Small Wind Site Assessment Produced by the Institute for Sustainable Futures; UTS in partnership with the Alternative Technology Association and TAFE NSW - Northern Sydney Institute This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Energy Efficiency Training Program

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Small wind site assessment course Grid connected small wind systems

How grid connected small wind works Slide 4 Components specific to grid connected systems and technical requirements  Grid interactive inverter  Metering  Sometimes batteries for voltage control  Large turbines normally direct coupled with some electronic power conversion  Small wind turbines normally inverter connected

Strategies for sizing the wind system – Technical considerations Slide 5 Connection capacity (kVA) is only part of the equation Limited by transformer size, connection point capacity, and other factors including Fault currents Network Voltage control Shallow network augmentation Deep network augmentation

Strategies for sizing the wind system – Financial considerations Slide 6 Grid connection costs Value of energy  Value of displaced imported energy  Revenue for exported energy o Premium Net FiT: aim to maximise energy exported o Gross FiT: all generation worth the FiT rate o Net feed in tariff equal to consumption tariff: all export worth the consumption rate o No FiT: aim to minimise energy exported Incentives

The economics of grid connected small wind Slide 7 Large wind farms are cost effective... (with the incentive of the RET)... and grid connected domestic PV is cost effective... (with up front subsidies and/or FiTs)... so why don’t we see small scale grid connected wind turbines everywhere?

Slide 8

So when is grid connected small scale wind energy a good idea? Slide 9 Demonstration projects Economically viable only with the right incentives No magic number in terms of wind speed All the more reason for us to get site assessment practices right!

The cost of grid connection Slide 10 Establishing the cost of grid connection is necessary before installing a wind turbine Deemed connection agreements: Fixed cost, set process AER approved (notionally fair and reasonable) For small scale, eg up to max size allowable under FiT

The cost of grid connection Slide 11 Non-deemed connection agreements  The nightmare begins Utility issues  Network safety and security (eg islanding, fault currents)  Power quality (eg Voltage control, pf, kVAr) Dealing with distributors and retailers Until you have an Offer to Connect, take nothing for granted and expect high unforseen costs. Yes, it can actually be that bad

Who to consult for further info Slide 12 Clean Energy Council Alternative Technology Association Installer DNSP Retailer Electrician with right experience Elect engineers with right experience Fortune teller

Small wind site assessment course Wind for Stand Alone Power Supplies

Slide 14 Conventional, proven Comparing wind turbines on RAPS with grid connect is like comparing apples and oranges  Only the cost of getting it wrong is a bit greater than accidently getting an orange when expecting an apple  Unless maybe you are severely allergic to citrus

Why chose wind energy for SAPS? Slide 15 What advantages does wind offer over  Solar PV?  Diesel generators?  Micro hydro?  Other options? What disadvantages does wind have compared to these options?

SAPS system components and design Slide 16 Series and parallel systems Inverters, chargers, inverter chargers, interactive inverter chargers Renewable energy generators Batteries and charge regulators Generators...oh, and the energy user

SAPS system components and design Slide 17 Understanding household energy needs  Energy demand  Hourly  Daily/weekly  Monthly/seasonally  Annual  Peak power demand  Maximum  Instantaneous

How key components of a SAPS system are selected and sized Slide 18 Renewable energy generators : to meet medium (weekly) to long (annual) term energy needs Generators and inverters: to meet maximum or peak power needs Batteries : to meet short (hourly/daily) and medium (weekly) term energy needs. Batteries for wind powered SAPS ideally have at least 5 days of redundancy!

SAPS system components and design Slide 19 Wind components specific to SAPS systems How wind turbines are sized Matching wind turbine with other system components  System DC voltage  Battery Ah capacity  Charge controllers

Undersized SAPS Slide 20 $Thousands or $tens of thousands will need to be spent up front on other generation sources $Hundreds or $thousands more each year into running the system and/or the customer may have to compromise their energy usage

Undersized SAPS Slide 21 battery life may be cut short by years at an effective cost of $thousands or even tens of thousands Undersized batteries will result in shortened battery life more generator run time and diesel fuel use more ‘dumped’ renewable energy going to waste due to full batteries

Oversized SAPS Slide 22 On the other hand, what are the likely consequences of oversizing the wind turbine and/or the batteries?

Wind or solar… or both? Slide 23 When would you choose wind over PV? When would you choose PV over wind? When would you choose both?

Supporting legislation and financial incentives Slide 24 Solar Credits Scheme  Off grid systems treated similarly to grid connect to ‘replace’ former RRPGP rebate  Small wind gets bonus STCs up to 20kW  Currently 3x multiplier  Must be min 1km from grid or $30K to connect  Deemed STCs available  The cost of diesel!

Small wind site assessment course Economics of Grid Connect V. Stand Alone

Revenue – Value of energy Grid connect v. off grid systems Slide 26 Generation portion :kWh used onsiteExcess kWh Application : off grid / on grid Avoided diesel use / import Dumped / exported Off grid$2.00$0.00 Gross FiT (eg)$0.40 Net FiT - Premium (eg)$0.20$0.60 Net FiT -1 for 1 (eg)$0.20 No FiT - PPA (eg)$0.20<$0.05 (good luck!)