in 1978, Block Island, Rhode Island in 1979 and the fourth at Kahaku Point Hawaii in 1980.
In 1977 Boeing
won the NASA and US-DOE
contract for the design, fabrication, construction, installation and testing of several 2.5-megawatt wind turbine models in the United States
. The first four MOD-2 models went into operation during the early 1980s. The dedication ceremony for the first three turbines was held on April 17, 1980, at Goodnoe Hills, Washington. On September 2, 1982, a fourth began operating at Medicine Bow, Wyoming
.
The Bonneville Power Administration
bought the generated electricity of the Goodnoe Hills turbines and integrated it into the regional power grid. During the periods of May 1981, the three turbines at the Goodnoe Hills site formed the first wind farm
in the world. The Goodnoe Hills site was primarily a research project for Boeing
, Bonneville Power Administration
, NASA and the Battelle Memorial Institute
. The Solar Energy Research Institute also evaluated the suitability of megawatt-class wind turbines as a source of electricity. During 1986, the MOD-2 wind turbines of Goodnoe Hills were dismantled. In 1985, the last full year of operation, the combined electrical output of the three turbines was 8,251 megawatt-hours. The Medicine Bow MOD-2 wind turbine was sold for scrap in 1987.
In 2008, the Goodnoe Hills Wind Farm opened on the same site with 47 REpower
2.0 MW wind turbine
s for a combined nameplate capacity
of 94 MW. enXco/Power Holdings
owns the wind farm, with PacifiCorp
as the power purchaser.
in the world in the 1990's. The contract to build the Mod-5B was awarded to Boeing
in 1980 and it was installed on Oahu
in 1987. With a rated capacity of 3.2 megawatts, it weighed 426000 kg (939,169.2 lb) and had a 100 m (328.1 ft) diameter two-blade rotor on a 60 m (196.9 ft) steel tower. Early operation of the Mod-5B demonstrated a good availability of 95 percent for the new first-unit wind turbine. Early in 1988, operation of the turbine was transferred to Hawaiian Electric Industries
, then to the Makani Uwila Power Corporations (MUPC), and kept in service intermittently until late in 1996. Because of financial difficulties, the wind turbine was shut down, along with the rest of MUPC, and passed to the property owner, Campbell Estates. Campbell Estates decided to disassemble the unit and sell it for scrap. The DOE salvaged the drive train gearbox and generator in July 1998.
", many turbine manufacturers, both large and small, left the business. The commercial sales of the NASA/Boeing Mod-5B, for example, came to an end in 1987 when Boeing Engineering and Construction announced they were "planning to leave the market because low oil prices are keeping windmills for electricity generation uneconomical."
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
developed technologies and was the technical manager for the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
and the United States Department of Interior on a program to develop utility-scale wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s for the production of electric power, in response to the increase in oil prices.
A number of the world's largest wind turbines were developed and tested under this pioneering program. The development of the commercial industry however was delayed by a significant decrease in competing energy prices during the 1980's.
Program origin
In 1974, partially in response to the increase in oil price after the 1973 oil crisis1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, the Energy Research and Development Administration ERDA
Erda
ERDA may refer to:* Erda, Utah* Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis . Synonym of ERD* Erda or Urd, confused with the goddess Jörð, in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen...
, later part of United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, appointed a department under the direction of Louis Divone to fund research into utility-scale wind turbines. NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, through its Lewis Research Center in Sandusky Ohio (now the Glenn Research Center
Glenn Research Center
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center, located within the cities of Brook Park, Cleveland and Fairview Park, Ohio between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Cleveland Metroparks's Rocky River Reservation, and has other subsidiary facilities in Ohio...
) was assigned the task of coordination of development by large contractors such as General Electric, Westinghouse, United Technologies and Boeing.
In 1975 NASA designed and built it first prototype wind turbine, the 100 kW Mod-0 in Sandusky Ohio under funding from the NSF
NSF
-Politics:* National Service Framework, any of a series of British government policies on medical care* National Socialist Front, a Swedish Nazi party* NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party...
and ERDA
Erda
ERDA may refer to:* Erda, Utah* Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis . Synonym of ERD* Erda or Urd, confused with the goddess Jörð, in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen...
