3.01 MW Demonstration Wind Farm
The Greek Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) has developed its own 3 MW demonstration wind farm, aiming to:
• Test the characteristics of various wind energy exploitation technologies in the case of complex terrain topography
• Contribute in the development of the Greek wind turbine industry
• Demonstrate and disseminate wind energy systems
• Undertake research work for the integration of wind energy technologies with technologies for the production, storage and use of hydrogen (i.e. energy storage), water desalination systems, etc
• Profit on the electricity sales of the farm, contributing to the financial independence of CRES
The wind farm of CRES is situated in Lavrion, SE Attica, adjacent to its older wind turbine Test Station. It operates in a complex terrain site including hills up to 120m high above sea level and coastal regions. The average annual wind speed is measured 6.7m/s and the turbulence intensity approximately 12%. The energy produced from the wind turbines is fed into the interconnected 20kV electricity grid. Two meteorological masts (100m and 40m), are used to measure the reference wind conditions.
THE WIND TURBINES
There are five wind turbines of various sizes and power control strategies. Three of these wind turbines are commercial and two are prototypes developed in Greece.
The commercial wind turbines are:
• A Enercon E40-500 kW a gearless, synchronous, multipole, variable speed wind turbine.
• A NEG Micon 750kW stall regulated, constant speed with 2 asynchronous generators wind turbine.
• A Vestas V47-660 kW pitch regulated, constant speed, with one asynchronous generator wind turbine.
The two prototype wind turbines, which have been developed in Greece and manufactered by PYRKAL SA, under the tech. development of Prof. N. Athanasiadis (mechanical part) and Dr. K. Michailidis (electrical-electronic part) are:
• OA-500 kW a stall regulated wind turbine, using an advanced variable speed technique (OPSC®: Opti Power Speed Control) and an active line inverter
• OA-600 kW, an otherwise identical to the above machine
The three commercial wind turbines have been erected and their commissioning has started in February 2001. The erection and commissioning of the two Greek prototypes will be completed in the summer of 2003.