The Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Coimbatore campus conducted a two-day workshop on Wind Energy: Resource Assessment and Simulation during February 21-22, 2013.
Organized in association with the Amrita Student Chapter of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, the workshop attracted participation from 36 participants, including graduate and undergraduate students from various engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu.
The workshop began with addresses by Dr. T. N. Padmanabhan Nambiar, Chairperson and Dr. K. K. Sasi, Vice-Chairperson of the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering which provided an overview of electricity generation from wind energy in India.
The inaugural speakers informed delegates about resources available at the Amrita Wind Energy Center, the first such academic center nation-wide that is supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
“We have hardware demo units for wind turbines and generators as well as the software required for wind power analysis. These will be of immense help to students conducting research on wind energy conversion,” stated Dr. Sasi.
Thereafter, the technical sessions began with delegates first learning about Wind Resource Assessment from S. R. Mohanrajan, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
Elaborating on how to assess the availability of wind power in a given site, and thereby estimate the annual energy production and distribution of wind energy generation during the year, Mohanrajan also explained how one would choose the right generator.
Leading participants through hands-on sessions, he explained the use of statistical models (including Weibull Distribution) for the estimation of annual energy production.
The closing session of the day was led by T. Prabu, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering who demonstrated the use of lab tools such as WAsP, WindPRO and WindoGrapher for wind resource assessment. This lab session focused on micro-siting.
Day Two began with Dr. V. Vanitha, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, eloquently explaining the history of development of electric generators for wind power.
Comparing the merits of using various generators, she also addressed power quality issues of wind farms. Explaining the Indian Wind Grid Code (IWGC) approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), for scheduling, forecasting, connection code and operating code, she provided important insights regarding wind farms.
The final session of the workshop was led by M. Jisma, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, who provided an overview of Matlab/Simulink tutorials for Grid-Connected Wind Electric Generators. Delegates learned modeling and simulation of various components of a Wind Energy Generator (WEG) system including the turbine, gear and generator.
“Both, lectures as well as hands-on sessions, were very interesting. Thanks to the organizers and we look forward to more such interactions,” shared enthusiastic participants.
“Our main objective was to explain the tools and techniques in wind energy studies through comprehensive lectures and lab classes. Through the study of wind power conversion, resource modeling and computer simulation of wind turbine generators, we are happy to note that workshop objectives were met,” stated the organizers.
February 27, 2013
School of Engineering, Coimbatore