. The Mod-0 was modeled after the light weight two-bladed research turbine by Austrian Ulrich Hütter. The two-bladed wind turbine with flexible or teetered rotor hubs characterized the NASA-led program. NASA and its contractors found that two blades can produce essentially equivalent energy as three blades but at a savings of the cost and weight of a blade. Also the rotational speed is increased for two-blade rotors reducing damaging stress and the gear ratio in the gearbox. Finally, the flexibility in the rotor minimizes the transfer of damaging bending loads into the drive train evidenced by the fact that none of the NASA wind turbines experienced gearbox failures that are often a problem for rigid rotor systems in use today.
The NASA program hosted technical conferences, inviting international partners. NASA even helped refurbish and operate the Danish three-bladed wind turbine at Gedser
Gedser
Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark. The town has a population of 809...
between 1977 and 1979, so that its operation and characteristics could be studied as a model for larger units. This 1957 unit designed by Johannes Juul (1887-1969) generated 200 kW for 11 years, and used a three-bladed upwind rotor with a lattice tower and blades supported partly by internal guy wires. The effort produce research data on its aerodynamic, electrical, and mechanical characteristics. An important result of this effort was the development of an engineering design model used by the industry for passive power control.
As has been shown over time and by the market today that there are economies of scale achieved in larger units. NASA research and prototypes demonstrated that there were considerable scaling challenges in structural strength, fatigue, speed control, and aerodynamics. In the 1980's most wind turbines were relatively small units of only a few to 25 kW rating. Studies carried out by NASA's contractors suggested that much larger units would be required, on the order of 1 MW or more, for economic production of electricity by utilities. Although the largest-diameter sets of propeller blades then in use were for helicopters, which spanned only 46 feet, it was projected that large blade sets, covering 200 to 300 feet in diameter, would be feasible to build and produce the lowest cost of energy.
| Model | Rating kW | Swept diameter, m | Description | Prime contractor | Years in service | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOD 0 | 100 | 38 | Two blades, downwind and upwind | NASA design with Lockheed blades | 1975-1982 | Prototype only at Sandusky Wind power in Ohio Wind power in Ohio has a long history, and as of 2011, Ohio has eleven utility-scale wind power installations installed or under construction, with a combined nameplate capacity of just over 1051 MW. An additional 784 MW is pending approval. Some installations have become tourist... |
| MOD 0A | 200 | 38 | Two blades, downwind | Westinghouse | 1977-1984 | Four units installed for field trials |
| MOD 1 | 2000 | 61 | Two blades, downwind | General Electric | 1979-1981 | One installed at Howard's Knob. World's second multi-megawatt turbine. |
| MOD 2 | 2500 | 91 | Two blades, upwind | Boeing | 1982-1988 | Three installed near Goodnoe Hills as a wind farm Wind farm A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other... . Fourth and fifth units sold to utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric demolished in 1988 |
| WTS 4 | 4000 | 79.2 | Two blades, downwind | United Technologies | 1982-1994 | One turbine installed at Medicine Bow, Wyoming and another smaller 3MW WTS 3 version in Sweden |
| MOD 5A | 7300 | 121.5 | Two blades, upwind | General Electric | Never built | |
| MOD 5B | 3200 | 97.5 | Two blades, upwind | Boeing | 1987-1996 | One installed at Oahu, Hawaii |
MOD-0 and MOD-0A
The first design developed was called MOD-0. This had a 38 metre diameter downwind two-bladed rotor, coupled to a synchronous generator, with a power rating of 100 kW at 8 m/s wind speed. A speed increaser stepped up the 40 r/min of the turbine to drive an 1800 r/min generator, with the power output of the machine regulated by pitching the rotor blades. MOD-0 was built near the Lewis Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio and became operational in September 1975. It served as a test bed for development of many concepts for use in larger units. The initial MOD-0 blades were made by Lockheed, out of aluminum. Structural problems surfaced almost immediately at the root end of the blades. Several significant changes and efforts were performed to address this. An investigation revealed that unexpectedly high cyclic loads were the result of a significant blockage of the wind by the complex truss tower structure. This caused the aerodynamic loads on the downwind rotor rapidly change. To correct this blockage, the access stairs were removed from the center of the tower. A major blade material program was started that assessed fiberglass composite, steel, wood and even concrete. NASA approached the Gougeon Brothers, Inc. of Michigan to apply their boat material technology to wind turbines. The resulting wood and composite blades replaced the aluminum blades on th Mod-0 (and later Mod-0A), eliminating the blade root structural problems. Gougeon Brothers successfully commercialized their products into the wind turbine industry with sales around the world.Many experiments were done with MOD-0 including brief operation in an upwind (rotor blades upwind of the tower) and a trial of a single blade for the turbine rotor. It tested the first variable speed generators as well prior to their use in the 3.2MW Mod-5B and later throughout the industry. The Mod-0 was also used to test the first steel shell towers, now the dominant tower design, the challenge being to take weight and cost out of the tower while safely passing through a resonance of the soft structure during startup.
