Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of 10 or more relative to doing it correctly up front. A roadmap of technologies and
products relative to the marketplace and other manufacturers helps keep upfront
costs down and minimizes overall development cycles. Organizations need not
necessarily have their own IRD departments. There are examples of broad-based
collaborative research programs among industry, university and government par-
ticipants. Value analysis is critically important in understanding research priorities
and where to apply funding. Regular re-evaluation is required to ensure market
changes are refl ected in re-direction or termination of programs.
1.1.3 Technologies in-hand (TRL-6, 7, 8 and 9)
late phase
Having a broad range of component technologies from wind or other sectors (that
are well understood and scalable) is an important aspect of new WT design. Even
with this, system integration readiness should not be underestimated. During the
product development cycle, early assumptions about the suitability of a component
technology may come under question, and new validation steps or even the invention
of new component technology may become necessary. Again, continuous and ever-
improving value analysis is the key activity for assessing technologies in-hand
and identifying new development opportunities. Carrying the value analysis cycles
throughout the development phases will help identify where additional technology
proofs are needed and will ultimately yield the very best product.
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1.2 Incremental improvements to existing turbine designs
Once a product is introduced, later market entrants force competition and cause a
need for the original product to improve. Incremental product improvements can
be more tractable for some risk adverse organizations from the perspectives of
quick return on investment (ROI) funding allocation and minimizing investment.
There comes a point in every WT design when up-scaling component technol-
ogy, improving performance or further cost reduction are not possible, and a new
breakthrough design is required to begin the cycle anew [46]. Continual value
analysis provides the foresight needed to know which route to take and when, and
it helps build a comprehensive multi-generation technology plan (MGTP) that is
regularly reviewed and updated.
1.3 The state of technology and the industry
Thirty-fi ve years into the modern WT era, less than half of this experience is in
today's large utility scale machines. More than 27 GW of new wind capacity was
commissioned worldwide in 2008, a 36% increase over 2007. By the end of 2008,
global wind capacity grew nearly 29% reaching 121
123.5 GW with turbine and
wind power plant (WPP) investments worth about US$47.5B (
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36.5B) [ 8 , 9 ]. The
state of WT design today is similar to the state of automobile design in the 1920s
and 1930s. Even the most advanced WTs are relatively immature when consid-
ering future advances for component integration, dry nanotechnology, quantum
wires and advanced digital controls [1]. There are many choices to be made today,
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