Operating experience with the prototype MOD-0 provided the basis for construction of several demonstration units designated the MOD-0A. These were similar to the prototype with the same rotor size, but rated at 200 kW at slightly higher wind speed. Westinghouse was appointed as prime contractor responsible for the overall construction. Units were installed at Clayton New Mexico in 1977, Culebra, Puerto Rico in 1978, Block Island, Rhode Island in 1979 and the fourth at Kahaku Point Hawaii in 1980.
MOD-1
NASA contracted with General Electric in 1978 to scale up from the MOD-0A with a 10-fold increase in power. The Mod-1 was the world's second multi-megawatt wind turbine to be connected to a grid and also General Electrics first wind turbine. With a hub height of 46 meters above the ground, a larger rotor and a rating at a higher wind speed, it had a capacity of 2000 kW. The weight of the design prevented it from becoming a competitive commercial product, but a prototype was installed and run at Howard's Knob near Boone, North Carolina. The quick design cycle to multi-megawatt size based on the first generation Mod-0 caused technical and operational challenges. Low-frequency noise from the heavy truss tower blocking the wind to the downwind rotor caused problems to residences located close by. With additional pressure of a reduction in federal program funding, the turbine was dismantled in 1983.MOD-2
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
won the NASA and US-DOE
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
contract for the design, fabrication, construction, installation and testing of several 2.5-megawatt wind turbine models in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The first four MOD-2 models went into operation during the early 1980s. The dedication ceremony for the first three turbines was held on April 17, 1980, at Goodnoe Hills, Washington. On September 2, 1982, a fourth began operating at Medicine Bow, Wyoming
Medicine Bow, Wyoming
Medicine Bow is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 304 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Medicine Bow is located at ....
.
The Bonneville Power Administration
Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration is an American federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power...
bought the generated electricity of the Goodnoe Hills turbines and integrated it into the regional power grid. During the periods of May 1981, the three turbines at the Goodnoe Hills site formed the first wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
in the world. The Goodnoe Hills site was primarily a research project for Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, Bonneville Power Administration
Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration is an American federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power...
, NASA and the Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the...
. The Solar Energy Research Institute also evaluated the suitability of megawatt-class wind turbines as a source of electricity. During 1986, the MOD-2 wind turbines of Goodnoe Hills were dismantled. In 1985, the last full year of operation, the combined electrical output of the three turbines was 8,251 megawatt-hours. The Medicine Bow MOD-2 wind turbine was sold for scrap in 1987.
In 2008, the Goodnoe Hills Wind Farm opened on the same site with 47 REpower
REpower
REpower is a German wind turbine company founded in 2001, purchased December 2009 by Suzlon Energy Ltd. Its product range comprises several types of turbines with rated outputs of between 1.5 and 6 megawatts. It created the 5M, in 2005....
2.0 MW wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s for a combined nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity or maximum effect, refers to the intended technical full–load sustained output of a facility such as a power plant, a chemical plant, fuel plant, metal refinery, mine, and many others.For dispatchable power,...
of 94 MW. enXco/Power Holdings
EDF Energies Nouvelles
EDF Energies Nouvelles is a French renewable energy corporation, half owned by French electric utility Électricité de France. It was formed in 2004 from its predecessor SIIF Energies and was floated on the Paris stock exchange in 2006....
owns the wind farm, with PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the northwestern United States.PacifiCorp has three primary subsidiaries:# Pacific Power is a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington.# Rocky Mountain Power is a regulated...
as the power purchaser.
WTS-4
The WTS-4 (4 megawatt) wind turbine in Wyoming was designed by United Technologies (Hamilton Standard Division), under the technical management of NASA and with funding from the United States Department of Interior. The WTS-4 was placed into operation in Medicine Bow, Wyoming in 1982. It featured a “soft” steel tube tower, fiberglass blades, torsional springs and dashpots in the drivetrain, and a flexible teetered hub. To this day, the WTS-4 is the most powerful wind turbine to have operated in the US and it held the world record for power output for over 20 years. A second commercial prototype with a smaller generator (3 megawatts) designated the WTS-3 was constructed and operated in Sweden.MOD-5B
The MOD-5B wind turbine, built in 1987, was the largest operating wind turbineWind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
in the world in the 1990's. The contract to build the Mod-5B was awarded to Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
in 1980 and it was installed on Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
in 1987. With a rated capacity of 3.2 megawatts, it weighed 426000 kg (939,169.2 lb) and had a 100 m (328.1 ft) diameter two-blade rotor on a 60 m (196.9 ft) steel tower. Early operation of the Mod-5B demonstrated a good availability of 95 percent for the new first-unit wind turbine. Early in 1988, operation of the turbine was transferred to Hawaiian Electric Industries
Hawaiian Electric Industries
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.. is the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, suppling power to 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui Electric Company, Limited. In addition, HEI...
, then to the Makani Uwila Power Corporations (MUPC), and kept in service intermittently until late in 1996. Because of financial difficulties, the wind turbine was shut down, along with the rest of MUPC, and passed to the property owner, Campbell Estates. Campbell Estates decided to disassemble the unit and sell it for scrap. The DOE salvaged the drive train gearbox and generator in July 1998.
Program Legacy
None of the NASA prototypes became commonly produced as commercial generators because the purpose of the program was to develop the technology and support the emerging industry. Many of the technologies such as doubly fed variable speed generators, light weight tubular towers, and the engineering design tools used in the wind industry today were developed and pioneered by the NASA program. Total cost of the program between 1974 and 1992 was $330 million. For reference, the global wind market had reached $47 billion annually by 2008. General Electric, Boeing Engineering and Construction, Westinghouse and United Technologies were the commercial partners on the program, some of whom are involved in the wind industry today. Although it has widely been stated that no commercial designs were produced, NASA's industry partners did indeed produce commercial turbines during this program such as the Boeing Mod-2 (described earlier) and Westinghouse 600 kW turbines at Kahuku wind farm in Hawaii. When oil prices declined by a factor of three from 1980 through the early 1990's during what came to be known as the "1980s oil glut1980s oil glut
The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s Energy Crisis. The world price of oil, which had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel , fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10...
", many turbine manufacturers, both large and small, left the business. The commercial sales of the NASA/Boeing Mod-5B, for example, came to an end in 1987 when Boeing Engineering and Construction announced they were "planning to leave the market because low oil prices are keeping windmills for electricity generation uneconomical."
See also
- History of wind powerHistory of wind powerWind power has been used as long as humans have put sails into the wind. For more than two millennia wind-powered machines have ground grain and pumped water. Wind power was widely available and not confined to the banks of fast-flowing streams, or later, requiring sources of fuel...
- List of power stations in Washington
- Wind power in WashingtonWind power in WashingtonA number of wind power projects are under way in the U.S. state of Washington.-Potential capacity and legislative actions:Washington's wind facts are as follows:* Power Capacity - Existing projects : 1,914.48...
- Smith-Putnam wind turbineSmith-Putnam wind turbineIn 1941 the Smith-Putnam wind turbine, the world's first megawatt-size wind turbine, was connected to the local electrical distribution system on Grandpa's Knob in Castleton, Vermont, USA. It was designed by Palmer Cosslett Putnam and manufactured by the S. Morgan Smith Company...
Further reading
- M. B. Douthwaite Enabling innovation: a practical guide to understanding and fostering technological changeZed Books, 2002 ISBN 1856499723, pp.96-101